Muster: Raise the Banners Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How to Play
• Actions
  • 1. Play a Banner
  • 2. Play a Rainbow Wizard
  • 3. Move a Rainbow Wizard
  • 4. Castle a Card
  • 5. Make a Rainbow Bridge
  • 6. Make a Rainbow Swap
• End of the Game and Determining the Winner
• Optional Rule Variants

Components

• 40 Banner Cards
• 5 Rainbow Wizard/Bridge Cards
• 2 Rainbow Castle Cards
• Game board

Component layout and terminology: the game board has five castle spaces, each marked with a banner icon, and strength icons appear on the cards. The Rainbow Wizard/Bridge cards are double-sided: turn the card upside down to switch between Wizard and Bridge.

Setup

1. Place the game board sideways in the middle of the table between the two players.
2. Shuffle all the cards, and deal each player a hand of 5 cards face-down.
3. Place the remaining cards face-down on one side of the game board, forming the deck.
4. The player wearing the most colourful clothes is the first player, or whoever won the last game.

First time or younger players (under 8) - ignore any rules labelled with the wizard's potion.

How to Play

Take turns one at a time, starting with the first player.

Turns: On your turn, you must take exactly one action. After taking an action, if you have less than 5 cards in your hand, you must draw back to 5 cards to end your turn. Play then passes to the other player.

Drawing Cards: Players can draw cards either from the top face-down card of the deck or the top face-up card on any of the castle spaces of the game board, with one exception - players are not permitted to draw Castle cards from the game board. If drawing more than one card in a turn, players can draw from both the deck and the game board.

List of Actions:

1. Play a Banner
2. Play a Rainbow Wizard
3. Move a Rainbow Wizard
4. Castle a Card
5. Make a Rainbow Bridge
6. Make a Rainbow Swap

Actions

1. Play a Banner

Play one Banner card from your hand face-up to the table, under a castle space on your side of the game board, abiding by the following rules of play:

a. When played, the card's banner icon must match that of the castle space under which it is placed, unless the top face-up card on that castle space is a Rainbow Castle.

b. If there are any existing cards under that castle space, play the card on top of and overlapping the other cards such that the banner and strength icons of all cards remain visible.

c. A card must have equal to or greater strength than the card it is played on top of. Example: A 2-strength Banner card can be played on an empty space, a 1 or 2-strength card, but not on a 3-strength or higher card.

d. A card can only have up to 1 strength greater than the card it is played on top of. Example: A 3-strength Banner card can be played on an empty space or a 2-strength card, but not on a 1-strength card.

(The rulebook illustrates examples of various permitted and unpermitted top card placements on one side of the game board.)

2. Play a Rainbow Wizard

Play one Rainbow Wizard card from your hand face-up to the table, under any castle space on your side of the game board. Like Banner cards, Rainbow Wizard cards can be played on an empty space but otherwise must be played on top of and overlapping any existing cards under that castle space such that the banner and strength icons of all cards remain visible.

Note: Rainbow Wizard cards are wild and do not follow the 'Play a Banner' rules, they can always be played under any castle space, and on top of any strength card, including another Rainbow Wizard.

3. Move a Rainbow Wizard

Move the top Rainbow Wizard card from under any castle space on your side of the game board to under any other castle space on your side of the game board, as if you had taken a 'Play a Rainbow Wizard' action. Then draw the top card from the deck and place it face-up on top of the castle space of the game board that matches its banner icon to end your turn (Rainbow cards can be placed on any castle space you choose).

4. Castle a Card

Play one card from your hand face-up on top of the castle space of the game board that matches its banner icon (Rainbow cards can be played on any castle space you choose). Players are not permitted to draw a card they played on a castle space that turn.

Remember: While a Rainbow Castle card is the top card on a castle space of the game board, Banner cards played under that castle space on either player's side of the game board can have any banner icon.

Note: Cards on castle spaces do not count towards either player's total strength, but the top card on each castle space may be drawn by either player on later turns (except for Castle cards).

