Four Clans Conflict
Four Clans Conflict Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game purpose
Players aim to score more than their opponent while aiming to occupy four forts. There are two ways to score, one is to occupy the fort, and the other is to take the treasure from the fort. The game is played for 2 rounds with the first move and the second move switched. The points earned over the 2 rounds are totaled, and the player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, switch hands and play another round.
Game materials
28 Clan cards, 4 Fort cards, 12 Cubes, 1 Manual.
Clan card
There are four clans: Goat (Black), Eagle (Red), Snake (Green), Wolf (Blue). Each clan has cards of rank 1 to 7. Each card shows:
- Suit: Coat of arms of the clans. There are 4 types.
- Rank: A number from 1 to 7 indicating the strength of the card.
- Profession: The profession of each rank: 1. JESTER, 2. SOLDIER, 3. MERCHANT, 4. GENERAL, 5. CARDINAL, 6. QUEEN, 7. KING.
- Back rank: Always has a strength of 1.
Fort card
Each Fort card shows:
- Point: The front is 3 points and the back is 4 points.
- Trump suit: Show the trump suit when backing (when the card is flipped over).
- Cube: Treasures left in the fort are worth 1 point each.
Clan card dynamics
In the same suit, clan cards with higher numbers are stronger.
1 < 2 < 3 < 4 < 5 < 6 < 7
However, JESTER is stronger than KING in the same suit.
7 < 1
The weakest 1 (JESTER) defeats the strongest 7 (KING).
Game preparation
- Players decide the first move and the second move by rock-paper-scissors.
- Arrange the front sides of the four fort cards. Random order is fine.
- Place 3 cubes on each fort card.
- Shuffle the clan cards well and deal 13 cards to the first player and 12 to the second player to make a hand. The cards that were not dealt will not be used, so put them back in the box.
- The second player looks at his hand, takes one cube from the fort card, and moves it to any different fort card. This will create a fort with 2 and 4 cubes.
- After confirming the cube movement, the first player chooses one card from hands. This one will not be used and will be returned to the box.
- The game begins when both players have 12 cards in their hand.
(Diagram: the second player has 12 cards, the first player 13 cards; after the cube move and the first player's discard, the first player goes from 13 to 12 cards.)
Game flow
The game progresses by players taking out clan cards from their hands and repeating strength comparisons called tricks. Place the card in your hand below any fort (regardless of the color of the card, you can place it in any fort). Both players can place up to 3 cards per fort. The game ends when both players place 3 cards in each of the 4 forts.
(Diagram: the four forts in a row, with one player's cards placed above each fort and the other player's cards below.)
About tricks
Starting with the player with the lead right, put out one card face up in order. Let's put it out so that both players can see which fort it was placed in.
After the cards are arranged, compare the strength of each card. This strength comparison is called a trick.
Tricks are played 12 times per round, equal to the number of cards in the hand. The first player takes the lead right, and after that the lead right goes to the player who wins the trick. In this game, two rules are applied: Trump card and Must follow.
Trump card
Shows that the clan is stronger than any other clan. The trump clan is indicated by the reversed fort card. The clan card that becomes the trump card becomes the reverse at a specific timing during the round.
Must follow
If you have the same suit in your hand as the suit played by the player with the lead right, you have to play that clan card first. If both players play the same suit, the winning or losing of the trick follows the "Clan card dynamics".
Example: The opponent played a card with an eagle rank 2. I played an eagle rank 5 card with a Must follow and won the trick.
If you don't have the same suit in your hand, you can play any clan card. At this time, the outcome of the trick depends on whether the card played is a Trump card or not. If it's not a trump card, you always lose, regardless of rank. If it's a Trump card, you always win, regardless of rank.
Example: While my opponent played an eagle clan card, I didn't have an eagle clan card in my hand. So I put out a clan card of the wolf, not a trump card. Lost a trick regardless of rank.
Example: My opponent played an eagle clan card, but I didn't have an eagle clan card in my hand. So I put out my trump card, the Snake clan card. Won tricks regardless of rank.
Handling trick wins and losses
The winning player's card stays in place, while the losing player's card is flipped over. At this time, the losing player gets one cube placed on the placed fort card. A player gets 1 cube, 1 point.
Example: The other player who played an eagle rank 2 lost the trick, so he flipped the card over and got one of the placed fort cubes (the opponent's eagle rank 5 won).
Keep the cubes you get handy. If there are no cubes on the placed fort card, you cannot get the cube. The player who wins the trick gets the lead for the next trick.
Display of Trump card
The first time a cube on a fort card runs out during a round, the card is flipped over. The suit indicated by the reversed fort card will be the Trump card for the next trick. Once the trump card is shown, the card will not turn over even if there are no more cubes placed on the fort card.
Example: The Goat (black) suit became the Trump card because there were no more cubes.
Scoring
Add up the ranks of the clan cards placed in each fort, and the higher number wins the fort card. If there were any cubes left on the fort cards, the winner gets them too. In case of a tie, it is a draw and neither player wins (the same goes for the leftover cubes). Add up the points of fort cards and cubes each player has obtained to get a score.
(Diagram: an example round scored as 6 pt + 7 pt = 13 pt for one player, with 6 cubes taken, versus 4 pt + 8 pt = 12 pt for the other, with 4 cubes taken; fort point values shown per fort as 4 pt, 3 pt (3 pt + 1 pt) and so on.)
Record the score you got in a memo, etc., switch the first move and the second move, and start the next round. The points for the two rounds are totaled, and the player with the most points wins.
Variant rule
Once you get used to the game, try playing with the rules below.
- 3 wins first: The player who wins 3 rounds first is the winner.
- Team Battle: Play divided into 2 to 2 on the first move and the second move. Do not move cubes when preparing for the game, keep a hand of 7 cards, and alternate turns for each trick.
At times like this...
If the original hand dealt contained 4 rank 7 cards or 4 rank 1 cards, shuffle again and deal the cards again.