The Lady and the Tiger
The Lady and the Tiger Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 12 x Clue cards
- 4 x Door cards
- 2 x Wild Clue cards
- 25 gems (5 x 5 colors)
- ...and 15 Reference cards
All cards in the game have 2 traits:
- ROLE: LADY or TIGER
- COLOR: BLUE or RED
Doors
A bluffing game for 2 players by Peter C. Hayward
He was safe in his choice, for he knew that the lady was in number two. When he burst through her door, he found out by the roar, that tigers can be ladies too. — Tom Lang
Objective
To win, be the first player to earn 10 gems. Gems are earned by guessing your opponent's identity, being guessed incorrectly, or scoring a set of cards which match your identity.
Setup
Gems used: 20 (any)
Doors takes place over a series of contests. Each contest ends as soon as either player earns gems.
At the start of each contest, shuffle the 4 Door cards together, and deal 1 face-down to each player. Place the other 2 Door cards to the side without looking at them. They will not be used this contest.
The card you are dealt is your identity.
Look at it, but don't show your opponent.
Shuffle the 14 Clue cards to form the deck, then reveal the top 4 cards. This is the display.
Each player takes a Reference card.
The player who last opened a door will be the first Collector.
Gameplay
During each contest, one player is the Collector and the other is the Guesser.
Players take turns, starting with the Collector.
The Collector collects cards, and earns gems by being guessed incorrectly.
The Guesser discards cards, and earn gems by guessing the Collector's identity correctly.
Either player can earn gems by claiming a set from the Collector's cards.
A contest ends as soon as either player earns gems.
At the end of each contest, players switch between being the Guesser and the Collector.
Sets
A set is 4 Clue cards that all share the same 1 trait with your identity.
This Red Lady has a set of 4 Red cards: 2x Red Lady, 1x Blue/Red, 1x Red Tiger.
Quick Reference
Wild Clue Cards
The Blue/Red card counts as either COLOR but not as a Lady or a Tiger.
The Lady/Tiger card counts as either ROLE but does not count as Red or Blue.
Collector Scoring
Earn 4 gems when guessed incorrectly.
Earn 6 gems by completing a set.
Guesser Scoring
Earn 1 gem by guessing color OR role.
Earn 2 gems by matching a set.
Earn 3 gems when the deck runs out.
Earn 5 gems by guessing color AND role.
If any part of your guess is incorrect, you earn nothing and Collector earns 4 gems.
Collector
On your turn, take any 1 of the 4 cards from the display and place it face-up in front of you. Refill the display from the deck immediately.
You do not need to choose a card which matches your identity.
Then, if you have a set that matches 1 of the traits of your identity, you must reveal your identity to earn 6 gems and end the contest. Otherwise, the contest continues with Guesser's turn.
To score a set, it must match either your identity's color or role.
For example, if you are the Red Tiger, you can match a set of 4 Red cards or a set of 4 Tiger cards. You could not reveal to score a set of 4 Blue cards or a set of 4 Lady cards.
| If you are: | You have: | Score: |
|---|---|---|
| Red Tiger | blue person, red person, blue person, blue person (no matching set) | X |
| Red Tiger | 4 blue tigers | 6 |
| Red Tiger | 4 red people | 6 |
Guesser
On your turn, discard any card from the display, placing it face-up beside the deck. Refill the display from the deck immediately. Players may look through discarded cards at any time.
Then you may choose to end the contest by guessing your opponent's identity or matching a set.
Otherwise, the contest continues and Collector takes another turn.
As Guesser, you may either:
Guess their color OR their role: score 1 gem.
- "You are Blue."
- "You are Red."
- "You are a Lady."
- "You are a Tiger."
Guess their color AND their role: score 5 gems.
- "You are the Blue Lady."
- "You are the Red Lady."
- "You are the Blue Tiger."
- "You are the Red Tiger."
Guesser (continued)
Incorrect Guesses
To earn gems, your entire guess must be correct. When you choose to guess color AND role, if any part of that guess is incorrect, the contest ends and Collector earns 4 gems.
Scoring Sets
On your turn, you can score a set from Collector's cards. If Collector has created a set that matches your role or your color, you may reveal your identity to earn 2 gems and end the contest.
Contest End
A contest ends when either player earns gems. Both players reveal their identities, flip the Reference cards, shuffle the Clue cards and the Door cards, deal each player a new identity, and start a new contest.
Game End
The first player to get 10 gems wins!
Turn Structure
- Collector takes a card.
