This page contains rules errata, variant rules, and other alternate ideas for how to play Mangaka and Cartooner!
August 2018 – Currently we have updates for the Mangaka rules (see below). We’ll update the Cartooner rules if we find any errors or things in need of adjusting!
MANGAKA RULES ERRATA (RULEBOOK)
BREAKING FAME TIES (page 8): When players are tied for Fame, such as when picking Trend Cards at the start of rounds 2-4, it’s necessary to pick one player to break the tie. The rules, and several Trend Cards, say that the youngest player wins. This rule was developed while playtesting with mixed groups of tween, teen and adult players, to give an edge to the younger players, but in all-adult groups it can come across as ageist. We thus recommend the method used in the Cartooner rules: break ties by playing rock-paper-scissors or whatever other random method the players agree on.
DECIDING WHO READS FIRST (page 9): Feel free to decide who reads first by playing rock-paper-scissors or whatever other random method the players agree on. Reading first doesn’t give you any advantage or disadvantage anyway.
TIPS ON THEMES (page 11): If everyone agrees on it, feel free to accept puns when determining if a player expressed their Themes! The main point is to have fun and reward clever storytelling.
MANGAKA RULES ERRATA (CARDS)
BLUE-COLLAR (trend card): To make this card harder, change the 2nd condition to “mentioning the local minimum wage (must be accurate)”
OTAKU (trend card): The intention of the card is that a player only gets a maximum of 3 extra Fame (plus another 2 Fame if they have a nerdy Theme), but they can give 2 extra Fame to as many other players as they want by mentioning those comics. If a player mentions another player’s comic more than once (i.e. “Dragon Ball! Dragon Ball!” instead of just “Dragon Ball!”) the other player still only gets 2 Fame. Basically, you can be generous and mention everyone if you want, but you don’t get more Fame for it than if you’d mentioned a single other player.
CONTINUITY (trend card): Each player can only get a maximum of 2 Fame from this card for introducing & naming a new character. (More new characters don’t mean more Fame.) However, if they named characters in previous rounds, they get 1 Fame per name for repeating those names here, with no maximum. The more characters you named in previous rounds, the more potential Fame you can get from this card. To make this card more powerful, give each player 2 Fame, instead of 1, per named character who reappears from previous rounds.
SCIENCE FICTION and FANTASY (trend cards): If both these cards are in play in the same round, the player who uses the most original made-up words gets 10 Fame.
INSIGHT (trend card): A thought balloon with words in it is both a thought balloon *and* a Word Balloon, so it counts against the player’s maximum of 3 Word Balloons per round. (Unless the person is thinking of a sound effect.)
INSPIRATION (trend card): The intention of this card is that the player with the least Fame draws (2+number of players) Themes and divides them up among all the players however they want, as long as everyone gets at least one. If you end up with 4 or more Themes, you can get 4 or more Fame each round by expressing these Obsessions. (So it can be good, not bad, to end up with more Obsessions!)
PLAYING MANGAKA WITH KIDS (UNDER AGE 12)
Mangaka is recommended for ages 12 and up, but parents, teachers and adult supervisors may find it appropriate for younger players by changing the rules slightly and eliminating some of the cards. The following are our suggestions, but it’s up to each group or family to read the game carefully before playing and decide what cards are or aren’t appropriate for your group.
RULES CHANGES: Play Mangaka according to the normal rules, except, during Round 4 only 3 Trend Cards are in play. (The player with the lowest Fame draws 4 Trend Cards and chooses 3.)
TREND CARDS: Due to complicated rules or adult subject matter, we suggest removing the following Trend Cards: Horror, Violence, Product Placement, Fickle Trend (both copies), Subtlety.
THEME CARDS: Due to adult subject matter, we suggest removing the following Theme Cards: Guns, Blood & Gore, Crossdressing, Religion, Conspiracy Theories, Military Hardware, Moé, Superhuman Resistance to Pain, Saké, Prescription Drugs, Kyûdô, Military Uniforms
FOR AN EVEN EASIER GAME: Eliminate the limit on Word Balloons and the reward of 2 Fame for drawing 3 or less Word Balloons.