Yak Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Cart assembly diagram
• Setup
  • 3-player setup
  • 2-player setup
  • Stone Tower
• Goal of the Game
• Game Overview
• How to Play
  • 1. Sunrise
  • 2. Noon
    • Build
      • Carriage restrictions
      • Example 1
      • Crystal stones
      • Example 2
    • Restock
    • Market
• Special Event: Rise of Fog
  • Mountain track filled for the first time
  • Mountain track filled for the second time
  • Example 3
  • Example 4
  • 3. Sunset
• Game End
  • Example 5
• Final Scoring
  • Group size
  • Number of groups
  • Scoring with Crystal stones
  • Extra points
  • Scoring example
• Game Variant for Master Builders!
  • Setup
  • Final Scoring (variant)
• Credits

Components

• 4 Yaks
• 1 Baby Yak
• 4 Carts (see assembly diagram)
• 8 Cart panels (2 of each)
• 1 Game board
• 4 Player boards
• 1 Quarry bag
• 64 colored stones (8 stones per color)
• 45 Food tokens (15 milk + 15 meat + 15 bread)
• 8 Crystal stones
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Fog marker
• 5 Fogs
• 1 Stupa marker
• 1 Score pad
• 12 Action cards (in 4 player colors)
• 8 Bonus cards (for game variant only)

Cart assembly diagram

Assemble the horns on all Yaks and assemble 2 wheels to all Carts and a pair of Cart panels: Meat restriction panels, Bread restriction panels, Milk restriction panels and the "2-variety maximum" restriction panels.

Then, attach a Cart to each Yak to form the 4 carriages.

Setup

1. Place the Game board in the center of the table.

2. Each player takes a Player board and a set of 3 different Action cards of the same color. Then, they place 1 x Meat, 1 x Milk and 1 x Bread on their Yurt.

3. Place the Player boards around the Game board according to the number of players (see 4-player, 3-player and 2-player setup below). Then, place the required number of carriages on the board, on the road in front of each player with each Yak facing left (4 carriages for a 4-player game and 3 carriages for a 2 or 3-player game).

   Place 3 Food tokens of each type (for a total of 9 tokens) in the back section of the "2-variety maximum" carriage.

   Place 3 Food tokens of each type following the restrictions (a total of 6 food tokens per carriage) in the back section of the other carriages. (No Bread in the meat-restriction carriage, no Meat in the bread-restriction carriage and no Milk in the milk-restriction carriage.)

4. Place 2 Food tokens of each type in the middle of the Game board. This is the Market.

5. Fill the Quarry bag with the colored stones and the Crystal stones (for a total of 72 stones). Set the 5 Fogs aside.

   Note: For a 2 or 3-player game, remove 1 random color (not Crystal stones) completely from the Quarry bag (8 stones) and additionally remove 1 stone of each remaining color including 1 Crystal stone. Return removed stones, unused Action cards, Player boards and Food tokens to the box.

   For each carriage on the board, draw 3 stones and place them in the front section of the carriage.

6. Add the 5 Fogs to the Quarry bag and place it within reach of players.

7. Place the Mountain next to the game board and place the Fog marker on the rightmost space of the Mountain track.

8. Assemble and place the Stupa marker on the game board.

9. Place the Baby Yak in front of the person that is hairy as a Yak. This player is the starting player for the first round. The game can start!

3-player setup

For a 3-player game, return the "2-variety maximum" carriage to the box and place the other carriages on the board in front of each player with each Yak facing left.

2-player setup

For a 2-player game, return the "2-variety maximum" carriage to the box, and then place a carriage in front of each player on the board with each Yak facing left. Place a third carriage next to the Market path between the 2 carriages already on the road, also with the Yak facing left.

Stone Tower

The base of the tower always has 5 stones on the lowest level and each new level must contain one less stone until there is 1 stone at the top. Players may still add stones on top at that point to gain more points (see Game End section).

