代われそのジョブ (Take Over That Job)
代われそのジョブ (Take Over That Job) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Number cards: 56 (4 colors, 1-14)
- Trump cards: 4 (1 per color)
- Goal cards: 16 (4 kinds, 2-5)
4 players only / 30 minutes
Game Overview
This is a cooperative game played over 4 rounds. It is a score-attack game: the challenge is how many of the 16 goal cards you can discard.
At the end of a round, if you hold a goal card whose number matches your number of tricks won in that round, you discard that goal card.
Each player's hand is never redealt; it is simply passed to the left. Goal cards are passed along with it. In other words, you are aiming to have the same hand achieve 2, 3, 4 and 5 tricks once each.
Setup
Prepare the following three areas near each player:
- A. The place where you keep your goal cards = goal card area
- B. The place where you "play" number cards = play zone
- C. The place where you put number cards you have already used = number card discard pile
Deal each player one goal card each of 2-5, and place all 4 in that player's goal card area where everyone can see them. It is a good idea to use the same character (animal) for each player.
Gather the 56 number cards face down, shuffle them well, and deal 14 to each player. The dealt cards are each player's hand. Hold your hand; only you may look at it.
Round Procedure
[Important] After each player has looked at their hand for that round, the players decide by discussion who will be the first leader for that round.
Going once around with each player playing one card in turn is called a trick. Starting from the leader and proceeding clockwise, everyone plays one card from their hand into their own play zone.
The leader freely plays a number card face up. The color of the number card the leader played is called the lead color.
The players other than the leader (called followers) must play a card of the lead color if they have one in hand (must follow). If they have no number card of the lead color, they may play freely. Whether a follower plays the card face up or face down is explained in the section [Defensive Stance].
Because of the Defensive Stance described below, when everyone has finished playing one card each, exactly one of the cards in everyone's play zones is face up and all the others are face down. The player whose card is face up is the winner of that trick.
After confirming the trick winner, without changing which cards are face up or face down, each player places the card they played onto their own number card discard pile. The trick winner becomes the new leader and play proceeds to the next trick.
Defensive Stance
Put simply:
- If a card stronger than yours is played, turn your card face down.
- If a card stronger than the one you are about to play is already in the trick, play it face down.
This always results in the situation "only the currently strongest card in the trick is face up and all others are face down." The precise definition is as follows:
Refer to [Card Strength] below. A player who meets either of the following two conditions immediately turns the card in their play zone face down.
- When the card you have already played is face up and it is weaker than a card just played (face up) by another player. (Turn over the card you had already played.)
- When you play a card weaker than a face-up card in another player's play zone. (In this case, play the card face down from the start; note that the other players cannot see the card played.)
A card that does not meet condition 2 is played face up. (If a follower does not meet condition 2, then condition 1 should be carried out by another player [one other player].)
Card Strength
With the Bonus described later, colors called "trump" and "disadvantaged" may be added. A color that is neither trump nor disadvantaged is called a normal color. At the start of the game all 4 colors are normal colors, and there is no trump or disadvantaged color.
[When the lead color is not a disadvantaged color]
Strong: trump 14 > trump 13 > ... > trump 1 > lead color 14 > lead color 13 > ... > lead color 1 > all other cards (including disadvantaged colors): weak
With this, the currently strongest card in the trick should always be identifiable.
[When the color led is a disadvantaged color]
Strong: trump 14 > trump 13 > ... > trump 1 > normal color 14 > normal color 13 > ... > normal color 1 > disadvantaged color 14 > disadvantaged color 13 > ... > disadvantaged color 1: weak
With this, the currently strongest card in the trick should be almost always identifiable.
For exceptions, see Example 2 in [Examples] below and [Important Notes].
