Luz (2014) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Flow
• How to Play
  • 1. Deal the Cards
    • Rearrange the Cards
  • 2. Announce the Expected Number of Tricks to Win
    • "AND 1" Token
  • 3. Play 10 Tricks
    • Determine the Winner of the Trick
  • 4. Scoring
• End of the Game
• Credits

Components

• 50 number cards (5 colors, "1"-"10" each). The color of a card is visible from both the front and the back; the number is visible only on the front.
• 4 HIGH cards
• 2 rule sheets (Japanese and English)
• 15 Expectation tokens
• 4 "AND 1" tokens

Game Flow

Each round consists of the following phases, played in order:

1. Deal the Cards
2. Announce the Expected Number of Tricks to Win
3. Play 10 Tricks
4. Scoring

Play the specified number of rounds (6 rounds with 3 players, 4 rounds with 4 players). The player with the highest score at the end wins the game.

How to Play

1. Deal the Cards

When playing with 3 players, the number cards "9" and "10" are not used, so remove them and put them back into the box.

Shuffle all the number cards face down and deal 10 cards to each player. The remaining cards will not be used in the current round, so set them aside. You must not see what is on these cards. The players each check what is on the front of the number cards dealt to them while concealing it from other players, and then "rearrange the cards" as follows.

Rearrange the Cards

1. Rearrange the cards to have the same-color cards next to each other.
2. Rearrange each group of same-color cards in ascending order from left to right.
3. Take one of the HIGH cards (placed on the table) and add it to the right end of the number cards you have rearranged (to indicate the ascending order).

After you have completed rearranging the cards, hand these cards face down to the player to your left, keeping the rearranged order. At the same time, receive the cards from the player to your right and hold them as your hand, with the back of the cards facing you. Thus, you play the game without knowing what is exactly in your hand.

Determine the start player for the first round in whatever way you like. Then proceed to 2. Announce the Expected Number of Tricks to Win.

Important!

• During the game, you must not see the numbers on the cards in your hand. The colors of the cards are visible from the back.
• The numbers on the cards in your hand must be arranged in ascending order (by color) to the end with the HIGH card. Since you cannot check this yourself, have other players check it for you until you all get used to the game. The HIGH cards only indicate the direction of ascending order and cannot be played. Once you get used to the game, you may play the game without using the HIGH cards.
• Each number card has a rose, bird, leaf, banana, and star icon on the top part of its back. Hold your hand of cards with this row of icons visible to you. Doing so makes your hand of cards clearly visible to other players.

2. Announce the Expected Number of Tricks to Win

After checking the colors of the cards in your hand and the colors and numbers on the cards in other players' hands, announce the expected number of tricks (to be described later) you will win in the current round. In clockwise order from the start player, announce the number of tricks you will win ("0" is also acceptable). Then receive the Expectation tokens matching that number and place the tokens in front of you for all to see. If there are not enough Expectation tokens, substitute what is lacking with other items.

During this phase, you may receive 1 "AND 1" token.

"AND 1" Token

Each player who received the "AND 1" token can use it as an additional Expectation token in the 4. Scoring phase. (Thus, even if you win one time more than you expected, you can count that you have estimated it correctly by using the "AND 1" token.) However, if you receive the "AND 1" token, the points you get by winning exactly the number of tricks you announced will be reduced regardless of whether you use the "AND 1" token or not.

Example: if expecting to win 2 tricks, take two "1" Expectation tokens. If expecting to win "2 or 3" tricks (using the flexibility of the "AND 1" token), take two "1" Expectation tokens plus the "AND 1" token.

3. Play 10 Tricks

Play a mini-game called a "trick" 10 times with the cards.

The start player leads the first trick. In clockwise order from the leader, the players take turns to place a number card from their hand face up in the play area. Place the cards in such a way that who played which card is clearly recognized. Do not stack the cards on top of each other.

The leader may play any one card. All other players must play a card of the same color as the one played by the leader. If you do not have any card of the same color, you may play any one card. After everyone has played a card, the winner of the trick is determined as described below.

Determine the Winner of the Trick

If the played cards do not include any white card (the trump color): the player who played the highest number card of the same color as the one played by the leader wins the trick. The players who played cards of other colors will not win the trick regardless of the numbers on those cards.

Example: the leader plays a blue card. Another player, who has no blue card, plays an orange 10 instead — it cannot win, since it is not blue. Among the blue cards played, the blue 7 has the highest number and wins the trick, beating the leader's own (lower) blue card and a blue 2 played by the fourth player.

If the played cards include any white card (the trump color): the player who played the highest-number white card wins the trick, regardless of the other colors and numbers in play.

Example: the leader plays a green 8. Another player plays a green 7, which cannot beat the leader's green 8. However, a third player plays a white 4 — because it is white (the trump color), it wins the trick even though its number is lower than the leader's green 8.

The winner of the trick takes all the cards played in the current trick and places them in a pile face down in front of themselves. This procedure is counted as a "trick." Play tricks repeatedly until all the players have used up the cards in their hands. On the second and later tricks, the winner of the previous trick leads the next trick and plays their card first.

Important!

In order to help counting how many tricks you have won when you calculate the score, place the group of cards you win in each trick face down in separate piles in front of yourself. Note that you must not flip to see any of the cards in the tricks you have won. (Only the color of the face-down card on top of each pile is visible.)

4. Scoring

The players each count to compare "the number of their Expectation tokens" and "the number of tricks they won." If these numbers match, it indicates that the player estimated the number of tricks they would win correctly and that player scores points accordingly. Otherwise, the player loses points according to the amount of difference from the expected number. If you have the "AND 1" token, you can choose whether or not to use it as your additional Expectation token to your advantage.

If you did not receive the "AND 1" token:

• Managed to win the expected number of tricks: +40 pts
• Failed to win the expected number of tricks: -10 pts × the difference between the number of your Expectation tokens and the number of tricks you won

If you received the "AND 1" token (regardless of whether it was used or not):

• Managed to win the expected number of tricks: +20 pts
• Failed to win the expected number of tricks: -10 pts × the difference between the number of your Expectation tokens and the number of tricks you won

Examples:

• Expectation: 2+1 tricks ("AND 1" used). Result: 3 tricks won. Score: +20 pts
• Expectation: 2 tricks ("AND 1" not used). Result: 1 trick won. Score: -10 pts
• Expectation: 0+1 tricks ("AND 1" used). Result: 3 tricks won. Score: -20 pts

After calculating the scores, record the players' scores. (The scores may be negative.) Collect all the number cards, HIGH cards, Expectation tokens, "AND 1" tokens, and number cards not used in the current round, and start the next round from 1. Deal the Cards. On the second and later rounds, the player to the left of the previous round's start player becomes the upcoming round's start player.

End of the Game

The game ends after playing the specified number of rounds (6 rounds with 3 players and 4 rounds with 4 players). The player with the highest score in total wins the game. In case of a tie, among the tied players, the player with the highest score in the last round wins. If that is also a tie, among the tied players, the player who was closest to the start player in the turn order (earliest in their turn to announce their expected numbers to win) in the final round wins.

Credits

• Game Design: Taiki Shinzawa (Kentaiki)
• Artwork: Satoshi Takahata (Korokorodou)
• Rule Proofreading: Yoshihiko Koriyama (Ichinen ju MIRAI)
• Artwork Supervisor: Tori Hasegawa
• Editing: Toshinori Iwai (Korokorodou)
• English Translation: Saigo

Publisher: Korokorodou LLC 1F Hinata Building, 1-9-3 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0005, Japan http://korokorodou.com/