Popcorn
Popcorn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 4 Starting Movie cards
- 44 Movie cards
- 1 Final Showing card
- 4 Player Aid cards
- 4 Cinema boards
- 12 Lobby sliders (3 per board) — represents the theatrical run of a movie and covers actions each turn
- 1 Features tile
- 1 Premiers tile
- 86 Popcorn tokens
- 4 Popcorn buckets
- 1 First Player marker
- 4 Audience cubes — indicates the number of Guests you draw each turn
- 26 Award cards — help you gain Popcorn at the end of the game
- 28 Theater tiles
- 2 Theater trophies — awarded to the most impressive theaters
- 43 Dollar tokens ($)
- 4 cloth bags
- 60 Guest pawns (20 white, 10 blue, 10 red, 10 yellow, 10 green)
- 1 Advertising board — lets you add new Guests to your bag between each Showing
- 12 Advertising tokens (3 per player)
- 50 double-sided score sheets
A Movie card shows the available Movie actions on the card, its cost to buy, and its Showing Bonus. The card's bottom-left part slides into the board when you buy it. There are 4 movie categories: red, blue, yellow, and green.
A Theater tile shows its seat number(s) and seat action symbols, and its cost to buy. There are 3 sizes of theaters: 1, 2, or 3 seats.
Overview and Goal
Popcorn is a bag-building game for 2 to 4 players. You each manage a movie theater and want to show the best movies to satisfy Guests, and also gain as much Popcorn as possible.
The game plays over around 9 rounds, each with 3 phases. In turn order, you may buy a movie, build a theater, and attract new Guests. Then, simultaneously, welcome your customers and seat them in your theaters. Optimize their seats to take the best actions, which will let you improve your cinema, influence your Guests, grow your audience, and gain money and Popcorn.
At the end of the last round, the player with the most Popcorn wins the game!
Table Setup
1. Movies
- Set aside the 4 Starting Movie cards. Shuffle the 44 other Movie cards and make 1 face-down deck in the center of the table.
- Slide the Final Showing card into the bottom of this deck so there is a certain number of cards under it: 2 players: 10 Movie cards | 3 and 4 players: 5 Movie cards.
- Place the Features tile in the center of the table, then the Premiers tile just above it.
- Reveal 3 Movie cards to the right of each of these 2 tiles, starting with Features.
2. Awards
- Shuffle the Award cards and make 1 face-down deck.
3. Advertising board and tokens
- Place the Advertising board between the Movie cards and Theater tiles.
- Place the Theater trophies (with 2 players, use only the "3 Popcorn" trophy), Dollar tokens, and Popcorn tokens near the Movie cards.
4. Theaters
- Sort the Theater tiles according to their backs to make 3 stacks (from left to right: 1, 2, and 3 seats).
- Reveal 3 tiles from each stack and place them in a column below the corresponding stack.
5. Guests
- Make a reserve in the center of the table with 2 Guests of each color (blue, red, green, and yellow). During Player Setup (on page 5), 1 of these Guests will be taken by each player.
- Set the remaining Guests aside. During Player Setup, players will each take 9 of these Guests as part of their 10 starting Guests in their bag.
Player Setup
1. Take 1 bag and 1 Cinema board and place the 3 Lobby sliders of your color on the corresponding spaces.
2. Take 1 Starting Movie card at random and slide it into the leftmost theater so the bottom row is completely covered. Move the slider on this theater so it covers the colored space in the bottom-left of the card. Return any unused Starting Movie cards to the box.
3.
- a. From those set aside, take 1 Guest of each color (except white), then place them in the exit zone of your board.
- b. From those set aside, take 1 Guest of each color and 5 white Guests, then add them to your bag. With 2 or 3 players, return any unused Guests to the box.
- c. Finally, add 1 Guest taken from the reserve in the center of the table that matches the color of your Starting Movie to your bag. At the start of the game, there should be 10 Guests total in your bag. In the center of the table, there should be 4 Guests with 4 players, 5 with 3 players, and 6 with 2 players.
