Postcards Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Goal of the Game
• Game Turn
  • Taking an Action
  • Sticking a Stamp
  • Sending Postcards
  • End of Turn
• End of the Game
  • Triggering the End of the Game
  • Final Scoring
  • Itinerary Cards
  • Example of Final Scoring
• Solo Mode
  • Setup
  • Rules
  • Sticking a Stamp
  • Taking an Action
  • Sending Postcards
  • End of the Game
• Effects
• Gift Cards
• Credits

Components

• 13 Itinerary cards
• 60 Stamp/Souvenir tokens (front: Stamp; back: Souvenir)
• 4 Movement tokens
• 72 Travel cards
• 52 postcards
• 25 Gift cards
• 1 First Player token
• 1 End Game Bonus token
• 1 central board

For each player:

• 1 Bicycle pawn and 1 plastic stand
• 1 score marker
• 13 Camp tokens
• 1 player board

Setup

1. Place the central board in the middle of the table.
2. Shuffle the Gift cards and place the deck face down on the dedicated space. Draw 3 Gift cards and place them face up below the deck.
3. Shuffle the Travel cards and place the deck face down on the dedicated space. Draw 5 Travel cards and place them face up next to the deck.
4. Place the Stamp/Souvenir tokens on the central board in the dedicated space, to form a supply.
5. Each player takes a player board and places the 13 Camp tokens of their color on it.

Decide together whether you will all use side A or B of the player board. Side A has 3 fixed effects, whereas Side B allows you to choose the effects (see the Effects section below). For your first game, we recommend using side A.

6. Place the score markers on the 0 space of the score track.
7. Shuffle the Itinerary cards and give one to each player. Each player places their Bicycle pawn on the region indicated in the top-left corner of their Itinerary card. The remaining Itinerary cards are removed from the game.
8. Each player receives 5 Travel cards from the deck to form their starting hand, and 1 random postcard, non-illustrated side up.
9. Shuffle the postcards and place the deck, illustrated side up, above the board. Draw 3 postcards and place them next to the deck, illustrated side up.
10. Place the End Game Bonus token and the Movement tokens at the bottom right of the central board.
11. Randomly determine the first player. They take the First Player token, which they keep for the entire game. This player now becomes the active player.

Goal of the Game

During a game of Postcards, you will need to move your bicycle across the country, set up camps, and collect postcards to send to your loved ones. Setting up camps will allow you to write down memories that will earn you various bonus effects, while sending postcards will give you points and valuable gifts!

Game Turn

During your turn, you must play 3 Travel cards from your hand. For each card played, you must choose between Taking an Action or Sticking a Stamp. Play each card one at a time in front of you to keep track of how many you have played. At the end of your turn, discard all your played Travel cards.

Taking an Action

The action of a Travel card is defined by its symbol. There are 3 types: Movement, Postcard, and Camp. When taking an action, the color of the card is ignored.

• Movement action (bicycle icon): Move your Bicycle pawn to a region adjacent to the one you are in.

  Regions that share a common border are adjacent.

  Example: Occitanie (Region 8) is adjacent to Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Region 9), so the yellow player can move there.

• Postcard action (postcard icon): Take an available postcard. You may choose the top postcard from the deck or 1 of the 3 postcards next to it. Before taking a postcard, you may discard the 3 next to the deck and draw 3 new ones to replace them. When you take a postcard next to the deck, immediately fill the empty space with the top postcard from the deck.

  The number in the upper-left corner of a postcard indicates its region. The one in the upper-right corner indicates the amount of stamps required to send that postcard.

• Camp action (tent icon): Take the leftmost available Camp token from your player board and place it on an available campsite in the region you are in. If its type matches an available Souvenir space on one of your postcards, you may take a Souvenir token from the supply and place it on that Souvenir space. This immediately grants you an effect (see the Effects section below).

  Example: The yellow player plays a card and places a camp at the Beach. This allows them to place a Souvenir token on a matching Souvenir space on this postcard and gain the effect.

  There can only be 1 Camp token per campsite and you can only place 1 Souvenir token per Camp action.

  You can place a Camp token on a campsite even if you don't have an available Souvenir space that matches it. However, when doing so, you don't place a Souvenir token.

  Certain Camp tokens on your player board will also grant you an immediate effect when you place them.

  Example: When placing their 7th camp, the yellow player immediately gains the effect.

  Note: When you gain an effect, you may decide not to use it. Effects may only be used on the turn you gain them.

  If you gain multiple Movement effects (bicycle icon) during your turn, you can use the Movement tokens to help you track your extra movements. Return the tokens to the central board as you use them. Any unused tokens are also returned at the end of your turn.

THE BEST TRAVELER IN THE REGION! If a player manages to place their Camp tokens on ALL the campsites in a region, they become known as the best traveler in that region! That player immediately scores 1 point per Camp token they have placed there.

