Forbidden Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Object
• 2. Equipment
• 3. Setup
• 4. Play
• 5. Sets
• 6. Forbidden and Royal Cards
• 7. "Cheng"
• Scoring
• 8. Next Deal / Winning
  • "Fast" FORBIDDEN Version
  • TWO PLAYER RULES
• Quick Start Rules – learn to play FORBIDDEN in two minutes

1. Object

The object of FORBIDDEN is to be the first player to score 200 points. Points are scored at the end of each round of play. The first player to complete and lay down his hand ("Cheng") scores a bonus. All players earn points for their sets of numbered cards. Forbidden cards multiply the score of the Cheng player, but penalize those caught with them in hand. Royal cards enhance scoring, as can the "Treasure Chest" if won.

2. Equipment

The game has 104 cards and a red "Treasure Chest" envelope. The deck includes these cards:

• 4 Scoring cards
• 84 Number cards
• 9 Forbidden cards
• 7 Royal cards

Number Cards, including a "Yin Yang" (6 or 9) and Scoring Card are shown as illustrations.

• The Number cards are divided evenly into three suits: Red, Green and Black. Within each suit are four each of cards numbered 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and four special "Yin Yang" cards, each of which can represent either a "6" or a "9" in its color suit.

• Forbidden cards: Forbidden cards are all identical and are not part of any colored suit.

• Royal cards: These include the Emperor, Empress, Monkey, Rooster and three Wild cards. Each has a distinct purpose, which is explained on the card itself, and in Section 6. The Treasure Chest Envelope is shown as an illustration.

The twelve animals pictured amongst the cards are from the Chinese Zodiac.

3. Setup

Choose a dealer who now shuffles and offers a cut to the player on the right.

• Each player takes a Scoring Card for reference.
• The dealer deals a hand of 13 cards to each player, including himself.
• Before looking at his hand, the dealer deals two more cards, face down, and places them sight unseen inside the Treasure Chest envelope, then places the envelope, crosswise, under the Draw pile (the remainder of the deck) in the center of the table.
• The player to the dealer's left has the first turn. The player on his left has the next turn, etc. Play continues until one player "Chengs" by laying down his entire hand.

The setup diagram shows hands for Players A, B, C and D around the table, a discard pile for each player (A's, B's, C's and D's Discard Pile), and the Draw Pile with the Treasure Chest envelope below it in the center.

Note the areas in the picture where each player's Discard pile will be located.

4. Play

• A player starts his turn by taking the top card from the draw pile, or–if it can be used to form a SET–the top card from any opponent's discard pile (never one's own).
• A player who claims an opponent's discard must first place it in front of himself, then add the cards from his hand to complete the set. (The discard so taken must never be placed in one's hand.) This is the only opportunity to lay down a set prior to the end of the round.
• A player ends his turn by discarding one card face up onto his own discard pile.

Question: Can I claim the top discard from more than one opponent's pile if I can use all within the same new set? Answer: YES! They must be used in the same set. For example, you have the Red 3 in hand. One opponent just discarded the Red 2 and another discards the Red 4. You take them both and lay down a Red 2, 3, 4 Sequence.

Question: Can I claim a Forbidden card atop an opponent's Discard pile? Answer: YES – see Section 6 on how to do so.

Question: Can I claim a Royal card atop an opponent's Discard pile? Answer: NO, never.

5. Sets

Number cards have one purpose–to be organized into sets of a common color.

Illustrations: Three of a Kind ("Pung"), Four of a Kind ("Kong"), A Sequence ("Chi").

• A THREE OF A KIND ("Pung") or FOUR OF A KIND ("Kong") are cards of the same color and number–like Black 7, 7, 7 or Green 4, 4, 4.
• A SEQUENCE ("Chi") is 3 or more cards of the same color in numerical order–like Red 4, 5, 6 (in this example the Yin Yang card included is turned to represent a 6.)
• Sets may never be of mixed colors. However, three of the cards are "Wild" cards. Any one of these (but only one) may be used to substitute for a card needed to complete a set. See Section 6.

Question: Can I use two or more Wild cards in a set? Answer: NO, only one may be included in a set.