4. Take 1 Audience cube and place it on the first space of the corresponding track on your board.
5. Take 3 Advertising tokens of your color.
6. Take 1 Popcorn bucket of your color: Put any Popcorn gained during the game inside it. During your first game, assemble the Popcorn buckets. You can leave them assembled in the box for later games.
7. The player who most recently went to a movie theater becomes the first player and places the First Player marker in front of them.
8. The first player takes $5, the player to their left takes $6, and, if applicable, the next players take $7 and $8 respectively.
9. Draw 2 Award cards, choose 1 without showing it to your opponents, and put the other under the deck (wait until you've read the rules to choose, see page 12).
Gameplay Overview
A round plays over 3 phases: Buying and Advertising, Showings, then End of Round. Play begins with the player with the First Player marker, then continues clockwise.
Phase 1 — Buying and Advertising
In this phase, each player takes a turn. On your turn, you may take these actions in any order (all these actions are optional):
- Buy a movie (Maximum 1 time per turn)
- Buy a theater (Maximum 1 time per turn). Note: You cannot take this action on your first turn.
- Activate Advertising tokens
Tip: Don't forget that you can take your actions in any order. Buy a movie before or after buying a theater to gain Showing bonuses, and activate your Advertising tokens before or after your actions to maximize your turn.
Buy a movie
To buy a movie, choose 1 Movie card from those available in the center of the table, pay its cost to the reserve, and show it in one of the theaters in your cinema. This is an optional action that you may take only once per turn maximum.
If you buy a movie from the Features row, its cost is as shown on the card.
If you buy a movie from the Premiers row, the cost is +$2 to what is shown on the card. When you buy a Premier movie, immediately gain 1 Guest of the movie's color from the reserve, and add it to your bag. If the reserve is empty, take it from any other player's exit zone. If there are none available, nothing happens.
As soon as you buy a movie, you must show it in your cinema.
- Place this movie in an empty theater (but with at least 1 seat)
OR
- Replace a movie already showing with this new movie. Keep the old movie next to your board; it is now in your archives.
Each time you show a new movie in a theater, move your Lobby slider just below the card, so that all the actions of the new movie are visible (you will move your slider one space per round: see Theatrical Run, page 10).
Note: Do not refill the rows of available movies after buying a card (see End of Round, page 10).
Showing Bonus
When you show a movie in a theater with the exact number of seats it requires, immediately gain the (lightning) bonus shown on the bottom of the card (see Action Descriptions, page 9).
You may show your movie in a theater with a different number of seats, but in this case you will not gain the bonus.
Buy a theater
Note: You cannot take this action on your first turn.
To buy a theater, choose 1 Theater tile from those available in the center of the table, pay its cost to the reserve, and place it in your cinema. This is an optional action that you may take only once per turn maximum.
Place this tile in any theater. You may replace an existing theater; simply put the replaced theater face down under the corresponding stack.
The first time you place a theater in your far-right space, gain 1 audience (see page 11).
Note: Immediately refill the columns of Theater tiles after you buy one with a theater of the same size, if possible. If there are none available, leave the slot empty.
Activate Advertising tokens
Certain Movie actions (represented by the megaphone symbol) will let you place Advertising tokens on spaces of the Advertising board. Use these tokens to manage the Guests in your bag and welcome new Guests to your cinema.
On your turn, you may take back some or all of your previously placed tokens from the Advertising board. (On your first turn, this action is not possible). For each token you take, you may decide to apply the corresponding effect (or take it back without applying the effect).
You may leave your tokens on the board from one turn to another.
Advertising board effects
- Colored Guest icon (yellow/green/red/blue): Take 1 Guest of this color from the reserve (or, if there aren't any, from any other player's exit zone) and add it to your bag. If there are none available, nothing happens.
- Multi-colored Guest icon: Choose 1 Guest color. Take 1 Guest of this color from the reserve (or, if there aren't any, from any other player's exit zone) and add it to your bag. If there are none available, nothing happens.
- White Guest icon: Take 1 white Guest from the reserve or your cinema (in a theater or in the exit zone), then add it to any player's bag (including your own). If there are none available, nothing happens.
