BASIC INFO

REQUIREMENTS

• 3 - 4 players. Supports 1 - 4 players (see Player Variations).
• A normal deck of 52 playing cards with 1 joker.
• A token for protection - usually a small stone.

BASIC IDEA

The Four Musketeers - Athos (♤J), Porthos (♦J), Aramis (♥J) and d'Artagnan (♧J) - are trapped in a repeating limbo fighting against the villains (and sometimes each other) surrounding the King of France.

• The game has a modular setup: pick a layout (3 or 4 Musketeers), game mode (survival, solitaire or roles) and a storyline (2 options per game mode).
• The layout consists of the (3 or) 4 Musketeers and the chosen villain (one of the black A, K or Q's). With 1 or 2 players the missing musketeers are either auto-played by a dummy (Dazed Musketeer) or a human (Musketeer's Servant, a bit like in Bridge).
• The game proceeds by sword fights played by the Musketeers, and after each fight the loser loses a lifeline, unless he was protected - in which case the main villain loses a lifeline instead. (The details depend on the chosen storyline and its villain, see further below.)
• The round ends when the villain is defeated (good ending) or when two musketeers have been defeated (bad ending).

START UP

Each character in the layout is given a role card and a couple of lifelines (face up) above it as protection:

• ROLES: The chosen villain (♤Q, ♤K, ♤A, ♧Q, ♧K, ♧A) is placed face up, and each musketeer is dealt a musketeer role face down (♦J, ♥J, ♤J, ♧J).
• LAST LIFELINES: The 2nd layer of cards consists of two 2's and the joker dealt face up (the joker being a trap).
• LIFELINES: The top layers are extra protection, consisting of the face cards and the other 3 aces, and are dealt face up.
  • In the solitaire storylines, each player gets just 1 extra lifeline (= 2 cards above the role), while the villain gets the remaining lifelines.
  • In the competitive games, each is dealt 2 cards as extra protection (= 3 over role), while the villain gets 3 layers of extra protection (= 4 in total).
• PROTECTION STONE: The villain starts as the protected one: the protection stone is moved above his lifelines.
• SWORD STRIKES (32 cards): The rest of the deck (cards 3 - 10) are meant for sword fights.
  • Each player is dealt 4 hand cards (in the 3 Musketeers layout) or 6 hand cards (for 4 Musketeers).
  • In addition, a deck of 8 cards is reserved for optional shadow strikes. (With 4 Musketeers it's simply the remaining deck.)
• Typically one player handles the sword deck, the player on his left deals the life cards (roles, lifelines and stone), and the next one starts the 1st fight.

LAYOUTS

layout: 4 MUSKETEERS (for 2 - 4 players)

With 4 players, the layout always consists of the 4 Musketeers (♥J, ♦J, ♤J and ♧J) and the villain.

• Each player is dealt 6 hand cards with 8 common random cards. After the 6 fights, the played cards are shuffled and random deck filled (from bottom).
• This layout also works with fewer players (with Dazed Musketeers or Servants), but 3 Musketeers is recommended (unless playing the team modes).

layout: 3 MUSKETEERS (for 1 - 3 players)

In this layout one of the four musketeers is missing (from the layout), and so there are only 3 Musketeers in the sword fights:

• The sword deck is used twice per 2 sets of 4 sword fights - each player is dealt only 4 hand cards (and every 4th strike is cyclical).
• The random deck is separated and contains 8 cards which are shared between the two sets of 4 fights. After the two sets of strikes, the whole sword deck (including the remaining random cards) is reshuffled.
• To make cards fit, 4 cards of the missing musketeer's suit are pre-moved into the line of story (in Palace of Mirrors the life dealer decides which suit).
  • The J, Q and K are always left out and then 1 card from last lifelines: typically 2, but for d'Artagnan ♧J it's the joker.

REPLACING MUSKETEERS

There are two alternative ways to replace missing players in either layout above.

