Midnight Mail Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Goal of the Game
• Components
  • Solitaire Mode Components
• Tile Layout
• Game Setup
  • General Setup
  • Game Setup for Each Player
• How the Game Is Played
  • 1. Play a card from your hand and choose a tile from the market
  • 2. Place the selected tile in your personal board
  • 3. Deliver messages (if applicable)
  • Combos
  • 4. Draw a new card from your personal deck
• Spell Tokens and Patches
  • Playing a spell token
  • Playing a patch
• The End of the Game
• Advanced Version
  • Color missions
  • Row or column missions
  • Zone missions
• Summary for 2-4 Player Games
  • Game Play
  • Combos
  • Spell Tokens
  • Patches
  • End of the Game

The Goal of the Game

Midnight Mail is a competitive game in which each player strives for victory by collecting more points than anyone else. In each turn, you will play a card from your hand and place a new tile on your personal board next to the matching animal. If you are able to get 2 animals of the same type to be in a straight line without any obstacles between them, one of them will pass on a message to the other, and you will be granted victory points. On top of that, you can gain additional points if you are able to link several messages in the same turn, if they travel greater distances, or if they travel over higher ground.

At the end of this rulebook, there is a more advanced variation of the game. Also, you can find a spell book section that contains the rules for the solitaire version.

Components

• 4 personal boards
• 1 scoreboard
• 80 animal pieces (16 of each color)
• 40 4-space tiles (8 of each type)
• 32 special tiles (16 2-space ones, 16 3-space ones)
• 16 patches
• 16 spell tokens
• 48 cards (12 of each color)
• 8 score markers
• 1 scorebook
• 1 rulebook
• 60 combo score cards

Solitaire Mode Components

• 15 advanced mode cards
• 10 villager tokens
• 1 solitaire rulebook

Tile Layout

The tiles have different shapes and different numbers of spaces. Also, the tiles have spaces with houses of different colors A. If you turn them over, you will find a mirror image of the same information B. This symbol is only used in the solitaire mode C.

Game Setup

General Setup

Place the scoreboard in the center of the table and 1 score marker for each player in the 0 space A. Leave the other marker next to the board B. If there are extra markers, put them back in the box.

Divide the 4-space tiles according to their shapes and create a stack for each type C. Then, create a market with 2 rows, like that shown in the picture D.

Make a stack for each type of special tile E.

Divide the animal pieces according to type and make a general reserve for all of them F.

Put together a reserve of the patches and spell tokens G.

Divide the combo point cards according to their value and place them face-up in separate stacks within reach of all the players H.

Game Setup for Each Player

Each player gets 1 personal board I, the 12 cards of their color, 1 spell token, and 1 patch J. Put any extra personal boards and cards back in the box.

Each player then shuffles their cards and creates a deck K that is placed face-down in front of them. Finally, each player draws the first 2 cards from their own deck for their first-hand L.

Whoever most recently saw a green colored animal will begin the game.

How the Game Is Played

This game is played in turns, moving clockwise around the table. Each player's turn is made up of the following steps, which must be taken in this order:

1. Play a card from your hand and choose a tile from the market.
2. Place the selected tile in your personal board.
3. Deliver messages (if applicable).
4. Draw a new card from your personal deck.

1. Play a card from your hand and choose a tile from the market

Al principio de tu turno debes jugar una de las dos cartas de tu mano. Esta carta indicará cuáles de las losetas del mercado tendrás disponibles para elegir una de ellas que posicionarás en tu tablero personal durante el siguiente paso.

Most of the cards show an image made up of 4 spaces. If you play one of these cards, you can choose between the 2 tiles with that shape in the market.

There are 2 special cards among those available to each player. If you play one of these cards, you can choose from the 2 types of special 3-space tiles.

You also have the option to turn over any card in your hand and play it face-down. If you do so, you can take one of the special 2-space tiles.

If you take a 4-space tile from the market, you must replace it with the top tile from the appropriate stack.

After playing a card, you must put it in front of you so that all the other players can see it. There is an exception to this rule in the final round when you only have one card in your hand, which naturally you will have to play in that step.

2. Place the selected tile in your personal board

You must place the tile that you chose in the prior step on your personal board.

Placement rules:

1. You are free to turn over or rotate the tile as you like before placing it.
2. The tile must be positioned so that it is completely inside of the limits of your personal board A.
3. It is not required that the tile be placed adjacent to any previously positioned tile B.
4. You can place a tile on a higher level, as long as it is completely on top of other tiles and it is not resting entirely on top of only one tile of the same shape C. There is no limit to the height you can reach with the tile.
5. You cannot place a tile on top of an animal piece D.

