Nanatoridori
Nanatoridori Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
In Nanatoridori, you are trying to get rid of all of your cards; the last one to do so loses the round. The first player to lose two rounds loses the game, and all other players win!
Components
- 63 Bird cards — 9 cards each of ranks 1-7
- 12 Penguins — 2 in each player colour
- 6 Player aid cards — Standard and Duel rules
Setup
-
Shuffle the Bird deck to form the face-down draw pile, then deal 8 cards from the deck to each player. You may look at your own hand of cards, but may not rearrange them.
IMPORTANT: Players may never rearrange the order of the cards in their hand.
-
Assign areas of the table to be the play area, and the face-up discard pile.
-
Give each player two Penguin tokens in their colour; return leftovers to the box. Players may take a Player aid card, if they want.
-
Pick a starting player to take the first turn of the round by any method you like.
The table is arranged with the discard pile and play area near the center, and the starting player marker in front of whoever is chosen to go first.
Gameplay
(for 3 or more players; for 2 players see the Two-Player Duel rules on the back)
Each round begins with the starting player's turn, and play proceeds clockwise; on your turn, you either play or pass. Turns continue until only one player has any cards left; the round ends, and that player is the loser of the round.
On Your Turn
...if there is no flock in the play area (including the first turn of a round)
You must play any flock from your hand to the play area.
What is a flock?
A flock is either a single card, or any number of identical-rank cards that are all next to each other in your hand. You may play only a portion of a multi-card flock, if you wish.
Remember that you may never rearrange the cards in your hand.
...if there is a flock in the play area
You must either play or pass.
Play
To play, you must play a flock (as defined above) into the play area that is stronger than the previous flock.
Flock strength
Your flock is stronger than the previous one if it either:
A) ...has the same number of cards as the previous flock and a higher rank, or
B) ...has more cards than the previous flock; the rank doesn't matter.
Then you must pick up the previous flock, and either discard it, or add it to your own hand. If you add it to your hand, you must keep the flock intact but you may insert it into your hand in any position you like. It could therefore go at either end of your hand, or in between any two cards in your hand; remember that you may not otherwise rearrange your hand. Discards are out of the game for the round. Anyone may check the discard pile at any time.
For example, if you beat a previous flock of two 5s, you could discard it or you could add it to your hand; since you have two 5s already, adding the new ones beside or between them would create a very strong 4-card flock!
Pass
To pass, draw one card from the deck and look at it. You must either discard it or add it to your hand in any position you like. When you pass, you are not out of the round; you will continue to take your turn in the usual order. You must pass if you are unable to play, but you may choose to pass even if you are able to play.
If the deck ever runs out of cards, do not shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck; for the rest of the round, players who pass do not draw a card.
If all other players in order pass
If you play a flock and then all other players in order pass (not counting players who are already out), discard that flock. Then play continues with your turn (or the next player in turn order who still has cards, if you have already gone out).
Going Out, and Ending the Round
When you have no cards in your hand, you have gone out. Once you are out, play continues clockwise but skips your turn. Once all players except one have gone out, the round ends. That player has lost the round; they lose one of their Penguins, returning it to the box. If the game is not over (see below), shuffle the entire deck, deal eight cards to each player, and begin a new round with the player who just lost a Penguin as the starting player.
Game End
The game ends when one player has lost both of their Penguins. That player has lost the game, and everyone else wins!
One-Winner Variant
In this alternate ruleset, rather than racing to avoid being the one loser of the game, you compete to be the one winner. Gameplay is unchanged, except that the Penguins are not used in the same way. Each player uses one of their Penguins as a scoring marker (see below), and keeps the other to remember their colour. At the end of each round, award points:
- First player to go out: 4 points
- Last player with cards: 0 points
- All other players: 2 points
Move your scoring Penguin alongside the track printed on the side of the box bottom, to keep track of your score.
Once any player earns a total of at least 10 points, they have won the game! If multiple players reach 10 points in the same round, they share the win. If one player reaches 12 points in the same round that anyone else reached 10 points, the player with 12 points wins.
Two-Player Duel
In two-player duel mode, you lose a round either by your opponent going out first as in multiplayer, or if you pass when you have no face-up cards (see below). Gameplay is the same as multiplayer, with these changes:
Setup differences
Shuffle the Bird deck, and deal eleven cards to each player, instead of the normal 8. Also deal two face-up cards in front of each player. Set the remaining unused 37 cards aside.
Passing differences
When you pass, you must choose one of your own face-up cards and either discard it or add it to your hand in any position. If you pass when you have no face-up cards left, you lose the round.
Additional rules
On your turn, you may add one (or both) of your face-up cards to the flock you are playing from your hand, as long as their rank matches the cards you are playing from your hand. You may not play face-up cards on their own; they may only be added to cards being played from your hand.
You go out when you have played all of the cards from your hand, as usual; playing your face-up cards is not required to go out.
Credits
Designer Toshiki Arao (Ateam)
Illustrator & Graphic Design Kotori Neiko
Arclight Lead Developer Atsushi Hashimoto
Arclight Editors Kakeru Goto, Kunihito Nozawa
Arclight English Translator Philip Prior
KTBG Graphics and Rulebook Josh Cappel
KTBG Communications Sean Jacquemain
KTBG Project Management Helaina Cappel
Original edition © 2023 Ateam / Arclight, Inc. English edition published with love by KTBG, kidstablebg.com © 2025 All rights reserved.