Twist of Fate
Twist of Fate Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 24 Character Cards (6 per player)
- 4 Shilling Cards
- 4 Luck Cards
- 9 Sanctuary Cards
- 4 Score Tokens
If components are missing or damaged, please email us at: www.help.maydaygames.com/contact
Objective
You are attempting to find sanctuary for Oliver Twist. Through deftness of play, the gaining of Luck and Shillings, the player that manages Oliver Twist's fate most efficiently and finds him Sanctuary by acquiring 8 Sanctuary Points wins the game.
Set-Up
- Each player begins the game with a set of eight cards in their player color (same color back): A. Each player lays out in front of them the Luck Card and the Shilling Card, begin the game with the "0" amount of the card facing the player. B. The remaining six Character Cards remain in each player's hand.
- Place the Sanctuary Cards in a row from "0 to 8" in the center of the play area. Place all the player tokens on the 0 card, showing "Oliver Twist, the Orphan".
Gameplay
The game is played over a series of rounds beginning with the youngest player and proceeding clockwise around the table.
On your turn, you have two choices:
- Play a Character Card face-up from your hand in front of another player
OR
- Play a Character Card face-down from your hand in front of another player (shows Oliver)
Playing Face-up
When playing card face-up, the direction you play the card is important because each card has two different sets of "Gives" and "Takes" values on them.
This direction facing the opponent determines which "Gives" and "Takes" affect your opponent and which affect you (the opposite side).
Playing Face-down
If you play a card face-down, it acts as a wild -1/+1 card. Both players must decrease (by one) either their Luck or Shilling Card and increase (by one) the other. The choice of which cards are increased or decreased (for both players) is made by the player who played the face-down card.
Twisting Fate
Having played a card in front of another player, each player then adjusts the value on their Luck and Shilling Cards according to the "Gives" and "Takes" affecting them. The new value is shown by "twisting" the Luck and Shilling Cards to indicate the new values.
Scoring Sanctuary
Once both players have adjusted their Luck and Shilling Cards, check to see if either player has 4 Shillings or 4 Luck. If so, that player immediately scores one Sanctuary Point and moves their score token to the next Sanctuary Card.
The Luck or Shilling Card which just scored is then reset to a value of '0'. It's possible for both players to score a Sanctuary Point simultaneously, however active player's token moves first.
Note: A player's Luck and Shilling Cards can never drop below '0' or go above '4' in value. Excess "Gives" and "Takes" are not counted.
Gameplay Example
Eliza plays "Mr. Brownlow" in front of Zach.
Zach gets +2 Shilling and -2 Luck: Zach has 1 Luck and 0 Shillings, so his Luck drops to 0 (it cannot drop below) and his Shillings increase to 2.
Eliza gets +1 Shilling and +1 Luck: Eliza has 3 Luck and 0 Shillings, so her card lets her gain 1 more Luck and Shilling for a total of 4 Luck and 1 Shilling.
As soon as Eliza acquires 4 Luck, she gains 1 Sanctuary Point and resets her Luck to 0.
Round End
Once both players have adjusted their Luck and Shilling Cards and any scoring is counted, play then continues to clockwise. The round ends when all players have played all their cards. Each player then picks up the six cards that were played in front of them by their opponents, and these six cards become their new hand for the coming round. To begin a new round, the new starting player is the one to left of the previous starting player.
Card Limit
A player may have a maximum of six cards played in front of them during each round. After the sixth card is played in front of a given player, the cards in front of them are turned over in a stack and no further cards may be played on that player. If, and only if, a player is unable to play a card on another player, they must play the card in front of themselves, choosing which direction to face it. In this case the opposite side of the card has no effect.
Game End
When a player reaches the last Sanctuary Card (Sanctuary at Mr. Brownlow's) the game immediately ends and that player wins the game having successfully guided Oliver Twist to sanctuary.
Should the game end in a tie as a result of two players reaching the last Sanctuary Card simultaneously, the tied player with the highest total combined value of Shillings and Luck remaining is the winner. If the game is still a tie, then the active player is the winner.
Two-Player Variant
Give each player one Luck, one Shilling card, and a score token as normal. Additionally, a third set of Luck and Shilling cards along with a score token are set up to one side. This set belongs to the character "Monks", who would like to prevent Oliver from escaping to Sanctuary.
Next, give each player two sets of cards. They both choose a color and place these six cards into their hand. Each player then takes three random cards from their second set of cards and adds them to their hand for a total of nine cards in hand.
Finally, randomly determine a starting player. Each player takes turns playing one card, as in the 3-4 player game, but both players may choose to play either on their opponent or on "Monks". "Gives" and "Takes" are adjusted, including for "Monks". Sanctuary Points are then scored normally, including for "Monks". As in the 3-4 player game, no player, including "Monks", may be given more than six cards.
"Monks" Sanctuary Points: Should a player play a card on "Monks" that results in him gaining a Sanctuary Point, the active player also loses a Sanctuary Point.
End of Round: Each player picks up the six cards in front of them and adds the three unused cards from the previous round to their hand. The six cards in front of "Monks" are set off to the side to be used in future rounds. The starting player alternates between rounds.
Once the second round is finished, each player picks up the six cards in front of them and the new starting player takes three random cards from the six unused cards from the previous round, saving the other three for the following round.
The other player takes three random cards currently in front of "Monks" and saves the other three for the following round. Play continues in this way until a player's token reaches the final Sanctuary Card and wins the game. If the token belonging to "Monks" reaches the final Sanctuary Card first, both players lose the game.