0. Presentation

You are a producer in a pop-idol production company.
Your job is to create a good company, to tempt newidols to come your way, and create an ultimate idolunit; your ﬁnal goal being a concert in the Dome.
But it’s not that easy. All new idols have preferenceson what company to be a part of, and if you don’t fulﬁll
their requirements, they’ll run to your rivals! So you
have to use your money wisely to employ good staff, buy
good equipment and also, simply be a known production company that they want to be a part of.
And once you have the contracts, you still need to ﬁnd
work for them, or your company simply won’t make itﬁnancially.
The game goes on until one player has succeeded toget a concert in the Dome. At that point, the player withthe most victory points is the winner.

1. Components

This game consists of the following components:• 114 Game cards distributed as follows:• 25 Idol cards• 6 Event cards• 16 Studio cards• 16 Staff cards• 16 Fame cards• 25 Work cards• 5 order cards• 5 reference cards• 24 stocks• 85 paper money bills distributed as follows:• 20 ”10 AG”• 15 ”50 AG”• 35 ”100 AG”• 15 ”500 AG”• 1 Money stand• Instruction booklet (this)Idol ProjectGame design: Masayuki Kudoh (ArcLight)
Developpment: Yusuke Gotoh, Nekomaru, Jun’ichi Itoh, Yoshitoh Furuta, Naoki Kubouchi
Art direction: Kazuna Shizukuishi
Graphic design: BEE-PEE (Shingo Naitoh)
Box cover art: Poyoyon Rock
Card art (kana order)
Ishigaa
Kinoshita Ichi
Kusaka SoujiCOMTANatsuki Koko
NishidaHayase Akira
Fujii Rino
Poyoyon RockMatoki Misa
Minase Rin
Miyasu Risa
Yamadori Ofuu
RuchiePresented by: Arclight, Inc.
English translation: Simon Lundström

2. The cards• 2–1 Idol cards
The Idol cards are the core of the game. Each card displays 1 pop idol.

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1. Name The name of the idol.
2. VP Victory Points.
3. Upkeep The amount of money
the player must pay each round tokeep her in the company.
4. Preferences. The idol will
run to the company that has the3 4
highest value in her preferences.
The 2nd preference is in the caseof a tie for the 1st.
5. Idol skills. How well the idol
6 7 5
performs as an idol. There are 4
types of idol skills, each represented by an icon:

Singing Looks

DancingActing

6. Special effect. The effect the idol has on the company. Some idols positively or negatively affects thecompany just by belonging to it. For example, Hikari
Kagawa lowers the Fame of the company by 1.
7. Flavour text. Doesn’t inﬂuence the game.
• 2–2 Event cards
Events are happening or accidents
that the players have to cope with.
They’re mixed together with theIdol cards.
1. Name. The name of the event.
2. Effect. Whatever happens
when this event is drawn. If anevent is drawn at the start of aturn, it’s resolved immediately.

12• 2–3 Work cards
The work the idols can do.
1. Name. The name of the work.
2. VP. How many Victory points
this work is worth.
3. Gage. How much the company
is paid for the work.
4. Required skill. How much34
total skill your idol(s) must have inorder to perform this work. If you
have several idols in your company, you can let them do the work together and add
up their total skill.

12• 2–4 Dome concert cards
Dome concert cards are a speciﬁc kind of work cards. They’re
not mixed in with the other workcards; instead they’re dealt one
to each player at the start of thegame. The requirements of the ﬁvedome concert cards vary. Whenany player manages to perform thedome concert, the game ends andvictory points are calculated.
Some dome concert cards have a speciﬁc icon without
the white background on the skill requirements area.
These should only be taken into account in a 3 player
game, i.e. in a 3 player game, it’s slightly more difﬁcult
to perform the dome concert.
Each dome concert card also has a speciﬁc starting
bonus, stated at the bottom left of the card. When thedome concert cards are dealt at the start of the game,each player will also receive this bonus.

