Lunar Trick
Lunar Trick Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 32 x Moon Cards
- 15 Rising Moon, 15 Falling Moon,
- 1 Solar Eclipse, 1 Lunar Eclipse
- 8 x Divider Cards
- 1 x Trump Status Card
- 1 x Moon Phase Sheet
- 3 x Moon Markers (Round Disc)
- 20 x Point Tokens (1/5 Pie)
Round Setup - for 3 Players
※Instructions for four players are provided later.
- Place the Moon Phase Sheet, Moon Markers, Trump Status Card, and Point Tokens in the center of the table.
- Each player takes 2 Divider Cards. These can be used to help split the suits of the cards in your hands.
- The Solar Eclipse card is not used for 3 player games. Shuffle the remaining 31 Moon Cards and deal 10 cards to each player. Place the leftover card aside face-down; it will not be used this round.
- Each player secretly plays one card from their hand face-down (excluding the Lunar Eclipse card), then all players reveal their chosen cards simultaneously.
- Place the three Moon Markers on the Moon Phase Sheet matching the numbers on the revealed cards. This will determine the suits and trump for this round (see next section). Flip the Trump Status Card to the matching side as a reminder.
- Based on the new suits and trump, the winner of the initial trick becomes the starting player, and also collects the played cards as their initial trick.
Suits
The numbers on the Moon Phase Sheet are divided into three sections by the Moon Markers. Each section represents one of the three suits for this round. Players can use the Divider Cards to help distinguish the suits in their hands.
Note: In some cases, there may be only two or even one suit.
Example of Suits: Three players play the following cards:
- Player A: Rising Moon 4
- Player B: Rising Moon 12
- Player C: Falling Moon 20
[Illustration: the three example cards, and the Moon Phase Sheet with the suit sections marked.]
Therefore, the sections for the three suits are:
- [Rising Moon 5-11]
- [Rising Moon 13-15 + Falling Moon 16-19]
- [Falling Moon 21-30 + Rising Moon 1-3]
Trump
The side (Rising or Falling) with more Moon Markers becomes the trump side, and all cards on this side will become trump cards regardless of the suit sections. It is common for trump cards to belong to more than one suit section.
Example: In this setup, the trump side is Rising Moon 1-15. Note that all 3 suit sections have some cards that are trump cards.
Lunar Eclipse
The Lunar Eclipse has no suit and is always a trump card, but it is the weakest trump card. You may play the Lunar Eclipse instead of following suit. If you collect the Lunar Eclipse card, it will count as an additional trick for you during scoring.
[Illustration: the Lunar Eclipse card.]
Example: In this setup, since the trump side is Rising Moon, the Lunar Eclipse will beat all Falling Moon cards but will lose to all Rising Moon cards.
Starting Player
The player who wins the initial trick when deciding the trump and suits becomes the starting player, and leads the first trick. They begin the round having won one trick.
Example: Following the previous example, since the trump side is Rising Moon and 12 is the highest number played of that side, Player B wins the initial trick, and becomes the leader for the next trick.
Round Overview
Playing Cards
Each round will consist of multiple tricks. Beginning with the leader in a clockwise order, each player plays 1 card face-up from their hand to the middle of the table. When all players have done so once, these cards will constitute a trick.
The following rules must be followed when playing cards:
Leader: Can play any card from their hand to lead the trick. (including the Lunar Eclipse card)
Following Players:
- You must play a card in the same suit as the leader or a Lunar Eclipse. If you do not have any of these cards; only then you may play any card from your hand.
- If the leader played a Lunar Eclipse, you must play a trump card. If you do not have any trump cards; only then you may play any card from your hand.
Winning the Trick
After all players have played one card each, the winner is determined according to the following rules:
- If there are any trump cards, the player with the highest numbered trump card wins.
- If there are no trump cards, the player who played the Lunar Eclipse card wins.
- If there are no trump cards and no Lunar Eclipse card, the player with the highest numbered card wins.
The winner collects the trick and becomes the leader for the next trick.
Example: Following the suits & trump of the previous example:
- Player B plays Rising Moon 6.
- Player C does not have any cards in the suit section [Rising Moon 5-11], so they play Falling Moon 29.
- Player A has cards in the suit section [Rising Moon 5-11], but decides to play the Lunar Eclipse.
Therefore, Rising Moon 6 wins (Rising Moon is the trump suit and it beats the Lunar Eclipse), and Player B wins the trick.
Round Scoring
After all cards have been played from everyone's hands (10 tricks in 3P, 8 tricks in 4P), the round ends and scoring takes place. Players receive Point Tokens based on their achievements:
Main Conditions:
- Players who win 1 trick receive 2 points.
- Players who win 3 tricks receive 1 point.
- Players who win 5 tricks receive 2 points.
Note: The "Lunar Eclipse" and "Solar Eclipse" cards count as separate tricks for the players that collected them.
Example: Scoring
- Player B won 4 tricks during this round, and also collected the Lunar Eclipse card. Thus, it counts as having won 5 tricks, so Player B receives 2 points.
- Player D started the round with the Solar Eclipse card, and later won 2 tricks. Thus, it counts as having won 3 tricks, so Player D receives 1 point.
New Round
After scoring, return to step 3 of Round Setup, shuffle the cards (including the leftover card of this round), and start a new round.
Game End
The first player to collect 5 Point Tokens wins the game.
If more than one player reaches this at the same time, the player with the most Point Tokens wins.
In the case of a tie, the tied players share a joint victory.
Setup for 4 Players
- Use all 32 Moon Cards (including the Solar Eclipse card) and deal 8 cards to each player.
- When selecting cards to decide the trump & suits, the player with the Solar Eclipse must play the Solar Eclipse card face-down.
- After deciding the suits and trump, the player that played the Solar Eclipse card becomes the starting player instead. They will only collect this card (it will count as an additional trick for you during scoring); the other three cards are collected by the player that won the initial trick, according to the new trump and suits.