Movie and Guest colors
Each color corresponds to a movie genre, and the color of each Guest represents their favorite genre. White Guests don't have a strong preference. Depending on their color, movies will have certain actions more often.
- Yellow: Comedies let you grow your audience more frequently.
- Green: Fantasy and sci-fi movies attract demanding Guests (and help you manage your bag and Guests).
- Blue: Drama and arthouse movies help you gain more money and Award cards.
- Red: Action movies let you gain Popcorn more easily.
Phase 2 — Showings
This phase may be completed by all players simultaneously. However, during your first game, we suggest still playing in turn order, to avoid making mistakes or to watch other players take their actions.
A. Open Cinema
Draw as many Guests from your bag as the number shown by the cube on your audience track at the bottom of your Cinema board (see page 11).
Tip: At the start of the game, until you increase your audience, 3 Guests will enter your cinema each Showings Phase.
Fill your bag
If you must draw Guests and your bag is empty, add all Guests in your exit zone to your bag, then continue drawing your remaining Guests. Only refill when you must draw and the bag is empty, never before.
Example: You need to draw 4 Guests, but there are only 2 left in your bag. First, you draw the 2 in your bag, then you place all Guests in your exit zone into your bag. Then you draw 2 more Guests.
Note: You can never look inside your bag. However, you may feel around to determine the number of Guests left inside.
B. Place Guests
After drawing your Guests, place them in your theaters as follows:
- You may only place Guests in theaters that are showing a movie.
- In each theater, place Guests in seat order (#1, then #2, etc.). You do not have to fill a theater before seating Guests in a different one.
- If you draw more Guests than there are available seats in your theaters showing a movie, place the extra Guests in the exit zone of your cinema.
Note: You may place a Guest on a seat of any color, but it's better to place them on gray seats or those of their color, and also in theaters with movies of their color.
Once all Guests are placed, continue to C. Seat and Movie Actions.
Example: You have 3 theaters with 2 seats. Since your audience is at 4, you draw 4 Guests. Then you may, among other potential solutions, place 1 Guest on seat #1 of the first 2 theaters and on both seats of the third theater (a), or completely fill 2 theaters and leave 1 theater entirely empty (b).
C. Seat and Movie Actions
Now is when you may activate your Guests. Move from theater to theater, in any order you choose. You must activate all Guests in a single theater, in ascending order of their seats, before moving to any other theater. When you activate a Guest, they do the following in order:
- Take 1 Seat action, if possible.
- Take 1 Movie action, if possible.
- Move to the exit.
Note: You are never required to take an action.
1. Seat Actions
Seat actions on gray seats may be taken by any Guest (white or any color).
Red, green, yellow, and blue Seat actions may only be taken by a Guest of the same color. When you take a Seat action, apply the effect shown on that seat (see Action Descriptions).
2. Movie Actions
A Guest may take an available Movie action in their theater only if the movie showing matches their color.
Note: Movie actions are shown on the left of the card. The slider will cover one each round, making them unavailable (see Theatrical Run, page 10, and actions to the right).
Note: Each Movie action on a card may only be taken once per round. If you take all actions on a Movie card, you cannot take any more Movie actions in that theater this round.
Example: In your first 2-seat theater, a yellow movie is showing that only has 2 actions right now (see Theatrical Run, page 10). There are 2 yellow Guests in this theater. The Guest in seat #1 gives you $1 (Seat action) and takes 1 of the two available Movie actions (gain 1 Popcorn). The Guest in seat #2 then takes their Seat action: Take 1 Movie action. They take the final available action on this Movie card, which lets you put a Guest back in your bag. After this, there are no more available Movie actions in this theater for this turn.
Therefore, a Guest may take 1 Seat action and 1 Movie action each turn (or only 1 action, or sometimes even none at all).
3. Exit
After activating each Guest, move them to your exit zone. Once all theaters in all cinemas are empty, continue to Phase 3 — End of Round.
If the Final Showing card was revealed on the previous round, continue to End of the Game instead (see page 11).
