Yonkai no Yokai
Yonkai no Yokai Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 60 Yokai cards (10 copies each of 1-6)
- 2 Direction cards (1 English, 1 Japanese)
- 3 Hotel cards
- 1 Elevator card
- 16 Life cubes (4 per player)
- 4 Elevator buttons (1 per player)
Game Overview
Yonkai no Yokai is is a climbing/shedding game for 3-4 players. Only sets of the same value may be played. To increase the number of cards in a set, you must decrease the value of the cards. Once sets of 4 cards have been reached, you can start reducing the number of cards in sets by increasing the value of the cards.
The game is played in rounds, which are made up of one or more tricks. During a trick, players take turns playing cards in clockwise order, continuing around the table until all but one player has passed, or one player plays their last cards (which immediately ends the round).
When a trick ends, the cards played are cleared away and the player who did not pass starts a new trick.
A round is complete when one player has played all of the cards in their hand. At the end of a round, all but one player will lose life cubes.
The game ends when one player is forced to lose a life cube but they have none remaining. At that point, the player with the most life cubes left is declared the winner.
Setup
For 4 players, include all Yokai cards. For 3 players, remove 2 copies of 1-6 and return them to the box.
Shuffle the Yokai cards and deal the entire deck (15 cards to each player at 4p, 16 cards at 3p).
Place the Direction card on the table showing the Ascending side.
Give 4 Life cubes and 1 Elevator button to each player.
Arrange the 3 Hotel cards in a column so that the 1st floor is at the bottom and the 4th floor is at the top.
Place the Elevator card so that the bottom arrow is pointing at the single 1 on the 1st floor of the Hotel.
The last person to have ridden in an elevator is the start player.
Game Play
At the beginning of every trick, the elevator starts on the 1st floor. The lead player must play a single card of any value.
To show the next allowable play options, slide the Elevator card up so that the bottom arrow points to the gap in between what was just played and the next card or combination above.
Example: The lead player played a single 3. They then slide the Elevator card up so that the bottom arrow is pointing to the gap between the single 3 and the single 4.
The allowable plays for the next player are: 4 - 5 - 6 - 11 - 22
In other words, the next player must either play the same number of cards but of a higher value, or play one more card but of a lower value.
Play continues in this manner until someone plays a set of 4 cards. At this point, the next player may continue to play a higher value set of 4 cards OR flip the Direction card to Descending and play a lower value set of 4 or a higher value set of 3. It is not mandatory to flip the card as soon as a set of 4 is played.
Once the Direction card has been flipped to Descending, play continues down the Hotel (making sure to align the TOP arrow of the Elevator card BELOW what was last played). The same rules apply as when Ascending, but inverted.
Example: The previous player played 2222. The next player does not have any sets of four cards in their hand, so they flip the Direction card to Descending, move the Elevator card so that the top arrow is just below the 2222, and now has the following allowable plays: 1111 - 666 - 555 - 444 - 333
While descending, once a player plays a single card, the next player has the option to continue playing lower singles OR flip the Direction card to Ascending and start playing higher singles or lower sets of 2. It is not mandatory to flip the card as soon as a single is played.
The only time the Direction card flips automatically is if a player plays 6666 while Ascending or 1 while Descending.
If all but one player passes, clear the Yokai cards that have been played into a discard pile, reset the Elevator card so that the bottom arrow is pointing at the 1, and flip the Direction card to Ascending. The player who last played cards now begins a new trick by playing any single card.
Elevator Button
Each player is given an Elevator Button during setup. This button can be used to change the direction of the elevator without needing to be on the 1st or 4th floor. On your turn, place your Elevator Button near the Hotel cards, flip the Direction card, and adjust the Elevator card accordingly. You may now play the available sets in the opposite direction as the Elevator was previously headed.
Note: You do not need to use an Elevator Button to switch to Descending from the 4th floor or Ascending from the 1st floor.
You will get your Elevator Button back if you pass or at the beginning of a new round.
Passing
If you cannot (or choose not to) play, you may pass. However, you must sit out the rest of the trick, unless the Elevator makes it back to the 1st floor (a single card has been played), at which point you may rejoin the trick.
If you have spent your Elevator Button already, reclaim it when you pass.
End of Round
The first player to play all of the cards in their hand ends the round - they are safe and do not lose any Life cubes. The player(s) with the most cards in their hand loses 2 Life cubes. Every other player loses 1 Life cube.
Shuffle all of the Yokai cards and deal them as you did at the beginning of the game. Reset the Elevator card and the Direction card.
The player who emptied their hand starts the new round by playing a single card.
End of Game
Continue playing rounds until a player must lose more Life cubes than they have (i.e., would go below 0). The player with the most remaining Life cubes wins the game. In case of a tie, all tied players share the victory.