The Shadow Theater: The Legend of the Monkey King
The Shadow Theater: The Legend of the Monkey King Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- The game box / playing area
- 1 Game board
- The Monkey King
- 10 Scroll tiles
- 3 Lantern tokens
- 2 Player Aid cards
- 4 types of resources: 25 Monkeys, 9 Jadestones, 9 Peaches, 17 Dragon Weapon cards
Setup
- Place the board in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the Dragon Weapon cards, then deal 9 of them facedown onto the designated area in the Supply. The remaining cards are set aside.
- Place the Monkeys on the designated space in the Supply.
- Place the Jadestones on the designated space in the Supply.
- Place the Peaches on the designated space in the Supply.
- Open the flaps of the game box and slide them into the slots on the board to create the playing area.
- Place the Monkey King on any space of the Celestial Garden.
- Shuffle the 10 Scroll tiles into a facedown pile, and place them, along with the 3 Lantern tokens, next to the board.
- Each player draws 2 Scroll tiles, choosing to keep 1 face up and discarding the other. For your first game, skip this step.
- Randomly determine the first player. They take 3 Monkeys from the Supply.
- The other player takes 4 Monkeys from the Supply.
The board has three locations: The Dragon's Lair, The Emperor's Palace, and The Celestial Garden.
Game Overview
The players take turn performing actions, either by placing 1 Monkey on 1 location on the board OR by collecting all the Monkeys from 1 location. Monkeys and Jadestones earn you points under certain conditions. You can also play Dragon Weapon cards that will catch your opponent off guard. A round ends when at least 1 type of resource (Dragon Weapon cards, Monkeys, Jadestones, or Peaches) has been exhausted from the Supply. The game is won by the first player to win two rounds.
How to Play
At the start of your turn, you may perform the optional action below. Then, you must perform 1 mandatory action.
Optional Action: Play 1 or more Dragon Weapon cards
Choose 1 Dragon Weapon card from your hand that matches the Monkey King's location (a card matches if it has the same color and pattern as the location). Immediately apply the effect shown on that card, then discard it faceup next to the Supply.
You may repeat this process as many times as you wish, as long as you have cards matching the Monkey King's current location. Playing a card that moves the Monkey King might allow you to play cards matching the new location, but will prevent you from playing cards matching the previous location; at the time you play a card, the card must match the Monkey King's current location. You are never required to play any cards from your hand.
Some cards do not match any location. These are not played, but are kept until the end of the round.
Example: The Monkey King is in the Emperor's Palace. At the beginning of her turn, Kortnee plays a card to take 1 Jadestone and 1 Monkey from the Supply.
Mandatory Action
On each turn, you must perform 1 of the following 2 actions:
Place 1 Monkey on a location
Place 1 of your Monkeys on an empty space in the location of your choice and resolve the corresponding benefit:
- The Dragon's Lair: Take 1 Dragon Weapon card from the Supply and add it to your hand.
- The Emperor's Palace: Take 1 Jadestone and 2 Monkeys from the Supply.
- The Celestial Garden: Take 1 Peach from the Supply and move the Monkey King onto a space in a different location. Do not resolve the benefit corresponding to the location where the Monkey King is moved. If all spaces in the other locations are already occupied, the Monkey King is not moved; otherwise, the Monkey King must be moved.
Example: It is Nathan's turn. He places 1 of his Monkeys on an empty space at the Emperor's Palace. He immediately resolves the Palace's benefit: he takes 1 Jadestone and 2 Monkeys from the Supply.
Collect all the Monkeys from a location
Collect all the Monkeys from any 1 of the 3 locations on the board. You can only perform this action if the chosen location has at least 1 Monkey. The Monkey King is not collected, but remains on its space.
Special case: If you have no Monkeys left and none are on the board, take 1 from the Supply. This counts as your mandatory action for this turn.
Example: On her turn, Kortnee collects the 3 Monkeys from the Dragon's Lair.
Once you have finished resolving your mandatory action, it's your opponent's turn to play.
End of Round
If any resource (Dragon Weapon cards, Monkeys, Jadestones, or Peaches) in the Supply is exhausted, finish your turn normally. The round then ends.
Special case: If you are unable to fully perform an action because there aren't enough resources in the Supply, perform as much of the action as possible.
For instance, if there's only 1 Monkey left in the Supply, you can place 1 Monkey on a space in the Emperor's Palace and resolve its benefit as much as possible: you take 1 Jadestone and the last Monkey from the Supply, and the round ends.
Tally your score for the round as follows:
- Peaches are worth 0 points. Instead, each Peach feeds 3 Monkeys (1 Peach feeds 3 Monkeys).
- Each fed Monkey is worth 1 point. Unfed Monkeys are worth 0 points each (1 fed Monkey = 1 point).
