NOTE: The excellent M.U.L.E. theme was written and programmed by Roy Glover.

There are three versions of M.U.L.E.: Beginner's, Standard and Tournament.  Each version has slightly different rules.

The fastest way to learn is to play the Beginner's game. The next pages of this Guide have screen shots and quick-reading captions to teach you the Beginner's game FAST.

To pause the game, see your Command Summary for the proper pause key. To start again, hit the space bar a second time. This is especially useful for playing and trying to read this Guide at the same time.

  Reference The Reference Card has details of how to boot the game disk, and how to select the game version you want and the number of human players.

1. Choosing Your Character MECHTRON      GOLLUMER      PACKER BONZOID                     SPHEROID FLAPPER       LEGGITE       HUMANOID   "You have just chosen to be a Bonzoid." The computer will cycle through 4 different colors. Whoever pushes his joystick button first uses that color throughout the game.   After choosing a color, you will select your character. Point the joystick towards a character, and it will appear in the center of the screen. Push your joystick button to choose it. If you don't want this one, move another character into the center of the screen, and push the joystick button. When you are done, the computer will cycle through the remaining colors for the other players. 2. Summary Report   "You and the other players each start with $1000 in money and $300 worth of Food and Energy -- goods." 3. Land Grant   "You select a plot on the river." The Land Grant is your chance to get one free plot each turn. When the moving square is over the plot you want, push your joystick button. The plot will be highlighted in your color. 4. Deciding What to Produce   "You decide to produce Food on your river land." Your plot of land will flash when it is your turn. Decide what you want to do with your land. Mountains are best for mining Smithore, river land is best for farming for Food and flat land is best for producing Energy. 5. Outfitting Your M.U.L.E.   "You outfit a M.U.L.E. to produce Food." When you push your button, the town zooms into view. Go into the corral, get a M.U.L.E., and take him to any outfitting shop. When the time bar runs out, your turn ends regardless of what you are doing. 6. Installing Your M.U.L.E.   "You are about to install your M.U.L.E." To install a M.U.L.E., lead him out of town to your plot of land. Push your joystick button when your character is directly over the house. If you miss you'll hear a beep. Try again. When installed, your M.U.L.E. turns into a production symbol. Your property is ready to produce Food, Energy, or Smithore. 7. Wampus Hunting   "You still have time left. Can you catch the Wampus?" The Wampus lives in caves in the mountains. When he opens his door, his bell rings and a light flashes. If you catch him, he will pay you to let him go. To catch the Wampus you have to be outside of town, without a M.U.L.E. Then, when you see his light, jump on him. Good hunting! 8. The Pub   Going into the Pub is an automatic way to win money. But it also ends your turn. The more time remaining, the more you will win. 9. Random Events   "You can't really plan for 'random events' like Planetquakes, Acid Rain and Pest Attacks but they happen every turn." 10. Production   "Your river land produced 5 units of Food." Production happens automatically; you just watch your land produce. Each little box that appears on the left side of your land represents one unit. 11. The Store   There is a Store in the game, played by the computer. During the Auction, the Store buys and sells Food, Energy and Smithore. It starts out with 16 units of Food, 16 units of Energy and no Smithore. After that, the number of units it has to sell depends on what the players buy and sell. 12. Player Status    "You have a surplus of Food." There are three Auctions each round, one each for Smithore, Food and Energy. Each auction starts by showing your "Status" in that good. A line grows and shrinks to show how much you started with, how much you used, how much spoiled, and how much you produced during you last turn.   A "critical line" tells you if you have a shortage or a surplus for your next turn. (Except for Smithore which is not "critical for survival.) 13. Declaring   "You declare yourself to be a Seller in the Food auction." Push your joystick up or down to declare whether you are a Seller or a Buyer. You can change back and forth as often as you wish until the Declare timer runs out. Hint: If you have a surplus, you should sell it (your character will automatically jump to the SELL position). If you have a shortage, BUY! 14. The Auction Begins   "You are a Seller, and you lower your price to $40 per unit." The auction starts with the sellers on the top of the screen and the buyers on the bottom. Now the units row shows the number of units traded during the auction, instead of the number of units owned by each player. Sellers move down to lower their prices. Buyers move up to raise their bids. Dashed lines indicate the highest bid and the lowest price among all four players. All characters can move at the same time, racing to buy and sell before the auction timer runs out. 15. Trading   "You make a transaction." When the Buy Line and the Sell Line meet, the Buyer and the Seller start flashing. Trading begins, one unit at a time. As trades are made, the Buyer's money decreases, the Seller's money increases, and player's Units Traded increase. Either player can stop trading at any time, simply by moving away from the line. Otherwise trading continues until the Seller runs out of extra product, or the Buyer runs out of money. 16. Summary Report (Again)   "After your first turn, you are losing, but not by much." The Summary Report shows your points, or "Net Worth," after each round. Don't feel bad if you're in last place now. The losing player gets some advantages. For instance, if you and another player both try to get the same piece of land during the Land Grant, you will get the land. And if you and another player both try to Buy or Sell at the same price, you will get to make the trade, even if he or she is also on the trading line. 17. Transferring M.U.L.E.s   Later in the game, you can move M.U.L.E.s that you have installed. You can even take them back into town and re-outfit them for a different type of production. To transfer a M.U.L.E., go to your plot (with or without a M.U.L.E. in tow). When you press your button, the M.U.L.E. you are leading (if any) will be installed and the one previously installed will be following you. You can take the new M.U.L.E. to another plot or you can re-outfit him for a different type of production (by taking him back to town). If you have no other use for the M.U.L.E., return it to the corral for $100. You are now ready to play the Beginner's game of M.U.L.E. The game will last 6 rounds. Whoever has the highest value, or "Net Worth," at the end will be the winner, the "First Founder."

BONZOID                     SPHEROID

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