Rebel Princess Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set-up
• Sequence of Play
• Playing the Game
  • Playing a Trick
  • Using the Power of a Princess
• Marriage Proposals
• End of the Game
• Round Cards
• Princess Cards

Components

• 12 Queen cards (numbered 1 to 12)
• 12 Fairy cards (numbered 1 to 12)
• 12 Pet cards (numbered 1 to 12, including the Frog, number 8)
• 12 Prince cards (numbered 1 to 12)
• 21 round cards
• 10 Princess cards*
• 1 scorepad

*There is a version of each Princess card in each of the 3 languages of the game. Use the cards in the language you play in, and keep the remainder in the box. You cannot play with 2 identical princesses.

Set-up

1. Attend the party. Prepare the deck with the cards of the 4 suits: Princes, Queens, Pets and Fairies. Depending on the number of players, the composition of the deck will be different.

   • For 3 players, leave numbers 1, 11 and 12 in the box.
   • For 4 / 5 players, leave numbers 11 and 12 in the box.
   • For 6 players, use all numbers.

2. Once the deck is prepared, shuffle the cards well and deal all of them equally among the players, face down.

3. Choose a princess. Each player chooses one of the available Princess cards and places it in front of them, face up and vertically. Each princess has a unique power for the entire game (see "Princess cards", below). The person who first makes their choice will be the starting player. If you prefer, give the princesses out at random. In this case, the last person who attended a wedding will start the game.

4. Organize the party. Choose 5 round cards (see "Round cards", below), and place them in a row in a visible place, face down. You can choose and arrange the 5 round cards as you want, or do it randomly.

   If this is your first game, we recommend the following combination of round cards: (1st) Once Upon a Time… / (2nd) Masquerade Ball / (3rd) Invitation / (4th) Royal Decree / (5th) Wedding Gift.

5. Leave the scorepad and pencil ready to one side.

Sequence of Play

A game of Rebel Princess is divided into 5 rounds. At the beginning of each round, flip the corresponding round card face up and read its effect in the "Round cards" section (below). Each round card triggers an effect that makes the round unique from the others. Then, give a number of cards from your hand to the player on your left or on your right as indicated on the round card. The exchange is simultaneous. You aren't allowed to see which cards you have received before giving yours!

The starting player then leads the first trick (see "Playing a trick", below). In every round, the number of tricks will match the number of cards you have in hand. When all the tricks have been played, the round is over and you score the marriage proposals you've obtained (see "Marriage proposals", below).

Once the round has ended:

1. Shuffle the cards and deal them all again.
2. Reactivate exhausted princesses (see "Princess cards", below).
3. Flip a new round card and read its effect.
4. The player who won the last trick starts the new round.

Playing the Game

Playing a Trick

For each trick, each player, starting with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, must play one card face up in plain sight. The first card played will be the leading suit and the other players must follow it, i.e. they must play a card of the same suit, if they have one. The player who cannot follow the suit may play any card of a different suit. This is called being "void".

When all the players have played a card, check who has won the trick. The player with the highest card of the leading suit wins the trick, picks up all the cards in that trick and puts them, face down, in front of them. Won tricks cannot be consulted before the end of the round. The player who won the trick becomes the starting player for the next one.

Warning! The princes are not invited to the party. Therefore, you cannot start a trick with a card from the Prince suit. Once a player who is "void" plays a prince (the Frog is not taken into account in this rule), the princes have sneaked into the party. From now on, the players are allowed to start the tricks with the Prince suit until the end of that round. In the event that a starting player only had Prince cards in their hand, they would be allowed to start the trick with one of them.

Using the Power of a Princess

Note: In your first game(s), you may ignore the Princesses' powers in order to learn the basics of the game.

At most once per round, a player can use their Princess's power if they wish (see "Princess cards", below). To do so, read it out loud and rotate your Princess card 90º until it is horizontal (she is considered exhausted). The power will be reactivated at the end of the round.

Example of a trick. In a 6-player game, Kevin plays a 3 of Queens. Now the leading suit is Queens and everyone must play cards of that suit, if they have any. Enric plays next, with a 4 of Queens, then Daniel, with a 7 of Queens. Gerardo has no Queens, so he's "void" and plays a 12 of Princes. Tirso has no Queens and uses a 9 of Fairies. Finally, Ren, who has no Queens either, plays the 8 of Pets, which is the Frog.

Daniel wins the trick, since, although there are higher values, he has the higher value of the leading suit. He takes all the cards from the trick. At the end of the round, this trick will count as 6 marriage proposals, 1 from the prince… and 5 from the Frog! Daniel will start the next trick.

Marriage Proposals

Once all the players have played their cards and the round is over, it's time to count the proposals. Each prince counts as 1 proposal. Also, the Pets suit conceals the Frog (number 8). It is very dangerous, because it is actually a bewitched prince. The player who has it scores 5 proposals.

All the cards that add proposals have a proposal icon next to its number. Once you have tallied how many proposals each player has accumulated, record them on the scorepad.

End of the Game

When all 5 rounds have been played, the party is over! It's time to take stock and see which princesses will get married in this story. The player with the fewest proposals will be the winner, and will rebel against the unwanted marriages! Ties are broken in favour of the player who has scored zero proposals in more rounds. If the players are still tied, they will share the victory.

Round Cards

Now you know the basics of the game. However, each round is governed by a different round card that imposes special rules that take precedence over the basic ones. In addition, the round cards also indicate how many cards you must exchange at the beginning of each round and in which direction.

Example. The symbol on the "Wedding Gift" card indicates that each player, before starting the round, must simultaneously give one card to the person on the right and another one to the person on the left.