• The Dazed Musketeer's hand cards are collected into one clean pile and turned face up. He always plays the topmost card, and in cyclical strikes choose to play to the left.
• The hand cards of the Musketeer's Servant are turned face up (overlapping each other) and played by an actual player sitting opposite to him, and they play as a team. (In role based game modes, the master can check the servant's role.)

PLAYING

SWORD FIGHTS

In a sword fight, each player plays one hand card face up in clockwise order.

• LOWEST STRIKE: The player who played the lowest number loses the fight, unless the lowest number was blocked by another strike.
• BLOCKED STRIKE: Strikes can be blocked by playing the same number: The new card blocks the previous of the same number and both are ignored.
  • So, 2 + 2 or 4 cards of the same number amount to nothing. With 3 of the same, the last one blocks the 2nd one and itself, so the 1st one applies again.
  • For example, if cards ♥5, ♧5, ♤8 and ♧7 were played, the 4th player loses as the two first block each other. But if the last player had played, say, ♦5 then the 2nd and 4th card would be out and the 1st one would lose again. (As is obvious, the later your turn the more control you have and safer you are.)
• NEXT & REPLAY: The loser starts the next fight. In a draw (with 2 + 2 or 4 same number), it's as if nothing happened and the same player starts (= replay).

SPECIAL STRIKES

As long as there are cards in the random deck, the players are allowed to use shadow strikes:

• SHADOW STRIKE: One of the hand cards is discarded (put away face down - without showing it), and the topmost card of the random deck is played instead.

The last of the (4 or 6) successive sword fights is always a special cyclical strike, where the musketeers come together to play for each other.

• CYCLICAL STRIKES: The 1st player decides the direction: left or right, and plays the card to the neighbour on that side, who then plays for his neighbour and so on - in one big movement.
  • Effectively, one of your hand cards belongs to a neighbour musketeer - of course, you can also use a shadow strike as the last strike (if any left).
  • Note that the villain cannot be targeted directly, but can only be damaged by hitting the protected musketeer. Except when there's a Shadow Musketeer (see Storylines below), who is then always part of the sword fight layout (using the random deck).

NEXT FIGHTS

After the last fight, each player is dealt new hand cards.

• In the 4 Musketeers layout, the sword deck is reshuffled form the played cards, each player dealt 6 hand cards and the remaining cards are put on the bottom of the random deck (filling it up to 8 shadow strikes again).
• With 3 Musketeers, the remaining sword deck (12 cards) is dealt (4 for each), while the random deck is shared between the two sets of 4 fights. After the 2nd set, all strikes (including the remaining random cards) are shuffled, a random deck (of 8 cards) is separated and each player dealt 4 hand cards.

POPPING LIFELINES

PROTECTION

One of the characters is always protected - indicated by having the protection stone above its lifelines - while the others are vulnerable.

• VULNERABLE HIT: If the musketeer that lost the sword fight was vulnerable (= not protected), he loses a lifeline and gains protection.
• PROTECTED HIT: If the loser was protected, the villain loses a lifeline instead and gains protection - this is the only way to attack him/her.
  • With certain villains (♤K and ♧K), a Shadow Musketeer joins the fights and attacking him (when unprotected) is the only way to damage the villain.
• The victim's topmost life card is put (face up) into the line of story, and the protection stone is moved above his lifelines.

LAST LIFELINES

When the last lifeline is lost, the role card is the only one left:

• If the last lifeline was a 2, the role card is left face down (for the villain, it's turned down), and only on the next hit it's turned face up. (So 2 more hits to go.)
• If the last lifeline was a joker the role card is turned face up immediately, and the next unprotected hit means defeat.
  • Note. In the Palace of Mirrors (by Milady ♤Q), the meaning of 2's and joker are flipped: the 2's reveal instantly, while joker implies 2 more hits to go.

DEFEAT AND ENDINGS

If a Musketeer is defeated, his role card goes to the line of story, and he becomes a Dazed Musketeer for the remaining round (see above).

• Alternatively, when playing with roles or in teams, the defeated can become a Ghost Musketeer and continue to be controlled normally.

When 2 musketeers have been defeated, or if the villain is defeated, the round ends. Pick a storyline for further details (see below).

