Popemobile Presents

Veiled Sky

2–8 Players

A modern table-building card game

The Game

You lead a great house raising five towers of projects. Each round reveals public Veilturn, opens a public mask row, deals cards to everyone, and then runs player turns in seat rotation.

How you win

9 rounds. Build the most impressive set of projects you can, claiming contracts as you go. A tower is crowned when its live top costs 6 or more — height alone does not crown it — and the first house to end a turn holding two crowns takes 3 points. Play continues to the end regardless. Score every printed point in every tower, buried ones included, plus End of Game effects and bonuses. Highest total wins, and it is not always the tallest table.

+3First two
live crowns

ALL VPPrinted points on
every tower card

+3All 4 suits,
≥2 pts each

Setup

Shuffle the 100-card deck.
To begin the game, give First Seat to a random player.
Deal the opening Standing Contracts row face-up.
Deal each player 3 cards and 5 coins.

Public information. Veilturn, the hiring row, mask powers, prices, pots, quality, and turn order are visible. Hands stay private.

A round at a glance

1 · Veilturn: deal one face-up. It hits every seat alike, and takes effect once hiring closes.

2 · Hire: weakest board picks first. The leftmost free mask costs nothing; passing one over costs 2 coins, which stays on it as a pot for whoever takes it.

3 · Deal: everyone draws at once, knowing the round and their masks.

4 · Turns: in seat rotation, one turn per mask you hold.

At round end, every unclaimed contract gains value.

The Four Suits

All 100 project cards play every game. Each suit keeps its own strategic identity.

Arms

Tempo and pressure

Every rung fires on the way up, so climbing Arms is attacking and nothing is wasted when you build over it. The tradeoff is a house that lives on tempo and a poor table.

Works

Flexibility and protection

Planning masks and foundries protect your options, answer interference, and reward careful timing. This suit adapts without specializing in raw income or points.

Trade

Income and scaling

Invest now to earn more across later rounds. A slow start can fund expensive projects and turn spare coins into endgame value.

Commons

Patience and scoring

Long-horizon projects reward a stable, varied house. They support balanced strategies and grow stronger when given time.

The Table

Your builds stand in front of you. Each tower plays its top card only.

The live top. The only card whose ability is playing. At cost 6 or more it is a crown.

The strips, above the rules text

ONCE

Fires once, then it is spent.

WHILE ON TOP

Works only while this card is live.

EVEN IF BURIED

Keeps working under other cards.

Buried cards. Their abilities stop. Their printed points still score.

Your towers

1

2

3

4

5

5 towers at once, 6 with the Farhold mask. Height is capped only by the cost ladder.

The four moves

1Build from empty

Empty plot

→

Empty ground counts as cost 0, so a plot opens with anything up to 3. This one opens at 3.

2Bury below

→

Burying slides a cheaper card of the same suit underneath for half its printed cost — 1 coin. The top keeps playing.

3Build above

→

A dearer card of the same suit lands on top: 3 to 6 is the steepest climb allowed (+3). The old top is buried.

4Sell the top

→

Selling the top returns its full printed cost — 6 coins — and the card beneath it resurfaces and plays again.

What the ladder allows

Empty ground counts as cost 0.
Nothing rises more than 3 in one step.
So cost 6 and up must be climbed to, never founded.
A different suit costs 2 more.
2 build actions a turn, in any mix.
Selling spends none, once a turn.

Your Turn

When the masks are picked, everyone draws — then turns begin.

Income: take 1 coin plus income from your live projects. Resolve the current mask’s start-of-turn power, including any demand.
Build: use up to 2 build actions. Treat an empty plot as cost 0, and never rise by more than 3. Printed price is the base cost for an empty plot or a same-suit Build; Burying a cheaper same-suit project pays half its printed cost, rounded down. A different-suit Build adds 2 coins. Your mask discounts matching-suit builds of its own suit by 1 coin, burying included, and no price falls under 1.
Close: finish free actions and end the turn. At small tables, the next pass through seat rotation uses everyone’s second mask.

Demands. When a demand mask reveals, every other player answers it: pay, or take what it costs you. Payment goes to the mask holder.

Iron Watch2 coins

or lose one build action on your next turn.

Open Hand2 coins

or hand over a card of your choice. An empty hand costs you nothing.

Wallbane3 coins

or lose one build-above on your next turn.

Your options

Each carries its own allowance, shown in brackets.

Build Project 2 per turn — Start a new tower, or add to one you already have — above the live top, or buried below it. A mask discounts builds of its own suit by 1 coin, once however many of that suit you hold, and no price falls under 1.

