Photoshoot
Photoshoot Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 9 Character tiles, double-sided
- 10 blue Effect cards
- 4 orange Effect cards
- 50 Photo Objective cards
- 10 Camera tokens
- 1 score board
- 2 pawns
- 1 two-colour hourglass
Setup
- Randomly place the 9 Character tiles, white frame face up, in a 3 by 3 square.
- Place the score board beside them and set the 2 pawns on space 0.
- Shuffle the blue Effect cards and form a face-down pile. Do the same with the orange Effect cards. Place both piles near the score board.
- Place the Camera tokens below the score board.
- Place the face-down pile of Photo Objective cards and the hourglass beside the Character tiles, within reach of all players.
- For a game of 4 to 6 players, divide into 2 teams as equally as possible (it is fine to play 2 against 3).
- For a game of 2 or 3 players, all players play together (see the Cooperative Variant).
Object of the Game
The two teams compete over several rounds until one team reaches 25 points, which triggers the end of the game.
Choose the team that will start: it is the Photographer team for the first round. The members of the Photographer team sit facing the Character tiles. The other team is the Control team, responsible for checking that the Photographer team does not make mistakes.
The teams swap roles at the end of each round.
The Photographer Team
The goal of the Photographer team is to validate as many Photo Objectives as possible within a 1 minute 30 second hourglass.
To do this, the players of the team take turns clockwise, without consulting one another.
On their turn, a player performs one of the following two actions:
- Swap two characters, or
- Shout "Photo!" to validate a Photo Objective.
Swap two characters. The player may:
- Swap two adjacent characters (above, below, or beside each other, but not diagonally), or
- Swap two of the "girlfriends" (the three friends, see below), regardless of their initial position.
During this action, the players must always respect the effects of the Effect cards drawn during the game (see Adding Effects).
Shout "Photo!" to validate a Photo Objective when the Character tiles are correctly arranged, then reveal a new Photo Objective card.
Players may not consult one another. It is therefore strictly forbidden to communicate with teammates about which actions to take.
After a player's turn, it is the next player's turn, and so on until the hourglass runs out.
Example. Imagine the following sequence to achieve the Photo Objective shown:
- Step 1: The first player swaps Edgar the monkey and Alice the marmot in the usual way.
- Step 2: The second player swaps Alice the marmot and Olivia the squirrel, because they are girlfriends and do not need to be adjacent.
- Step 3: All the characters are now placed as on the Photo Objective. The next player shouts "Photo!" and reveals a new Photo Objective. The next player after that then makes the next swap, and so on.
The Three Girlfriends
Olivia the squirrel, Chloé the rabbit and Alice the marmot slip everywhere and swap places constantly! They are easy to recognise by their blue background.
The Control Team
The Control team manages the hourglass and turns it over at the start of each round.
The Control team checks that the Photographer team correctly applies the effects (see Effect Details). To keep time easily, make sure the colour of the Photographer team is always at the top of the hourglass once it has been turned over.
If an error is suspected, the Control team stops the hourglass and shows the error to the Photographer team:
- If there is an error, the action is cancelled and the Control team gains 1 Camera token.
- If there is no error, the action is validated and the Photographer team gains 1 Camera token.
Points gained are counted at the end of the round.
Then the Control team restarts the hourglass.
The following counts as a game error:
- Forgetting to apply an effect;
- Saying "Photo" when not all characters are correctly placed;
- Playing when it is not your turn;
- Talking about the actions to take during the game.
The following does NOT count as an error:
- If the player stops before making the error;
- If the player corrects their error before the Control team has said anything.
If an error was not noticed by the Control team and the Photographer team has already made one or more further swaps, the error is not taken into account and the round continues normally.
The Control team decides the degree of severity, bearing in mind that it becomes the Photographer team in the next round! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!
End of Round and Scoring
When the hourglass runs out, both teams count their points.
The Photographer team scores:
- 2 points per Photo Objective validated;
- 1 point per Camera token.
The Control team scores:
- 1 point per Camera token.
Advance each team's pawn on the score board. The two teams swap roles and a new round may begin.
Adding Effects
During the game, the teams draw Effect cards associated with the Character tiles and must apply them during their Photographer rounds. The Control team makes sure they do.
Several difficulty levels are available, indicating which type of Effect card to draw and when.
Depending on the level, Effect cards may be drawn:
- at the start of the game;
- from 5 points;
- from 15 points.
Precisions:
- Effect cards are not drawn during a round, but at the end of the round, when a team has passed the 5 or 15 point threshold.
- An effect only applies to the team that drew the Effect card. The teams therefore play with different effects.
- A team may pass the 5 or 15 point threshold during the other team's turn. It will then draw an Effect card before starting its Photographer round.
Difficulty Levels
For a first game, it is recommended to start with the base level to get familiar with the game.
When the teams wish, they may move up to a higher level to increase the difficulty.