6. Forbidden and Royal Cards

FORBIDDEN cards perform three roles in play: they can "block" an opponent's desire to claim a discard; they multiply your score if you lay down your hand first ("Cheng"); they cost you points if an opponent is the Cheng player.

Illustration: Forbidden Card.

• Blocking Opponent's discards

  If an opponent wishes to claim the top discard from another player's pile (including your own), you may block his attempt by calling out "That's Forbidden!" and place your Forbidden card crosswise atop its pile. If you block in time, the opponent must return the discard to its pile. This player loses his turn and as a result makes no discard of his own.

  Question: How much time do I have to decide to do this? Answer: Not much. You must call out and show your Forbidden card BEFORE the opponent reveals, from his hand, the cards needed to complete the set. Remember, he must first take the discard and place it in front of himself. (If he tries to rush by playing the cards from his hand first, and then adding the discard, you have until the next player begins his turn to block his play, forcing him to return the cards to his hand and then discard to its pile!)

  Question: What if two players try to block at the same time? Answer: The one closest to the active player's left completes the block. The other is denied.

  Question: What if a player wants to claim 2 or 3 discards, which pile do I block? Answer: You block the one closest to his left.

  IMPORTANT! A discard pile containing a crosswise Forbidden card may not be blocked again. This means you can no longer prevent an opponent from claiming a card atop its pile.

• Claiming Forbidden cards

  A Forbidden card atop an opponent's Discard pile may be claimed at the start of your turn, no matter if normally discarded or placed crosswise to block the pile.

  Question: If a blocking Forbidden card is claimed, can the pile be blocked once more? Answer: YES!

  Forbidden cards discarded normally are not turned crosswise. Whenever you claim a Forbidden card, you do not add it into your hand. You must keep it face up, nearby, on the table, where it must remain for the rest of the round.

7. "Cheng"

CHENG means to "complete" your hand. Play continues until, on his turn after discarding, one player has a complete hand. He says "Cheng" and lays it down.

Question: If I don't need to do so, can I Cheng without discarding? Answer: YES! If your hand is complete without discarding, lay down all of your cards.

• A "complete" hand requires all numerical cards to be organized into sets. There are no restrictions on Royal cards–any amount of these may be present. A LONE Forbidden card prevents a player from going Cheng. An otherwise complete hand can be laid down only if it contains ZERO or TWO or more Forbidden cards (including any claimed on the table). PENALTY: If, by mistake, a player lays down a hand that is not complete, he must pick it up and lose his next turn.

Question: If I played one or more sets during the round, can I add to them in order to Cheng? Answer: YES! Consider these sets to be part of your hand. You may add to them when you go Cheng. Even if another player is the Cheng player, you may add cards to your prior sets. For example, during play you claimed a Red 3 and laid down a Red 2, 3, 4 sequence. You can add a Red 5 to this set at round's end (and a 6 etc. if held in hand).

Question: Can I add a card to an opponent's set? Answer: NO, at no time can you add any cards to sets other than your own.

• After the Cheng player lays down his hand, each opponent lays down his hand, organizing his cards into sets (if any), adding cards to previously played sets if possible, and arranging Forbidden cards into a fan. All other (useless) cards are kept separate.

Scoring

All players score the value of their final cards. (The following information is also included on your Scoring Card)

• 5 points for each set of three cards
• 10 points for each set of four or more cards
• 5 bonus points for each Yin Yang card present in a set
• 10 bonus points to the player who lays down first ("Cheng" bonus)
• 10 bonus points to the Cheng player if he has the Rooster card.
• 15 bonus points for any other player having the Rooster card.
• FORBIDDEN cards MULTIPLY the Cheng Player's entire score (after adding bonus points). In specific, 2 Forbidden cards double the Cheng player's score, 4 multiplies his score by four, etc. Each other player suffers a penalty for Forbidden cards held. DEDUCT 5 points for each (unless "protected" by the Emperor, as explained in section 6).
• Double the entire score (after taking Forbidden cards into account) if a player has the Royal Marriage.

