NINE Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Card Anatomy
• Round Summary
  • I. Deal Phase
  • II. Orders Phase
  • III. Realm Phase
  • IV. Cleanup Phase
• End-of-Game Victory Point Scoring
  • Example of End-of-Game Scoring (Gary)
  • Example of End-of-Game Scoring (Manu)
• Influence Abilities
  • Justice (x1)
  • Tomorrow (x2)
  • Galmi (x3)
  • Abhilasha (x4)
  • Narashima (x5)
  • Phoenix (x6)
  • Goan-Sul (x7)
  • Xi'an (x8)
  • Byun Hyung Ja (x9)
  • Clarifications
• Hero Effects
  • Alpha (x5)
  • Fenghuang (x5)
• "Alternate Art" Immortal Cards for Immortal 8
  • Byun Hyung Ja

Goal of the Game

Play Hero and Influence cards, then use their abilities to score as many Victory Points (VP) as possible during the end-of-game scoring, at the end of the 8th round.

Components

• 45 Influence cards (each Influence card is present in as many copies as its influence value)
• 10 Hero cards
• 8 Hourglass cards
• 15 Civilization tokens (Military, Science, Chaos)
• 10 Culture tokens
• 8 VP tokens (1 / 2 / 3)
• 5 Coin tokens
• 5 Diamond tokens
• 4 Supremacy tokens
• 1 Galmi Shield token
• 1 First Player token
• 1 rulebook in 2 languages (French / English)

Bonus: 9 promotional Immortal cards for the game Immortal 8. These cards are not used in games of Nine. For more details, see the end of this rulebook.

Components are in limited quantity. If, during the game, you must gain a component from the reserve and it is no longer available, you gain nothing.

Setup

1. Shuffle the 45 Influence cards and the 10 Hero cards together to form a pile of 55 cards, which you place face down in the center of the table. This is the main draw pile.
2. Sort the 8 Hourglass cards (numbered 1 to 8) in ascending order and form a face-down pile that you place near the main draw pile. The Hourglass card numbered 1 must be on top and the one numbered 8 at the very bottom.
3. Place all tokens next to the play area: they form the reserve. Give 1 Culture token to each player.
4. Determine the first player at random. They take the First Player token and place it in front of them.

Card Anatomy

Influence card: Influence value and number of copies in the main draw pile; Influence name; Realm ability; Special ability; card back (shared by Hero and Influence cards).

Hero card: influence value; Hero name; Hero ability. Each flipped card will earn 1 VP at the end of the game.

Hourglass card: summary of a round: Deal phase; Orders phase; Realm phase; Cleanup phase.

Round Summary

Each round is divided into 4 phases, played clockwise starting with the first player. When the 4th phase has been played, the round is over.

At the start of each round, turn over the top Hourglass card of the pile: it gives the information for the 4 phases of that round. At the end of the 8th round, the game is over and players count their VP.

I. Deal Phase

Shuffle the main draw pile and deal each player face down a number of cards equal to the number shown in the upper part of the current round's Hourglass card.

IMPORTANT: During this phase, if a player has the majority of Tomorrow cards, they are dealt one additional card. The Realm and Special abilities of the Influences are detailed at the end of the rules.

Then, each player in clockwise order starting with the first player may decide to spend 1 Culture token (and only 1) to draw 1 additional card and add it to their hand. Spent Culture tokens return to the reserve.

Example: The 1st round has just begun: Gary is dealt these 7 cards.

II. Orders Phase

In clockwise order starting with the first player, select cards from your hand by placing them face down in front of you. You must choose one of these two options:

• Choose any number of identical cards (Influence or Hero)
• Choose 2 different cards (Influence and/or Hero)

Example: Gary is the first player. Among the 7 cards in his hand, Gary can choose to play either: 3 Phoenix cards, 2 Alpha cards, or 2 different cards from his hand. He chooses to select 3 Phoenix cards and places them face down in front of him.

Then, all of each player's non-selected cards are put face down under the draw pile: they will be reshuffled at the start of the next round. No non-selected card may be kept in hand by the players.

IMPORTANT: During this phase, if a player has the majority of Phoenix cards, they may spend 1 Culture token to select one additional card from their hand. This player can therefore select up to 3 different cards OR any number of identical cards + 1 different card.

III. Realm Phase

In clockwise order starting with the first player, fully carry out your Realm phase. Reveal the cards you selected during the Orders phase and sort them into columns of identical cards, in ascending order of Influence value.

You may resolve the abilities of your majority Influences at any time during your Realm phase: before, during or after revealing your new cards. If the cards you have just played give you a new majority, you may also resolve their abilities during this phase. Some Realm abilities with a symbol require you to slightly tilt your column of majority Influences once you have used them.