STORYLINES BY VILLAINS

For each game one of the 6 storylines is picked, and then it's played for a few rounds (until someone / team wins). Organized to fit learning curve:

SURVIVAL GAMES (♧A and ♧K)

The survival game modes are the simplest. They can be in solo or team mode.

• SOLO: The survival games are played until someone gets 3 defeats and loses (the winner having the fewest defeats).
• TEAM: Alternatively, can play team survival where the musketeers are divided in two teams (typically 2 against 2, teammates facing each other).
  • Each team gets as many defeats as they lost musketeers (eg. if both died, the team gets 2 defeats), and the game played until 5 defeats.

1. Each For Each: ♧A - DEFEAT COUNT

• STORY: The Duke of Rochefort (♧A) has managed to scheme the musketeers to fight each other turning their regular practice into a survival match.
• PLAYING: No spices - just about using your sword skills. When you're defeated, you get 1 defeat.

2. Each For Whom: ♧K - INTRODUCING THE SHADOW

• STORY: Monsieur Bonacieux (♧K) has let a Shadow Musketeer (Bernajoux, sent by the Cardinal) into d'Artagnan's apartment. When the musketeers arrive, Bonacieux bars the door from outside, the shadow attacks inside and a survival game follows in the dark room.
• PLAYING: There is an extra player in the sword fights: the Shadow Musketeer.
  • The Shadow Musketeer is positioned in front of the villain and uses the shadow strikes (from the random deck) as his weapon.
  • He starts the round, and is always present in the sword fights (at least positionally), but his strikes will be empty if there are no more shadow strikes left.
  • The shadow can be targeted during the cyclical strikes even if the random deck has run out. During his turn, he will just play an empty strike for the player who he's supposed to play for - leaving him out of the fight instead.
  • When the shadow starts a cyclical strike, he always chooses to play to the left. When he starts a normal fight but has no cards, it's another empty strike.
• DEFATING VILLAIN: The villain's lifelines belong to the Shadow Musketeer, and the only way to beat him is by hitting the shadow while he's unprotected.
  • Exceptionally, whenever the protected musketeer is hit, nothing happens: the stone stays and no one is hurt - so, it's a free replay.

SOLITAIRE GAMES (♤A and ♤K)

The solitaire games are about team play against a common villain with settings for difficulty:

• LAYOUT: Exceptionally each player is dealt just 2 lifelines (= 1 last + 1 extra) above the role card, while the villain (♤A or ♤K) gets the remaining lifelines.
  • With 4 Musketeers the villain gets up to 8 lifelines above the role, and with 3 Musketeers he gets up to 7 lifelines.
  • The players shouldn't talk much, especially about numbers or playing low vs. high. (However, it's okay to plan about timing or the things already known / visible.)
• WINNING: The game ends in victory if the villain is defeated, and badly if 2 musketeers are defeated - typically played until the musketeers win.
• ADJUSTING DIFFICULTY: The difficulty level can be decreased (before the round, or shamefully during it) by:
  • Pre-playing some lifelines into the line of story, by default 1 card is pre-played away. (With none, the 3 Musketeers layout requires a perfect play 4/5 times.)
  • Granting yourselves some free replays, by default 1 free replay is allowed: If the fight outcome does not satisfy the musketeers, its effect can be neglected and the fight replayed with new cards.
  • Pre-placing the joker as the villain's last lifeline instead of dealing the last lifelines randomly.
  • Giving the protection stone to a musketeer (that starts the round).
  • Allowing the game to continue until all musketeers are defeated, or alternatively (with fewer players) until the last human player has dropped out.

3. All For One: ♤A - SHADY PROTECTOR

• STORY: The Cardinal Richelieu's (♤A) plot requires the musketeers to sacrifice themselves, while he manipulates the protected musketeer's strikes.
• PLAYING: Exceptionally, the card played for the protected musketeer (when one of them is protected) must always be a shadow strike (= random card) - unless the random deck has run out, in which case a hand card is played.
  • So, the protected player must play random during normal strikes, and during the cyclical ones the neighbour who plays for him.

