Nosocomio
Nosocomio Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Let's Go, Step by Step!
Game Objective (3–4 Player Games)
We recommend these starting goals, though you may change them if you want longer or more frantic games: Nosocomio is yours. More information about alternative game modes is available at www.nosocomioeljuego.com.
The first player to cure a total of 5 patients, or to be left with 0 patients at their counter, wins.
The Cards
- 26 PATIENT cards (yellow): the "heart" of the matter.
- 16 TRANSFER cards (blue): used to pass patients from one counter to another.
- 48 SPECIAL cards (purple): change the course of the game.
- 30 STAFF cards (green): used to cure patients or to avoid having them dumped on your counter.
Anatomy of a Nosocomio Card
The circles in the upper right of a card show its score. On PATIENT cards, they show how difficult the patient is to cure. On STAFF cards, they show their curing power.
- Class icon: different for each type of card.
- Score circles: surgical score, medical score, and "transfer" score (from left to right).
- Title and description of the card. In the descriptive part, the information written in red is relevant to the development of the game. The rest is nonsense.
- Ambulance ("Make way"): some cards have a drawn ambulance ("Make way"). These are cards that may be played at the moment of the game that gives you the turn, whether or not it is your turn, and whose effect is immediate.
Preparing the Game
Before dealing the cards, separate them into two decks: one with only the PATIENT cards and another with all the other cards. Deal 3 cards from the PATIENT deck to each player, and 5 from the remaining deck. Shuffle the cards left in both decks together, and place the resulting deck in the middle, face down. This will be the draw deck (mazo de robo).
Each player must always keep all of their PATIENT cards face up on their counter (which represents their hospital ward) so that everyone can see the trouble they have been landed with.
Premise: your ward has room for 5 patients, no more (only if the card "Open Corridor" is played on you can you accommodate up to 6, possibly). If during the game you draw a patient while already having 5 on your counter, discard it to the discard pile; you may not take another card to replace it.
Shall We Begin?
The game is started by the player who has been in a hospital most recently (or the one who has been in the hospital the most hours, if the game is played inside one), and turns proceed clockwise.
On your turn, you may choose what you prefer (or are able) to do:
- a) Play to try to cure one of your patients.
- b) Play to try to pass a patient from your beds to a rival's counter.
- c) Speculate: do nothing and only draw from the deck. Dirty rat!
YOU MUST ALWAYS DRAW ONE CARD FROM THE DECK WHEN YOUR TURN ENDS!
You will draw one EXTRA card — drawing it is optional — if:
- you have successfully cured a patient;
- you have succeeded in transferring a patient to a rival's beds;
- you have decided to do nothing on that turn (we appreciate in you clear management talents...).
Each player who helps you in a battle that you manage to win may also draw one card, if they wish — that is, if they have helped you successfully pass or cure a patient.
When the turn ends, ALL cards used (except the patients on the counters and special cards that say otherwise) go to the discard pile (placed face up next to the draw deck).
A) Curing a Patient
You may only cure patients on your own counter. Choose the patient on your counter or ward that you want to cure and tell the others.
To cure them you need to use at least one STAFF card, unless you have special cards that allow direct cures (such as "In the End It Was Just a Scare") and specify so.
The first two circles in the upper right of each patient's card show the surgical (S) and medical (M) curing difficulty of that patient, respectively.
When you want to cure your patient, you must choose whether to do so using SURGICAL or MEDICAL skills. Your staff member must equal or exceed the points the patient has in the circle you have chosen — you may no longer change it — in order to cure them.
You may add extra cards to your staff member to help them cure the patient (other staff members or other special cards), provided they have a + or − sign before the numerical value in their skill circle. In this way, they will add or subtract points from your staff member's surgical or medical curing skill.
At the moment you announce how you want to cure the patient, a battle opens in which anyone — in no particular order — may add or subtract curing points to help or hinder your staff member (using special cards with + or − in the same circle), to which you may respond by playing more cards (special cards or staff with + or −) that counteract them.
When nobody else wishes to play cards, the total score of the cards played by your opponents and by you is added up. Depending on the final result, it is seen whether you have managed to cure the patient (if your total score is equal to or higher than the patient's) or not. Remember that if you cure them, you draw one extra card — if you wish — and whoever helped you with their cards also draws one. If you do not succeed, any rival who has played something to spoil things for you draws one card.
