LUZ
LUZ Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 12 cards in each of the 5 colors (numbered from 1 to 12). A card's color is visible on both sides, but its value is only shown on the front.
- 5 (+) cards. These cards are used to show where the highest value cards in your hand are. The card with the (+) symbol indicates who the First Player is.
- 1 score pad
- 15 Bet beads (yellow)
- 5 Safety beads (blue)
Game Overview
Luz is a trick-taking card game in which you must bet on the number of tricks you'll take during play, in spite of not knowing the exact values of your cards! Only your opponents will be able to see the fronts of your cards, and vice versa. In order to win your bet, you'll have to try to guess what cards you have in your hand!
Game Terms
The cards dealt to the players make up their hand. A trick is all the cards played during a round, which are then taken by the player who played the best card. The trump suit is the color which beats all others. In Luz, the trump suit is yellow. A deal is the part of the game during which tricks are played. Each deal lasts 10 tricks.
Setup
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Pick a player at random to be the First Player and give him the (+) card. Then, give one (+) card to each of the other players.
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Depending on the number of players, make up the deck of cards that will be used for the game, using the card values indicated below. The remaining cards are put back into the box.
Players Card Values 3 players Values 1 to 8 4 players Values 1 to 10 5 players Values 1 to 12 -
Shuffle the resulting deck of cards and place it on the table, within reach of all players.
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Place all the Bet and Safety beads on the table, within reach of all players.
Playing a Deal
The game is played over 4 parts called deals. At the end of the 10 rounds, called tricks, that make up each deal, you will win or lose points depending on the bet you made.
Each deal is made up of 4 phases:
- Distribute and sort cards
- Reveal hands and place bets
- Play tricks
- Scoring
1. Distribute and Sort Cards
The player with the (+) card shuffles the deck, then gives 10 cards (face down) to each player. The 10 remaining cards are put to one side: they will not be used in this deal. Each player looks at their hand and sorts their cards, first by color, then by card value within each color group, in numerical order (ascending or descending). Each player then places their (+) card in their hand, either to the far left or the far right, depending on whether they chose to place their highest value cards on the left or the right side of each color group.
Example: A player may arrange their color groups with the highest values on the left, placing the (+) card at the far left of the hand — OR arrange them with the highest values on the right, placing the (+) card at the far right of the hand.
Each player then passes their hand, face down, to the player on their left.
2. Reveal Hands and Place Bets
Each player picks up the hand given to them, looking only at the backs of the cards, never the fronts. The value of their cards must only be visible to their opponents.
Then, starting with the first player (the one with the (+) card marked as First Player), and progressing clockwise around the table, each player places their bet on how many tricks they think they can take during the deal.
Note that it's the player to the left of the one who dealt the cards who places their bet first, as the (+) card changed hands.
Each player takes the same number of Bet beads as the number of tricks they think they'll be able to take. Additionally, players can choose to take up to 1 Safety bead to indicate that they may take 1 additional trick. Players can choose to take 0 Bet beads, or just 1 Safety bead.
Tip: A Safety bead can also be used to take a trick that an opponent thought they would win! Feel free to use them aggressively.
Once all players have made their bets, move on to Phase 3. Play Tricks.
Example: After checking his opponents' hands and his own card colors, Remi decides to take 3 Bet beads and 1 Safety bead. This means he'll need to take either 3 or 4 tricks during this deal.
3. Play Tricks
During this phase, you'll play through 10 tricks. Starting with the first player, then moving clockwise around the table, each player plays 1 card from their hand by placing it in the center of the table, as per the following rules:
- You cannot check a card's value before playing it. You'll only discover its value once it has been played.
- The player who starts the trick can play the card of their choice: that card's color then becomes the required color for the trick.
- If you have at least 1 card of the required color in your hand, you must play it.
- If you do not have a card of the required color in your hand, you may play the card of your choice.