Goal of the Game

To build the highest-scoring Stone Tower.

Game Overview

A round is called a day and consists of 3 periods: Sunrise, Noon and Sunset.

Each day, merchants (represented by carriages) will pass by each player's Yurt.

During the Noon period, players perform 1 action in turn order to help them in their endeavor to build a Stone Tower (see How to Play section).

At the end of a day, when all players have completed their action, each carriage is moved in the direction the Yaks are facing until they reach the next player. The game is played until a Stone Tower is high enough to trigger the game end.

Carriage: The carriages do not belong to a specific player. In the further course of the rules, the carriages in front of a player will be referred to as "their carriage."

Stone: This refers to both colored stones and Crystal stones.

How to Play

Each day is divided in 3 periods: Sunrise, Noon and Sunset.

1. Sunrise

At the beginning of the day, all players simultaneously secretly choose 1 of their 3 Action cards (Build - Restock - Market) and place it face-down in front of them.

2. Noon

The player with the Baby Yak reveals their chosen card first and performs the action depicted on the card. Play continues in clockwise order. The 3 possible Action cards are:

Build

The active player trades Food tokens in any combination for stones with their carriage. However, they must trade for the type of Food tokens according to the Carriage restriction (see Carriage restrictions section).

Then, after trading in the correct quantity of Food tokens (see Trade chart), the active player takes the corresponding number of stones from their carriage and places them on their Stone Tower, one after the other.

Important: The limit of Food tokens in a carriage is 9. All the Food tokens in excess of that limit are placed in the Market.

Trade chart:

• 1 food token = 1 stone
• 3 food tokens = 2 stones
• 5 food tokens = 3 stones
• (+1 food token per Crystal stone)

Their first stone may be placed anywhere on the lowest level. Each stone placed after that must be placed next to a stone or stacked on two stones of the previous level. Connected stones of the same color create a group and score more points at the end of the game. After being placed in the Stone Tower, a stone may never be moved.

Refill empty carriage (if applicable): If there is no stone left in their carriage at the end of the active player's turn, they must refill their carriage. They draw 3 stones at once from the Quarry bag and place them in the front section of their carriage.

Carriage restrictions

• Players may not trade bread for stones.
• Players may not trade milk for stones.
• Players may not trade meat for stones.
• Players may only trade up to 2 out of 3 varieties of Food tokens for stones.

Example 1

Emily has 6 Food tokens (3 Milk, 2 Bread and 1 Meat). Her carriage is not accepting Bread, so she may not trade her Bread for any stones in this cart. She may trade 1 Food token that is not Bread to get 1 stone, but she decides to trade 3 Food tokens for 2 stones.

Then, she places all her acquired stones on her Player board to build her Stone Tower.

Crystal stones

Crystal stones are stones that may be considered as any colors. The active player may trade in Food tokens for them just like regular stones. However, they must spend 1 additional Food token per Crystal stone in their trade.

The additional Food tokens must still meet the restriction of the carriage.

At game end, players must assign a different color to each Crystal stone connected to a group of stones in their Stone Tower (see Final Scoring section).

Example 2

Sarah wants 1 red stone and 2 Crystal stones, she must trade in 7 Food tokens (5 Food tokens for 3 stones + 2 additional Food tokens for the 2 Crystal stones included in the trade). She must always follow the restriction of her carriage.

Restock

The active player takes all the Food tokens of one type of their choice from their carriage, and places them on their Yurt on their Player board.

Important: The limit of Food tokens of a Yurt is 8. All the Food tokens over that limit remain in the carriage.

Then, they draw 1 stone from the Quarry bag and add it to their carriage. If the carriage has already 4 stones, this part is ignored.

Important: The limit of stones of a carriage is 4.

Market

The active player takes up to 2 Food tokens in any combination of their choice from the Market and places them on their Yurt on their Player board.