You'll find a description of all the round cards ordered by complexity below. Read the corresponding card's text at the beginning of each round. If some effects happen at the beginning of the round, they will not change later by the use of Princesses' powers.

To quickly identify the round card, look at the letter that appears in the upper left corner of that card. You can choose the 5 round cards you want for your games, or select them at random. Cards with the special symbol are recommended for the 5th round, as they can cause a twist in the game that makes the ending more exciting.

Once Upon a Time… Initiation card; no additional rule.

Invitation. Initiation card; no additional rule.

Masquerade Ball. During this round, everyone, except the player who leads the trick, plays their cards face down, following the rest of the rules as normal. When everyone has played their card, flip them to determine the winner of the trick.

Royal Decree. Cards in the Queens suit will always win the trick. If there is more than one Queen card, the one with the highest value wins.

Musical Chairs. After each trick, every player passes a card face down from their hand to the player on the right, simultaneously.

Pets' Revenge. At the end of the round, Pet cards also score 1 proposal (and the Frog 6!).

Late to the Ball. Before the first trick, after exchanging cards, each player places a card from their hand face down in front of them. That card will be played in the last trick of the round, following the normal rules.

Poisoned Apple. During this round, when you're "void", you win the trick with the card you play. If more than one player is "void", the player with the highest number wins. The tie is broken in favour of whoever played their card last.

Crystal Clear. At the start of the round, every player chooses one of the suits in their hand and places all cards in that suit in front of them face up. The round will be played with those cards in plain sight. The revealed cards are still part of each player's hand and can be played as usual.

Upside Down. The number 6 of each suit inverts the hierarchy in the order of the cards for that trick, e.g. 12 would be the card with the lowest value and 1 the highest. This will only happen in a trick in which a 6 is played, and for every 6 that appears, the hierarchy will be reversed again.

Dancing Queens. When scoring the proposals, each player separates the Princes and the Queens that they have won in their tricks. If a Prince and a Queen match in number, they both count as 3 proposals. Couples that do not match in number, count as 2 proposals, and if a Prince cannot be assigned a Queen, 1 proposal, as usual.

The Prince Always Rings Twice. When all the players have played their cards, the trick continues and every player plays a second card, following the rules. To find out who wins the trick, add the value of the cards from the 2 leading suits. In case of a tie, whoever has played the highest card of the leading suit wins. If only one of the 2 cards is of the leading suit, the other one is not taken into account.

Wedding Gift. At the beginning of each trick, every player places a card from their hand face down in a pile that will be given to the winner of the trick. Therefore, in this round only half of the tricks will be played.

After-party. Every player divides their hand into two equal halves and sets one half face down. They'll first play one half of the hand, and then, the other half.

Bathroom Break. The princes score twice as many proposals, except for the player or players who have accumulated the highest number of proposals throughout the game.

Single Fairy. At the end of the round, each Fairy card you've won eliminates 1 proposal. In this round, you can score a negative number of proposals.

Blind Man's Bluff. Every player divides their hand into two equal halves and sets one half aside face down. Play one half of the hand first, and then, give the other half to the player on your right so that they can play it.

Midnight Makeover. Fairies act as a joker and can follow any suit. They can always be played, and you are not "void" as long as you have some. Whoever played the highest value (of the set suit or Fairies) wins the trick, and the tie is broken in favour of who played their card last. If a trick is started with a Fairy, the leading suit is Fairies.

Pass the Bouquet! Each card of a new suit leads. Example: player A leads with Queens. If player B has no Queens and plays a card from the Pets suit, now the leading suit is Pets and the other players must play Pets, if any, and the highest card of this last suit wins the trick.

Haggle with the Hag. When winning a trick, the player may exchange a card from their hand, which they must show, for a card from the trick. The card they recover from the trick cannot be the one they just played.

Odds and Evens. In addition to following the suit, you must play odd or even cards, matching the card that started the trick. If unable to comply with this rule, the established suit is still mandatory, but in the case of being "void", playing an odd or even card prevails again.

Princess Cards

Princess powers can be played once per round, when the Princess card is active (vertical). Rotate the Princess card 90º to show that you have used the power (she is considered "exhausted"). Although the powers are described on each card, they are explained in more detail below.

Cinderella: Everything Changes at Midnight. Before the next trick starts, she uses her power to reverse the hierarchy of numbers in this trick. Now 12 is the lowest card and 1 is the highest.

Snow White: Seven Dwarfs. When playing a 7 or lower, you may decide that this card counts as a zero.

The Little Mermaid: Hypnotic Song. Decide which suit the player who leads the trick has to play. If they don't have cards of that suit, they can play as usual. You cannot force the Prince suit to be played if a prince has not yet been played in that round (the Frog is not taken into account).

Pocahontas: Wilderness Guide. When you win a trick, choose another player to start the next one.

Sleeping Beauty: The Spindle of Fate. Before the next trick starts, every player, including you, chooses a card from their hand and gives it to you. Look at all these cards in secret, keep one and deal the rest randomly to the other players, without revealing them.

Alice: Chaotic Madness. Just after winning a trick that doesn't contain the Frog, you can shuffle the cards and deal them back to every player's hand (including your own).

Mulan: Camouflage. Before the trick is settled, once all the players have played their cards, you can swap the card you played for another of the same suit that you have in your hand, as long as it is not the Frog.

Scheherazade: Barter in the Bazaar. Before the next trick starts, take a card at random from any player's hand and swap it for one of your cards (or give it back to them).

The pea princess: Five More Minutes! When you play a card, the other players that haven't played yet in this trick have to play a number higher than 5, if they have one.

The ice princess: Freezing. Before a player starts a trick, they have to start with a random card from their hand. (If a prince is randomly chosen, they are considered to have already sneaked into the party in this round.)