The magnificent

rulebook
Ladies, Gentlemen and everyone outside the box:
The Magnificents are in town!
Buy your tickets, set your clocks –
This is not your average clown.
The tents are raised, the elements transpire –
The sawdust is literally on fire!
When the moon appears on the sunset’s ember,
you know but this:
This will be a show to remember!

components
1 Place the game board in the middle of the table.
10

2 Make supplies of the following:

- Coins – sort them by value 5
- Gems – sort them by color
- Camp tiles – sort them by type
2
Put the pieces in separate compartments of the portable plastic box. The plastic box is the
general supply and must be placed within every player’s reach.
1
3 Determine a random starting
player by rolling dice.
Depending on the number of
players, use the number of dice
shown below (see also table on
the game board). Leftover dice
are returned to the box. The TRAVEL MAIN TENT
starting player roll all dice and
place them on the MAIN TENT. AREA
- 2-player game: 3 orange, 3
green, 3 purple, 2 clear
- 3-player game: 4 orange, 4
green, 4 purple, 3 clear
- 4-player game: All dice

4 Set aside the 16 master cards

marked with Roman numbers, I-
IV (at the bottom-left side of the
cards), for now.

(example)

Shuffle all remaining master

cards and all trainer tiles and
make two facedown decks on the
designated spaces. POSTER 7 Set aside the starting
posters (green backside)
DISPLAY for now. Shuffle the
remaining posters and
make a facedown deck.
Place the deck on the
designated space on the
Draw master cards and trainer
MAIN game board.
tiles from the decks and fill up the
card spaces and tile spaces of the
DISPLAY PERFORMANCE
Draw 4 posters from the
deck and distribute one to
MAIN DISPLAY. Place all these each space in the
cards and tiles face up. TRACK POSTER DISPLAY –
face up.
- 2 or 3-player game: Fill up the
top three spaces (3 cards and 3 SCORING TRACK
tiles).
- 4-player game: Fill up all
spaces (4 cards and 4 tiles). (example) 6 Randomly place one tent face up
on each of the 15 spaces with a
poster symbol (5 on each track) in
NOTE THE NAMES OF THE DIFFERENT AREAS OF
THE GAME BOARD AND PLAYER BOARD (see
5 Place the three wagons on their designated
starting spaces (the highlighted space) in the
the TRAVEL AREA.

TRAVEL AREA – one on each of the three The leftover tent is returned to the
next page) AS THEY ARE REFERRED TO LATER tracks. The front of the wagons should be
(example) box.
IN THE RULEBOOK pointed towards the left (in clockwise direction).
 Player setup
1 Each player chooses a player color and takes the following in this color: In this 3-payer game,
black is starting player,
- 1 scoring marker, which is placed on space “0/100” of the SCORING TRACK. followed by red and then
You move your scoring marker every time you earn ticket points (from now on yellow.
called points).
- 2 hat figures. The starting player places one of their hat figures on the “#1”
space of the PERFORMANCE TRACK. The player sitting to the left of the
starting player places his/her hat figure on the space above it, and so on. Each
player places the other hat figure in front of them.
Player
2 Deal one random player board to each player. board
number This player receives Player Board “II” and
Important: The players must make sure they have the A-side facing up! makes sure she has the A-side facing up.
Each player board has a Roman number as a reference. For your first game, each Player board
player takes the four master cards with the corresponding number (from the side She also takes all Master Cards marked
cards that were set aside during General Setup). In a game with less than 4 players, “II”.
all remaining “starting master cards” are shuffled into the deck.
Starting poster Starting supply
3 Shuffle the starting posters (green backside) face down and deal a random
poster to each player – face up. Leftover starting posters are returned to the box.

