Vem aí a Troika Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• The Game on the Table
• Setup
• Sequence of Play
• Organization Action
  • Consensus
  • Organization Examples
• Income Action
  • Income Example
• Attack Action
  • Attack Sequence
  • Attack to Discard
  • Attack Examples
• Events
  • Discarding and Payments
• Elections
  • Votes
  • Election Sequence
  • Important Reminders
• End of the Game
• Advanced Rules
  • Advanced Symbols on the Layout
  • Group Cards
  • Leaders
  • Hand Actions
  • Organization (Advanced)
  • Attacks (Advanced)
  • Elections (Advanced)
  • Priority of Rules
  • Detailed Explanation of Some Cards

Components

• 42 Group cards (10 gold, 10 blue, 10 red and 12 grey)
• 8 Leader cards (2 blue, 2 red and 4 grey) + 1 bonus Leader
• 16 Event cards
• 24 Mega-Euro cards (24 × 1)
• 12 Deposit Title cards (4 × 6 points, 4 × 5 points and 4 × 4 points)
• 1 rulebook
• 7 cards with a summary of the rules and an explanation of the symbols

Tip: the rules are also available as video at http://videos.tabletipgames.com

The Game on the Table

• Leaders (Líderes): the influential personalities of Portugalândia. Each Leader is placed on the table next to its player.
• Group cards (Cartas de Grupo): the entities or classes of people in Portugalândia. The draw pile is kept face down; discarded Group cards are placed face up in the Discarded Groups pile.
• Events (Eventos): the happenings that set the rhythm of the game. Events are revealed one at a time from a pile; revealed Events are placed face up.
• Mega-Euro (Dinheiro): each card is worth 1 Mega-Euro. The Treasury (Tesouro) is the common pile of Mega-Euro.
• Deposit Titles (Títulos de Depósito): the values deposited in a tax haven (Offshore). Deposit Titles are stored under the Leader, in the Offshore. Each Deposit Title is worth 4, 5 or 6 Victory Points.
• Player's hand (Mão do Jogador): in hand, each player may hold Group cards and Mega-Euro.
• Player's table (Na mesa): on the table, each player places Group cards next to their Leader. These are the Groups controlled by that player.
• Power (Poder): used in attacks, and worth Victory Points.
• Votes (Votos): used in Elections.
• Income (Rendimento): the value that can be received each turn.

Setup

• Treasury (Tesouro): place the Mega-Euro cards in a face-up pile with a total of 12, 18 or 24 cards for 2, 3 or 4 players. Deal 2 cards worth 1 Mega-Euro from this pile to each player's hand.
• Deposit Title pile (Pilha de Títulos): place the Deposit Titles in a face-up pile, with the highest values on top and the lowest at the bottom, according to this table:

Titles	2 players	3 players	4 players
6 points	2	3	4
5 points	4	4	4
4 points	2	3	4

• Event pile (Pilha de Eventos):
  • Separate the "Troika Has Arrived" (Chegou a Troika) Event and the 2 "Elections" (Eleições) Events.
  • Shuffle the remaining Events.
  • Put the "Troika Has Arrived" Event together with 3 other Events, shuffle them, and place them at the bottom of the pile.
  • Place an "Elections" Event on top (face up, sideways).
  • Place 4, 3 or 2 Events on top for 2, 3 or 4 players.
  • Repeat the two previous steps.
• Group pile (Pilha de Grupos):
  • Shuffle the Group cards and place them in a face-down pile.
  • Deal 3 Group cards from the pile to each player's hand, face hidden.
• Leaders (Líderes):
  • Shuffle the Leader cards.
  • Deal 2 Leaders to each player. Each player chooses one and places it on the table.
  • Remove the unchosen Leader from the game.
• Remaining cards: arrange all the cards left over; they are not part of the game.
• Start of the game: the player most experienced in the game starts, or another player chosen by agreement among the players.

Sequence of Play

The game is played in rounds. In each round every player takes a turn, starting with the first player and then continuing to the left.

