Shadows of Macao
Shadows of Macao Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setting up
- Give one of the seven widows to each player, blue side up.
- Put the seven deceased widow tiles to one side, close to hand.
- Shuffle the character cards, together with the remaining widows - one less than there are players.
- Make four roughly equal piles of the character cards, blue side up.
- Shuffle the establishment tiles and lay them out, green side up (as follows): 2 players ~ 4 tiles ... 3 players ~ 5 tiles ... 4 players ~ 7 tiles.
- Starting player takes the starter card. Play goes clockwise.
During your turn
Take one of these actions:
- Contact an informer - bring them close to your gang.
- Recruit a member of the gang from amongst your informers.
- Open an establishment.
Contact an informer
Take the top card from one of the four character piles and put it blue side up in front of you.
If ever you have more than five informers, you must discard down to the maximum of five. Each landlord permits you to have one more.
- Discarded characters go blue side up beneath the smallest pile.
- Dead widows count as informers. (The guide prints "Daed widows"; corrected to "Dead" as a typo.)
Recruit a gang member
By paying the appropriate cost, an informer can be brought into full gang membership.
Recruitment costs are shown at the foot of the character cards - blue sides.
Payment can be made with the resources available from other informers (blue side up) and from gang members (red side up).
When informers cough up the cash, they are discarded. Gang members stay where they are.
When informers are recruited, they're turned over to show their red side. The red side shows what their cash value will be at the game's end. This value is also shown at the base of characters' blue sides.
Open an establishment
By meeting the conditions shown, an establishment can be acquired. It's then turned over to its yellow/brown side to show the cash value that it brings at game's end.
If payment included resources, follow the same procedure as for turning informers into gang members.
Those opened by having a specified number of characters as informers or gang members do not lead to those characters being taken from you.
The establishments shown in the guide, with their conditions:
- Restaurant du port (Harbour Restaurant) can be yours if you have at least four of a character.
- Temple bar (Temple Bar) can be yours if you have at least six informers. They stay where they are.
- China club (China Club) can be yours if you have at least six different characters associated with your gang.
- Marché noir (Black Market) can be yours if you have at least one informer, one gang member, one open establishment and one reserved for you by the cops.
- Casino royal, Galerie d'art, Chambre rouge, Club des officiers, Distillerie, Syndicat du crime - these can become yours by paying the resources shown. Informers who help pay are discarded. The resource costs for these six are shown only as icons in the artwork of the guide and are not legible as text here.
Widows
The gemstone becomes available for use once the widow has been recruited into the gang.
It can be used in place of any other resource when recruiting gang members or acquiring establishments: it's a joker.
When the gem is used, the widow is covered by a dead widow card: she never recovers.
Her corpse is counted as one of the informers, contributing to the maximum of five.
Other widows can join the gang, as informers or full members.
Characters
The guide shows these characters and their effects (the recruitment cost of each is shown at the foot of its card):
- Tueuse (Assassin) - The assassin strikes. Opponents choose one informer to discard (if they have any). Not deceased widows.
- Danseuse (Dancer) - The dancer contacts a new informer for you. Add them to your crew.
- Policier (Policeman) - Bent cops let you place a location near you, green side up. Only you will be able to open this establishment.
- Croupier (Croupier) - Each croupier feeds friends. If it costs more than one of a resource to recruit a gang member, that resource cost reduces by one.
- Négociante (Negotiator) - Replace a required resource with the one held by the negotiator whenever you choose.
- Tenancier (Landlord) - You can have one extra informer in front of you. More landlords will allow more informers.
- Marin (Mariner) - Mariners net a double resource, for use when recruiting gang members.
- Veuve (Widow) - Widows' gems can be used to represent any resource. They're 'jokers'.
- Politicienne (Politician) - The politician has no effect, but brings most gold to the count-up at the end of the game.
Game end
Two conditions - a gang has seven full members, or there are no more establishments to acquire.
Play the round to the last player, then count the cash.
If tied, the one with most establishments wins - if still tied, the one with more gang members does.
¹ The French expression is passer l'arme à gauche. It derives from the fact that centuries ago, when a gun had been fired, it had to be laid on the left arm whilst the right hand was used to reload and recharge it. This left the soldier vulnerable, and the more likely to be killed.