Elements
Elements Rulebook
The elementary card game for 2 players ages 8 and up by Team SAIEN
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
16 cards, divided in:
- 2 × 1 (Wood)
- 2 × 2 (Fire)
- 2 × 3 (Earth)
- 2 × 4 (Metal)
- 2 × 5 (Water)
- 6 × 6 (Yin/Yang)
- 12 Victory point tokens
Goal of the Game & Setup
A game is played over several Rounds. At the end of each round, one of you will receive either 1 or 2 Victory point tokens. Whoever first gains 6 Victory point tokens, wins.
Shuffle all 16 Cards, then deal each player 6 Cards that form their Hand. The 4 remaining cards are put aside, without looking at them. They will not be needed this round.
Randomly determine a Start player for the 1st round. In later rounds, the Start player will be the player who scored in the last round.
Game Play
Beginning with the Start player, players alternate taking turns. On your turn, you must choose and perform exactly 1 of the following actions:
A) Play a card B) Take a card C) Discard a 6 D) Knock E) Yield
You cannot perform more than 1 Action on your turn, like Play a card as well as Knock.
A) Play a card
With this action you both reduce the sum of values of your cards, as well as increase the limit.
Choose 1 card from your Hand and place it into the central display in the middle of the table. If there are already cards there, place yours slightly fanned out on top. Then loudly announce the new limit – that is the sum of the values of all cards in the central display.
All cards of the central display should be displayed fanned out, so that all their values and the order in which they were played are easily discernible. This order may not be changed during the game.
B) Take a card
This action has the exact opposite effect to playing a card: you both increase the sum of values of your cards, as well as decrease the limit.
Take the top-most card of the central display and put it openly in front of you. Then loudly announce the new limit – that is the sum of the values of all cards in the central display.
All cards in front of you add their value to the sum of values of the cards in your Hand! Make sure all cards in front of you are clearly visible at all times. (Their order, however, is of no importance.)
All cards in front of you stay there until the end of the round. They can neither be played nor discarded.
C) Discard a 6
With this action you decrease the sum of values of your cards, without changing the limit.
Show your opponent 1 card from your Hand with the value 6 and openly discard it, putting it aside. This 6 is not in the game anymore for the rest of the round. It is not played into the central display nor in front of any player.
You cannot discard a card with a value of 1 to 5 with this action, but solely a 6.
D) Knock
This action ends the current round and decides which player receives 2 Victory point tokens.
To knock, you have to fulfill a requirement: the sum of all values of your cards (in your Hand + in front of you) must not be higher than the current limit (=the sum of values of all cards in the central display). Only when your sum is lower than, or equal to, the current limit can you knock.
When you knock, first reveal all the cards in your Hand. Now your opponent can check if you fulfilled the requirement for knocking. (Should you have knocked while your sum was higher than the limit, you lose this round and your opponent receives 2 Victory point tokens.)
If you knocked correctly, your opponent also reveals his Hand now. If his sum is higher than the current limit, you will win this round. You receive 2 Victory point tokens.
If both of you show a sum not higher than the limit, the winner of this round is the player whose sum is higher. He receives 2 Victory point tokens.
Careful: If both of you have an equal sum, you lose this round, as the player who knocked! Your opponent receives 2 Victory point tokens.
E) Yield
This action will also end the current round, but only 1 Victory point token will be awarded.
You loudly announce that you yield the current round to your opponent. Your opponent receives 1 Victory point token.
Since this, too, is an action, you cannot yield while it is your opponent's turn.
Example
The limit in the central display equals 13 (6+3+4). The cards in your Hand equal 6+1, those in front of you 3+1+2. So your sum is 13. You are not above, but exactly at, the current limit. You knock and reveal the cards in your Hand.
The cards in front of your opponent equal 4+2. His Hand reveals a 6. So his sum is 12. You have the higher sum and therefore receive 2 Victory point tokens.
Had your 6 instead be a 5, your sum would only have been 12. In this case your equal sum would have lost you this round, as you were the player who knocked.
Miscellaneous
You may only choose an action that you are actually able to carry out. You may, for example, not Take a card when there is no card to take from the central display.
A round does not end simply because you don't have a card in your Hand anymore – you can still Take a card, Knock or Yield, after all.
In rare cases it could happen that there are neither cards in your Hand nor in the central display. Then you can only Knock or Yield. If you do not fulfill the requirements for knocking, you must Yield.
A New Round
The player who last scored, will be the Start player in the following round. Take care to shuffle all 16 cards in the new round, even those who have been put aside or discarded, before dealing 6 new cards to each player and again putting aside 4!
End of the Game
The first player to gain 6 Victory point tokens, wins.
You can also ignore the Victory point tokens and play as many rounds as you like. The Yield action can then be ignored as well.
Credits
Designer: Team SAIEN · Illustrations + Graphics: Dennis Lohausen Design Box + Rulebook: Hans-Georg Schneider · Realisation: Thygra Spiele English Translation: Benjamin Schönheiter
A game by Team SAIEN and Pegasus Spiele. © 2016 Pegasus Spiele GmbH, Am Strassbach 3, 61169 Friedberg, Germany. All rights reserved. Reprinting and publishing of game rules, game components or illustrations without the permission of Pegasus Spiele is prohibited.