GAME OVERVIEW
Welcome to the Rococo era. You are the owner of a distinguished tailoring business. In just a few weeks, Louis XV is hosting a Grand Ball and everyone is clamoring for you to provide them with an elegant frock coat here, a sumptuous gown there, or even a small sum to fund the great fireworks display. You quickly realize that it’s not just about your tailoring business anymore – it’s about creating a presence at the most prestigious ball of the era and the chance to gain everlasting fame and prestige.
Each turn, you will play an employee card that allows you to perform a task, such as hiring a new employee for your staff, tailoring exquisite gowns and frock coats to rent or sell, or funding some of the many decorations. However, employees are not always able to perform all tasks, so you must plan carefully how you direct them, especially as each employee grants a unique Bonus — including some that generate prestige.
The Grand Ball will end after 7 rounds with a huge fireworks display and final scoring. You will gain prestige points for the gowns and frock coats you have rented out to guests at the ball, certain employee Bonuses, and the festive decorations you have funded. Whoever has collected the most prestige at the end of the game wins.
HOW TO PLAY
In Rococo: Deluxe Edition, each player starts with an identical deck of Employee cards, each turn players simultaneously select 3 to use for the round. Choosing which cards to use will determine which actions are available to take. Masters can take any of the actions while Apprentices and Journeymen will be limited in the actions they can take.
The 6 different actions in the game are:
Claiming the Queen’s Favor, which can only be done with a Master or Journeyman, and grants the player 5 Livre. The player claiming the Queen's Favor also becomes the start player for the next round.
Acquiring Resources can be done by any Employee, and allows players to stock up on the silk, lace and thread that will be needed to create various gowns and coats.
Tailoring a Garment is done by Masters and Journeymen. They will choose from one of the nine Design patterns, paying the cost of that design pattern and using the appropriate silk, lace and thread. After tailoring a garment the player will choose whether to rent out the garment to a patron at the Ball or sell the garment for income. If a player chooses to rent the garment it's placed rental side face-up on any vacant guest space in one of the five Halls on the board. The player who has the most patrons in a Hall will be awarded victory points at the end of the game.
Deputing an Employee allows a player to permanently remove one of their employee cards from the game. Not only does this help thin a players deck, it also grants a financial reward of 4/7/10 Livre depending on the level of employee as indicated on the card.
Hire a New Employee. Each round 4 new employees are available for acquisition, and can only be acquired by using a Master. These employees will offer additional bonus actions when used during the game. The cost varies from 0 - 5 Livre and is based on the number of Employee cards remaining. The card goes directly into a player's hand, so it can be used during the same round.
Funding a Decoration can be performed by any employee. There are numerous decorations in the palace that can be funded. Doing so will earn the player prestige points at the end of the game. Funding the fireworks decoration spaces on the balcony can be especially advantageous, as players will be able to move patrons to these locations at the end of the game and earn a considerable amount of prestige points.
A round ends with players collecting income, which has a base of five, but can increase by funding certain Decorations. Having a steady flow of income is necessary in order to accomplish the making of dresses, funding of decorations, and acquisition of resources and new employees. New Garment design patterns will be revealed along with new employee cards for the round. Players will choose 3 new cards from their draw deck to start the next round and play will continue in the same fashion.
After the 7th round, the game ends and a final scoring is conducted. Points are scored for remaining Livre, certain employee cards and last but not least; having majorities in the halls with patrons wearing your suits and dresses. The player with the most victory points is declared the winner.
CONTENTS
- 42 Garment tiles
- 28 Employee cards
- 25 Starting Employee cards
- 1 double-sided Game Board (1-3 players / 4-5 players)
- 1 metal Gold Thimble Start Player token
- 16 polyresin Lace tokens
- 16 polyresin Thread tokens
- 3 Cloth Bags (for Garments, Resources, Jewelry)
- 50 punchboard Coins (20 Value-1, 10 Value-5, 10 Value-10, 10 Value-20)
- 5 wooden Prestige Point counters
- 1 Queen’s Favor tile
- 2 Employee Card Reference sheets
- 48 Resource tiles
- 100 wooden Trademark tokens
- 5 Player Boards
- 5 Tile Racks for Material Tiles
- Jewelry Box expansion: 1 Jeweler Game Board, 24 Jewelry tiles, 28 Employee cards (10 specialized Apprentices, 9 new Journeymen, & 9 new Masters)
- Madame du Barry Solo expansion: 25 AI Employee cards for solo play
- Fancy Dresses expansion: 4 additional Garment tiles and 5 Resource tiles
- Festivity Dresses expansion: 4 additional Garment tiles
- Rulebook