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• 2–5 Studio cards
These represent how much studioequipment your company has.
1. Name. ”Equipment” or”Deluxe equipment”.
2. Cost. How much money itcosts to buy.
3. Increment. How much yourcompany’s Studio value increases
with this card.
• 2–6 Staff cards
These represent how much staff
your company has.
1. Name. ”Staff member” or ”Superior staff member”.
2. Cost. How much money itcosts to employ this guy.
3. Increment. How much yourcompany’s Staff value increases
with this card.
• 2–7 Fame cards
These represent how famous yourcompany is as an idol production.
1. Name. ”Magazine ad” or ”TVcommercial”.
2. Cost. How much money thisad/commercial costs.
3. Increment. How much yourcompany’s Fame value increases
with this card.
• 2–8 Stock cards
These give a small
income each round.
You can own as many as
you wish, but you may
only buy one per round.
When you sell yourstocks, you have to sell
all stocks you have.

• 2–9 Turn order cards
The player order is auction out at the beginning of eachturn. These cards are used to keep track of the turnorder.
• 2–10 Reference cards
One side of these cards is a quick reference of the different phases in each turn. The other side is a safe; players are supposed to keep their money hidden beneath
this card throughout the game.

3. Preparations – Game setup

Setting up the game consists of placing all the different
cards in stacks in the middle of the table so that all canreach them. Each player should have enough room
before him to keep a fair amount of cards, as his company will gain more and more cards during the gameand these will have to be visible at all times. The area
in which a player keeps his cards and money is called is”ofﬁce”.
• Set up the idol card stackShuffle all the Idol cards and Event cards into one deck
and place it face down. This is the ”idol deck”. Reveal
the top card; if this is an Event card, then return it tothe deck and reshuffle. Repeat until the revealed card isan Idol card. Place the revealed card on top of the deck.
• Studio, Staff and Fame deck
Shuffle the Studio, Staff and Fame cards separately,and place them face down beside each other. These are
the studio deck, staff deck and fame deck respectively.
• Set up the Work card stackShuffle all the work cards except the Dome concert
cards and place in a face-down pile. This is the ”workdeck”.
• Stock cards, paper money, turn order cards.
Keep the stock cards in a pile for themselves, sort thepaper money according to value, and let the turn ordercards lie easily accessible. Naturally, you’re only using
as many turn order cards as there are players in thegame.
• Deal the starting set to each player
Each player receives 1000 AG, and a reference card (tohide the money beneath). Money in this game is a hidden trackable.
Then shuffle the Dome concert cards and deal one
to each player. For less than 5 players, cards number 53
is not used and in a 3-player game, where will be one
surplus Dome concert card. Put them back in the box.
Each Dome concert card (except no 53) has a starting
bonus stated at the bottom left; an ”Equipment”, ”Staffmember” or ”Magazine ad” card or 500 AG. See to thateach player gets his starting bonus.

4. Flow of the gameThe game consists of a number of ”rounds” that arerepeated until the game ends. Each round consists of
8 phases, that are resolved in order. For details, pleaserefer to the ”phase details” later in the rules.
1) Round preparation
New Studio, Staff and Fame cards are drawn. New workcards are drawn. Idol deck is resolved.
2) IncomeEach player gets 300 AG plus any extra from theirstocks.

3) Selling stocks
Players decide if they want to sell their stocks or not.
4) Turn order auction
The turn order for the next phase is auctioned out.
5) Activity
In card order, players do their activity: Buying a stock
card or not, and then do 1 activity action.
6) Idol employ
The current idol runs to her favourite company.
7) Upkeep
All players pay the upkeep for their idol(s).
8) Transfer
In card order, players may kick or transfer their idol(s).

