Tanto Cuore: Winter Romance Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Game Overview
• 2. Game Components
• 3. Game Setup
• 4. The Flow of the Game
• 5. The Cards
  • Maid Cards (Maid Chiefs/Butler Chiefs/General Maids/General Butlers)
  • Love Cards
  • Social Bonus Cards
  • Event Cards
  • Drama Cards
  • Building Cards
  • Double-Sided Event/Building Cards
• 6. Phase Details
  • 6-1: Starting Phase
  • 6-2: Serving Phase
  • 6-3: Employ Phase
  • 6-4: Discard Phase
• 7. Chambermaids
  • 7-1: Chambermaids
  • 7-2: How to Chamber
  • 7-3: Chambermaid Bonus
• 8. Meetup Spot and Trial
  • 8-1: Meetup Spot Cards
  • 8-1-1: How to Approach
  • 8-1-2: When an Approach Succeeds
  • 8-1-3: Couple Points at End of Game
  • 8-2: Using Trial
  • 8-2-1: Breakup
• 9. Normal Buildings, Events, and Private Maids
  • 9-1: Event Cards
  • 9-2: Building Cards
  • 9-3: Employing a Private Maid
• 10. Example of Play
• 11. Game End and Victory
  • 11-1: Game End
  • 11-2: Victory Points (VP)
  • 11-2-1: Couple VP Calculation
  • 11-2-2: VP From Chambered Cards
  • 11-2-3: VP From Maid Cards in Your Hand
• 12. Optional Rules
  • 12-1: Two or 3 Player Games
  • 12-2: Playing with Other Tanto Cuore Sets
  • 12-2-1: Suggested Game Setup
  • 12-2-2: Five or 6 Players
  • 12-3: Other Rules
• 13. Card Details
  • 13-1: Butler Chiefs/Maid Chiefs
  • 13-2: General Butlers/Maids
  • 13-3: Event Cards
  • 13-4: Drama Cards
  • 13-5: Building Cards
  • 13-6: Love Cards

1. Game Overview

Tanto Cuore: Winter Romance is a sequel to Tanto Cuore for 2-4 players. It can be played alone or with Tanto Cuore, Expanding the House, Romantic Vacation, Oktoberfest, or a mixture of them.

Even in the cold of winter, burning love can bloom! As a master of the house, you will employ maids—and the newly-introduced butlers—building up your mansion (deck) as they serve you.

When the game ends, the player who has the most Victory Points (VP) from the cards in their house is the "Ultimate Master" and the winner of the game!

Also, this time your maids and butlers can mingle with those of other players and form couples that earn you more VP. For the purposes of this game, we will refer to maids and butlers as 'maids', although any reference to a maid, in this game or the previous sets, can be played or thought of as a reference to a butler as well.

Get started on your own mansion full of maids and butlers!

2. Game Components

This game contains this rule book and 302 cards.

• 193 Maid Cards
  • 32 Maid Chiefs
  • 161 General Maids
• 25 Event Cards
• 18 Building Cards
• 65 Love Cards

Symbols & Keywords

In this manual, we will use keywords that can also be represented by symbols. Below are the symbols with their corresponding keywords.

• [Draw +1] symbol = [Draw +1]
• [Serving +1] symbol = [Serving +1]
• [Love +1] symbol = [Love +1]
• [Employment +1] symbol = [Employment +1]

3. Game Setup

Seat all of the players around the table. The center of the table is the Town, where you place all of the available cards. Each player should have enough space in front of them to play their cards during the game; this area is the player's House. Each player's House consists of the player's personal draw deck, discard pile, play area, and Private Quarters (an area for cards that you own, but are set aside).

You always choose 10 General Maids to play with, but this set has an extra General Maid card called "Friends". For setup purposes, this card does not count as one of your 10 General Maids that you choose to play with. You will lay out a pile of 9 Friends cards and 9 Social Bonus cards separate from the rest of the Maid cards. This set includes 16 types of standard General Maids (General Butlers/General Maids). Pick 10 types to use, and put the unused ones back in the box. Set out the 10 types of General Maids that you will be using in their own piles, with the piles in two columns of 5 each.

You can pick which ones to use yourself or determine them randomly. You can also use cards from other Tanto Cuore sets.

The first time you play this game, we recommend using the following cards:

Recommended Selection for the First Game

Dermot Gherin	Shirley Pollock
Menou Tatehira	Herbie Fortz
Shishido Kurogane	Elizabeth Coran
Kimberly Evan	Jimmy Harriston
Benoit Ibsen	Shanti Bell

Next, sort out the three types of "Love" cards ("1 Love," "2 Love," and "3 Love"), and place them in one stack each in the Town, face-up by the General Maids.

Then put the two types of Maid Chiefs (Leopold Niebling and Beverly Snowfeldt) face-up to the left of the General Maids.

Meetup Spot 1 and Meetup Spot 2 are special double-sided cards, with different text on each side. The side with the artwork in color is "face-up," and the side with the artwork in black and white is "face-down." Also, the face-up side is the one that has the card's cost on it. Put the single Meetup Spot 3 card to the left of the Maid Chiefs. On top of that, place the five Meetup Spot 2 cards, and then finally the four Meetup Spot 1 cards on top of that. We call this the "Meetup Card Pile."

Put the eight Chapel cards face-up to the right of the Meetup Card Pile.