On their turn, the player does the following steps:

1. Draw 1 Group card OR 2 Mega-Euro, as the player chooses.
2. Perform only ONE of the following actions:
   • a) Organization
   • b) Income
   • c) Attack
3. Discard, if the player has more than 6 cards in hand, until they reach that limit.

Once all players have had their turn, the next Event is revealed and resolved immediately. Then the next round begins.

Notes on the sequence:

• If there is a Government, the first player of the round is the Government, followed by the player to its left.
• If the Group pile is empty, shuffle the discarded Group cards to form a new pile.
• If there are no Group cards and no Mega-Euro in the Treasury, the player does not draw.
• A player may "pass" without taking any action.
• The player chooses which cards to discard. Group cards go to the discard pile, face up. Mega-Euro returns to the Treasury.

Organization Action

The Organization action allows up to TWO moves with Group cards:

• Place a Group card from hand on the table. In the same move, the player may take a Group card from the table back into hand.
• Discard a Group card from hand, drawing a new card from the Group pile.

The same type of move may be done twice.

Tip: in the first round, players usually all choose the Organization action to place two cards on the table.

When placed on the table, Group cards must be arranged by Family (cards of the same colour), in a vertical column. Each Family may have at most 4 cards.

The four Families are the gold, blue, red and grey Families.

Consensus

Group cards can form Consensuses. A Consensus is a set of 4 Group cards of different colours (gold, blue, red and grey) on the table. Consensuses give extra Votes in Elections and are worth Victory Points at the end of the game.

Organization Examples

Example 1 (Joana). It is the first round of the game and Joana has no cards on the table. Naturally, she chooses the Organization action. Joana places the Pensioners (Pensionistas) and the Annoying TV (TV Irritante) on the table [1], which lets her prepare to try to win the first elections, since they have many Votes.

Example 2 (António). António wants to create his first Consensus, but he has no red cards. He chooses the Organization action. He begins by discarding the Prosecutor's Office (Procuradoria) [1] and therefore draws a new card [2]. He is unlucky and draws the Bank of Portugalândia, which is a gold card. Since he has no red card to play, he uses the second move of the Organization action to place the Banks + or - Honest card (Bancos + ou - Honestos) on the table [3], which increases his Income.

Source note: the example's hand caption reads "3 cartas na mão do Miguel" (3 cards in Miguel's hand), while the narrative names António throughout; the caption is transcribed as printed.

Income Action

The Income action allows a player to receive Mega-Euro from the Treasury and to buy Deposit Titles.

The player receives from the Treasury the Income of their Leader and of all the Group cards they have on the table (their Controlled Groups). The player may then immediately buy Deposit Titles, receiving the remainder in cards worth 1 Mega-Euro.

Deposit Titles are placed under the Leader (in their Offshore).

If the last Title has already been bought, the player may place cards worth 1 Mega-Euro directly under the Leader.

Income Example

João has managed to place cards on the table with an Income of 8 Mega-Euro. He therefore decides to do the Income action. He uses 6 Mega-Euro to immediately buy a Deposit Title, which he places under his Leader [1]. He takes the remaining 2 Mega-Euro from the Treasury and adds them to his hand [2].

Attack Action

The Attack action allows a player to attack a Group card of an opponent on the table. To win the attack, the attacker must play more Power than the opponent's defence.

The ATTACK is the SUM OF:

• 5 Power of the attacking Leader
• 5 Power of the Group cards played by the attacker

The DEFENCE is the SUM OF:

• 5 Power of the attacked Group card
• +1 Power for each other Group card of the same Family (in the same column)
• +1 Power if the defending Leader is the same colour as the attacked card
• 5 Power of the Group cards played by the defender

If the defender is the Government, they are also the Leader of the gold Group cards and have +1 Power in defending these cards.

