Black Sonata: Strange Shadows — Rules Manual

Black Sonata
by John Kean
Strange Shadows
1-2 players aged 14+ 30 mins
Expansion:

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Components
2
What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
-Sonnet 53
Black Sonata: Strange Shadows includes several expansions that may
be added to the base game. These should work separately or in
various combinations, including with the earlier Fair Youth
expansions. It also includes rules for a two-player variant Cat and
Mouse in which one player is the Dark Lady herself, while the other
is the Historian who seeks to track her down and identify her
before she can flee London.
… and 1 rule booklet
29 poker cards
50 mini Euro cards
2 pawns
These expansions are designed to fit inside the box with
the base game, though it will be a struggle to make them
fit in there with the Fair Youth expansion as well!
11 tokens/tiles

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Four additional fog cards are provided, each with a beneficial effect. You may use these to:
• Increase the size of the fog deck to allow more searches in a game – especially if including the harder Dark Ladies from either expansion, as these may require more clues to solve.
• Replace detrimental fog cards in the base deck to make it more appealing (but still risky) to use fog cards that arise.
• Randomly replace fog cards from the base deck to increase the variety of fog card actions.
This small expansion (3 miniEurocards) allows you to pause the Dark Lady’s flight, potentially letting you catch her.
At the start of the Dark Lady’s turn, if you want her to stay where she is for one turn, simply add a Tarry card to the top of the stealth deck, then continue as normal (moving the top card to the bottom).
When a Tarry card appears on top of the stealth deck during a subsequent pass through the deck, you must immediately flip it over and carry out the instruction on the back, then discard the Tarry card from the game.
Tarry Cards
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Extra Fog Cards

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When devils will the blackest sins put on,
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows
-Othello
Unlike those in the base game or Fair Youth expansion, this
alternative set of Dark Lady cards has no suits, and you must
deduce the Dark Lady’s symbols in their correct order.
Components
•12 Darkest Lady cards
•15 clue cards (with holes)
•5 tokens, numbered 0 to 4
At setup
Use these in place of the Dark Lady cards that came with the
base game.
1. Shuffle the Darkest Lady cards and tuck one face down
under the edge of the board without looking at it. Return
the rest of the Darkest Lady cards to the box.
2. Shuffle the clue cards and place them in a draw pile nearby.
3. Place any two clue cards as a bonus underneath the location
cards, as you would normally do with the clue that matches
the Dark Lady’s suit.
During play
Earn clues as normal. The bonus clues underneath the location
cards may be taken once all locations have been visited, but
The Darkest Ladies
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these clues are not essential to solving the puzzle, so visiting
every location is optional.
Each time you earn a clue you may choose which side of that
clue card to use before testing it.
•One side shows four symbols. When you
test it, the hole will show how many of these
symbols are present on the Darkest Lady card.
•The other side shows three symbols. Here, the
hole will show how many are present on the
Darkest Lady PLUShow many of those are in
the correct position. For example, 2 indicates
either that one symbol is present on the Dark Lady
card in the correct position OR that two of the Dark Lady’s
symbols are shown but they are both in the wrong positions.
To test a clue, place it with the side you wish to use face up. Lay
the Darkest Lady face down on top of the clue and flip them
both over together to reveal the number of matches through the
hole. Then flip the cards back over, tuck the Darkest Lady back
under the board, and use a numbered token to record the
number of matches on the clue card.
When you flip the cards to reveal the number of matches,
don’t forget that the number in the hole refers to the
symbols on the otherside of that clue card!
Game end
To win, you must confront the Dark Lady and have deduced all
three of her characteristics in the correct order.
If you win, add 5 points to your score.
5

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And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out.
-Hamlet
This expansion adds two different types of
stealth card to your deck.
Additional components: 32 miniEurocards
At setup
Shuffle the indirections cards and select any number of them to
substitute into the stealth deck.
After deciding which of the eight
pre-defined sequences to use,
assemble the stealth deck as normal,
but inserting the selected
indirections cards in sequence
instead of normal stealth cards.
The finished stealth deck will
contain a mixture of normal
stealth cards and indirections cards.
Cut the deck as usual.
Indirections cards with compasses
on the back will not work if you
sort the stealth cards in reverse order, nor with the extra
sequences provided at the back of the rule book. However,
the other indirections cards will work correctly.
Indirections
6
Normal stealth cards
Indirections cards