If you're using the General Butler Dermot Gherin, take the nine Drama cards, shuffle them, and put them face-down in a pile to the right of the Chapel cards. If you're not using Dermot, you can leave the Drama cards in the box.

"Trial" is a double-sided card. As with the Meetup Spot cards, the side with the artwork in color is "face-up," and the side with the artwork in black and white is "face-down." These cards should go to the upper left of the General Maid cards, placed face-up and vertically.

Then put the 8 Blizzard cards to the right of the Trial cards, also face-up and vertically.

Once that's done, your Town is all ready to begin the game!

Each player gets 3 Beverly cards and 7 "1 Love" cards. Shuffle these 10 cards together to be your starting deck, and put it face-down in front of you, in your house. Each player then draws 5 cards from the top of their deck to be their starting hand. When you take a card from your own deck and add it to your hand, it is called "drawing" a card.

Finally, decide who will go first by playing rock-paper-scissors or similar. You're now ready to play!

Decks and Piles

The stacks of cards (Maid cards, Event cards, etc.) in the town are called "piles." A pile is not a "deck." When any ability indicates to choose a "deck," you can only choose a player's deck. Also, any cards that are chambered, in a player's hand, or placed in your Private Quarters are not included as a part of your deck.

Note: Maid Chiefs, General Maids, and Private Maids (which can be found in other Tanto Cuore sets) are all considered "maid cards." Butlers also fall under the category of "maid" cards (see p. 5).

4. The Flow of the Game

In this game, each player takes turns in order. Once you've finished setting up, the first player begins their turn. Each turn consists of the four phases listed below, done in order.

1. Starting Phase
2. Serving Phase
3. Employ Phase
4. Discard Phase

When a player has finished all four phases, the next player clockwise from them takes a turn. This continues until the game ends, at which point Victory Points are calculated and the winner is decided (see "11. Game End and Victory Conditions" on p. 19).

5. The Cards

This section describes the different types of cards and the information on them.

Maid Cards (Maid Chiefs/Butler Chiefs/General Maids/General Butlers)

Note: This set is the first in the Tanto Cuore series to include male butler cards. Keep the following in mind when interpreting the rules/card text for previous Tanto Cuore sets.

• As noted before, when a card's text refers to a "maid card," that is the card category, and includes Maid Chiefs, Butler Chiefs, General Maids, and General Butlers.
• When the rules refer to Maid Chiefs, it is a category of cards that also includes Butler Chiefs.
• When the rules refer to General Maids, it is a category of cards that also includes General Butlers.

When it's your turn, you can have your Maids serve you during your Serving Phase. When you play a Maid card, it has a play cost of 1 Serving. As noted later in the rules, during your Starting Phase you get 1 Serving, so you will always be able to play at least one Maid card per turn if you have one in your hand.

When you play a Maid card, you get the effects of the Maid's special abilities as listed on the card. You also receive any bonuses (Servings, Draws, Love, or Employments) that the Maid provides. For example, if a card provides a bonus of [Serving +2], you will get 2 additional Servings to use to play additional Maid cards during your turn.

When you use a Serving, it is immediately consumed. You will lose any unused Servings at the start of your Employ Phase; they do not carry over to your next turn.

Maid card anatomy:

1. Maid's Title - The type of maid/butler.
2. Card Name
3. Employ Cost - The amount of Love required to employ this Maid from the Town.
4. Victory Points (VP)
5. Symbol: Draw - The number of extra cards the player will draw when this Maid serves them.
6. Symbol: Love - The amount of extra Love this maid generates when played. You can use this Love along with Love cards to Employ more maids.
7. Symbol: Serving - The number of extra Servings this Maid generates. More Servings lets you play more Maids.
8. Symbol: Employment - The number of extra Employments this maid generates. Extra Employments let you Employ multiple Maids during your turn.
9. Maid Category
10. Employment Bonus
11. Card Text

The text next to the Employment icon is the Maid's "Employment Bonus." This is a special effect you get only when you employ the Maid. This bonus does not activate when playing the card.

The text here describes the special effect you get from the card, and when it can activate.

Many cards also have flavor text, which is printed in italics. These are just representative quotes from the Maids in question, and don't affect the game's rules in any way.

Love Cards

Love card anatomy:

1. Card Name
2. Employ Cost

Love cards generate Love points that you use to employ new Maids (buy new cards). You mostly play them during your Employ Phase, but you can generally play them at any time. During your turn, you can play as many Love cards as you wish to add to your available Love (in addition to any Love from Maids played during your Serving Phase). Playing a Love card doesn't cost a Serving.

A "1 Love" card will give 1 Love, a "2 Love" card will give 2 Love, and a "3 Love" card will give 3 Love. Love is not kept between turns. You lose any unused Love you have left over when your turn ends.

Social Bonus Cards

Social Bonus card anatomy:

1. Card Name
2. Victory Points
3. Card Text

You treat Social Bonus Cards like Love Cards. When a card's text refers to "Love Cards," that includes these cards, which can be important for Approaches. However, you can't employ (buy) a Social Bonus card like Love Cards. Instead, you gain them from Events and certain special effects. Also, each Social Bonus card provides a VP.

Event Cards

Event card anatomy:

1. Card Name
2. Employ Cost
3. Card Text

Event cards apply various kinds of effects (usually negative ones) to the owner. You employ them during your Employ Phase just like other cards, but instead of going into your discard pile to become part of your deck, they typically go into another player's Private Quarters or on a Chambermaid. (Chambermaids are Maids that have been sent to the players Private Quarters; more on that later.) The player who receives this card becomes the owner of the card and suffers its effects.

