Machi
Machi Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Win the greatest number of victory points to be named Shogun after 8 rounds of play (8 years).
Quick Reference (Cover Panel)
The cover of the rulebook carries a condensed version of the Autumn and year-end scoring rules. It is reproduced here as printed; the full rules follow in the sections below.
Autumn (players take turns, one after the other)
a) Duels. Each Duellist may challenge another Duellist. A Duellist may only start one duel, but may take part in several if other Duellists challenge it. A duel may be refused, but in that case you lose 2 victory points. A Yakuza can never refuse a duel.
b) Relocation. During this phase, you may move your villagers from one building to another. Only the founder of a building may not leave it. Take care to respect the maximum capacity of each building. There is no relocation to or from a building blocked by a Yakuza.
End of year and victory point calculation. Each player totals the wealth points and honour points obtained for all of their buildings and villagers. Only activated buildings produce wealth or honour. Only villagers present on buildings of their own colour produce wealth or honour.
- Divide the total wealth points by 3 to obtain the number of victory points gained for the year.
- Divide the total honour points by 2 to obtain the number of victory points gained for the year.
- Add together the victory points gained for honour and wealth, and move each player's Lord figure on the victory point scoring track by that number of spaces.
At the end of the 8th year, the player who has obtained the most victory points is named Shogun by the Emperor and wins the game.
Contents
- 171 cards, including:
- 82 Villager cards
- 54 Building cards
- 35 Combat cards
- 5 player aids
- 1 victory point scoring track
- 1 Year marker and 1 Season marker
- 5 Lord figures in different colours
Card Categories
The rice field (player aid). The rice field is printed on the player aid and represents your starting land. Through its production of rice bags, it allows you to feed your first villagers.
Combat cards. There are 7 different Combat cards. Each player receives an identical set at the start of the game. These cards are used to resolve duels. They are kept face down.
Building cards. These represent all the types of building that can be constructed.
There are 3 colours of building, according to their nature:
- Yellow buildings are linked to commerce and generally yield wealth points.
- Blue buildings are linked to culture and religion. They generally yield honour points.
- Red buildings are special buildings that yield particular abilities and honour points.
Villager cards are also defined by a colour type:
- Yellow villagers are linked to commerce.
- Blue villagers are linked to culture and religion.
- Red villagers are Samurai (see the chapter on Duels).
- Black villagers are Yakuza (see the chapter on Yakuza).
Event cards are cards with an effect, distributed among the Building and Villager cards. They may only be played during the turn of the player who owns them. Once played, their effect is applied and they are discarded.
Symbols shown on the cards and on the rulebook include: the rice bag symbol, the wealth point symbol, the honour point symbol, the bonus resources symbol, and the sabre symbol.
Setup
Each player chooses one of the 5 Lords and takes the player aid of their colour (which includes their starting rice field) and their 7 Combat cards.
Shuffle the Villager cards and the Building cards separately to form two distinct draw piles. Each player receives 3 Villager cards and 2 Building cards to form their starting hand.
The Lord figures are placed on space 0 of the victory point scoring track. The Year marker (the Buddha) is placed on the first year (year 1). The Season marker (the tree) is placed on Winter.
Game Principles
In Machi, you build buildings in which you install villagers to activate them and thus produce wealth or honour, which earns you victory points.
To activate a building, you must assign a certain number of villagers to it. This number must be equal to or greater than half of the building's total capacity. This capacity is shown on each building by a number in the top left corner of the card. The villagers do not need to be the same colour as the building in order to activate it.
Example: a Brewery can hold up to 3 villagers. To activate the Brewery, it is enough to assign 2 villagers (half of its total capacity). In the example, 3 villagers of different colours are present on the Brewery, so the building is considered "activated" and produces resources. (In this example: 2 wealth points from the Brewery.)
However, a villager only produces the resources printed on its card if it is on a building of its own colour, whether that building is activated or not.
Example: in the previous example, the Zen Monk and the Samurai serve to activate the building but produce no personal resources (no honour points, no wealth points, and no rice bags).
In addition, certain characters may grant you extra resources if they are on the building indicated on their card. The bonus resources symbol appears in the top left corner of the card, and the bonus granted is shown at the bottom of the card.
