Broom Service: The Card Game
Broom Service: The Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 144 Witch Cards (purple backside): 10 root witches (brown), 11 meadow witches (green), 12 fire witches (red), 14 berry witches (purple), 16 sun witches (yellow), 18 water witches (blue), 20 fog witches (grey), 21 night witches (black), 22 snow witches (white)
- 11 Task Cards
- 6 Overview Cards
This box also contains 19 cards (including rules), which serve as "The First Expansion" for the BROOM SERVICE board game. These 19 special cards should be taken from this game and added to the board game.
Game Set-Up
Sort the task cards according to the number of players (see the icon in the top left corner of the cards). Shuffle the task cards and place three of them face up in the middle of the table. Place the remaining task cards (these are each worth 5 victory points) upside down next to the three face up cards.
Sort the witch cards according to the number of players.
- With 3 players: use witches numbered 10-18 (= 81 cards/6 types of witches).
- With 4 players: use 10-20 (= 101 cards/7 types).
- With 5 players: use 10-21 (= 122 cards/8 types).
- With 6 players: use 10-22 (= 144 cards/9 types).
(See also the back of the overview cards. Return unused cards to the box.)
Shuffle the remaining cards. Depending on the number of players in the game, deal each player the following number of cards:
- 3 players: 17 cards
- 4 players: 15 cards
- 5 and 6 players: 14 cards
(see also the back of the overview cards).
Place the remaining witch cards upside down in a draw pile in the middle of the table.
From the draw pile, place one additional card for each player face up on the table. The starting player (i.e. the oldest) begins by taking any one of these cards and placing it "cowardly" (see below) on the table. Then the next player in clockwise order chooses a card, and so on, until all players have one "cowardly" witch in their display.
Game Play
The game is played over 4 rounds. Each round consists of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 9 turns, each played in the same way.
First, players each choose three* different witch cards from their individual deck and place their remaining cards face down; these are not used until the next round.
* In the extremely rare case that a player does not have three different witches to choose from, the player chooses only two witches.
After all players have chosen three witch cards, the starting player begins by playing any one of the three witches, saying aloud if the witch is "brave" or a "coward". If "brave", the player places the card so that the half showing 3 potions is facing the middle of the table; if a "coward", the card is placed so that the half of the card with only one potion is facing the middle of the table.
Play continues to the player on the left. If the player does not have a witch card that matches the type of witch played, the player says "next!" and play continues to the next player on the left and so on.
If the player has chosen this type of witch, the player must now play her, by saying aloud whether the witch is "brave" or a "coward", and placing the card with the correct side facing the middle of the table.
The round continues in this way until every player has followed by saying, "next!" or by placing the matching witch and saying, "brave" or "coward".
Other important rules
- There may be only one brave witch per type per round, but there may be more than one coward. If one player plays a witch brave, and then a subsequent player in the turn plays the same type as a brave witch, the first brave witch is cancelled, i.e. the card is flipped upside down and is out for the rest of the round. As a reminder, the flipped card stays where it is. The owner of the card reclaims it for their deck at the end of the round.
- Playing a witch cowardly is always safe. Any witch (brave or coward) played after a cowardly witch cannot cancel it. Also, playing a cowardly witch never affects an already-placed witch.
- Whoever played the last brave witch in a turn starts the next turn by playing a new witch. If that player has already placed all three witches, then the next player in clockwise order with at least one remaining witch starts the next turn.
- If all players play their witch cowardly, the player with the first cowardly witch starts the next turn (if that player does not have any more witches, the next player to the left with a witch starts).
Detailed example
Albert starts the first turn and places a fire witch: "I'm a cowardly fire witch." Bonnie also has a fire witch, which she must play, and she says, "I'm the brave fire witch!" Carla, who also has chosen the fire witch, plays it. She is confident, saying, "I'm the brave fire witch!" Bonnie's fire witch is "cancelled." She flips over the card, and her fire witch is out for the rest of this round! Daniel and Emily follow. Neither has chosen the fire witch, so one after the other they both say, "next!". The turn is now over, and a new turn begins.
Since Carla was the last brave witch, she plays a new witch: "I'm a cowardly sun witch." Daniel again says, "next!" since he does not have the sun witch. Emily has the sun witch, and says, "I'm the brave sun witch!" Neither Albert nor Bonnie has the sun witch so one after the other they say, "next!".
Emily plays the next witch: "I'm the brave root witch." Albert says, "I'm the brave root witch!" Emily flips over her root witch. Bonnie says, "next!" as does Carla. Daniel says, "I'm the brave root witch!" so Albert also flips over his root witch.
Daniel plays the next witch: "I'm a cowardly …"
(Turn order in this example: 1. Albert, 2. Bonnie, 3. Carla, 4. Daniel: "next!", 5. Emily: "next!", 6. Carla, 7. Daniel: "next!", 8. Emily, 9. Albert: "next!", ...)
The Next Round
When all players have played their three witch cards, the round ends. Players sort their newly played witches in their display by type, i.e. witches of the same type are piled on top of one another. Be sure that the potions on each card remains visible. Witches of different types are placed beside each other.
Players with cancelled, i.e. flipped over, cards now reclaim them into their deck.
Each player now takes three new cards from the draw pile in the middle of the table and adds them to their deck. Next, each player chooses again three different witches from their deck for the next round. The remaining (i.e. unused) cards are placed upside down beside their display.
The last brave player from the prior turn (or the first cowardly one, if all were cowards) begins the next round by playing a witch.
The Task Cards
In each game there are three randomly chosen task cards. If a player meets all conditions on a task card, then at the end of the round the player takes the task card and flips it upside down beside the witch display. It counts as 5 victory points. A player may complete more than one task card per round.
If more than one player can complete the same task at the end of the round, one player takes the task card itself and the other players take a 5-victory point card from the supply instead. Note: Completed task cards are not replenished! There are only three task cards for the entire game.
Example task card: Whoever owns at least 2 brown, 3 purple, and 4 black potions has completed this task.
Game End
The game ends after 4 rounds (when the draw pile is exhausted).
Looking at the overview card, players calculate their victory points. First, players add up the number of potions of each color (separately). Then, players add victory points for their "brave potions" (i.e. illustrated on each of their brave witch cards). Finally, players add 5 victory points for each task card.
The player with the most victory points is the winner. In the case of a tie, the tied player with fewer witch cards is the winner. If there is still a tie, there is more than one winner.
Example: Emily owns the following cards, and receives: 4 (blue) + 1 (red) + 8 (purple) + 1 (brown) + 0 (yellow) + 3 (green) + 10 ("brave potions") + 5 (task) = 32 victory points.
Witch Types
- Root Witch (10x)
- Meadow Witch (11x)
- Fire Witch (12x)
- Berry Witch (14x)
- Sun Witch (16x)
- Water Witch (18x)
- Fog Witch (20x)
- Night Witch (21x)
- Snow Witch (22x)
Credits
The inventors and publisher thank the many play testers for their valuable efforts, in particular the playing groups from Bacharach, Bad Aibling, Bödefeld, Grassau, Oberhof, Reutte, Siegsdorf, Stephanskirchen and Wien.
Do you have comments or questions about this game? Contact us: Ravensburger USA, Inc. | 1 Puzzle Lane | Newton, NH 03858. E-Mail: [email protected] | www.aleaspiele.de
Illustrations and Graphic Design: Vincent Dutrait
© 2015 Andreas Pelikan & Alexander Pfister. © 2016 Ravensburger Spieleverlag.