The cost in Love to employ this card.

Explains this card's special effect and when it takes place, which can be at the time you employ it or at another time specified on the card.

Drama Cards

Drama card anatomy:

1. Card Name
2. Victory Points
3. Card Text

Drama Cards are cards that change the game, but you only use them when you include Dermot in the 10 types of General Maids you're using. When setting up the game, put all of these cards face-down in their own pile. Treat Drama Cards as Event Cards. When a card's text refers to "Event Cards," that includes Drama cards.

When you employ Dermot during the game and draw a card from the Drama Card pile (as the result of Dermot's employment bonus), turn it face-up, and resolve its effect. You cannot pay a cost to employ these cards. Many of these cards provide Victory Points, but there are also several that affect all of the players. If you draw one of those, you should clearly read the card's effect aloud and then resolve it.

Building Cards

Building card anatomy:

1. Card Name
2. Employ Cost
3. Victory Points (VP)
4. Employment Bonus
5. Card Text

Building Cards alter the game, and go into their own piles. When you employ a building card, you don't put it in your discard pile, but rather it goes straight to your Private Quarters.

The cost in Love to employ this card.

This is a special effect that you only get when you first employ this card. The bonus does not activate when playing the card.

Explains this card's special effect.

Double-Sided Event/Building Cards

Double-sided card anatomy (front):

1. Card Name
2. Employ Cost
3. Card Text

Double-sided card anatomy (back):

1. Card Name
2. Victory Points
3. Card Text

Double-sided Trial Cards and Meetup Cards affect the game in various ways, and go in with the building piles. These cards have different text on each side. The side with the artwork in color is "face-up," and the side with the artwork in black and white is "face-down." Also, the face-up side is the one that has the card's cost on it. Be sure to put these cards face-up when setting up the game.

Treat double-sided Trial Cards like Event Cards. Similarly, treat double-sided Meetup Cards as Building Cards. When a card's text refers to Event Cards/Building Cards, it covers both regular and double-sided ones.

When you employ one of these cards, you will put it in your Private Quarters or those of another player, depending on the card's text. After that, flip the card over when you meet the conditions listed on it.

This set includes two types of double-sided cards (Trial and Meetup Spot), which have their own special rules. See pp. 14 and 16 for more details.

6. Phase Details

When it's your turn, you go through the four phases in order.

6-1: Starting Phase

Effects from certain Private Maids and Event Cards take place during this phase. Each Private Maid has the timing of their effect noted on the card, and their effect can only take place once per turn. If you are going to use this set with the previous Tanto Cuore base set, also see the Illness rules.

6-2: Serving Phase

It's during this phase that the player plays (is served by) General Maids (and sometimes even Maid Chiefs) to gain their effects.

Unless something says otherwise, being served by a Maid costs one Serving, and each player gets only one Serving at the start of their Serving Phase. This means that each player can only be served by one Maid per turn, unless they are served by a Maid that generates more Servings. Please note that only playing Maid cards from your hand costs a Serving.

When a player is served by a Maid, they first receive the bonuses described by the symbols on the card: Draws, Servings, Love, and Employments. Of these, Draws are used immediately; the player must draw the specific number of cards before taking any other actions, including resolving the text on the card played. If there are any Maids among the cards the player draws, they can use those cards during the same Serving Phase (provided the player has Servings left).

Servings, Love, and Employments remain for the rest of your turn. Servings must be used during the Serving Phase, while Employments and Love are used during the Employ Phase, but they do not need to be used immediately. However, Servings, Love or Employments don't carry over into the next turn; they are all lost in the players' Discard Phase.

Any text on the Maid card is resolved after the player has received the symbol bonuses.

Certain Maids can, instead of serving the player, become chambered. To chamber a Maid means to set her aside from the playing area, in the player's Private Quarters (the area beside the play area, reserved for set-aside cards).

Chambered cards are not discarded during the Discard phase, but the player retains ownership. For details, see "7. Chambermaids." The Serving Phase ends when you run out of cards in your hand to play, or you choose to end it. Any effects that must take place during the Serving Phase can still be applied even if the player has no Servings left.

6-3: Employ Phase

After the player has been served by their Maids, they can employ new staff, which means buying cards from the town. A player can only employ 1 staff member per turn, unless card effects have given them extra Employments.

To employ a card, the player must have the necessary amount of Love to give to the new staff member. During the Employ Phase, the player may play any amount of Love cards from their hand to add to any Love they may have gained from being served by Maids during the Serving Phase. It does not cost Servings to play Love cards.

Employing one staff member also costs 1 Employment. Each player gets only 1 Employment at the start of each of their Employ Phase, which means they can employ only 1 staff member per turn. However, if the player has gained more Employments from card effects, they can employ as many staff as their available Employments and Love allow. Newly employed General Maids and Love cards go to your discard pile, not your hand. Private Maids and Buildings go to your Private Quarters.

The Employ Phase ends when the player runs out of Employments or Love, or when they decide to end it.

You can play as many Love Cards from your hand as you wish to gain the indicated number of Love points. Unless the particular Love Card says otherwise, it stays in front of you until your Discard Phase.

Some cards have an "Employ Bonus." Employ Bonuses appear with the following icon: [employ bonus icon]. The Employ Bonus is an ability that you can use during your Employ Phase when you employ that card. The bonus does not activate when playing the card.