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During play
Indirections cards should be treated exactly the same as the
normal stealth cards. But instead of showing a local landmark of
the Dark Lady’s current location, the indirection cards give two
different types of clue.
Compass symbols show the north-south and east-
west directions travelled by the Dark Lady from
her previous location. For example, this card
indicates she travelled south (towards the lower
edge of the board) and west (to the left) to reach
her current location from the previous.
The other type of indirections card shows the
possible colour of the Dark Lady’s current
location. In this example she is in a red or purple
location (Shoreditch, St Paul’s, Eastcheapor
Southwark).
Game end
At the end of the game, add ½ point to your score for each
indirections card that you added to the stealth deck during
setup.
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When in the chronicle of wasted time
I see descriptions of the fairest wights,
And beauty making beautiful old rhyme
In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights,
Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best,
Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow,
I see their antique pen would have express’d
Even such a beauty as you master now.
-Sonnet 106
The Dark Lady is hiding behind the shield of her heraldic blazon.
To access her you must first deduce the symbols of her blazon.
Additional components
•10 miniEuroblazon cards
•5 shield tiles
At setup
1.Shuffle the blazon cards and place them face down in a pile.
2.Take the top blazon card and without looking at it, place it
face down (shield side down) on top of the Dark Lady card.
You must correctly deduce the four symbols of this blazon
before you are allowed to access the Dark Lady card.
During play
When you search for the Dark Lady, instead of inserting a fog
card into the stealth deck, insert the top card from the blazon
deck, question side up.
Blazonry
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Whenever you encounter a blazon card on a subsequent pass through the search deck, insert a normal fog card underneath it, remove it, and use it as a clue to deduce the Dark Lady’s blazon.
Deducing the blazon
When you collect a blazonry clue, flip it face up and notice the arrow pointing to one edge. Align this card next to the blazon card, with the clue arrow pointing to the blazon card. The arrow will indicate the number of symbols in common between the clue and the hidden blazon.
Once you have sufficient clues, you should be able to deduce the symbols on the blazon and form it from the tokens (with one token left over). You may then flip over the blazon card and check your answer.
•If your guess matches the blazon, you may access the Dark Lady card to complete the game.
•If your guess is incorrect, then the Dark Lady is protected and you lose the game.
Game end
If you win, add 10 points to your score.
9
Dark Lady card
blazonry clue:
has 2 of the
symbols of the
Dark Lady’s
blazon
Dark Lady’s blazon

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With that grim ferryman which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.
-Richard III
The ferry is the quickest way to get around London, allowing
you to travel from any riverside location (marked with the boat
icon) to any other riverside location in one turn, possibly
heading off the Dark Lady as she flees. But this comes at a cost –
the ferryman protects the Dark Lady, preventing you from
searching for her at any riverside location. In addition, you must
collect the location cards in a specific order.
Additional components: 1 ferry token
At setup
1. Return the riverside location cards (Blackfriars, Liberty of the
Clink and London Bridge) to the box. Since these cards are
not used in the game, you cannot search for the Dark Lady
at those locations.
2. Shuffle the remaining location cards before placing them in a
pile on top of the clue card that matches the Dark Lady’s
suit. If using the Darkest Ladies, place the pile on top of the
two bonus clue cards.
3. Place the ferry token at any one of the riverside locations.
The Ferryman
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During play
You must collect each location card in order, one at a time, starting first with the one on the top of the pile, then the next one revealed, and so on. To collect a card you must visit the associated map location with your pawn. You may not use a location card to search for the Dark Lady until you have collected it in this way. As normal, you cannot take the bonus clue card (or cards if you are playing with the Darkest Ladies) at the bottom of the pile until you have collected all the location cards on top of it.
The Dark Lady moves as normal, but the player’s movement is now affected by the river. You may still cross the river via London Bridge, but you cannot cross the river between Blackfriars and Liberty of the Clink without the help of the ferry.
You can use the ferry whenever your player pawn is in the same location as the ferry token. On your turn, you may move your pawn and the ferry token to any other riverside location. This counts as one “move” action. When you subsequently move your pawn away, the ferry will remain there.
If you are at a different riverside location from the ferry, you may use one “move” action to instead summon the ferry to your location. You may then use the ferry during a subsequent turn.
Game end
If you win, add 10 points to your score.
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The cat, with eyne of burning coal,
Now crouches fore the mouse’s hole
-Pericles
This is an asymmetric two-player game of cat and mouse, where
one player is the Dark Lady and the other is the Historian trying
to track and unmask her.
Additional components
•2 Historian pawns
•2 poker cards replicating the map on the board (inverted)
•1 miniEuroDark Lady victory card
•Screen (e.g. box lid)
Aims
•The Historian wins if they can successfully find the Dark Lady
three times to gain three tokens.
•The Dark Lady wins if they can avoid being found for long
enough to declare a visit to every location on the map.
Historian set up
1.Lay out the board and place your two pawns on any two
locations with the same colour.
2.Place the 7 deduction and 4 tracker tokens from the base
game nearby to use as required.
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Cat and Mouse