4 Each player organizes their PLAY AREA as follows: POSTER AREA

• Your starting poster is placed face up just above your starting tent at the
top-left corner of your player board.
• Your master cards are placed face up somewhere beside your player board. Starting
• Take your starting supply:
tent TENT AREA
(printed)
1. Gems: 1 of each orange, green, purple and clear, which are placed on
matching spaces in your STORAGE.
2. 6 coins and 1 trainer marker, which are placed beside your player
board (together with your hat figure).
storage
3. Important: The starting player must give 1 coin to the last player CAMP
in turn order. 1 5

5 Choose a trainer tile: Depending on the number of players, draw a number of

trainer tiles from the deck (in addition to those already drawn during General Setup) and TRAINER AREA
place them face up on the table:
• 2 or 3-player game: 3 tiles
• 4-player game: 4 tiles
Starting with the player to the right of the starting player and going
counterclockwise, choose one of these tiles and place it face up on the leftmost
space in your TRAINER AREA. Master cards
(marked “II”)
In a 2-player game, the tile that was not chosen is shuffled back into the deck.

ADVANCED SETUP: After your first game, you might want to play with alternative setups of the master cards and/or player boards:
- Alternative setup of player boards: Each player individually chooses whether to use the A-side or B-side of their player board (both the starting supply and the placement of the
camp bonuses are different). Note: Player Board II has a tent as part of the starting supply on its B-side. Whoever gets this board takes the leftover tent from General Setup, places it on any empty space in
their TENT AREA and immediately gains the bonuses shown on the space (poster + coins/gems/trainer/points) – see details on page 5.
- Alternative setup of master cards: Don’t set aside any master cards during General Setup. After each player has received a random starting poster, deal 5 random master cards to
each player’s hand from the deck. Simultaneously, each player chooses one of the cards and places it face up in their PLAY AREA. The remaining cards are sent to their left-hand
neighbor. Repeat these steps three more times until each player has chosen 4 master cards. Leftover cards are shuffled back into the deck.
 Gameplay
The game is played over 3 rounds. In each round, the players take 4 turns each. The players try to gain the most tickets (points) for their shows, which are mainly gained by setting up
shows and by scoring their master cards. The players must expand their CAMPS (to recruit performers), travel (gaining special effects, raising tents and marketing their shows with posters)
and set up shows (gaining points and coins). At the end of each round, all players gain a new master card, and then choose one of their cards to be scored. The master cards represent the
decisions the Ringmaster (the player) makes, which consequently will earn points. In the game, players draft dice in order to get enough power to execute the actions they want. But beware:
The higher total dice value of the same color you take, the stronger actions you get, but the more coins you must pay at round end!
Card bonus
The starting player takes the first turn, followed by the other players in clockwise order. On your turn,
you execute the following 3 steps:
1.TAKE ONE DIE
Choose one die from the MAIN TENT and place it on any vacant master card in your PLAY AREA. In
each round, you will eventually have 1 die on each of your 4 cards.
On top of the card you chose, there is a bonus that may be used once and any time during your turn
(with some exceptions). For details regarding bonuses, see page 8. Anna takes an orange die with value 3. She adds the value of her other orange die for
a total of 8 in power. The bonus on the chosen card lets her increase her power by 2 if
2.DETERMINE YOUR POWER used with an orange die. Her power is therefore increased to 10.
Determine your current power, which is the value of the die you took this turn + all dice of the same
color that you have taken previously this round (those already lying on your master cards). You use your
power when executing actions (see below).
Now, you may discard gems of the same color as the die in order to boost your power. For each gem
you discard, you increase your power by 2. Clear gems are “wild” (may be used as any color).
Clear dice: If you took a clear die, you treat it as if it was of any color (orange, green or purple). To
+4
determine your power, add the value of all dice of one chosen color. Important: A clear die only adds to
your power on the turn it is taken. Clear dice lying on your master cards from previous turns are never added to your power.
On her next turn, Anna chooses a clear die, and she decides to use it as if it was orange.
3.CHOOSE ONE (and only one) OF THE FOLLOWING 3 ACTIONS She adds the values of her two orange dice, making her total power 11. She then discards
2 orange gems to increase her power by another 4, making her final power 15.
BUILD TRAVEL PERFORM

Trainers are very important in this game. During you turn, you may use trainer spaces (trainer tiles or
common trainer spaces on the game board) for special abilities. Trainer abilities are described on page 6.
See below for detailed rules concerning all three actions.