6-4: Discard Phase

During this phase, you discard all of the cards you played (except for cards that went into your Private Quarters, such as Chambered cards and Buildings).

Then, the player discards any cards left in their hand.

Next, the player draws 5 new cards from their deck.

If the deck runs out of cards, the player draws as many as they can, then shuffles all of the cards in their discard pile together and draws the rest of the missing cards until they have a hand of 5.

Reshuffling Your Deck

You don't reshuffle your discard pile until you must draw a card and your deck is empty. If you have zero cards left in your deck, do not shuffle your discard pile until you are required to draw a card.

7. Chambermaids

7-1: Chambermaids

Certain Maids have the title Chambermaid or Chambermaid Chief (or Butler). These can become Chambered, which means they can be set to the side of the playing area, in the player's Private Quarters, instead of serving the player.

None of their bonuses or regular effects will happen, and they will not be discarded in the Discard Phase. They will stay in the player's Private Quarters until the end of the game or some effect removes them. The player retains ownership, and any Victory Points (VP) are still valid.

7-2: How to Chamber

To Chamber a Maid usually costs 1 Serving, but chambering a Maid Chief can cost 2 Servings; it's noted on the card.

When you chamber a Maid, place the card in your Private Quarters. This should be a distinct area in front of you, separate from your other cards. You can turn Chambered cards sideways to make it easier to keep track of them.

7-3: Chambermaid Bonus

Some Chambermaids have a Chambermaid Bonus. There are also some that have special effects.

The Chambermaid bonus is not applicable unless the Maid has been chambered, and can thus not be activated if you are served by them normally or, in the case of end-game Victory Point bonuses, they are in your deck, discard pile, or hand when the game ends.

8. Meetup Spot and Trial

In this game, you can interact with other players' cards and use them to gain points.

8-1: Meetup Spot Cards

These are special Building Cards with the name "Meetup Spot." All of these cards are double-sided. As with other Event Cards, you acquire a Meetup Spot card by paying its cost during your Employ Phase. Once you employ a Meetup Spot card, put it face-up in your Private Quarters.

As explained in the card's text, when you have a Meetup Spot card in your Private Quarters, you can use the card's effect to make an Approach. You can only do this at the start of your turn, so you cannot purchase the Meetup Card and use it on the same turn.

8-1-1: How to Approach

When you make an Approach, pick a Maid Card from your hand, and put it in front of you face-down. We call this an "Approaching Card." Then pick another player and declare that you are making an Approach.

The player you designate must then secretly show you their hand, so that no other players can see. You will pull the highest-cost Maid Card from their hand (if there are multiple cards with the same highest cost, pick one of those) and put it on the table face-down for the Approach. We call this the "Target of an Approach."

If the two cards have the same value, the approach automatically succeeds. If the Approaching Card's Cost is higher or lower, you can discard a number of Love Cards equal to the difference in costs. Note that this is the quantity of Love Cards, regardless of their values.

If you are unable to do so, the Approach fails. Return the Target of the Approach to its owner's hand, and the Approaching Card to your hand. Your turn then resumes as normal.

Example: Dupin does an Approach towards Roget. He sets Elizabeth (who has a Cost of 3) face-down in front of him.

Roget will then show Dupin her hand. Roget has a 1 Love (Cost 1), 2 Love (Cost 4), 3 Love (Cost 7), Shishido (Cost 5), and Beverly (Cost 2) in her hand. The card with the highest cost is the 3 Love, but for an Approach you find the Maid Card with the highest cost, so that would be the Cost 5 Shishido. Roget puts Shishido face-down in front of Dupin.

Dupin checks the cards. His card has a Cost of 3, which is 2 points lower. If he can discard two Love Cards, the Approach will succeed.

He has a 1 Love and a 2 Love card in his hand, so he discards both. That leaves him without any Love cards, but the Approach succeeds.

Note that there is no particular penalty for a failed Approach. Your Meetup Spot card stays where it is, and you'll still be able to use it to make an Approach with this card on a future turn.

8-1-2: When an Approach Succeeds

When an Approach succeeds, turn the Approaching Card and the Target of the Approach face-up, and put them in your Private Quarters together, fanned out. This pair of cards is a Couple.

You then take the Meetup Spot card that you successfully used and turn it face-down on top of those cards. This gives a bonus for each Couple.

The player that lost their Maid to the Approach adds a Social Bonus card to their hand from the town. You then add a Friends card to your discard pile from the town. From there, your turn resumes as normal, using any cards remaining in your hand.

8-1-3: Couple Points at End of Game

When the game ends, you ignore any VP from Maid Cards that are part of a Couple.

Instead, you gain Victory Points as per the face-down Meetup Spot card (if there are multiple face-down Meetup Spots, add their VP together) and VP from Chapel cards.

See 11-2-1. Couple VP Calculation on p. 19 for more details.

8-2: Using Trial

As with the Meetup Spot cards, Trial is a double-sided card. As with other Event Cards, you acquire Trial cards by paying its cost during your Employ Phase. Once you employ the card, you put it face-up on another player's Couple.

When another player puts a Trial card in your Private Quarters, you must immediately reveal a 3-Love card from your hand if you can. If you're able to do so, turn the Trial card face-down, to the "Trial Overcome" side (which gives you 1 VP) and put it in your Private Quarters. If you are unable to reveal such a card, a Breakup happens.

