Mottainai
Mottainai Deluxe Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How to Play Mottainai
Mottainai is a game with a lot of concepts! We've done our best to explain them all well in this rulebook, but there's no perfect order in which to share all the things. If you're teaching the game to people, make sure you've read through the entire rulebook once before you start teaching. It will be very helpful to you!
There are many moving parts in Mottainai, but once you learn them the game does move very quickly. If you've played Glory to Rome or Innovation, you're probably familiar with this.
If you need more help, you can visit our YouTube channel at https://www.asmadigames.com/youtube/ or visit the BoardGameGeek forums for Mottainai, where we answer lots of rules questions!
Table of Contents
- pg 4-5 SETUP
- pg 6-7 GAME DEFINITIONS
- pg 8 GAME FLOW
- pg 9-10 YOUR TURN
- pg 11 TASKS
- pg 12 ACTIONS
- pg 13 WORKS
- pg 14-15 COVERING
- pg 16-17 GAME END/SCORING
- pg 18 OTHER RULES
- pg 19-21 EFFECT GLOSSARY
- pg 22-23 FAQS/KEYWORDS
HELP
Hello! We are Motes, here to help! Mottainai is a game that takes a couple plays to get the hang of. There's a lot going on, so don't get discouraged if you feel overwhelmed on your first play or two!
Setup
Each player takes a temple mat. Shuffle the deck of cards and deal a five card hand to each player. Also deal one face-down card into each temple's task slot.
To see who goes first, each player draws and discards the top card of the deck to form the floor. The player that discarded the closest card to A alphabetically goes first.
WHAT'S THAT?
This is our home, the Temple! It serves as your reference mat, and is also where you'll tuck cards to serve as Tasks, Helpers, Materials, and Sales. We'll explain more on p6.
TASK reference card text:
- CLERK (PAPER): Take a card from your craft bench, and move it to your sales.
- MONK (STONE): Take a card from the floor, and move it to your helpers.
TAILOR (CLOTH): Return any number of cards from your hand, then draw enough cards to your waiting area to have five cards total, including both your hand and waiting area.
- POTTER (CLAY): Take a card from the floor, and add it to your craft bench. SMITH (METAL): Complete a work from your hand. Support it by revealing materials from your hand.
CRAFT: Any action may be replaced by a craft action. Complete a work of the original action's material type from your hand. Support it by having materials in your craft bench. (Ex: a POTTER action could be replaced by a CRAFT to complete a CLAY work)
PRAYER: If you can't, or don't want to use an action, you must convert it to a PRAYER. Draw one card to your waiting area.
SUPPORT: To complete a work, you need a number of cards equal to its value, including the work card itself. Supporting cards are not spent. (Ex: A STONE work needs itself plus one card)
DECK
The Mottainai deck contains 54 cards, each of which is unique. Cards that are returned go to the bottom of the deck. A 2-3 player game uses one deck. 4-5 uses both, shuffled together.
FLOOR
All cards on the floor are face-up and visible. The floor is a discard pile of previous tasks and other cards that can be taken as materials or helpers.
Areas of Your Temple
You can hire HELPERS to aid in your tasks. Each gives you an extra action when you perform a matching task.
GALLERY
Your TASK card determines what action you will be able to do. Each other player will also get to perform your task, on their turn.
Materials in your CRAFT BENCH allow you to complete works with the Craft action. When completing a work, you don't spend the materials, they are kept!
SALES represent copies of completed works you've sold to visitors. They help you score points at the end of the game (p15)
GIFT SHOP
COMPLETED WORKS are placed next to either wing of your temple. Works in your Gallery will aid your Helpers. Works in your Gift Shop will help your Sales. (See cover, p14-15)
Card Anatomy
Each card in Mottainai represents a different work of art. It has a special ability that you can use after it is completed and displayed in your temple.
TASK
Each card has one of the five tasks on its left edge. This can be used as your task for the turn, or the card can become a helper in your temple.
VALUE
The value (1, 2, or 3) of a card corresponds to its Material type. It tells how many points the work is worth, and how many cards it takes to complete it.