- Refill the display.
- OPTIONAL: Collector reveals a set.
- Guesser discards a card.
- Refill the display.
- OPTIONAL: Before or after they discard a card, Guesser may guess or score a set.
- If the deck is empty, Guesser scores 3 gems.
- Otherwise, a new turn begins.
Favor
A bidding game for 2-4 players by Allysha Tulk and Kevin Carmichael
A tiger, escaped from the zoo, proposed to the Duchess of Kew. To her great surprise she got lost in his eyes and found herself saying "I do". — Peter C. Hayward
Objective
Win the Duchess's heart by earning the most points over the course of 3 days. Earn points by winning auctions of cards that match your identity, and by having the most gems.
Setup
Gems used: 5 per player in any colors
For this game, you will need to record scores.
Use a pen and paper, a smartphone, or coins.
The game takes place over 3 "days". Each day ends when the deck is empty.
At the start of each day:
Shuffle the 4 Door cards together, and deal 1 face-down to each player.
The card you are dealt is your identity. Look at it, but don't show your opponents.
Place any remaining Door cards to the side without looking at them. They will not be used this day.
Each player takes 5 gems of any color.
Shuffle the 14 Clue cards. Place them face-down in the center of the table. This is the deck.
Play the top card of the deck face-up in the center of the table. This starts the initial lot.
The player who last did someone a favor takes the first turn.
Scoring
This game uses both gems and points. Gems are used as bidding chips; points track players' scores.
During the game, players collect cards by winning auctions. Players score points at the end of each day based on the cards they have collected.
| Cards that exactly match your identity: | 3 pt |
| Cards sharing 1 trait with your identity: | 1 pt |
| Cards sharing 0 traits with your identity: | -2 pt |
| BONUS: Most gems at end of day: | 3 pt |
Players may have negative scores.
Wild Clue Cards
Wild Clue cards are used during scoring to change the trait of collected cards.
Blue/Red can be used to change the color of 1 card.
Lady/Tiger can be used to change the role of 1 card.
Both Wild Clue cards can be used on the same card. Unused Wild Clue cards have no effect.
Example Play
If you are: Red Tiger. For each of the following, you score: Red Tiger = 3, Blue Tiger = 1, Red person = 1, Blue person = -2.
If you have: the Blue/Red card — Change one: blue tiger ↔ red tiger, OR change one: blue person ↔ red person.
If you have: the Lady/Tiger card — Change one: blue person ↔ blue tiger, OR change one: red person ↔ red tiger.
If you have: both Wild Clue cards — Change one: blue person ↔ red tiger, OR change one: blue tiger ↔ red person.
Gameplay
The face-up cards in the center of the table are the lot. Players bid to win all cards in the lot.
Each turn, players will either add to the lot or call an auction. Then, play passes to the left.
Add to the Lot: Reveal the top card of the deck and place it in the current lot. This ends your turn.
Players can only ever add 1 card this way each turn, no matter which day it is.
Call an Auction: Give players a chance to pay you and take the lot.
Each player bids, starting with the player to your left. Players bid by placing gems in front of themselves. Once each of your opponents has had a chance to bid, you may bid.
Each player only has 1 chance to bid for each lot.
Bids must beat the previous high bid, and can increase by any amount.
Players may choose not to bid on their turn. If nobody bids, discard the entire lot.
Once each player has had a chance to bid, the highest bidder takes the lot, paying their bid to the player who called the auction. All other players take their gems back.
If the player who called the auction wins the bid, they split the gems from their winning bid between each opponent equally, returning any remaining gems to the supply.
If their bid is less than the number of opponents, all gems from the winning bid are returned to the supply.
This means in a 2-player game, the player who wins the bid will always pay their opponent all the gems they used to win a bid.
Gems in the supply won't be used again until the next day.
A called the auction. B bid 3, C bid 4, and then A bid 5. A takes all the cards from the lot and pays B and C 2 gems, removing the other gem from the game. B and C take their bid back. If A hadn't bid, B would have taken the lot and paid A 4 gems. A and C would have taken their bid back.
Players' collections are kept face-up in front of them.
After each auction, automatically start a new lot:
On the first day, flip the top card of the deck to start each new lot.
On the second day, flip the top 2 cards of the deck to start each new lot.
On the third day, flip the top 3 cards of the deck to start each new lot.
Play resumes with the player to the left of whoever called the auction.
Final Auction
When the final card is revealed, hold an open auction.
Each player gets 1 chance to bid, starting with the player who would have taken the next turn.
