Magic Maze: Hidden Roles
Magic Maze: Hidden Roles Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 53 Role cards
- 1 "I've got my eye on you" card
- 2 warning cards
Level 1: There Is a Traitor Among You (A Cards)
Select as many cards marked A as there are players, one of which must be a traitor; the others must be heroes. Shuffle these cards and deal one face down to each player. Secretly look at your card.
Place the "I've got my eye on you" card where everyone can reach it, just like the "Do something!" pawn.
Hero Cards
If you have a Hero card, your goal is the same as usual: Collect the items and leave before the timer becomes completely empty. But the traitor will try to stop you...
Hero card text: As usual, steal the items and escape!
Traitor Card
If you have the Traitor card, your goal is to make the heroes fail without revealing yourself. You win if the timer runs out completely, or if an accusation against a hero is validated (explained later).
Traitor card text: Don't let the heroes escape with the items, but don't let your treachery be discovered, either!
Accusing a Player
At any time, even when you normally cannot communicate, you can accuse a player of being the traitor. To do this, point at the player you wish to accuse, and say, "Traitor!".
Everyone else, except the accused, has 5 seconds to show their agreement with a thumbs-up, or their disagreement with a thumbs-down. If you make the accusation during a moment in which communication is allowed, you are welcome to justify your accusation or sway the vote (you might want to do this before making the formal accusation).
The game does not pause during a vote.
Accusation Rejected: If at least one player disagrees, or fails to answer within the allotted time, your accusation is unsuccessful, and the game continues.
Accusation Validated: If everyone, except the accused of course, gives a thumbs-up, your accusation is validated. The accused player immediately reveals their Role card.
If the accused was indeed the traitor, that player is eliminated from the game. In this case, once your accusation is completely resolved, you, as the accuser, may flip the sand timer if you wish, even if it ran out completely during the accusation process.
If the accused was a hero, the game ends immediately, and the traitor wins.
Elimination
When you are eliminated, give your Action tile to the player on your left, who now must also control the additional actions.
In later levels, more than one player could be eliminated. If a player already controls multiple Action tiles, they pass the new tile(s) to the left, and so on until the Action tiles are distributed as evenly as possible.
Note: When someone flips the sand timer, each player passes all of their Action tiles to the left.
Example of a situation: The traitor is the only player who can move a Hero pawn onto a Sand Timer space, but is not doing so. Just before the sand timer runs out, another player understands what is happening. She points at him and calls out, "Traitor!" The sand timer runs out, but everyone else agrees, validating the accusation. The traitor is unmasked and eliminated; he passes his Action tile to the player on his left. The accuser flips the sand timer over for free (this is optional, but there's no time left, so she does it). Then everyone passes their Action tiles to the left, and the game continues.
"I've Got My Eye on You!"
To avoid accusing a player prematurely, you can use the "I've got my eye on you!" card. At any time, you can take the card and place it in front of a player as a warning, to indicate that the player seems suspicious to you, and you invite others to keep a close eye on this one.
You are ready to play your first game with a traitor!
Level 2: Multiple Traitors... Could Be! (B Cards)
Select all of the cards marked B (8 heroes and 3 traitors). Shuffle them and deal one face down to each player. Put away the rest of the cards; you will not need them. Secretly look at your card.
This means there are 0 – 3 traitors in the game!
Accusing Multiple Players
At any time, you can accuse multiple players at the same time. To do this, point out the players you wish to accuse, and say, "Traitors!".
As with a single accusation, everyone who is not involved must agree with your accusation in order to validate it.
If your accusation is validated, and they are all traitors, they all are eliminated from the game; however, if there is even one hero among the accused, the traitors win the game.
Abandoning the Heist
An accusation must always be approved by at least one other player to be validated; however, if you are the only hero in the game, your only chance to win is abandoning the heist.
Abandoning the heist is only possible if you are a hero, and it must be done before the theft occurs. All you have to do is announce, "I'm abandoning the heist!" and reveal your Role card. The other players must then also reveal their card.
If you indeed were the only hero, you win the game. If there was at least one other hero, the traitors win the game.
Phantoms
From now on, when you, as a traitor, are eliminated by an accusation during the game, you become a phantom and can still claim a partial victory if the heroes lose the game. Keep your face-up Role card in front of you.