MATERIAL TYPE
Each card has one of five material types. Material type, value, and task type always match on a card. To build a work, you'll need additional cards of its type in your craft bench.
Example card — POEM: CLERK, craft with paper, sell a material. "After you complete a PAPER work, you may return it. If you do, complete the top card of the deck for free." PAPER, value 1.
Flow of the Game
A game of Mottainai consists of many turns, taken individually by players. On the following two pages are a description of what you do on your turn, divided into three parts: Morning, Noon, and Night. Each turn, you'll be using various actions to build up the cards tucked under your temple, and to complete works next to it in the two wings: Gallery (left) and Gift Shop (right). This will continue until one of the two game ending conditions happens: the deck becomes empty, or a player completes five works in one wing of their temple. End game scoring is explained on p16.
HOW DO I WIN?
There are lots of winning strategies! You can race to five simple works, get lots of sales for backorders, use helpers to draw many cards and complete clay or metal works.
Don't be afraid to adjust your strategy based on the cards in your opening hand and on the floor. Use every little thing to win!
The following pages will explain how your turn works, how cards get tucked under the four edges of your temple, and how you complete works to place in your two wings.
Your Turn
Your turn is divided into three parts of the day: Morning, Noon, and Night. You take your complete turn, and then play passes clockwise to the next player's turn.
Morning
(1) First, check to see if you have more than five cards in your hand. If you do, return (place on the bottom of the deck) cards until you have five.
(2) Then, perform any "In the morning" effects on works you've already completed. If you have more than one, you can do them in any order. Each can be used at most once per turn.
(3) Discard the card in your temple's task slot to the floor. On your first turn, this will be the face-down card you placed there during setup.
(4) Finally, you may place a new task from your hand under your temple in the task slot. If you don't, it will remain empty and you'll take a prayer action later instead of a task.
Noon
(1) Perform each opponent's task, going clockwise from yourself. If an opponent has no task, skip that player.
(2) Perform your task. If you have no task, take one Prayer action instead.
WAITING AREA
Any time you draw a card, it is played in your waiting area, a face-down stack of cards next to your temple. You never look at or take these cards into your hand until Night.
Night
(1) Perform any "At night" effects on works you've already completed.
(2) Draw the cards in your waiting area into your hand.
Performing a Task
Each task you perform (yours or an opponent's) will consist of one or more actions. You always get one action for a task, plus one more for each matching helper in your temple. Covered (p14) helpers each provide two extra actions instead of one.
Each individual action can be one of three things: The action matching the task itself (Ex: Potter), a Craft action, or a Prayer action. Each action must be used. If you cannot use an action, it must be replaced by a Prayer action.
DON'T RECOUNT!
Count the number of actions at the start of a task. Any new helpers or cards you gain during a task do not change this count.
Example: A Potter task card with +2 Potter Helpers gives 3 actions. Action 1: Potter/Craft/Pray. Action 2: Potter/Craft/Pray. Action 3: Potter/Craft/Pray.
So, if you are performing a Potter task and have two Potter helpers, you would have three actions. You could take them as Potter - Craft - Potter, Potter - Prayer - Prayer, or any other combination, in any order.
Action Types
- CLERK: Take a card from your Craft bench, and move it to your Sales.
- MONK: Take a card from the Floor, and add it to your Helpers.
- TAILOR: Return any number of cards from your hand. Then draw enough cards to your waiting area to have five cards total, including both your hand and waiting area.
- POTTER: Take a card from the Floor, and add it to your Craft bench.
- SMITH: Complete a work from your hand, using materials from your hand as support.
Any action can be replaced by a Craft or Prayer action.
CRAFT: Complete a work from your hand, using materials from your craft bench as support. The work must be the same type as the action you replaced (Ex: a Craft replacing a Potter lets you complete a Clay work).
PRAYER: Draw one card (to your waiting area).
WAITING AREA, AGAIN!
Any time you draw a card, it is played in your waiting area, a face-down stack of cards next to your temple. You never look at or take these cards into your hand until Night. Yep, it's important, so we're telling you twice!
Completing a Work
The Craft and Smith actions allow you to complete a work from your hand, and put it into play in one of the two wings of your temple. The value of the work (3 for clay, 1 for paper, etc) tells you how many cards of that material type you need to have in order to complete it. To get to that number, count the work you are building, plus some number of matching cards as support.
