Macao

To set up Macao, place the game board in the center. Each player chooses a color and takes their player board, a ship, a wall marker, and starting gold coins. Shuffle the office cards and place them in a draw pile. Deal two office cards and four regular cards face-up to form the initial card display. Place the windrose in its designated spot and distribute starting cubes to players according to the rulebook. Each player places their ship at the starting port and their wall marker at the beginning of the wall track.

The objective of Macao is to become the most prestigious trader by accumulating the most prestige points over 12 rounds. Players achieve this by acquiring goods in the city of Macao, shipping these goods to various European cities, and strategically utilizing their office cards and city districts. Prestige points are primarily gained through successful deliveries and by converting gold into points via the tribute table. The game is a race to efficiently manage resources and actions to outmaneuver opponents and secure valuable trade routes and city influence.

Each round in Macao consists of three phases: Cards, Dice, and Actions. In the Cards phase, new office and regular cards are drawn and displayed, and the tribute value for the round is determined. Players then select one card from the display in player order, adding it to their player board. The Dice phase begins with one player rolling all six dice. Players then take turns selecting two dice, gaining cubes corresponding to the color and number rolled. These cubes are placed on their windrose. Finally, in the Actions phase, players can activate cards from their player board by paying the required cubes, claim city districts by spending cubes, advance their marker on the wall track to influence turn order, or exchange gold for prestige points using the tribute table. Any unused cubes are lost at the end of the round.

Prestige points are scored in several ways throughout the game. Players earn points by successfully delivering goods to European cities; the number of points gained depends on the specific city and the type of good delivered. Claiming city districts also awards end-game prestige points, with more valuable districts offering higher rewards. Additionally, players can convert their accumulated gold into prestige points once per turn using the tribute table, with the exchange rate determined by the current round's tribute value. At the end of the game, any unactivated cards on a player's board and any empty spaces on their windrose incur a penalty of -3 prestige points each, emphasizing efficient resource management and card activation.

The game concludes after 12 full rounds. Once the final Action phase of the 12th round is completed, players calculate their total prestige points. Points are tallied from delivered goods, claimed city districts, and any points acquired through the tribute table. Penalties are then applied: -3 prestige points for each unactivated card remaining on a player's board and -3 prestige points for each empty space on their windrose. The player with the highest total prestige points after all calculations and penalties is declared the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most gold coins wins.