Ren Faire
Ren Faire Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Ren Faire is a light-hearted card game for 2 to 4 players, ages 13 and up. Play time is about an hour.
In addition to these rules, the game includes 110 cards:
- 1 opaque Costume Shoppe cover card
- 4 opaque Character cards
- 50 opaque Performance cards
- 55 transparent Costume cards
You’ll also need a pile of pennies or other tokens, some paper and a pen or pencil, and a watch or clock with a second hand.
Setup
First, put the coins in the center of the table; this is the purse, and spent coins go back into this pile. Players start the game with 2 coins each, taken from the purse.
Find the opaque Costume Shoppe cover card and the 4 Character cards. Each player chooses a Character card and puts it face up on the table in front of herself; set aside any extra Characters.
Sort the rest of the cards into 2 decks: one made up of the opaque Performance cards and another with the transparent Costume cards. Shuffle each deck and place face down in the center of the table, then put the Costume Shoppe cover card on top of the Costume deck so the cards underneath are hidden.
Draw 3 Costume cards and place them face up in a line near the Costume Shoppe deck. These 3 cards make up the Shoppe Window.
Finally, deal 3 Performance cards to each player; this is your hand and you can look at it whenever you like, but keep it hidden from other players. Your default hand size is always 3, unless it’s modified during the game (as happens when you get matching Costume icons).
A discard pile will form next to each deck during the game; re-shuffle these back into the decks if you run out of cards.
Game Play
Your goal is to be the first to outfit your Character completely, by getting at least 3 Costume cards whose icons fill the slots on the side of your Character card. With 2 players, you must fill all 6 slots; 3 players use 5 slots; and 4 players need 4 slots.
To do this, you play Performance cards that award coins for doing silly stunts, then use your coins to buy the transparent Costume cards that stack on top of each other above your Character. To count, the Costume icons have to be visible; ones covered up by other icons or by null spaces on top of them don’t count.
The game starts with the person with the worst fashion sense, and turns go clockwise from there. On your turn, take any 2 actions, choosing from these 3 options: play a Performance, buy a Costume, or discard & draw up. You can take the same action twice if you like.
Play a Performance (Action)
Use an action to choose a Performance card from your hand and read it out loud first, then follow the directions on it. After you’ve resolved the card, discard it. Do not draw a new one.
Performance cards are chances to earn coins, and can also either help you or hurt you in your search for the perfect costume.
Performance cards give either an Effect that impacts all the players, or a Task that’s performed by just a few players before its Reward or Penalty is given out. Rewards go to players who succeed at the Task, and Penalties are given to those who fail.
Breaking Ties
If no one succeeds or fails at a Task, or on a tie, the Performance card is discarded with no Reward or Penalty given out, unless it says otherwise.
Wording & Judging
A Performance card always calls the person who played it “you.” Cards that say “choose a player” mean the player who drew it can choose herself, but those saying “choose another player” have to be assigned to someone else.
Arguments about a card’s text are settled by group consensus, unless otherwise specified by the card. (If you really can’t decide, consider it a tie.)
Extended Performances
Performances that are Extended mean some part of the card’s action happens after your turn. Do as much of the card as you can when you play it, then place it face up near the Character card of the player the Extended portion affects.
When the trigger condition is later met or the card expires, immediately follow the card’s remaining directions (if there are any) and then discard it. This delayed part of the card’s action doesn’t count as anyone’s turn. You may find it helpful to place coins on some Extended Performances as counters for rounds as they pass, or to track any other progress.
Taunting
Laughing, heckling, and teasing players while they try to finish their Task is encouraged, as long as you don’t touch them or get in their way.
Buy a Costume (Action)
Use an action to spend 3 of your coins to buy a Costume card, or 1 coin for a Costume card with a null space.
You can take any 1 of the 3 cards in the Shoppe Window, then immediately replace it with a new one from the Costume Shoppe deck. If you don’t like what’s in the Shoppe Window, you can instead draw randomly from the Costume Shoppe deck, but this costs you 3 coins even if you draw one with a null space.
Immediately place the Costume either on your Character card or on that of another player, on top of any other Costumes it already has. Don’t rearrange the Costumes on the Character unless a Performance card lets you.
Costumes give you the icons you need to win the game.
Costume Slots & Icons
The 6 Costume slots are: Head, Left Hand, Right Hand, Chest, Legs, and Feet. The 9 Costume icons that go in these slots include: Faerie, Jester, Knight, Lady, Lord, Pirate, Scot, Wench, and Wizard; a null space doesn’t count as an icon.
Multiple Icons & Null Spaces
Some Costumes have more than one icon, but these are rare. On the other hand, some only have a blank white circle where its icon should be — this is called a null space. A null space covers up and cancels out the icon underneath without actually giving you a new one, and doesn’t count toward winning or increasing your hand size.
Matching Costumes & Hand Size
Your hand size starts at 3 cards. If your Character has 2 of the same icon showing (even if given by the same Costume card), your hand’s maximum size goes up by 1 card; draw your new Performance card immediately after placing the Costume on your Character. Each additional matching icon adds another card to your hand size. Having more than one null space showing doesn’t raise your hand size.
If your hand maximum is ever reduced — for example, because you lost a Costume or its icon was covered up — you immediately choose which card(s) to discard to bring you down to your new hand size.
Discard & Draw Up (Action)
Use an action to discard as many Performance cards as you want from your hand (even 0), then draw enough cards from the Performances deck to bring you back up to your maximum hand size (again, usually 3 cards).
Winning
The first player to complete her outfit — showing a visible icon in the required number of slots along the side of her Character card, using at least 3 Costume cards — wins the game and is declared “Fairest of the Faire!”