Example: the Brewer is on the Brewery, so he receives a bonus of one wealth point and one rice bag in addition to what he normally produces by being on a building of his own colour.
Playing the Game
A game of Machi lasts 8 rounds of play, each round corresponding to one year. A round is made up of four phases, each representing one season of the year. Depending on the season, players act simultaneously or take turns.
The first season of the year is always Winter. Each change of season is indicated by moving the Season marker.
Winter (all players may act simultaneously this season)
Winter is traditionally the season of famine and of the end of construction.
(When playing the first year, since you have no villagers to feed and no building under construction, move directly on to Spring.)
a) Rice and Famine
Before starting their turn, count the number of rice bags you have in order to feed your villagers. Add together the rice bags obtained from the rice field, those provided by activated buildings, and those provided by villagers located on buildings of their own colour. If the total is less than the number of villagers in your village, you must discard surplus villagers. You always discard first the villagers placed last on a building.
Note: Yakuza are not true villagers; they produce no resources and do not need to be fed.
Example: Catherine manages the following village. (The village diagram printed in the rulebook is not reproduced here; the description below refers to it.)
She therefore has 5 rice bags this round: 3 from the rice field plus 2 from the Bouge (activated). She receives nothing from the Ryokan (it would need 2 villagers to be activated), she does not receive the Brewer's bonus because he is not on a Brewery, and finally she receives nothing from the Good Cook because the building is still under construction. She is one rice bag short of feeding all of her villagers, so she must discard one. By the rule, she may only discard a villager placed in last position on a building. She may therefore discard the Moneylender, the Brewer, Akane, or the Good Cook. However, a building left without villagers is immediately destroyed, so she decides to eliminate Akane, whom she discards. If Catherine had had to eliminate a second villager, she would have had the choice between the Moneylender, the Brewer, the Writer, or the Good Cook.
b) End of Construction
Once the Rice and Famine phase is completed, move on to the End of Construction phase. All buildings under construction are now completed. Turn the card face up, lay it horizontally, and place its founder on top of it, leaving the building's advantages visible. If the building is now activated, place it upright.
Winter is now over. Move the Season marker to Spring.
Spring (players take turns, one after the other)
Spring is traditionally the season in which new villagers arrive and the terrible Yakuza appear!
The first player to begin this season is the one with the most victory points. In case of a tie, or if it is not possible to determine who has the most victory points, the largest player begins the season. Each player must complete all phases of the season before the next player takes their turn. Turns proceed clockwise.
At the start of the first Spring round, the first player draws 3 Villager cards and 2 Building cards and places them face up in the centre of the table. This is the flop.
a) New Arrivals
The player whose turn it is chooses one card from among those of the flop and adds it to their hand. They then draw 2 additional cards, distributed as they wish between the two piles (Villager and Building). They may draw one from each pile, or both from the same pile. The number of cards in hand is not limited.
The card taken from the flop is replaced by a card of the same category (building for building, villager for villager), so that each player begins Spring with three Villager cards and two Building cards on the flop.
b) Yakuza
(During the first year, Yakuza may not be played. Pass directly to Summer.)
Spring is the time when you may place or move Yakuza to attack enemy buildings, or to defend a building in your village that is under attack by one of these thugs.
The Yakuza are members of a criminal clan. When placed in attack on a building, they stop the wealth and honour production of that building. They do not affect the rice bag production, nor the production of the villagers located on that building. To get rid of them, you must challenge them to a duel. Once they are defeated, the building's resource production starts again normally.
It is possible to place several Yakuza in attack on the same village (including on the same building) to increase the nuisance. However, in that case, all the Yakuza must belong to the same clan. It is therefore impossible to place Yakuza of different clans in attack on the same village. To remember who placed the Yakuza, orient them towards the player who placed them.
- In attack on an enemy building, to block the revenues of that building. (All Yakuza attacking the same village must belong to the same clan.)
- In defence on your own village, to counter a Yakuza already present on one of your buildings. (The defending Yakuza must belong to a different clan from the attacking one.)
Each Spring, you may move your Yakuza to other buildings, including in other villages.
