Quartz: O Jogo de Cartas
Quartz: O Jogo de Cartas Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
114 cards (72 Mine Cards, 38 Helper Cards and 4 Chest Cards).
Setup
- Shuffle the Helper Cards and deal 5 to each player. Form a draw deck with the remaining Helper Cards, face down. Each player may look at their own cards but must not reveal them to opponents.
- Shuffle the Mine Cards and place them in the center of the table, forming a face-down draw deck.
- Each player receives one Chest Card.
(The illustrated two-player setup shows 1 the Helper deck and each player's Helper hand and Chest Card, 2 the Mine deck, and 3 the area for the Exploration Line.)
How to Play
Starting with the youngest player and going clockwise, each player, on their turn, may explore the mine. Players keep taking turns until the Mine Card deck runs out.
At the end of the game, players score the value of all crystals in their collection, plus a bonus for sets of 4 identical crystals. Whoever has the most valuable collection is the winner.
The Player's Turn
On their turn, the active player must announce out loud what they intend to do:
- Explore the mine OR 2. Protect a column of cards
1. Explore the Mine
To begin exploring, the player reveals the top card of the Mine Card deck and places it face up beside the deck, starting their Exploration Line. As soon as a card is revealed, it is added to the Exploration Line. Then the player must decide and announce out loud whether they will stop exploring the Mine or continue exploring.
Enough for today! If the player decides to stop, the turn ends. The player takes all the cards of the Exploration Line and places them in front of them, in their crystal collection, arranging them in columns of crystals of the same type and value.
To work! If the player decides to continue, the player reveals one more Mine Card and places it in the Exploration Line, in the same orientation as the previous cards (see Unstable Crystal below).
Mine Cards can have two types of icons: Hire a Helper or Unstable Crystal.
Hire a Helper
As soon as a card with this icon is placed in the Exploration Line, the active player may immediately discard it to draw a Helper Card from the pile and add it to their hand.
Unstable Crystal
Some cards have an Unstable Crystal icon. These icons are distributed in six distinct positions along the sides of the cards. Looking at the Exploration Line, for each possible position, the first Unstable Crystal is not a problem. However, two Unstable Crystals located in the same position on the Mine Card cause an accident immediately.
Example: the third card revealed by the player causes an accident, because it has an Unstable Crystal located in the same position as the Unstable Crystal on the first card of the Exploration Line.
The player continues exploring the Mine until they decide to stop or suffer an accident.
If the player suffers an accident, all the cards of the line are discarded and their turn ends immediately.
2. Protect a Column of Cards
The player chooses any one of the columns of Mine Cards in their crystal collection (accumulated in previous turns) and places all its cards underneath their Chest Card. The player may examine their protected cards at any time. After protecting their column, the turn ends, passing to the next player to the left.
Remember: if the player uses their turn to protect a column, they cannot explore the Mine. If the player explores the Mine on their turn, they can only protect a column if they have the Helper Card "Mas Que Beleza!" (see Helper Cards, page 8).
End of the Game
The game ends when the last Mine Card is revealed and placed in the Exploration Line. Any effect caused by this card is resolved. If there is no accident, the active player collects all the cards. Then the game ends immediately. Each player discards all Helper Cards in their hand, if any, and gathers all the Mine Cards in their collection, protected and unprotected, to count their score:
- The number at the top of the Mine Card indicates the value of the crystal. The player adds up the values on all their cards.
- For each set of 4 identical Mine Cards (crystals of the same color and value), the player receives a bonus of 5 points.
Tip: use face-down Helper Cards to mark these bonuses.
Then each player calculates their score, adding the total value of their crystals plus the points received for the sets bonus. The player with the highest score is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most Mine Cards of value 1 wins. If the tie persists, compare cards of value 2, and so on, until a winner is determined.
Examples (illustrated): a single card of value 4 = "4 points"; four identical cards of value 2 = "8 + 5 = 13 points".
Helper Cards
There are 3 types of Helper Cards: Exploration, Attack and Defense.
Exploration Cards (green)
Can be played by the active player on their turn.
Mas Que Beleza! ("How Nice!") Immediately protect one of the columns of cards in front of you. It may be used by the active player at the end of their turn, when they decide to stop exploring the mine.
Attack Cards (blue)
Can be played by non-active players, after the active player announces they will explore the mine. If two or more players play their Attack Cards simultaneously, the cards are resolved in turn order, starting from the active player. If the active player decides to stop revealing cards and one of the opponents still wants to play an Attack Card, they may play it. So there is no use in the active player rushing to end their turn right after opening a valuable card. If the active player chooses to use their turn to protect a column, the other players cannot use Attack Cards.
Passa Isso Aqui... ("Hand That Over...") Take the last revealed card in the Exploration Line and place it in your collection.
Para, Para, Para! ("Stop, Stop, Stop!") The active player's turn ends immediately. They take the cards revealed in the Exploration Line as normal.
Posso Ajudar? ("Can I Help?") Draw two Mine Cards. Place one of them in your collection and the other at the end of the Exploration Line.
Note: if there is only one Mine Card in the draw pile, the player decides whether to keep the card or place it at the end of the line.
Um Presentinho Para Você... ("A Little Present for You...") Place this card in the Exploration Line. The next revealed card with an unstable crystal will cause an accident, regardless of the position of the unstable crystal. An accident also occurs immediately if two "Um presentinho para você..." cards are added to the Exploration Line.
Note: beware! There is a specific Defense Card for this card and it can suffer a counter-attack.
Isso Não Te Pertence Mais... ("This Is No Longer Yours...") Steal Mine Cards from in front of the active player. You may steal all the cards of one column or any two cards. The stolen cards are placed in your collection.
Note: beware! There is a specific Defense Card for this card and it can suffer a counter-attack.
Defense Cards (purple)
Played by the active player to defend against Attack Cards. There are two types of Defense Cards: generic and specific. Generic Defense Cards can be used to cancel any Attack Card. Specific Defense Cards are counter-attacks for defined Attack Cards.
Sem Chance! ("No Chance!") A generic defense; it cancels the effect of any Attack Card.
Só Por Cima do Meu Cadáver! ("Over My Dead Body!") A specific defense (counter-attack) for the card "Isso não te pertence mais...". You prevent the theft of your cards and, in addition, steal any one card from in front of the player who attacked you. The stolen card is placed in front of you.
Sai Fora! ("Get Out!") A specific defense (counter-attack) for the card "Um presentinho para você...". You return the Attack Card to the player who played it. On that player's next turn, if they decide to explore the mine, they start with this Attack Card already in the Exploration Line. If they decide to protect a column of cards, they may discard this Attack Card.
Note: the attacking player may nullify the active player's counter-attack with another "Sai Fora!" card.