4. All For Whom: ♤K - RETURN OF THE SHADOW

• STORY: The musketeers play against the Shadow Musketeer who is Comte de Wardes (♤K) in disguise, and he takes part in the sword fights.
• PLAYING: See the Shadow Musketeer concept above (by ♧K).

ROLE BASED GAMES (♧Q and ♤Q)

The role based games define specific roles for the musketeers either specifically or in groups. They can be played in solo or team mode.

5. All Against One: ♧Q - INHERENT IMBALANCE

• STORY: Milady has manipulated the 3 musketeers to attack Madame Bonacieux (♧Q) whom d'Artagnan tries to protect.
• ROLES:
  • d'Artagnan (♧J): If Mme. Bonacieux stays alive, the player gets 1 point, and 1 point extra if d'Artagnan also stays alive (to live with her - no points if lives alone).
  • 3 Musketeers (♥J, ♦J, ♤J): Otherwise the "villain" is defeated, and the other players get 1 point each, if their role stayed alive.
    • Note. In the 3 Musketeers layout, the game can also be played without d'Artagnan, but it's recommended to include him.
• WINNING: The game is played until someone reaches 5 win points.
• PLAYING (optional): You can optionally include a Shadow Musketeer into the game (recommended for 3 players in 3 Musketeers layout).
• TEAMS (optional): You can also play in two teams - called the Coloured Conflict (All Against Them).
  • The teams are determined by the colour of the musketeers (black and red) - without revealing who is where. The teammates get equal points per round, but they are counted for each player (as teams get shuffled each round).
  • Black musketeers (♧J, ♤J): Are pledged to protect Madame Bonacieux. If she stays alive they get 1 point each, and 1 extra point if all 3 stay alive.
  • Red musketeers (♥J, ♦J): Are convinced Bonacieux is a villain. If she's defeated, the teammates get 1 point, and 1 extra if both stay alive to witness it.
  • If playing teams including Servant Musketeers, the teams are pre-decided (teammates sitting opposite) and musketeers dealt accordingly (reds vs. blacks).
  • If playing teams in the 3 Musketeers layout (not typically recommended), there's no extra points for staying alive and the game is played until 3 points.

6. Each His Own: ♤Q - PALACE OF MIRRORS

• STORY: Milady de Winter has designed the Palace of Mirrors to exploit the personal ambitions of the musketeers (this is the original full game).
• LAST LIFELINES: Milady has mirrored the meaning of the last lifelines (blessing the joker while turning 2's to double-crosses):
  • The role cards behind the 2's are revealed immediately after losing the last lifeline, wheras the role behind the joker remains face down (= needs 2 more hits).
• ROLES:
  • ♦J - Porthos: Stay alive, and pop the 4 diamonds: ♦A, ♦K, ♦Q and ♦2 (= ultimate luxury).
    • The ambition is fulfilled if the 4 cards are found in the line of story while ♦J is not there when the round ends.
  • ♥J - Aramis: Stay alive, and pop the 4 hearts: ♥A, ♥K, ♥Q and ♥2 (= perfect love). The ambition is fulfilled likewise.
  • ♤J - Athos: Find and destroy the roots of evil ♤2 and double crossing ♧2, while staying alive.
  • ♧J - d'Artagnan: Rescue the helpless joker (= a trap set by Milady) and then protect the character behind it - with your life if needed (= d'Artagnan can die).
    • When the joker is popped (= rescued), the other musketeers often start attacking the victim behind (to prevent d'Artagnan's spirit from getting a win point). 1/5 times Milady has the joker and so d'Artagnan ends up protecting her, and 1/5 times d'Artagnan holds the joker himself and thus must not die.
• WINNING: The game is played until someone reaches 3 win points.
• PLAYING (optional): You can optionally include a Shadow Musketeer into the game (recommended for 3 players in 3 Musketeers layout).
• TEAMS (optional): You can also play in teams using Paired Ambitions (Each Their Own):
  • The team only gets a point if both of their ambitions are fulfilled. However, only one of the musketeers needs to survive (doesn't matter which one).
  • The teammates sit opposite to each other, and after checking their roles, they swap the role cards with each other (so both know each other's role).