Examples
Example 1: no trump / disadvantaged color. Green 2 -> Green 5 -> Blue 8 -> Green 4
Alice plays Green 2. She is the leader, so it is face up. Next, Bob plays Green 5, face up. Then Alice, who had played a weaker card, turns Green 2 face down. Next, Carrie has no green, so she plays Blue 8. (At this time, she must not say "I have no green.") This is weaker than the face-up Green 5 (because green is the lead color), so it is face down. Finally Dave plays Green 4. Since the stronger Green 5 is face up, it is face down. Bob wins this trick.
Example 2: trump: green / disadvantaged: blue / normal colors: purple and red. Blue 9 -> Purple 5 -> Red 8 -> Blue 14
Alice plays Blue 9. She is the leader, so it is face up. Next, Bob has no blue, so he plays Purple 5. Then Alice, who had played a weaker card, turns Blue 9 face down (because blue is a disadvantaged color). Next, Carrie has no blue, so she plays Red 8 (the lead color is still blue, so she is not required to play purple). This is stronger than the face-up Purple 5, so it is face up (normal colors are compared to each other by number). Then Bob, who had played a weaker card, turns Purple 5 face down. Finally Dave plays Blue 14. Since the stronger Red 8 is face up, it is face down. Carrie wins this trick.
By the way, what would happen if Carrie had played Red 5? This is a rule newly described here: in such a situation, the later-played card Carrie's is considered stronger. That is, when the leader plays a disadvantaged color and multiple followers play the same number in normal colors, the card played later is stronger and the card played earlier falls under [Defensive Stance] 1. Number takes priority first; only when the numbers are equal does playing later give the advantage. Please don't forget. Sorry, it is complicated.
End of a Round
When everyone's hand is empty, the round ends. Count the number of face-up number cards in your number card discard pile (that is, your number of tricks won).
If your number of tricks won exactly matches the number written on any one of the goal cards in your goal card area, put the corresponding goal card back in the box.
Then, after receiving the Bonus described below, pass all of the number cards you hold and all of the goal cards to the player on your left. Make the number cards you receive your new hand, spread the goal cards face up in your goal card area, and begin the next round.
When the 4th round ends, the game ends instead of taking a Bonus.
Bonus
After rounds 1 to 3 end, regardless of whether goal cards were achieved, you receive one Bonus (you may not pass). A Bonus that has been chosen once cannot be chosen again. Therefore each Bonus will be chosen exactly once during the game.
- (A) Decide trump: decide a color that will be trump permanently in subsequent rounds.
- (B) Decide disadvantaged: decide a color that will be disadvantaged permanently in subsequent rounds.
- (C) Exchange hands: exchange hand cards one card at a time, clockwise. [The Japanese is terse (手札を1枚ずつ、時計回りに交換します) and does not further specify the mechanics.]
A color that is already trump cannot be made disadvantaged, and vice versa.
When deciding the Bonus, you may discuss which Bonus to take, but you may only say the following:
- "I want to decide trump" / "I want to decide disadvantaged" / "I want to exchange hands"
- "I'd like [color] for trump [disadvantaged]" / "[color] is not OK for trump [disadvantaged]"
- "I'd like [color] or [color] for trump [disadvantaged]" (you may state an order of preference)
-> You may not talk about the contents of your hand or about past rounds.
Important Notes
- During the game, you must not discuss your hand or strategy. You must also not make declarations such as "I want to win N tricks this round." Also, when you have no card of the lead color and play freely, you must not say "I have no [color]."
- If everyone is used to trick-taking games, a good first target is to discard 12 goal cards between you. Otherwise, about 8 is a good first target.
Q&A
Q: I don't understand how to use the trump cards. A: In the case of Example 2 in [Examples], use them as shown in the figure on the right. [The figure is not reproduced here.]
Q: [If the leader's card is turned face down, you forget the lead color.] A: Sorry. The leader may take a peek, please go ahead.
Q: Are the face-up cards in the number card discard pile public? A: They are public. Face-down ones must not be looked at, even by their owner.
Q: When will the game where you can't rearrange your hand come out? A: Even I don't know.