Hitohira

Hitohira Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

96 Cherry Blossom pieces (18 pieces × each color [Red, Yellow, Light Blue, Blue, and White] and 6 Black pieces)
1 Pouch
3 Ability cards (each different from one another)
4 Screens (each different from one another)
1 Rulebook

Warning: Choking Hazard. This game contains small parts and is not suitable for children under the age of 3 years old.

1. Idea of the Game

Draw pieces out of the pouch to obtain them. Keep collecting pieces in 2 different ways until the game end while using abilities that can be triggered by the pieces you have collected. Depending on the pieces you have obtained, you will earn 2 types of points at the end of the game. The player who scores the highest points wins.

2. Set Up

For a 4-player game, put all pieces into the pouch.
For a 3-player game, put 5 Black pieces and 15 pieces of each of other colors into the pouch. Put rest of the pieces, which will not be used, back into the box.
For a 2-player game, see Page 14.
Place the pouch in the center of the table within the reach of all players.
Place the Ability cards in the center of the table visible to all players with whichever side face up. (At first, it's recommended to have the combination of "Somei Yoshino", "Sakuya Hime", and "Kenrokuen Kumagai" face up.)
Each player takes one of the screens and places it upright in front of him.

The following figure shows a 4-player game after the set up. The figure shows: one's field (in front of each player); the pouch (containing pieces) in the center; the Ability cards in the center; and each player's screen with the area behind the screen.

3. How to Play

Play the game in turns from the start player in clockwise order. The start player shall be the person who has most recently gone to see cherry blossoms. Otherwise, determine the start player by rock-paper-scissors or in whatever way you like.

4. What to Do in Your Turn

Obtain piece(s). (compulsory)
Use an ability. (optional)
Place some pieces behind the screen. (optional)

After performing up to Step 3, the turn of play moves to the next player.

5. Detailed Turn Description

1. Obtaining pieces

First, draw pieces from the pouch and keep them next to your field. You have not obtained them yet.

Note: Make sure that the pieces obtained in your previous turns are not mixed with the pieces drawn in your current turn.

When you draw pieces, the following 2 rules apply:

You can draw pieces up to 3 times in each turn.
You can draw up to 8 pieces in each turn.

If you draw 9 or more pieces by mistake in a turn, the turn of play moves to the next player.

If you manage to draw pieces without failure by drawing them 3 times or less (by announcing that you will stop drawing them), you can obtain the pieces you have drawn. Keep the pieces you have obtained next to your field. Do not mix them with the pieces you have obtained in your previous turns.

Example 1: Player A draws 1 Red, 2 Blue, and 1 White pieces in his 1st attempt. He then draws 1 Red and 1 Yellow pieces in his 2nd attempt. He then decides to stop drawing pieces and manages to obtain 6 pieces.

Example 2: Player B draws 2 Light Blue and 1 Red pieces in his 1st attempt. Then, he draws 1 White piece in his 2nd attempt and 1 Black piece in his 3rd attempt. Thus, in his current turn, Player B has drawn 2 Light Blue, 1 Red, 1 White, and 1 Black pieces. The Black piece is counted as any of the color to the disadvantage of the turn player, so Player B is considered to have failed by drawing 3 Light Blue pieces. Player B obtains 1 Red and 1 White pieces and puts the remaining pieces back into the pouch.

Failure

When you draw pieces, your attempt will "fail" if:

you draw 3 or more pieces of the same color in a turn, or
you draw 1 or more pieces of 5 colors in a turn.

[Important] When judging whether or not the attempt to obtain pieces has failed, count the Black piece(s) as one of other 5 colors to put the turn player at a disadvantage (so as to make the turn player fail).

What to do in case of a failure: You can choose to obtain 2 pieces from among the pieces you have drawn in the current turn. However, you cannot obtain 2 pieces of the same color or any Black piece. Place the pieces to obtain in your field and put the remaining pieces back into the pouch. The turn of play moves to the next player.

2. Using an ability

You can use 1 ability written on the Ability card by meeting the following 2 conditions:

You have not failed in your current turn.
You have obtained the number of pieces required for using the ability in your current turn.

There are 6 types of abilities. Each Ability card has an ability printed on one side and another ability printed on the other side. You can use up to 3 abilities in a game. Each ability has a trigger condition. If you have obtained pieces to meet the condition, you can use the corresponding ability.

The trigger condition for each ability is merely a condition. Even if you use the ability, doing so will not consume the pieces you have obtained.

