Mighty Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview
• Set Up
• Gameplay: Game Start
• Gameplay: Main Player Auction Phase
• Important Rule: Reshuffle
• Gameplay: Main Player Auction Phase - Card Exchange and Friend Selection
• Gameplay: Showdown Phase
• Special Cards
  • Mighty
  • Joker
  • Joker Call
• Gameplay: Calculating Score
  • If the Ruling Team Wins
  • If the Opposition Team Wins
• Game End
• 4 Player Rules
• 6 Player Rule
• Variant Rules
  • Replenishing Reshuffle Token
  • More Complex Reshuffle Rule
  • Change Giru After the Auction
  • Increased Minimum Declaration
  • Winning Mindset
  • Choosing the Friend
• Tips
• Credits

Components

• Cards ×53
• Auction Board ×1
• Reshuffle Token ×6
• Marker ×1
• Friend Token ×1
• Point Table ×1

Store the components in the Storage so that they are not lost.

Overview

Mighty is a game where the player with the highest point wins through playing multiple games. A game at one time consists of two phases. During the Main Player Auction Phase, cards are dealt to all players. Once the cards have been dealt, each player look at their hand cards and announce their target score to auction for the Main Player position. The player with the highest target score is the Main Player. In this game, the Main Player chooses the strongest suit (Trump) "Giru" and choose a player to be a Friend. We now enter the main phase: Showdown Phase. The Ruling Team wins if they overcome all obstacles set up by the Opposition team and achieve their goal. The Opposition Team wins if the Ruling Team fails to achieve their goal.

Set Up

Mighty is played optimally with 5 players, hence the rules will be explained in a 5-player setting. Changes when playing with 4 or 6 players are explained below in 4 Player Rules and 6 Player Rule.

To set up, each player writes their name and starting point of 40 on the Point Table, and receive a Reshuffle Token.

Gameplay: Game Start

Mighty consists of multiple games. When starting a game, first determine the dealer. The dealer is chosen at random at first. From the second game, the dealer is determined according to the win or loss of the previous game as follows:

If the Ruling Team wins in the previous game: the Main Player from the previous game becomes the dealer.

If the Opposition Team wins the previous game: the Friend from the previous game becomes the dealer.

The dealer shuffles the cards and deals 10 cards to each player. Place the remaining 3 cards face down on the center of the table. Each player looks at their own cards that they just received. You are now ready to play the game.

Gameplay: Main Player Auction Phase

Look at your own 10 hand cards and estimate the minimum score you could earn if you became the Main Player leading the Ruling Team.

In a clockwise order starting from the dealer, players take turns declaring their target score or pass.

Scoring: In Mighty, 10, J, Q, K, and A cards have scores (1 score each). Since there are 4 suits, you can earn a maximum score of 20 (4x5). Each score card has a score icon for easy identification. Whoever gets this card during the game is considered to have scored. Keep in mind that the Joker does not have any scores.

Declaring a target: When declaring a target, declare your target score and a suit in which you wish to declare as Giru (If you don't have a suit in which you want to declare, just say "No Giru"). For example, declaring 'Heart (♥) 14' means 'For this game, Heart (♥) is Giru and my target score is 14'. While declaring your target, place a Marker on the appropriate space on the Auction Board to declare your target score. At this time, turning the arrow drawn on the Marker in the direction of the player who declared the target will allow all players to see who declared the target.

Caution: The minimum score declared is 11. All of the score declarations must be higher than this.

Note: A suit means a symbol assigned to a card, such as Club (♣), Diamond (◆), Spade (♠), Heart (♥) etc.

Once a player has declared a target score, the next player must declare a higher target score or must pass. As long as the score is high, it won't matter if the Giru suit changes or not.

Exception: Among the same target number, 'No Giru' is considered a higher score than declaring a Giru. For example, after declaring target score 14 Hearts (♥), it is possible to declare target score 14 No Giru.