Base Level
Both teams proceed in the same way:
- At the end of a round, when a team has reached at least 5 points of victory, it draws a blue Effect card.
- From then on, this team must apply the effect shown on the card during all its following Photographer rounds.
- At the start of each round, it must turn the Character tile to its black-frame side, visible, to remember that this tile has a special effect.
- At the end of a round, when a team has reached at least 15 points, it draws an orange Effect card and proceeds in the same way. The team must apply both effects during its following Photographer rounds, until the end of the game.
Other Levels
The other levels are played in the same way, with the following configurations (the dial diagrams show the Effect card placements for each level on the score gauge, from 0 to 25, with the 5 and 15 marks):
- Level 2: two blue cards (one near 0 and one near 5) and one orange card at 15.
- Level 3: one blue card near 0, one orange card near 5, and one orange card at 15.
- Level 4: one blue card near 0, two blue cards near 5, and one orange card at 15.
- Level 5: one blue card near 0, one blue card near 5, one orange card near 5, and one orange card at 15.
The list of levels is not exhaustive. Have fun!
Effect Details
Each character has its own quirks and has one or two effects that the Photographer team must apply if it has drawn the corresponding Effect cards.
Blue Effect Cards
Max the dog. Despite his bad-boy looks, Max has a tender heart and a great need for recognition.
- Each time Max is moved, the next player must stroke his tile before playing.
- When moving Max, the active player must say "Tout doux le chien!" ("Easy, good doggy!").
Olivia the squirrel. Olivia is a real live wire, always there to lighten the mood with a good joke.
- Before moving Olivia, the active player must slap the hand of the player after them.
- Before moving Olivia, the active player must applaud her.
Alice the marmot. A great party animal, Alice partied too hard last night and is badly short of sleep today.
- When moving Alice, her tile must remain in constant contact with the table.
- Before moving Alice, the active player must shake their neighbour to wake them up.
Pam the giraffe. Pam is always full of energy to motivate the troops. Stadium atmospheres are her speciality!
- When Pam is moved, the players of the team must do a Mexican wave ("une Ola").
- When moving Pam, the active player must ask "Eh! Je suis bien dans le cadre?" ("Hey! Am I in the frame?").
Edgar the monkey. Edgar is the most serious of them all, but with his advancing age he is often a little old-fashioned.
- When moving Edgar, the active player must smile while saying "Ouistiti" ("Monkey").
- When moving Edgar, the active player must ask "Tout le monde est prêt?" ("Is everyone ready?"). The whole team must answer him!
Orange Effect Cards
Jo the rhinoceros. You might take Jo for a tough guy, but he is simply terribly clumsy.
To move, Jo does not swap; instead he pushes all the characters in his row or column.
Note: Careful! He must always push a character and cannot push into empty space.
Chloé the rabbit. Chloé has balance problems due to her broken ear.
Chloé can only swap diagonally. She can always swap places with her two girlfriends.
Note: She can be pushed by Jo, if both effects are active at the same time.
Arthur the cat. Arthur does not trust Max the dog and prefers to keep his distance.
No movement may leave Arthur and Max side by side, but a diagonal is allowed.
Note: If at the start of a round the two characters are side by side, make a move to separate them before starting.
James the fox. James is in love with Olivia the squirrel and follows her everywhere.
James and Olivia must always remain side by side (orthogonally or diagonally).
Note: If at the start of a round the two characters are separated by more than a diagonal, make a move to bring them closer before starting.
The movement diagrams for Jo, Chloé, Arthur and James (allowed and forbidden moves) are illustrations of the text above and are not reproduced here.
End of Game
When a team reaches at least 25 points, it triggers the end of the game.
The game continues until both teams have played the same number of Photographer rounds. The team with the most points wins the game and the title of best Photographer team.
If both teams have the same number of points, a new game must be played to break the tie!
Want to spice up the game even further? Don't hesitate to move up to a higher level!
Cooperative Variant (2 to 3 Players)
With 2 or 3 players, you form a single Photographer team and play cooperatively. There is no Control team.
The normal game rules apply, with the following particularities:
- The game is played over 5 rounds, and the team must reach 25 points to win. The second pawn serves as a round counter on the score board.
- If one of you makes a game error, one of the players stops the hourglass:
- If the error is confirmed, the players draw a Camera token, which counts as a negative point at the end of the round.
- If the error is not confirmed, the team resumes the round as if nothing had happened.
- At the end of each round, the players count their points:
- 2 points per Photo Objective;
- -1 point per Camera token.
- Effects are added as in the normal game, starting, for the base level, with a blue effect when the team reaches 5 points and an orange effect when it reaches 15 points.
- After 5 rounds, if the team has reached 25 points, it wins the game and may move up to a higher level.
- If the team has not reached 25 points, it loses the game but may try its luck again!
Family Variant
For a simplified experience for younger players, you may adapt the base level by drawing only blue Effect cards.