Match & Collect: Complete Rules
🎯 Game Overview
Match & Collect is a strategic set-collection variant of mirrorquest. Players draw and discard cards to create valuable melds while using powerful wildcard abilities to enhance their sets or disrupt opponents. The first player to reach 500 points wins!
🃏 Setup
- 2-6 players (best with 3-4)
- Deal 10 cards to each player
- Place remaining deck face-down as draw pile
- Turn top card face-up to start discard pile
- Players organize their hands by symbols, locations, or colours
⚡ Turn Structure
On your turn:
- Draw Phase: Draw 1 card from either the draw pile OR take the top card from the discard pile
- Meld Phase: Play valid melds from your hand face-up in front of you (optional)
- Wildcard Phase: Play one wildcard for its special ability (optional)
- Discard Phase: Discard 1 card to the discard pile (mandatory)
📍 Valid Melds
Symbol Sets (3+ cards)
Three or more cards with the same symbol, regardless of colour or location. Example: Mountain-Red, Mountain-Blue, Mountain-Yellow from different locations.
Location Groups (3-4 cards)
Three or four cards from the same location (extremely rare and valuable!). Since each location only has 4 cards total in the deck, these are the hardest melds to achieve. Example: 3-4 cards from "Winterwoods" location.
Colour Sets (5+ cards)
Five or more cards of the same colour from any locations or symbols. There are 16 cards of each colour in the deck. Example: Any 5 Yellow cards.
Rainbow Sets (4 cards)
Exactly 4 cards with the same symbol, one of each colour. Worth bonus points! Example: Deer-Red, Deer-Blue, Deer-Yellow, Deer-Green.
🌟 Wildcard Powers
Multicolour Wildcards (12 cards)
- Legendary (4 cards): Can substitute for any regular card in a meld. Adds +20 bonus points to that meld.
- Messenger (4 cards): When played, choose an opponent who must immediately show their hand to you only. Draw an extra card after viewing.
- Guide (4 cards): Draw the top 4 cards from the draw pile, keep 2, place the other 2 on top of the draw pile face-down.
Black Wildcards (8 cards)
- Gate (4 cards): Steal an opponent's unprotected meld that matches one of your cards. OR play at turn's end to immediately take another turn (starting with a draw).
- Shelter (4 cards): Play on one of your melds to protect it from Gate cards permanently. Adds +20 points to protected meld.
White Wildcards (4 cards)
- Wildflower: Take any 2 non-wildcard cards from the discard pile (not just the top card). Reshuffle discard pile after.
💯 Scoring System
| Meld Type | Base Points | Bonus Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Symbol Set (3 cards) | 30 points | +10 per additional card |
| Location Group (3 cards) | 60 points | +40 for complete 4-card set (100 total) |
| Colour Set (5 cards) | 50 points | +10 per additional card |
| Rainbow Set (4 cards) | 50 points | Complete set bonus |
| Legendary in meld | +20 points | Per legendary card |
| Protected meld (Shelter) | +20 points | Protection bonus |
| Cards left in hand | -10 points each | At round end |
| Wildcards in hand | -20 points each | At round end |
🏁 Round End & Winning
A round ends when:
- A player discards their last card (going out)
- The draw pile is exhausted
The player who goes out receives a 25-point bonus. All players score their melded cards and subtract points for cards remaining in hand. First player to reach 500 points wins the game!
💡 Strategic Tips
- Location Groups are Gold: With only 4 cards per location in the entire deck, completing a location group is extremely rare but worth massive points (60-100)
- Colour Set Strategy: Collecting 5+ cards of one colour is more achievable than locations - focus on this for consistent scoring
- Wildcard Timing: With -20 point penalties, don't hold wildcards too long - use them strategically then dump them
- Gate Power Play: Save Gate cards for stealing high-value location groups OR for crucial extra turns late in the round
- Shelter Priority: Always protect Location Groups first - they're nearly impossible to rebuild if stolen
- Messenger Intel: Use early to identify what opponents are collecting, then block them
- Guide Advantage: Best used mid-game when you know exactly what you need
- Wildflower Recovery: Watch the discard pile carefully - retrieve key cards opponents thought were safe
Memory Game Rules
🎯 Game Objective
The primary goal is to clear the board by finding matching pairs of cards. The final score is determined by the types of matches made, bonuses earned, and penalties incurred. The game ends when all cards are matched or when no more possible matches remain on the board.