A Yakuza used in defence on a building in your own village must be of a different clan from the one blocking your building. Yakuza are not considered full villagers: you do not have to feed them. In the same way, they are not counted in a building's capacity and cannot help activate it. Nevertheless, if one of your Yakuza wins a duel, you gain the normal victory points (see the chapter on Duels).
Spring is now over. Move the Season marker to Summer.
Summer (all players may act simultaneously this season)
Summer is traditionally the season for starting new constructions and settling new villagers.
a) Starting New Buildings
Each player may start as many new buildings as they wish. Every building started must have a founding villager who will remain attached to that building for the rest of the game.
To start a building, you must attach a Villager card to it, which will be its founder. Place the Building card face down, horizontally, and place its founder on top of it, face up. The founder may be a card that comes directly from the player's hand, or a villager already present on another building in the village, provided that it is not the founder of that other building.
The founder produces nothing while the building is under construction (until the next Winter).
b) Installing New Villagers
Once a building has been completed, during Summer you may add new villagers (other than the founder) to it, thereby activating it (place the Building card upright). You can never place more villagers than the building's capacity. If a building ever finds itself without any villagers at some point in the game, it is immediately discarded. A player may choose to place Samurai cards outside of buildings in their village.
Summer is now over. Move the Season marker to Autumn.
Autumn (players take turns, one after the other)
Autumn is traditionally the season of duels, events, and relocations.
The player who begins this phase is the one with the most victory points (otherwise, by default, the largest player).
a) Duels
Samurai, villagers with a sabre symbol on their cards, and Yakuza are Duellists.
Each Duellist has a combat value corresponding to the number of sabres on its card. The more sabres it has, the more powerful it is. A Samurai may be placed in a building to activate it or to yield honour (in a dojo, for example). In addition, a Samurai present in a building protects it: no player may place Yakuza on that building. Samurai placed outside a building yield nothing and occupy no space, but may still challenge other Duellists to a duel.
During Autumn, each Samurai may, if it wishes, challenge another Duellist in play to a duel. Only Samurai may initiate a duel. Yakuza and villagers with a sabre symbol may defend themselves if they are challenged, but may never initiate a duel.
Exception: Yakuza and villagers with a sabre symbol present on a building may challenge a Yakuza that is blocking that building.
A Duellist may start only one duel per year, but may take part in several if it is challenged in turn by another Duellist.
Yakuza can never refuse a duel. A Samurai or a villager with a sabre may refuse a duel, but in that case the player immediately loses 2 victory points. It is not possible to refuse a duel if you have fewer than 2 victory points.
Duels are fought using Combat cards. For each duel, the players involved shuffle their Combat cards and draw the first 3.
The duel takes place over 3 passes of arms (rounds of exchange). For each pass of arms, the players choose the card they will use and place it face down in front of them. The two Duellists reveal their cards at the same time and apply their effects. These effects generally consist of gaining a number of sabres, or of cancelling the opponent's attack in the case of a parry, a dodge, or a counter-attack. For the second pass of arms, each player chooses a new card, from among the 2 they have left, and reveals it simultaneously. The third pass of arms is necessarily made with the last card in hand.
Once the three passes of arms have been resolved, add the number of sabres gained during the duel to the combat value of the Duellist (the number of sabres on its card). The Duellist with the greater total of sabres wins the duel. In case of a tie, no Duellist wins. If a Yakuza was the target of the duel, in case of a tie it stays on the building it was blocking.
The defeated Duellist is discarded. The winner gains a number of victory points equal to the number of sabres printed on the card of its opponent.
Example: Serge's Brewery is blocked by Fuu, a Yakuza of the Lotus clan, and therefore produces nothing. In Autumn, Serge decides to get rid of this threat and uses his Samurai, Shin, to challenge the Yakuza to a duel. Fuu was placed on Serge's village by Séverine, so it is she who plays it. The two Duellists each have a combat value of 2 sabres, so the combat is undecided. The two players shuffle their Combat cards and each draw 3.
