Shadow Games
Shadow Games Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
To begin a round of Shadow Games, each player is given a guild ledger and takes 1 favour of each type. (Green token is Team favour, Purple token is Union favour, and Orange token is Guild favour.)
Players place all favours on their guild ledger.
Now each player takes 2 favour of each type and places them in the middle of the table to make the reserve. Next, add all the protection tokens to the reserve.
One player takes the deck of 24 cards and shuffles them thoroughly before dealing 2 cards to each player face down. Players may look at their cards at any time, keeping them secret from other players, of course. Place the remaining cards in the center of the table.
After a card is played and its effects have been resolved, that card should be placed face up on the discard pile. Players may not look through the discard pile (unless a card is played that allows them to do so); however, the top card is open information to all players.
When a player discards multiple cards simultaneously, he may choose the order of the cards discarded so that only the top card is visible to the other players.
At any time during the course of a round of Shadow Games, when a player needs to draw a card and the deck is empty, simply gather the discard pile and shuffle to create a new game deck.
Guild Ledger
The Plot card list is on the left side of the guild ledger, the right side lists the Agent cards, and the center is the favour pool.
Shadow Games Cards
The upper left side of the card list shows the name and type of card.
The upper right side of the card shows the number of cards of that type in the deck.
The bottom of the card lists the card effect and buff bonus.
Gameplay
The player who most recently scored a goal is the starting player. The starting player takes the first turn, then play proceeds clockwise around the table. The game ends when a player successfully secures a star player for his or her team.
At the beginning of their turn, each player draws cards from the deck until they have 3 cards in their hand.
A player's turn consists of 2 distinct phases.
The first phase is the Plotting phase. During this phase, the player may play up to 1 Plot card from their hand.
The second phase is the Agents phase. During this phase, the player may play up to 1 Agent from their hand.
A player may choose to skip a phase, but must do the other phase during their turn.
At the end of their turn, each player draws cards from the game deck until they have 2 cards in their hand.
Bluffing and Challenging
When a card is played, it must first be played face down. The player then declares which card he is playing and, if applicable, which other player is the target of this card.
When a played card is declared, the player can either be telling the truth or be bluffing. Other players may challenge the played card if they believe it to be a bluff. Players may only challenge the played card if they have 1 or more favour on their guild ledger. Resolve the played card as follows.
No Challenge / No Bluff
If there is no challenge and the played card is not a bluff, then it is simply revealed and the card's effects are resolved. The card is then discarded face up on top of the discard pile.
No Challenge / Successful Bluff
If there is no challenge and the played card is a bluff, the card is revealed, and the declared card's effects are resolved. Then the revealed card's bluff bonus is additionally resolved. The card is then discarded face up on top of the discard pile.
Challenge / No Bluff
If there is a challenge, the card is then revealed. If the played card is not a bluff, the played card's effects are resolved. Then the player who played the card takes any 1 favour from the challenging player. The card is then discarded face up on top of the discard pile.
Sometimes a player has insufficient favour to pay for an unsuccessful challenge and the effects of the played card. In this event, the player who played the card may take favour from the reserve instead.
Challenge / Unsuccessful Bluff
If there is a challenge, the card is revealed. If the played card is a bluff, the played card's effects are not resolved. Then the challenging player takes any 1 favour from the bluffing player. The card is then discarded face up on top of the discard pile.
Sometimes a player has insufficient favour to pay for an unsuccessful bluff. In this event, the challenging player may take favour from the reserve instead.
Keywords
Gain favour Take 1 specified favour from the reserve.
Lose favour Take 1 specified favour from your favour pool and place it in the reserve.
Steal favour Take 1 specified favour from one other player's favour pool. If the targeted player does not have the specified favour in their pool, the effect is ignored.
Bribe favour Take 1 specified favour from your favour pool and give it to any other player's favour pool. If the player cannot pay the bribe, the effect is ignored.
Questions and Answers
Can more than one player challenge? No, the first player to challenge is the challenger.
Does the Pay'em Off card protect me from the card's bluff bonus or just the base effect of Agent cards? Both.
Victory
The player who had 5 of one kind of favour for two turns in a row wins the game.