After placing the tile, place animal pieces of the corresponding colors on the tile's house spaces.

If the tile has a wildcard colored house, you place an animal of whatever color you choose on it.

You can earn a bonus after placing your tile in the following two situations.

A. You can earn a bonus after placing your tile in the following two situations.

B. If you are able to completely cover the highlighted rows or columns on your personal board, at any height level, you will receive a patch.

Both of these bonuses, the spells and patches, can be used starting in your next turn. Additionally, you will receive the bonus again if you are able to cover the area again on a higher height level.

Page 11 details how the spell tokens and patches work.

Example: Sabrina placed tile C on her board and placed a mouse and a bat on top of it.

Since she was able to fully cover one of the rows highlighted on her board D, she gets a patch.

3. Deliver messages (if applicable)

If there are 2 animals of the same type in a straight line without any other animals between them, one of them must pass a message onto the other. You can decide which gives the message and which receives it. This is the main way for you to achieve victory points in this game.

You will be granted points based on the number of tiles that the animal must move through to deliver the message. After the first animal reaches the one receiving the message, the one that moved will have completed its mission and you must remove it from the board and place it in the general animal pieces reserve.

As soon as a message is delivered, if the animal moves over a tile the player is awarded one point per tile. However, if the tile is on a higher level, the player receives as many points as the height level of that tile per tile. You must move the score marker on the scoreboard to show the number of points earned.

Example: two cats on Sabrina's board are in a straight line without any other animals between them. Sabrina takes on cat and moves it to the other. Since the cat moved over 4 tiles on the first height level, Sabrina gets 4 victory points. Then, Sabrina takes the cat she moved off the board.

It may happen that an animal moves over spaces that do not have any tiles. Passing over an uncovered space does not earn any points for the player.

Example: two mice on Sabrina's board are in a straight line without any other animals between them. Sabrina takes one mouse and moves it to the other. Since the mouse moves through 1 tile on the 2nd level, then 1 space without any tiles, and then 2 spaces with a single tile, Sabrina receives 4 victory points.

Combos

When delivering messages, you may be able to create a combo. A combo is when you are able to have 2 or more animals deliver messages in a single turn (they can be the same animal types or different pairs of animals).

This happens when you move an animal piece to deliver a message, and that frees the path for another pair of animals to deliver their message.

If you are able to achieve a combo, you are rewarded with extra points. The amount of extra points is equal to the number of animal pair that deliver messages during that turn multiplied by the number of different colors of those animals.

The extra points awarded for achieving combos must not be added to the scoreboard. Instead, the player takes combo point card(s) corresponding to the number of extra points earned. These cards must be kept face-down near the player's play area and are added to the score at the end of the game.

Sabrina places the highlighted tile A, and puts a crow and a mouse on it. This means that two mice are in a straight line without any other animals between them. Sabrina moves one mouse to the left, which gives her 1 point and clears that path between the two cats B. Sabrina move one cat up, giving her 2 points and clearing the way for the two frogs C. Finally, Sabrina moves one frog to the right, which earns her 5 points.

Note: in order to quickly sum up how many extra points you get from a combo, it is useful to look at the animal pieces you are able to remove from the board during that turn. The extra points will be the result of the number of pieces removes multiplied by the number of different colors among those pieces.

Sabrina scores a sum of 8 points from delivering messages this turn. Additionally, she multiplies the number of animal pairs that delivered messages (3) by the number of different colored animals (3), which results in 9 combo points. So, she takes 9 combo points cards from the reserve.

4. Draw a new card from your personal deck

Finally, you must draw the top card from your personal deck. Then it is the turn of the player to your left.

On the second to the last round, you will have to skip this step because there will not be any cards left in your deck. In the final round, each player will only have one card in their hand.

Spell Tokens and Patches

The spell tokens and patches allow you to perform special actions in your turn. It is always optional to use them, and you can use them starting the turn just after you receive them.

You can only use 1 spell token and 1 patch in each turn (you can use 1 of each type during a single turn).

The spell token and patch that are granted in the game setup can be used in each player's first turn.

At the end of the game, each unused spell token and/or patch counts as 1 victory point.

