Daxu Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Objective
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1. Reveal Three Cards
  • 2. Choose an Action
  • 3. Resolve Actions
  • 4. Move the Reputation Marker
  • Example
• End of the Game
• Scoring
  • 1. Shops
  • 2. Reputation
  • Example of Scoring

Components

• 54 shop cards – 9 cards each of Baker, Rice Wine Maker, Carpenter, Basket Weaver, Silk Merchant, and Tea Merchant
• 1 game board
• 2 reputation markers
• 1 tie-breaker card
• 8 player action cards
• 4 reference cards

Objective

Daxu is a game about collecting sets of cards in six different trade areas. Each round, several cards are revealed, and players choose whether to keep the cards for themselves or give them to their opponent.

If you expand too aggressively in one area, your customers become dissatisfied, and your opponent scores points instead of you. So unlike other set-collection games, the smaller the margin by which you beat your opponent in a set, the more points you score.

At the end of the game, reputation and the number of shops determine the best shopkeeper.

Setup

1. Place the game board on the table between the two players.
2. Each player chooses a color. Players take a reputation marker and a set of four action cards in their chosen color. Place the reputation markers on the zero space in the center of the game board.
3. Shuffle all the shop cards and place them face down in a stack next to the game board. Remove the top two cards from the deck.
4. Players draw eight cards and place them below the game board on their side. (During setup, ignore all reputation values printed on the cards.)
5. Both players take a reference card listing the available actions and place it in front of them.
6. Place both scoring reference cards next to the game board.
7. The player who lost the last game takes the tie-breaker card.

Gameplay

The game is played in rounds. Each round, three cards are revealed and placed next to the deck.

A round consists of four phases:

1. Reveal Three Cards

The top three cards of the deck are placed face up next to it.

2. Choose an Action

Players each choose one card from their hand and place it face down in front of them.

• Give – Your opponent gets all the cards.
• Take – You get all the cards.
• Cooperate – Accept your opponent's action and gain 1 reputation.
• Undermine – Perform the opposite of your opponent's action and lose 1 reputation.

3. Resolve Actions

Both players reveal their cards simultaneously and carry out their actions.

Cards you receive are placed on your side of the board, in the matching spaces below the game board.

If one player chose Cooperate and the other chose Undermine, the player who chose Undermine decides who receives the cards.

If both players chose the same action, only one of them actually carries it out:

• Both choose Give – The player with the lower reputation* receives all the cards.
• Both choose Take – The player with the higher reputation* receives all the cards.

*If both players have the same reputation, the player holding the tie-breaker card decides who receives the cards. The tie-breaker card is then handed to the other player.

• Both choose Cooperate – Flip over 1 more shop card. Players choose an action again from all the revealed cards.
• Both choose Undermine – The process repeats until one of them receives the cards.

4. Move the Reputation Marker

Some cards you receive or play affect reputation. Move the reputation marker according to the symbol on the cards: some cards raise reputation by 1, others lower reputation by 1.

Note: If both players chose Cooperate or both chose Undermine in the same round, reputation changes only according to the last action chosen.

Important: The reputation marker cannot go past the ends of the track. If a card or a chosen action would push it past the end, the marker stays where it is.

Example

1. Three cards are revealed from the deck.
2. Players choose their action cards. Both choose Undermine against the other player. Nobody receives the cards, and one more card is revealed.
3. Both players take their cards back and play an action again. Brian chose Undermine, and Lucy chose Take. Because Brian chose Undermine, the action opposite to Lucy's Take is carried out.
4. Brian takes all 4 cards and places them on his side of the game board. He loses 1 reputation for the Baker card and moves his marker down the reputation track.
5. Brian also loses 1 reputation for having played an Undermine card.

End of the Game

If you cannot flip three cards at the start of a round, count up the score and determine the winner!

Note: If the cards run out during a round when both players played Cooperate or Undermine, instead of adding a card (there are none left), remove those action cards from the game and play an action card again.

Scoring

At the end of the game, players score points for the majority of cards of each type, and for reputation.

1. Shops

First, players count points for the majority of cards of each type on their side. The number of points scored depends on the difference from the opponent's card count.

For scoring, shops are divided into two categories: some are more loyal, others more valuable.

Baker, Rice Wine Maker, and Carpenter

• Difference of 1 = 4 points
• Difference of 2 = 2 points
• Difference of 3 = 1 point
• Difference of 4+ = the player loses 1 point; the opponent scores 1 point for each card of this type they have

Basket Weaver, Tea Merchant, and Silk Merchant

• Difference of 1 = 5 points
• Difference of 2 = 3 points
• Difference of 3+ = the player loses 1 point; the opponent scores 1 point for each card of this type they have

If both players have the same number of cards, no points are scored for that shop.

After scoring for a shop type, discard all cards from both sides of the game board. Give the player who scored points a number of cards equal to the points scored, forming a face-down stack. Use action cards to mark negative points if the player has no cards left in their stack to discard.

2. Reputation

Finally, players score points for their final reputation value:

Reputation	-7	-6	-5	-4	-3	-2	-1, 0, +1	+2	+3	+4	+5, +6, +7
Points	-7	-6	-5	-3	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	5

Note: Reputation points are also shown by the gold (positive) and black (negative) color of the coins on the reputation track.

After scoring for shops and reputation, the player with more points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player holding the tie-breaker card wins.

Example of Scoring

• Rice Wine Maker: Both players have 4 – no points are scored.
• Carpenter: Lucy has 2, Brian has 6 – Lucy scores 2 points, Brian loses 1 point.
• Basket Weaver: Lucy has 4, Brian has 5 – Brian scores 5 points.