Super Mario: Level Up! Board Game
Super Mario: Level Up! Board Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 6 Yes! Vote cards (one in each of six colors)
- 12 No! Vote cards
- 26 Objective cards
- 15 Power Up cards
- 28 ? Block chips
- 13 Characters with bases
- 1 3D game board
- 1 scorepad
- These rules
Setup — The 3D Game Board
The game board is made up of 10 interlocking pieces:
- 1 back panel (A)
- 2 side panels (B and C)
- 6 steps for the lower levels (D through I)
- 1 step for the top level (J)
- 1 box bottom (not shown in the assembly diagram)
Follow steps 1 through 6 to assemble the board:
- Holding the back panel (A) steady, slide the left side panel (B) into its slot.
- In the same way, slide the right side panel (C) into the back panel (A).
- Place the three joined pieces (A, B, and C) into the box bottom to give them stability.
- Remove the 7 steps from their die-cut sheets and carefully fold the front edge of each one downward.
- Starting with level 0 (D) at the bottom, line up the notches of each step with the notches on the board. Push the step all the way in so it cannot go any further, then lower the step so it rests securely on both sides. Repeat this for all the levels from 1 to 5 (E through I).
- Slide the two protruding tabs of level 10 (J) into the notches on the back panel, then lower the step so it rests securely on both sides.
Setup — Other Game Pieces
Characters, ? blocks, Power Up cards, and the scorepad
- Insert each character into a plastic base and place them all next to the game board. Note: do not deal the characters out to the players. The characters do not belong to any player. Do not place the characters on the game board yet.
- Shuffle the ? blocks face down and place them in a pile next to the game board. Note: do not deal the ? blocks out to the players.
- Shuffle the Power Up cards and place them face down as a draw pile next to the game board.
- Give one sheet from the scorepad to each player.
Objective cards and Vote cards
- Deal each player one Objective card at random, face down (see the illustration). Each player looks at their own objective, then keeps it face down on their scorepad sheet. The objective lists your six favorite characters — the ones you want to level up. The order in which the characters are listed does not matter. Note: keep this card secret from the other players!
- Each player receives one Yes! Vote card in a color of their choice. Each Yes! card is a different color, making it easier to remember who it belongs to. Note: the Yes! and No! Vote cards share the same card back.
- Each player receives the same number of No! Vote cards, based on the number of players (see the table below).
| 3 players | 4 players | 5 players | 6 players |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 No! | 3 No! | 2 No! (2 left over) | 2 No! |
Object of the Game
The object of the game is to level up your favorite characters — the ones listed on your Objective card — as high as possible. Whoever has the most points after 3 rounds wins!
Turn Order
The youngest player goes first, then play continues clockwise. The game is played over a total of 3 rounds. Each round is split into two phases: placement and movement.
Character Placement Phase
Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, each player:
- Secretly looks at their own Objective card to check which characters are their favorites.
- Places the same number of characters, based on the number of players (see the table below). In turn, each player takes one of the characters from next to the game board and places it on any level from 1 to 4. Characters that are placed this way start from level 0.
Note: each level can hold a maximum of 4 characters.
Character placement table
| 3 players | 4 players | 5 players | 6 players |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 characters each | 3 characters each | 2 characters each | 2 characters each |
| 1 left over, starts at level 0 | 1 left over, starts at level 0 | 3 left over, start at level 0 | 1 left over, starts at level 0 |
? Block Placement
Once all characters have been placed, fill the empty spaces on levels 1 through 5 with ? blocks face down, so that each level ends up with a total of 4 characters and/or blocks.
Setup example: all players have placed their characters on levels 1 to 4. The ? blocks have been placed in the empty spaces between characters and on empty levels. One character is always left unplaced by the players, so it starts at level 0.
Character Movement Phase
Moving Up a Level
Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player in turn selects one character and moves it up one level on the game board. Characters cannot move down, unless a ? block says otherwise.
A character can move up a level only if the destination level has fewer than four characters on it.
If a character moves from level 5 to level 10, it is nominated as the new champion! All players must vote immediately for that character (see Champion Election, below).
Otherwise the turn ends and play continues with the next player clockwise.
? Blocks
When you move a character up onto a level that has a ? block, reveal the block and follow its instructions. If there is more than one ? block on the level, choose one and reveal it.
? blocks that say "play immediately" take effect right away and are then discarded.
? blocks that say "play at any time" can be held and played on any later turn, on any character.
The blocks you can reveal beneath the ? blocks are:
- Worth 1 point at game end — Keep it revealed in front of you. Discard it at the end of the game to score 1 point.
- Worth 2 points at game end — Keep it revealed in front of you. Discard it at the end of the game to score 2 points.
- Move up a level, play immediately — If possible, move that same character up 1 level immediately.
- Move up a level, play at any time — Play it during any of your turns to move any character up 1 level.
- Move down a level, play immediately — Move that same character down 1 level immediately.
- Move down a level, play at any time — Play it during any of your turns to move any character down 1 level. It cannot be played during a champion vote!
- Take another turn, play immediately — Immediately take another turn.
- Skip your next turn — Keep it revealed in front of you as a reminder, then skip your next turn and discard it.
- All characters on this level move down to the first open level, play immediately — All characters on this level move down (from left to right) to the first available level.
- Draw a Power Up card, play immediately — Immediately draw a Power Up card (see below).
Using Power Up Cards
If you reveal a Super Star behind a ? block, you get to draw a Power Up card. Each card shows a special power to use as described on the card. Keep Power Up cards secret until you play them, then discard them onto a discard pile.
Note: you may hold Power Up cards and ? blocks that can be played at any time over from one round to the next.
Champion Election
When a character reaches level 10, the players vote to decide whether they want it as the round's champion. The champion election ends the round and begins scoring. The vote can be stopped before it begins (with a Green Shell ? block), but once it has started, it must be carried through to the end.
All players secretly choose Yes! or No! and place the corresponding Vote card face down in front of themselves. Once everyone has chosen, the cards are revealed at the same time.
- If everyone votes Yes!, the character is declared champion, the round ends, and points are scored.
- If there is even a single No!, the character is not declared champion. Instead, it is removed from the game board until the next round (unless the "Play it as a No! vote" Power Up card has been played, in which case the character is placed at level 0).
After the outcome of the election has been checked, anyone who voted Yes! takes their Vote card back into their hand; it can be played again. All No! Vote cards, however, are discarded and cannot be used again for the rest of the round.
Scoring a Round
When a character is elected champion, the round ends and points are scored. Each player reveals their Objective card and scores points based on the level each of the characters on their list has reached.
Eliminated characters score no points!
Scores are recorded on the scorepad sheet and totaled after the third round.
Special Scoring Rule for the Third Round
- Any ? block worth points is added to its owner's total.
- If a player scores 0 in the third round, they are instead awarded a score of 33 points! (33 points is the most a player can score in a single round, excluding coins that can be collected.)
New Round
Each player discards their Objective card and draws a new one. Gather up the discarded No! Vote cards and redistribute them as at the start of the game. All characters are placed back next to the game board. All ? blocks that don't belong to a player are removed from the game board, reshuffled face down, and placed back in a pile. The new round begins with the player to the left of whoever was elected champion in the round that just ended. Players follow the same two phases — character placement and movement — as before.
End of Game and Victory
After three rounds, each player calculates their total score. Whoever has the most points wins! In case of a tie, the tied players compare their Objective cards from the last round, and whoever has the most characters still on the game board wins. If it is still a tie, victory is shared.