6-3 Selling stocks

5. Game end and victory

6-4 Turn order auction

If any one player manages to do the Dome concert
during the Activity phase, the game ends immediately.
The game also ends if the Studio, Staff, Fame or Workdecks are depleted.
When the game ends, each player calculates how
many VP (Victory Points) he has. The player with themost VP wins. In case of a tie, the player with the mostidols wins. If it’s still a tie, money is the tiebreaker.

6. Phase details
6-1 Round preparation

Preparing the central area for the round.
• Studio, Staff and Fame deck
Turn over the top card in each deck and place it besideits draw pile. These are the cards available this round. If
there are cards left from the previous round, first placethem face down at the bottom of their draw pile.
• Work deck
Draw the top 3 Work cards and line them up beside thedraw pile. These are the works available this turn. If
there were work cards left from the previous round, firstput them back randomly face down at the bottom of theWork pile.
• Stock cards
Place out as many stock cards as there are players minus one. (3 if there are 4 players etc) If there were stockcards left from the previous round, first put them backin the pile.
• Idol deck
Take the top, face up idol card and place it beside thestack. This is the round’s current idol, that will beemployed during this round’s employ phase. Then turnover the top card of the idol deck and place it on thedeck. This is the ”upcoming” idol that will enter thegame the next round. If the revealed card is an event
card, immediately resolve the event, then put it into thegame box (it’s out of the game) and reveal the next cardfrom the idol deck. Repeat until you reveal an idol. Put
the idol, face up, on top of the idol deck so that all can
see and perhaps this round prepare for the next.

6-2 Income

Each player receives 300 AG plus 20 AG per Stock cardthey have in their possession, from the bank. Bank money is considered an unlimited supply.

As no one owns stocks the first round, this phase isskipped.
In card order, players decide whether or not to sell
their stocks. A player who decides to sell must sell all
his stock cards; he can’t just sell some of them. The
more stock cards a player has, the more he gets percard, see chart below. The sold stock cards are returnedto the central area.
Selling 1 stock: 200 AG
Selling 2–3 stocks: 250 AG per card
Selling 4–5 stocks: 300 AG per card
Selling 6 or more: 350 AG per card

Turn order cards are now collected, and the turn orderfor the next phase will be auctioned out. This auction isa crucial part of the game.
The player who was first the previous round starts thebidding. For the first round, do a rock-paper-scissors todecide who bids first.
The first bid must be at least 10 AG. In clockwise order around the table, players may then either raise thebid by at least 10 AG or pass. To raise, the player mustof course have enough money. This goes on until all but
one player has passed.
A player who passes takes the round card with thehighest number of those cards not already taken. Hepays no money, even if he had done a bid before he passed. Players who get card number 4 or 5 gets a consolation bonus of 50 AG from the bank.
The last player left pays the current bid to the bankand gets the remaining card number 1. The money hepays represents how much money the company spent
on being everywhere at the same time and getting infirst at important moments. He will be first during theactivity phase, and he also gets to do 2 company activities.

6-5 Activity

In card order, players choose their activity. The firstplayer will have many options, whereas the last player
usually has none.
• Buy a Stock card or not
First, the player may buy a Stock card if there are anyleft. There is no limit as to how many Stock cards aplayer may own, but a player may only buy 1 Stock card
per round. As the number of available Stock cards eachround is one less than the number of players, it often
happens that there are no Stock cards left for the lastplayer. It may also happen that the game runs out ofStock cards (it’s an intentional limited supply).
• Company activity
After any Stock buying, the player may take 1 of the following 4 actions:1) Invest in Studio, Staff or Fame
2) Prevent investments
3) Send idols to work
4) Earn cash (not available for first player)