5. Make a Rainbow Bridge

Play a Rainbow Bridge card from your hand face-up to the table, under any castle space on your side of the game board. Like Banner Cards, Rainbow Bridge cards must be played on top of and overlapping any existing cards under that castle space, with the effect of substituting the next strongest Banner card in the sequence. You must then immediately play the following Banner card in the sequence on top of and overlapping the Rainbow Bridge card as part of the same action.

If played on an empty space, Rainbow Bridge cards always substitute a 1-strength Banner card and must always be followed by playing a 2-strength Banner card as part of the same action.

Rainbow Bridge cards always count as 1-strength each, irrespective of which card they are substituting.

Example: Last turn you played a 1-strength water Banner card, and your hand now contains a 3-strength water Banner card and a Rainbow Bridge card, but no 2-strength water Banner card. You may play the Rainbow Bridge card from your hand on top of the 1-strength water Banner card and then immediately play the 3-strength water Banner card on top of the Rainbow Bridge card, in the same turn.

You now have 5 total strength at that castle and, with 3 cards left in your hand, you draw 2 cards to end your turn.

Note: While in your hand, Rainbow Wizard / Bridge cards are interchangeable and can be freely played as either but, once played from your hand to the table, the orientation of the card determines whether it is a Rainbow Wizard or a Rainbow Bridge while in play.

6. Make a Rainbow Swap

Swap one Banner card from your hand for one Rainbow card previously played by either player under a castle space on either side of the game board, as follows:

a. You may swap a Rainbow Wizard card under a castle space with a Banner card from your hand that otherwise meets the 'Play a Banner' rules at that location. In the case of multiple Rainbow Wizard cards located under one side of a single castle space, only the one that was placed there first can be swapped this turn.

Example: The other player has previously played Banner cards of 1-strength and 2-strength under the feather castle space, followed by two 6-strength Rainbow Wizard cards giving them 15 total strength at that castle. You don't currently have any feather Banner cards in your hand, so you first take a 'Castle a Card' action to play a Rainbow Castle on the feather castle space of the game board, and on your next turn you swap out the first-placed Rainbow Wizard card with a 2-strength cloud Banner card from your hand.

The player's turn ends without the need to draw a card. This has the effect of reducing your opponent's total strength down to 11 at that castle and earns you a Rainbow card into your hand in the process. You could even take this action again the next turn provided you had another eligible Banner card in your hand to swap the remaining Rainbow Wizard with.

Note: Rainbow Wizard cards placed on top of 5-strength Banner cards cannot normally be swapped as there is no 6-strength Banner card with which to exchange them with. That's where a combination of a Rainbow Castle card and a different 5-strength Banner card can come in handy.

b. You may swap a Rainbow Bridge card under a castle space with a Banner card from your hand that otherwise meets the 'Play a Banner' rules at that location, filling the missing card in the sequence.

Example: Following the 'Make a Rainbow Bridge' example earlier, play has passed to the other player who happens to have a 2-strength water Banner card in their hand. That player takes a 'Make a Rainbow Swap' action to swap the 2-strength water Banner card from their hand with the Rainbow Bridge card under the blue castle space on the other player's side of the board.

The player's turn ends without the need to draw a card.

End of the Game and Determining the Winner

The game immediately ends when the final card has been drawn from the deck. Players then establish who controls each castle by determining who has the most strength icons on the cards on their side of the board under each castle space. The player who controls the most castles wins the game!

Tiebreaker - Strength in Numbers: In case of a tied castle, if one player has more Banner cards on their side of the board under that castle space, they control the castle.

Optional Rule Variants

The Power of One: Other than eligible Rainbow cards, only 1-strength Banner cards can be played on an empty space under a castle space.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Players may play multiple consecutive Rainbow Bridges under a single castle space as part of a single 'Make a Rainbow Bridge' action, provided they complete the action by playing the following single Banner card in the sequence.