Nishikigoi
Nishikigoi Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 54 cards
- 3 dice (white, orange and black)
Preparation
First, look at the large pond to get an idea of how you will divide the areas.
Shuffle the Pond cards and deal 2 cards to each player. Set the remaining face-down Pond cards aside.
Choose the first player at random.
Course of a Round
In each round, the players must place different groups of koi, separating them by the pond. It is important to adjust the area so that it hosts the most koi colonies.
The game is played in turns, and in each one each player must build the perfect environment for the colony, following these steps:
A) Determining the Perfect Pond
The first player rolls the 3 dice. These dice show the exact number of nishikigoi that must be inside one pond area when it is closed.
Remember that koi with more than one colour can be played as any of those colours, but each is counted only once.
B) Creating the Pond
To start a round, place a card from the deck on the table. This will be the start of a pond area.
Then, starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player must play a Pond card, draw a new card and complete their turn. All of this must happen until a pond area has been completely closed, or all players decide to start a new round.
To play a card, the player places it in such a way that the row of water lilies continues. To do this, the card may be placed partly covering other cards in the game (always from below).
[Editor's note: the Greek phrase "σειρά από νούφαρα" ("row of water lilies") is printed here as written; it appears to be an unclear phrase in the leaflet and is transcribed literally, not corrected.]
End of a Round
If the exact number of nishikigoi of each colour matches the dice, remove 5 of the played cards and place them on the bottom of the deck. The remaining cards stay on the edge to show that you have built a perfect pond area.
If the players decide to start a new pond area, all played cards are returned to the box.
[Diagram on the leaflet: an example of seven played Pond cards forming a closed ring around an open centre, with the card marked 1 at the top left, and the three dice (orange, black and white) beside it.]
End of the Game and Final Scoring
The game ends when all cards have been played. There is no other space in the autocratic pond, and it is time to evaluate how well you did:
| Score | Koi | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| +15 | Kohaku | Extraordinary! |
| 11 - 15 | Taisho | Perfect! |
| 6 - 10 | Chagoi | Very good. |
| 0 - 5 | Asagi | Not too bad, but you should improve by playing again. |
[Editor's note: the koi names are printed in a decorative display font; they are transcribed as the standard koi variety names Kohaku, Taisho, Chagoi and Asagi, which is how they read on the leaflet. The assessment words are translated from the Greek, with "Υπερβολικός!" rendered as "Extraordinary!".]