Julchen und die Monster Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Before the First Game
• Goal
• Setup
• Hand Rules
• Start
• Turn Options
• Game End and Winner
• Tactics Hints

Components

• 33 cards:
  • Monster cards numbered 0 to 5, 4 of each (24 cards in total)
  • Weapon cards (6), 4 cards
  • Cards numbered 7, 4 cards (the Japanese manual names this card 稲妻; see the note under Turn Options)
  • Julchen (Juliet), the 8 card, 1 card
• 1 track
• 1 manual

Before the First Game

The Japanese edition does not include a spare Juliet card, so a Juliet sheet is attached to the bottom of the box as a charm against the monsters at night. Stick it on the refrigerator or somewhere similar.

Goal

There are two ways to win: rescue Juliet, or let the monsters eat her.

Setup

1. Place the track in the middle of the table.
2. Shuffle the 32 cards other than Julchen (Juliet). Place 7 of them face down around the track, clockwise, in the spaces numbered 1 to 7.
3. Add Julchen (Juliet) to the remaining cards and shuffle them again. Place them face down as the draw pile (山札).
4. Each player takes 2 cards from the draw pile as their starting hand (手札).

Hand Rules

When you take a card into your hand, you must follow this rule:

Using the largest card in your hand as the reference, your hand must form a sequence where the values get smaller as you move outward from that card. Equal values are allowed.

Example: your hand is 0-2-5-5-8-2 (in that order). If you add 2 new cards, they can only go in the positions marked * in the illustration. Cards must not go in the positions marked X.

The order of a hand may only be changed when a rule says so.

Start

The player whose birthday was most recently begins the game. Play then proceeds clockwise.

Turn Options

On your turn, choose one of the following three options:

a) Draw 1 card from the draw pile. Add it to your hand. If the draw pile is empty, draw instead from the cards around the track, taking them in order starting from position 1 and going up (clockwise, toward higher numbers).

b) Draw 1 card from another player. Choose one other player and draw 1 card from their hand. Add it to your hand. If you drew Julchen (Juliet, the 8 card) or the 7 card, announce to all other players that the cards must be rearranged. Then rearrange your whole hand freely, within the hand rules. Try not to let the other players see what you are doing.

c) Feast (捕食). Show 2 monster cards of the same number from your hand. Then choose one other player to attack.

• The attacked player may defend if they have a weapon (6 card). They show 1 weapon card to defend. If they defend, the attack ends, and the attacking player's turn ends too.
• If the attacked player cannot defend, or does not want to, the attacker draws 1 card from the attacked player's hand.
• If the card drawn is Julchen (Juliet), the attacker immediately wins the game.
• If the card drawn is any other card, add it to your hand. However, if the card drawn is the 7 card, announce that the cards must be rearranged, and rearrange your hand as described in option b).

Translator note from the Japanese manual: all cards played in a feast are placed together in one discard pile.

Translator note from the Japanese manual: the flashlight (懐中電灯) and the fly swatter (ハエたたき) are the same 6 card, with no difference in function.

Note on the 7 card: the Japanese manual gives its name as 稲妻 in the rules text. The transcriber read this from the scan and has not checked it against the English edition. If the English edition gives a different name for this card, use the English name.

Game End and Winner

The game ends immediately when any of the following conditions is met:

a) After the draw pile is empty: when a player holds Julchen (Juliet) at the end of their turn, and their hand (including Julchen) has no more cards than the number shown on the track, that player wins.

Example from the manual: the track shows "3". A player holding Juliet at the end of their turn wins if their hand, including Juliet, has 3 cards or fewer.

b) When the last card is taken from the track: night ends and the player holding Julchen (Juliet) wins.

c) When Julchen (Juliet) is eaten by the monsters: if Julchen (Juliet) is drawn during a feast, the player who made that attack wins.

Tactics Hints

• To find Julchen (Juliet), pay close attention to where the other players put cards in their hands.
• Draw cards from other players to learn how their cards are arranged.
• If another player rearranges their hand, they have just taken Julchen (Juliet) or the 7 card.
• When you are sure where Julchen (Juliet) is hiding, start the feast.