STRATEGY

HAND CARDS & SWORD FIGHTS

• Playing the same number as an already played card is always a safe option. With 4 musketeers, playing a 10 is also a safe option.
  • In the start of each of the sword fights, it's more common to see higher number strikes (9 and 10) in the fight - especially in the Palace of Mirrors.
• Although low number cards (like 3 and 4) mean you're likely to get hit, they can still be useful for a couple of things:
  • When you get hit, you can start with a low card and be hit again with protection, thus damaging the villain.
  • The last of the sword strikes is always played for another player (never self), so you can save one for that.
  • Sometimes you do want to lose a lifeline: if your role wants it popped or it's better than any alternative. (However, this is more common near the end of the round.)
  • Remember that as long as there are random cards left, you can play random instead. (With only 8 numbers in the sword deck, the chances are often not that bad.)
• It's also important to know how to play when there's a Dazed Musketeer present (especially utilizing the next revealed card), as well as to know which cards to "waste" (eg. when playing random) and sync it all with the positional play (= how many strikes will be played after you).
• Finally, reading the matrix (of probabilities) while playing to the rhythm of the cyclical strikes is what often separates the true sword masters over time.

STORY GUIDE

PICKING THE STORYLINE (quick guide)

• By suits:
  • CLUBS vs. SPADES: It's easier to learn the Club games (♧) than the more complex Spade games (♤).
• By numbers (in increasing complexity):
  • ACES: The Ace games are the simplest - the villain is only present through the protection mechanism.
  • KINGS: The King games involve a Shadow Musketeer that participates in the sword fights (who becomes the weakpoint of the villain).
  • QUEENS: In the Queen games the musketeers have specific roles - these games feature the most gameplay variance over time (especially in the team modes).
• By gameplay (in increasing complexity):
  • SURVIVAL: With ♧A and ♧K the villains are less involved and the gameplay is about simple combats.
    • The good ending is a mere tool to end the game (in a cowardly way), while defeating the other musketeers is the real goal.
  • SOLITAIRE: With ♤A or ♤K as the villain, the game is a team solitaire against the villain.
    • They feature a special solitaire layout (for the lifelines) with settings to adjust difficulty. Typically played until the musketeers win.
  • ROLE BASED: With ♤Q and ♧Q, each musketeer has his own role, and together the roles compose the dynamics.
    • The queen games turn the musketeers against each other indirectly: player gets a win point if the musketeer's personal ambition / purpose is fulfilled.
    • From the musketeers' point of view, the lifelines represent story events (= encounters with the story characters) some of which are important for the roles.
  • Note. In each storyline (except in the solitaire games), there's a team vs. team mode, which is highly recommended (even with fewer or uneven number of players - see player layouts above). They often make the strategies simpler while providing an extra layer of variance in gameplay dynamics.

♧A: Tips for SURVIVAL

It's all about combat skills (see hand cards above) as well as momentary alliances.

• In this vanilla form, it's common that the sword fights start with very high numbers. Accoridngly, with 4 Musketeers there's a lot of draws, whereas in the 3 Musketeers layout draws are not possible (so the 1st player is always the easiest target).
• As the gameplay dynamics are simple with little variance (= only the positioning of the joker), this variant is good for learning the game.

♧K: Tips for SURVIVAL WITH THE SHADOW

If the Shadow Musketeer is involved in a survival match, the fights become more complex and involve more randomness and risk taking.

• In addition to the extra target in the sword fights, the protection also works differently providing an extra replay option (by hitting the protected one again).
• This brings a lot of replay opportunities to the 3 Musketeers layout: 1. the extra option above, 2. there's a 4th strike (= draws are possible). With 4 Musketeers, one replay option is swapped to another: With 5 strikes draws are impossible, but there's an extra option for replays.

♧Q: Role dynamics with MADAME BONACIEUX

With Madame Bonacieux the dynamics are all about the imbalance between d'Artagnan and the other three musketeers.

