These are the rules of a homemade board game I made a long time ago, which I stumbled upon while rescuing files from a dying old drive.

You can play it with the 5-color x 20-piece chips sold at 100-yen shops (Japanese dollar stores) and 2 x 9 proxies made from any random cards, Magic: The Gathering or the like. Please give it a try if you feel like it.

Title TBD#

Board Game Club 2016/04/07 Ver. 1.1 β Revised#

Medieval Europe. War after war burned the houses down and left the land without anyone to till it. The exhausted little states found it hard to keep standing armies directly under the king, and had no choice but to rely on mercenaries for their military strength. Capable though disloyal, the mercenaries were prized by every nation, and enormous sums of money are said to have changed hands.

You are a king chosen by the people, and it is your duty to win the war and protect your land and your subjects. The exhaustion that blankets the continent has reached its limit, and an all-out war that will swallow the entire realm is about to break out. With every last bit of the meager wealth left to your nation, you must hire capable mercenaries, buy military strength, and survive by exhausting every resource of your cunning.

The nation that makes it through the all-out war is guaranteed abundant resources and land, and the king who led it will be promised eternal honor.

Stated play time: 30 minutes

Game Overview#

This is a survival board game about hiring mercenaries, building up military strength, and defeating the other players in war. Players use their limited assets (coins) to win powerful Mercenary cards at auction and prepare for the final battle. The last player standing is the winner.

Components#

Coins: 100 in 5 colors (20 per color)
Mercenary cards: 18 cards in 9 kinds
Rulebook: 1 sheet

Setup#

Each player chooses a color and takes all 20 coins of that color. This is called your “Treasury.”
Shuffle the cards well, then lay all 18 of them face down in a single row. This row of cards is called the “Market.”

Deciding the Start Player#

Flip over the first card of the Market.
All players make a “Bet” (see “Basic Betting Rules” below for details).
The winner of the Bet pays the coins they bet to the bank and takes the face-up card. That player becomes the Start Player.
If there is no single winner (a tie), the bet coins are returned to the Treasuries and the next card in the Market is flipped over. Then proceed as follows.
- If there were multiple winners: Only the tied winners Bet again.
- If everyone lost: Everyone Bets again.
Keep flipping new cards and repeating the Bet until there is a single winner. The Start Player takes all the cards that have been flipped up to that point.

Basic Betting Rules#

In this game, you make a “Bet” in various situations. The procedure is as follows.

All participants clench any number of coins in one hand and reveal them simultaneously. You may also clench no coins at all.
The player who clenched the most coins is the “Winner,” and everyone else is a “Loser.”
- A player who clenched no coins automatically becomes a Loser.
- If multiple players tied for the most coins, all of them are Winners.
- If nobody clenched any coins, everybody is a Loser.
Resolve the result of the Bet as follows.
- Winner: Pays all the coins they clenched (bet) to the bank.
- Loser: Returns all the coins they clenched (bet) to their own Treasury.

Flow of the Game#

The game proceeds in the following three phases.

1. Auction Phase → 2. Force Purchase → 3. Armageddon Phase

Phase 1: Auction Phase#

In this phase, you acquire Mercenary cards from the Market. Since the Start Player already got cards during setup, play begins with the player to the Start Player’s left and proceeds clockwise.

What to Do on Your Turn#

Scout the Market

Choose 2 cards from among the unscouted cards in the Market (that is, cards with none of your own coins on them) and look at them yourself only. Then put the cards back face down in their original positions in the Market and place 1 of your own coins on each of them as a “scouted” marker.

※If all cards have already been scouted, you do not scout. If there is only 1 unscouted card, you scout just that one card. In all other cases, you must scout exactly 2 cards.
Buy a Card

Choose any 1 card from the Market and buy it. You may also buy a card you haven’t scouted.
- Price: 1 coin for each card in front of the card you are buying (toward the head of the row). The first card is free, the second costs 1 coin, the third costs 2 coins, and so on.
- Payment: Pay the price in coins from your Treasury to the bank.
- Acquisition: Take the card you bought and all the coins that were on it (including those placed by other players), and add them to your hand and Treasury.

