Magical Athlete rules: how to play and how to score

Magical Athlete quick rules

The goal

Each player leads a team of four racers, each with a unique power. The game lasts four races: in each race you send just one racer, and each one races only once. Only 1st and 2nd place score, and the most points after the fourth race wins.

Your turn

At the start, every racer is on the Start space. On your turn, roll your die and move your racer that many spaces: that’s your main move, a term many powers use. Then the player to your left goes. Several racers can share a space, and a racer can move outside its turn because of a power or a special space.

The powers

Read your racer’s power aloud at the start of the race. If it says “I can,” it’s optional; otherwise it’s mandatory, even when it hurts you. When several effects happen at once: racetrack spaces first, then the current player’s power, then the others clockwise. A racer who has finished has no power, and if you’re stuck, the rulebook says to roll off.

Passing, warping, tripping

Passing means starting a move behind a racer and ending it ahead. Warping means putting your token straight onto another space: it isn’t a move, so it passes no one. Tripping means losing your next main move: finish your current move, lay your token down, and on your next turn stand it up instead of rolling.

The two tracks

Mild Mile is a plain track. Wild Wilds adds special spaces that only affect a racer who stops on them: a star space gives a bronze chip worth 1 point, an arrow space moves you the number shown, and a trip space makes you trip. Flip the board after each race: Mild, Wild, Mild, Wild.

The finish

You only need to cross the line, even with an overlong move. The first racer across takes the top gold trophy chip, and the race goes on. As soon as a second racer crosses, they take the silver rosette and the race ends at once. Trophies are worth 3, 4, 4 then 5 points, rosettes 1, 2, 2 then 3.

The next race

Racers who just raced go back in the box, and you flip the board. Everyone secretly picks a new racer, and all are revealed at the same time. The player whose racer finished farthest behind goes first; if a racer was eliminated, the first one eliminated goes first.

The end of the game

The game ends after the fourth race. Everyone adds up their trophies, rosettes and bronze chips, and the highest total wins. There’s no tie-breaker: tied players win together.

With two players

Each player drafts eight racers and sends two per race, with one die each. Before the start, set your two racers in the order they’ll play: that order doesn’t change. On your turn, play the first racer’s whole turn, then the second’s; one racer’s power can affect the other. For the next race, the player who scored less goes first.

Beginner pitfalls

The Start space is a real space: powers work there from the first turn. A bonus or penalty changes how far you move, never the number on the die. Moving zero spaces isn’t a move, and tripping never stops the move in progress. Save your best racers: the last race is worth the most.

How to score Magical Athlete

Trophy or rosette (each race)

The points on the chip you won: gold trophy for 1st place, 3, 4, 4 then 5 points depending on the race; silver rosette for 2nd place, 1, 2, 2 then 3 points. The others score nothing. With 2 players, add your two racers’ chips together.

Bronze chips (each race)

1 point each time you stop on a star space on Wild Wilds, plus points given by a power (Lovable Loser, Sisyphus). Sisyphus loses 1 point on each 6: count it as a minus.

Game end

After the fourth race, the highest total wins. No tie-breaker: a tie shares the victory.

Worked example

Emma wins the trophy in race 1 (3 points), misses the podium in race 2 but stops on two star spaces (2), takes the rosette in race 3 (2), then the trophy in race 4 (5) plus one bronze chip (1): 3 + 2 + 2 + 5 + 1 = 13 points.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting bronze chips: they add to your trophies and rosettes.
• Giving every race the same value: chips are worth more and more, up to 5 points for the last trophy.
• Letting the third racer score: the race ends as soon as the second racer crosses the line.
• Adding the points Sisyphus loses: on each 6, he loses one.

How to set up Magical Athlete

Setup takes about 5 minutes. Prepare the track, draft the teams for your player count (3 to 6, or 2), then start the first race.