If the Market is empty or if the active player already has 8 Food tokens, they may not take Food tokens this turn.

Then, they draw 3 stones at once from the Quarry bag and must select 1. The selected stone is placed in any carriage and the 2 remaining stones are returned to the Quarry bag.

If all carriages are full of stones, this part is ignored.

Special Event: Rise of Fog

Whenever a player draws 1 or more Fogs from the Quarry bag, perform the Rise of fog steps.

Note: Fogs are not placed in carriages nor in Stone Towers.

1. Regardless of the number of Fogs drawn, players switch the orientation of all carriages once, so that all Yaks are now facing the opposite direction.

2. The active player sets aside the Fogs and draws 1 replacement stone for each Fog drawn.

   If 1 or more Fogs are drawn again, repeat steps 1 and 2 until the number of stones required by the current action (Refill empty carriage, Restock or Market) is reached.

3. At the end of the active player's turn, each set-aside Fog is placed in a space of the Mountain track. If the track is full, refer to the next section.

Important: Fog may rise more than once during a day. Repeat the Rise of fog steps for each player who draws 1 or more Fogs during their turn.

Mountain track filled for the first time

If the active player places a third Fog on the Mountain track, they remove the Fog marker and reveal a new space. The 3 Fogs from the track and any remaining set-aside Fogs are returned to the Quarry bag. The track will now have 4 spaces.

Mountain track filled for the second time

If the active player places a fourth Fog on the Mountain track, the Fogs remain on the track. From that point on in the game, there will always be only 1 Fog inside the Quarry bag. If this last Fog is drawn from the Quarry bag, steps 1 and 2 still apply, then this last Fog is returned to the Quarry bag at the end of the active player's turn.

Important: When a player draws stones from the Quarry bag, if there are not enough stones in the Quarry bag, they draw as many as possible. Consequently, the Rise of fog will occur for the last time. Return the Quarry bag and the last Fog to the box, they will no longer be used for the rest of the game.

Example 3

On his turn, Chris reveals his Action card Market. He takes 2 Food tokens from the Market and draws 1 red stone and 2 Fogs. The Fog rises!

1. All players switch the orientation of their carriage once.
2. Chris sets aside the Fogs and draws 2 replacement stones because he did not reach the required number of 3 colored stones. He draws 1 red stone and another Fog, the Fog rises again. Chris repeats the Rise of fog steps 1 and 2 and draws 1 yellow stone. He places the yellow stone in Sarah's carriage and returns the 2 red stones to the Quarry bag.
3. Chris places the 3 Fogs set aside on the Mountain track at the end of his turn (see Mountain track filled for the first time section).

Example 4

There are already 2 Fogs on the Mountain track.

On her turn, Sarah has set aside 2 Fogs. The Mountain track is filled for the first time when she places 1 of the Fogs at the end of her turn. Therefore, she removes the Fog marker from the track. She also takes all the Fogs from the track as well as the remaining Fog that was set aside and returns them to the Quarry bag.

Example 4 (continued): Later during that game, Jeremy places the fourth Fog on the Mountain track. Therefore, the track is filled for the second time. At the end of his turn, he leaves all 4 Fogs on the track.

3. Sunset

When all players have completed their turn, the day is over.

• Everyone takes back their played Action card in hand.
• The Baby Yak is passed to the next player in clockwise order.
• Players move their carriage on the road in the direction the Yaks are facing to reach the next player.
• A new day starts.

Note: In a 2-player game, all carriages are moved in the direction the Yaks are facing. One carriage must be moved to the Market path between the players and the other 2 are moved in front of each player.

Game End

The game end is triggered at the end of a day, when at least 1 player has completed the fourth level of their Stone Tower (at least 14 stones). The first player to complete their fourth level also gains the Stupa marker (see Final Scoring section). Players will play a final day and then proceed to the Final Scoring.

Stupas are structures that are often located in the Himalayas alongside trails, close to spiritual locations or on high points in the mountains.

