Roll the dice to find out which windows of the Macroscope you can open to peek at the picture inside. The fewer windows you open before guessing the picture on the card, the more points you win (if your guess is correct) or lose (if your guess is wrong).

Game Contents



The Macroscope

Carefully detach the Macroscope parts and tokens, the game round tracker and the marker from their cardboard surrounds. Assemble the Macroscope as shown in the picture below:



The Tokens

Use the stickers to assemble the tokens as shown in the picture on the right stick a rectangular piece marked with an "x" to the designated area on each of the round tokens. Be sure to use the right side of the round tokens: the number must remain visible.

The Marker

Assemble the marker as shown in the picture on the below.



Setup

Place the Macroscope in the center of the table. Take the deck of picture cards and place it in the Macroscope, so that the card with the pizza is the top card of the deck. Do not look through the cards, as it would spoil the fun! Cover the deck with the perforated lid of the Macroscope.

Make sure that the end with the a black arrow is visible. The arrow indicates the orientation of the picture on the card.

At random place a token in each round window of the Macroscope. Carefully (without turning the Macroscope over or accidentally pulling out any other cards) remove the top card of the deck from the Macroscope and place it in the small compartment of the game box.



  • Place the game round tracker next to the Macroscope.
  • Place the marker on space 1 of the game round tracker.
  • Place the dice in the center of the table.
  • Each player starts the game with 2 yellow crystals. Place the remaining crystals in a reserve within easy reach of all players.


Game Play

Randomly choose the first player. Play will proceed clockwise.

The Macroscope must be visible to all players at all times!

On your turn:

Turn the Macroscope so you can see it well. The arrow on the card must be pointing away from you.

  1. Roll both dice. For each die result you may remove one token with the matching number from the Macroscope. If there are no matching tokens left in the Macroscope, you may remove any token of your choice for each unmatched die.

    Note: You can play without the dice simply by removing one (or two) tokens of your choice.

    Once you remove one token from the Macroscope, you may either remove another token, or try to guess the picture or pass the turn to the next player. After removing your second token, you may either try to guess the picture or pass the turn to the next player.

  2. If you wish to make a guess, see MAKING A GUESS.

  3. If you are not ready to guess the picture, take a yellow crystal from the reserve for each window of the Macroscope that you've opened and place it in front of you. If none of the players wishes to make a guess, the turn is passed to the next player on your left.

  4. You can make a guess during another player's turn if that player refuses to guess the picture. You may also challenge another player's guess (see MAKING A GUESS).

Remember: all players may peer into the windows of the Macroscope at any time during the game. Don't misplace the tokens when passing the Macroscope to another player.

Example: Simon starts. He rolls a "2" and a "5". He removes the left token with the number "2". Neither Simon nor other players are ready to guess. Then he decides to open another window and removes the right token with the number "5". He is not ready to guess, and neither are the other players. He takes 2 yellow crystals instead. He passes the dice to the player on his left.


Making A Guess

If a player wishes to guess the picture, they must announce it to the other players and say out loud what they think is depicted on the card.

If another player has a different guess, they may challenge the guess (if several players wish to challenge the guess, the player with the fewest points goes first; in case of a tie, the active player decides who goes first - and so on).

To challenge another player's guess, you must pay that player 2 yellow crystals and say out loud what you think is pictured on the card (you cannot repeat a guess that's already been made). If the active player refuses to guess the picture, follow the same steps. If you don't have 2 yellow victory point crystals, you cannot make a guess during another player's turn.

Count up how many windows of the Macroscope are still covered with tokens - that's how many victory points the player receives (if their guess was right) or loses (if their guess was wrong).

At random, cover all windows of the Macroscope with tokens (so you don't accidentally see the next picture card). Then, carefully remove the top card of the deck from the Macroscope (without turning it over) and take a look at the picture.

The player, who guessed the picture, receives as many victory points, as many windows of the Macroscope were covered at the time of the guess (take crystals from the reserve). Each player, who didn't guess the picture, loses the same number of victory points (they return the crystals to the reserve).

If a player doesn't have any victory points, they don't lose anything. If a player has fewer crystals than they must give up, they return all crystals they have to the reserve.

Example: Jane rolls the dice. She removes only 1 token and wants to guess right away. She say "I think it's a pie". Simon has another guess, so he gives 2 yellow crystals to Jane and says "I think it's a pizza". At that point, 9 windows of the Macroscope are covered with tokens. The players randomly cover the opened windows of the Macroscope with tokens and pull out the top card of the deck from the Macroscope.

It shows a pizza. Simon was right. He takes 9 yellow crystals from the reserve. Jane was wrong. She must return 9 yellow crystals to the reserve (but she has only 4, so she gives them all away).



When you have finished scoring the round, carefully place the played card in the small compartment of the game box without looking at its back.

Then, move the marker on the game round tracker one space forward. The turn is then passed clockwise to the next player and the game continues by the same rules.

If all the windows in the Macroscope are opened before anyone guesses the picture, cover the windows with the tokens again, pull out the card and place it in the game box. Start a new round without moving the marker on the game round tracker.


End of the Game

When the marker reaches 10 on the game round tracker, play one final round. The player with the most victory points after ten rounds wins!



Game Variant

For an easier game, follow the basic rules with the following few changes:

  1. The players DO NOT receive 2 yellow crystals each before the start of the game.

  2. On their turn, the player opens either one or two windows of the Macroscope (just like in the basic rules) and decides whether to try to guess the picture or not. The players cannot guess the picture during another player's turn.

    • If a player decides not to guess the picture, they receive 2 yellow crystals (regardless of the number of tokens they removed from the Macroscope).

    • If a player decides not to guess the picture, any other player may try to guess it. They don't pay the active player to make a guess.

    • If several players wish to guess the pictures, they may also do so for free. The player, who rolled the dice last, decides who goes first - and so on. You cannot repeat a guess that's already been made!


Game storage and renewing the deck

The game box has two compartments: the small compartment is used to store the cards you've already played (in a deck with the played side up), while the big compartment holds the assembled Macroscope with all unplayed cards inside.

The first card in the deck is the one with a pizza on one side and the Macroscope logo on the other - it prevents you from seeing the pictures in the deck before playing!

When there are no cards left in the Macroscope, take the deck of discarded cards from the box, flip it over and insert it into the Macroscope, just like during the game setup. Cover the cards with the Macroscope's perforated lid.

Place a token in each of the Macroscope's round windows. Then, carefully (without turning the Macroscope over or accidentally pulling out any other cards) remove the top card of the deck from the Macroscope and put it away in the box. Now you're ready to continue the game!


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