Bidding for the Main Player continue in a clockwise manner until all players forfeit the auction or if a player declares a target score of 20.

Note: If a player declares a target score of 20 regardless if Giru (or No Giru) was declared, the auction ends immediately and that player becomes the Main Player. You cannot beat him by declaring target score 20 No Giru.

The player who declares the highest target score resulting in other players having to forfeit, or the first player who declares the target score of 20 becomes the Main Player of the game.

Example: After all players have received their cards, the auction for the Main Player begin. Steph starts first since she was the dealer. Steph has a lot of Club cards in her hand, so she declares Club 14. Next is Jake's turn. Jake doesn't have any Club cards, but he has a lot of Heart cards. Therefore, he calls Hearts 15. It's now Hana's turn. Even though Steph declared a Club, Hana also declares a Club 17 in hopes that she can pick Steph as a Friend. Greg and Ivan pass. Steph needs to declare an 18 or 17 No Giru to have a chance at becoming the Main Player, but she chooses to not to and instead, passes. Jake also passes, resulting in Hana becoming the Main Player.

Important Rule: Reshuffle

After receiving your first 10 hand cards and you have no high number cards, you will be at a considerable disadvantage and will make it more difficult to have influence in the game. Only once during the entire game, you can request that the cards to be reshuffled. (Note that multiple games are collectively referred to as the entire game). We call this request, "Reshuffle".

You can declare this at any time during the Main Player auction phase, as long as you don't declare a score or pass yet. You cannot declare Reshuffle if you've already declared a score or passed.

You must have a face up Reshuffle Token in order to declare this. Once you've declared a Reshuffle, you must flip your Reshuffle Token face down. Under the basic rules, there is no way to re-flip a Reshuffle Token face up, therefore a Reshuffle can only be declared once throughout the entire game.

When a Reshuffle is declared, the Main Player auction phase is immediately halted and all players return their cards back to the dealer. The Dealer reshuffle the cards and distribute it to the players, initiating a new Main Player auction phase.

Gameplay: Main Player Auction Phase - Card Exchange and Friend Selection

Once a Main Player has been determined, the Main Player performs the next two actions in sequence.

The Main Player adds the remaining 3 cards on the table into their hand. Next, select 3 of the 13 cards in their hand and place it face down on the table. These could be the same as or different from the cards just added. These 3 cards are considered to be acquired by the Main Player.

Next, the Main Player chooses a Friend. There are 3 cases when choosing a Friend.

1) Designating a card: The Main Player declares a specific card, and the player holding onto that card is chosen as a Friend. For example, the Main Player declares a Diamond A. A player currently holding onto a Diamond A is immediately chosen as the Friend.

Note: A player knows immediately if they are the chosen Friend, but they must not announce this to other players.

Note: The Main Player cannot designate cards in their own hand or on the center of the table.

2) Designating the winner of the first round: The Main Player can choose the winner of the first round to be the Friend. In this case, the friend is not determined immediately. The player who wins the first round after the start of the showdown phase becomes the Friend. At this time, everyone will know who the Friend is the moment the first round ends.

Note: If the Main Player wins the first round, then it will automatically be considered "No Friend". "No Friend" status is described below.

3) No Friend: The Main Player can choose not to designate a player as a Friend. If the Main Player does not designate anyone to be a Friend, then the game is played with the Main Player against the other 4 players. To compensate for the increased difficulty, the points earned by the Main Player in this game is doubled.

The Showdown phase begins once the Main Player card exchange and Friend designation has been completed.

Note: Be careful not to take the Friend Token immediately after assigning a Friend. Friend Token is taken after a Friend is revealed during the Showdown phase.

Gameplay: Showdown Phase

Showdown phase has a total of 10 rounds. The starting player is the Main Player in the first round, and each round is played as follows.