End of the Phase#

When everyone has acquired the required number of cards in hand, this phase ends. Remove the cards remaining in the Market from the game, and return the coins on them to the bank.

Number of players	Cards in hand per player
2 players	6 cards
3 players	5 cards
4 players	4 cards
5 players	3 cards

Phase 2: Force Purchase#

This is your only chance to convert Treasury coins into military strength. Every player chooses any number of coins of their own color from their Treasury and reveals them simultaneously. The revealed coins become your “Forces.” Keep them on the table, separate from your Treasury coins.

Phase 3: Armageddon Phase#

This is the final-battle phase, where you fight for survival. Play begins with the Start Player and proceeds clockwise. When your turn comes, you must carry out exactly one of the following.

A. Start a Battle#

Declare the battle: Declare a “Battle Size” (1, 2, or 3). You cannot declare a Battle Size larger than your current Forces.
Commit Forces: Every surviving player puts forward as many Forces as the Battle Size. If your remaining Forces are fewer than the Battle Size, you put forward all of them.
Bet: Everyone makes a “Bet.” At this time, each coin of another player’s color that you obtained at the auction is worth 2 coins. However, you cannot make change.
Resolve the result:
- Winner of the Bet: Pays the coins they bet to the bank.
- Losers of the Bet: Lose all the Forces they put forward (return them to the bank).

B. Use a Card#

Reveal 1 card from your hand and activate its effect. The card you used goes to the discard pile.

Using Cards After a Battle#

“Spy” and “Retreat” cards can be used after the result of the battle (who won the Bet) has been decided. When someone uses a card at this timing, the other players can see it and then use cards of their own.

Example: Two players remain. Player A bets 4 coins, Player B bets 5 coins, and Player A loses.

Player A uses a “Spy” (+3 coins) from their hand. The totals become 7 to 5, turning it into a comeback win for Player A.

Player B also uses a “Spy.” The totals become 7 to 8, making Player B the winner again.

Player A doesn’t want to lose their Forces, so they use a “Retreat” on top of that.

Final result: Player B is the winner and pays the 5 coins they bet to the bank. Player A lost, but thanks to the effect of “Retreat” they don’t lose their Forces, and the 4 coins they bet return to their Treasury. Both players’ used cards go to the discard pile.

End of the Game#

Elimination: A player whose Forces reach 0 is eliminated from the game. Eliminated players’ turns are skipped, and their hand and Treasury coins are all returned to the bank. Their hand is not revealed at this time.
Victory: The last player standing, after eliminating all the other players, is the winner of the game.
Draw: If multiple players are eliminated at the same time and no surviving players remain, all the players eliminated at the same time share the victory.

Mercenary Card List (9 kinds, 2 of each)#

Manor

When used, gain 5 coins. Take 5 coins of your own color from the bank and add them to your Treasury.

Ambush

When used, gain 5 Forces. Take 5 coins of your own color from the bank and add them to your Forces.

Spy

Can be used after a battle. Add +3 coins of value to your bet.

Retreat

Can be used after a battle. You do not lose the Forces you were supposed to lose in this battle.

Command

Gain 2 additional turns. These additional turns must also be carried out. The effect can stack.

Swap

Choose 1 target player. Swap 1 card from your hand with 1 card chosen at random from that player’s hand. If you have no cards in hand, receive 1 card at random.

Chaos

From the moment this card is used until just before the user’s next turn that is not the result of a “Command” effect begins, no player can use cards.

Resolve

Start a battle with a Battle Size of 5. Can be used even if your Forces are 4 or fewer.

Poop

Cannot be used.

Rules for My Homemade Board Game "Mammonism Game (Working Title)" (拝金主義ゲーム(仮))