Jane Austen’s Matchmaker

About this board game

Jane Austen’s Matchmaker is a card game for 3–6 players that takes about 30 minutes, inviting players to compete in a lively matchmaking society.

Place your Ladies into Society, then propose to other players’ Ladies with your Gentlemen. Some proposals bring love and happiness, others promise financial prosperity, and some are merely shallow seductions. Whatever the outcome, your goal is to ensure your characters come out on top.

Each proposal is shaped by Charm. If a Gentleman’s Charm is lower than the Lady’s, his player must discard cards to make up the difference. Additional cards can be discarded to make an even stronger impression. If the Lady accepts, the players exchange characters, and the player with the higher Wealth draws cards equal to the difference.

A declined proposal sends the Gentleman back to his player’s hand to improve his manners, although the Lady may need to pay cards to counter the Charm offensive. Declining a proposal from a Gentleman with higher Rank earns additional cards, creating another way to benefit from resisting an unsuitable match.

• Manage Ladies in Society and Gentlemen in hand.
• Balance Charm, Wealth, Rank, and card discards.
• Gain an extra “go” if you begin your turn with more Ladies in Society than anyone else.

This extra turn can help you dominate the matchmaking scene, but it may also attract your rivals’ ire. Protect your Ladies carefully without leaving them on the shelf, because unwed characters can hurt your final score.

When the deck runs out, Jane Austen’s Matchmaker ends. Players total the Virtue of their married characters, then subtract the Virtue of their old maids—Ladies left unwed in Society. The player with the highest Virtue total wins.