Djinn (2018)
Djinn (2018) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Aim of the Game
When you win a trick, collect one treasure card towards completing the challenges in each cave! The first player to complete the third challenge wins the game!
Contents
- 60 treasure cards with the numbers from 1 to 15
- 18 cave cards containing challenges
- 2 x 18 Djinn cards (18 in German and English, 18 in Dutch and French)
- 8 player tiles (2 in each of the 4 colors)
Game Setup
Sort the cave cards according to the numbers on the back, then shuffle each pile. Deal out three cards with the 3 on the back next to one another in the middle of the table, face down. These are called the 3-cave cards. Directly below them, deal out three cards with the 4 on the back; these are the 4-cave cards. Below these, deal out three cards with the 5 on the back; these are the 5-cave cards. The remaining cave cards are not needed for this game. You will now have 3 rows of 3 cards each making up the cave system.
The numbers on the back of a cave card indicate how many treasure cards are needed to complete the challenges when the cave card is revealed.
Shuffle the treasure cards and deal out a hand of 8 cards to each player. Players pick their cards up and look at them, without revealing them to their opponents. Put the remaining treasure cards face-down as the treasure draw pile.
Sort out the French and Dutch Djinn cards. Then shuffle the remaining Djinn cards and deal one Djinn card to each player. Players are allowed to look at their Djinn cards. Put the remaining Djinn cards face-down beside the treasure cards as the Djinn draw pile.
Each player then chooses a color, taking the two player tiles of that color. Place one of them in front of you to identify your player color and the other one above the row with the 3-cave cards.
How to Play
Djinn consists of multiple phases. Each phase consists of 8 rounds. At the end of a phase, the game ends if any player has completed their third cave challenge.
What is a trick-taking game?
In trick-taking games, players take turns in a clockwise direction throwing a card from their hand into the middle of the playing area, such that everyone else knows which card was played by which player. Once everyone has played a card, the cards are compared according to a specific criteria to see which player will take the "trick". The cards played in the middle are collectively called a trick. In trick-taking games, there is usually a suit that has to be followed. This means: the first card played into the middle determines the suit (color) that the other players must play. For example, if the first player throws a yellow card into the middle, everyone else must follow suit by playing a yellow card in this round, as long they have a yellow card in their hand.
Once everyone has played a card, the cards are compared. The player who played the highest ranking card takes all the played cards and places them face down in a pile in front of him. This player starts the next round by leading a new card which determines the color that has to be played in the new round. If a player does not have the color in their hand, they can play a different color, but it will always be valued less than the card that was led, even if it has a higher number. That means there is no chance of taking the trick with this card. However, the player can use the opportunity to play cards that they don't want to remain in their hand.
Trump
In most trick-taking games, there is also trump. Trump can be either a suit (color), or a given set of cards that outrank all other cards. Trump is typically determined before the first card is played.
In Djinn, the first card of the deck is turned over before beginning a phase. The color of this card becomes trump for this phase. Trump can only be played if the first card played is trump card or if a player does not have the same color in their hand as the first card played (i.e. they cannot follow suit). If more than one player plays a trump card, the player who played the highest ranking trump card in a trick takes it.
Example 1: Purple is trump. Hector goes first and plays a purple 15. The purple 15 is the highest ranking card in the game, so he can be sure that he will take this trick. Cathy plays a purple 8, Gaby plays a purple 3. Christian doesn't have any purple cards in his hand and can therefore play any other color in his hand. He plays a green 1. Hector takes the trick and lays the cards face down in front of him.
Example 2: Purple is still trump. Hector took the last trick and gets to go first again in the new round. He plays a yellow 11. Cathy plays a yellow 13. Gaby doesn't have any more yellow cards in her hand, so she is allowed to play another color and decides to play trump. She plays a purple 7. Christian plays a yellow 5. Since Gaby played trump, she takes the trick.
Turn over the cave cards that have the 3 on their backs. These cards depict the challenges you must complete using the treasure cards you gain by winning tricks throughout the course of the game (all the cave cards are explained at the end of these rules). Now determine trump for the first phase of the game by turning over the top card of the treasure card deck, placing it face up next to the deck. The color of this card is now trump for the current phase. The player to the left of the dealer starts the phase by playing the first card from their hand into the middle. The other players then continue, playing a card from their hand into the middle in a clockwise direction.
Players have to follow the suit (color) of the first card played. You can only play trump if you don't have cards that match the color of the first card played in your hand.
After everyone has played a card, determine who takes the trick as per the rules above. Each player who takes a trick claims one of the cards from the trick, placing it face up in front of them on the table. This card will be used to complete a challenge on a cave card. Unclaimed cards from the trick are placed face down near the draw pile to form a discard pile.
