Super Mario Bros. Power Up Card Game
Super Mario Bros. Power Up Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
The game is played in rounds. Collect, trade, and modify Level cards to avoid ending each round with the lowest Level value. The player with the lowest Level value loses one Extra Life Token. The last player with Extra Life Tokens left wins the game.
Contents
- 30 ? cards
- 52 Level cards
- 50 Extra Life Tokens
Components Overview
Level Cards
The Level cards are the cards with the Level value shown in the Level Indicator. The Level Indicator shows a [coin] symbol followed by "×" and a number; that number is the card's Level value.
Some Level cards are Castle cards. A Castle card is marked CASTLE and carries a special directive printed at the bottom of the card:
- DRAW A ? CARD.
- YOU CANNOT HAVE ? CARDS PLAYED ON YOU OR LOSE [token] THIS ROUND.
? Cards
Each ? card carries a Level modifier or a card directive.
- Level modifier: affects the Level card value. Example: the Super Star card reads "+4 [coin] TO ANY LEVEL." The card's text continues in the scan with the words "...MASTER LEVELS ARE REV..." which are partly hidden by a callout, so the remainder of that line cannot be read in the scan.
- Card directive: affects other players. Example: the Green Shell card reads "FORCE ANOTHER PLAYER TO DISCARD A ? CARD AT RANDOM. PLAY AT ANY TIME."
Another ? card, the Koopa Troopa card, reads "-2 TO ANY LEVEL" and carries a smaller line of text beneath it that is illegible in the scan.
Extra Life Tokens
Each Extra Life Token shows a picture of Mario. Each token is worth one extra life.
Setup
Shuffle both decks of cards. Each player gets four Extra Life Tokens and one ? card.
Let's Go!
This is a five-player example, but all rules apply the same way if played with more or fewer players.
The game is played in these steps:
- Step 1: Deal Levels (page 5)
- Step 2: Keep or Trade Levels (page 6)
- Step 3: Reveal and Modify Levels (page 8)
- Step 4: Score (page 10)
- Step 5: How to Win? (page 10)
Deal Levels
Oldest player deals first.
The dealer deals one Level card to each player face-down. Players peek at their Level value.
If a player is dealt a Castle card, that player reveals it immediately and draws a ? card. That player cannot have ? cards played on them, OR loses this round.
Keep or Trade
The goal of each round is to NOT be the player with the lowest Level. In order to avoid revealing the lowest Level, players must decide whether to risk trading a card with their player to the left or keeping the card they were dealt. At the end of each round, the player with the lowest Level loses one Extra Life Token.
The example below follows the lettered steps of the booklet.
- A. Each round starts (and ends) with the DEALER.
- B. Trading cards begins with the player to the dealer's left, player 1. Player 1 has [coin]×2 and decides to trade with player 2. Player 2 cannot refuse to trade and must give player 1 his Level card.
- C. Since players can only trade with the player to their immediate left, player 2 is forced to keep the card he was traded, because player 3 revealed a Castle and cannot be traded with.
- D. Player 3 has a Castle and cannot lose this round.
- E. Player 4 has a [coin]×8 and decides to keep his card.
- Note: The DEALER first reveals his card and then decides whether to keep it or discard and trade it with the top card of the Level deck.
- F. The DEALER has [coin]×4 and wants to trade it. He must first reveal his card, then discard it and draw (and reveal) the top card from the Level deck.
The booklet's round diagram shows the same sequence on a circle: the deal (A) at the start of the round, then trading among players 1 and 2 (B and C), the keep step with the Castle held by player 3 (D), player 4 keeping a card (E), and the dealer's trade with the Level deck (F). The diagram is labelled with the phases START OF ROUND, END OF ROUND, TRADE, KEEP, and REVEAL AND MODIFY.
Reveal and Modify Levels
- A. After trading with the deck, the DEALER has a [coin]×3.
All other players now reveal their Level card. All players that reveal a matching Level to another player's card draw a ? card.
- B. Players 1 and 4 both reveal a [coin]×8 and draw a ? card immediately. Player 3 draws a ? card for revealing a Castle.
Now players have the chance to play ? cards from their hand to modify Level card values and/or generate other effects. Multiple ? cards may be played, and players may play cards in any order, but card effects do not stack, and previous ? cards that might have been played on the Level card no longer apply. Only the most recent ? card played on each player's Level card is active and affects their Level value.
- C. Player 2 plays his [coin]-2 card on the DEALER. The DEALER has to subtract 2 from his Level, changing his Level to [coin]×1.
- D. Players 1 and 4 do not have the lowest Level and choose not to play their ? cards.
- E. The DEALER does not have a ? card that would increase his Level.
The booklet's diagram for this phase shows player 3 choosing not to play a ? card because he has a Castle and cannot lose this round.
Score
After all players have finished playing any ? cards, final Level values are compared. All players with the lowest Level must lose one Extra Life Token.
- A. The DEALER has the lowest Level and loses this round, discarding one Extra Life Token.
At the end of each round, revealed Level cards and ? cards are placed in discard piles, and deal passes to the left. Do not shuffle cards until either deck runs out, then shuffle the discards to form a new deck.
- B. The new round starts with player 1 as the new DEALER, and play proceeds clockwise. Play continues with the steps listed above until only one player has Extra Life Tokens left.
How to Win?
The last player with Extra Life Tokens left wins the game.