Playing a spell token

Just after you place your tile, you can play 1 spell token. When doing so, you choose between 2 possible bonuses:

• You can change the color of 1 of the animals just placed on the tile.
• You can change the location of 1 of the animals just placed on the tile. The new location must be another available space on that same tile.

After playing the spell token, put that token back in the general reserve.

Playing a patch

If you play a patch, you must choose between 2 different abilities:

• At the start of your turn, you can play a patch to update the market. If you choose to do so, you must choose a tile from the market and place it at the bottom of the tile stack. Then, you replace the removed tile with the tile at the top of the stack. Once you have played the patch this way, you return the patch to the general reserve.
• At any point during your turn, you can place 1 patch in any space that is visible on your personal board. You can even place it in a space where you have an animal piece. If you do that, then you must put the animal piece back in the general reserve. This is the only way to remove animal pieces from the board besides delivering messages.

The End of the Game

After 12 rounds have been played, the game comes to an end. That is when you count up and find out the final score of each player. You can use the scorebook to note down the points.

You must sum up the different types of points you were able to earn:

A. The regular points you earned during the game from delivering messages are shown by your score marker's final position on the scoreboard.

B. The points earned by making combos are shown by your combo point cards.

C. Each unused spell token and/or patch that you have at the end of the game gives you 1 additional point.

D. If you are playing the advanced version (page 14), there are also points obtained through the advanced mode card.

Whoever has the most total points is the winner of the game.

If there is a tie, whoever has more points from achieving combos is the winner. If there is still a tie after that, the players share the victory.

Advanced Version

Once everyone in the group of players becomes familiar with Midnight Mail, you can try out the advanced version of the game.

The only difference is that this version also uses 3 objective cards that can grant you points at the end of the game.

During the game setup you must split the objective cards into their various types (the back of the card shows a different number of bats over the moon), and then randomly select one card of each type and place them face-up where all of the players can see them. These will be the 3 objective cards used to define the 3 special goals during the game.

At the end of the game, you will be granted additional points according to your dedication to fulfilling each of these objective cards. Whoever has best fulfilled each mission will get 15 additional points, while whoever comes in second will get 10 additional points, and third place is granted 5 additional points.

If there is a tie, all of the tied players are given the total number of points for that placement and the next lower ranking is skipped (no points are awarded).

Example: if there are 2 players tied for first place in one mission, both of them are granted 15 points while the person after them will be given just 5 points.

The goals on these cards are related to the houses that are visible on your personal board at the end of the game. In order for a house to be considered visible, it must not be covered by another tile, and must not have a patch or an animal piece on top of it.

Color missions

At the end of the game, you must sum up how many houses of the indicated color are visible on your board. The wildcard colored houses are not counted in the calculation of these objectives.

Row or column missions

At the end of the game, count how many houses of any color (including the wildcard color) are visible in the indicated rows or columns of your board.

Zone missions

At the end of the game, you must sum up how many houses of any color (including the wildcard color) are visible in the indicated zone of your board. The zones can one half of your personal board or two diagonally opposite quarters of your personal board.

Summary for 2-4 Player Games

Game Play

Turns are taken moving clockwise around the table and are carried out in the following steps:

1. Play one card from your hand and choose a tile from the market.

You can play a 4-space card, a 3-space card, or play a card face-down from your hand and then take a special 2-space tile.

2. Place the tile you selected on your personal board.

3. Deliver messages (if applicable).

If there are 2 animals of the same type in a straight line without any other animals between them, one of them will deliver a message to the other. You score points for each tile space the animal travels over, based on the level of the tiles it crosses.

4. Draw the top card from your personal deck.

Combos

A combo is when more than 2 animals deliver messages in one turn. You get extra points through combo points cards. The extra points are equal to the number of animal pairs that deliver a message multiplied by the number of different colors among those animals.

Spell Tokens

You are awarded a spell token if you cover one quarter of your personal board. Starting in the next turn, just after placing your tile, you can play a spell and then choose between changing the color or the location of 1 of the animals you just placed.

Patches

You are awarded a patch if you cover the entirety of a highlighted row or column on your personal board. Starting in the next turn, you can play a patch to update the market or you can place it in a visible space on your personal board.

End of the Game

The game ends after 12 rounds. Each player must then add up the points they achieved:

1. The points from the scoreboard.
2. The points from the combo points cards.
3. Each unused spell token and/or patch they hold grants 1 additional point.

Whoever has the most points in total wins the game. If there is a tie, whoever got more combo points during the game wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.