Overview

Macao is a strategy game set in 17th-century Portuguese Macao, where players take the roles of influential adventurers seeking prestige through trade, city expansion, and holding important offices. Over exactly 12 rounds, players select dice to gain action cubes on a rotating wind rose, then use those cubes to activate cards, acquire city quarters, move their ships, and deliver goods. The player with the most prestige points wins.

Components

• 1 game board (city of Macao with 30 quarters, city wall, ocean with 8 European ports, tribute track, scoring track)
• 4 player tableaus
• 4 wind roses (7-sided, showing dice values 1-6 and a pointer)
• 24 goods tiles (3 each of 8 types: lacquer ware, rice, tea, jade, silk, paper, porcelain, spices)
• 6 joker tiles (“1 of any action cube or 3 gold coins”)
• 36 gold coins
• 48 ownership/punish markers (front: shield; back: -3)
• 300 action cubes (50 each in red, blue, green, black, gray, violet)
• 6 dice (1 of each color matching action cubes)
• 4 ships, 10 discs (2 per player color + 2 beige)
• 120 cards: 24 office cards, 44 building cards, 52 person cards

Setup

1. Place the game board centrally. Each player selects a color and takes: tableau, wind rose, ship, 2 discs, 12 ownership markers, and 5 gold coins.
2. Place one disc per player on the 0 space of the prestige track and on the first space of the city wall (stacked).
3. Place goods tiles randomly on the 24 light city spaces; place 6 joker tiles on the 6 dark city spaces.
4. Shuffle 24 office cards and place in pairs face-up next to the board (also serve as round counters).
5. Shuffle 96 building/person cards face-down in a stack.
6. Place 2 beige discs on the tribute track at “0.”
7. Before play begins: draw cards equal to player count + 2; in reverse wall order, each player takes one card for their tableau. Then in forward wall order, each player places 1 action cube next to the “1” die space and 2 action cubes (same color) next to the “2” die space on their wind rose.

Turn Structure

Each of the 12 rounds consists of three phases:

Phase 1: Cards

1. Reveal the 2 office cards for this round plus 4 building/person cards.
2. Calculate the tribute value by summing yellow (gold coin cost) and red (prestige point value) numbers on all 6 face-up cards.
3. Remove 0/1/2 building/person cards for 4/3/2 player games.
4. In wall order, each player takes one face-up card and places it on their tableau (max 5 cards). Taking a 6th card forces discarding one and receiving a punish marker (-3 PP).

Phase 2: Dice

1. Roll all 6 dice and group by number.
2. Each player selects 2 dice (not taking them). For each die, take that many action cubes of the matching color and place them next to the corresponding die number on the wind rose.
3. Rotate the wind rose one space clockwise. The cubes now at the arrow become the player’s “action cube supply” for this round. If no cubes are at the arrow, the player receives a punish marker (-3 PP).

Phase 3: Actions

In wall order, players spend their action cube supply on any combination of actions (in any order):

Actions

3.1 Activate Cards

Pay action cubes matching the cost shown on a card on your tableau. The card becomes active and provides its ongoing benefit.

3.2 Acquire City Quarter

Pay 1 action cube to place an ownership marker on an adjacent empty city quarter (connected to where your disc is on the wall or to a quarter you already own). Take the goods tile from that quarter.

3.3 Move Ship

Pay action cubes to move your ship. Each cube moves the ship one space along the ocean route toward European ports.

3.4 Deliver Goods

When your ship is at a European port, deliver a matching goods tile to score prestige points as shown on the port.

3.5 Acquire Prestige via Tribute

Spend gold coins (not action cubes) to buy prestige points at the current tribute exchange rate.

Additional: Any unused action cubes at end of phase are lost.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• Prestige points are tracked on the scoring track throughout the game.
• After 12 rounds, final scoring: each punish marker deducts 3 PP. Each unactivated card on a player’s tableau costs 3 PP. Each goods tile still on the player’s tableau may score bonus points based on activated card effects.
• The player with the most prestige points wins. Ties broken by gold coins remaining.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Punish markers: Received when (a) forced to discard a 6th card, or (b) wind rose arrow points to 0 action cubes. Each deducts 3 PP at game end.
• Wall order: Turn order follows disc positions on the city wall (front to back, top to bottom within a stack). Some cards allow changing position.
• Office cards: These are special cards placed beside the board; their effects apply to specific rounds and may modify rules.
• Joker tiles: Worth 1 action cube of any color OR 3 gold coins when acquired from dark city spaces.
• Building/Person cards: Provide various ongoing or one-time benefits when activated (extra cubes, movement bonuses, scoring bonuses, etc.).

Player Reference

Phase	Summary
1. Cards	Reveal cards, calculate tribute, each player takes 1 card
2. Dice	Roll 6 dice, each player picks 2 dice for action cubes, rotate wind rose
3. Actions	Spend action cubes: activate cards, acquire quarters, move ship, deliver goods, buy prestige

Action Cube Costs:

• Activate card: varies (shown on card)
• Acquire city quarter: 1 cube (any color)
• Move ship: 1 cube per space
• Deliver goods: free (when at correct port)
• Tribute: gold coins only (no cubes)