On Carla’s very first turn

If you execute a “Build” action, you expand your CAMP with camp tiles. The following rules apply: +4 in the game, she chooses a
“Build” action. With the
• Choose one of the alternative “Build levels” shown at the left side of your player board – with green die and the discarded
a printed power requirement that is equal to or less than your current power (you don’t have to gems, she has a power of
use your full power). Small box = small camp tile (covering 4 spaces in your CAMP); Large 10 (6+4). She may
box = large camp tile (covering 6 spaces). therefore take green camp
tiles with a total value of
• Take the corresponding camp tiles from the General Supply. You can only build camp tiles of no more than 10. She
the same color as the die you took this turn. decides to build one large
• The first camp tile you build may be placed anywhere in your CAMP. All subsequent tiles must and one small camp tile
be placed so that they share at least one border (one space) with another camp tile. (requiring 9 power).

• Camp tiles may be rotated and/or flipped to the opposite side before they are placed in your She also gets a trainer
CAMP. Once placed, you cannot move, flip or rotate the tile. marker and 2 coins as
bonuses.
• If you cover bonus spaces, immediately gain the shown bonuses (see page 8).
• If you build more than one camp tile on the same turn, you may build them in the order of Chosen “Build Note: If the general supply of any camp
your choice. You take the bonuses from the first tile before you build the next tile(s). action” (one Bonus spaces tile is exhausted, you cannot acquire this
large and one camp tile any more.
small camp tile)
 Action B : Travel
If you execute the “Travel” action, advance the wagon that Bernd takes a “Travel” action with a green die and a
matches the color of the die along its track in a clockwise power of 8. He may move the green wagon up to 8
direction. Move the wagon a number of steps up to the value spaces. He decides to stop on the tent (after 7 spaces) to
of your power (you don’t have to use your full power). pick it up. He also gains 4 gems: two green, one purple
and one orange.
Gems and posters: You gain a gem or a poster for every
such symbol you pass through or land on (poster symbols will He places the tent on a space in his TENT AREA
only become available after tents have been picked up). and takes the bonuses (one poster and one trainer
marker). The gems are placed in the STORAGE.
Tent: To pick up a tent, you must end your movement on a Since he already has 2 green gems, he must discard one
tent (and you cannot move any further this turn). green gem for one coin.
1
Gaining Gems
When you gain a gem, place it on an empty matching space in your
STORAGE.
Maximum storage capacity is 3 of each type of gem. If you gain a gem that
you cannot store, you gain 1 coin instead. Note that you cannot voluntarily Gaining Posters
discard gems to gain coins.
Each time you gain a poster, draw the top poster from the deck
or take any face-up poster from the POSTER DISPLAY. In the
latter case, immediately replenish the POSTER DISPLAY with a
Gaining Tents new poster from the deck. The poster you took must be placed
When you gain a tent, place it on any vacant space in your TENT AREA on an empty space in your POSTER AREA (not necessarily
(you cannot cover the preprinted tent to the left). Immediately gain the attached to a tent below it).
shown bonuses on the space (see page 8). Note: If all five spaces in your POSTER AREA are occupied (and only
Note: After you have gained your 4th tent, you cannot take any more tents. You may then), you have three options: A) replace a poster and discard the replaced
still end your movement on a tent without taking it. poster, B) discard the poster you take or C) choose not to take a poster at all.

ACTION C : PERform
With the “Perform” action, you stage shows that match the requirements on your posters and tents to earn points and coins. Carla has 13 in power.
Important: The color of the die used for this action is not relevant – only the power matters. Execute the following steps: Space 12 is occupied, so
she chooses to place her
hat figure on space 10,
1 The first time you choose this action in a given round, take your hat figure on the game board and place it on a
vacant space on the PERFORMANCE TRACK matching your power – or on any vacant space below.
allowing her to complete
up to 2 posters.
If you choose this action a second time in the same round, take the hat figure from your PLAY AREA instead. In
case you choose “Perform” more than twice in a round, move one of your hat figures to the new space (even if the
new space is further down than its current space).