• As the other 3 (or 2 in the 3 Musketeers layout) musketeers have the opposing goal to d'Artagnan, there's a strong imbalance. However, d'Artagnan can receive double points if he succeeds fully.
• Due to the imbalance, as soon as it becomes clear where d'Artagnan is, the other musketeers start to attack him (in addition to the "villain"). Accordingly, d'Artagnan tries to hide his identity while diverting the damage towards the other musketeers (protecting himself and the villain).
• When playing in teams (Coloured Conflict), there's less imbalance, as both black musketeers try to protect Madame Bonacieux. However, as it's not known where each role stands, obscuring your indentity is still beneficial (though more for the red musketeers, so that the blacks don't know which two to attack).

♤Q: Role dynamics in the PALACE OF MIRRORS

The Palace of Mirrors is a hall of illusions designed by Milady de Winter (♤Q):

• Each musketeer still has an urge to go after the villain (♤Q) - they just want their personal ambition fulfilled first, and then end the game quickly.
  • Note that as the meaning of the last lifelines is mirrored, the characters have less protection (on average) than in the other storylines. When the round ends, it's not uncommon that one character has still one or two layers of protection left (which is important for the role dynamics).
• The red musketeers share the same role mechanics but their goals don't have overlap (unless by chance).
  • The main strategy is simply to try to pop the red cards of your suit and look for the quickest way out, while trying to hinder the progress of others.
• Likewise the goals of the black musketeers are distinct from all others, but their nature is more aggressive.
  • As Athos wants to defeat the black 2's, he will be fighting against at least one of the musketeers (until his last lifeline is cleared out).
  • Typically all musketeers have a slight preference to avoid hitting the character with the joker too much. However, if it looks like the joker will be popped, the dynamics flip and all except d'Artagnan start to viciously attack the character (to prevent d'Artagnan's spirit from gaining a win point). Accordingly, d'Artagnan needs to have a quick way out, once the joker is rescued.

With Paired Ambitions the team strategies and related dynamics depend on the musketeer pairs:

• RED vs. BLACK:
  • The 2 Red Musketeers (♦J Porthos and ♥J Aramis) are teamed and their aim is to pop all the red lifelines before the round ends.
  • The 2 Black Musketeers (♤J Athos and ♧J d'Artagnan) are teamed to pop the two black 2's and the joker while protecting the player behind it.
• COLOUR CROSSED:
  • One of the Red Musketeers is teamed up with a Black Musketeer. In both cases one team wants to pop diamonds (♦) and the other hearts (♥), and one team wants to fight the black 2's while the other wants to defeat joker while protecting the player behind him.

♤K: Fighting against the SHADOW (SPOILER ALERT)

The main tricks to beating the Shadow Musketeer are:

• In terms of hand cards, it's often beneficial to save higher numbers for the moments when you attack the shadow in unison.
• Try to avoid using random cards. You need to have them, so that the shadow appears in the fights and can be targeted.
• When the player on the shadow's right side starts (under protection), it's the easiest time to hurt the shadow (if it fails, it's common to use the 1 replay to try again). When the player on his left starts, the shadow tells nothing and has a lot of control over the fight.
• The cyclical strikes are often a good weapon against the shadow (as long as it's still involved).

♤A: Beating the CARDINAL (SPOILER ALERT)

The main tricks for the solitaire game are:

• To help the team, it's beneficial to keep in hand numbers that other players are likely to have (as well as higher number cards for joint attacks).
• In 3 Musketeers layout, try to keep the rhythm of the last strikes (every 4th) off-beat: so that last strikes happen when the Cardinal is protected.
• The best strategy is to over-use the random deck so that it runs out. If there's no random deck, hitting the protected player becomes much easier. (However, playing alone, it's impossible to overflow it, unless allowing some extra powers - making the solo game even more difficult.)

