The Majority
The Majority Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 206 Word cards (double-sided, 412 words in total)
- 40 Vote cards (4 per player: A, B, C and Score)
- 4 Preparation cards (A, B, C and ?)
- 50 1-Point cards
- 30 5-Point cards
- 1 Variant card
- 5 blank cards for your own creations
Setup
Place the Preparation cards in the centre of the table, as shown in the diagram. Shuffle the Word cards and divide that pile into 3 piles of roughly equal size. Place each pile beside the A, B and C cards. Each player takes a set of 4 Vote cards (A, B, C and Score).
Example: The Reference card is Firefighter. The three Proposal cards are Door (A), Woman (B) and Stool (C). Each player must therefore choose one of these three associations:
- Firefighter / Door, by choosing the Vote card A
- Firefighter / Woman, by choosing the Vote card B
- Firefighter / Stool, by choosing the Vote card C
Resolving Votes
Each player reveals their Vote card, and the association that received the most votes is determined. The players who chose the majority association continue to play. The other players no longer play for this round.
Example: Continuing the previous example, six players take part: four voted A (Firefighter / Door) and two voted B (Firefighter / Woman). The two players who chose B no longer take part in this round. The four other players go on to the next turn.
Course of Play
The game is played over several rounds, and each round is divided into several turns.
First Turn of a Round
Take one card at random from one of the three piles and place it beside the ? card. There are now 3 Proposal cards (the 3 cards placed on slots A, B and C) and one Reference card, the card placed on the ? card.
The players simultaneously choose one of their Vote cards and place it face down in front of them, so as to make the association they find most logical between the Reference card and one of the three Proposal cards.
When a new round begins, all players take part again. An elimination only concerns the round in progress.
The Score Card
The Score card is also a Vote card, but it works differently and needs its own paragraph.
It allows a player to score points (as many as there are cards in the Reference pile), but the card must be part of the majority group. When that is the case, it also ends the round.
Example 1: There are 3 cards in the Reference pile during a turn with six players. When the votes are resolved, there are 3 votes for Score, 2 votes for B and 1 vote for C. The majority is therefore Score, and the three players who chose it each receive three points (three 1-point cards). The round ends and a new one begins.
Example 2: There are 3 cards in the Reference pile during a turn with six players. When the votes are resolved, there are 3 votes for B, 2 votes for Score and 1 vote for C. The majority is therefore B, and the three players who chose it continue the round with a new turn. The other three players are eliminated from the current round.
New Turn
The Proposal card chosen by the majority is placed on the Reference pile (the cards are shifted slightly so the number of cards in that pile can be seen), and it becomes the Reference card for this turn. The two other Proposal cards are returned to the box.
Example: The Door card is placed on the Reference pile, partially covering the Firefighter card, and becomes the Reference card. The Stool and Woman cards are discarded. There are therefore 3 new Proposal cards, with Door as the Reference card.
End of a Round
Continue playing as described above until one of the following situations occurs:
- At the start of a turn, only two players remain in play. In this case, both players score as many points as there are cards in the Reference pile, and a new round begins.
- When the votes are resolved, there is no majority. The current round ends and a new round begins. Note: there must be at least two players to form a majority.
Example 1: Continuing the example with four players still in the game, there are two A votes, one B vote and one C vote. The two players with the B and C votes withdraw from the round. The card corresponding to vote A is placed on the Reference pile and a new turn begins. But since only two players remain at the start of this turn, the round ends and the two remaining players score as many points as there are cards in the Reference pile.
Example 2: In a turn where only three players remain, Proposals A, B and C each received one vote. Since at least two votes are needed to establish a majority, this round ends with no majority, and nobody scores.
Special Case: Ties
When there is a tie for the majority proposal (which must receive at least two votes), all the tied proposals are winners.
Example 1: In a turn with six players, Proposals A, B and C each have two votes. All three are majorities, so the three cards corresponding to votes A, B and C go onto the Reference pile (in any order), and the six players play the next round.
Example 2: In a turn with six players, Proposals A, B and Score each have two votes, and there are 4 cards in the Reference pile. The players who chose Score each collect 4 points, and their round is over for them. Proposals A and B join the Reference pile, and the four players who made that choice play a new turn.
Example 3: In a turn with four players, Proposals C and Score each have two votes, and there are 4 cards in the Reference pile. The players who chose Score each collect 4 points, and their round is over for them. Proposal C joins the Reference pile. Since only two players remain at the start of the new turn, the round ends, and the last two players still in the round each score 5 points.
End of the Game
Points scored by the players are kept face down in front of them. Players may make change when necessary.
When, at the end of a round, at least one player has reached 20 points, the game ends and the player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the victory is shared.
Variant
To vary your games, you can add this variant. At the start of a round (and not a turn), toss the Variant card into the air. If it lands green side up, play with the normal rules. If it lands red side up, you no longer make the most logical association; instead, you make the least logical association.
That is all, but you will see: it changes everything!