2 Complete up to as many posters as shown on the space where you just placed your hat figure. You may even choose not to complete any posters at all.
In order to complete one poster, the following requirements must be met:
• The poster must have a tent directly below it. Note that the left space in the TENT AREA already has a preprinted tent that you may always use with a poster above.
• Each poster shows one or more camp tiles. You need to have all these camp tiles built in your CAMP. If you complete multiple posters, the camp tile requirements are
added together. In order to complete several posters with the same camp tile, you need several copies of that camp tile in your CAMP.
• Discard the gems shown on the poster (about half of the posters in the deck have gem requirements). Remember that clear gems are “wild”.
• Some tents also have a gem requirement. To complete a poster above such a tent, you also need to discard the gem shown on the tent (or a clear gem).
Receive the points and coins shown on all completed posters and on the tents below completed posters. Flip completed posters over and put them in a facedown pile next
to your player board. Tents are not removed – they may be used again.

3 After completing posters, you may freely reorganize any number of your remaining posters in your POSTER AREA.
 Carla may only complete her leftmost and
rightmost poster (as there is no tent below her
middle poster).
She checks if she fulfills all camp tile Example of points
requirements: In her CAMP, she has the two and coins.
orange camp tiles, two purple camp tiles and
the two large green camp tiles shown on these
cards.
She pays the required gems for the posters
(orange, green, purple), plus the extra orange
gem for the rightmost tent.
She earns a total of 27 points and 6 coins
(including 2 coins for the preprinted tent). The
two completed posters are put face down in a
stack in her PLAY AREA.
Finally, she reorganizes her remaining poster,
moving it to a position with a tent.

Trainer abilities
Trainer Game
On your turn you may use any number of trainer markers (trainers) on trainer spaces (either on the common spaces on tile
the game board or on your trainer tiles on your player board). At the end of your turn, move all trainers used this turn to board
the area by the MAIN TENT. In the table below, you’ll find an overview of all trainer spaces. Most of them require that
you execute a specific action in order to take effect. Note: Some trainer spaces are more powerful than others – on purpose.
The symbol on top of each space tells you how many trainers that are required to trigger the effect:

Place one trainer to trigger the effect once.

Bernd chooses the “Build” action this turn and may therefore
Place one or more trainers to trigger the effect one or place trainers on the two shown trainer spaces. He can now
+ more times (once per trainer). build one extra large camp tile, and two of the buildings can
have different colors than the die he took. Eventually, all four
Place two trainers to trigger the effect once. trainer markers are moved to the MAIN TENT area.

GENERAL BUILD TRAVEL PERFORM

(regardless of the action you choose) (only with “Build” action) (only with “Travel” action) (only with “Perform” action”)

For each trainer,

When taking
GAME BOARD

For each one of the camp

a die, Move the Before you do the
trainer, pay tiles you build
immediately wagon “Perform” action,
2 coins to can have a
turn it to the counter- freely organize
take a poster different color
opposite side clockwise your posters
(see page 5) – than the color of
(e.g. 5 to 2) any time. the die

+2 on Build one
For each the die additional +3 on the die Gain 1 Disregard one
trainer, Gain 1 when large camp when you do point per camp tile
gain 2 clear gem – you do tile without “Travel” poster requirement on
coins any time “Build” any added action. completed one poster (not a
– any time action power this turn gem requirement)
requirement
TILES

For each trainer,

For each trainer, Double the effect of all bonuses complete one
Double the +2 on the
you get +1 on the that are covered by one of the extra poster this
bonus when die when
die you take this camp tiles you build this turn. turn (in addition to
placing a tent you do
turn (e.g. you get what is printed
(e.g. receive 2 “Perform”
+2 if you place 2 Note: This effect cannot be used for a on the
posters and 4 action
trainers) camp tile gained from a card bonus PERFORMANCE
coins)
TRACK space)