1) Round progress: At each round, players take turns playing 1 card faceup each in a clockwise order starting from the Main Player. The round ends when all players have played a card. The player who laid down the highest number card will take all the cards laid down this round. This player becomes the new starting player for the next round and plays 1 card. Repeat the same process for 10 rounds and at the end, the showdown phase ends.

2) Rules for playing cards: The cards are made up of 4 suits and each suit has 13 cards numbered 2 through A. The starting player can lead any card of their choice. In this round, all other players must play the same suit card as the leading card (leading suit). If you do not have a card of the leading suit, you can play any other card.

Important: The starting player of the first round (Main Player) CANNOT play a Giru suit card as the first card on the first round. You can however, play a Giru if that and a Joker are the only card(s) in your hand.

Note: The Joker and Mighty can ignore the suit rules and be laid down when desired (even if you have the same suit as the leading card in hand).

Note: A Joker can be laid down as the first card of the round. If this happens, the player who laid down the Joker declares a suit of their choice. It is considered as the first (leading) suit, and other players must follow it.

3) Determining the winner: The winner of the round is determined when all players have laid down 1 card. The player who laid down the highest card is the winner. The order of determining the highest card is as follows:

• If there is a Mighty among the 5 cards, the Mighty is the highest.

• If there is no Mighty but there is a Joker, then the Joker is the highest.

  Note: Jokers have no effects on round 1, round 10, and any other rounds where Jokers are "called". Refer to the card description below.

• If there is no Mighty or Joker, a Giru with the highest number is the highest.

• If there is no Mighty, Joker, or Giru, the highest card in the leading suit is the highest.

The winner takes all 5 cards laid from this round.

If among the cards you just acquired is a score card (10, J, Q, K, A), then place it in front of you face up. The remaining cards are placed face down in the middle of the table. If the winner is the Main Player, then all of the cards must be placed face down in the middle of the table instead.

The winner of this round is now the starting player for the next round.

Note: The Friend is treated as not on the Main Player's side until the identity is revealed. Until the Friend is revealed, the Friend must place their score card in front of them as if they are part of the Opposition Team. When revealed, the Friend immediately places the score cards in front of them face down in the middle of the table. Do the same for the cards obtained after the identity is revealed. When the Friend is revealed, the Friend immediately takes a Friend Token and places in front of them.

Special Cards

There are 3 special cards in Mighty. These cards are easily identified by a special icon on them.

Mighty

Mighty is the strongest card in the game. The player who plays the Mighty during any rounds will unconditionally be the winner.

In general, a Spade A card is the Mighty (it says Mighty on the card). However, if a Spade is a Giru, then the Diamond A becomes the Mighty (the card says Second Mighty).

Note: The Spade A is not a Mighty if the Spade is a Giru. Similarly, if other suits are Giru, then the Diamond A is not a Mighty.

The Mighty can be played regardless of card playing rules and can be laid down in any situation that would otherwise require playing another card.

However, the Mighty still has a suit of Spade (or Diamond). If the starting player plays a Spade (or Diamond) card and the only Spade (or Diamond) in your hand is a Mighty, then you must play the Mighty.

The Mighty is an "A", so whoever gets this card gains 1 point at the end of the game.

Joker

The Joker is the second strongest card next to the Mighty. If there is a Joker in a round with no Mighty, then the Joker wins.

Since the Joker does not have a suit, it can be laid down whenever. You can play a Joker even if you have a card of the leading suit.

The starting player of the round can play a Joker at the start. At this time, declare a suit of your choice and all other players must abide by the same suit when playing their cards.

The Joker is a powerful card, but can also be the weakest card in certain situations. The Joker is powerful throughout rounds 2 to 9, but is the weakest card in round 1 and 10.

The Joker also becomes useless when a Joker Call card is played.

The Joker is not a score card.

Joker Call

The Club 3 is the Joker Call card (indicated as the Joker Call icon on the card). If the Club was a Giru, the Spade 3 becomes the Joker Call card (indicated as the 2nd Joker Call icon on the card).