For using the abilities, there are 3 trigger conditions as follows:

4 colors: Obtaining pieces of 4 different colors. e.g. 1 Red, 1 Yellow, 1 Blue, and 1 White
2 pairs: Obtaining 2 pairs of pieces of the same color. e.g. 2 Yellow and 2 White
6 pieces: Obtaining 6 pieces. e.g. 2 Red, 1 Yellow, 2 Blue, and 1 White

[Important] When you assess the trigger condition, you can count Black pieces as any color piece you like. The pieces obtained with the ability will not be counted to cause a failure.

Example 3: In his current turn, Player C has obtained 2 Light Blue, 2 Blue, and 2 White pieces. He has managed to meet the "6 pieces" and "2 pairs" trigger conditions, so he can use one of the corresponding abilities. Player C has chosen to use the "6 pieces" ability.

3. Placing some pieces behind the screen

If you have not failed in your current turn, you can choose, from among the pieces you have obtained in your current turn, a single color and place the corresponding piece(s) as many as you like behind your screen. You can also choose not to do it. After that, place the remaining pieces you have obtained in the current turn in your field, forming a line for each color.

Example 4: Player D has obtained 1 Red, 1 Yellow, and 2 White pieces in his current turn. Player D places 1 White piece behind the screen and places the remaining pieces, 1 Red, 1 Yellow, and 1 White, in his field. Alternately, Player D could have placed 1 Red, or 1 Yellow, or 2 White pieces behind the screen.

End of the Game

If the pouch becomes empty at the end of a player's turn, the game ends at that moment. Even after a player draws all the pieces from the pouch in his turn, if he fails in his attempt and returns some pieces into the pouch, the game continues and the turn of play moves to the next player.

6. Scoring

After the end of the game, calculate the score for pieces (1) in your field and (2) behind your screen.

(1) Scoring for pieces behind the screen

Compare the number of pieces behind the screen with that of other players to receive points in accordance with your rank.

Table 1 (Red & Yellow): Rank 1: 18 points; Rank 2: 10 points; Rank 3: 8 points.

Table 2 (Light Blue & Blue): Rank 1: 16 points; Rank 2: 12 points; Rank 3: 8 points.

If you have White or Black pieces behind the screen, you can count them either as pieces in the "Red & Yellow" group or "Light Blue & Blue" group. After the end of the game, each player shall count the White and Black pieces behind the screen as pieces of the color groups as they like. However, to count the White and Black pieces as pieces of the color groups, you must have at least 1 piece of the color group behind the screen. For example, to count White pieces as pieces of the Red & Yellow group, you must have at least 1 Red or Yellow piece behind the screen. Furthermore, you must have obtained at least 1 piece of that color group to receive the corresponding points. After all players have assigned the Black and White pieces to the selected color groups, remove the screens to disclose the pieces and calculate the score.

Example 5: Player E has 3 Red, 1 Yellow, 2 Light Blue, and 2 White pieces behind the screen. He counts 1 White piece as a piece of the Red & Yellow group and the other White piece as a piece of the Light Blue & Blue group. Thus, Player E has 5 pieces of the Red and Yellow group and 3 pieces of the Light Blue and Blue group. Player E could have counted both White pieces as pieces of one of the color groups.

As a result, Player E has 5 pieces of the Red and Yellow group and 3 pieces of the Light Blue & Blue group.

Example 6: This shows an example of the scoring for the Red & Yellow group. Player F has obtained 0 Red and 4 Yellow pieces. Player G has obtained 1 Red and 2 Yellow pieces. Player H has obtained 1 Red and 1 Yellow pieces along with 1 White piece (counted as the Red & Yellow group member). Player I has obtained 1 Red and 0 Yellow piece.

Player F receives the points for the 1st place. Player G and H have tied for the 2nd place, so they add and divide the points for the 2nd and 3rd places. Player I cannot receive any point.

Tying for the 2nd place, they add 10+8=18 points (for the 2nd and 3rd places) and divide the points evenly, thus gaining 9 points each. Player I: unable to gain any point for being at the 4th place below the 2nd place tie.

Ties:

In case of a 2 players' tie for the 1st place, they shall add and divide the points for achieving the 1st and 2nd places. In case of a 3 players' tie for the 1st place, they shall add and divide the points for achieving the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.
In case of a 2 players' tie for the 2nd place, they shall add and divide the points for achieving the 2nd and 3rd places.
In case of a 2 players' tie for the 3rd place, they shall divide the points for achieving the 3rd place.

(In all of these cases, divide the points among the applicable players evenly and round down decimals.)

(2) Scoring for the pieces in your field

Calculate the score for the pieces in your field according to Table 3 below for each color. At the end of the game, you can count the Black pieces in your field as a piece of any color as you wish.