Sell Project 1 per turn — Take a tower’s top project for its full printed cost. The card beneath is uncovered and triggers again, as if you had just built it. You cannot sell a project you placed this turn. Costs you no build action.

Cycle Card 1 per turn — Discard a card from hand and draw a replacement, at any table size.

Sell Card 1 per round — Discard a card from hand for 2 coins.

A Round in Play

Four players reveal Veilturn, then open a 7-mask hiring row. Ana has the lowest live quality, so she hires first.

1

Free left edge: Ana hires Farhold from the leftmost available slot for free.

2

Skipping costs: Bo takes Iron Watch with two available masks to its left. He pays 4 coins, placing 2 on each skipped mask. If Iron Watch already carried a pot, Bo collects it now.

3

Close hiring: recalculate the lowest-quality eligible seat after every pick. Hired masks leave the row. Unhired masks and their pots stay face-up in order. Refill from the mask deck next round, and shuffle the hired masks only when that deck is empty.

4

Settle Veilturn: if someone hired Bellmouth, that player may double or cancel the revealed event for themselves. It applies as dealt to everyone else.

5

Batch deal: Ana’s and Bo’s masks add their printed draw pips to the table’s deal. Everyone receives the full deal before the first turn.

6

Seat rotation: turns now follow the seats from First Seat. Ana takes hers: income first, then her 2 build actions.

7

A demand lands: Bo starts his turn, and Iron Watch opens before he does anything else. Ana and every other active seat each answer it, one at a time.

8

Answering it: Ana pays the 2 coins, which go to Bo. Cass is short, so she takes the loss instead — one build action fewer on her own next turn. Only then does Bo’s turn open.

Opening the round · Phase 1 of 2

Veilturn

Reveal Veilturn face-up before the hiring row opens. It stays public while the table hires.

Reveal one Veilturn card from the 9-card clock before hiring.
Finish every hire, then settle Veilturn before the batch deal.
Bellmouth may double or cancel it for its holder. It applies as dealt to everyone else.

Bellmouth changes Veilturn for its holder only after hiring closes, so everyone hires with the same public information.

Reading the room

Veilturn and project effects stack normally. When a card face contradicts a general rule, the card face wins.

Opening the round · Phase 2 of 2

The Hiring Row

Shuffle all 12 masks once. Reveal until the row holds the smaller of 12 or this round’s hires + 3.

Players	Hires and row
2–3	Two masks per seat; row = hires + 3
4–8	One mask per seat; row = hires + 3

Hiring order and price

Among seats that still need a mask, lowest live quality hires next. Ties follow rotation from First Seat.
The leftmost available mask is free. To take another, pay 2 coin onto each available mask skipped to its left.
When you hire a mask, collect its pot and remove it from the row. Unhired masks stay face-up in order. Refill from the deck next round; shuffle the hired masks only when the deck is empty.

Cheap choices stay left. Expensive choices fund the masks everyone passed.

Why hiring order matters

Falling behind buys position: the lowest live quality chooses first, so the leader hires from what the table leaves — and every skip fee you pay lands in a pot a rival may collect.

Veilturn

One is dealt face-up before hiring. It settles after hiring closes, when Bellmouth may double or cancel it for its holder.

The City Opens Both Hands Every player gains 2 coins on their turn this round.

One Last Kindness Every player gains 1 coin on their turn this round.

No Stone Sleeps Every card costs 1 coin less to build this round, never below 1.

The Hungry Quarter One suit is drawn as this event is dealt; its cards cost 2 less this round, never below 1.

The Veil Gives Back Before the round’s deal, anyone holding fewer than 3 cards draws up to 3.

First Stone’s Free Every player’s first build this round pays them back 2 coins.

The Rail Collects Every player loses 2 coins on their turn this round, stopping at zero.

After the Music Every card costs 1 coin more to build this round.

The Price of Air Every card costs 2 coins more to build this round.

One for the Veil Every player discards one random card at the start of their turn this round.

Three May Remain Nobody may hold more than 3 cards this round: the excess is discarded at the start of that player’s turn.

The City Holds Its Breath Top built cards pay no coin income this round. Turn income is untouched.

The Foundations Wake Every same-suit card built onto one of your own credits 1 coin more of the one beneath it this round.

The Sky Demands Tribute Every card built onto one of your own costs 1 coin more this round; building a fresh one costs no more.

Dealt, not chosen

9 sampled from 14; one per round, with no repeats. The game ends after round 9.

