Asterix & Co.
Asterix & Co. Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
Compete with neighboring players by playing Characters to win Albums. To claim an Album, your faction must have a combined strength of 15 or more across its Characters. Each Album you collect earns you sesterces, with additional sesterces awarded for Roman Legions. The first player to reach 50 sesterces wins the game!
Trophies:
| Trophy | Album | Centurion Helmet | Legionary Helmet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 15 sesterces | 3 sesterces | 1 sesterce |
Setup
- Each player receives 1 player aid, 1 Legionary Helmet, and 3 Bonus tokens (1 Potion, 1 Fish, and 1 Boar).
- Shuffle the Character cards face down and deal 5 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards as a draw pile.
- For 3 to 4 players: Place 1 Starting Album card (marked with a marble tablet) between each pair of players. For 2 players: Place 2 Starting Albums between the players. Arrange the Albums so that each one has the Roman faction (red side) facing left and the Gaul faction (blue side) facing right.
- Shuffle the remaining Albums with the cover side facing up to form a draw pile. Arrange the bonus and helmet piles around the Albums within easy reach of all players.
Example of a 4 player game setup (diagram labels: Starting Album cards, Bonus tokens, draw pile, Album pile, Player Aid, discard pile, Legionary Helmet pile, Centurion Helmet pile, 5 card hand).
Player Aid
Text of the Player Aid card, as printed in the rulebook's setup illustration. Each player receives one.
On Your Turn
- A. Play 1 Character, then activate its power (optional).
- OR B. Use 1 Bonus token + draw 1 card.
- OR C. Discard cards or not, then draw until you have 5 cards in hand.
Bonus Effects
- Potion: double the strength of the Character you place it on. It can no longer be Called On or K.O.'d.
- Fish: K.O. 1 Character without Potion.
- Boar: Reinvigorate 1 K.O.'d Character OR activate the power of your last visible Character on an Album.
(Maximum = 2 of the same Bonus per player.)
Card Anatomy
The printed card anatomy diagram labels these parts of a Character card:
- Strength: the number in the top corners of the card (the Glossary places it in the top right corner). Strength ranges from 2 to 8.
- Name: the Character's name, shown on the banner.
- Color symbol: the colour symbol on the card's face, showing its faction (see the colour key below).
- Power (yellow): the power box. Example on the printed diagram: Asterix, "K.O. 1 Roman among the strongest on this Album."
- Constraint (orange): the constraint box. Example on the printed diagram: Caesar, "Destroy 1 of your Helmets to put it in play. Cannot receive any Potion or Fish Bonuses."
- Type of the character: the emblem at the bottom of the card (see Types of Characters below).
The diagram also shows a purple (neutral) example card, Redbeard, with the power "Take in hand the character on top of the discard pile."
Colour key:
- Blue = Gaul
- Red = Roman
- Purple = Neutral
The printed colour key uses the ColorADD colour-blind symbols (Blue + Red = Purple). Only the colour names are reproduced here; the ColorADD licence line on the last page is omitted as trademark boilerplate.
On Your Turn
Players take turns in clockwise order. On your turn, choose one of the following options:
- A) Play 1 Character card
- B) Use 1 Bonus token and draw 1 Character card
- C) Reinforce your hand
Types of Characters
The rulebook shows the following Character types: Centurion, Chief, Swindler, Hero, Diehard, Legionary, Rebel.
A) Play a Character
Choose 1 Character card from your hand and place it in front of one of the two Albums facing you, following these placement rules:
- Gaul Characters (blue) must be played on the blue side of an Album.
- Roman Characters (red) must be played on the red side of an Album.
- Neutral Characters (purple) can be played on either side of an Album.
- Special Requirements: Some Characters have additional requirements for placement. If you can't meet these requirements, the Character cannot be played.
Example: Cleopatra requires you to discard 2 cards to play her. If you have fewer than 2 other cards in hand, you cannot play Cleopatra. (Cleopatra's card text: "Only playable if you discard 2 cards from your hand.")
Heroes
A Hero cannot be played or reinvigorated if an identical Hero is already visible anywhere in play.
Option: Activate a Character's Power
A Character's power only triggers if you choose to activate it and there is a valid target. If the power's requirements aren't met, it will not take effect.
Example: Asterix can K.O. the strongest Roman on an Album. However, if he is the first Character played on the Album, there is no valid target, so his power does not take effect.
B) Draw 1 Character and Use 1 Bonus
You can draw 1 Character card and then use one of your Bonus tokens to apply its effect. There are three different types of Bonus tokens:
Potion Bonus
The Potion Bonus is placed on a Character to double its strength and protect it. A Character with a Potion Bonus cannot be K.O.'d or Called On. Each Character can only have one Potion Bonus at a time.
Fish Bonus
The Fish Bonus is discarded to K.O. a Character that does not have a Potion Bonus. When a Character is K.O.'d, its card is turned face down. Its strength is no longer counted for its faction.
