Ryozen Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Components
• Game Overview
• How to Win
• Components Overview
  • Game Map
  • The Ryozen Realm
  • The Phoenix Palace
  • The Sectors
  • The Kin
  • Resources
  • Moon Shards
  • Village Tiles
  • Event Cards
  • Revelation Cards
• Game Setup
• How to Play
• Daytime Phase
  • Events' Setup
  • Player's Turn
    • Kin Placement
    • Daytime Effect
• Nighttime Phase
  • Events Resolution
  • Nighttime Rewards Scoring
    • Majority Bonus
• Dawn Phase
• End of the Game
• Reference: Sectors and Palace
  • The Gates
  • The Capital
  • The Rim
  • The Shrine
  • The Springs
  • The Clanhouse
  • The Phoenix Palace
• Kin Abilities
• Village Tiles
• Shrine Tile
• Revelation Cards
• Event Cards
• Phoenix Palace Alternative Mode
  • Components
  • Phoenix Palace Kin Placement
  • Point of View
  • Bumping a Kin
  • A Kin Is Hit
  • Phoenix Palace Nighttime Reward
  • Setup
  • How to Play

Introduction

Ryozen is a 2-4 player worker placement game with a layered rotating board, multiple scoring and resources engines, set in a fantasy world of mystical forces and virtuous animals with extraordinary abilities.

In Ryozen the contention is always at a high pace with both direct and indirect interaction between players.

The board is divided into Sectors that provide different sets of possible actions, but only for a limited number of available placements.

Secure the best places for your Kin to gather and manage resources, recruit more allies with asymmetrical abilities, influence the tie-breaker and collect cards to improve your strategy.

The turn flow runs smoothly from the very beginning, with immediate placement abilities and effects during the Day and global rewards redeemed sector by sector during the Night.

Never lose sight of your rivals and strive for the highest Favor!

Components

• 1 Game Board (double-sided), the Ryozen Realm
• 1 Rotating Board (double-sided) with plastic spinner
• 1 Phoenix Palace
• 80 Kin tiles (20 x 4 Clans)
• 36 Revelation cards
• 20 Event cards
• 74 Resources: 32 Coins, 24 Scrolls, 18 Lanterns
• 1 Shrine tile
• 12 Village tiles
• 4 Herald tokens (1 x 4 Clans)
• 4 Favor tokens (1 x 4 Clans)
• 4 Pioneer tokens (1 x 4 Clans)
• 36 Moon Shards (12 x 3 Colors)
• 1 First Player token

Game Overview

In a game of Ryozen, players confront each other over the course of three rounds. Each round is composed of three main phases: Daytime, Nighttime, and Dawn.

During the Daytime, players alternate taking turns, placing their Kin on the available slots of the six Sectors and the Palace, performing Daytime effects and ensuring their Influence on each Sector for the upcoming Nighttime phase.

During the Nighttime Phase, players compare the Influence they have gained during the Daytime Phase in each Sector and in the Palace, collecting the corresponding Nighttime reward and Majority Bonus, then entering the next phase, the Dawn Phase, where the round comes to an end and all players take all their Kin back.

How to Win

At the end of the third round, the game ends and the final scoring takes place: the player who obtained the most Favor Points wins the game.

Components Overview

Game Map

The game board consists of two boards, assembled together with a spinner: the main board (Ryozen Realm) and a small rotating board, holding up the Phoenix Palace.

How to assemble the rotating board: First of all, take the plastic spinner and open it up. Then, place the main board on top of the bottom part of the spinner. Now stack the rotating board on top of the game board and secure it all with the top part of the spinner. Finally, assemble the Phoenix Palace, and wedge it into the appropriate slots of the rotating board.

The Ryozen Realm

The Ryozen Realm is divided into 6 main Sectors, each of them indicating their two main benefits: the Daytime effect and the Nighttime rewards.

Each Sector also includes a variable number of Spots, representing the only way into the Sectors for the Kin. Each Spot can host no more than 1 Kin.

The Phoenix Palace

The Phoenix Palace has no Spots, but it can still host Kin: there is no limit to the number of Kin that can be hosted into the Phoenix Palace.

