Little Tokyo
Little Tokyo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 2 "Little Tokyo" Skylines
- 28 Stacking Pieces
- 1 Rulebook
Goal of the Game
Players gradually stack wooden figures with Japanese motifs onto the two "Little Tokyo" Skylines. If any pieces fall or if an entire tower collapses, the player that caused the fall loses a point. The game ends when all pieces have been stacked, or someone has collected three negative points.
Preparation
First determine the starting player by spinning the sake bottle included in the stacking pieces. Find the bottle and spin it in the middle of the table who does it point at when it stops? They're the starting player!
Now place the two skylines in the center of the table and randomly lay all 28 stacking pieces (including the bottle) in a wide circle around them, like shown. If you want to lay down as well, you can, we just don't recommend doing it on the table. Make sure that when you are done, the number of pieces that are red side up and black side up are about equal. You want the color pattern to be random, though, so do not alternate between red and black evenly.
Do not completely close the circle. Leave a gap on one side so you know where to start playing from.
How to Play
Play turns in a clockwise direction around the table. On your turn, take one of the pieces on either the left or the right of the gap in the circle. Then, place that piece following these rules:
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The face-up color of the piece decides whether it belongs to the red or black skyline. Before you take the piece in your hand, state clearly which color is face-up. Otherwise, you might end up in long discussions afterwards about which color was actually face-up with those that weren't paying attention. Something like "I'm taking a red figure" or "I'm taking the black one here" should do.
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In bed you can crisscross all you want. But at the table, we try to keep everything in line. In short: the skylines and pieces should run parallel to each other when stacked.
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When stacking, you always only touch just the figure you selected. With it (not with your fingers!) you may move other pieces that have already been stacked. If you mess up and something falls, you get a minus point. There is no discussion about this, you screwed up. Accept it.
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If you have placed your piece on the skyline or onto the stack above it, it's the next player's turn.
What If a Piece Falls or Even the Whole Tower Collapses?
That is crap and will be penalized! The culprit selects a fallen piece and places it with the black side up in front of themself. With this, their disgrace is made public and shows everyone: I have a negative point. If the player already has a negative point and gets one more in the course of the game, they turn the piece to the red side. Red face-up in front of someone means "I have two negative points – and the next time I fall, I am done." Other fallen pieces are put back into the circle by all the other player's move and the next player may go.
End of the Game
1) The Loser Ends It: If a player with two minus points once again fails, they lose. You may all laugh at them.
2) You Win by Stacking: Otherwise, the game ends when the last piece is stacked successfully. That almost never happens. If it does, you all get a golden Tanuki.
Little Tokyo Variant
Follow the basic rules above, except for the following changes:
Preparation
Each player gets their own set of pieces instead of a common circle in the middle. This means that the pieces are not set out in a circle during game setup.
Instead, players take turns drafting the stacking pieces after determining the starting player with the same spinning bottle method as above. Players take turns picking pieces and putting them in a line in front of themselves, randomly putting the red or black side up.
Once a piece is placed in a player's line, it cannot be flipped to it's other side! Keep drafting figures until they're all evenly distributed. Eleminate excess figures from the game in the method of your choosing.
Attention:
- Each player puts their pieces in front of them in a row.
- Each newly selected piece is placed on the right or left ends of the row. During the game setup, it is not allowed to place one piece between two others.
Game Play and End
Whoever goes first, selects either the right or left end piece of their row of stacking pieces. The color of the chosen piece still decides whether it belongs to the red or black skyline.
If pieces fall down during stacking, or if the entire tower collapses, the culprit is given negative points as described in the base rules. Fallen pieces are returned to the game, other than the one you needed as proof of failure:
Starting with the active player, each player selects a piece and puts it at any (!) place in their row. It doesn't matter if they put the black or red side up. This process is repeated in a turn order until each fallen piece has a new home. If you don't get any, you're unlucky or lucky – it's a matter of taste.
Once you've redistributed everything, it's the next player's turn. The game end conditions are the same as the basic game.