Note: Even if you collect 11 or more pieces of a color, you can only score up to 24 points for that.

Table 3 (Points by number of pieces, 0 to 10): 0 pieces = 0 points; 1 = -3; 2 = -1; 3 = 1; 4 = 3; 5 = 5; 6 = 8; 7 = 11; 8 = 15; 9 = 19; 10 = 24.

Example 7: Player J has 5 Red, 3 Yellow, 8 Light Blue, 7 Blue, and 1 Black pieces in his field. He counts the Black piece as Light Blue, and thus gains 5 points for Red, 1 point for Yellow, 19 points for Light Blue, and 11 points for Blue, totaling up to 36 points.

After adding the score behind the screen and score in one's field, the player who has the highest score in total wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with a higher number of pieces behind the screen wins. If that is also a tie, the tie players shall share the victory.

7. Two-Player Game Variant Rule

This variant rule is the same as the standard rule for a 3- or 4-player game except for the following changes:

Set up

Put into the pouch 4 Black pieces and 13 pieces of colors other than Black. Put the remaining pieces back into the box. Then, draw 3 pieces from the pouch without anyone seeing them and put them back into the box.

Using an ability

The Kokonoe ability changes as follows: Take 2 pieces from the other player's field and place both pieces in your field. (The player who uses the ability shall choose the pieces. However, a Black piece or 2 pieces of the same color cannot be selected.)

Scoring for the pieces behind the screen

For each color group, the player who has a higher number of pieces receives points for the 2nd place. The player with a lower number of pieces does not receive any point.

8. Supplemental Information

With regard to the scoring for the pieces behind the screen, in case of a tie, the rank of the player after the tie players drops. (For example, in case of a 1st place tie between 2 players, the next player will be ranked the 3rd place.)

Notes on using the Komatsu Otome cherry's ability

In a very rare case of having drawn 3 Black pieces, according to the rule that forbids one from obtaining any Black piece, put all the 3 Black pieces back into the pouch without another attempt.

Notes on what to do in case of having drawn Black pieces

For example, after having drawn a Red, Blue, Yellow, and Black piece, if you draw:

A Red piece → The Black piece is counted as a Red piece, resulting in a failure by having drawn 3 Red pieces. The same applies if you draw a Blue or Yellow piece.
A White piece → The Black piece is counted as the last remaining color (Light Blue), resulting in a failure by having drawn pieces of all 5 colors. The same applies if you draw a Light Blue piece.
A Black piece → It will be counted as a failure by having drawn 3 pieces of the same color.

Thus, you can only draw up to 4 pieces if they include the Black piece. If you draw only Black pieces, you can only draw up to 2 Black pieces.

Notes on scoring for pieces behind the screen

If you do not have any piece of the Red & Yellow group behind your screen, you cannot count the Black pieces behind the screen as pieces of the Red & Yellow group. The same applies to the Blue & Light Blue group.

Black pieces in your field can be counted as any color piece, but Black pieces behind the screen can be counted only as members of the Red & Yellow group or Blue & Light Blue group.

For example, if you have 3 Red and 1 Black pieces behind your screen, you can count them as 4 pieces of the Red & Yellow group, but not as 3 pieces of the Red & Yellow group and the Black piece as 1 piece of the Blue & Light Blue group.

Ability Cards

Somei Yoshino (Trigger condition: 4 colors)

Select 1 piece from among those in your field or those you have obtained in your current turn and place it behind your screen.

Komatsu Otome (Trigger condition: 4 colors)

Draw 3 pieces from the pouch and choose one of them to place in your field. Put the other 2 pieces back into the pouch. (A Black piece cannot be selected. You must choose 1 piece even if you do not want any of the pieces you have drawn.)

Shin Sumizome (Trigger condition: 2 pairs)

Draw 1 piece from the pouch without showing it to other players and place it behind your screen.

Sakuya Hime (Trigger condition: 2 pairs)

Select 1 piece from among those in your field or those you have obtained in your current turn and replace it with a piece in another player's field. (The player who uses the ability shall choose the pieces. However, a Black piece cannot be selected.)

Kenrokuen Kumagai (Trigger condition: 6 pieces)

Draw 2 pieces from the pouch and place each of them in your field, or behind your screen, or in another player's field. (You may also place both pieces in 1 place.)

Kokonoe (Trigger condition: 6 pieces)

Choose 2 other players, take 1 piece from each player's field, and place both pieces in your field. (The player who uses the ability shall choose the pieces. However, a Black piece or 2 pieces of the same color cannot be selected.)