Microscope Abridged Rules

Declare the Focus: The Lens declares the current Focus of the game, the part of history you’re going to explore right now.

1)Make History: Each player takes a turn creating either a Period, Event or Scene. The Lens goes first, then go around the table to the left. What you create must relate to the current Focus. The Lens can choose to create two things on her turn, so long as they are nested inside each other: either a new Event plus a Scene inside that Event, or a new Period plus an Event inside that Period. This gives the Lens more power to get the Focus going.

2)Lens Finishes the Focus: After each player has taken a turn, the Lens gets to go again and add another Period, Event or Scene (or two nested things). This lets the Lens have the last word about the Focus.

3)After all players have addressed the Focus, we take a step back and examine Legacies, elements of the history we want to remember to explore later on. The player to the right of the Lens picks something from play during this last Focus and makes it a Legacy.

5) Explore a Legacy: The same player creates an Event or dictated Scene that relates to one of the Legacies, either the one just created or one already in play.

6) New Lens: The player to the left of the Lens then becomes the new Lens and picks a new Focus. Repeat.