Note: cards with "+/−" before a number in any of the three circles allow the person playing the card to decide whether to use the value positively or negatively. [±2 symbol] The other players may negotiate with you over the rewards (in the form of cards you would have drawn yourself) they want in exchange for helping you win a battle. We leave that open to your thirst and greed.
Example (as printed): In this example, your STAFF card has a higher MEDICAL score (5 points) than the PATIENT's (who has 4). It seems you cure them... but a rival plays a modifier with −2 points and you fall behind again. You then play a card with a positive modifier (+2) and... you triumph once more!
B) Passing a Patient to a Rival
To send a patient to a rival's beds you will need a TRANSFER card (blue). Now, look at the third circle of the patient card (the one with arrows): the higher it is, the harder it will be to repel them!
You must place the TRANSFER face down (so that it is not seen which card it is) and the PATIENT card you want to send face up on top of it, sliding it toward your rival with a challenging stare. Your opponent will not know the value of the TRANSFER until they decide whether or not to try to repel the patient (so they must risk the transfer value positively or negatively modifying their staff member's ability to repel).
If your rival cannot or does not want to repel the attack, the patient stays on their counter and the transfer goes to the discard pile.
Note: your opponent cannot cure the patient directly; they must keep them and wait for their turn to do so.
If, on the contrary, your rival wants to try to RETURN the patient to you, they must play a STAFF card to defend themselves. Keep reading...
At that moment the TRANSFER is turned over to see whether it has a + or − in its third circle, positively or negatively affecting the ability of their STAFF card to repel it (represented in the third circle of that card). Now any player may contribute SPECIAL cards (not transfers) with + or − signs in their third circle (that is, cards that positively or negatively modify the repelling ability of the defending staff member).
Note: residents and "The Scrub Nurse" (El instrumentista) may also be used to modify this score.
As with curing a patient, when nobody wants to play anything further, the score is counted and it is checked whether the STAFF member has rejected the transfer (final number in their third circle equal to or higher than the patient's) or not.
When the battle ends, all cards used, except the PATIENT, go to the discard pile. The patient goes to the attacker's counter or to the opponent's, depending on the result of the battle.
If you manage to pass a patient to an opponent, you may draw one extra card (as may whoever helped you do so). If they repel your patient, you keep it, and those who may draw a card are those who helped prevent the transfer (not the defending player).
Remember that each battle may give rise to juicy negotiations...
Example (as printed): In this case, the STAFF card of the defender has the higher score (8 points of rebound) than the PATIENT you want to pass to them (which has 7 points). It seems they repel it... But when the TRANSFER is revealed, it subtracts 2 points from their STAFF and you may pass the patient. Careful! Someone plays a + modifier and gives them 3 points so they can repel it. Damn! You keep the patient and have spent part of your arsenal.
C) Doing Nothing
Take your second card and have a drink, vulture.
End of the Game
As already explained, to win you either cure 5 patients or empty your beds.
To win by leaving your counter clear, you must end your turn by drawing the number of cards that corresponds to you. If none of the new cards is a patient, you have won.
If the draw deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile and place it face down again to replace it. When the deck runs out for a second time, the game ends. The player who has cured the most patients so far wins. If there is a tie, the winner is the one whose cured patients add up to more points in their first two circles.
The defeated shall cry out in unison: You we praise, oh new chief of the NOSOCOMIO! (kneeling is optional, though recommended).
Two-Player Games
Two-player games follow the same system, but the Manager "suggests" that you remove the cards "Imserso Bus" (Autobús del Imserso), "The Manager's Fury" (La furia del Gerente), "Corridor Crossing" (Cruce de pasillos), "Change of Direction" (Cambio de sentido) and "Congress Trip" (De congreso) from the deck.
2 players: the game begins by dealing 5 PATIENTS to each player (who must place them on the table) and 7 cards from the remaining deck. To win by curing patients, you must cure a total of 6.
Five- and Six-Player Games
In 5- and 6-player games, all the rules described for the 3- and 4-player game apply, but to win by curing patients you must be the first to cure a total of 4.
Translator's notes: Spanish card titles are translated into English where the translator's rendering is used; the original Spanish title is given in parentheses on first use where it appears in the rules text. The "±2" symbol and the card-diagram example labels are rendered as bracketed text. Footer website lines are kept as printed.