For a Smith action, support cards are revealed from your hand. For a Craft action, support cards are revealed from your craft bench. In both cases, you keep the support cards. The table below shows how many cards you need to support completing a work of each type.
| Value | Material Type | Support for Smith | Support for Craft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paper | None required | None required |
| 2 | Stone | 1 Stone card in hand | 1 Stone in craft bench |
| 2 | Cloth | 1 Cloth card in hand | 1 Cloth in craft bench |
| 3 | Clay | 2 Clay cards in hand | 2 Clay in craft bench |
| 3 | Metal | 2 Metal cards in hand | 2 Metal in craft bench |
Gallery: Covering Helpers
The Monk action allows you to hire helpers. Each helper provides one extra action during each task (yours or an opponent's) of its type. Works in your Gallery can provide training cover to your helpers, making them more effective. Each covered helper provides two extra actions instead of one.
A completed work provides cover for a number of helpers equal to the work's value. A paper work covers one clerk, a stone work covers two monks, and so forth. If you don't have enough works to cover all your helpers of a type, none of them are considered covered.
One paper work covers one CLERK helper. Now it provides two bonus actions!
| Work type | # of cards covered |
|---|---|
| Paper | 1 |
| Stone | 2 |
| Cloth | 2 |
| Clay | 3 |
| Metal | 3 |
Gift Shop: Covering Sales
Clerk actions allow you to move materials from your craft bench to your Gift Shop as sales. To be worth points, though, they need works to provide them cover. Cover for sales works the same way as cover for helpers. Each work in your Gift Shop provides cover for a number of sales equal to the work's value. Each covered sale is worth its value in points at the end of the game. Works that are not covered provide no points, but still count toward majority for backorder points. (p16) If you don't have enough works to cover all your sales of a type, none of them are considered covered.
One cloth work covers two cloth sales. Now each sale is worth 2 points!
Game End
The game ends when one of two things happens. Either a player builds a fifth work in one wing of their temple or the last card is drawn from the deck.
When the game ends, it ends immediately. The current player's turn is not completed, and any effects that would happen after the work was completed do not occur. Cards in the current player's waiting area never enter their hand.
Your score is the total of:
- The values of each of your works, whether in the Gift Shop or the Gallery.
- The values of each of your covered sales.
- Backorders: For each type of material, see which player has the most sales (whether covered or uncovered). That player counts cards of that type in their hand as backorders. If there is a tie for a type, nobody scores points for it.
- Points given by card effects on completed works (Ex: Scroll, Teapot).
The player with the most points wins! In the case of a tie, the current player, or the player in turn order closest to the current player is the winner.
Scoring Example
In this example, the player has completed six works, worth a total of 12 points. They also have one covered sale, a clay, which is worth an additional 3 points. Finally, with the most metal sales (even though they're not covered) out of all players, metal cards in hand count as backorders. They are worth 6 more points, for a total score of 21. Some cards may have effects that give you points at the end of the game, as well. Note that waiting area cards have no effect on end-game scoring.
Other Rules
EXTENDED GAME
If you'd like to play an extended game of Mottainai, change the end-game condition from five works in one wing to six. No other rule changes are necessary.
FOUR / FIVE PLAYER RULES
Mottainai Deluxe comes with two decks. Playing with four or five players requires both decks to be shuffled together, and it is recommended to play with the Extended Game rules above. With two decks, there are two copies of each work. Players are allowed to complete the same work twice, and both can take effect.
TEAM PLAY
For a four player team game, sit across from your partner. Card texts that reference 'opponent' do not affect your teammate. All other rules remain the same. Add your score to your partner's score to see which team wins!
DON'T OVERWHELM NEWBIES!
We strongly recommend that you not play a four or five player game with new players. In this case it's much better to play two side by side two or three player games to learn. Mottainai comes with two decks and six temples for this exact reason!
Effect Glossary
There are many different types of effects on works. Here is an explanation of the various things works can do. Remember that a work has no effect until it is completed, and placed in one of the two wings of your temple.