Note: If the Club is a Giru, then the Club 3 card is not the Joker Call card. Similarly, if other suits are a Giru, then the Spade 3 is not the Joker Call card.

The Joker Call card only works when played as a starting card for rounds 2 to 9. This card otherwise has no effect.

If a starting player plays a Joker Call card during rounds 2-9, then the player who has a Joker on hand must play it on that round. All remaining players must play a card of the same suit as the Joker Call card. If they don't have the same suit, then they can play any other card. The Joker brought out by the Joker Call card becomes useless and the weakest card in the game. The Joker Call card only serves to force the Joker to be played and negate its effect, thus negating the Joker does not mean you are the winner of the round.

Note: If a player has both a Joker and a Mighty in their hand, then they can play a Mighty to avert the Joker from being negated (Mighty ignores any coercion and can be played at any time).

Note: When the starting player plays the Joker Call card, they can declare that they do not want to use its effect. When this happens, any player with the Joker can play a card according to the normal rules.

Gameplay: Calculating Score

At the end of round 10, collect and count the score cards collected by the Opposition Team. The score cards are laid out in front of the Opposition Team so it is easy to count up.

Calculate the scores earned by the Ruling Team. You can easily calculate this by subtracting the Opposition Teams' score from 20. (The 3 discarded cards by the Main Player at the start of the game counts towards the Ruling Team's total score).

The Ruling Team wins if they score equal or higher than their target score. If they do not, then the Opposition Team wins. Points are calculated according to the following rules.

If the Ruling Team Wins

10 points are subtracted from the total score obtained by the Ruling Team, and the Friend receives that number of points.

The Main Player get twice as many points as that number.

Players on the Opposition Team lose the corresponding number of points (basically the Opposition Team give the points to the Ruling Team, so the net points lost by the Opposition Team and earned by the Ruling Team are the same).

Run: If the Ruling Team scores all 20 points (even if the declared target score is not 20), the Ruling Team receives double the points that they should have earned, and the Opposition Team loses double the points.

No Friend: If the Main Player has not chosen a Friend, then the Main Player gets 8 times the number of points scored after 10 is subtracted, and each player on the Opposition Team loses twice that number of points.

Note: The Main Player receives points from the 4 opponents. So, the Main player gets (earned score minus 10) × 4 points. Additionally, No-Friends bonus is applied here, which ultimately multiplies the score by 8 times.

No Giru: If the Main Player declares No Giru and wins, the Main Player receives double the points and the Opposition Team loses double the points.

Run, No Friend, No Giru can be all applied in duplicate.

Example: As the Main Player, Ivan declares a 15 Spade, resulting in Steph becoming the Friend. Ivan and Steph wins the game by getting 16 score cards. Ivan receives a total point of 12 (16-10=6, multiplied by 2). Steph receives a total point of 6 (16-10=6). The Opposition Team members Hana, Jake, and Greg loses 6 points each. The Ruling Team gains 18 points and the Opposition Team loses 18 points.

Example 2: As the Main Player, Jake declares a 14 Club and declares No Friend. Jake wins the game by getting 14 score cards. Jake receives a total point of 32 (14-10=4, multiplied by 8). The Opposition Team members Steph, Ivan, Hana, and Greg loses 8 points each (4 point times 2). The Ruling Team gains 32 points, the Opposition Team loses 32 points.

If the Opposition Team Wins

Subtract the score earned by the Ruling team from the target score. The Opposition Team members each receive a point equivalent to the number deducted.

The Friend loses an equivalent number of points, and the Main Player loses twice that number of points.

Back Run: If the Ruling Team scores less than 10 points, then this is a huge defeat for the Ruling Team. As a penalty, the Ruling Team loses double the points and the Opposition Team earns double the points.

Example: Jake declares 16 Hearts and declares Hana as the Friend. However, the Ruling Party only obtains 14 score cards, resulting in losing this game. The Opposition Team members Steph, Ivan, and Greg gains 2 points each (16-14=2). The Main Player Jake loses 4 points (2×2=4). The Friend Hana loses 2 points. The Ruling Team loses 6 points, the Opposition Team gains 6 points.

