Mascarade (Second Edition) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Goal
• Contents
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Initial turns
  • Player turn
    • A. Look at your Mask
    • B. Exchange your Mask
    • C. Announce your Mask
• End of the Game
• Mask Powers
• Make Your Own Scenarios
• Credits

Introduction

For your first games, we recommend playing with 8 or fewer players. It's better to be experienced in the game before adding more players.

Goal

Be the first to gain 13 Coins and win the game! If a player loses all of their wealth, the game ends and the player with the most Coins wins!

Which Masks will you wear tonight?

Contents

• 17 Mask cards
• 80 1-value Coins
• 24 5-value Coins
• 1 Justice board
• 1 Bank insert
• 9 Scenario sheets
• 6 player aids
• This rulebook

Setup

Note: During the game, you'll often secretly manipulate cards under the table. Therefore it is not recommended to play this game on a transparent table.

• Place the Justice board on the table.

• Each player takes Coins up to a total value of 6 and places them in front of themself. Put the remaining Coins in the bowls of the box insert that make up the Bank.

  Note: Your wealth is public information and should be visible to all players throughout the game.

• Prepare the Masks:

  • Take the Scenario sheet that corresponds to the number of players (indicated before the person symbol) and place it in the middle of the table, side A faceup. Refer to this list to check which Masks are in play and their powers.

    Note: Once you become familiar with the game, you can choose to play with side B of the Scenario sheets for more strategic games.

  • Take the Mask cards listed for the chosen Scenario.

  • Shuffle the Mask cards and randomly deal one to each player, which they place faceup in front of them. Read the power of each player's Mask out loud.

    Note: With 4 or 5 players, place the remaining card(s) faceup in the middle of the table and read the power(s) out loud.

  • Once each player understands all of the Mask cards, turn them facedown (including any cards in the middle of the table).

• Place any remaining components aside, they will not be used in this game.

Gameplay

After four initial turns, the game plays over several turns until one player has 13 Coins, or until a player loses their last Coin.

Initial turns

Starting with the youngest player and going clockwise, take your card and another player's card (or, if applicable, a card from the middle of the table), without looking at them. Then, still without looking at them, hold both cards under the table and exchange or pretend to exchange them before returning them to their places on the table.

Only the first four players must take this initial turn. Then gameplay continues following the normal rules.

Player turn

After the initial turns, play continues clockwise and follows these rules.

On your turn, take a single action from these three options:

• A. Look at your Mask
• B. Exchange your Mask
• C. Announce your Mask

Then the next player takes their turn.

A. Look at your Mask

Secretly look at the Mask card in front of you.

If you accidentally look at your Mask card when it is not your turn, you must take this action when it becomes your turn.

B. Exchange your Mask

Take your Mask card and another player's Mask card, then without looking, hold them under the table and exchange or pretend to exchange them. Put one Mask card facedown in front of you and put the other card facedown in front of the player whose card you took.

Note: With 4 or 5 players, you can take this action with a card from the middle of the table.

C. Announce your Mask

Announcing your Mask lets you activate its power. However, if you were forced to reveal your Mask card during the previous player's turn, you cannot take this action this turn.

To take this action, announce the name of the Mask you have (or think you have) in front of you, without revealing the card.

Then, starting with the player to your left and going clockwise, all other players may challenge your announcement by claiming that they also have the Mask you announced. These two outcomes can happen:

No challenge

If no other player claims to have the announced Mask, apply its power without revealing your card.

Note: Bluffing is an important part of the game. You can announce that you have any of the Masks in play without necessarily having it in front of you. You don't even have to know which Mask you have.

Example: You announce "I'm the King". No other player claims to have the King Mask; you immediately apply its power, without revealing your card, and take 2 Coins from the Bank.

One or more challenges

If one or more other players claim to also have the announced Mask, all claiming players (including you) reveal their cards.

• The player who actually has the announced Mask immediately applies its effect.
• All other players who wrongfully claimed to have the announced Mask pay a fine of 1 Coin and place it on the Justice board.

Note: It's possible that no players reveal the announced Mask. In this case, all claiming players pay a fine of 1 Coin.

Finally, all players turn their cards back facedown.

End of the Game

The game can end in one of two ways:

• As soon as a player has 13 Coins, they are immediately declared the winner.
• As soon as a player loses their last Coin, the richest player is declared the winner.

In case of tie, all tied players share the victory.

Mask Powers

Beggar — Starting with the player to your left then going clockwise, hold out your hand to each player. If they have more Coins than you at this moment, they must give you 1 Coin.

Cheater — If you have 10 or more Coins, you immediately win the game.

Empress — Take 3 Coins from the Bank.

Fool — Take 1 Coin from the Bank. Then take Mask cards from two other players, without looking at them, and exchange them or pretend to exchange them under the table.

Guru — Choose another player. This player must announce their Mask, then reveal their card. If it does not match the announced Mask, they must give you 4 Coins, then turn their card back facedown. Otherwise, nothing happens and they turn their card back facedown.

Note: If the player has fewer than 4 Coins, they must give you as much as they can and the game immediately ends.

Judge — Take all the Coins on the Justice board.

Note: If players wrongfully claimed to have the Judge Mask and must pay a fine of 1 Coin, they pay after the Judge's power is used, so this fine is not taken by the Judge this turn.

King — Take 2 Coins from the Bank.

Patron — Take 3 Coins from the Bank. The players to your left and right take 1 Coin from the Bank.

Peasant (x2) — Take 1 Coin from the Bank. However, if there are one or more challenges and the two Peasant Masks are revealed, then you and the second Peasant each take 2 Coins from the Bank.

Princess — Take 2 Coins from the Bank. Then choose another player who must reveal their Mask card to everyone, but without looking at it themself.

Puppeteer — Choose two other players and take 1 Coin from each of them. The two chosen players then stand up and physically switch seats at the table. Their Mask cards and wealth remain at their original seats.

Sorceress — You can exchange all of your wealth with another player of your choice.

Note: If players wrongfully claimed to have the Sorceress Mask and must pay a fine of 1 Coin, the fine is paid after the Sorceress's power is used.

Spy — Choose another player. Secretly look at both your Mask card and theirs. Then, exchange them or pretend to exchange them under the table.

Thief — Take 1 Coin from the players to your left and right.

Trickster — Take 2 Coins from the richest player (excluding you). In case of a tie, choose just one of the richest players to take the 2 Coins from.

Widow — Take Coins from the Bank until you have exactly 10 total.

Note: If you already have 10 or more Coins when using the Widow's power, this power has no effect.

Make Your Own Scenarios

Once you're familiar with the game, you can come up with different combinations of Masks and make your own Scenarios.

To do this, you must respect the following restrictions:

• The Judge Mask must be included in the game.
• At least a third, or even half, of the Masks must have the coin symbol shown in the bottom-right of the card.
• You must include both Peasant Masks, or neither.
• Certain Masks require a minimum number of players to be included in the game. It's important to follow this required number, found in the bottom-right of the card.
• In games with more than 5 players, you can choose to add one or two Mask cards in the middle of the table, like in 4-5 player games.

Credits

• Designer: Bruno Faidutti
• Illustrator: Things by Diana
• Development: Cédrick Caumont & Thomas Provoost aka « Les Belges à Sombreros » and the Repos Production team
• Full credits: www.rprod.com/en/mascarade/credits

© Repos Production 2013. All rights reserved. Repos Production SRL, Rue des Comédiens 22, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.

The contents of this game may only be used for purposes of private entertainment.