The highest bidder takes all cards from the lot. Nobody receives the gems from their bid.
If no one bids, discard the lot.
Day End
After the final auction, the day ends. Players reveal their identities and calculate scores.
New Day
Once scores have been recorded, start the next day. Gems and cards reset at the start of each day. Players start each day with 5 gems and a new Door card.
The player who won the previous day's final auction takes the first turn.
If no one won the final auction, the player who had the first chance to bid goes first.
At the start of the second day, flip the top 2 cards of the deck to start the initial lot.
At the start of the third day, flip the top 3 cards of the deck to start the initial lot.
Game End
At the end of the third day, the player with the highest cumulative score is the winner.
Ties are broken by the player with the most remaining gems on the final day. Further ties are broken by the player who went first on the final day.
If you are: Red Tiger. For each of the following, you score: Red Tiger = 3, Red Tiger = 3, Red person = 1, Blue Tiger = 1, Blue person = -2, Blue person (using the Blue/Red Wild Clue card) = 1.
For example, the player with the Red Tiger finished the day with 7 points. If they'd had the most gems, they would have gained an additional 3 points.
Hoard
A solo puzzle game by Ken Maher
A tiger, while gnawing a bone let out a small sigh and a moan. "If I could just meet a lady without eating her, maybe I wouldn't be all on my own." — Peter C. Hayward
Objective
To win, collect all 10 Treasures before the end of the third round.
Setup
Gems used: 5 blue, 5 red, 5 white, 5 black, 3 yellow
Place the 4 Door cards in a square: Lady cards on the top, Tiger cards on the bottom, Red on the left, and Blue on the right.
Place 3 yellow gems above the square. These are round markers. The other yellow gems are not used in this game.
Shuffle the remaining 20 gems and randomly place 5 of them on each of the Door cards.
Shuffle the 14 Clue cards together to form the deck.
TREASURE: Treasure can only be collected from cards of the same color: red Treasure from a Red card, blue Treasure from a Blue card.
TRASH: Trash can only be removed in pairs of opposite colors: 1 black and 1 white together.
Gameplay
Each turn, reveal a Clue card from the deck.
You must now perform an action involving the matching Door card (Red Lady, Blue Lady, Red Tiger, or Blue Tiger).
Choose 1 of the following 3 actions to perform:
MOVE
Take any 1 Treasure or Trash and move it between Door cards of the same role (not color). You can never move gems vertically.
If you reveal a Tiger Clue card, move any 1 gem from 1 Tiger Door card to the other.
If you reveal a Lady Clue card, move any 1 gem from 1 Lady Door card to the other.
OR REMOVE
If there is Trash on that Door card, remove all pairs consisting of 1 black Trash and 1 white Trash from that card. All Trash that isn't a part of a black and white pair is left on the card.
Gameplay (continued)
OR COLLECT
You may collect 1 Treasure from a Door Card IF the Treasure color matches the Door Card AND there is no Trash on the Door card.
Place collected Treasure to the side; it never returns to the Door cards. You win the game by collecting all 10 Treasures.
You must take an action if possible. If you are unable to take any action, pass your turn and reveal another card.
Example Play
For example, after revealing the Red Tiger, you must choose 1 of the following:
- Move 1 Treasure or Trash from the Blue Tiger Door card to the Red Tiger Door card.
- Move 1 Treasure or Trash from the Red Tiger Door card to the Blue Tiger Door card.
- Remove all black/white Trash pairs from the Red Tiger Door card.
- If there's no Trash on the Red Tiger Door card, collect 1 red Treasure from that card.
Wild Clue Cards
When the Blue/Red card is revealed, you must take 1 white and 1 black Trash from the removed Trash, and place 1 on each Blue Door card -OR- place 1 on each Red Door card. You choose which gem to place on which Door card.
When the Lady/Tiger card is revealed, you must take 1 white and 1 black Trash from the removed Trash, and place 1 on each Lady Door card -OR- place 1 on each Tiger Door card. You choose which gem to place on which Door card.
If you reveal a Wild Clue card and there is no removed Trash, pick any 2 Door cards, and swap a black Trash from 1 with a white Trash from the other.
Trash can be swapped between Tigers and Ladies this way.
Round End
After you use the last card of the deck, place it face-up beneath 1 of the round markers.
Shuffle the other Clue cards and begin a new round.
Game End
The game ends when you collect all 10 Treasures, or when a card is placed under the third round marker.
If you collect all the Treasures, you win!