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Dark Lady setup
1. Arrange the two map cards behind the screen and place your pawn (from the base game) on a location of your choice. The Historian should not be able to see this, but you should be able to see the main board and the Historian’s pawns.
2. Shuffle the location cards and remove one, unseen by the Historian, from the game. Place the remaining ten cards on top of the Dark Lady victory card and behind the screen.
3. Find the 20 stealth cards with letters G to Z in the bottom left corner. Shuffle these together and place them on the table, face down (landmark icons showing) as a draw deck, with space for a discard pile nearby.
4. Place one fog card (2 to favour the Dark Lady player, none to favour the Historian) on top of the draw pile. Then draw the top five stealth cards and spread them on the table as an open hand, visible to both players.
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board with
2 Historian pawns
map cards with
Dark Lady pawn
Historian
Dark Lady
tracker
tokens
discards
open
hand
draw
deck
locations
deduction
tokens

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The players take turns, with the Dark Lady going first.
On the Dark Lady’s turn
The Dark Lady’s turn has two steps.
1. Optionally move your hidden pawn to an adjacent location on the map cards. You do not have to move every turn, but to confuse the Historian you should always pretend to.
2. You must perform one of the following actions:
a. Play the top card from the location deck to the discard pile, if it shows your pawn’s current location.
b. Play one card from your open hand to the discard pile, if it matches your pawn’s current location. Note that fog cards match any location. Draw a card from the draw pile to replenish your hand.
c. Only if you are unable to perform either of the actions above, you may instead discard all stealth cards (but not location cards!) from your hand and replace them from the draw pile.
When the draw deck is depleted, renew it by shuffling the discard pile. In this way, location cards may eventually enter your hand, but these can be played as normal if they match your secret location.
Try to deplete the location deck as quickly as possible to win the game, bearing in mind that each time you play a location card it will reveal exactly where you are.
Watch the cards in your hand and the top card of the draw pile to plan your future moves and avoid being trapped. If you are unable to discard on your turn, the Historian wins!
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On the Historian’s turn
You may use the tracker tokens to mark the Dark Lady’s possible
locations, as in the solo game.
On your turn, the Historian must either:
a. Move one of your pawns to an adjoining location, or
b. Search for the Dark Lady.
To search, place an unused deduction token on a location with
one of your pawns. The Dark Lady player must then say if their
pawn is in that location.
• If it is, place that deduction token on the board in one of
the three deduction spots.
• Otherwise, discard that deduction token from the game.
Regardless of the outcome, the Dark Lady player may flee by
optionally moving her secret pawn up to the number of times
matching the number of deduction tokens on the board. It is
then the Dark Lady’s turn.
Game end
The game ends when either
• the Historian collects three deduction tokens from successful
searches (Historian wins)
• the Historian loses five deduction tokens (Dark Lady wins)
• the Dark Lady depletes their location deck down to the
victory card (Dark Lady wins)
• on their turn, the Dark Lady is unable to play any card to the
discard pile (Historian wins)
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Black Sonata: Strange Shadows
© Side Room Games LLC, 2022
Version: 20230421
Game design by John Kean
Anne Hathaway portrait by Roger Brien Dunn (2010) ©
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, used with permission.
Playtesting and suggestions: Liam Kean, Terry Beyer.
http://www.sideroomgames.com
https://www.facebook.com/sideroomgames
@sideroomgames
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Credits

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