1) Invest in Studio, Staff or Fame
The player may buy one of the three investments andadd to his company. The required money is paid to thebank. There is no limit as to how many cards of eachtype a player may have. No new card is drawn at thispoint to replace the bought card(s), which means thatthe third, fourth and fifth player usually cannot invest
in anything.
2) Prevent investments
If the player doesn’t have money enough to invest, but
wants to prevent the other players from investing, hemay simply put one of the investment cards back in its
pile, face down at the bottom.
3) Send idols to work
If the player has one or more idols whose skill total isequal to or larger than the requirements of any of theface up Work cards, he may gain the corresponding
Work card (place it in his office). The Work card earns
the player some VPs and also some (small amount of)
cash from the bank.
If the player has enough idols to perform the Domeconcert, this is the timing in which he does so. If that
happens, the game ends immediately and VP is calculated.
4) Earn cash
If you are short of money or have no other options, you
can always choose to do some standard studio work andearn some cash. This will net you 200 AG. However, theplayer with card number 1 may not do this activity; he’s
expected to do better than this.
First player activity bonus
As mentioned before, the first player may, after havingbought one stock or not, take two of company activities
1–3. He’s not allowed to take activity 4 (earning cash),
but he may take the same activity twice, except sending
idols to work, which may only be done once.

6-6 Idol employ

During which the current idol is employed.
1) Reveal the masked idol’s identity
If any player has the ”masked idol”, that player may
now choose to reveal her identity (or not). If he does reveal her identity, he simply takes either any of the idols
in another player’s office, or the current round’s idol, or
the idol on top of the idol deck (next round’s idol). The
masked idol is returned to the game box.
If the player chose the idol on top of the idol deck,draw a new card to replace it (if it’s an event, resolve it
immediately and draw a new idol). If he chose the current round’s idol, the phase ends without going to 2).
2) Determine current idol’s company
Check the current idol’s 1st preference. All players add
up their amount in the given preference. If any one
player has a higher amount than everyone else, then hegets the idol. If there’s a tie, check for the idol’s 2nd preference. The idol goes to the one among those who tied
for the 1st and who has highest in the 2nd. If it’s a tie forthe 2nd preference too, the idol gets disillusioned of theidol world and runs off to become a shrine maiden (puther back at the bottom of the idol deck).

6-7 Upkeep

All players now have to pay to the bank the necessaryamount of money to keep their idols. Players must pay
up if they can. Players can not sell stocks at this time.
If a player doesn’t have enough money to pay for all
his idols, he first of all pays as much as he can (all hismoney). Then he checks how many idols he failed topay for, shuffles his idols, fans them out face down andlets the player to his left draw as many as he couldn’t
pay for. He loses these idols, and they’re returned to thebottom of the idol deck.

6-8 Transfer

In card order, players may now choose to either fire one
or several of his idols, or offer them to other players. To
fire an idol, the player has to pay the upkeep fee again,
to the bank, and then return the idol to the bottom of
the idol deck. If another player wants the idol instead,the player can let her transfer. The receiving player has
to pay the upkeep fee to the current player as a transfer
fee. If several players offer to take the idol, the current
player may choose freely who to transfer her to. If noone wants the idol, she can’t be transferred, but she canbe fired (if the player can afford to).

7. Hints and optional rules

The turn order auction is an important part, but don’t
get too carried away – staying behind and saving yourmoney is an important tactic. Being second in turnorder is usually the most economical – try to read youropponents to be the last to pass.
In the base game, the Dome concert VP is geared sothat the player who completes the concert is next tobound to win. For a closer game, try lowering the Domeconcert VP to 10, or even 8!

8. Playing the game in English

The vast majority of the cars in Idol Project are symbolbased, with the card title only in Japanese. The six event
cards have Japanese text needed for the game, and a
few idols have a special effect. However, the idols’ threepreference categories are easily remembered, and moreover all these cards are public information. Thus thegame can be played without any paste-ups of the cards,and with only a crib sheet for reference. For an easy
reference to the six event cards, and for the names andeffects for all idols, please refer to the separate ”Cardtext reference sheet”.

Any questions about the game or its rules can besent to the following e-mail address. We apologize
for being unable to handle game questions via mailor telephone.
Arclight Games Board game section
b-game@arclight.co.jp