Count up the removed Trash to determine your score. 10 points is a perfect score!
If you have not collected all the Treasures by the end of the third round, you lose!
Better luck next time! Reshuffle the gems and cards and try again.
Difficulty
Always scoring a perfect 10? Try again on a more advanced difficulty!
Moderate: Remove 1 Clue card at random at the start of the game and place it to the side, face-up.
Hard: Remove 2 Clue cards at the start of the game and place them to the side, face-up.
Impossible: Remove 3 Clue cards at the start of the game and place them face-down to the side without looking at them.
Labyrinth
A maze game for 2 players by Philip Tootil
The Queen of the Underground Maze soon learned of the ten tiger strays. "Find them!" she cried. "Bring them to my side, or I'll set the whole labyrinth ablaze!" — Peter C. Hayward
Objective
To win, help your 5 tiger cubs escape by moving them onto the Tiger Door card of your color. But watch out: the labyrinth shifts every turn!
Setup
Gems used: 5 red, 5 blue, 1 white, 1 yellow
Place the Wild Clue cards (Blue/Red and Lady/Tiger) to the side. These are the Switch cards. Place a yellow gem on the blue half of the Blue/Red card. Place a white gem on the Lady on the Lady/Tiger card.
Create a 4x4 grid of cards by placing the 4 Door cards face-up in the corners, with Door cards of the same color in opposite corners. Shuffle the remaining Clue cards, then place them face-up in the grid to fill the remaining spaces.
Choose a player to be red and a player to be blue. Place 5 red gems on the Red Lady Door card and 5 blue gems on the Blue Lady Door card. These are your tiger cubs.
Gameplay
Players alternate turns. The player who most recently asked for directions takes the first turn.
On your turn, you must take the following 2 actions, in order:
1. Move a cub.
Each turn, first move 1 of your tiger cubs to any directly adjacent card (up, down, left, or right).
Tiger cubs can move onto cards of any color and any role.
You must move 1 of your tiger cubs each turn. Any number of tiger cubs can share a card.
2. Move the labyrinth.
Choose either the Blue/Red or Lady/Tiger Switch card.
If you choose the Blue/Red card, switch 2 Clue cards of the color the yellow gem is currently on. (On the first turn, this will be blue.)
If you choose the Lady/Tiger card, switch 2 Clue cards of the role the white gem is currently on. (On the first turn, this will be Lady.)
The Door cards cannot be switched.
Switching Cards
The 2 Clue cards switched must be either in the same row or the same column.
At least 1 of the Clue cards must have a tiger cub on it, although it does not have to be yours.
All tiger cubs on the switched cards move with the card they're on.
Once you have switched the cards, move the gem on the Switch card you chose to the opposite color or role.
Whenever you switch 2 identical cards, move the gem on both Switch cards instead of just 1.
If you are unable to switch any cards, move the gem on both Switch cards instead.
Example: Switching Cards
For example, if you choose the Blue/Red card and the yellow gem is on Red, you can switch 2 Red Clue cards. Then, move the yellow gem to Blue.
Example Play
At the start of the game you can switch 2 Blue cards, or 2 Lady cards.
If you chose to switch Blue cards, at the end of your turn you'd move the yellow gem to Red.
If you chose to switch Lady cards, at the end of your turn you would move the white gem to Tiger.
If you were unable to switch cards, at the end of your turn you would instead move both gems.
If you switched 2 identical cards (2 Blue Lady cards, 2 Blue Tiger cards, or 2 Red Lady cards) you would move both gems at the end of your turn.
You would not be able to switch Red Tiger cards because neither Red nor Tiger is covered on a Switch card.
Game End
As soon as you have all 5 of your tiger cubs on the Tiger Door card of your color, you win!
Traps
A bluffing game for 2-6 players by JR Honeycutt
Upon hearing the trapped lady's plea the tiger did not set her free. He brought honey and bread, and once she was fed 'twas his turn to dine sumptuously. — Peter C. Hayward
Objective
Build stacks of traps and treasure, then win gems by risking a bid or tricking your opponents.
Collect 5 gems to win!
Setup
Gems used: 25 (any)
Shuffle the 14 Clue cards. Place 2 Clue cards to the side without looking at them.
In a 5-player game, place an additional 2 Clue cards to the side.
Deal remaining Clue cards out equally to each player:
- 2-player game: 6 each
- 3-player game: 4 each
- 4-player game: 3 each
- 5+ player game: 2 each
Look at your cards. Do not show your opponents.
