Tea, Scones, and Arsenic
Tea, Scones, and Arsenic Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the game
Eat the most Scones(1) without dying in excruciating pain.
Game content
The box contains 6 kinds of Scones (each present in 6 copies), 6 Cup trays, 6 Little Spoons, 18 Sugar Cubes and these rules.
Preliminary informations
Some Scones are normal, but others contain varying amounts of poison. The amount of poison is indicated at the back of the Scone. For each type of Scone, there are 2 harmless and 4 poisoned (doses: 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3).
The lethal dose at which a character succumbs to poison and is eliminated from the game differs depending on the number of players:
- For 2 players, the lethal dose is 15
- For 3 players, the lethal dose is 10
- For 4 players, the lethal dose is 8
- For 5 players, the lethal dose is 7
- For 6 players, the lethal dose is 6
For example, in a 4 players game, when a player reaches 8, he's dead.
Setting up
Each player chooses a Cup board with their aristocrat (the choice of characters has no effect on the course of the game), and take 3 Sugar Cubes.
The Scones are placed randomly, Poison side down, in the cookie box. You play with all the Scones, regardless of the number of players.
Process
The game is played clockwise.
The player who has had the courage to read the rules to explain them to others begins (this will be a valuable lesson).
The 1st player takes a Scone in hand and turns it over discreetly to know his dose of poison (the other players should not see anything), he can before shuffle the Scones if he want to:
- Either he eats it (he decides to keep it and places it in his Cup in front of him, Poison side hidden). In the course of the game, Scones pill up on his Cup. A player can look at his Scones at any time.
- Either he puts it back in its place in the box and consumes Sugar Cube to delay (he can shuffle the Scones afterward if he want to).
In either case, their turn ends and it is the next player's turn.
When a player runs out of Sugar Cube, he is forced to eat the Scone.
Each player, at the start of their turn (before playing), during their turn, can decide that they have had enough, and stop playing (they take a turn each time it is their turn to play). In doing so, he forces the other players to continue for 2 more rounds (Honor rounds) without the possibility for them to stop.
Once the 2 Honor Rounds have been completed, one of the surviving players (if any) may in round choose to stop. The remaining players therefore set off for 2 additional Honor Rounds. And so on...
With 6 players, there is only one Honor Round.
If a player reaches his natural resistance to poison (i.e. the number of arsenic doses he accumulated equals or exceeds the lethal dose), he dies (he is eliminated and his Scones are not counted). The deceased may choose to simply turn their board over to the Deceased side and laconically announce "I'm dead". Or ... he may suddenly put his hands to his throat, uttering terrible rumblings interspersed with barely audible words such as "Cursed!", "Why so much hatred ..." or "Who will feed the dog?" Before slipping slowly from his chair and ending up lying on the floor in a grotesque position. To each his own style...
Game over
The winner is the player who ate the most Scones without dying, whether or not they decided to quit. In case of a draw, the player who accumulated the greater amount of arsenic wins. In case of a new draw, all survivors, in turn, takes a Scone until only one player remains.
(1) The creator of the game being a neophyte concerning english pastry, he had taken the liberty to use the term Scones as a synonym for Biscuits. It sounds "So British" to his french ears! Our sincere apologies to scone aficionados.
Single player mode
Whatever happens, the inheritance is yours because you are alone.
Poisoning seems unnecessary but what do you expect, old aristocratic traditions die hard.
If you die, Uncle's jackpot will end up in charity. In single player mode, the lethal dose is 30.
The aim of the game is to consume as many Scones as possible before passing away.
Indeed, it is very simple ...
The Little Spoon (optional rule)
At the start of the game, each player takes a Little Spoon.
Each Little Spoon can be used once per game and allows a player to force an opponent of their choice to put back the Scone they just drew, and intended to keep, in the box.
A simple tap on the fingers is enough (like an old, bitter, uncompromising aunt about all things good manners). The scolded player passes his turn (without earning any Scone) and the Little Spoon is discarded.
Anyway, you have to wait for a player to put the Scone on his Cup in order to use your Little Spoon.
If you play like Vikings, Little Spoon being fragile things, I advice you to use real spoons (or even dippers if you'd like to, but be careful, it could be dangerous...).