How to assemble the 3D Palace:

1. First of all, take the four walls belonging to the lowest level of the Palace and the bigger roof. Wedge the roof on the two walls designed with a slit.
2. Now take the two remaining walls and slide them vertically into the already assembled part.
3. Do the same with the second level of the Palace.
4. Lastly, take the remaining four walls belonging to the top level, assemble them together and wedge them into the roof of the second level of the Palace.

The Sectors

• The Gates: Oversee the peace of the Realm and prevent the most threatening Events from happening, or let them be to exploit their consequences.
• The Capital: Ensure yourself an advantageous position for Majority disputes to come.
• The Rim: Explore the borderlands of the Realm, build Villages and gain new opportunities.
• The Shrine: Visit the newly built Villages and gain benefits for the glory of your Clan.
• The Springs: Meditate by the water and find inspiration for Revelations that will help you in your tasks.
• The Clanhouse: Support your aspiring Kin in learning their unique skills and recruit the very best one.
• The Phoenix Palace: Pay homage to the Radiant Phoenix and assist the rotation of her Palace. Where will its light be cast?

The Kin

Each Clan's Kin has two sides: Unveiled and Cloaked.

The Unveiled side features the specific Kin's name and ability. The Cloaked side is the same for all Kin, featuring its placement cost.

An Unveiled Kin counts as 1 Influence on a Sector, while a Cloaked Kin always counts as 2 Influence. For further details, see Nighttime Phase.

All Kin are eager to do good for the realm, but the contention between the Clans is now more heated than ever and they may even become hostile to each other. Some Kin are trained in combat and can hit other Kin, defeating them or otherwise putting them in trouble.

If a Cloaked Kin gets hit, flip the tile to its Unveiled side.

If an Unveiled Kin gets hit, move it to the Phoenix Palace at the center of the board: the Kin needs to recover, but will still provide their Influence for the Night Phase.

Resources

Coins, Scrolls and Lanterns. In a Ryozen game, resources are considered to be unlimited. When a player gains resources, they're always taken from the general supply. Similarly, when a player spends resources, they must be returned to the general supply.

Moon Shards

Moon Shards are of three types: Agate Moon, Coral Moon and Jade Moon. Moon Shards are rewards that can be gained during every Nighttime phase. Once acquired, they are gathered in the player area. In a Ryozen game, Moon shards are considered to be unlimited.

Village Tiles

Villages represent burgs to be built in the suburbs. They grant Favor points to the player who builds them and provide new special powerful effects to all those who explore them with their Pioneer.

Event Cards

Event cards are revealed at the beginning of every new round in The Gates Sector. At the beginning of every Nighttime phase, all the effects of the Event cards that are still on the board must be resolved, by all players. Then, the Event cards are discarded.

Revelation Cards

Players can acquire Revelation cards in The Springs Sector. Once acquired, Revelation cards can be either:

• immediately discarded to gain the indicated amount of Favor points

OR

• collected face up in the player area, granting benefits with their effects.

Game Setup

1. Follow the indications ("Game Map") and assemble the game board and the rotating board with the plastic spinner, according to the number of players. For a standard game, use the side of the rotating board with the 4 player color spots.
   • For a 2 player game: flip the game board to the side with the least Kin spots and place the Phoenix Palace on top of it.
   • For a 3-4 player game: flip the game board to the side with the most Kin spots and place the Phoenix Palace on top of it.
   • Note: when setting up the rotating board, align its highlighted sectors to the sectors of the board as shown in the previous images. You can randomly choose the starting matching sectors, by spinning the rotating board.
2. Assemble together the 3 levels of the cardboard Palace ("The Phoenix Palace"). Then secure the bottom piece on the rotating board and set aside the remaining two levels. You will need them at the end of the first and second round.
3. Take all the Moon Shards from the box, divide them by color and place them near the game board to form a general supply.
4. The player who has most recently seen a Phoenix, real or fictional, goes first and receives the first player token. The order of play follows clockwise.
5. Each player chooses a Clan and places their starting set of Kin in front of them, Unveiled side face up. This will represent the player's hand of Kin and will always remain visible to all players.
   • Kin starting set: for a 2 player game use a 6 Kin set: 5 Apprentices, 1 Fighter; for a 3-4 player game use a 5 Kin set: 4 Apprentices, 1 Fighter.
   • Note: when playing in 3-4 players, return 1 Apprentice per Clan to the game box.
6. Take all the resources from the box: divide them by type and place them next to the game board to form the general supply: Coins, Scrolls, and Lanterns. Each player then takes 3 Scrolls, 2 Lanterns, and 4 Coins.
7. Each player places their Favor Token on the "0" space of the Favor track.
8. The first player places their Herald token on the first slot (I) of the Capital track, the second player follows by placing their Herald token on the second slot (II). In order of play, all the other players follow the same rule and place their Herald token on the Capital track.