Example 2: Steph declares 17 Diamond and declares Greg as the Friend. However, the Ruling Team only obtains 9 score cards, resulting in losing this game (Back Run). The Opposition Team members Ivan, Jake, Hana gain 16 points each (17-9=8, times 2). The Main Player Steph loses 32 points (8x2x2=32). The Friend Greg loses 16 points. The Ruling Team loses 48 points, the Opposition Team gains 48 points.

Add and subtract points gained and lost, and record the current point on the Point Table and start a new game.

If the Ruling Team won, then the Main Player will be the new dealer for this round. If the Opposition Team won, then the Friend will be the new dealer.

Game End

The entire game ends when one of the following 2 conditions is met.

• At the end of the 10th game.
• If a player has 0 points or less.

The player with the most points wins the entire game!

4 Player Rules

A neutral player has appeared. The neutral player's 10 cards form a pile face down at the start of the game. On the neutral player's turn, draw a single card face up from the top of the pile.

The neutral player ignores the rules requiring players to play the leading suit, and can instead play any card. The neutral player can also collect cards by playing strongest card.

A neutral player can be on the Ruling Team or on the Opposition Team, and its points are recorded together with the team it belongs. The neutral player can also gain or lose points.

Note: If the neutral player plays a Joker as their first card in the round, then the next player can play any card. It will be considered the leading suit.

6 Player Rule

A game is played by 5 players with 1 spectator. The spectator neither gains nor loses points.

All 6 players receive 8 cards each from the dealer, and the remaining 5 cards are laid face down in the middle of the table.

6 players do auction for the Main Player position. The player elected as the Main Player declares one card (for example, they can declare a Mighty). The player who has this card must sit out this game. If no player has this card, then the Main Player continues to declare a new card until a player sits out.

The player who is sitting out combines their 8 cards with the 5 cards on the table, shuffles them, and deals 5 cards to the Main Player and 2 cards each to the remaining players. The Main Player receives 5 cards, chooses 3 out of the 13 cards and places the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table.

Subsequent games are played like a 5 player game.

Before the start of the game, the Main Player can take a look at their 5 cards and change them, making it a little more advantageous for the Ruling Team. The Main Player also has the advantage of not being able to get kicked out of the game. Therefore, it is in your best interest to actively participate in the auction and aim for the Main Player.

Variant Rules

The two variant rules for Reshuffle below are not applied in duplicate, thus you must choose one of the two. Besides these, all other variant rules can be applied in duplicate.

Replenishing Reshuffle Token

This variant rule allows for multiple Reshuffle during the game.

If the Main Player wins, they must flip the Reshuffle Token face up (if it was laid face down).

There is a chance to replenish Tokens again, so actively declare Reshuffle, and actively aim to obtain the Main Player position.

Note however, that the Reshuffle can only be called on your first turn during the Main Player auction phase.

More Complex Reshuffle Rule

Remove all Reshuffle Tokens from the game.

After receiving 10 cards (8 cards for 6 player game) and before you participate in the Main Player auction (before declaring a number or pass), you can call "Reshuffle".

When using this rule, you can declare a Reshuffle when the total value in your hand is less than 1. The value of cards are calculated as follows:

Card	Value
Mighty	0 value
10	0.5 value
Joker	-1 value
Score card (excluding 10 or Mighty)	1 value
Other cards	0 value

There is no limit on the number of Reshuffle in the game. If the conditions are met, Reshuffle can be declared as many times as you want.

However, 5 points are deducted off for each Reshuffle called, and these deducted points are deposited to the next first Main Player to win.

Change Giru After the Auction

When using this variant rule, the Giru can be changed after the Main Player has been determined. This allows for a more dynamic play as you can change suits, and therefore change your strategy.

