Magic Maze on Mars
Magic Maze on Mars Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 21 Mars tiles (8 of which are used only to adjust the difficulty)
- 6 Bridge tokens
- 3 Wild tokens
- 4 Sand Timer tokens
- 2 Space Slug pawns
- 10 Trash pawns
- 5 Colonist pawns
- 5 Dome tokens
- 2 Resource pawns each of 6 different shapes (yellow banana, metallic blue girder, green leaf, brown cow, orange ore, and purple crystal)
- 1 Warehouse board
- 6 Action tiles
- 1 Communication board
- 1 "Do Something!" pawn
- 1 sand timer
Game Concept
Magic Maze on Mars is a real-time, cooperative game. You will be in charge of a specific action, and you might be the only person who can perform that action; however, you can use that action whenever you want. Your action might be to move along a green expressway, along a blue expressway, or along an orange expressway… or to explore a new zone from a platform of that color, or to let the space slug use an expressway of that color to find a meal…. This all will require rigorous cooperation between all of you in order to move the pawns wisely, so you can complete the objective before time runs out.
However, you are only allowed to communicate with each other during very specific and short periods during the game. The rest of the time, you must play without making a sound, and without any visual cues to the other players.
Goal of the Game
Everyone wins the game if each Colonist pawn reaches a habitable dome within the time limit; however, first you must build the domes!
At the beginning of the game, you only have the time granted by a single run of a sand timer. Fortunately, Sand Timer spaces will allow you to increase this time during the game. Unfortunately, if the sand timer ever runs out before all of the Colonist pawns have reached domes, everyone loses, because the colonists perish from asphyxiation!
Setup
Place the starting Mars tile in the middle of the table.
Give each player an Action tile with a number matching the player count.
We will present the complete rules of Magic Maze on Mars to you over the course of 5 modules, which gradually add the rules as you go. We don't recommend reading the entire rulebook at once. The best way to learn is to read module 1, then play, read module 2, then play, and so on….
Module 1
Components required for this module
- The 4 A Mars tiles
- 1 Colonist pawn
- 1 Dome tile
- 1 Sand Timer token
- 0 Communication boards
- 0 Bridge tokens
- 0 Wild tokens
- 0 Trash pawns
- 0 "Do Something!" pawns
- 0 Space Slug pawns
Starting the game
You can take your time and talk as much as you want while setting up the game. As soon as everyone is ready, flip the sand timer, and the game begins! You are allowed to speak as much as you want throughout the game in this module only.
Since you only start the game with one Mars tile in play, your first goal is to explore the remaining Mars tiles. These will give you access to new resources, which will allow you to build a dome for the colonist waiting in orbit.
Producing Resource pawns
If you have blue on your Action tile, you can produce a blue Resource pawn on a blue Factory platform (semicircle), as long as that Factory platform has no other pawns on it, and a blue Resource pawn is available in the supply.
Simply take a blue Resource pawn from the supply and place it on the Factory platform.
IMPORTANT
Do not confuse a standard platform with a Factory platform! A standard platform will have a padlock icon with a resource inside it.
A Factory platform will have an icon of a resource it can produce with a plus sign (+) in it, and the graphics always depict a robot working beside it to provide the resource, in an area of the resource's color.
In the same way that you produce a blue Resource pawn, you will be able to produce other colors of Resource pawns on Factory platforms of their respective colors (they appear as you place new Mars tiles).
Moving Resource pawns
You can move Resource pawns along expressways whose colors are on your Action tile.
For example, if you have the Action tile depicted here, you can move Resource pawns along brown and orange expressways.
Resource pawns move from platform to empty platform; they never stop in the middle of an expressway. You can never have more than one pawn at a time on a platform. Moreover, a pawn cannot pass through a platform without stopping (thus, the pawn can't move through an occupied platform).
Example: 1 A player with blue on her action tile creates a blue resource. 2+3 A player with brown and orange on her action tile transports the resource along two expressways (notice that a player with yellow on his action tile could have taken a shorter route).
Exploring new Mars tiles
To explore a new Mars tile (i.e. lay a new tile adjacent to an edge), the platform on that edge must have a Resource pawn of its same color on it (for example, a blue Resource pawn on a blue platform).
If you have this color (blue in our example) on your Action tile, you can return the blue Resource pawn to the supply to reveal the top tile of the Mars tile deck and immediately connect it (face up) to the platform from which you just removed the Resource pawn. You always rotate the new tile so the platform with an arrow connects to the platform from which you just removed the Resource pawn.