Example: Here, the yellow player has managed to place camps on all the campsites in Hauts-de-France (Region 2). Therefore, they immediately score 5 points.

Sticking a Stamp

Any Travel card can be used to place a stamp. When sticking a stamp, the symbol on the card is ignored.

Take a Stamp token from the supply and place it on an available Stamp space, on any of your postcards, that matches the color of the Travel card you played.

Example: By playing a green card, the player can place a Stamp token on a green Stamp space on one of their postcards.

You can play 2 Travel cards of your choice to act as any other Travel card. This counts as 2 Travel cards towards your total of 3 Travel cards played.

Note: You can play an extra Travel card for each plus-icon effect you gain during your turn (see the Effects section below).

Sending Postcards

In addition to playing your 3 Travel cards, you can send a postcard at any time during your turn if:

• all the Stamp spaces on that postcard are filled, AND
• you are in the region indicated on that postcard

Example: Here, the yellow player is currently in Occitanie (Region 8) and their corresponding postcard is fully stamped. They can now send this postcard!

When sending a postcard, return all tokens on it to the supply, then immediately score the points indicated in its bottom-right corner and choose 1 Gift card. Finally, flip the card to reveal its illustration. It's sent!

Note: You can send multiple postcards during your turn.

Example: By sending this postcard, the player scores 10 points and chooses 1 Gift card. The postcard is then flipped to show that it has been sent.

GIFT CARDS: When you send a postcard, choose a face-up Gift card and place it in front of you. Then fill the empty space with a new card from the deck. For detailed explanations on the different types of Gift cards, see the Gift Cards section below.

End of Turn

At the end of your turn, draw new Travel cards until you have 5 total in hand. You can take face-up cards, draw from the top of the deck, or both. After completing your hand, fill any empty spaces on the board with new cards from the deck. Then the next player in clockwise order takes their turn.

Note: If, at any point, a deck is empty, shuffle its discard pile to form a new deck.

End of the Game

Triggering the End of the Game

The player who first sends 4 postcards immediately receives the End Game Bonus token and the game continues until the last player has played their turn. When that round is complete, proceed to final scoring.

Final Scoring

In addition to the points they scored during the game, each player adds the following to their score:

• The points scored from their Itinerary card
• 1 point for each of their unsent postcards
• The points scored from Gift cards

The player who received the End Game Bonus token scores 3 additional points.

The player with the most points wins the game! In case of a tie, the player who sent the most postcards wins. If there's still a tie, the player who placed the most Camp tokens wins. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.

Itinerary Cards

The random Itinerary card you receive at the beginning of the game gives you an objective to complete. It is not mandatory to complete your Itinerary card, but it can give you valuable extra points! Each Itinerary card shows the player's starting region and, at the bottom, a set of postcard regions with the points earned per postcard sent.

At the end of the game, if you have sent 1/2/3/4 postcards that match the regions shown at the bottom of the card, you score 2/4/7/11 points.

You may send multiple postcards from the same region, but each region on your Itinerary card only counts once towards the objective. To score the maximum amount of points, you must send postcards from all 4 different regions!

Example of Final Scoring

• This player has sent 4 postcards, 3 of which correspond to their Itinerary card (Regions 3, 5 and 8). They score 7 points.
• The postcard they didn't send scores them 1 point.
• The 2 Snow Globe Gift cards score them 6 points.
• Having placed 4 Camp tokens on Beach campsites, the Keychain Gift card scores them 10 points.
• Having been the first player to send 4 postcards, they gained the End Game Bonus token, which scores them 3 points.

Their total is: 7 + 1 + 6 + 10 + 3 = 27 points. These points are added to the 32 points they scored during the game. The player finishes with 59 points.

Solo Mode

Postcards can also be played solo! In this solo mode, you play against a fictitious opponent – the Automa – which behaves like a real opponent.

Setup

Set up the game the same way as for a regular game. The Automa is set up just like a real player, except that it does not receive Travel cards. Randomly determine whether you or the Automa are the first player. Choose the difficulty of the Automa before starting the game; this will determine how many Travel cards the Automa plays on its turn.

• Easy = 3 cards
• Normal = 4 cards
• Expert = 5 cards

Rules

• Player's turn: Your turn proceeds as in a regular game.

• Automa's turn: During its turn, the Automa will play face-up Travel cards from the central board. Depending on the chosen difficulty level, it will play between 3 and 5 cards. The cards are played one by one, in order, from left to right. As soon as a card is played, it is discarded.

• Automa's priorities: The Automa's priorities are defined by its Itinerary card. Whenever the Automa makes a "choice", it prioritizes the postcard from the first region indicated on its Itinerary card. If it doesn't have a postcard from that region, it checks if it has one from the second region, and so on.

  Example: With this Itinerary card, the Automa will always prioritize a postcard from Region 2. If it does not have a postcard from Region 2, it will choose a postcard from Region 8, and so on.

  The Automa applies this order of priority whenever it is Sticking a Stamp, performing a Postcard action, or performing a Camp action.