Attack Sequence

1. The attacker chooses the opponent's Group card to attack. To start the attack, they play one or more Group cards from hand (the initial Power of the attack must be higher than the defence).
2. The defender may choose not to defend, which immediately gives the victory to the attacker. If they decide to defend, they play one or more Group cards from hand to increase the defence.
3. The attacker and the defender may play more Group cards from hand, one at a time, until both cannot or do not want to continue.
4. If the attacker wins, the attacked Group card passes to the control of the attacker, who places it next to their other Group cards according to the Organization rules. The defender draws 1 Group card or 2 Mega-Euro, as they choose. If the defender wins, the attacked Group card stays under their control.
5. All cards played in the attack and the defence are discarded.
6. In a game with 3 or 4 players, at the end of the attack the attacker draws 1 Group card or 2 Mega-Euro, as they choose.

Attack to Discard

Alternatively, the attacking player may announce that they are making an attack to discard. In that case the attacking Leader has 4 Power in the attack, regardless of the value written on its card. However, if the attacker wins, the attacked Group card is discarded (and is not controlled by anyone).

If the attacker already has 4 cards of that Family, they must take one of the other cards into hand, so as not to exceed the limit of 4 per Family. The card gained always stays on the table.

Attack Examples

Example 1 (Miguel attacks Afonso). Miguel sees that Afonso has the Expesso card poorly defended, because it is alone with no other cards of the same colour. He decides to attack it.

Miguel uses the Review card (Revisão) to start the attack [1]. Since he has a Leader with 3 Power, and the Review card has 1 Power, he attacks with 4 Power.

Afonso can now defend himself using cards he has in hand. The Expesso card has 2 Power and he needs 2 more Power to tie and defend. Since the Environmentalists card he has in hand is not enough (it has only 1 Power), he decides not to play anything [2].

Miguel wins the attack, removes the Expesso card and places it on the table next to his blue cards [3].

The Review card that was used in the attack is discarded [4].

Afonso draws a Group card because he lost [5]. Miguel also draws a Group card [6], because in a game with 3 or 4 players the attacker always draws at the end of an attack.

Example 2 (Sofia attacks Maria). Sofia will make the last move of the round, and Elections follow, but Maria has more Votes. Since Sofia has no cards in hand with Votes, her only chance to win the Elections is to attack Maria to try to steal Votes from her. She decides to attack the Prosecutor's Office card, which gives 2 Votes and lets her destroy a Consensus of Maria's.

Sofia uses the Patos Bravos card (the "Angry Ducks") to start the attack [1]. Since she has a Leader with 1 Power and the Patos Bravos card has 2 Power, she attacks with 3 Power.

Maria can now defend herself using cards she has in hand. The Prosecutor's Office card has 2 Power and she needs 1 more Power to tie and defend successfully. She uses the Good Girls card (Meninas Boas) and ties [2].

However, Sofia adds the Bank of Portugalândia card to the attack [3] and wins, 4 Power against 3, because Maria has no more Group cards to defend with.

Sofia wins the attack, removes the Prosecutor's Office card and places it on the table next to her gold cards [4].

All cards used in the attack and the defence are discarded [5].

Maria draws a Group card because she lost [6]. Since there are only two players, Sofia does not draw. With 3 or 4 players, she would draw a card.

Source note: the printed example labels are as printed; the card names in these examples are translated.

Events

Events are revealed at the end of the round, after all players have taken their turn.

An Election is an Event card which, like any other Event, is resolved at the end of the turn. Players compete in the elections to be elected Government. The winner keeps the Elections/Government card, which is worth Victory Points at the end of the game.

One player reads the Event and everyone carries out the instructions on it.

• If several players meet the condition indicated by the Event (tied), the Event applies to all of them.
• If no player meets the condition indicated by the Event, the Event has no effect. For example, if the Event refers to some action by the Government and there is no Government, that Event has no effect.
• If an Event requires the Treasury to make a payment but the Treasury lacks enough Mega-Euro, the player receives only the amount available.
• Payments are made in round order.

Discarding and Payments

• When an Event forces a player to discard cards, the player may choose which cards to discard (from hand or from the table), unless the Event says otherwise.
• When an Event forces a player to pay money and they do not have enough, they must discard one or more Group cards (from hand or from the table) with a total Power equal to or greater than the amount they should pay. If the payment is to another player, that player may then take the Mega-Euro owed to them directly from the Treasury.