Note: When you gain a trainer, this may be used in the same turn. But this trainer cannot be used to improve or change the specific step that gave you the trainer. E.g. you
cannot use a trainer just gained from placing a camp tile to double the bonus of the same tile (but you may use the trainer to double the bonus of the next tile).
 Round end
When all players have taken 4 turns, the round ends. Now, go through the following steps:
1 PAYMENT: For each color (orange, green, purple), calculate the total value of the dice lying on your master cards. You must pay
coins equal to the highest of these values. In addition, you must pay the total value of all clear dice. Note: You don’t pay for any
die symbols printed on cards.
If you cannot pay the required number of coins, you must pay whatever you have. Then, for each missing coin, you lose points : -1
point in round 1, -2 points in round 2, -3 points in round 3 (move below “0” points on the SCORING TRACK if necessary).
Anna must pay 11 coins (8 for orange dice + 3 for the
2 NEW MASTER CARD & TRAINER TILE: First, each player that has 2 hat figures on the PERFORMANCE TRACK, clear die) at the end of round 2. Since she only has 9
returns the lowest one to their PLAY AREA. Then, following the order of the remaining hat figures, starting with the player on coins, she pays 9 coins and lose 4 points (2 x 2).
top, each player in turn chooses one set – one master card and the adjacent trainer tile – from the MAIN DISPLAY (there are
no trainer tiles in the last round). Place the card next to your four other master cards. The trainer tile is placed on a vacant space in First, the lowest blue and
your TRAINER AREA. yellow hat figures are
returned to their owners.
In a 2-player game only: If there is at least one vacant space between the two players’ hat figures, the player whose hat figure is on top Red will be the first
discards one set (master card + trainer tile) before the other player takes the last set. If not, the other player may choose between the two remaining sets and player to choose a set,
discards the last set. while black player will
take the last remaining
3 SCORE AND DISCARD A MASTER CARD: Each player must now choose one of their five master cards to score (the master set. Note that black did
card they just acquired may be the one they choose to score). Gain points by moving your scoring marker. After scoring, this card not “Perform” this round,
is put in a discard pile. See Card Scoring, page 8. but will still get a set and
will become the new
4 PREPARE FOR THE NEXT ROUND (ONLY AFTER ROUND 1 AND 2): starting player.
- All trainer markers by the MAIN TENT are returned to the respective owners.
- Replenish the MAIN DISPLAY with new master cards and trainer tiles from the decks (in the same way as in General Setup). Before
the last round, you don’t draw trainer tiles. Red player takes this set,
placing the trainer tile in
- Hat figures on the PERFORMANCE TRACK are moved to the bottom of the track, keeping their relative order. The starting his TRAINER AREA,
player in the next round is the player whose hat figure is moved to space “#1” (the one at the very bottom). In the next round, and the master card in his
players still take turns in clockwise order, regardless of the positions of the other players’ hat figures PLAY AREA.
- The new starting player collects all dice, rerolls them and places them on the MAIN TENT.

Game end
After the end of the third round, the game ends. Do the following in the order shown: Carla uses one
purple and one
SCORE MASTER CARDS (half the value): Score half the value of each of your four remaining master cards (each card orange gem to fill
rounded down). See Card Scoring, page 8. in the two empty
spaces in the
SCORE COINS: Gain 1 point for each remaining 5 coins. rectangular area.
SCORE AREAS: Gain 4 points for each of the 9 rectangular areas in your CAMP that are fully covered. Players may use their Then, she scores
remaining gems to fill any empty spaces in areas with one gem per space. Placing gems only helps for completing areas; bonus spaces 4 points for this
are not rewarded when placing gems, and the gems don’t help you to score completed rows or columns (scoring criteria on some of the master cards). area.

Solo game mode

Try to get as high score as possible. 200+ points is a victory (which is quite challenging). But maybe you want GAME PLAY CHANGES: At the beginning of each turn (even the first), you may discard
to challenge yourself even more? With 220+ points, you may call yourself Ringmaster; with 240+ points, any one card from the POSTER DISPLAY. Take one die from the reserve of the color
you are simply Magnificent! indicated by the bottom symbol (orange, green or purple) on this card, roll it and add it to the
MAIN TENT. Replenish the POSTER DISPLAY with a new card from the deck.
SETUP CHANGES: Roll 1 die of each color + 2 clear dice and place them on the MAIN
TENT. Remaining dice are placed in a reserve near the game board. Fill the MAIN DISPLAY ROUND END CHANGES: When choosing a set of master card + trainer tile from the
with 4 master cards and 4 trainer tiles. Draw another 6 master cards and choose 4 that you MAIN DISPLAY, your choices are limited by your position on the PERFORMANCE
place in front of you as your starting cards. Shuffle the two leftover cards back into the deck. TRACK. Before you choose a set, for each hat figure above your own hat figure, discard the
topmost set (e.g. with two hats above you, discard the two topmost sets).
Draw 2 random trainer tiles from the deck and place one in your TRAINER AREA. Shuffle Discard all remaining cards and tiles from the MAIN DISPLAY and refill the display as
the other back into the deck. Place hat figures of unused player colors on spaces 6, 10 and 16 normal. Start a new round by rolling 1 die of each color + 2 clear dice and place them on the
of the PERFORMANCE TRACK. These spaces will be occupied for the whole game. MAIN TENT. All remaining dice are placed into the reserve.
 Card scoring
At the bottom of each master card, there is a scoring criterion. At the end of each round, you score one of your five master cards. At the end of the game, your four remaining master cards
are scored at half value. Many cards have a maximum number of points you can score (printed at the bottom of the card). When you score half the points at game end, the maximum score
is also halved (rounded down). Not all unique scoring symbols are shown below, since the rest are similar to the ones displayed.