Sticking a Stamp

When the Automa plays a Travel card located to the left of the notebook binding, it places a stamp. It looks for an available Stamp space on its postcards that matches the color of the Travel card, choosing a postcard based on its priorities. If the Automa has no matching available Stamp space, it plays the action for that card instead.

Example: The Automa plays the first face-up Travel card, which is yellow. It therefore places a stamp on a yellow Stamp space on one of its postcards that matches its Itinerary card. It currently has postcards for Regions 8 and 12. There is no yellow space on Postcard 8, so it places the stamp on Postcard 12.

Taking an Action

When the Automa plays a card located to the right of the notebook binding, it performs an action. If the Automa cannot perform the action, it places a stamp instead.

• Movement action: The Automa places its Bicycle pawn in the region indicated by the top postcard of the deck. The Automa does not need to be adjacent to a region when moving. If the Automa is already in that region, it places a stamp instead.

• Postcard action: The Automa takes the leftmost available postcard based on its priorities. If no postcard matches those on its Itinerary card, it discards the 3 postcards next to the deck and replaces them; then takes one, still according to its priorities. If there is still no matching postcard it can take, it takes the top postcard from the deck (no matter which region it is from). If the Automa cannot take a postcard, it places a stamp instead.

  Note: The Automa cannot have more than one postcard (sent or unsent) for a region on its Itinerary card.

• Camp action: The Automa places a Camp token in the region it is in. It chooses an available campsite that matches a type on its postcards. First, it chooses a postcard based on its priorities, then it looks for an available Souvenir space from top to bottom. It takes a Souvenir token from the supply and places it on that Souvenir space. The Automa immediately gains the corresponding effect. If the Automa cannot place a Camp token, it places a stamp instead.

  Note: If the Automa gains the plus-icon effect, it does not apply the effect. Instead, it immediately scores 2 points.

  If the Automa cannot place a stamp or perform an action, the Travel card is considered played and is discarded.

Sending Postcards

As soon as the Automa has filled all the Stamp spaces on a postcard, it sends that postcard immediately, no matter which region it is in. Discard all tokens from that postcard, then flip it over. The Automa immediately scores the points for that postcard and takes the first face-up Gift card.

Note: The Automa does not play Gift cards. Instead, each one it holds is worth 3 points at the end of the game.

End of the Game

You and the Automa follow all the same rules as described in the End of the Game section above (except for Gift cards – see the note above). Whoever has the most points wins!

You can add several Automas to your solo games or even include one or more in your multiplayer games!

Effects

• Bicycle icon: Perform a Movement action (see the Game Turn section above).
• Postcard icon: Perform a Postcard action (see the Game Turn section above).
• Tent icon: Perform a Camp action (see the Game Turn section above).
• Stamp icon: Immediately place a Stamp token from the supply on any available Stamp space on one of your postcards.
• Star icon (X): Immediately score X points.
• Plus icon: You can play an additional Travel card during your turn.

When using side B of the player board, each time you benefit from a star icon, you can choose between: a Movement effect (bicycle icon), a Postcard effect (postcard icon), or placing 1 Stamp (stamp icon).

Gift Cards

• Car — When you use it: perform up to 3 extra Movement actions during your turn.
• Caravan — At the end of the game: score 2 points for each region in which you have at least 2 camps.
• Hiking Guide — When you use it: draw the top 5 postcards from the deck. Keep 2 and discard the other 3.
• Keychain — At the end of the game: if you have 1/2/3/4/5/6 camps on this type of campsite, score 1/3/6/10/14/20 points.
• Road Map — When you use it: move your Bicycle pawn to a region adjacent to the one you are in. Then you may place a Camp token on an available campsite in the region you moved to.
• Snow Globe — At the end of the game: if you have 1/2/3/4 Snow Globe cards, score 3/6/12/18 points.
• Stamp Collection — When you use it: immediately place up to 2 Stamp tokens from the supply on any available Stamp spaces on any of your postcards.

Gift cards with the lightning-bolt icon can be used at any point during your turn. Once you use a lightning-bolt card, discard it.

Gift cards with the bell icon are scored at the end of the game and give you extra points.

Credits

Designers: Éric Dubus & Simon Kayne Art director: Quentin Saint-Georges Graphic designer: Quentin Saint-Georges Illustrator: Crocotame Publisher: Jeux Synapses Games Inc. Proofreader: Harriet Cooper for The Geeky Pen Thanks to: Raphaël Alcantara, Jean François Belvoix, Stéphane Gérard, Olivier Melison, Georgina Parsons, Jonhatan Picard, Board Game Shot.

© 2025 Jeux Synapses Games Inc. No part of this product may be reproduced without the written consent of: Jeux Synapses Games Inc., 37 rue Claude, Pointe-des-Cascades, QC J0P 1M0, Canada. www.jeuxsynapsesgames.com — @jeuxsynapsesgames