Synergy
Synergy Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Every player chooses a color and receives all ten number cards and seven goal cards of that color. Any unused colors are returned to the box. The colors help players to recognize their own cards.
Take the mission you are about to embark on, and place it in the middle of the table. The stars are the difficulty rating (A). More stars indicate a more difficult mission. The missions are numbered from 1 through 30 (B) and can be played in this order, although you can decide to deviate from this order and pick a mission yourself. We do recommend using a 1 star mission for your first game.
If the mission indicates that there are action cards (C) available, place these specific action cards next to the mission card. The same goes for the super card or hyper card. When you opened this game, these cards were placed in specific points among the mission cards. If you play the missions in order, the action cards as well as the super and hyper cards will naturally appear when you need them for the first time.
Place the rounds card to the left of the mission card and make sure the arrow on the mission card points to the zero on the rounds card (D). Place the lives card to the right of the mission card, with the arrow pointing to the number of lives you have in the mission (E). After each successful round you move the rounds card down one slot. When you lose a life, you move the lives card up one slot. If you hit the zero on the lives card, you have lost the mission.
The mission card also shows you how many goal cards and number cards each player should have in their hand at the start of the mission (F). For missions where you don't start with all these cards in your hand, you shuffle all of them into two separate decks (one per type) and place them face down in front of you. You then draw the indicated number of cards from each deck.
Component list (as printed): 50 number cards (5 colors); 35 goal cards (5 colors); 15 double-sided mission cards (do not change the order of these cards); 5 double-sided action cards; 1 super card and 1 hyper card; 1 lives card and 1 rounds card.
Aim of the Game and Missions
The aim of the game is to complete the chosen mission together with your fellow players. You win together, you lose together.
Completing Rounds and Missions
The mission card shows how many rounds your group has to successfully complete (G). For each round you fail, the group loses a life. Every round that the group is successful, gets you closer to victory.
NOTE! At no point during the mission are players allowed to exchange information about their cards (goal or number) or which cards would be best to play! However, players are allowed to gesture to publicly available information.
Every Round Is Made Up of These Steps
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Check the mission card to see in which order the number cards and goal cards should be played (H). Most common is number-goal-number.
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All players play their first card (respecting the order as checked in step 1) face down from their hand in front of them on the table. Once all players have played their card, all cards are turned face up simultaneously.
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All players play their second card face down next to their first card. Again, all players turn their card face up simultaneously.
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(Only in missions with action cards:) Without discussing it with other players, any player (or players, if there are multiple action cards) may now take an action card and use it. All action cards are discarded after their single use (for this mission). If there are no action cards available anymore, or no player wants to use an action card, this step is skipped.
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All players play their third card (always a number card) face down next to their second card. Again, all players turn their card face up simultaneously.
With all information now open on the table, all players check who met their goal and who didn't. To determine if a player met their goal, each player checks the sum of their two number cards.
Example: Players 1 and 3 are successful: player 3 had a sum exactly one below player 1, player 1 ended up second-last. Player 2 had to get a sum of exactly one above another player and therefore failed.
If the group completes the round, there is no life lost and the rounds card is moved to the next round. Every player that successfully reached their goal now gets to take one of their two played number cards back to their hand. The other two cards (one number and one goal) are discarded to form a row of personal discarded cards. These should remain visible to all players. Any player that failed their goal discards all three played cards in a similar fashion, not taking any card back to their hand.
The mission card indicates how many players out of the group need to meet their goal in order to successfully complete a round: only if enough players successfully reached their goal does the group complete a round. Area (I) indicates how many players in the group can be unsuccessful without making the group fail the round.
If the group does not complete the round, the rounds card does not move, and the group loses one life. The lives card moves up to the next (lower) number. All players, including players that failed their goal, get to take one of their two played number cards back to their hand, and discard the other two cards as usual.
Before starting a new round, all players draw one new number card and one new goal card from their face down decks. If one of these decks is empty, the player does not receive a card. If any player at any time during the mission does not have enough number cards in their hand to play a round, the entire mission fails and the group loses the game.
Goal Cards
In every round, all players play two number cards and one goal card. The goal card shows what the player needs to achieve with the sum of their two number cards. There are seven different goal cards:
- The sum is exactly one higher than the sum of another player.
- The sum is exactly one lower than the sum of another player.