4 points for each 4 points for each

5 points for each 3 points for each small
small orange large camp tile – of
large orange camp camp tile – of any
camp tile you have any color – you have
tile you have built. color – you have built.
built. built

6 points for each 7 points for each row

1 point for each space column you have fully you have fully built in
in your largest 3 points for each built in your CAMP. your CAMP. Note: At
continuous rectangle orange camp tile you Note: At game end, score game end, score this before
or square of orange have built. this before you fill in spaces you fill in spaces with
camp tiles. with gems. gems.

3 points for each colored 3 points for each coin Score points equal to
3 points for each tent in the space number of
your TENT AREA (not gem you have in your you choose to pay
STORAGE (clear gems (after you have paid your hat figure on the
including your starting PERFORMANCE
tent). don’t count in this case). for your dice).
TRACK at round end.

“Choose one Magnificent 4 points for each different

character (there is one 4 points for each
Magnificent characters on completed poster
character on each poster). your completed posters –
Score 5 points for each of with orange symbol – 8 points.
incl. starting poster (there fire symbol (including
your completed posters is one character on each
with this character – incl. starting poster)
poster).
starting poster.

3 points for each Score the total value of your

own trainer marker most valuable dice color + Score twice the total
on the game board any clear dice at round end value of your clear Dice
and in your PLAY (the same value that you just at round end.
AREA. paid for with coins).

bonuses Thanks to all play testers,

especially Lin Heidi Isaksen,
Geir André Wahlqvist, Trond
Arvid Røise, Åsmund Svensson,
Ronny Eftevåg, Aleksander
Bonuses are gained when activating a master card, covering up a bonus symbol with a camp tile and when placing a tent in the TENT AREA. You can Lindahl Kronstad, Vegard
never use a bonus twice (for instance discard 2 trainer markers to build two small green camp tiles). Here is an overview of all types of bonuses. Not all Stillerud, Kristian Elvsveen,
unique symbols are listed, since the rest are similar to the ones displayed: Christian Magnus Fredheim,
Vetle Oldeman Christensen,
Take one poster (as described on page Kjetil Svendsen, Sturla Johansen,
Copy another master card: Use a bonus
1 Take 1 Coin. 5). In your CAMP, there is one bonus that
lets you take 2 posters. on any of your three other cards.
Helene Johansen, Ove Wahl,
Anna Wermlund, Morten
Pedersen, Lasse Krabye, Hege
+2 on the die you take this turn Return one trainer marker to the Borgland and Tommy Skodje.
5 Gain 5 points if the die is orange - or if the die reserve to build a small green camp
tile. If you cover any bonus symbols Game design: Eilif Svensson &
is clear and you use it as orange.
with this tile, you gain the bonuses. Kristian A. Østby.
Artwork: Martin Mottet
Add 1 purple gem to your Discard any 3 gems to build a
STORAGE (or 1 coin if +1 on the die you take this small orange camp tile. If you Aporta Games AS
you already have 3) turn, regardless of the color. cover bonus symbols, you gain
the bonuses. www.aportagames.com
Take 1 trainer of your
own color from the When you take a die at the Pay 2 coins to take one trainer of All rights reserved
reserve and add it to start of your turn, immediately your own color from the reserve
turn the die to any value. © 2019. Aporta Games.
your PLAY AREA. and add it to your PLAY AREA.