Moustache
Moustache Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview and Goal of the Game
Moustache is a trick-taking game that's played in teams. The rules of the game evolve as the game progresses. Each round, fate will determine who is on your team and which new rule is added to the game. At the end of 4 rounds, the player with the most points wins!
What's a Trick-Taking Game?
In a trick-taking game, each player places one card from their hand face up in the middle of the table. The player with the strongest card receives all the cards that were played this turn: that's what we call "winning a trick"!
Components
- 47 animal cards (44 cards numbered 0 to 10, in 4 different colors — green, pink, orange and blue — and 3 joker cards: unicorn, monkey and pigeon)
- 6 team cards
- 6 player aids
- 16 rule cards, divided into 2 decks (white and black)
- 12 trophy tokens (3 tokens per round)
Setup
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Prepare the 4 rule cards that will be used for the current game by randomly taking 2 white rule cards and 2 black rule cards and placing them side by side, face down. This row of cards will be revealed throughout the rounds!
If this is your first game, remove the rule cards with the moustache symbol. Feel free to add them back in after you've played the game a few times!
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Place the trophy tokens face down (with their round number showing) above the rule cards.
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Give each player a player aid.
1. Setting Up a Round
- Reveal the leftmost rule card in the row. Each time a rule card is revealed, the new rule applies until the end of the game. Each round, a new rule will be added to the existing ones (oh yes!).
- Depending on the number of players, take the team cards specified on the back of the player aid. Deal 1 random card to each player. Then reveal your cards to discover who will be your teammates this round! (3 players: 12 team cards; 4 players: 10; 5 players: 8; 6 players: 7.)
- Shuffle the animal cards face down. Depending on the number of players, deal the number of cards specified on the back of the player aid to each player. Set the remaining cards aside, face down, for the rest of this round. Note: you're not allowed to tell your teammates which cards you have in your hand!
Special Cases for Games with 3 or 5 Players
When dealing cards, the players on the smaller team receive joker cards (which we'll explain later):
- In a 3-player game, the lone player receives 9 animal cards and all 3 joker cards.
- In a 5-player game, the 2 players on the smaller team each receive 7 animal cards and 1 randomly drawn joker card (without knowing which joker their teammate received!).
2. Round Overview
The players will play several tricks, until they've all run out of cards.
The player who has the team card with the crown starts the first trick of the round.
3. Overview of a Trick
- The first player plays 1 card face up in the middle of the table. Then, in clockwise order, each of the other players plays 1 card of the same color if possible. If you don't have any cards of the leading color (and only then!), you can play a card of any other color.
- Once all players have played 1 card, the player with the strongest card wins all of the cards in the trick and stacks them face down in front of them.
The strongest card is first determined by color, then by value: the green cards are the weakest, followed by the pink cards, then the orange cards, and finally the blue cards (the player aids remind you of this). If several cards of the strongest color were played, the card of that color with the highest value wins the trick.
The animal cards are: hamster (green), pig (pink), llama (orange), and walrus (blue).
- The player who won the trick starts the next trick.
Example of a trick with 4 players: Mary starts the trick by playing a pink pig of value 2. Norah follows the leading color and plays a pink pig of value 8. Currently, she has the strongest card. Alex plays a green hamster of value 3, because he doesn't have any pigs (and apparently doesn't want to win this trick by playing a stronger color). Jim doesn't have any pink cards either, so he plays a blue walrus of value 1 and wins the trick.
End of the Round
- After the last trick, when all cards have been played, each team counts the number of stars on the cards they won, making sure to follow any rules imposed by the revealed rule cards.
- The team with the most stars wins the round. In case of a tie, the team that won the card with the crown wins.
- Each player on the winning team receives 1 trophy token, drawn randomly from the 3 tokens corresponding to the current round. You may look at your own tokens, but you must keep them face down in front of you until the end of the game. Return any remaining tokens to the box without looking at them.
New Round
- Start a new round by following the setup rules explained above. Don't forget to reveal this round's new rule card. It will be added to the ones that are already revealed.
End of the Game
After 4 rounds, each player calculates the total value of their trophy tokens. The player with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, you'll have to play another game!
Jokers
In games with 3 or 5 players, you may play a joker card instead of an animal card if you wish, even if you have a card of the leading color.
There are 3 joker cards, all of which affect the current trick:
The pigeon — At the end of a trick, discard all the cards in the trick. Their points are not scored at the end of the round. The player who won the trick still gets to start the next trick.
The unicorn — The unicorn always wins the trick, regardless of any other cards that were played. However, if someone played a pigeon, the cards in the trick are still discarded. You don't mess with pigeons!
The monkey — At the end of the trick, the monkey chooses 1 of the cards in the trick and steals it, adding it to the stack of its team.
Note: if someone starts a trick with a joker card, the next player's card determines the leading color of the trick.
Explanation of the Rule Cards
Important rule: always resolve the rule cards from left to right.
White Cards
The stars on the green cards are considered negative. Each star on your green cards causes you to lose 1 star instead of gaining one.
You must place the pink cards in your hand face up in front of you. These cards remain part of your hand, but your opponents now know some of your cards!
At the start of the round, pass 3 cards from your hand to the player on your left. Choose 3 cards from your hand and pass them to the player on your left, before looking at the cards you receive from the player on your right.
The team with the most blue cards at the end of the round loses 5 stars. In case of a tie, neither team loses any stars.
Black Cards
Cards with a value of 2 win the trick, regardless of their color. If several cards with a value of 2 are played during the same trick, the strongest color wins. That said, if someone plays the unicorn, they still win the trick.
Cards with identical values are discarded before the trick is resolved. These cards are not taken into account when resolving the trick, and they aren't won after resolving it. If all of the cards in the trick are discarded, the player who started this trick also starts the next one.
The hierarchy of the colors is reversed. From now on, the blue cards are the weakest, followed by the orange cards, then the pink cards, and finally the green cards.
If someone plays a card with a value of 3, the lowest value wins the trick. If at least 1 card with a value of 3 is played during the same trick, the card with the lowest value (of the strongest color) wins.
If a player can't follow suit, the color of their card becomes the new leading color. When a player is unable to "follow suit" (i.e., they cannot place a card of the leading color), the color of their card becomes the new leading color. This means the leading color could change several times during the same trick.
Credits
A game by Alexandre Aguilar & Jules Messaud. Illustrated by Gorobeï. Game development: Thomas Cosnefroy. Graphic design: Supacat, Axel Mahé. English translation and proofreading: Jo Lefebure and Alexander Caves for The Geeky Pen.
© 2025 Lumberjacks Studio. All rights reserved. © 2026 Pandasaurus Games, LLC. All rights reserved.
Thanks to all the playtesters, whether they had a moustache or not.