- The sum is equal to the sum of another player.
- The sum is not equal to the sum of any other player and therefore unique.
- The sum is in between the values of the player's direct neighbors. It doesn't matter which neighbor is higher and which is lower.
- The sum is the second highest of all players' sums. If multiple players have the same sum, these players count as one in the order of sums. Example: Daniel plays this goal with a sum of 7. Vicky and Irene each have a sum of 8, which is the highest. Daniel is successful.
- The sum is the second lowest of all players' sums. Here also multiple players with the same sum count as one. This means that even in a five player game, a player can be both the second highest and second lowest, for example if the sums are 8, 8, 5, 3 and 3.
Action Cards
For some missions the group can use one or more action cards to make their mission easier. Every action card can only be used once during a mission. During a round, after the second card has been played, any player can take and use an action card, without debate or discussion with other players. There are ten different action cards:
- A. Return one number card from your discard row to your hand.
- B. Exchange your played number card for a number card from your hand.
- C. Return two number cards from your discard row to your hand.
- D. Exchange your played goal card for another player's played goal card.
- E. Exchange any two played goal cards.
- F. Increase the value of a number card by 1.
- G. Decrease the value of a number card by 1.
- H. Increase the number of players that are allowed to fail their goal for this round by 1. Example: in a mission where 4 out of 4 players have to be successful to complete a round, this is decreased to 3 out of 4 players having to be successful.
- I. Exchange any two played number cards.
- J. This player is ignored during this round. If this player fails their goal it does not count, nor is their sum taken into account for other players' goals. They still do have to play a second number card and get to take back one of their two number cards at the end of the round.
After the use of an action card, it is discarded. This action card is no longer available during the entire mission.
Whenever an action card clashes with the general rules of the game or the information on the mission card, the action card wins.
NOTE! To ensure the correct usage of action cards F and G: when a player uses them, the player places the action card next to the relevant number card for the remainder of the round to help with counting at the end of the round. The action card is still discarded after the round. For ease of play, it is also recommended to place action card H and J (when used) visibly in front of a player or players until the end of the round.
NOTE! A player holding the super or hyper card cannot use action cards H and J.
Challenges
As your group progresses through the missions, they get increasingly difficult. In part this is because challenges are added to missions (J). The overview of what each challenge entails can be found in the last part (in purple) of this rulebook.
- Goals to the right: The goal card you play is moved to the player to your right.
- Goals to the left: The goal card you play is moved to the player to your left.
- Uneven: Your second number card must be uneven.
- Even: Your second number card must be even.
- Low to high: Your second number card must be higher than your first.
- High to low: Your second number card must be lower than your first.
- Maximum 7: Your sum cannot exceed 7.
- Minimum 5: Your sum cannot be less than 5.
- No double digits: Your number cards cannot have the same value.
- Double plus 3: When your number cards are identical (in color and value), the sum is increased by 3.
- 1 = 6: A number card valued 1 counts as a 6. The card does still count as uneven.
- Sum 5 equals 10: When your sum is 5, it is increased to 10.
- Difference: To find your sum, take the difference between your number cards instead of adding them up. So, a 5 and a 1 (in any order) will give a sum of 4, two 3's will give a sum of 0.
NOTE! Any number or goal cards that are passed along between players due to challenges, will remain with that player and are discarded by that player at the end of the round. It is therefore possible for players to have cards in multiple colors in front of them. If a player gets to take a card from their discarded row (due to an action card) they can take any card from that row, even if it's another players' color.
Super and Hyper
After winning quite a few missions, your group can stumble upon a new symbol on the mission card: the super and/or hyper card symbol (K).
Super card: Give it to one of the players. For the group to be successful in a round, the player holding the super card has to meet their goal. Even if enough players meet their goal, but the super card player does not, the group loses the round (and a life).
Hyper card: Give it to one of the players. If the player holding the hyper card is unsuccessful in reaching their goal, the group loses the entire mission. So even in a round where the group as a whole is unsuccessful and loses a life, the hyper card player still has to be successful.
Game End
The group wins the game when they successfully complete their mission. Congratulations!
The group loses the game immediately when:
- Their lives card hits zero during a mission, or;
- One of the players does not have enough number cards to play a round, or;
- One of the players cannot live up to the required challenge, or;
- The player with the hyper card is unsuccessful in a round.
Do try again!