Example 5

Sarah has 13 stones when starting her turn. She plays the Action card Build and adds 2 stones to her Stone Tower for a total of 15. Not only did she trigger the game end, but she is also the first player to have placed a 14th stone in her tower and gains the Stupa marker. On her last turn, Sarah plays the Action card Build again and adds 3 stones to her tower for a total of 18 stones.

Final Scoring

After the end of the last day, each player totals their points from their Stone Tower and the player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with the least stones in their Stone Tower is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

The points are scored in 3 categories: Group size, Number of groups and Extra points. The value of each group is indicated on each Player board and on the Score pad.

Note: A group is composed of at least 2 connected colored stones of the same color. A group might also be created by placing a Crystal stone (see Scoring with Crystal stones section).

Group size

According to the size of each group in their Stone Tower, players will score points.

Number of groups

According to the number of groups in their Stone Tower, players will also score points. Players may have more than 1 group of the same color if these groups are not connected.

Scoring with Crystal stones

Each player must assign a different color to each of their Crystal stones. This results in increasing the size of the corresponding group if the Crystal is connected to that group, or creating a group if the Crystal connects at least 2 colored stones of the same color. Otherwise, a Crystal stone is worth 1 point.

Extra points

• Single stones: Each single colored stone or Crystal stone is worth 1 point.
• Stupa marker: The player with the Stupa marker gains 3 additional points.
• Food tokens: The player with the most Food tokens at the end of the game gets 2 points. In case of a tie, all tied players get 2 points.

Scoring example

• Group size: Emily has 3 groups of 2 stones, each worth 3 points (2 red stones, 2 black stones and 2 red stones again). She has 1 group of 3 stones worth 6 points (2 orange stones + 1 Crystal stone). She also has 1 group of 4 stones, worth 9 points (3 grey stones + 1 Crystal stone).
• Number of groups: She has a total of 5 groups, worth 12 points.
• Extra points: She scores 2 points for the single black stone and the single yellow stone. She scores 2 points because she has the most Food tokens. Since Sarah has completed the fourth level of her Stone Tower first, Emily does not get the additional 3 points for the Stupa marker.
• A total of 40 points!

Game Variant for Master Builders!

As players get comfortable with the game, they may add the Bonus cards.

Setup

After the game setup, shuffle the 8 Bonus cards and draw 3. Place each of them on the 3 yurts on the Game board and return the remaining cards to the box.

Note: For a 2 or 3-player game, remove the Bonus cards corresponding to the color that was completely removed during step 5.

Final Scoring (variant)

Each player who acquires specific colored stones and/or places their stones in specific positions in their Stone Tower may earn Bonus points with these Bonus cards. Players might also lose points if they do not collect certain colored stones.

Add or remove the corresponding number of points during the Final scoring phase. Players may play with 1, 2 or 3 Bonus cards depending on their preferences.

The Bonus cards score as follows:

• The player with the most stones of that color gains the number of points specified. The second player with the most stones of that color gains the number of points specified. In case of a tie for 1st place, tied players gain the 2nd place reward. Tied players for 2nd place get no points.
• Each stone of that color, placed in the positions shown, is worth 1 point.
• If a player has no stone of that color at game end, they lose the number of points specified.
• Each stone of that color, placed in the positions shown, is worth 2 points.

Important: Only colored stones are considered for the Bonus points, not the Crystal stones.

Credits

• Game Design: Michael Luu
• Producer: Sophie Gravel
• Illustrations: Chris Quilliams
• Development: Pierre-Olivier Gravel, Martin Bouchard
• Graphic Design: Maryse Hébert-Lemire, Tarek Saoudi, Nina Allen
• 3D Modeling: Tarek Saoudi

©2021 Plan B Games GmbH, Am Römerkastell 10, 70376 Stuttgart, Germany. [email protected], www.planbgames.com