8-2-1: Breakup

When a Breakup happens, the player who played the Trial card picks one of the cards from the Couple set and puts it in their own discard pile. The player who suffered the Trial card then puts the remaining card from the Couple set in their own discard pile. The Meetup card stays in the player's Private Quarters. Remove the Trial card from the game.

9. Normal Buildings, Events, and Private Maids

The previous section explains the double-sided Meetup Spot and Trial cards; see above for more details on those. This section has the general rules for buildings, events, and Private Maids. Event cards, Building cards, and Private Maid cards don't go to your discard pile when you employ them.

9-1: Event Cards

This set has the Blizzard event card and the new Drama Cards, which are also a type of event card.

When a player employs an Event card, it will go to any player's Private Quarters of the employer's choice. Certain Event Cards are placed onto a Maid or Building card directly.

Event Cards in a Player's Private Quarters remain there until the end of the game unless another effect removes them. An Event Card's effect continues as long as it is in a player's Private Quarters. If an Event card would be discarded, it is returned to town. If the town runs out of an Event Card, no more of that card can be employed until one is returned to town.

9-2: Building Cards

This set includes a new Building card, the "Chapel." When a player buys a Building card, it goes in their Private Quarters, where it will stay for the remainder of the game unless a card effect removes it.

9-3: Employing a Private Maid

Winter Romance doesn't include any Private Maids, but they are in other Tanto Cuore sets and promotional cards.

Once employed, a Private Maid goes directly into your Private Quarters, and will generate an effect each turn (but only once per turn). Some Private Maids are sent to other players' Private Quarters instead, and may generate harmful effects. For details, please refer to the rulebooks from the sets that contain Private Maids.

You may employ any number of Private Maids, but only one can be active at a time. When you employ a new Private Maid, put the card on top of the previous one. The replaced one will not grant any effects, but will grant Victory Points at the end of the game. Only the top Private Maid in your stack will be able to use her abilities for you, and you cannot change the order of the stack.

10. Example of Play

Raul, Isidor, and Claris are playing a 3-player game. It's currently Raul's turn. Raul has Beverly, Benoit, Jimmy, and two "1 Love" cards in his hand.

First, he does his Starting Phase. Raul doesn't have any Building, Event, or Private Maid cards in his Private Quarters, so he finishes his Starting Phase without doing anything.

Next comes his Serving Phase. Raul receives 1 Serving, and uses it to play the Benoit from his hand. Benoit's bonus gives him [Serving + 2].

Raul currently has 2 Servings, and he uses one to play Jimmy from his hand. Raul then spends the other Serving to chamber Jimmy. With the 2 Servings, he could've instead chambered Beverly. However, this wouldn't let him use Jimmy's other effect; Raul wanted to get the 2 Love that Jimmy provides.

Raul still has a Serving left, but he doesn't have any cards he wants to use or chamber, so he finishes his Serving Phase.

Next comes the Employ Phase. Raul gets 1 Employment. He got 2 Love from Jimmy during his Serving Phase, and combined with the two "1 Love" cards, he now has 4 Love to spend. Raul decides to employ a Meetup Spot 1 card. He puts it in his Private Quarters, face-up (with the illustration in color facing up).

Now Raul moves on to his Discard Phase. He puts the cards he played (Benoit, Jimmy, and two "1 Love" cards), as well as the unplayed card from his hand (Beverly) in his discard pile. (You must put unused cards in your hand in your discard pile at this time.) He then draws 5 cards from his deck to become his new hand.

That brings Raul's turn to an end. Isidor, the player to his left, goes next.

Now we'll skip ahead to Raul's next turn. He has Beverly, Benoit, Jimmy, Kimberly, and two "1 Love" cards in his hand.

This time for his Starting Phase he has the Meetup Spot 1 in his Private Quarters. This card's effect lets him initiate an encounter. With the Meetup Spot 1 card, Raul can do an Approach towards Isidor's hand or Claris'. Since Isidor hasn't really employed any high-cost cards and Raul wants to mess with his hand, he chooses Isidor. Raul picks Kimberly—who has a cost of 4—from his hand, and sets the card on the table.

Isidor now has to let Raul see his hand, and set out the Maid Card from his hand with the highest cost. He has Shanti, Beverly, Herbie, Sonny, and a "3 Love" card in his hand.

The "3 Love" is the card with the highest cost, but it's not actually a Maid Card. The Maid Card with the highest cost is Sonny, who has a cost of 6. Herbie's Cost is effectively 5 for the purpose of Approaches, but Sonny's is still higher.

Isidor puts Sonny down in front of him. Without letting the other player see, Raul checks the cards. With a cost of 6, Sonny costs 2 more than Kimberly's 6. Since Raul has the two "1 Love" cards in his hand, he sets those down, and moves the Sonny and Kimberly cards in front of him, fanned out. He then turns his Meetup Spot 1 card over and places it on top of the new couple.

With the Approach successful, Raul takes a Friends card from town and puts it in his discard pile. Isidor receives a Social Bonus card and adds it to his hand.

Since there aren't any other effects that trigger during his Starting Phase, his Starting Phase ends. He goes on to use the Beverly and Sonny in his hand during his Serving Phase.

11. Game End and Victory

11-1: Game End

Once any two maid piles in the town have run out, this will be the final turn. This includes Maid Chiefs, General Maids, and the face-down pile of Private Maids, if you are playing with them. The game ends when the current player finishes that turn.

