Macroscope Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Before the Very First Game
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Guessing the Picture
• End of the Game
• Variant
• Storage and "Reloading"

Components

• 54 yellow victory point crystals (1 crystal = 1 victory point)
• 10 blue victory point crystals (1 crystal = 10 victory points)
• 12 tokens
• 200 double-sided picture cards and a blocker card (a picture such as a pizza on one side, the name of the game on the other)
• 2 dice
• 1 macroscope
• 1 round-counting marker
• 1 round counter
• Rulebook

Before the Very First Game

• Macroscope. Carefully remove the macroscope parts, tokens, round counter and round-counting marker from the cardboard base. Assemble the macroscope as shown in the pictures.
• Tokens. Assemble the 12 tokens from the round and rectangular parts using the special stickers.
• Marker. Assemble the round-counting marker as shown in the picture.

Setup

Place the macroscope in the centre of the table. Take the deck of picture cards and put it into the macroscope picture side up, so that the arrow is at the edge on the protruding part of the card. Do not under any circumstances look through the cards, so as not to spoil the experience of the game! Place the macroscope lid with the windows on top of the deck.

Check: the arrow drawn on the edge of the card must be visible. This arrow will show you the orientation of the picture on the card. Cover all 12 windows with tokens in any order. Then carefully (without knocking off the tokens and without accidentally pulling out other cards) take out the top card and put it into the small compartment of the box.

• Place the round counter next to the macroscope.
• Place the round-counting marker on space 1 of the counter.
• Place the two dice next to it in the centre of the table.
• Each participant receives 2 yellow victory point crystals; place the remaining crystals as a supply near the play area.

Gameplay

Choose the first player at random; afterwards turns pass clockwise. On your turn, turn the macroscope towards you so that it is convenient for you to look at it. The arrow on the card must point up. At any moment of the game all players must be able to look at the macroscope.

1. On your turn you roll the two dice. Use the values rolled to open one or two windows with the corresponding numbers (to open a window, simply remove the corresponding token from the hole of the macroscope). The value of each die can be used only once. If there are no suitable tokens left on the macroscope lid, you may open a window (or windows) of your choice.

   Note: you may play without the dice, opening on your turn one or two windows of your choice.

   After opening one window you may choose: either open a second one, or guess the picture, or pass the turn. After opening the second window you may try to guess the picture or pass the turn.

2. If you decided to guess the picture, see the section GUESSING THE PICTURE.

3. If you decided not to guess the picture, you receive one victory point for each window you opened (take the crystals from the supply and place them in front of you). If no player is ready to guess, the turn passes to your left-hand neighbour.

4. If another player is ready to guess on your turn, they may do so, but only if you decline to guess or if they want to "argue" with you (see GUESSING THE PICTURE).

Example: Pasha begins the game. He rolls the dice and gets 2 and 5. So he may open one window numbered 2 and one window numbered 5. He opens the left window number 2. No one is ready to guess the picture yet. After that Pasha decides to open another window and chooses the right window numbered 5. He is unable to say what he sees in the picture, and the other players cannot either, so he takes 2 crystals from the supply and the turn passes to his left-hand neighbour, Anya.

Guessing the Picture

• If on your turn you decided to guess the picture, you announce this and state your guess.
• If at this moment another player thinks that the picture shows something else, they may also try to guess (if several players want to take part, the player with the fewest points has priority, and in case of a tie the active player chooses who will be first, second and so on). To take part in guessing, a player must pay the active player 2 crystals, and then name their version of the object/character in the picture (it is forbidden to repeat another player's guess). The same happens if the active player declines to guess: the players who want to guess the picture on their turn pay them 2 crystals each and in turn name their answers.
• Count how many closed windows remain on the macroscope lid; exactly that many points will be won or lost by each of the players who stated a guess, depending on whether they were right or wrong.
• Cover all windows with tokens (this is necessary so that you do not see the next card). After that carefully pull out the card (without looking at its reverse side) and look at the picture.
• The player who correctly guessed what is shown in the picture receives as many victory points (taken from the supply) as there were closed windows in the macroscope at the moment of guessing. Each player whose guess turned out wrong loses the same number of points (returning them to the supply). If a player has no crystals, they lose nothing, and if they have too few, they give as many as they have.

EXAMPLE (continued): Anya rolled the dice and opened one more window, after which she decided to risk and guess the picture. She states her guess: "I think it is a sandwich." Petya has a different guess, so he gives Anya two yellow crystals and says: "I think it is a pizza." At the moment of guessing, 9 windows of the macroscope were closed. The players cover the windows, carefully take out the card and look at it: it shows a pizza. Petya receives 9 yellow crystals for the correct guess, and Anya loses 9 yellow crystals (she has only 4 crystals, so she returns all 4 to the supply).

After scoring, carefully place the played card into the small compartment of the box without looking at its reverse side. Then move the marker to the next space of the round counter. The turn passes to the next player clockwise, and the game continues by the same rules.

If during a round all windows of the macroscope were opened but no one is ready to guess the picture, put the tokens in the windows, pull out the card and put it into the box. Begin a new round without moving the marker on the round counter.

End of the Game

As soon as the round-counting marker reaches space 10, play one more (tenth) round. After that the game ends. The participant who has gained the most victory points wins!

Variant

If you are playing with children or simply prefer to play by simpler rules, we suggest making the following changes to the basic rules:

1. At the start of the game the participants do NOT receive 2 yellow crystals each.
2. On their turn a player opens one or two windows, as in the basic rules, and then may decide whether to guess the picture or not. During their turn another player may guess the picture.
   • If the player decides not to guess the picture, they receive exactly 2 yellow crystals (regardless of the number of windows they opened).
   • If the active player declined to guess the picture, any other player may try to guess it. They pay nothing for the attempt.
   • If several players have different versions, they may also state them and try to guess the picture for free.

Storage and "Reloading"

Keep the macroscope assembled, with the cards you have not yet played, in the large compartment of the box, and lay the used cards played side up in the small compartment (we advise you to make sure the arrows on the cards are on one side).

If the cards in the macroscope have run out, take the stack of cards from the small compartment of the box, turn it over and place it in the macroscope as at the first preparation for the game. Place the macroscope lid with the windows on top of the deck. Cover all 12 windows with tokens. After that carefully (without knocking off the tokens and without accidentally pulling out other cards) take out the top blocker card and put it into the box. Now you are ready to continue the game!