As a phantom, you can speak freely when no communication is allowed. Use this to taunt the others, and to sow confusion; however, you can neither raise your voice nor make gestures.
Inversely, you must remain silent during communication phases.
Tip: Add more Mall tiles to your games if the heroes win too often; play with fewer tiles if the traitors win too often. You can also increase the difficulty for the heroes by starting with an Out of Order token on the first Sand Timer space (the one on the starting tile). This will result in shorter games.
Level 3: Missions and Special Rules (C Cards)
Select all of the cards marked C (including the 3 traitors). Shuffle them and deal one face down to each player. Secretly look at your card.
There are 0 – 3 traitors in the game.
Check the lower part of the card for any conditions, such as "4 players and more" or specific elements being part of the game — your card might not have any conditions. If your current game does not meet the card's conditions, discard it and draw a new one.
Once everyone has a card whose conditions are met, put away the rest of the cards; you will no longer need them.
From now on, each hero player has a mission to accomplish, or a special rule to follow.
You are not allowed to communicate about the specific content of your cards — you're not even allowed to lie about it. You are only allowed to share your suspicions about who is a traitor, and to defend yourself, and only during the discussion phases.
Certain missions and rules are more difficult to succeed with than others, but the satisfaction of being successful is then even greater!
Examples
✔ Emma: I think Henri is a traitor: He keeps reacting slowly.
✔ Henri: No, I'm not! Besides, I'm the one who flipped the timer!
✘ Marie: I think it's because he has a mission to get the elf over there.
✘ Henri: No, actually my mission is about the dwarf. I need him to…
(The source marks the first two lines as allowed and the last two as "Not allowed".)
Special Rules Cards
These Role cards impose a rule to which you must adhere during the game, which might (wrongly) make you seem like a traitor.
If you momentarily forget to apply the rule assigned to you, wait until the end of the game to apologize, but get right back to following the rule!
Mission Cards
These Role cards give you a secret mission that you must complete during the game. If you have a mission card, you can only win the game if the heroes win and you have accomplished your mission.
At any time, if your mission has become impossible, you must confess, "I have failed!" and reveal your Role card. You are then eliminated, and you pass your Action tile(s) to your left neighbor.
Example: Your mission would become impossible if you need the dwarf to do something, but the dwarf has already escaped.
Note: In the rare case in which all players but one are eliminated, the game ends immediately, and the remaining player decides whether the heroes succeed or fail.
Level 4: Particular Circumstances (D Cards)
Select all of the cards marked D. Shuffle them and deal one face down to each player. Secretly look at your card. Check the conditions on the lower part of your card. If your current game does not meet the conditions, discard it and draw a new one. Put away the rest of the cards; you will not need them.
Variable Cards
If you have a card with a variable-side symbol (two arrows in a circle) above the effect text, the main background color indicates whether you are a traitor or a hero at the beginning of the game; however, certain conditions fulfilled during the game can make you switch sides!
Note: If you are colorblind, the left part of the symbol paperclipped to the photo also indicates whether you are a traitor or a hero at the beginning of the game.
Note: Certain cards refer to the Theft tile. Remember, this is the tile that you flip over when the theft occurs.
The source page shows two example cards, one that starts out as a hero and one that starts out as a traitor. Their card text is printed within the card artwork and is not legible enough in the source to transcribe, so it is omitted here.
Level 5: Missions for Traitors (E Cards)
Play with all the cards marked E. Use the same setup as usual.
Traitor cards marked E give you a secret mission that you must complete during the game. If you have a traitor mission card, you can only win the game if the heroes lose and you have accomplished your mission.
At any time, if your mission becomes impossible, you must confess, "I have failed!" and reveal your Role card. You are then eliminated, and you pass your Action tile(s) to your left neighbor.
Divining the Missions
If the heroes win the game by escaping after the theft, the traitors have one last chance to win.
First, each traitor reveals their Role card.
Traitors: One at a time, and in whatever order you speak up, you can point at a face-down Role card and announce the hero mission you think it is. Its owner reveals the card. If you are correct, you swap your card with theirs; you join the winning team, and the other player is now a loser.
Obviously, each card can only be guessed once.
Then, reveal any remaining Hero Role cards, as at the end of any game.
Note: You can only guess missions, not special rules.