Bellmouth’s choice

If Bellmouth was hired, its holder may double or cancel Veilturn for themselves. It applies as dealt to everyone else.

One-round pressure

It applies to every seat for the whole round. Only Bellmouth’s holder may change their own treatment.

Standing Contracts

The public row holds 2 at 2 players, 3 at 3–4, 4 at 5+ — always in play.

Tier I

Groundbreakers Wanted

Four piles founded.

Tier II

Capstone Wanted

A live crown.

Tier III

Ledger in Order

A pile holding four printed costs in a row.

Free to claim

Declare a claim on your own turn once its condition is true. No gold, no build action. First claimant only — it leaves the row for good, plus 2 coins from the bank.

Escalation

Every unclaimed contract gains +1 value at each round’s end, capped at 5 (Tier I), 5 (Tier II), or 6 (Tier III).

Tiered refills

The row refills at round end too. Tier II contracts start appearing from round 4, Tier III from round 7.

The 12 Masks

Draw pips feed the deal. Suit discounts that suit’s builds by 1 coin. Powers last for the round.

Mask	Draw	Suit	Power
Farhold	+0	Arms	Your turn: build on a sixth plot. It stays after the turn ends.WANTED: someone to stand where the map stops. Bring your own fence. The ground you hold, you keep.
Wallbane	+1	Arms	Every rival: pay 3 coins to bank, or skip a build next turn.WANTED: a wrecking foreman. Every rival’s climb waits today, or pays the hazard fee.
Spadelight	+2	Arms	Once per turn: pull the top buried card of one pile into hand.WANTED: a hand for what the Veil gives back. Lantern supplied. Bring it up before it sinks again.
Twinhammer	+0	Works	+1 build action this turn.WANTED: two arms, one wage. The city is due tomorrow and the scaffold is not.
Iron Watch	+1	Works	Every rival: pay 2 coins to bank, or lose a build action next turn.WANTED: a wall with eyes. Every site stops at your palm, unless its fee arrives first.
Borrowed Face	+1	Works	Once per turn: build in a different suit without paying the extra 2 coins.WANTED: a face for every guild. Bring the wrong fitting. Leave with the right permit.
Highcut	+0	Trade	After the deal: choose high or low. Everyone cycles a random card at that cost extreme. You may do this twice.WANTED: a hand to cut high or low. One call turns over every purse at the table.
Open Hand	+1	Trade	Every rival: pay 2 coins to bank, or give you a card.WANTED: collections agent. Coin or goods accepted. Debtor’s choice. Straight face required.
Gilded Throat	+1	Trade	Sell: may target a buried card instead of the top one.POSITION FILLED. Applications accepted anyway. We sell what lies beneath the lot, not what sits on top.
Thousandface	+0	Commons	On reveal: copy any other hired mask (not Bellmouth, not another Thousandface).POSITION UNSPECIFIED. Stand near someone already hired.
Bellmouth	+1	Commons	Close of hiring: double or cancel this round’s event for yourself.WANTED: a mouth for the morning news. Say it twice, or do not say it at all.
Beggar’s Crown	+2	Commons	Once per turn: take the discard’s top card into hand.WANTED: first claim on what the city threw away. Thin coat preferred. Generous terms.

Demands reach every other active seat. Each rival decides separately whether to pay or accept that mask’s alternative cost.

Endgame & Scoring

Sample 9 Veilturn cards from the 14-card almanac to form the game clock. Deal one each round. After round 9, score the game. Every active seat receives the same number of turns.

+3First two
live crowns

ALL VPPrinted points on
every tower card

+3All 4 suits,
≥2 pts each

Score = every printed victory point in every tower, including buried cards, + End of Game effects and bonuses. End of Game effects resolve from anywhere in a tower, even when buried. One-point filler doesn’t qualify a suit for the balanced-build bonus.

Standing Contracts: a claim banks the contract’s current value as score. Tier I 2–5, Tier II 3–5, Tier III 4–6.

Buried projects still score their printed points and End of Game effects.

Ties break by: total points, then quality, then remaining coins.

Turn summary

1 · Reveal Veilturn and hire masks
2 · Deal cards to everyone from the hired masks’ draw pips
3 · Take one turn per mask in seat rotation: +1 coin and income, then up to 2 project placements

Small Tables: Two Masks Each

At 2–3 players everyone hires 2 masks. Both share your coins, hand, and tableau.