You can change the Giru before or after you look at your added 3 cards. If you change the Giru BEFORE looking at the 3 cards on the table, you should raise the target score by at least 1. For example, when the Main Player is elected with a 15 Club and now wishes to change Giru before looking at the 3 added cards, the minimum declaration must be 16.

If you change the Giru AFTER looking at the 3 cards on the table, you should raise the target score by at least 2. For example, when the Main Player is elected with a 15 Heart and now wishes to change Giru after looking at the 3 added cards, the minimum declaration must be 17. However, if you declare "No Giru", you can raise the number by 1.

Increased Minimum Declaration

At the start of the auction, set the minimum declaration number to 13. This will make it a little more difficult to participate in the Auction, but it prevent the Main players from winning easily by becoming the Main player with small target score such as 11 and 12.

Winning Mindset

This variant rule allows extra points to the Main Player when they declare a higher target score. It is recommended that this rule variant is applied together with the Minimum Auction Number rule.

Except for the following, all rules are the same as the standard rules. When calculating total point after one game and the Main Player is the winner, apply the calculation below and gain double the points. The Friend gains an equal amount of points as the result of calculation. The Opposition Team loses an equal amount of points as the result of calculation.

Calculation: Point = (Target score − Minimum Score*) × 2 + (Scores earned by the Ruling Team − Target score)

* In general, Minimum Score is 11. If you use the Increased Minimum Declaration variant rules, it is 13.

With this rule, the higher the Target Score, the more points you get when you win. The score lost when the Ruling Team is defeated is the same as the basic rule. Therefore, increasing the Target Score and aiming for higher scores is recommended.

Example: Hana becomes the Main Player by declaring a 17 Diamond, and chooses Steph to be the Friend. The Ruling Team wins the game by obtaining 18 score cards. By applying the variant rule, Hana gains 26 points [(17-11)×2 + (18-17)=13, times 2]. Steph gains 13 points. If it was played by the standard rules, Hana would have gained 16 points (18-10=8, times 2).

Choosing the Friend

This rule now allows the Main Player to choose a specific player as a Friend. This way, all players know who the Friend is before the game starts. Although this may weaken the mind game element of the game, it does however increase the fun level of team play.

Tips

If you are on the Ruling Team, go for the Giru: The Giru is the third strongest card next to the Mighty and Joker. If a Giru remains in the Opposition Team player's hand, you could lose a lot of scores despite playing a strong card. With this in mind, play a Giru as the first card at the start of the round to try to force the Opposition Team to play their Giru. Note however, the Main Player cannot play a Giru on the first round. Therefore, it's best to have a strong card ready to win the first round (and then, play a Giru in the second round).

If you are on the Opposition Team, go after the Mighty: The Mighty and Joker are the strongest card in the game, but unlike the Joker, the Mighty has a suit. The Mighty typically appears at moments where the Ruling Team is about to lose a lot of scores. If you can bring out the Mighty early, then it will be easier for you to attack weak parts of the Main Player. This will also make using the Joker easier (if you have Joker). If the Opposition Team member become a starting player, try to play card of the same suit as the Mighty to try and force it to be played.

If you're on the Opposition Team, think carefully about playing your score cards: Typically, the Main Player is very strong, allowing for them to win most of the 10 rounds. However, it is very rare that all of the Main Player's 10 cards are strong, so sometimes other players can win rounds. Keep a close eye on all the cards being played, and predict who is the Friend. And if you think someone who is not the Friend will win, play the weak Score card and increase the player's score. Be careful though, because that person could very well be the Friend.

Credits

KOREA BOARDGAMES 10, Yopung-gil, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, KOREA

Illustrations: Jang Ha-Eun | Graphic Design: Ahn Hyo-joo | Project Manager: Oh Se-kwon

The illustration of the card in Mighty are in accordance with the contract with Jang Ha-Eun, the author of The Four Guardians Trump Card. Unauthorized use is punishable by law.