Livemix
Livemix Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
Livemix is a trick-taking card game in which each player plays one card at a time in a series of mini-games (tricks) to determine who wins and who loses.
Cards acquired through tricks give the player a chance to score points, while cards remaining in the hand are at risk of losing points. Scoring and losing points are determined by the members who have won in tricks. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Components
60 cards
- Fans: 48 cards, 12 cards each of the 4 colors of heart, gem, flower, and moon. (Each color has a numerical value from [1] to [12].)
- Members: 12 cards, 4 cards for each of the three groups A, B, and C. (Each Member is assigned to a color or a number.)
1 token
1 rulebook
Setting up the game
- Prepare the following cards according to the number of players.
- 3 players: 36 Fans excluding any one color and 12 Members.
- 4 players: all 48 Fans and 12 Members.
- Shuffle all 12 Members and place them face up in a circle on the table.
- Place the token on the first Member placed on the table. (The printed rule reads "Place the token first Member placed on the table"; the word "on" has been supplied.)
- Shuffle the Fans and deal 12 cards face down to each player as a hand.
- Decide the "lead player" who will deal the first card in an appropriate manner.
In the following explanations, Fans in the hand are referred to as "cards" for the sake of convenience. (Members are referred to as Members.)
How to play
The game progresses through a series of mini games called "tricks".
In each trick, each player plays one card in a clockwise direction, and the winner is determined when all the cards have been dealt.
Each trick consists of [1. Playing cards], [2. Check the winner of the trick], and [3. Leave or stay].
During each "round", players play tricks until a player has played all the cards in his or her hand.
After three rounds, the game ends.
1. Playing cards
First, the lead player plays a card of his or her choice from his or her hand.
The first card in a trick is called the "lead" and the color of the card is called the "lead color".
Each player plays a card from his or her hand according to the following rules, in clockwise order from the lead player:
- If the active player has a card of the lead color in his or her hand, the lead color must be played.
- If the active player has no card of the lead color in his or her hand, the player can play any card.
Whenever a card with the value [9] is played during a trick, the token is moved clockwise to the next Member.
2. Check the winner of the trick
Once all players have played one card each, players determine how won or lost the trick. (The printed rule reads "how won or lost"; the word "who" appears to be intended.)
The player who plays the card with the highest numerical value in the lead color wins.
Exceptionally, if cards in the lead color with numerical values [1] and [12] are played in the same trick, the card with numerical value [1] is temporarily treated as numerical value [13].
The player who wins the trick wins the cards played and the Member card on which the token is placed.
All the cards won are placed face down in a pile in front of the player, and the Member won is placed face up in front of the player.
The token is then placed again clockwise on the next Member.
3. Leave or stay
If either of the following conditions ① or ② is met, a player withdraws from the round.
In a 3-player game:
- ① The player gains his or her 4th Member.
- ② The player gains his or her 3rd Member of the same group.
In a 4-player game:
- ① The player gains his or her 3rd Member.
- ② The player gains his or her 2nd Member of the same group.
The player who withdraws from the round will not participate in any more tricks until the end of the round.
The player who leaves the round keeps the remaining cards in his or her hand. (Please make sure that they are distinguishable from the cards won.)
The player who wins the trick becomes the lead player for the next trick and returns to [1. Playing cards].
If the winning player leaves the round, the player to his/her left becomes the lead player instead.
End of the Round
The round ends when all but one other player leaves the round.
The remaining player who does not leave the round gains all of his or her remaining cards in hand and available Members. (The remaining cards and Members are placed in front of the player.)
- One point is scored for each card gained that has the same color (heart, gem, flower, or moon) or value as the specified color or value on a Member won.
- One point is lost for each remaining card in his or her hand of the same color (heart, gem, flower, or moon) or value as the specified color or value on a Member won.
In both cases, if the color or value matches more than one Member, the points gained or lost are also added or removed from the total score.
Beginning of the next round
To prepare for the next round, perform steps 2 through 4 of [Setting up the game].
The first lead player of the next round is the player with the lowest score in the previous round. If there are multiple players with the same score, decide the lead player in any appropriate way.
The game ends when three rounds are completed. The player with the highest total score is the winner. If there are multiple players with the same total, the winner is the player with the highest score in the last round. If they are also the same, the game is a tie.
Detailed Rules of the Game
- During the round, each player may check his or her gained cards (face down) at any time.
- If a player leaves the round under condition ②, the last remaining player can gain more Members.
- In a 3-player game, gaining a Member assigned to a color not selected does not result in a gain or loss of points.
- When calculating the score, a player can have a negative total score because of the loss of points exceeding the gain of points.
Example (4-player game)
Two players have already left during the round, and the remaining two players played the eighth trick.
Player 2 played a card that was not the lead color against Player 1's lead, so Player 1 won (①) this trick.
A card with the value [9] was played once, so the marker moved once and Player 1 won a Member of Group C (②).
Player 1 has already won another Group C Member, and since condition ② (see [Withdraw or stay]) has been met, Player 1 left the round (③), with remaining cards in hand.
The round is over as all other players have left, leaving only one player. Player 2, who remained until the end, has gained all the Members still available and the remaining cards in his or her hand (④).
Player 1 gained 4 points based on the cards he or she won, while he lost 5 points based on the cards remaining in his or her hand, resulting in a total of minus 1 point for Player 1 in this round (⑤).
Player 2 scores 6 points based on the cards he or she has won, but loses no points because he or she has no cards left in hand, so Player 2's total score for this round is 6 points (⑥).
(The example's score diagrams show: Player 2 - cards won +1 pt, +3 pt, +2 pt; Player 1 - cards won +1 pt, +2 pt, +1 pt, and remaining cards in hand -1 pt, -2 pt, -2 pt.)
Source: official English rulebook by Fudacoma Games (designer Yusuke Sawaguchi, artwork Mochingo and yamamori), PDF dated 2024-04-07, from fudacoma.jp. Colour icons (heart, gem, flower, moon) and the red emphasis of the printed rules are rendered as plain text. Two printing slips are fixed in-file as noted in "Setting up the game" step 3 and "Check the winner of the trick". The example's cross-reference reads "Withdraw or stay" as printed; the rules section itself is titled "Leave or stay".