IMPORTANT
You must physically move the matching Resource pawn to the platform, and place it there; only then can you return it to the supply to explore (even if you could move the Resource pawn along several expressways to the platform, and remove it to explore all by yourself). Even if you can imagine it all, and feel like you can skip those steps, the other players need to see them happen in order to understand what you are doing.
Although a platform is a semicircle when there is no Mars tiles adjacent to it, once a new Mars tile has been explored, and is placed adjacent to it, the platform becomes a full circle (formed from the two semicircles). Two connected semicircles always form a single platform, and can therefore only hold one pawn!
Time limit
If the sand timer runs out, you have lost the game! Don't despair: The sand timer can be flipped by moving a Resource pawn (of any color) onto a Sand Timer space that has not yet been used: The player who moved the Resource pawn must immediately return it to the supply, and immediately flip the sand timer (do not lay it on its side to pause the flow of sand!), regardless of whether this gives you more or less time.
Example: A player with green on their Action tile can move the Resource pawn to the Sand Timer space. The player then returns the Resource pawn to the supply and flips the sand timer.
Note
Do not use another type of timer in place of the sand timer; it will not give you the same experience!
Each Sand Timer space can only be used once, after which you must place a Sand Timer token from the Warehouse board on it.
IMPORTANT
You must physically move a Resource pawn to the Sand Timer space; only then can you return it to the supply to flip the timer (even if you could move the Resource pawn along several expressways to the Sand Timer space, and remove it to flip the sand timer all by yourself). Even if you can imagine it all, and feel like you can skip those steps, the other players need to see them happen in order to understand what you are doing.
Building domes
Some Mars tiles have a Dome construction site, where you must deliver the depicted Resource pawns (brown, green, and yellow in the example below).
Once all of the required Resource pawns have been delivered to this construction site, anyone can return them to the supply to take a Dome tile from the Warehouse board and place it on the construction site. The dome is then considered built.
End of the game
Once all the Dome tiles have been built (which is just 1 in this module), the colonists arrive. Each colonist represents a family who is about to start a new life on Mars. Place all of the Colonist pawns (which is just 1 in this module) on the Rocket space of Mars tile #1.
Then, you move the Colonist pawns just like you move the Resource pawns (1 pawn per platform — total, regardless of type — and it must stop on each platform along the way). You win the game as soon as each Dome tile is occupied by one Colonist pawn (it doesn't matter which one).
IMPORTANT
Once the colonists land on Mars, you no longer can flip the sand timer!
Now you know the basic rules, and are ready to play the first module.
Module 2
Components required for this module
- The 4 A Mars tiles, and the 2 B
- 2 Colonist pawns
- 2 Dome tiles
- 2 Sand Timer tokens
- The "Do Something!" pawn
- The Communication board
- The 6 Bridge tokens
- The 3 Wild tokens
- 0 Trash pawns
- 0 Space Slug pawns
Starting the game
All the rules of Module 1 still apply, except that from now on, you are forbidden to communicate.
Thus you are not allowed to speak, to point at anything, to sign, or to emit any sounds. The only means of communication allowed are as follows:
- Staring at another player insistently.
- Taking the "Do Something!" pawn and placing it in front of someone to suggest that it is time for that person to take action. This person may disagree, and may put the pawn in front of yet another player. Anyone can use the "Do Something!" pawn at any time.
- Using the Communication board: Place the "Do Something!" pawn on a red button above the icon that depicts the action you think another player should take without delay (for example, you could place the "Do Something!" pawn above the sand timer icon to indicate that it needs to be flipped; or above the resources icon to indicate that a new resource needs to be produced). Then, as usual, anyone can immediately move the "Do Something!" pawn.
Icons, from left to right: produce resources, sand timer, bridge, trash, pipeline, space slug — we'll get to those last four later.
- Using a Wild token (see page 8).
Each time you flip the sand timer, everyone is allowed to speak as long as they wish while the sand timer continues to flow. No actions can be performed while you communicate.
As soon as someone performs any action, all communication must stop again!
Notes
- If you have played Magic Maze, you will be pleased to discover that in Magic Maze on Mars, you can correct your own movement mistakes (such as a legal move that does not help progress your situation), because if you have a color on your Action tile, you can move pawns either direction on that color of expressway (exception: one-way expressways, see page 11).
- If you notice that someone has infringed on the rules of the game, you are allowed to point this out verbally. Return the game components to the situation before the mistake was made while the sand timer continues to flow; you do not get back the lost time of the mistake, the explanation, or the fix, so fix it quickly!