You may also resolve the abilities of the Hero cards you revealed during this phase, in the order of your choice. You can never trigger the ability of a Hero you played during a previous round. An Influence or Hero card must always be revealed even if you do not want to or can no longer resolve its effect.

Example: Gary reveals his 3 Phoenix cards: he has the majority of them among all players. He decides to activate the Phoenix ability and tilts his column of cards to gain 1 Science token.

IV. Cleanup Phase

In clockwise order starting with the first player, check that the number of cards in your Realm does not exceed the value shown in the lower part of the current round's Hourglass card. If your number of cards is above this limit, discard face-up Influence cards until you reach the limit. You cannot discard a Hero card, face up or face down (see below), during this phase.

IMPORTANT: During this phase, if a player has the majority of Galmi cards, that player keeps 2 more cards than the limit shown on the current round's Hourglass card.

Example: The card limit at the end of the 1st round is 2. Since Gary is the first player, he must decide first which Influence cards to discard to reach this limit. He therefore discards 1 Phoenix card, then it is the next player's turn clockwise to check this limit.

The First Player token is given to the next player clockwise. At the end of the 8th round, the game is over and players count their Victory Points.

End-of-Game Victory Point Scoring

With the exception of Hourglass cards, if a game element bears a number (token, Hero or Influence card, card back), it means it earns VP at the end of the game. Count VP in this order:

1. Supremacies: For each of the 3 types of Civilization token (Military, Science and Chaos), the majority player (or the tied player, if they control Justice) gains a Supremacy token worth 4 VP. If the player who controls Justice gains at least one Supremacy, they gain one additional one.
2. Influence majorities: For each Influence, the majority player gains as many VP as its value, shown at the top of its card; then their opponents flip face down the cards of that Influence of which they do not have the majority. If no player has a majority, then everyone flips their cards of that Influence face down.
3. Face-down cards: 1 VP for each card flipped face down during the game, including those flipped during the Influence majority scoring.
4. Diamonds: 5 VP per Diamond.
5. Coins: 1 VP per Coin.
6. VP tokens: Score the value of your VP tokens.
7. Heroes: Lose 1 VP per face-up Hero card.

The player with the most VP wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the majority of the Influence of lowest value wins the game.

Example of End-of-Game Scoring (Gary)

At the end of the 8th round, Gary controls 11 cards instead of 9, because Galmi's ability lets him control 2 additional cards.

1. Supremacies: Gary controls the majority of Chaos tokens, so he gains a Supremacy token worth 4 VP. He is tied for the number of Science tokens and since he does not control Justice, he does not win a Supremacy, just as for the Military tokens since he controls none.
2. Influences: Gary controls the majority of Tomorrow cards (2 VP), Galmi cards (3 VP), Phoenix cards (6 VP) and Xi'an cards (8 VP), for a total Influence score of 19 VP. He flips his Goan-Sul and Byun Hyung Ja cards because he does not control the majority of them.
3. Face-down cards: Gary flipped 3 cards face down, which earns him 3 VP.
4. Diamonds: Gary obtained a Diamond during the game, which earns him 5 VP. Coins: Gary did not obtain a Coin during the game. VP tokens: Gary did not obtain a VP token during the game.
5. Face-up Heroes: Gary controls one face-up Hero, he loses 1 VP.

Gary's total score: 4 VP + 19 VP + 3 VP + 5 VP - 1 VP = 30 VP

Example of End-of-Game Scoring (Manu)

At the end of the 8th round, Manu controls 9 cards.

1. Supremacies: Manu controls the majority of Military tokens: he gains a Supremacy token worth 4 VP. He is tied for the number of Science tokens and since he controls Justice, he wins another Supremacy token. As he has gained at least one Supremacy token, Justice's ability lets him gain an additional one, for a total of 3 Supremacy tokens, i.e. 12 VP.
2. Influences: Manu controls the majority of Justice (1 VP), Abhilasha (4 VP) and Narashima (5 VP) cards. He flips his Goan-Sul and Byun Hyung Ja cards because he does not control the majority of them. His total Influence score is 10 VP.
3. Face-down cards: Manu flipped 5 cards face down (2 during the game and 3 during the Influence calculation), which earns him 5 VP.
4. Diamonds: Manu obtained a Diamond during the game, which earns him 5 VP.
5. Coins: Manu controls 1 Coin, which earns him 1 VP.
6. VP tokens: Manu obtained 2 VP tokens during the game, for a total of 2 VP. Face-up Heroes: Manu controls no face-up Hero.

Manu's total score: 12 VP + 10 VP + 5 VP + 5 VP + 1 VP + 2 VP = 35 VP

Influence Abilities

Justice (x1)

• Realm (cannot be copied by Fenghuang): you win ties for using Influence abilities during the Realm phase.
• Special: you win ties for gaining Supremacies at the end of the game. If you have gained at least one Supremacy token, gain one additional one. You do not win ties for Influence majorities at the end of the game.