Once the game is over, each player calculates and announces their final Victory Point count. The player with the most Victory Points is the winner. In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most non-VP generating maids win. If it's still a tie, then it's a tie. The winner is crowned the "Ultimate Master"!

11-2: Victory Points (VP)

Each player counts up the number of Victory Points on all of the cards in their house, discard pile, and deck. Leave Couples, Event Cards, Buildings, Chambered cards, and other cards where they are for the moment.

See the next section for details on how to calculate your final VP.

11-2-1: Couple VP Calculation

When the game ends, you ignore any VP from Maid Cards that are part of a Couple. Instead, you gain Victory Points as per the face-down Meetup Spot card (if there are multiple face-down Meetup Spots, add their VP together) and VP from Chapel cards.

Example: The game has ended. Lecoq has 4 Couples. In addition, he has Chapels on two of the sets, but one Chapel has a Blizzard card on it, so that Chapel doesn't provide any points.

Of the four face-down Meetup Spot cards, three say they provide 2 VP per Couple, and one says it provides 3 VP per Couple. Adding those up, each Couple gives (2x3) + 3 = 9 VP.

The cards beneath the Blizzard don't score any points however. That means that he has 3 Couples, only one of which counts as being under a Chapel card. He gets 9x3 = 27 points, plus 10 from the Chapel, for a total of 37 VP. Lecoq then adds those points to the ones from his other Maid Cards.

11-2-2: VP From Chambered Cards

Check the Chambered cards in your Private Quarters, determine which Chambermaid Bonuses apply and how many points they provide, and add them to your VP total.

11-2-3: VP From Maid Cards in Your Hand

Check to see if any of the Maid Chief or General Maid cards in your hand provide VP by looking for the cards' End of Game bonuses.

12. Optional Rules

Here are some optional rules we suggest.

12-1: Two or 3 Player Games

When playing with 2 players, the conditions for the game ending remain the same, but remove 3 cards from each pile of Maid Chief and General Maid cards, and leave all four Meetup Spot 1 cards out of the game. This will speed the game up.

When playing with 3 players, remove 1 card from each pile of Maid Chief and General Maid cards, and remove 1 card each Meetup Spot 1 and Meetup Spot 2.

12-2: Playing with Other Tanto Cuore Sets

Tanto Cuore: Winter Romance is compatible with all of the other Tanto Cuore sets, and you can mix cards from them together.

You can use any of the Maid, Event, Building, and Private Maid cards you wish, but if you want to use the Beer Cards (from the Tanto Cuore: Oktoberfest set), be sure to include Gina and Nadja.

Below is a suggested combination of cards, but feel free to come up with your own.

12-2-1: Suggested Game Setup

The basic game setup is as explained in 3. Game Setup (p. 2), as per the included diagram. This sample setup will include cards from all five sets!

Pick Maid Chiefs and Love Cards out of the various sets either randomly or to your own tastes.

Pick a Maid Chief and a Chambermaid Chief and a set of Love Cards out of the various sets either randomly or to your own tastes. If you want to use Drama Cards, don't forget to use Dermot, and if you want to use Beer Cards, include Gina and Nadja.

Then set out the Heavy Storm and Envy cards from Oktoberfest, and the Bad Habit and Illness cards from the original Tanto Cuore set.

Put the Garden, Estate, and Lily Garden cards from Expanding the House next to the Trial cards. Next to the Lily Garden cards, put the "Let Me Drink!" and Beer Fest cards from Oktoberfest.

Go through the Beer Cards and take out the Oktoberfest card. Shuffle the remaining Beer Cards, put them face-down, and then put the Beer Fest card to the right of the Beer Card pile. Then put the Oktoberfest card to the right of that.

Take the Reminiscence 1 cards from Romantic Vacation, shuffle them, and put them face-down next to the "1 Love" cards. (Don't use the Reminiscence 2 cards.) Then flip over the first 3 cards from the Reminiscence pile, and set them face-up next to it into a row.

Take the Private Maids from the original Tanto Cuore set and from Expanding the House, shuffle them together, and put the shuffled cards face-down below the 10 types of Maid Cards. Then flip over the first two Private Maid cards and put them face-up in a row to the right of the pile.

Once you finish that, the game setup is complete!

12-2-2: Five or 6 Players

When playing with 5 or 6 players, use all of the Love cards from any two Tanto Cuore sets (112 total Love cards, a total of 72 "1 Love", 24 "2 Love", and 16 "3 Love" cards), and remove Meetup Spot 3 from the game.

The game ends when any 3 piles of Maid Cards in the town (this includes Maid Chiefs, General Maids, and the face-down pile of Private Maids) run out. If playing with Beer Cards, the game also ends if the Beer Cards pile runs out and any one pile of Maid Cards or the pile of Private Maids runs out.

12-3: Other Rules

During play, players can check how many cards are left in other players' decks, how many cards are left in the piles in town, and what cards other players have face-up in their Private Quarters. However, you can only check the top card and number of cards in another player's discard pile.

13. Card Details

13-1: Butler Chiefs/Maid Chiefs

Leopold Niebling (Qty.: 8) VP: 6 —End of Game— -1 VP for each Couple you have in your Private Quarters. Details: Leopold seems to prefer being by himself. With Leopold, you lose -1 VP for each Couple you have in your Private Quarters.