- Reveal all Dragon Weapon cards in your hand. Each card is worth 1 point, unless specified otherwise on the card (each card in hand = 1 point, and each card with a 2-point mark = 2 points).
- Each set of 3 Jadestones is worth 2 points. Incomplete sets are worth 0 points.
- The player with the most Jadestones gains 2 additional points. If both players have the same number of Jadestones, neither player gains these points.
The player who scored the most points wins the round and takes 1 Lantern token.
In case of a tie, the player with the most Monkeys wins the round. If there is still a tie, the victory goes to the player with the most combined Dragon Weapon cards, Jadestones, and Peaches. If still tied, the round ends in a draw, and is played again with neither player taking the Lantern token. A draw is not taken into consideration when counting the number of rounds played, including games using variants.
Example: At the end of the round, Kortnee has 3 Monkeys and 2 Peaches. Since all her Monkeys are fed, she scores 3 points for them. The extra Peach does not earn her any points. She also has 2 cards she did not play: the first is worth 1 point, but the second is worth 2 points, as specified in the text. Next, she scores 2 points for the set of 3 Jadestones she has collected. She ends the round with a total of 8 points (3 for fed Monkeys + 3 for cards + 2 for Jadestones).
Nathan has 2 Peaches and 7 Monkeys. As only 6 of his Monkeys are fed, he scores 6 points. He has 4 Jadestones, which earns him 2 points (for a complete set of 3). He also earns an extra 2 points for having more Jadestones than Kortnee. Since he has no cards, his score is 10 points (6 for fed Monkeys + 2 for Jadestones + 2 for the most Jadestones). Nathan wins this round and takes a Lantern token.
New Round
To start the next round, do the following steps:
- Both players discard their Scroll tiles and return all resources to the Supply. Dragon Weapon cards set aside during the previous round are returned to the deck.
- Shuffle all the Dragon Weapon cards and create a new deck of 9 cards, setting the rest aside.
- Each player draws 2 Scroll tiles, looks at them, and chooses 1 to keep face up in front of them, discarding the other.
- The player who lost the previous round will be the first player; they take 3 Monkeys, while their opponent takes 4.
Scroll Tiles
After playing your first game, we recommend that each player also begins the first round of each future game with 1 Scroll tile, as described in Step 3 above.
Most Scroll tiles have effects that can be used in conjunction with an action taken. Using the effects of a Scroll tile is completely optional; you are free to use their benefit whenever applicable, even multiple times during a round if desired. These effects are in addition to the regular location benefit.
Other Scroll tiles have effects that only apply at the end of the round.
Scroll tiles are discarded at the end of each round. If there are fewer than 4 Scroll tiles remaining at the beginning of a round, shuffle all the Scroll tiles facedown to make a new draw pile.
Example: As her action, Kortnee chooses to collect the Monkeys from the Dragon's Lair. Because the effect of her Scroll tile is applicable, she chooses to exchange 1 of her 2 Jadestones for 1 Peach from the Supply.
Game End
When either player has won 2 rounds (and has claimed 2 Lantern tokens), the game ends, and they claim victory.
Variant Rules
After a few games, you can try out the Monkey King's variant modes!
Spirit Monkey mode
Start the game with 1 Scroll tile as normal; however, do not discard your tile between the rounds. At the start of the second round, each player draws a second Scroll tile per the usual rules. The effects of both tiles are active and can be used in any order. Do not draw a Scroll tile if you already have 2 of them. At the end of each round, write down your scores for the round. You do not need to collect Lantern tokens for this mode, but note who won each round for scoring bonuses. The game ends after the 3rd round. After the 3rd round, add up the scores from all 3 rounds and award the following bonuses: The winner of the first round gains 1 point, the winner of the second round gains 2 points, and the winner of the third round gains 3 points. The player with the most points wins the game. If there is a tie, whichever player won more rounds is the winner.
Metal Monkey mode
This mode is also played over 3 rounds. At the beginning of the game, each player draws 5 Scroll tiles, choosing 3 to keep and returning the others to the box. Place the kept tiles facedown in front of you in the order of your choice. At the start of the 1st round, reveal the first tile. At the start of the 2nd round, reveal the second tile. At the start of the 3rd round, discard the first tile and reveal the third. Scoring is done in the same way as described in Spirit Monkey mode.
Glossary
- Alone: The Monkey King is alone if there are no other Monkeys at the Monkey King's location.
- Collect: Collect all the Monkeys from any location; the Monkey King is not collected, but remains on its space.
- Move: Move the Monkey King onto an empty space in a different location.
- Place: Place 1 of your Monkeys on an empty space in a location.
- Return: Return the indicated resource to the Supply.
- Steal: Steal the indicated resource from your opponent (if your opponent doesn't have it, you can't play the card).
- Take: Take the indicated resources from the Supply.