SAINT MALO



OBJECT OF SAINT MALO: The objective of Saint Malo is to have the most victory points at the end of the game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 5 players

MATERIALS: 1 Gameboard, 5 City Boards, 5 Markers, 5 Dice, and Instructions

TYPE OF GAME: Strategic Board Game

AUDIENCE: 9+


OVERVIEW OF SAINT MALO

Players take on the role of astute city leaders attempting to populate their initially barren cities in order to gain as many points as they can. They accomplish this by rolling the dice, three times per turn. Then students pick a symbol and, using a dry erase marker, draw a matching symbol on the “city plan.”

Adding residents or priests to the game board earns victory points, merchants earn the money, and other beneficial people like architects and nobles must all be carefully studied and properly thought out.

Don’t turn your back on the pirates, who have repeatedly attacked the city. It’s preferable if you’ve constructed strong city walls and have more than one soldier on hand to assist protect them.

The winner is the player who has earned the highest amount of victory points when the game comes to an end.

SETUP

Put the gameboard in the center of the playing area, where all players can easily access it. During the game, pirates are marked here. It also demonstrates how the various types of people can be put to work after they have been rolled. Make sure each player has a city board and a marker, which they should set in front of them. Any supplies that aren’t in use should be returned to the package. Give the five dice to the player who is the youngest.

The game is ready to begin!

GAMEPLAY

The player who is the youngest takes the field first. He should shade the roofs of the three buildings above his lumber storage to indicate this. The game continues in a clockwise direction until at a player has filled all forty-five spots in their city.

You must roll the dice one time, but you can roll up to three times if needed. After rolling all the dice at once, you can choose as many dice as you want to remain unchanged by setting up to five of the dice aside, choosing to not roll them again. You can now secure some or all of the remaining dice by rolling them a second time. Finally, take a third roll of the dice. Score the dice when you are done rolling.

To score the dice choose a symbol to use. The pirates, or crossed swords, must also be scored. Before scoring, you can flip one or more of the dice to show the symbol you choose. It does cost two coins to rotate a dice.

You can count as many of your symbols as you would like, depending on what reward you would like to earn. You have to count the cross swords that you roll. The number of symbols that you roll cannot be split. You must earn the reward for that number, and you cannot earn numerous rewards for the same roll.

Anything scored must always be placed in an empty space, occupied spaces are unable to be used. Anything may be placed on the outside spaces, whereas the inside spaces can have anything but walls.

 Symbols and Their Benefits

Log: If logs are the chosen symbol, for each symbol rolled, one log may be added to your personal lumber storage. It does not matter how many logs are earned; it costs two coins for a delivery. Logs cane be used for construction of houses which earns points with the architect.

Goods Crate: If this symbol is chosen, for each symbol that matches, add one goods crate. All of the crates that are earned on a turn has to be connected vertically or horizontally. These are used so that you can earn money through the merchant.

Wall: When the wall symbol is chosen, for each matching symbol you may add a wall section to the outer spaces that are empty on your board. When a complete line of wall has been completed, you earn the bonus. This bonus is located in the tower.

Cross: When you choose cross, place one church. Write the number of dice that were used in the church outline. The church will earn higher number victory points the larger it is.

Head: Choosing the head symbol will allow you to add people to your city. One head adds a citizen, which earns one victory point. Two heads earn you a soldier or priest. Soldiers increase defense strength, and you earn one victory point from the priest for each church that he is adjacent to. Three heads will earn you either an architect or a merchant. Architects allow you to build houses, so you may use logs to do so. Merchants earn you one coin for every goods crate that is adjacent to them.

Four heads earn you a juggler, and for every person adjacent to them you earn two victory points. Five heads mean you can add a noble, which immediately earns you seven victory points.

The Pirate: When the crossed sword symbols are present, mark through one box on the board for each pirate rolled. Fill rows from left to right when marking the boxes. When the last box is filled, the pirates will attack! Each player must defend themselves, not just the player who initiated the attack. The first attack has a strength of one, the second a strength of three, and the third a strength of six.

A player will add up the strength of his defense and walls, if they are less than that of the attack, then they must cross of a cannon from their wall, which are worth negative five points.

END OF GAME

When a player completes the last space in their city,  the round is continued so that each player may receive the same number of turns. The game comes to an end after all platers have had the same number of turns.

If a player has filled all forty-five spaces, they win five victory points. Every two coins wins them a victory point, logs win a victory point each, and churches earn between one and twenty victory points. Cannons that have been crossed off lose five victory points. After all of the points have been tallied, the player with the most victory points becomes the winner.

Nakoa Davis
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