Building bridges
To build a bridge, you must have a Resource on a platform at one end of the bridge construction site (depicted on the Mars tile with dotted lines). A bridge construction site is not an expressway (yet); you cannot move things across it.
If you have the Resource pawn's color on your Action tile, you can return this Resource pawn to the supply to place a Bridge token of the same color on the bridge construction site.
Note
There is only one Bridge token of each color. So, for example, once you have built the yellow Bridge token, you will need a different color of Resource pawn to build the next bridge.
Once the Bridge token has been placed, from now on, pawns can traverse it just like an expressway. You cannot move anything across a bridge construction site before the bridge has been built.
Wild tokens
Each Wild token offers two options:
- Upper portion: Communicate
- Lower portion: Transmute
Anyone can discard a Wild tile from the Warehouse board at any time to use one of these options.
Communicate action
When you discard the Wild token, start to speak to signal to everyone else that they are now allowed to communicate under exactly the same rules as when the sand timer is flipped. Thus, as soon as anyone performs any action, communication must stop immediately.
Transmute action
When you discard the Wild token, swap any Resource on a Mars tile with a Resource pawn from the supply whose color is on your Action tile.
Example: If you have brown on your Action tile, you could swap an orange Resource pawn on a Mars tile with a brown Resource pawn from the supply.
IMPORTANT
You must physically swap the two Resource pawns (even if it would be quicker to just leave the Resource pawn in the supply because you're just going to remove it again to explore a new Mars tile, for example). Even if you can imagine it all, and feel like you can skip this step, the other players need to see it happen in order to understand what you are doing.
You are now ready to play the second module.
Module 3
Components required for this module
- The 4 A Mars tiles, the 2 B, and the 2 C
- 3 Colonist pawns
- 3 Dome tiles
- 3 Sand Timer tokens
- The "Do Something!" pawn
- The Communication board
- The 6 Bridge tokens
- The 3 Wild tokens
- The 10 Trash pawns
- 0 Space Slug pawns
Trash pawns
Add the Trash pawns to the supply.
When you explore a new Mars tile, and its platform with the connecting arrow has a Trash icon, you must immediately place a Trash pawn (black) on every platform of this type in play.
Thus, the first tile you explore with a trash platform will generate only one Trash pawn; the second will generate two; etc.
If you must add a Trash pawn to a platform that has a Resource pawn on it already, return the Resource pawn to the supply so the Trash pawn can replace it.
If you must add a Trash pawn to a platform that already has one, place the new Trash pawn on an adjacent platform, removing any resource pawns from there. If all adjacent platforms already have Trash pawns, place it on any platform adjacent to one of those, following the same rules, and so on.
Note
Two platforms are considered adjacent to one another if there is an expressway directly connecting them.
Example: 1. You have brown on your Action tile, and you decide to explore a new Mars tile in the upper-left corner, using the brown platform with a brown Resource pawn on it. Note the orange Resource pawn and Trash pawn on two other platforms.
2. You discard the brown Resource pawn so you can draw and place a new Mars tile in the upper-left corner, being careful to connect the arrow platform to the brown platform from which you removed the brown Resource pawn. This platform now has a Trash icon, which means that this platform will produce a Trash pawn… but so will the other trash-producing platforms! You must return the orange Resource pawn in the lower middle platform to the supply to make room for the Trash pawn. The platform in the right middle already has a Trash pawn, so the new one must be placed on an adjacent platform; you choose the one directly above it.
You can move Trash pawns just like the Resource pawns, using the color of the expressway along which you wish to move them (remember: a platform can never have two pawns on it, regardless of their types).
Trash pawns are absolutely useless; they are just nuisances, because they limit movement of the other pawns.
Trash pawns are of limited quantity. If you need to add Trash pawns, and there are none left in the supply, simply do not place the rest. If this means you can only place a portion of the required Trash pawns, you choose which of the trash platforms get the final Trash pawns.
Pipeline icons
Some platforms have a Pipeline icon connected to them. If the platform has a Resource pawn or a Trash pawn on it, anyone can move this pawn to any empty platform with a Pipeline icon. If you do this, you are allowed to make the sound of something going through a pneumatic tube (be creative!) to help the other players understand which action you are taking.
You are ready to play the third module.