Elections

Votes

The VOTES are the SUM OF:

• 6 Votes of the Leader
• 6 Votes of the controlled Group cards
• 2 Votes for each Consensus
• 6 Votes of the Group cards played in the Electoral Campaign
• +1 Vote for each Mega-Euro invested in the Electoral Campaign

Election Sequence

In each step, the order of the round is followed, starting with the first player.

1. Each player announces how many Votes they have on the table.
2. Electoral Campaign: each player may place face down on the table any cards from their hand that they want to use in the Elections (Group cards or Mega-Euro).
3. Each player reveals the cards used in the Campaign, and they are added to their Votes.
4. The player with the most Votes is elected Government and places the Government card under their Leader, with the word "Government" showing. If there is a previous Government, it turns its Government card face down and keeps it until the end of the game, because it is worth Victory Points.
5. The player in 2nd place draws 1 Group card or 2 Mega-Euro, as they choose.
6. All the cards used in the Electoral Campaign are discarded.
7. The new Government becomes the first player in the following rounds.

Ties:

• In case of a tie for first place there is no Government, and the Elections card is discarded. The tied players each draw 1 Group card or 2 Mega-Euro, as they choose.
• In case of a tie for second place, nobody draws.

Important Reminders

• Group cards that are discarded or used during the game go to the discard pile, face up. When the Group pile is empty, shuffle the discarded Group cards and form a new pile.
• Discarded or used Mega-Euro returns to the Treasury.

End of the Game

The game ends when:

• the "Troika Has Arrived" (Chegou a Troika) Event card is revealed, OR
• at the end of a round there is no Mega-Euro in the Treasury and no Deposit Titles left (bankruptcy).

When the game ends, the Victory Points are added up:

• Power: the Power of the controlled Group cards (the Leader does not count).
• Consensuses: 4 points for 1 Consensus, 10 points for 2 Consensuses, and 18 points for 3 or more Consensuses.
• Governments: 10 points for each Elections/Government card, and 5 points for the interim Government card (the "Vote of Confidence" (Voto de Confiança) Event).
• Deposit Titles: the value of the Deposit Titles in your Offshore.
• Money: 1 Victory Point for each 2 Mega-Euro in hand or in the Offshore.

Total points: the player with the highest score wins the game. If several players are tied for first place, they are all declared winners.

Advanced Rules

The advanced rules are recommended for experienced players who want a greater challenge and more fun. They add depth to the game, but make it a little longer.

Advanced Symbols on the Layout

The advanced-rules panel of the table layout shows:

• Group Type (Tipo de Grupo): the icon for the type of the Group card.
• Variable Values (Valores Variáveis): the Power, Votes and Income values that depend on other cards on the table; the layout shows the example label "Local Power +1" (Poder Local +1).
• Table Action (Ação de Mesa): an example, "Bombastic Declarations" (Declarações Bombásticas), which has no effect on the game.
• Hand Action (Ação de Mão): an example, "Broadcasting Rights" (Direitos de Transmissão), which reads: receive 1 Mega-Euro from each Group card of [icon] on the table. Note: the icon in this text is a single-person symbol whose meaning is not recoverable from the text layer of the PDF; it is transcribed here as an icon, not interpreted.

Group Cards

Variable values: the advanced game also uses the variable values of Power, Votes and Income. A variable value is added to the fixed Power, Votes or Income of the card.

The values depend on the other cards on the table (including the card itself, if it is of the indicated type or colour):

• Group Type +1: +1 for each Group card controlled of the indicated type.
• Single-card symbol +1: +1 for each Group card controlled of the indicated colour.
• Two-card symbol +1: +1 for each two Group cards controlled of the indicated colour.
• Three-card symbol +1: +1 for each two Group cards of the indicated colour (of all players).
• Group Name +1: +1 if you control the indicated Group card.

A card played from hand (for example, in an attack) also uses the variable values, but it does not count toward the variable values of the other cards on the table.

Group Types: the type helps to characterise the Group and defines some interactions between cards. The types are:

• Marginal: acting on the margins of the law.
• Spiritual: inspired by something beyond this world.
• Financial: connected to the financial sector.
• Infrastructure: involving large-scale works.
• Justice: involved with the justice system.
• Media: related to the news media.
• Professional: linked by profession or employment status.
• Social: linked to social causes or classes.
• Public: linked to public offices or services.