Boar Bonus
The Boar Bonus is discarded to do one of the following:
- Activate the power of the last Character placed on one of the two Albums facing you, or
- Reinvigorate a K.O.'d Character without activating its power.
Note: A K.O.'d Hero cannot be reinvigorated if an identical Hero is already visible in play.
C) Reinforce Your Hand
Discard any number of cards from your hand face up. Then, draw Character cards until you have 5 cards in hand.
Album Resolution & End of Game
As soon as the total strength of the visible Characters from the same faction reaches or exceeds 15 points, proceed as follows:
- The winner takes the Album and the helmets corresponding to the visible Legionaries and Centurions on the Album.
- If this player has 50 or more sesterces, they win the game!
- The K.O.'d Characters on this Album return to their owner's hand and do not score any helmets. The other Characters are discarded.
- The defeated player takes a consolation Bonus token of their choice from the stockpile but cannot take a third copy of any Bonus token they already have.
- The defeated player replaces the claimed Album with the top Album from the Album pile, choosing whether to orient the Roman or Gaul side facing them. They then apply the Album's effect (if necessary).
- The player to the left of the previous Album's winner takes the next turn.
Album Effects
Some Albums carry an effect printed on the card. The rulebook does not print a full list of Album effects. The Albums shown in its illustrations carry these effects:
- "No Fish Bonus Token allowed on this Album" (shown in the Album resolution example).
- "No Boar Bonus Token allowed on this Album" (a Starting Album in the setup illustration).
- "Maximum 1 Neutral Character per player on this Album" (a Starting Album in the setup illustration).
Example of a Battle on an Album
- Matthew plays Getafix, who gives him a Potion Bonus.
- Laura plays Edifis, who eliminates Getafix.
- Matthew plays Dogmatix and wins a Legionary helmet.
- Laura plays Crismus Bonus and draws a card.
- Matthew plays Asterix, who K.O.s Crismus Bonus.
- Laura plays Valueaddedtax, who reinvigorates Crismus Bonus.
- Matthew uses his Potion Bonus on Asterix and wins the Album, along with a Centurion helmet.
- Laura chooses to take a Potion Bonus, then reveals the next Album and places the Gaul faction facing her.
The printed figure for this battle shows the faction totals as: 3 + 4 + 3 = 10 vs. 4 + (6 x 2) = 16.
Card text legible on the cards in this figure:
- Asterix: "K.O. 1 Roman among the strongest on this Album."
- Dogmatix: "Win 1 Legionary Helmet from the stockpile."
- Valueaddedtax: "Reinvigorate 1 K.O. Character on this Album except for Heros." (printed as "HEROS")
- Album: "No Fish Bonus Token allowed on this Album."
The card text of Getafix, Edifis and Crismus Bonus is covered by overlapping cards in the printed figure and is not reproduced here; the steps above give their effects.
FAQ
Q: What do you do if there are no more Helmets or Bonus tokens?
A: The Bonus tokens are limited by the physical components. If they run out, there are no more of that Bonus token available.
Q: What do you do if the draw pile is empty?
A: Shuffle the discarded cards and form a new draw pile.
Glossary
Call On: The designated Character, if visible in play, joins your faction on this Album. The Character's value and properties remain unchanged, but you do not activate its power. If a Character you Called On is K.O.'d, it returns to your hand at the Album's resolution. A Character with a Potion cannot be Called On.
Discard: Cards discarded are placed face up into the discard pile. Bonus tokens discarded are returned to the Bonus token stockpile.
Draw: Add the indicated number of cards to your hand from the draw pile. If the draw pile is empty, turn it upside down and shuffle all of the discarded cards to create a new draw pile.
Eliminate: This ability targets a visible Character. Its card is discarded face up. A Character with a Potion can also be Eliminated; in that case, the Potion is also discarded.
Gaul: All blue Characters are Gauls. A neutral Character is not considered a Gaul, even if it is played on the Gauls' side.
K.O.: The targeted Character is K.O.'d. Its card is flipped face down and remains in play but no longer contributes its Strength towards winning the Album. A K.O.'d Character returns to its owner's hand at the resolution of an Album. A Character with a Potion cannot be K.O.'d.
Neutral: A purple Character is neither a Gaul nor a Roman. Since it does not belong to any faction, it is playable anywhere.
Reinvigorate: Flip a K.O.'d Character face up. This Character's strength is once again counted, but it does not activate its power. The use of a Boar Bonus allows you to Reinvigorate.
Roman: All red Characters are Romans. A neutral Character is not considered a Roman, even if it is played on the Romans' side.
Strength: The strength of a Character appears in the top right corner of the cards, ranging from 2 to 8. The strength of a Character with a Potion is doubled.
Example: Asterix has a strength of 12 if given a Potion Bonus.