Action Descriptions
- $X (gold coin icon): Gain the corresponding number of $.
- Popcorn X icon: Gain the corresponding number of Popcorn and place them in your bucket.
- Guest with arrow from exit zone: Choose 1 Guest in your exit zone and add it to your bag.
- Guest with arrow from bag to seat: Draw 1 Guest from your bag and place it on a seat that hasn't yet been activated this showing. If you place it on a seat that already has a Guest, move the replaced (and unactivated) Guest to your exit zone.
- Movie card (4 colors) icon: Use 1 available Movie action on the movie showing in this theater that hasn't been used yet this round.
- Guest with red X: Choose 1 Guest in your cinema (in a theater or your exit zone, but not in your bag) and place it in the reserve.
- +1 ticket icon: Move your audience cube 1 space to the right (see page 11).
- Award ribbon icon: Draw 2 Award cards, keep 1 without showing it to your opponents, then place the other face down under the deck (see page 12).
- Megaphone icon: Place 1 of your Advertising tokens on the corresponding space of the Advertising board. There is no limit to the number of tokens that can be on the same space.
Phase 3 — End of Round
Theatrical Run
Turn after turn, week after week, all movies showing in your theater will have a shorter theatrical run. Move your Lobby sliders 1 space up on each of your Movie cards, covering 1 more action in each of your theaters. These actions will no longer be available in future rounds.
You may continue showing a movie in your cinema even if it no longer has available actions. You may still place Guests in its theater to take Seat actions.
New Lineup
- Return all Features remaining in the center of the table (bottom row) to the box.
- Slide all remaining Premiers (top row) down, vertically, to the Features row (bottom row).
- Draw new movies to fill the Features row, then the Premiers row so there are 3 movies per row.
- If you reveal the Final Showing card, set it aside and continue drawing normally. It's possible there will not be enough cards to fill the Premiers row. If this happens, there will be fewer choices in the next round.
- Pass the First Player marker to the left. Begin a new round starting with Phase 1 — Buying and Advertising.
Example of a round
1. Buying and Advertising: Orson knows he has only 2 Guests left in his bag and will draw 5.
He buys "French Kiss" from the Trailers row. He pays $5 ($3+$2) and wins a Guest. There are no more in the reserve, so he takes it from another player's exit zone and adds it to his bag. He replaces the Film in a 1-seat theater, which gives him the Showing bonus: he wins a 2nd Guest.
He buys a 2-seat theater and places it in the theater where he just put "French Kiss". He decides to retrieve 1 of his Advertising tokens from the board to take 1 Guest from the reserve.
2. Showings: Orson draws 5 Guests. These include the 2 Guests and the Guest recovered this turn, as well as 2 more. He places them as follows:
Orson begins by resolving theater #2: the Guest can't carry out the blue Seat action, but can do 1 of the 3 green Movie actions before exiting. In theater #3, only the Guest from Seat #2 can activate their seat (grey), but to do so, a Guest must have been unnecessarily placed on Seat #1 (red). In theater #1, the Guest in Seat #1 can do their Seat action and a Movie action (everything is yellow), the 2nd Guest can do their Seat action (gray) which is to do a Movie action. They can also do a 3rd Movie action, as they are the same color as the movie. Orson therefore performs 3 of the 4 Movie actions available.
Audience Track
Your audience represents the number of Guests who visit your cinema each week.
At the start of the game, you have an audience of 3, so you will draw 3 Guests from your bag each round.
Use the +1 action to grow your audience and welcome more Guests each week.
Each time you grow your audience, move your cube on the track to show your new audience size. Once you reach a number, during each Open Cinema step, you will draw the corresponding number of Guests. In addition, each time you reach a space with an action, you may immediately take it (you cannot save it for later).
Example: You take a +1 action that lets you move your Audience cube from space 5 to the space showing the $3 action. You immediately take $3 from the reserve. You will continue to draw 5 Guests until you reach space 6.
Tip: Once you reach space 7 on the audience track, gain 1 Popcorn each time you take the +1 action.