You are ready to start the game!

How to Play

A game of Ryozen is played over the course of three rounds. Each round is composed of three phases: Daytime Phase, Nighttime Phase and Dawn Phase.

Daytime Phase

The Daytime phase follows the steps below:

• Events setup
• Player's Turn

Events' Setup

At the beginning of the Daytime Phase, reveal cards from the top of the Event deck until you fill all the Foreseen Events Slots. If the Events Deck is empty, shuffle the Event cards in the discard pile to form a new Event Deck.

After the Events setup, players take turns starting from the 1st player, clockwise.

Player's Turn

At the beginning of your turn, you may resolve ONE of your "at the beginning of your turn" Revelations.

Then, during your turn, proceed with the following actions:

• Kin placement
• Daytime effect

Kin Placement

The player must place one of their Kin from their hand into one available Spot of a Sector or straight into the Phoenix Palace.

Some of the Sectors' Spots have a resource icon depicted on them to indicate that they are paid Spots. To place a Kin in that specific Spot, you must spend the indicated resource.

In the Sectors Spots, Kin can be placed Unveiled or Cloaked:

• UNVEILED: you may immediately perform the Kin's Ability. Note: a player is never obliged to perform Unveiled Kin abilities. A player can still place their Unveiled Kin on the chosen Sector and simply ignore its ability.
• CLOAKED: spend 1 Coin to place the Kin. A Cloaked Kin cannot perform any Kin's ability.

In the Phoenix Palace, Kin can only be placed Unveiled however they won't perform their placement Abilities.

Unlike the six Sectors, there is no limit to the number of Kin that can be placed in the Phoenix Palace.

Note: Kin on the Phoenix Palace cannot be Cloaked by any means nor their ability can be activated.

Example: It's Purple player's turn so they decide to place their Kin Unveiled into an available Spot of the Clanhouse Sector, then they perform its Ability. However, Apprentice Kin do not have any ability, thus this step is skipped.

The orange player before them, during the Kin Placement phase of their turn, had decided to place their Kin in the same Sector, but Cloaked, paying 1 coin to do so.

Now only one paid Spot is left available in the Clanhouse Sector and the next player willing to place their Kin there has to pay 1 Scroll to do so.

Daytime Effect

Regardless of where you placed your Kin, whether on a Spot of the six Sectors or on the Palace, you can now perform the Daytime effect.

Example: Following the previous example, the purple player can now proceed to perform the Daytime effect of the Clanhouse Sector (see "The Clanhouse"). Then, purple player ends their turn.

Note: a player is never obliged to perform Unveiled Kin abilities or Daytime effects. A player can still place their Unveiled Kin on the chosen Sector and simply ignore the abilities/effects.

The Phoenix Palace provides two different Daytime effects that a player can choose between. They can either gain 1 Resource of any kind, then rotate the Palace one Sector clockwise, or pay 1 Lantern to perform the Daytime effect of one of the Highlighted Sectors, then rotate the Palace one Sector clockwise (see Reference).

After resolving the Daytime effect, the current Player's turn is over and the player to their left begins their turn.

Players proceed this way until the last player has placed their last Kin and performed their last Daytime effect; then the Nighttime Phase begins.

Golden rule: every time two or more effects take place at the same time, the player who's playing their turn can decide in which order they want to resolve the effects. If an effect involves more than one player, each player resolves the effect according to turn order (i.e. starting from the player with the first player token, proceeding clockwise).

Nighttime Phase

The Nighttime phase follows the steps below:

• Events resolution
• Nighttime rewards scoring

Events Resolution

As the Nighttime Phase begins, resolve all the Foreseen Events left face up in The Gates Sector.

Event cards affect all players, including those who haven't placed any Kin in the Gates Sector. All the Events left in the Gates must be resolved from left to right.

