Lunar Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Deal
• Tricks
• Round End
• 2-Player Game
• Table Talk
• Credits

Components

• 24 Suit Cards (6 each of wolf, owl, lynx, bat)
• 24 Rank Cards (3 each of 1-8)
• 4 Trump Tiles
• 4 Partnership Tiles
• 1 Trick Tracking Board
• 2 Trick Tracking Markers
• 1 Scoreboard
• 1 Dry Erase Marker

Setup

Lunar can be played with 2 or 4 players.

4 Players: Break up into teams of 2 and seat partners across from each other. Each team takes 2 matching-color partnership tiles, and each teammate chooses 1 to place in front of themselves.

2 Players: Each player takes a partnership tile that says "lead."

Place the trick track near the play area. Each team (or individual) chooses a trick marker and places it on 0. The player with the black lead tile is the first start player.

Deal

The following rules are for playing in teams. Two-player rules are described below in 2-Player Game.

Each round, shuffle the rank cards and suit cards separately, then deal 6 rank cards and 6 suit cards to each player. Each player simultaneously chooses 2 ranks and 2 suits from their hand. Then, each player passes their chosen cards to their partner.

Next, choose the trump suit for the round. Flip the 4 trump tiles face up. Beginning with the start player and going clockwise, each player flips 1 tile of their choice face down, until only 1 is left face up. This is the trump suit for the round.

Tricks

The start player leads the first trick by playing any 1 card from their hand. Going clockwise around the table, each other player must play 1 card into the trick.

If you are the first player on your team to play this trick, you may play either a suit or a rank card. If your partner has played, you must play the card type your partner did not play (suit or rank).

The first time a suit is played into a trick, it becomes the lead suit. If you play a suit at any time after the lead suit has already been decided, you must play the same suit, if you have it. If you don't, you may play any suit.

When everyone has played a card, the trick winner is decided as follows:

• If the teams played the same suit, the team that played the higher rank wins. If tied, the last team to play a card wins.
• If one team played trump suit and the other did not, the team that played trump wins.
• If the teams played different suits and neither was trump suit, the team that played the first suit wins.

Advance the winning team's marker 1 space on the trick track. If the trick includes any cards with a star icon, the winning team keeps them. Discard all other cards played.

The player who has the lead tile on the team that won the previous trick leads the next trick.

Round End

When players run out of cards, each team scores points equal to the star value next to their position on the trick track, plus 1 point for each star icon on their kept cards. Record these scores on the scoreboard.

If a team has more than 30 points and the teams are not tied, the team with the most points wins the game. Otherwise, pass all 4 partnership tiles clockwise and start a new round. The player with the lead tile on the team with fewer points becomes start player. If tied, black lead tile is the start player. If both teams exceed 30 points and are tied, play a final round to determine the winner.

2-Player Game

Deal each player 6 ranks and 6 suits as normal. Then reveal 3 ranks and 3 suits from the decks to form the sky. Do not pass any cards.

When choosing trump, the player with the black lead tile flips the first tile, then players alternate flipping tiles until there is 1 left. (This means the starting player will flip 2 tiles total, but their opponent will only flip 1.)

During each trick, players take 2 turns each. You must use one of your turns to play 1 card from your hand, and the other to play 1 card from the sky (in either order). One card you play must be a rank, and the other must be a suit. At the end of the trick, refill the sky from the deck.

As in team games, once a lead suit has been decided, the other player must play the same suit if able. However, when determining if you can play the lead suit, you only consider the cards in the area you choose to play from (either your hand or the sky). For example, if your opponent leads a suit, and the same suit is in your hand but not the sky, you could choose to play a different suit from the sky.

Table Talk

During a round, you may not tell your partner what's in your hand or discuss strategy with them.

Credits

• Design: Masato Uesugi
• Illustration: Alisha Giroux
• Graphic Design: Anca Gavril, Daniel Profiri
• 3D Artist: Filip Gavril