Noxford
Noxford Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Material
- 40 Syndicate cards: 10 per player, including 1 Master, 2 Lieutenants, 3 Toughs and 4 Punks.
- 15 Neutral cards: 12 Rich Districts, 3 Barracks.
Set Up
Each player takes the 10 cards of a Syndicate (same color), and extracts the Master he lays down face up in front of him. He mixes the 9 remaining cards and draws 3: these are his starting hand, hidden from other players.
Mix the 15 Neutral cards and place this deck on the side of the playing surface. Draw the first two cards, then arrange them side by side in the center of the playing area, so that two of their edges are aligned. Then reveal the next 3 Neutral cards and place them next to the deck, so they are visible to the players.
The first player is determined randomly. The game can begin.
Sequence of a Turn
On his turn, a player must perform one action to choose from the following two:
1 - Place a Syndicate card from his hand or a visible Neutral card adjacent to cards already in play.
To do this, a card must be placed in order to touch at least two cards already in play, and must have at least two edges aligned on the edges of the cards that it touches. In addition, a card cannot be placed outside of your playing area (the table!).
The well-placed cards touch two other cards, and each has two of its edges aligned on edges of the cards it touches. A poorly placed card may have two edges aligned but touch only one card, or it may touch two other cards while only one of its edges is aligned — both are illegal placements.
2 - Place a Syndicate card over another Syndicate card.
To do this, the card must be of a strictly greater rank than the one it covers. Players have four types of cards:
- Master (rank 4)
- Lieutenant (rank 3)
- Tough (rank 2)
- Punk (rank 1)
Attention, a card with its four edges in contact with other cards cannot be covered.
The Syndicate Master
The Master of each player is placed in front of him at the beginning of the game. Instead of playing a card from his hand or a Neutral card, a player can choose to put his Master in play. It must be placed following the same placement rules than other cards.
Finally, a Master is worth twice when counting majorities.
Neutral Cards
Among the Neutral cards, there are District cards and Barrack cards.
District cards are the cards that players will try to control at the end of the game. Each District card contains 1, 2 or 4 symbols. At the end of the game, players score as many points as the number of symbols on the District cards they control, with a bonus for the symbol of the favorite field of their Syndicate.
To control a District, a player must have more Syndicate cards in contact with this card than other players.
Barrack cards cancel all Syndicate cards which they are in contact with during the majorities count.
Gear Cards
Among Syndicate cards and Neutral cards are Gear cards. When a player places a Gear card in play, he can immediately move another card already in play to the place of his choice (adjacent to other cards, or over another card if it is a Syndicate card), respecting the placement rules described above. You cannot move a card if this action isolates one or more cards from the rest of the city.
Attention you cannot move a card if its four edges are in contact with other cards.
If the moved card is a Gear card, its effect is not applied. When multiple cards are stacked, only the visible one can be moved. Finally a Master card can never be moved.
End of Turn
- If a player has placed a Neutral card during his turn, he reveals a new one from the deck so that 3 are visible again.
- If he played a Syndicate card from his hand, he draws a new one in order to have 3 in hand again.
It is then the next player turn.
End of Game
The game ends when a player plays his last Syndicate card. The game ends immediately. Count the victory points by this procedure:
- For each Barrack card, turn face down the Syndicate cards that are in contact with it. These cards will be ignored when counting the majorities.
- For each District card, determine the player who has more Syndicate cards in touch with it than other players. Masters are worth twice. This player wins the District and place the card in front of him. In case of ties, the District is not controlled by anyone. Turn it face down.
- Each player gains 1 victory point per symbol on District card he won, and 2 additional victory points for each symbol of his favorite field. This symbol is shown on the Master card.
- The player with the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, the player who controls the most District cards wins. In case of a tie, the players share the victory.
Example of Scoring
- The Barrack cancels two orange cards including the Master: both cards are turned face down.
- Around the District with 4 icons, there are 3 cards: the blue Master (which is worth double) and 2 orange cards. Both players are tied, the District is controlled by no one, and the card is turned face down.
- Around the District with 2 icons, there are 3 blue cards and 2 orange cards. The blue player has the majority, so he takes the card in front of him. As this card has his favorite symbol, he gets 4 points (2 points because it has 2 symbols + 2 points since it includes his favorite symbol).