🛠️ Game Setup
Select Game Size:
The game begins with a choice of board size:
- 16 Cards
- 32 Cards
- 64 Cards
Memorization Phase:
Before play begins, all cards are displayed face-up for a brief countdown period, starting from 4. After the countdown, the cards are flipped face-down, and the game timer starts.
🎲 Core Gameplay
Players flip two cards per turn to find a match. The criteria for a match are determined by the currently selected Match Mode. If the two flipped cards form a valid match, they are removed from the board, and points are awarded. If they do not match, they are flipped back face-down, and a point penalty is applied.
🔄 Match Modes
Players can switch between three different matching modes at any time during the game, even after flipping one card. Each mode offers a different point value for a successful match.
- Colour Mode: Match two cards that share the same color (Green, Yellow, Red, or Blue).
- Symbol Mode: Match two cards that share the same symbol (e.g., fish, bird, sun).
- Location Mode: Match two cards that depict the same location (e.g., longsongsound, greenfields, etc). This mode can trigger a special bonus round.
💯 Scoring
Points are awarded based on the type of match and special bonus conditions.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Color Match | +15 points |
| Symbol Match | +30 points |
| Location Match (initial pair) | +50 points |
| Mismatch Penalty | -5 points |
| Location Bonus (finding 3rd card) | +50 points |
| Location Risk (failing to find 3rd card) | -25 points |
| Location Bonus (finding 4th card) | +100 points |
| Location Risk (failing to find 4th card) | -50 points |
🏆 Location Match Bonus Round
Making a successful two-card Location Match triggers an optional, high-risk, high-reward bonus round.
- The Offer: After matching the first two cards of a location, the game will pause and ask if you want to try to find the third card of that same location.
- The Third Card:
- Accepting: You flip one more card. If it matches the location, you earn a +50 point bonus. If it does not match, you incur a -25 point penalty.
- Declining: You can decline the offer. The initial two cards will be cleared, you keep your points, and the game continues normally.
- The Fourth Card: If you successfully find the third card, you are given a second offer to find the fourth and final card for that location.
- Accepting: A successful match awards a +100 point bonus. A failed attempt results in a -50 point penalty.
- Declining: You keep the points from the third-card bonus, and the game continues.
💡 Resources
Players are given a set number of "Hint" and "Peek" plays, which vary based on the selected game size.
| Game Size | Hints | Peeks |
|---|---|---|
| 16 cards | 1 | 0 |
| 32 Cards | 2 | 1 |
| 64 Cards | 3 | 2 |
- Hint: Using a hint will momentarily flip over a potential color match and a potential symbol match from the remaining cards for 2 seconds, helping you locate a pair.
- Peek: Using a peek flips all remaining unmatched cards face-up for 4 seconds, allowing you to study the board before they flip back.
🏁 End of Game
The game concludes in one of two ways:
- All Cards Matched: The player successfully matches every card on the board. A final modal displays the score, total time, and accuracy percentage.
- No More Possible Matches: If the remaining cards on the board cannot form any valid pairs in any of the three match modes, the game ends prematurely. The remaining cards are revealed, and the final score is shown.
📊 Statistics
The game tracks the following statistics, visible on the sidebar or in the mobile stats panel:
- Attempts: The number of pairs you have flipped.
- Matches: The number of successful matches you have made.
- Accuracy: The ratio of matches to attempts, calculated as (Matches / Attempts) * 100.
- Time: A running clock of the current game's duration.