Starting from the first player and proceeding in clockwise order, each player resolves the effect of the left-most Event card, then they can discard that card. Players proceed the same way to resolve all the other Event cards left in the Gates, from left to right.

Nighttime Rewards Scoring

During the Nighttime Rewards Scoring step, all players compare the Influence they obtained during the Day on every single Sector and on the Palace, seeking for Majorities.

Starting with the Gates and proceeding clockwise, players collect the Nighttime reward of each Sector, checking and comparing their Influence one Sector at a time.

A player is eligible for the Nighttime reward of a specific Sector if at least one of their Kin is in that Sector at the beginning of the Nighttime phase.

When comparing Influences, each Unveiled Kin contributes by 1 to the player's Influence in one sector, while each Cloaked Kin contributes by 2.

Example: the orange player has a total Influence of 3 (one Unveiled Kin and one Cloaked Kin), while the purple player has a total Influence of only 1.

All players with at least one Kin in a Sector will gain the Nighttime reward, while the player with the most Influence will also gain the Majority Bonus (for further details on each Sector's Nighttime reward see the Reference).

Majority Bonus

The player with the most Influence also gains the Majority Bonus of that Sector, indicated on the board by a Majority icon. For further details, see Nighttime rewards in the Reference.

In case of a tie when comparing Influences, regardless of which Sector you are checking, always refer to The Capital Sector: the player with the higher rank on the Capital Track wins the tie.

When the Clanhouse Nighttime rewards have been redeemed, there is another clash to resolve! The Radiant Phoenix of Ryozen claims attention and honor for her presence.

Players finally compare their Influence in the Phoenix Palace, also competing for majority. All players with at least one Kin in the Palace will score the Nighttime reward, while the player with the most Influence will also gain the Majority Bonus (for further details on the Phoenix Palace Nighttime reward see the Reference).

Example: Both the orange player and the purple player have a total Influence of 1. To break the tie, they check their ranking on the Capital track. The orange player is ranking second in the Capital Track, while purple player is third: the tie breaks, the orange player wins the Majority and obtains the Majority Bonus.

Dawn Phase

In case you are playing the third round of the game, proceed directly to the End of the Game, below. Otherwise, all players take their Kin from the board back to their play area, including the ones in the Phoenix Palace.

A new round then begins and you may add a new floor to the Phoenix Palace.

End of the Game

Right after the third Nighttime Phase, the game is over. The final scoring then takes place: players score additional Favor Points following the conditions below:

• For each set of 3 Moon Shards of the same color, score 9 Favor Points.
• For each set of 3 Moon Shards of different color, score 6 Favor Points.
• For each Moon Shard left unmatched, score 1 Favor Point.
• The First player token is worth as a Moon Shard of any one color.
• For each set of 3 resources (even of different kinds), score 3 Favor Points.

Note: each Moon Shard can only be used in one set. You cannot use the same Shard to score multiple sets.

The player with the most Favor Points wins the game.

In case of a tie, always refer to The Capital Sector. The player with the higher rank on the Capital wins the game.

Reference: Sectors and Palace

The Gates

• Daytime effect: Gain 1 Lantern. You may discard 1 Foreseen Event card.
• Nighttime reward: All players with at least 1 Influence in this sector gain 4 Favor points. The player with the most Influence also gains 1 Coral Moon Shard.

The Capital

• Daytime effect: Gain 2 Scrolls. Move your Herald token to the top of the Capital track. All other Herald tokens shift down.
• Nighttime reward: All players with at least 1 Influence in this Sector gain 2 Favor points. The player with the most Influence also gains 1 Coral Moon Shard.

The Rim

• Daytime effect: You may either:
  • Explore up to 2 Villages OR
  • Explore up to 1 Village, and then Build a new one.
• Nighttime reward: All players with at least 1 Influence in this Sector gain 1 Scroll. The player with the most Influence also gains 1 Jade Moon Shard.

Build a new Village: Your Pioneer token must be positioned on a Village next to an empty Site. Pay the amount of resources indicated on the Village Site and gain the corresponding Favor points. Then, take the top tile from the Village pile and place it onto the empty Site next to your Pioneer. Finally, move your Pioneer onto it.

Explore a Village: advance your Pioneer token onto the next built Village. You cannot move onto an empty Site.