Module 4
Components required for this module
- The 4 A Mars tiles, the 2 B, the 2 C, and the 2 D
- 4 Colonist pawns
- 4 Dome tiles
- The 4 Sand Timer tokens
- The "Do Something!" pawn
- The Communication board
- The 6 Bridge tokens
- The 3 Wild tokens
- The 10 Trash pawns
- 1 Space Slug pawn
Space Slug pawns
When you explore a new Mars tile, and its platform with the connecting arrow has a Space Slug icon, you must immediately place a Space Slug pawn (pink) on the platform, to which the pink slug arrow points.
You can move Space Slug pawns just like Resource pawns, using the color of the expressway along which you wish to move them, except that they only move in order to eat a Trash pawn or Resource pawn on an adjacent platform. Return the eaten pawn to the supply.
Space Slug pawns cannot go through pipelines: Space slugs eat way too much to fit in a tiny little pipeline.
Note
You are not required to move a Space Slug pawn just because it is adjacent to Trash or Resource pawns. It is always up to you whether the Space Slug chooses to take an expressway it could take in order to eat something; you are welcome to choose to leave the Space Slug pawn right where it is.
If a Trash pawn is produced on a platform occupied by a Space Slug pawn, immediately return the Trash pawn to the supply.
Example: 1. The Space Slug pawn cannot be moved because there are no Trash or Resource pawns adjacent to it. 2. As soon as this Resource pawn is moved to a platform adjacent to the Space Slug pawn, the Space Slug pawn can be moved there to eat the Resource pawn. 3. The Space Slug pawn can move to eat this new Resource pawn, returning the Resource pawn to the supply.
You are ready to play the fourth module.
Module 5
Components required for this module
- The 4 A Mars tiles, the 2 B, the 2 C, the 2 D, and the 2 E
- The 5 Colonist pawns
- The 5 Dome tiles
- The 4 Sand Timer tokens
- The "Do Something!" pawn
- The Communication board
- The 6 Bridge tokens
- The 3 Wild tokens
- The 10 Trash pawns
- The 2 Space Slug pawns
One-way expressways
On expressways that have direction arrows (not to be confused with connection arrows on platforms), you can only move Resource, Colonist, and Trash pawns in that direction.
Space slugs scoff at traffic laws in general, and utterly ignore the direction arrows.
You are ready to play the COMPLETE game. Now you can discover the full potential of Magic Maze on Mars!
Adjusting the Difficulty Level
Adding Mars tiles
The 8 Mars tiles marked with an X, which you did not use in the 5 modules, allow you to adjust the difficulty of future games. Start by adding one, then two… and find the right balance for your group of players.
Optional rule for experts
Each time you flip the sand timer, everyone must pass their Action tile to the player on their left. Now you must work with the new tile, and forget the old one!
Playing Solitaire
Setup
Place the 2-player Action tiles on the table, and place the "Do Something!" pawn on one of them (your choice).
To play a more advanced mode, use the 6-player Action tiles instead.
Set up everything else as usual, and then draw 4 Mars tiles and add them to the 4 sides of the starting tile.
Add the Space Slugs and Trash pawns that their platforms would normally produce, but only place 1 Trash pawn for each Trash icon during setup (they don't accumulate and cascade like they do during play).
In addition to the sand timer, you will need a chronometer that indicates seconds (such as a stopwatch on your smartphone). Start the chronometer, then flip the sand timer to commence.
Play!
You can only perform the actions on the Action tile with the "Do Something!" pawn on it.
You can move the "Do Something!" pawn to another Action tile, but only when the chronometer displays XX:X0 (i.e. a multiple of 10 seconds). That means you can move the pawn no more frequently than once per ten seconds, when the last digit is zero. So, when you need to move it, you may need to wait a few seconds to do so.
Note
The chronometer is only there to restrict when you can move the "Do Something!" pawn. The sand timer is the only thing managing the duration of the game.
Credits
Designer: Kasper LAPP
Illustrator: Gyom
Graphic Designer: Marie OOMS
Project Manager: Didier DELHEZ
English Translator: Nathan MORSE
Thanks: Kasper Lapp thanks everyone who has helped develop this game, particularly his primary playtester (and companion) Rebecca Mari Krogsgaard.
A game from Sit Down! published by Megalopole. ©Megalopole (2019). All rights reserved. This game can only be used for private recreational purposes. WARNING! Not suitable for children under 3 years of age. This game contains small parts which can be ingested or inhaled. Retain this information. Visuals are non-binding. Shapes and colors may change. Any reproduction of this game, in whole or in part, in any medium, physical or electronic, is strictly forbidden without written permission from Megalopole.