Beverly Snowfeldt (Qty.: 24) VP: 1 This card cannot be used in an Approach. Chambermaid ⇒ [Serving -2] —Chambermaid Bonus— Gain 2 VP if you have one or more Leopold cards. Details: Beverly, on the other hand, seems to like Leopold quite a bit! She won't let anyone put her into a relationship. When you use a Meetup Spot card to do an Approach, you can't pick this card. Also, if you're the one being approached, you can't use Beverly in response. Even if you don't chamber this card, it still provides 1 VP. However, if you do chamber her, she gives you an additional 2 VP if you have at least one Leopold card.

13-2: General Butlers/Maids

Dermot Gherin (Qty.: 8) VP: 1 Employment Bonus: Draw one Drama Card from the pile in town, resolve its effect, and place it in your Private Quarters. Details: Most Drama Cards give you 1 to 3 VP, so employing this card can give you up to 4 VP.

Michaela Fidelity (Qty.: 8) VP: 2 [Love + 2] —End of Game— +2 VP for every two "3 Love" cards. Details: At the end of the game, Michaela gives you 2 VP for every two "3 Love" cards you have. You don't get any bonus for having a single "3 Love" card. For example, if you have three "3 Love" cards, you'd get just 2 bonus VP from Michaela, beyond the 2 VP that she gives you by herself.

Menou Tatehira (Qty.: 8) VP: 2 [Draw + 2] This turn, treat all "2 Love" cards in your hand as "3 Love" cards. Details: This game has some cards with effects that trigger when you discard a "3 Love" card. Remember that when you play Menou you can treat "2 Love" cards as "3 Love" cards, including for the purpose of card effects.

Sonny Crosscalent (Qty.: 8) VP: ? [Draw +1] [Love +1] [Serving +1] [Employment +1] —End of Game— Sonny Cards: Sonny x 1: 2VP; Sonny x 2: 5VP; Sonny x 3: 3VP; Sonny x 4 or more: -3VP Details: Sonny is a very useful butler, but remember that if you get 4 or more Sonny cards, you take a -3 VP penalty.

Shishido Kurogane (Qty.: 10) [Love +1] [Serving +1] Reveal up to 3 cards, one at a time. If you reveal a Love Card, stop revealing, keep one of the cards you've revealed, and discard the rest. Details: When you play Shishido, remember to reveal cards one at a time and check each one. If you don't reveal any Love cards, you can draw up to 3 cards. You may reveal only 2 cards if you like, and as long as one is not a Love card, you can keep both of them.

Dante Gagne (Qty.: 10) [Draw +1] [Serving + 2] [Employment +1] Details: Dante doesn't have a special ability; he just provides useful bonuses.

Kimberly Evan (Qty.: 10) [Love + 1] Draws 2 cards. If you don't like those cards, you may discard both of them and draw 2 more. Details: If you don't want the two cards you draw, you can discard them and draw two more. Note that you can't discard other cards from your hand this way.

Benoit Ibsen (Qty.: 10) [Serving +2] —Employment Bonus— You may immediately return your discard pile to your deck and shuffle them together (including this card). Details: Use Benoit's Employment Bonus when you're sure that the cards you actually want aren't currently in your deck to reshuffle early. Remember, this ability can only be used when you Employ Benoit, and it is your choice – you are not required to use his bonus.

Shirley Pollock (Qty.: 10) [Love +2] Another player of your choice must discard the top card from their deck. If that card is a "1 Love" card, you gain 1 Love. Details: Note that other types of cards besides "1 Love" ("2 Love," "3 Love," maid cards, etc.) don't trigger Shirley's effect.

Herbie Fortz (Qty.: 10) [Draw + 2] When this card is the Target of an Approach, it is regarded as having a cost of 5. It also increases the amount of Love that the approaching player has to pay by +2. Details: When you're the target of an Approach from another player, you treat your Herbie cards as having a Cost of 5. If that 5 is the highest Cost of the cards in your hand, you would put your Herbie card face-down in response to your opponent's Approach.

If for example the opponent's card has a Cost of 4, Herbie's 5 would be one higher. With the additional +2 adjustment, the opponent would need 3 Love to make the Approach succeed.

Elizabeth Coran (Qty.: 10) [Draw + 1] [Serving + 1] Gain 1 Love if you have 2 or more Couples. Details: Elizabeth is quite helpful when you're aiming to win by making couples.

Jimmy Harriston (Qty.: 10) VP: ? [Love + 2] Chambermaid ⇒ [Serving - 1] —Chambermaid Bonus— +1 VP per Maid Chief you've chambered. Details: The more Maid Chiefs you've chambered, the more potent Jimmy's VP bonus becomes.

Nicholas Garibaldi (Qty.: 10) [Draw + 1] [Employment + 1] During your Employ Phase this turn, treat any Maid Cards with a cost of 2 or less as "1 Love" cards. Details: Note that this applies to both Maid Chief and regular Maid Cards.

Anemone Seiya (Qty.: 10) Reveal your hand, discard any "3 Love" cards, and count how many "1 Love" cards you have in your hand. 0 or 1: +3 Love 2 or more: +1 Love Details: Remember that if you've played Menou already this turn, "2 Love" cards will count as "3 Love" cards. That means you'll have to discard any "2 Love" cards too!