They choose the card they wish to use for the first pass of arms. Séverine, having seen that Serge often attacks from the very start of a combat, decides to begin with a Parry, while Serge uses a Do Attack. The cards are revealed simultaneously, and Séverine parries Serge's attack. Nobody gains any sabres.
For the second pass of arms, Séverine decides to use her Ashi Attack. Because Serge used his Do Attack in the previous pass, he can no longer counter her attack. Unfortunately, Serge has decided to dodge, cancelling Séverine's attack. Nobody gains a sabre, and only one pass of arms remains.
For the last pass of arms, both players place directly the card they have left. Séverine had kept her Frank Attack for the end, hoping to win thanks to the 2 bonus sabres it brings. Unfortunately, Serge's Lightning Attack counters her Frank Attack (cancelling it), and Serge gains a sabre.
The combat ends. Serge gained one sabre during the combat and therefore totals 3, while Séverine remains at 2. Serge wins the duel. Fuu is discarded. Serge scores 2 victory points (the number of sabres on Fuu's card). Had it been a tie, the Yakuza Fuu would have stayed on the building, which would still have been unable to produce anything.
b) Relocations
(There are no relocations during the first year.)
At the end of their turn, a player may relocate their villagers (already in play) as they wish between their various buildings. The only rule to follow is that the founder must always remain on its original building.
Respect the capacity of each building when making changes.
There are no relocations to or from a building blocked by a Yakuza.
End of year and victory point calculation
At the end of Autumn, once all players have completed their turn, the victory points for the year just ended are scored.
Each player calculates the number of wealth points and honour points they earn from their villagers and buildings.
Only activated buildings and villagers on buildings of their own colour produce. (Reminder: buildings attacked by Yakuza do not produce.)
- Every complete block of 3 wealth points yields 1 victory point. (6 wealth points give 2 victory points, but 5 wealth points give only 1.)
- Every complete block of 2 honour points yields 1 victory point. (6 honour points yield 3 victory points, but 5 honour points yield only 2.)
Example: Arnaud owns only one building, a Brewery (yellow colour), activated by a Brewer (yellow), a Moneylender (yellow), and a Samurai (red). The Brewery yields 2 wealth points since it is activated; the Moneylender yields 3, and the Brewer yields 3 instead of 2 thanks to his bonus. The Samurai yields nothing because it is not on a building of its colour. For this building, Arnaud therefore gains 8 wealth points, which is 2 victory points. The 2 surplus wealth points are lost.
If Arnaud owns several buildings, he must add together the total wealth points of every building before dividing by three to find how many victory points he wins. The same is done for honour points (dividing by 2 instead of 3).
Move each player's Lord figure forward on the victory point scoring track by as many spaces as the victory points gained.
Warning: surplus wealth and honour points are lost. They are not carried over to the next round.
The year is now over. Before moving on to the next season, do not forget to advance the Year marker to the following year.
End of Game
The game proceeds for 8 years. At the end of the 8th year, the player with the most victory points is declared Shogun and wins the game.
In case of a tie, the player who gained the most honour points in the last year wins.
For games with 5 players, it is recommended to play only 6 years in order to reduce the playing time.
Season Summary
The rulebook closes with a summary of the seasons. It is reproduced as printed and repeats the rules above.
Winter (played simultaneously) (Do not play this season during the first round of play.)
a) Rice and Famine. Count the number of rice bags for each village. If the number is less than the number of villagers in the village, the player must discard surplus villagers. Discard first those placed last on a building.
b) End of Construction. All buildings under construction are completed.
Spring (players take turns, one after the other)
a) New Arrivals. Draw one card from among those of the flop and two others, distributed as you choose between the Villager pile and the Building pile.
b) Yakuza. Yakuza may be placed or moved:
- In attack on an enemy building, to block the revenues of that building. (All Yakuza attacking the same village must belong to the same clan.)
- In defence on your own village, to counter a Yakuza already present on one of your buildings. (The defending Yakuza must belong to a different clan from the attacking one.)
Summer (played simultaneously)
a) Starting New Buildings. Each player starts as many buildings as they wish. Every building started must have a founding villager who will remain attached to that building for the rest of the game.
b) Installing New Villagers. New villagers may settle on buildings already completed, within the limit of their maximum capacity.