Introduction

Beethoven's Battles is a quick-playing 2 player card game based on Beethoven's piano battles that made his name in the late 18th Century. In this game, you will be competing in virtuoso piano duels in 18th Century Vienna to attract the attention of wealthy patrons.

It's a game of out-thinking your opponent, inspired by the old game Undercut (a clever variant of Rock-Paper-Scissors).

How to Play (in brief)

The game is played in a series of rounds, each representing a day of the week where the patrons of the arts in 18th Century Vienna gather to hear up-and-coming virtuoso pianists perform improvisation battles (this is how Beethoven made his name!)

Each round you simultaneously choose a card from your hand, play it to the board, and resolve the outcome. Each card shows the Theme that you have chosen to make your opponent improvise on, and your Response to your opponent's Theme. If you anticipated your opponent's Theme well, you play out your performance counters on the card and on the "Memorable Performances" space.

Anticipating your opponent's plays is the name of the game! In general choosing a complex theme (one with lots of notes) will win you kudos and performance counters, but if you are able to exactly anticipate your opponent's theme and play one slightly less complex (with one fewer notes) the audience will relish the elegance and simplicity and reward you handsomely.

You win if you play out all your performance counters. But your audience have short attention spans - performance counters sitting on cards go back into your pool of performance counters after one week.

The cards themselves also stay out on the board for one week (ie. 5 rounds). While you start with a hand of 10 cards, you'll usually have only 6 to choose from. Your choices will also be informed by what your opponent has on the board - you may be able to take advantage if the opponent has already played out their strongest cards!

Rulebook for Beethoven's Battles