Yum Cha
Yum Cha Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Remove the 'Pay the Bill' card from play and shuffle all the cards. Ten cards are dealt to each player. Place the remaining cards as a deck face-down. The person who went to Yum Cha most recently starts the first round. Winner starts the following rounds.
How to Yum Cha
Players take turns drawing a card from either the deck or any card from the centre. Hand limit of 10 cards. The player then decides which card they want to keep and end their turn by discarding a card into the centre face-up.
Making Sets
A round of Yum Cha ends when a player draws the eleventh card which makes a complete hand, revealing 3 sets of dim sums and 1 pair of tea and announcing Yum Cha!
A set of dim sums consists of three unique dim sums from the same tier. Duplicate dim sums cannot form a part of a set.
A pair of tea consists of two tea cards of the same flavour.
Tiers
The dim sums and tea are grouped into tiers, shown by the tier symbol on each card:
- Small
- Mid
- Big
- Dessert
- Special
- Super
- Top
Example of a Complete Hand
- Each dim sum is unique. The example hand shows three Small tier dim sums (Sesame Ball, Taro Puff and Stuffed Crab Claw) and a pair of Jasmine tea.
- Same tiers are legal. The example hand shows three Small tier dim sums (Sesame Ball, Taro Puff and Glutinous Rice Dumpling) and a pair of Jasmine tea.
- Three sets of dim sums and a pair of identical tea makes a complete hand. The example hand shows three Special tier dim sums (Soup Dumpling, Seafood Dumpling and BBQ Pork Bun) and a pair of Jasmine tea.
Takeaway Sets
At the end of a round, players with takeaway cards can choose any sets of dim sums to takeaway. One takeaway card can only be used per set of dim sums. Takeaway cards cannot be used in conjunction with tea cards.
Scoring
Player with a Complete Hand
- Sets of Small, Mid, Big and Dessert tier dim sums are worth 1 point.
- Sets of Special, Super and Top tier dim sums are worth 2 points.
- A pair of Tea will either double or triple the total points scored.
Players without a Complete Hand
All players who fail to make a complete hand scores zero points unless they have takeaway sets.
Pay the Bill
Calculate scores after each round. The player with the most points after four rounds gets to 'Pay the Bill' (winner).
Complete Hand Scoring Example
- Dessert = 1 pt (Red Bean Soup, Soy Pudding, Egg Tart)
- Big = 1 pt (Har Gow, Teochew Dumpling, Pork Dumpling)
- Top = 2 pts (Tofu Skin Roll, Rice Noodle Roll, Lotus Leaf Wrap)
- Dragon Well = x3 (a pair of Dragon Well tea)
(1 pt + 1 pt + 2 pts) x3 = 12 pts
Takeaway Scoring Example
- First takeaway set: Mid = 1 pt (three Mid tier dim sums with a Takeaway card; the dim sum names are partly covered in the printed example).
- Second takeaway set: Special = 2 pts (three Special tier dim sums with a Takeaway card: Soup Dumpling, Seafood Dumpling and BBQ Pork Bun).
(1 pt + 2 pts) x1 = 3 pts