END GAME SCORING Bench, Coin, Haniwa, Lampshade, Pillar, Quilt, Scroll, Tapestry, Teapot These provide additional points or benefits during end game scoring, and have no effect until the game ends.
ACTION BOOSTERS: FOR YOUR ____ Bell, Brick, Crane, Flute, Robe, Socks, Straw, Sword Each of these effects enhances an action type for you. You can use the benefit every time you take an action of the appropriate type.
"INSTEAD OF" Chopsticks, Handkerchief, Sketch, Doll These cards allow you to replace one part of the Morning. Note that Handkerchief can be used even if you are at or below the hand limit. You cannot use both Sketch and Doll.
CONTINUOUS Go Set, Turtle These cards are always in effect, both during the game and during end game scoring.
OBSTRUCTION Bangle, Curtain, Mask, Tower These affect how your opponents are able to use your tasks. Curtain and Tower prevent use of your tasks entirely, unless a matching card is revealed.
MORNING/NIGHT Bowl, Daidoro, Kite, Pin, Pinwheel, Umbrella Effects that happen during the appropriate time in Morning or Night. If you have several effects, you may perform them in any order. Each may be done once.
BEFORE A TASK Figurine, Flag, Fountain Allow you to reveal cards to gain extra actions during a task. Extra Clerk helpers for Fountain can be covered, and count for Haniwa if the game ends during the task.
BEFORE A TAILOR ACTION Dice, Fan, Puppet These let you perform effects before each Tailor action you take. Each can be used once, and if you have more than one, can be used in any order.
AFTER EFFECTS After you complete this: Frog, Jar, Shuriken, Statue, Tablet, Vase After you complete a work: Amulet, Cloak, Poem, Stool After an action: Cup, Deck of Cards, Gong, Plane, Ring
These effects all occur after the completion of an action (often a SMITH or CRAFT action to complete a work). They can be used following the SMITH or CRAFT action that completes them, if applicable (Ex: Deck of Cards, Poem). If several effects could be used, you choose the order, except that Poem or Cloak must be used last, as they return the work. If you do use Poem or Cloak to return a work, Stool, Poem, Cloak, or Amulet can trigger again on the new completed work.
Whew! That's complicated. I just want to play Turtle.
FAQs
Q: How does Kite work? A: Kite copies everything about the chosen work - value, type, and effect. Kite no longer counts as Cloth (unless the chosen work is Cloth). This remains in effect until your turn ends, so if the game ends before that happens, it stays a copy during end game scoring.
Q: How often can I use a work's effects? A: Effects can be used once each time they are triggered (in the morning, after a work is completed, at night, etc.)
Q: Can I combine cards in my hand and craft bench for a Smith action? A: No. Support for Smith must come entirely from your hand.
Q: How many points are sales and backorders worth? A: Each covered sale is worth its value in points. Backorders (if you have the most sales of their type) are each worth their value as well.
Q: Do Stone works with Go Set count toward ending the game? A: Yes. With Go Set, each stone work counts for cover, game end, and effects like Tapestry in both wings. They do not count as multiple works for effects like Frog or Shuriken.
Q: If I gain a helper during a task, or if one becomes covered, do I get extra actions? A: No, you count the number of actions you receive before starting the task.
Q: Can I claim backorders with 0 sales if I have Quilt or Lampshade? A: Yes. Also, if multiple players have Quilt or Lampshade, each could claim backorders in tied types.
Q: Do I have to use effects on my cards? A: No. Using effects is optional.
Keywords
Matching: Two materials of the same type (CLOTH, STONE, etc)
Return: Place on the bottom of the deck.
Complete: Place a completed work into play, in one of your two wings.
Support: The cards used to count toward having enough of a material to complete a work.
Reveal: Show to everyone.
Waiting Area: Face-down cards that you've drawn. Collect them at Night.
Credits
Created by: Carl Chudyk
Developed by: Chris Cieslik
Art and Design by: Alanna Cervenak
Playtested by: You! Thanks to everyone on BoardGameGeek and all our Kickstarter backers for helping us beta test Mottainai.
©Asmadi Games, 2015 www.asmadigames.com