Tomorrow (x2)

• Realm: gain a Chaos token from the reserve.
• Special: receive an additional card during the Deal phase.

Galmi (x3)

• Realm (cannot be copied by Fenghuang): take the Galmi Shield token from the reserve and place it above the Galmi column: the cards in the Influence columns located immediately to the left and right of the Galmi Shield are immune to the effects of opposing Heroes and of Goan-Sul. If you have no Influence column to the left and/or right of the Galmi column, the Galmi Shield is less optimal but may be useful later in the game.
• Special: your limit of cards in play in front of you is increased by 2 at the end of each round. This effect is not cumulative.

When you lose the majority of Galmi, you lose its passive effects. You must immediately discard the Galmi Shield and return it to the reserve.

Abhilasha (x4)

Choose one of the following 2 abilities:

• Realm: gain a Coin from the reserve. If you cannot, steal a Coin from the opponent of your choice.
• Realm: spend 4 Coins to gain 1 Diamond from the reserve. Return the spent Coins to the reserve.

Narashima (x5)

Choose one of the following 2 abilities:

• Realm: destroy a Hero card that you control. It is reshuffled into the main draw pile.
• Realm: flip face down a Hero card that you control to gain 1 VP. Each flipped card that you control will earn you 1 VP at the end of the game. A flipped card counts toward the card limit and can be neither discarded nor destroyed.

Phoenix (x6)

• Realm: gain a Science token from the reserve.
• Special: during the Orders phase, spend 1 Culture token to play one additional card from your hand. You can thus play up to 3 different cards OR 1 different card + X identical cards.

Goan-Sul (x7)

Choose one of the following 2 abilities:

• Realm: gain a Military token from the reserve.
• Realm: give a Military token to an opponent to destroy one of their Influence cards. The destroyed Influence card is reshuffled into the draw pile.

Xi'an (x8)

Choose one of the following 2 abilities:

• Realm: exchange a Civilization token or Coin that you own for a Civilization token or Coin from the reserve.
• Realm: discard 3 different Civilization tokens to gain a Diamond from the reserve. Return the discarded Civilization tokens to the reserve.

Byun Hyung Ja (x9)

• Realm: take one of your Byun Hyung Ja cards and place it under another column of Influence cards, leaving only the top of the card visible. This card becomes a copy of that Influence and can help you obtain its majority.

Clarifications

• During the Cleanup phase, if you choose to discard a card from an Influence column, you must discard a Byun Hyung Ja card from that column in priority rather than a card of that Influence.
• If a card from one of your non-Byun Hyung Ja Influence columns is destroyed, you must destroy in priority a Byun Hyung Ja card that you had placed in that column: this can happen after a player has used the ability of Alpha or Goan-Sul.

Hero Effects

Hero cards can never be discarded during the Cleanup phase, whether face up or face down. Furthermore, a Hero can in no case use its ability against an Influence column protected by the Galmi Shield.

Alpha (x5)

When you play Alpha, destroy an opposing Influence card. Then, steal from that player a Civilization token or a Coin, if possible. It is not possible to steal a Culture token. The destroyed Influence card is reshuffled into the draw pile.

Fenghuang (x5)

When you play Fenghuang, gain a Culture token from the reserve and copy a Realm ability of an opponent's majority Influence column. Fenghuang can never copy the Realm abilities of Justice and Galmi, nor any Special abilities.

"Alternate Art" Immortal Cards for Immortal 8

The 9 additional cards in this box are intended for Immortal 8 players who know the game very well: the 8 Immortals of the game are present in an "Alternate Art" version, and you can also play with Byun Hyung Ja, the 9th Immortal. He scores VP as follows.

Byun Hyung Ja

At the start of the game, after the Immortals have been dealt but before the start of the first Living Draft, Byun Hyung Ja reveals himself. Secretly take all the Immortals not played in the game and place them in front of you face down. You may look at these cards at any time during the game.

Before the VP phase (which takes place at the end of the 2nd round), secretly choose which Immortal Byun Hyung Ja will copy, then put the other Immortals back in the box. Reveal the chosen Immortal during the VP phase (unless you chose Justice, which you may reveal during the game), at the time when it must be revealed. You score the VP of that Immortal minus 5 VP.

In a 3-player game, choose at the start of the game whether you reveal Byun Hyung Ja or keep your other Immortal. If you reveal Byun Hyung Ja, take the 3 unplayed Immortals and add them to the one you were dealt at the start of the game. At the end of the game, choose which of these 4 Immortals is copied by Byun Hyung Ja.

The fewer players there are, the more powerful BHJ is, as he has more choices. Moreover, he is always the only Immortal who knows from the start of the game which Immortals are in play.