In Mermaid Rain each player takes on the role of a mermaid, seeking to gain the treasures required to win the heart of the prince.
Players will be dealt cards each round, from which they must play 'melds' which are used to gain special bonuses, and also provide the turn order for the rest of the round. A 'meld' a set of cards, and these
sets are ranked from highest to lowest. The player with the highest ranked meld will be the first to select the 'surf' tiles which are played onto the board, and allow a mermaid to move.
A player must carefully balance the choice of whether to spend the cards required to play a high powered meld, and gain the initiative over other players, or whether to save cards which are also used to move a
player's mermaid. The choice can be a tough one, as the surf tiles are crucial in allowing a player to move where they want and therefore gather the treasures they desire, but keeping cards is valuable too, as
cards must be played to allow a Mermaid to move. A player must also weigh up the value of the special
bonuses to be gained from playing particular melds.
As mermaids move around the board and visit ship wrecks, underwater caves and other locations, they have the opportunity to gather treasures. At the end of the game each player must pay a fee to the Witch who will use those treasures to cast a spell replacing a mermaids tail with legs. A player unable to pay the Witch's fee will pay dearly in points. After the Witch's fee has been paid, the players will compare the number of treasures they have gained and will score points for them based on whether they have the most, second most and so on. The player with the most pleasing set of treasures will win the heart of their prince and, of course, the game!
For more information, including rules translations, visit
BoardGameGeek.
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