Each player starts the game with 1 gem of any color. Place the remaining gems to the side. This is the treasury. The number of gems players have is always public knowledge.
Shuffle the 4 Door cards together to form the deck.
The player who most recently caught something goes first.
Gameplay
Starting a Season
The game takes place over a number of seasons.
At the start of each season, take 3 gems from the treasury and add them to the middle of the table.
This is the pot.
If there aren't enough gems left in the treasury, just add as many as possible.
Then, reveal the top Door card from the deck. This is the goal card.
After the goal card is revealed, players simultaneously choose a card from their hand and play it face-down in front of them. This is the start of their stack.
Each season, players build stacks and then bid on how many traits matching the goal card they can reveal from all stacks. If they hit their bid, they take all the gems from the pot.
You also gain gems when an opponent reveals your traps: cards that don't share traits with the goal card.
Beginning with the starting player and going clockwise, each player chooses whether they want to build or bid. If you have no cards in your hand on your turn, you must bid.
Build
To build, place a card from your hand face-down on top of your stack.
Players may not look at cards in their stack.
Bid
To bid, say any number higher than the current bid, up to a maximum of 13.
Players are bidding on how many traits matching the goal card they can reveal from all stacks, including their opponents'.
Once bidding has been initiated by any player, players can no longer build. Players may only bid or pass.
To pass, rotate your stack to the side. Once you pass, you are out of the bidding for the rest of the season.
When only one player remains, the bid is over and the remaining player must begin revealing cards.
Revealing
When you are the only remaining player, start revealing cards one by one. You are attempting to reveal the number of matching traits that you bid.
You can reveal cards from the top of any stack, including opponents'. You can reveal the top card of any stack at any point; you do not have to complete a stack before moving to another.
Revealed cards are displayed face-up beside the stack they're revealed from.
Example of Matching Traits
If goal card: Red Tiger. Number of matching traits: Red Tiger = 2, Red person = 1, Blue Tiger = 1, Blue person = TRAP!
Cards with no matching traits are traps.
Traps
Whenever you reveal a trap — a card that doesn't match either trait — an opponent takes a gem from the pot:
If the trap was from an opponent's stack, that opponent takes the gem.
If the trap was from your own stack, you choose which opponent takes the gem. You cannot choose an opponent who already has 4 gems.
If you reveal a trap from your own stack and all your opponents have 4 gems in their collections, return the gem to the treasury, pay 2 of your own gems into the pot, and immediately end the season.
Your opponents cannot win from you revealing your own trap cards.
Wild Clue cards
The Blue/Red card only matches 1 trait.
The Lady/Tiger card is always a TRAP.
Example Play
If goal card: Red Tiger. For each of the following, you score: Red Tiger = 2, Red person = 1, Blue Tiger = 1, Blue person = TRAP!, Blue/Red Wild Clue card = 1, Lady/Tiger Wild Clue card = TRAP!
Season End
If you do not wish to reveal further cards, you may give 1 of your own gems to an opponent with 3 or fewer gems to immediately end the season.
If you hit or exceed your bid, take all gems from the pot and end the season.
If you run out of cards to reveal or the pot is empty, end the season.
At the end of a season, reset the pot to 3 gems.
Then, players pick up their stack and any cards revealed from their stack. Players keep the same cards for 4 seasons.
The player to the left of the previous season's highest bidder is the new starting player.
New Year
If there are no cards in the door deck when a season begins, start a new year by shuffling the Door cards together into a new deck.
Then, shuffle all 14 Clue cards together, remove cards at random as you did during setup, and deal each player a new hand.
Game End
As soon as any player collects their fifth gem, they win!
Example Play
Player A bid 5. Everyone else passed, and so they are now revealing cards.
Player A revealed their own Blue/Red card and have matched 1 trait. They revealed D's Red Tiger – a trap! Player D took a gem. Then A revealed C's Red Tiger – another trap! Player C also took a gem.
Player A revealed a Red Lady from player D. Now A has matched 2 traits; only 3 to go. Since each of A's opponents has 4 gems, A will have to keep revealing cards, and hope to match 5 traits before hitting a trap!
Game Design
- Doors — Peter C. Hayward
- Favor — Allysha Tulk & Kevin Carmichael
- Hoard — Ken Maher
- Labyrinth — Philip Tootill
- Traps — JR Honeycutt
Art
Tania Walker
Graphic Design
Tania Walker
Development
Peter C. Hayward Tom Lang
Special Thanks
Cardboard Edison Ben Begeal
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