The symbol S is used in a rule that will appear in a future expansion of the game.

Leaders

• Variable values: identical to Group cards.
• Table Action (Ação de Mesa): a special action described at the top of the card. Leaders may use it once per round, on their turn or during the Elections, as indicated on the card itself. The action may have a cost in Mega-Euro, shown by the value inside the coin symbol.
• When the action is used, the player turns the card sideways to show that the effect has been used in that round. Cards are straightened at the start of each round.

Hand Actions

A Hand Action (Ação de Mão) is a special action described at the bottom of the card. To use a Hand Action, the card must be played and discarded during the player's turn, at the moments indicated by the symbols:

• Income symbol: during an Income action.
• Organization symbol: during an Organization action.
• Attack symbol: during an attack.
• Elections symbol: in the Elections.
• Any-action symbol: with any action.

Hand Actions complement the normal actions; they do not replace them. For example, a player may choose an Income action, play the Bank of Portugalândia card to draw money from one of their opponents, receive the normal Income of their controlled Groups, and then play the Hand Action of the Banks + or - Honest card to buy Deposit Titles at a discount.

Organization (Advanced)

In the advanced game it is possible to take Group cards from the table into hand without placing a Group card on the table. It is also allowed to have more than one Family (column) of the same colour. A player may control, for example, 5 blue cards in a combination of 4 + 1, 3 + 2, or 2 + 2 + 1.

Note that when defending a Group card in an attack, only the cards in its column count.

Attacks (Advanced)

• The attacking player, when playing a card from hand, must declare whether they use the card's Hand Action (if appropriate) instead of the card's normal Power.
• In an attack to control, the other players may declare their support for the attack or for the defence, immediately after the attack is announced. To do so, they play a single Group card from hand, which adds its Power to the attack or to the defence.
• At the end of the attack, the player who supported the winner may draw 1 Group card or 2 Mega-Euro, as they choose.
• The cards used in support are discarded.

Elections (Advanced)

A Pre-Campaign phase is added, immediately after the players announce the Votes they have on the table.

• Each player, starting with the first player (or the Government, if there is one), may place face down on the table cards that have a Hand Action with an influence on the Elections.
• After all players have done so, the cards are revealed and their effects on the Votes are calculated.
• The Electoral Campaign is then carried out and the Elections proceed normally.
• The cards played from hand in the Pre-Campaign are discarded.

Priority of Rules

The rules written on the cards take priority over these rules when they contradict them.

Detailed Explanation of Some Cards

• Militant Lawyers (Advogados Militantes): may be played on an opponent's turn. It must be played immediately after the card whose action it intends to cancel.
• Banks + or - Honest (Bancos + ou - Honestos): each Deposit Title costs only 4 Mega-Euro until the end of the player's turn.
• (Dis)funcionários Públicos (Public (Dis)servants): must be the first card played in the attack, in order to use its Hand Action.
• The Common Man / Political Commentators (O Homem do Povo / Comentadores Políticos): the action is used in the Pre-Campaign. At that point the player declares which Group card on the table will have its Votes controlled by them, and which candidate receives those Votes. This action does not change Consensuses.
• Opus Day: the player chooses a Group card they control and a Group card of the same colour controlled by an opponent. They then swap the two cards.
• Truck Drivers (Camionistas): immediately after this card is played, the Government chooses whether or not to pay 2 Mega-Euro to the player who played it. If the Government does not pay, the player has the option of paying 2 Mega-Euro to the Treasury themselves, to bring down the Government and trigger Elections at the end of the round.
• Judges (Juízes): if the player does not have the 2 Mega-Euro, they may not discard Group cards and must return a Deposit Title.
• Good Girls / Annoying TV (Meninas Boas / TV Irritante): while the Leader is under the effect of this Hand Action, it is considered to have 0 Power, 0 Votes and 0 Income, and it cannot use its Table Action.
• (): the Hand Action may only be used in an attack to discard.