Magic Market Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Object of the Game
• Playing the Game
  • Phase 1: Visitors wander about
  • Phase 2: Three Visitors are intrigued by your Stand
  • Phase 3: Carry out the Visitor's action
• End of the Game
• Variant: The Passage of the Great Magician

Components

• 1 Visitor Path disc (disque Chemin des Visiteurs): its 12 spaces hold the 12 Visitor pawns. Memorise the elements shown next to these spaces; they will help your memory throughout the game.
• 1 Marketplace board (plateau Place du Marché): divided into 4 areas, one in each corner, one for each player.
• 4 Stands: slots let you place the Objects you want to sell.
• 12 Visitor pawns: each Visitor has a symbol hidden under its hat. This symbol shows the Object the Visitor wants to buy, or the action to perform.
• 1 clock: shows the turns passing and tells you when the game ends.
• 20 Dragos notes of 5 and 30 Dragos coins of 1. The Drago is the currency used to buy Objects on the Magic Market.
• 1 Movement die (dé Déplacement): shows how many notches to turn the Visitor Path disc.
• 1 Price die (dé Prix): shows which number to look at when you sell a magic Object, to find its price.
• 4 Satchels (Besaces): your Satchel, symbol side up, lets you store your acquisitions. The collection side, on the back, is used only for the variant (see "Variant: The Passage of the Great Magician" below).
• 48 magic Objects: each magic Object has a coloured label showing its category and the prices at which it can be sold. Each player has 12 Objects of their colour.

Setup

1. Mount the Visitor Path disc on the Marketplace board. Then align any piece of the star with the star on the board.
2. Randomly place the 12 Visitor pawns on the spaces provided on the Visitor Path. All players may look under the pawns before the start of the game.
3. Each player takes the Stand of the colour of the board corner in front of them and places it in front of them. If it is the first game, assemble the Stands (see the "Stand assembly" diagram).
4. Each player then takes the Satchel of their colour and places it in front of them, symbol side visible.
5. All players take the 12 magic Objects of their colour. They place 6 of them of their choice on their Stand and keep the others under their Stand; this is your reserve. Tip: try to put on your Stand those that seem to please the other players the most.
6. Choose a player to be the Dragos Keeper (Gardien des Dragos). The Keeper is responsible for paying out Dragos during the game. They place the money near them, then give 3 Dragos to each player, who places them next to their Satchel.
7. The player who utters the best magic formula takes both dice. Return the Stands and magic Objects of unused colours to the box.
8. Give the clock to the player to the right of the player holding the dice. This player becomes the Time Master (Maître du Temps) and sets the clock hand to 10 o'clock (or 8 o'clock for a 2-player game).

Note: the setup illustration shows a 4-player game. The setup steps above apply to every player count.

Object of the Game

Magic Market is a trading game in which you sell magic Objects. As a good seller, remember what the Visitors are looking for in order to sell them Objects, and go around the other players' Stands to buy the Objects that interest you! When the clock shows 5 p.m. and the market closes, the player with the most Dragos in their pocket wins the game!

Playing the Game

Everyone is set up! The player holding the dice starts. Then play proceeds clockwise. On your turn, carry out the following 3 phases:

1. Roll the Movement die.
2. Choose a Visitor pawn and turn it over.
3. Carry out the Visitor's action.

Phase 1: Visitors wander about

Roll the Movement die and turn the Visitor Path disc by as many stars as the die shows, clockwise.

Phase 2: Three Visitors are intrigued by your Stand

Choose one of the Visitor pawns and turn it over. You may only choose from the three Visitors who have stopped in front of your Stand. These are the ones whose background colour at their space is your colour. Turn over one of the three Visitor pawns that stopped in front of your Stand and reveal the symbol hidden underneath. The symbol shows which category of magic Object this Visitor wants to buy, or the action to perform. Show it to everyone before returning the pawn to its place.

Note: you can only choose among the three Visitors in front of your Stand.

There are different types of Visitors:

Buyers. Most buyers look for magic Objects among 8 categories, represented by symbols: Disguises, Plants, Toys, Plush toys, Books, Outdoor games, Magic weapons, and Essential Objects.

The Crazy Buyer (L'acheteur fou). The Crazy Buyer always buys the first Object you choose to offer them, whatever its category.

The Pals (Les copains). A Pal comes to look after your Stand for you, so that you can go and visit the Stands of the other players.

Tip: each Visitor pawn is associated with an element on the board: glasses, an umbrella, a cat, etc. Remember where the Visitors you are interested in are, so you can be sure to attract them to your Stand at the right moment.