GLOSSARY

CHARACTERS IN THE DECK

The jacks are of course the Four Musketeers (or their respective manservants), suits reflecting their nature:

• Athos is of Spades (♤J) reflecting his wisdom, sword skills and melancholy in the background. As a servant ♤J is Grimaud.
• Porthos is of Diamonds (♦J) reflecting his focus on luxury and wealth. As a Musketeer's servant ♦J is Mousqueton.
• Aramis is of Hearts (♥J) reflecting his romantic and religious tendencies. As a manservant ♥J is Bazin.
• d'Artagnan is of Clubs (♧J) reflecting his loyalty and good fortune. As a servant ♧J is Planchet.

The high cards and aces represent different characters in the story:

• Black cards represent antagonistic or two-sided characters:
  • ♤A: Cardinal Richelieu is the main antagonist and the King's most influential advisor (represented by the "Death Card").
  • ♤K: Comte de Wardes is an aristocrat who is one of the main agents of the Cardinal.
  • ♤Q: Milady de Winter is a beautiful, mysterious, devious and evil ally and spy of the Cardinal (in love with Comte de Wardes).
  • ♧A: Comte de Rochefort (= the Duke of Rochefort) is a private agent of the Cardinal.
  • ♧K: Monsieur Bonacieux is d'Artagnan's land lord, but easily persuated to do whatever the Cardinal tells him.
  • ♧Q: Madame Bonacieux (Constance) is the lady-in-waiting for Queen Anne and the wife of Monsieur Bonacieux - d'Artagnan falls in love with her.
• Red cards represent protagonistic characters:
  • ♥A: Monsieur de Treville is the head of the King's Musketeers and a close friend to the king.
  • ♥K: King Louis XIII is the King of France, but not much of a ruler and dominated by his advisors.
  • ♥Q: Queen Anne is the unhappy wife of King Louis XIII. Alternatively (in the Palace of Mirrors) ♥Q is Madame de Chevreuse - the mistress of Aramis.
  • ♦A: Duke of Buckingham is a noble and influential English minister who does anything for Queen Anne (and has an affair with her).
  • ♦K: Lord de Winter is Milady's brother-in-law, but ultimately a helpful character.
  • ♦Q: Madame de Coquenard is Porthos's mistress.
• Joker is Kitty, Milady's maid who ultimately betrays her by falling in love with d'Artagnan.
• Popping the cards to the line of story represents encounters with the characters, while the line tells the story.

In the Palace of Mirrors, the last lifelines (2's and joker) are designed to veil each musketeer behind an illusion of something entirely different:

• The black 2's are reflections of the roots of evil (as ♤2) and double crossing (as ♧2), which Athos is after.
• The red 2's are reflections of ultimate luxury (♦2) and perfect love (♥2) that Porthos and Aramis are spellbound by.
• The joker is a trap (played by Kitty) to appear as a helpless victim to attract d'Artagnan, and once triggered to fool the other musketeers.

DEV. HISTORY

v3 - Four Musketeers (2023)

• v3.0 (2023-02-03): Reorganized the roles (and which cards are kept face up and which down) to make the gameplay simpler. Also modified dying related mechanics and player variations, as well as switched Kings with Jacks with a rewrite of the story as Four Musketeers.
• more variations (2023-02-09): Added two variations (Shadow Musketeer and Solitaire), single player mode and reorganized the explanations as modular.
• more variations (2023-02-11): Added three more storylines (= the 3 villains of the clubs suit ♧) and refined a few details.
• v3.0.1 (2023-04-07) Refined that cyclical strikes go to left or right (= not ahead), and turns follow the same way. (And can use Shadow Musketeer with Q villains.)

v2 - Limbo (2016-05)

• The role cards were changed to be shown (face up). Consequently some refinements to the roles.

v1 - Limbo (2013)

• Like v2, but the role cards were dealt and kept face down (and lifelines as well).

THANKS

FOR IDEAS, HELP WITH DEVELOPMENT & PLAYING

Emmi Viitala, Piia Tamminen, Ville Viitala, Johannes Aho, Akseli Leinonen, Tuuli Vahtero, Tomi Laine, Matti Lehtinen and Ella Salminen.