End of the Game
Once the Final Showing card is revealed, the end of the game is triggered.
Players will place Guests one last time for the final round of the game.
Before final scoring, place all the Guests in your bag and cinema in front of you. Then move all movies still showing in your cinema to your archives.
Each player counts the final amount of Popcorn they gained:
- Bucket: Reveal the contents of your bucket and count the Popcorn you gained during the game.
- Money: Gain 1 Popcorn for every $5 you have.
- Theater trophies: Count the total cost of your 3 theaters. The player(s) with the highest cost gain(s) the first Theater trophy (5 Popcorn with 3 or 4 players, 3 Popcorn with 2 players). With 3 or 4 players, if there is not a tie for first place, the second highest gains the second Theater trophy (3 Popcorn).
- Award cards: Reveal your seals and gain the corresponding Popcorn, if any (see page 12).
Important: You can treat Advertising tokens on colored Guest spaces as virtual Guests that count toward completing your Award cards! You may want to leave your Advertising tokens on the board on your final turn—this is a Guest that no one can steal from you. If you have a token on the multi-color space, before revealing your Award cards, move it to a Guest space of any color.
Note: If you decide to count these Guests, they count for all awards (including those that require you to have the fewest possible).
During final scoring, if you have a token on the white-Guest space, you may return 1 of your white Guests to the reserve (as if it were a megaphone action). This may help you complete certain awards.
The player with the most Popcorn wins! In case of a tie between 2 or more players, the one with the fewest archived movies wins. If there is still a tie, tied players share the victory.
Awards
Awards let you gain Popcorn only when you score them at the end of the game. In addition to the award you received at the start of the game, each time you take the Award action, draw 2 Award cards, choose 1 without showing it to your opponents, and put the other face down under the deck. The same element (Guest, seat color, movie, etc.) may be used to fulfill conditions for multiple awards.
- For each pair of 1 red movie and 1 blue movie, gain 2 Popcorn.
- If you have 0 white Guests, gain 7 Popcorn. If you have 1 or 2, gain 4.
- For each pair of 1 green seat and 1 yellow seat, gain 3 Popcorn (seats can be in different theaters).
- For each set of 4 movies of different colors, gain 4 Popcorn.
- For each movie that costs $0 or $1, gain 1 Popcorn (Starting Movies do not count).
- If you have 6 or fewer Guests (no matter which colors) at the end of the game, gain 5 Popcorn. If you have 7 or 8, gain 3 Popcorn.
- For each pair of 1 green Guest and 1 red Guest, gain 2 Popcorn.
- For each 3-seat theater in your cinema, gain 2 Popcorn.
- For each set of 2 blue Guests, 2 blue movies, and 2 blue seats, gain 4 Popcorn.
- For each set of 2 Guests of each color (red, green, yellow, and blue), gain 5 Popcorn.
- If your audience is greater than or equal to 6, gain 4 Popcorn.
- For each set of 4 movies of the same color (red, green, yellow, or blue), gain 5 Popcorn.
Credits
- Designer: Victor Saumont
- Illustrator: Emilien Rotival
- Project Manager: Florent Baudry
- Graphic Designer: Cindy Roth
- Editor: Xavier Taverne
- Translator: Danni Loe
- Proofreader: William Niebling
Special thanks from the designer for hours of playtesting:
Gwen <3, Aymeric, Tidou & Aldine, Elie, my fellow designers at L.E.A.F – Alain, Oussama, François, Chris, Ludovic, Turtle, Antoine, Louis, Fabien, Stéphanie, Mathieu, Vincent, Yann, Olivier, Raphaël, Arnaud, Matt, Guillaume and Emilien, my friends from C.A.J.O – Julien & Xavier, occasional playtesters – Antoine & Marie, Clément, Benny & Yu, Fred & Aline, Manu & Michèle, Gauthier & Fred, Thomas & Noé, Arnaud & Inès, Juani, Fleur, Philippe, Baptiste, Jérôme, Ben, Mathias, Théo, Benoît, and all the other generous players I met at festivals during the years of development.