Phase 3: Carry out the Visitor's action

If the Visitor is a buyer: look at your Stand to see whether you have a magic Object of the category the Visitor wants. The symbol at the bottom right of the Object must be the same as the Visitor's symbol.

• If you have no matching magic Object on your Stand: Oops! Your turn is over; play passes to the next player.
• If you have one or more matching magic Objects on your Stand: Well done, the Visitor buys a magic Object from you! If several Objects match, choose the one you want to sell to them. Then roll the Price die to find out how many Dragos it gives you for that Object. Green indicates a low price, blue a medium price, and red a high price. Return the magic Object sold to the box, collect from the Dragos Keeper the Dragos the Price die gives you, and take a new magic Object from your reserve to place on your Stand.

Example: you turned over the buyer looking for books. You offer them your enchanted score, and on rolling the Price die you get red. The Dragos Keeper gives you 5 Dragos from the bank. You return the score to the game box and place a new magic Object from your reserve on your Stand.

Note: as long as your reserve is not empty, you must always have 6 magic Objects on your Stand.

Note: not every Stand is equipped with the same categories. So each player does not have two of the eight categories. A reminder of these categories is on your Stand.

If the Visitor is the Crazy Buyer: the Crazy Buyer behaves exactly like the other buyers, except that they are ready to buy any Object, whatever its category. They still only buy one at a time. Choose the Object you want to sell them, roll the Price die, return the Object to the box, and collect the Dragos shown by the die.

If the Visitor is a Pal: the Pal comes to look after your Stand for you. It is now your turn to explore the Magic Market and make your purchases!

You can therefore go and visit the Stands of the other players. Find the magic Object you want to buy and offer its owner one of the three prices displayed (green, blue or red). This is the moment to argue: try to convince the other player that your price is reasonable! If you cannot agree, roll the Price die to find out the price to pay.

If you do not have enough money, the sale does not happen. Otherwise, pay the other player the necessary Dragos, take the magic Object you bought and place it on your Satchel. The seller, for their part, takes a new magic Object from their reserve, if any remains, to replace the one they have just sold on their Stand.

Attention! In order to maintain good relations with your neighbours, you must have bought a certain number of magic Objects from each other player before the end of the game (see "End of the Game" below).

After carrying out the Visitor's action, play passes to the player on your left. When the Time Master finishes their turn, they must move the clock hand forward one hour to show that one round has passed.

End of the Game

When the clock hand reaches 5 p.m., the Magic Market closes.

Everyone checks whether they have bought enough magic Objects from the other players, according to the following table:

Number of players	Magic Objects to buy
2 players	You must buy 3 magic Objects from the other player.
3 players	You must buy 1 magic Object from one of the other players and 2 magic Objects from the other.
4 players	You must buy 1 magic Object from each of the other players.

If this is not the case, then, clockwise and at one Object per turn, make your last purchases. Go to the Stands of the players from whom you have bought nothing. This time, it is the other player who chooses which Object on their Stand they want to sell you. Then roll the Price die to determine its price, without negotiating. Take as many turns as necessary to acquire the three required magic Objects.

Example: the Magic Market closes and you have unfortunately not had time to make a deal with the orange player. You still have to buy 1 magic Object from them. They choose to sell you the Loki plush toy. You roll the die, which gives you blue. You must therefore give them 4 Dragos. You then collect the plush toy.

When every player has been round the other Stands, well done, you have finished your Magic Market! The game ends. Everyone counts their money. The player with the most Dragos wins the game.

Tip: if you cannot count yet, line up all your notes and coins along the edge of the table and compare your line of Dragos with the other players. Whoever has the longest line wins the game!

Variant: The Passage of the Great Magician

Variant for the more experienced players ("les plus grands" in the French).

For the most dedicated bargain hunters, know that a Great Magician sometimes drops by at the end of the Magic Market, looking for particular magic Objects for his incantations. He then transforms them into super magic Objects! But be warned: he is more particular than all our usual buyers, and he has very precise lists of what he is looking for. At the start of the game, set the clock to 9 o'clock and turn your Satchel collection side up to reveal these mysterious lists!

If you manage to acquire all the Objects of a list (respecting the rules for buying from other players), the Great Magician will buy them back from you at the end of the game for the price shown. Add these Dragos to your final loot.

Note: with 2 players, the Great Magician only offers you the first list, and you have the choice of the category of the third Object.

Example: Sophie finished her day with 27 Dragos. During the game, she bought the necessary magic Objects from the second list: 1 magic weapon, 1 toy and 1 plant. She exchanges her three Objects with the Great Magician for the 6 Dragos shown. She now has 33 Dragos.