Hint: Any claimed cards will not be in play in future rounds. This might help you determine which cards players might have in their hands.
Note: When playing Djinn cards, it is possible that two or more cards have the same value. In that case, the card that was played first outranks other cards with the same value.
The player that took the trick starts the next round by playing a new card. Play eight rounds in total until everyone has emptied their hand of cards.
Now, everyone examines the cards they claimed from the tricks they took to determine if they can complete any of the challenges of the cave cards.
Cave Cards
For the 3-cave cards, you always need exactly 3 cards to complete the challenge; for the 4-cave cards, you always need exactly 4 and the 5-cave cards, you need always exactly 5. Each player can complete exactly 1 challenge at the end of each phase.
All players start with their player tile above the 3-caves. To be able to enter the cave, you must first complete any one of the 3-cave challenges. Once you have completed a challenge, move your player tile onto the cave card depicting the challenge you completed. There is no limit to the number of player tiles that can be on a cave card at the same time; that means each player can complete any one of the challenges. Place all of the cards you used to complete the challenge on top of the discard pile.
Once a player has entered any of the 3-caves, turn over all of the three 4-cave cards in the cave complex. To move your player tiles from a 3-cave card to a 4-cave card, you must complete a challenge depicted on one of the 4-cave cards next. You can't move onto a 4-cave card without first being on a 3-cave card.
Once a player has entered any of the 4-caves, turn over all of the 5-cave cards in the cave complex. To move your player tiles from a 4-cave card to a 5-cave card, you must complete a challenge depicted on one of the 5-cave cards. You can't move onto a 5-cave card without first being on a 4-cave card.
You have to complete a cave-card challenge at the end of a phase once you have the required cards to do so.
Once each player has had a chance to complete a cave card challenge, determine which player(s) are in the last place i.e. furthest back. Deal each player in last place 1 Djinn card.
Djinn Cards
Use the Djinn cards to influence the outcome of the game. Each player receives a Djinn card at the beginning of the game. During game play, you also have the opportunity to get more Djinn cards when you are in last place (i.e. furthest from the final cave) at the end of each phase. Djinn cards may be played on your turn; either immediately before or after you have played your card to the middle. Djinn cards can't be played on another player's turn.
The Djinn card illustrated in the rules reads: "Choose a color to replace trump for this turn."
Example: Yellow is trump. Up till now the following cards have been played: A green 9, a green 6, and a green 3. It is Christian's turn. He doesn't have any more green cards in his hand and therefore plays a purple 4. He also plays his Djinn card: "Choose a color to replace trump for this turn." He changes trump from yellow to purple, which means that he takes the trick.
After new Djinn cards are granted, the player who is in sole possession of last place becomes the new start player for the next phase. If more than one player is in last place, the player who is nearest to the last dealer in a clockwise direction becomes the new start player. He shuffles the treasure cards including:
- All the treasure cards from the discard pile,
- the cards that were used to determine trump from the previous round, and
- all remaining cards that are face down in the draw pile.
Any cards players have claimed in front of them but have yet to use to complete cave challenges remain in play and stay before the correspondent player.
The start player deals 8 cards to each player and turns the top cards from the treasure deck face up to determine which color is trump for the next round. Play then continues as described above.
Note: The German section of the same manual says that each player in last place "may" (dürfen) draw one Djinn card from the draw pile, where the English text says to deal each of them one. The English text is transcribed here.
End of the Game
The game is over as soon as someone completes a challenge from one of the 5-cave cards. This player has succeeded in going through all the caves to recover the greatest treasure of them all without getting caught by the Sultan. If more than one player manages to accomplish this goal at the end of the same phase, the player with the most remaining treasure cards wins the game. If it is still a tie, the player with the highest-ranking single treasure card is declared the winner.
Explanation of the Cave Cards
To complete the 3-cave challenge, you have to trade in exactly 3 cards.
To complete the 4-cave challenge, you have to trade in exactly 4 cards.
To complete the 5-cave challenge, you have to trade in exactly 5 cards.
- 3/4/5 cards with numbers in an ordered sequence, e.g. 1, 2, 3 or 6, 7, 8, 9 or 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 etc. The color does not matter.
- A pair (=2 of the same number) and one card with a number that is lower than number used to make the pair. Color does not matter.
- 2 pairs. Color does not matter.
- 2 pairs and a card with a number that is lower than the numbers used to make both pairs. Color does not matter.
- 3/4/5 cards, whose total value is lower than 15/20/25. Color does not matter.
- 3/4/5 cards, whose total value is higher than 30/40/50. The color does not matter.
- 3/4/5 cards, whose total value is exactly 15/20/25. The color does not matter.
- 3/4/5 cards that have the same color. The number does not matter.