Example, illustration: Wild Dragon hand. After drawing the Wild Dragon, this hand is complete without needing to discard a card. The Wild Dragon completes a set of three Green 2's. Note that the Red 2, 6 (Yin Yang) and 7 are added to the Sequence of Red 3-4-5, which was laid down during play.

It scores:

Points	Item
10 pts.	Cheng bonus
10 pts.	Sequence of Red 2-3-4-5-6-7
5 pts.	Bonus for the Red 6 (Yin Yang)
5 pts.	Set of three Black 8's
5 pts.	Set of three Green 2's
35 pts.
x 2	for two Forbiddens (the Emperor is a Forbidden card here)
70 pts. total

Example, illustration: Red 4 hand. This hand is complete after drawing the Red 4 and discarding the Black 2. It can be laid down to Cheng.

It scores:

Points	Item
10 pts.	Cheng Bonus
5 pts.	Set of Black 7's
10 pts.	Set of Green 4's
5 pts.	Sequence of Red 4-5-6
5 pts.	Bonus for Red 6 (Yin Yang)
35 pts.
x3	for the three Forbidden Cards
105 pts. total

8. Next Deal / Winning

Deal passes to the player on the left of the prior dealer. He collects all the cards (EXCEPT, if unclaimed, the cards in the Treasure envelope) and deals new hands. He adds 2 cards to the Treasure envelope (which can get quite large if unclaimed for several rounds) then places it crosswise under the new draw pile. Play begins with the player on his left.

Play until one player reaches or surpasses 200 points. If more than one player exceeds 200 points, the player with the highest total wins the game.

"Fast" FORBIDDEN Version

For a faster version of play, permit a player to Cheng by discarding as many as 2 cards on his final turn only.

TWO PLAYER RULES

Remove 3 Forbidden cards from the deck. Play exactly as in the 3 to 4 player game except that 150 points wins the game and each player must maintain two discard piles. After dealing, the dealer overturns 4 cards from the top of the draw pile and lays two, face up, before himself–and the other two before his opponent–to form the beginning of the discard piles. During play, each player has the choice of drawing from the draw pile or, if he can lay down a set, claiming either of his opponent's top discards. In the lucky instance when a player can use both of his opponent's face up discards in the same set, he may claim both. For example, you hold in hand a red 3 while a red 4 and red 5 top your opponent's discard piles. You may claim both discards and lay down a red 3, 4, 5 sequence. Players must try to maintain two distinct discard piles. If one pile is exhausted, you must replenish it with your next discard.

Quick Start Rules – learn to play FORBIDDEN in two minutes

The printed Quick Start sheet is reproduced as published.

1. The OBJECT of FORBIDDEN is to score 200 points. Usually, you'll need to play a few hands before one player wins.

2. EQUIPMENT The game contains 104 cards: 87 Number cards in colored suits (Red, Black and Green); 9 Forbidden cards and 4 Royal cards. There is also a "Treasure Chest" envelope and 4 Scoring Cards.

   Note: the card counts printed on this sheet (87 Number cards, 4 Royal cards) differ from the counts printed in Section 2 of the full rules (84 Number cards, 7 Royal cards). Both are transcribed as printed; the Section 2 breakdown matches the 104-card total of the full rules.

3. SETUP Give each player a Scoring Card. The dealer deals a hand of 13 cards to each player and adds two cards to the Treasure Chest envelope, placing it under the draw pile (remaining cards).

4. PLAY On your turn, you draw a card, or–if you can lay down a set–you may, instead, CLAIM an opponent's discard. You end your turn by discarding to your discard pile.

5. SETS Your goal is to form into sets all the NUMBER cards in your hand. SETS are always of one color and are either 3 of a Kind, 4 of a Kind, or three or more in a Sequence (like 4, 5, 6, 7).

6. FORBIDDEN cards block opponents from claiming discards. They can also multiply your score if you go "Cheng," but cost points if caught in your hand. ROYAL cards add to the scoring possibilities.

7. "CHENG" The first player to complete his hand lays it down and goes "Cheng." Points are awarded for sets, bonuses and penalties. The Treasure Chest might be won. (If not it grows bigger).

Inside this folder you'll find details of each Numbered Section. Refer to them as needed.