Once all players have played their card, the one who played the strongest card takes the trick (see "Which card wins?" below). The winning player takes all of the cards that were played during the trick and places them in a single pile, face down, in front of them. The number of tricks each player has taken must always be easily visible to the other players at the table. We recommend placing a bead on each of your tricks.
Important: You cannot look at any of the cards from your previously won tricks, or at the 10 cards put to the side at the start of the deal.
The player who won the trick starts the next one.
Once all players have no color cards left in their hands, the deal ends. Move on to Phase 4. Scoring.
At the end of the deal, keep your (+) card in your hand. The First Player from the previous deal distributes the cards for the next deal.
Which card wins? The trump suit (yellow) card of the highest value wins the trick. If no cards from that suit were played, the highest value card of the required suit wins.
Example: Remi took the previous trick, so he starts the next one with the card of his choice: he plays a red 4. As a result, red is the required color for this trick.
It's now Chloe's turn, and since she has 2 red cards, she must play one of them. In an attempt to take the trick, she decides to play the highest value of the two. Unfortunately for her, it turns out to be a 3. But she now knows that her remaining red card is either a 1 or a 2. So far, Remi has the best card of the trick.
It's now Joelle's turn to play. As she has no red cards, she can play a card of her choice. She could even play a trump card to try to take the trick, but she decides to play a blue card, which turns out to be a 3. So far, Remi is still set to take the trick.
Vincent has 3 red cards. He could try to win by playing his strongest card, but he suspects that Remi doesn't actually want to take this trick. To ensure Remi wins, he plays a red 2.
As none of the players played a trump (yellow) card, the highest card in the required color wins. Remi played the highest value card with his red 4, so he takes all 4 cards played during the trick and puts them face down in front of him in a single pile.
4. Scoring
Once the final trick of the deal has been played, compare the number of tricks taken by each player with their initial bets.
- If you did not take a Safety bead, you win your bet only if you took the exact number of tricks as the number of Bet beads in front of you.
- If you have a Safety bead, you win your bet if you took either the exact number of tricks as the number of Bet beads in front of you, or that number plus 1 additional trick.
Depending on the result of your bet and the game's progression, gain points as shown below:
| 1st Deal | 2nd Deal | 3rd Deal | 4th Deal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bet won without Safety bead | 10 points | 20 points | 30 points | 40 points |
| Bet won with Safety bead | 5 points | 10 points | 15 points | 20 points |
If you did not win your bet, you lose 5 points for each trick above or below the number you bet, whether you took a Safety bead or not.
Write each player's score on the score pad (we recommend adding up your total points at the end of each deal). Once scoring is complete, the next deal begins.
Example: For the 1st deal, Remi took 3 Bet beads and 1 Safety bead. During the Play Tricks Phase, he took 3 tricks, meaning he won his bet! Since he took a Safety bead, he scores 5 points. If he had taken 6 tricks, he would have lost 15 points. If he had only taken 2 tricks, he would have lost 5 points.
Three-Player Games
During the fourth deal only, the player who currently has the most points bets first. They also start the first trick during the Play Tricks Phase. In the case of a tie, the player closest to the First Player in the turn order (or the First Player themselves if they are part of the tie), bets and plays first.
End of the Game
The player with the highest score at the end of the 4th deal wins the game. In the case of a tie between the winners, the one who scored the most points during the final deal wins. If the tie persists, the one closest to the First Player in the turn order (or the First Player themselves if they are part of the tie), wins.
Credits
- Game Design: Taiki Shinzawa
- Illustrations: Crocotame Studio
- Project Management: Rémi Mathieu
- Graphic Design: Vincent Mougenot
- Editing: Rémi Mathieu
- Proofreading: Xavier Taverne
- Translation: Georgina Parsons
Luz was originally released in Japan by the publisher Korokoro Dou and the Kentaiki circle, in an edition illustrated by Satoshi Takahata. IELLO has made several modifications to the original rules.