The Lord of the P.I.G.S.
The Lord of the P.I.G.S. Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 4 x Action Decks: 1 deck of 31 cards per player (red, green, yellow and blue backs)
- 1 x Event Deck: 20 Event cards (grey backs)
- 4 x Ability Cards: 1 Ability card per player (red, green, yellow and blue backs)
- 5 x Score Cards + Meeple: 1 Score card and 1 meeple per player to mark their rating plus 1 Score card and meeple to mark Social Stability
- 4 x Rules Cards: 1 quick reference rule guide per player
Action Cards
A - Card title
B - Number of Votes: Votes required to activate the card when in use as a Proposal
C - Activation Values: Value given to each player and Social Stability once the Proposal is activated. In the example card: add 2 points to the rating of the Prime Minister, add 1 point to the Corporate Director and subtract 2 points from the Social Stability
D - Alternative Use: Instead of using the card as a Proposal/Vote you can use its Alternative Use, if it has one (see descriptions on the next page)
E - Flavour Text
Note: There are Action cards which showcase patrons of the game, in place of the usual characters. These cards are treated exactly as regular cards for all purposes.
Types of Alternative Uses
- Place this card as a Vote on any 1 Proposal
- Discard this card to remove any 1 Vote from a Proposal
- Discard this card to force all the other players to discard 1 Action
- Discard this card to look at the hand of another player
- Discard this card to cancel another Alternative Use
- Discard this card to look at the top 3 Actions of your deck and put them back in any order
- Discard this card when a Proposal activates to gain (in addition to your own) the Activation Value of the Prime Minister or Chief Banker or Energy Tycoon or Corporate Director
Event Cards
A - Name of the Event
B - Effect of the Event
C - Flavour text
Example card "Meridia's Factor Final": While this is the active Event: Each player can Vote for an additional Proposal in the Voting phase.
Ability Cards
A - Name of the Ability
B - Flavour text
C - Effect of the Ability
Example card "Manipulate the Supply" (Rui Fernández): Flavour text: "Energy is not created nor destroyed... it simply goes where I will it to go." Effect: The players with less than 5 points gain 1 point, and the players with more than 5 points loose [sic] 1 point.
Score Cards
5 x Score Cards + Meeple: 1 Score card and 1 meeple per player to mark their rating plus 1 Score card and meeple to mark Social Stability.
Game Goal
Each player has a rating that starts at 0. A player wins if, at the end of a turn:
- the Social Stability rating is higher than 0 and they are the single player with a rating of 10
OR
- the Social Stability rating is 0 and they are the single player with the lowest rating
Note: If a rating would go below 0, it stays at 0; if a rating would go above 10, it stays at 10. If two or more players are tied, the game continues.
Game Setup
- Each player chooses the character they want to play as: Prime Minister, Chief Banker, Energy Tycoon or Corporate Director. Each player is allocated their corresponding Action card deck, Ability card and Score card and meeple. Alternatively, the players distribute the characters at random.
- Place the 5 Score cards together on the table. The 4 players start with their rating at 0. The Social Stability rating starts at 5.
- Each player shuffles their Action card deck, puts it face down in front of them and draws 5 Actions. Shuffle the Event card deck and place it to the left side of the Prime Minister, as this character always starts as the 1st player.
How to Play
Each turn is divided into 5 phases. Each player must complete the current phase before progressing to the next phase of the turn.
1 - Upkeep Phase
Follow the steps in order, but ignore this phase on the 1st turn of the game.
- Advance playing order: The player to the left of the 1st player becomes the 1st player, and so on. To highlight this, the new 1st player puts the Event deck to his left side.
- Reveal Event: The 1st player discards the active Event and reveals the next Event from the Event deck. This becomes the active Event for the turn.
- Draw: Each player draws the top Action card from their Action deck.
2 - Voting Phase
Ignore this phase the 1st turn of the game.
In playing order, each player may vote for 1 (and only 1) of the Proposals on the table, whether their own or that of another player. To do so, they place 1 Action from their hand face down on top of the chosen Proposal; the used Action is considered a Vote from now on. Votes remain on the Proposal until it is activated by receiving the required number of Votes. Once activated, the Votes and the Proposal are discarded to each owner's discard pile.
3 - Proposal Phase
In playing order, each player may propose 1 (and only 1) of the Actions in their hand. To do so, they place 1 Action from their hand face up on the table; the used Action is considered a Proposal from now on. Proposals remain on the table until activated by receiving the required number of Votes. Each player can have a maximum of 2 Proposals simultaneously on the the table.
4 - Activation Phase
Ignore this phase the 1st turn of the game.
In playing order, each player checks if any of their Proposals has the required number of Votes to be activated. If yes, add the Activation Values to each rating and discard the Proposal, along with its Votes to each owner's discard pile. Each player that voted the Proposal, excluding the Proposal owner, draws 1 Action from their deck. If a player has 2 Proposals that could activate, they choose in which order the Proposals activate.
5 - End of Turn
Verify if any player has won the game.
How and When Can Alternative Uses Be Played?
During the game the players can use, at any time, the Alternative Uses of Actions in their hand. To do so, they leave the chosen Action on the center of the table face up and in playing order, the rest of the players decide whether they want to use the Alternative Use of Actions in their hand, putting them successively one on top of the other. When no player wants to use more Alternative Uses, the effects of the Actions on the stack are applied, starting with the top one and ending with the 1st that was played. Then, discard them all to each owner's discard pile and resume the game.
There is no limit to the number of Alternative Uses a player can use in the same turn.
How and When Can Special Abilities Be Used?
During the game the players can use, at any time and only once per game, the Special Ability of their character. Character Abilities have priority over all other game elements. When they are used, simply apply its effects immediately.
Note: To highlight when an Ability has been used, you may flip the corresponding Ability card.