Shanti Bell (Qty.: 10) Designate a cost, and secretly check the top 2 cards from your deck. If one of the cards was a General Maid with the cost you chose, take that card and play it immediately, without paying a Serving. Details: You can also use this to play a General Butler.

Keena Solistia (Qty.: 10) [Employment +1] You may discard 2 cards with the same name from your hand. If you do, gain +2 Love. Details: You can also discard two Friends cards to get this effect.

Friends (Qty.: 9) This card counts as a zero cost Maid. —End of Game— Gain +1 VP for every 3 "Friends" cards. Details: You don't gain Friends cards by employing them like you normally would. Instead, you add one to your deck from successfully completing an Approach. Since it has no Cost, you can't employ it during your Employ Phase.

During the game, this card counts as having a cost of zero for the purpose of other card effects. This means that you can potentially play a Friends card in an Approach, though it's not likely to be the highest cost Maid in your hand.

13-3: Event Cards

Blizzard (Qty.: 8) Play this card on top of a Building card. Any VP and abilities from cards underneath this card are lost. —Employ Phase— You may discard any four Love cards to return this card to the town. Details: This card has basically the same effect as the Heavy Storm card from Tanto Cuore: Oktoberfest, but the way you remove it is a little different. You can send this card back to town at any point during your Employ Phase.

Trial (Qty.: 8) (Double-Sided Card)

Front (Trial) Place this card on top of a Couple.

The player who owns the house in question must immediately reveal a 3-Love card from their hand. If they are able to do so, flip this card over and place it in their Private Quarters. If they are unable to do so, a Breakup happens.

Back (Trial Overcome) VP: 1 —End of Game— If you have 3 or more of this card, this card is worth +2 VP. Details: Play this card onto a Couple. The player who you target has to reveal a 3 Love card if they can. If they can do so, they turn this card over, and it provides them with VP.

If they can't, a Breakup happens. When a Breakup happens, the player who played the Trial card picks one of the cards from the Couple and puts it in their own discard pile. The player who suffered the Trial card then puts the remaining card from the Couple set in their own discard pile. See 8-2-1 (p. 16) for more details.

13-4: Drama Cards

Compromise (Qty.: 2) VP: 1 —When Revealed— Any other players with one or more Couples in their Private Quarters must discard one card of their choice from their hands. Details: When this card is revealed, all players except the one currently taking their turn must discard one card of their choice from their hands if they have any Couples. After that, the current player puts this card in their Private Quarters.

Hated (Qty.: 2) VP: -2 —When Revealed— Pick a player who has two or more Chambermaids in their Private Quarters and play this card in their Private Quarters. If there are no such players, this card goes in your own Private Quarters. Details: When this card is revealed, if there are multiple players with 2 or more Chambermaids in their Private Quarters, you get to pick which one gets this card. If there aren't any such players, you get stuck with it instead.

Loneliness (Qty.: 2) VP: 0 —When Revealed— All other players with no couples must discard one card. Details: This card has a penalty for other players that have no couples, but it does not affect the person playing it at all.

Growing Closer (Qty.: 2) VP: 3 —When Revealed— All other players with at least one couple draw a card. Details: When this card is revealed, all other players who have Couples get to draw a card. The active player doesn't get to draw a card, but they do get 3 VP out of the deal.

Chance Meeting (Qty.: 1) VP: 1 —When Revealed— Nothing happens.

Chance Meeting (Qty.: 1) VP: 0 —When Revealed— During your Discard Phase this turn, draw 4 cards instead of 5. Details: This card means that the current player (and no one else) has to draw one fewer cards at the end of their turn.

13-5: Building Cards

Meetup Spot 1 (Qty.: 4) (Double-Sided Card)

Front —Start of Turn— You may make an Approach.

If it succeeds, flip this card over.

Back —End of Game— Gain 2 VP for each Couple in your Private Quarters. Details: The effect of this card's face-down side is cumulative. For example, if you have three of this card in your Private Quarters, you'd get 6 VP per Couple.

Meetup Spot 2 (Qty.: 5) (Double-Sided Card)

Front —Start of Turn— You may make an Approach.

If it succeeds, flip this card over.

Back —End of Game— Gain 3 VP for each Couple in your Private Quarters. Details: The effect of this card's face-down side is cumulative. For example, if you have three of this card in your Private Quarters, you'd get 9 VP per Couple.

Meetup Spot 3 (Qty.: 1) (Double-Sided Card) VP: 3 Players without any Couples in their Private Quarters may not employ this card.

The game ends immediately. Details: When you employ this card, the game ends immediately. Take careful stock of the situation and how many VP you're going to get before you employ it.

Chapel (Qty.: 8) VP: -5 —Employment Bonus— You may move one Couple in your Private Quarters under this card. Cards underneath this card cannot be the target of other cards' effects or abilities. —End of Game— This card is worth 10 VP if there is a Couple under this card. Details: When you employ this card, if you move a Couple underneath it, it becomes worth 10 VP. If you employ this card without being able to move a Couple underneath it, it's worth -5 VP instead.

Also, the cards you place under this card can't be the target of other cards' effects or abilities, but this card itself is still a valid target.

13-6: Love Cards

Social Bonus (Qty.: 9) VP: 1 Treat this card as a "1 Love" card. Details: You can't employ this card. Instead, you add one to your deck from being the target of a successful Approach. See 8-1-2 (p. 15) for more details.

1 Love (Qty.: 36)

2 Love (Qty.: 12)

3 Love (Qty.: 8)