Deal one public row. Nothing is removed or passed face-down.
After every hire, recalculate which seat still hiring has the lowest live quality.
Each seat’s masks add their draw pips to the shared batch deal.
Turns run in two passes through seat rotation: everyone’s first mask, then everyone’s second.

Both masks are public, so every player can read the full pair of powers and draw pips.

Two complete turns

At two or three players, every mask grants a complete turn. Basal gold and live project income pay on both turns.

Appendix · Standing Contracts Reference

Every Standing Contract

Every contract’s condition reads only public board or purse state — piles, live tops, and gold on hand. Claim it on your own turn the moment the condition is true.

Tier	Standing Contracts	Requirement
Tier I8 Standing Contracts	Cellar Contract	A pile three cards deep.
	Groundbreakers Wanted	Four piles founded.
	Matching Trades	Three live tops sharing a suit.
	Arms Levy	Three Arms cards in your piles.
	Works Levy	Three Works cards in your piles.
	Trade Levy	Three Trade cards in your piles.
	Commons Levy	Three Commons cards in your piles.
	Fair-Weather Reserve	Hold 8 coins on your turn.

Tier	Standing Contracts	Requirement
Tier II10 Standing Contracts	Foundation Contract	A pile five cards deep.
	Overnight Riser	A crown atop a cost-one foundation.
	Five Plots Cleared	Five piles founded.
	Every Quarter Answers	A live top in every suit.
	Arms Muster	Four Arms cards in your piles.
	Works Muster	Four Works cards in your piles.
	Trade Muster	Four Trade cards in your piles.
	Commons Muster	Four Commons cards in your piles.
	Capstone Wanted	A live crown.
	Storm Reserve	Hold 12 coins on your turn.
Tier III6 Standing Contracts	Bedrock Contract	A pile six cards deep.
	Ledger in Order	A pile holding four printed costs in a row.
	Sixth Plot Contract	Six piles founded.
	Guild in Lockstep	Four live tops sharing a suit.
	Twin Capstones	A crown in two different suits.
	Siege Reserve	Hold 15 coins on your turn.

Claiming: free, declared on your own turn, first claimant only. The claim banks the contract’s current value as score and pays a flat gold rider on top.

Appendix · Reference

Glossary

Quick definitions for the table. Card faces and event cards remain authoritative whenever a specific effect changes a general rule.

Hiring Row	The public mask row. Keep unhired masks face-up in order, then reveal from the mask deck until the row holds the smaller of 12 or this round’s hires + 3.
Mask	A public round power. Its draw pips feed the table’s deal, its suit discounts matching builds by 1 coin, and it grants one turn.
Demand	Wallbane, Iron Watch, and Open Hand ask every other active seat to pay their holder or give something up. Each rival answers separately.
Sell Project	Once per turn, remove the top project from one tower for its full printed cost, minimum 1 coin. The project beneath resurfaces. You may Build its replacement this turn.
Deal	When the masks are picked, everyone draws — then turns begin.
Recover	Move the indicated card from one of your towers to your hand. Recovering is not drawing.
First Seat	The anchor for seat rotation and hiring tie-breaks.
Round	Reveal Veilturn, hire masks, deal cards to everyone, then take turns in seat rotation.
Turn Start	The start of each turn you take. Income pays, then your mask’s start-of-turn power and card effects resolve.
Tower	One plot’s stack of projects. Only its live top supplies Ongoing text and quality; buried cards keep printed points and Victory effects.
Quality	The printed cost of your live tops across five plots.
Build Project	Build a project on an empty plot or above a cheaper tower top. Bury it below a dearer top of the same suit. A Build may rise by at most 3 printed cost; an empty plot counts as 0. Starting a tower and a same-suit Build use the card’s printed price as their base; Bury pays half the printed price, rounded down. A different-suit Build adds 2 coins.
Crowned	A tower whose live top costs 6 or more. A summit must be built onto an existing tower.
Sell Card	Once per round, discard a hand card for 2 coins.
Veilturn	The public round event. Reveal it before hiring; after hiring closes, Bellmouth may double or cancel it for its holder only.
Grand Ascension	The first seat to end a turn with two live crowns gains 3 points. The event clock continues.
Action	Resolves when the project is built, then it is finished.
Ongoing	Works only while the project is the live face of its tower.
Victory	Scores at game end from anywhere in its tower.
Attack / Reaction	Optional modifiers: an Attack affects a rival; a Reaction answers another effect.
Standing Contracts	A public Standing Contract listing; claim it free on your turn once its condition is true for 2 coins plus its current value (2–6, higher tiers unlocking in later rounds)