If your Pioneer is on the penultimate Site of the Shrine, you are still able to Build: pay the amount of resources indicated on the Shrine Tile (see Shrine Tile) and gain the corresponding Favor points. Then, flip the Shrine Tile and move your Pioneer on it.

Note: once the Shrine has been built, it grants benefits just like every other built Village.

The Shrine

• Daytime effect: You may Explore 1 Village AND Collect the benefits of one of your already Explored Villages.
• Nighttime reward: All players with at least 1 Influence in this Sector gain 1 resource of any kind. The player with the most Influence also gains 1 Jade Moon Shard.

Collect the benefits of a Village: Choose one of your already Explored Villages (any Village from the Starting Village to the one where your Pioneer is positioned) and Collect the benefits depicted on the chosen Village Tile.

Note: You can always choose to Collect the benefits of the Starting Village.

The Springs

• Daytime effect: You may acquire up to 2 Revelation cards.
• Nighttime reward: All players with at least 1 Influence in this Sector gain 1 Lantern. The player with the most Influence also gains 1 Agate Moon Shard.

Acquire a Revelation card: Pay the cost in Scrolls indicated in the top right corner of each card (a Revelation with no Scrolls is free to acquire). Once acquired a new Revelation, you have to decide whether to discard it to gain as many Favor Points as depicted on it, OR to keep it, place it face up in front of you to benefit from its effects during the game.

Note: every time you acquire one or more Revelation cards, reveal new cards from the Revelation deck to refill the empty spaces.

The Clanhouse

• Daytime effect: You may Reveal a Kin in the Clanhouse. You may Acquire any one Ready Kin of your color from the Clanhouse: pay its cost and gain the Favor points indicated on the slot.
• Nighttime reward: All players with at least 1 Influence in this Sector gain 1 Coin. The player with the most Influence also gains 1 Agate Moon Shard.

Reveal a Kin: take one Kin from your Clan Pile and place it face up onto the first available slot, from left to right. In case there are none, discard the first Kin in the row (leftmost), slide all the others to the left and place your newly revealed Kin in the last slot: now the Kin is considered Ready.

Acquire a Ready Kin from the Clanhouse: pay the amount of Coins indicated in the bottom of the slot where it is located. The newly acquired Kin must replace one of your Kin: you can either replace a Kin of your hand or a placed Kin on the board. If you replace a Kin on the board, the newly acquired Kin must be placed the same way the previous Kin was (either Unveiled or Cloaked) but you won't perform any placement ability nor pay any Coin. Put the discarded Kin back in the box. Then, gain the Favor points indicated in the bottom of the slot you recruited the Kin from. Lastly, on the Clanhouse, slide all the Kin to the left so that the empty slot is always the rightmost.

The Phoenix Palace

• Daytime effect: You may either gain 1 resource of any kind OR pay 1 Lantern to perform the Daytime effect of one of the Highlighted Sectors. Then rotate the Phoenix Palace one Sector clockwise.
• Nighttime reward: Each player gains 1 Favor Point for each Kin they have placed in the Palace and 1 Moon Shard of their choice. The player with the most Influence also gets the 1st player token.

Kin Abilities

• Apprentice: No abilities.
• Philosopher: Acquire a Revelation card. (Pay the cost in Scrolls as usual).
• Merchant: Gain 1 resource of any kind.
• Pathfinder: You may either Explore an already Built Village, OR collect the Benefits of the one your Pioneer is currently on.
• Archer: Hit one Kin in the opposite sector. (See The Kin, Components Overview)
• Clairvoyant: You may either discard an Event card, OR return the top card of the Events discard pile back into an empty foreseen slot.
• Bard: Cloak one Kin in an adjacent Sector at no cost. (See The Kin, Components Overview)
• Mentor: Activate the Clanhouse Daytime effect.
• Fighter: Hit one Kin in the same Sector of the Fighter's. (See The Kin, Components Overview)
• Hermit: Perform the daytime effect of an adjacent sector instead of the one where this kin is placed.
• Trickster: Perform the ability of one of your Ready Kin in the Clanhouse, as if the Trickster had that ability.
• Guard: Pay 1 Coin. Until your next turn, no Kin can be placed in or moved to the Guard's sector.

Village Tiles

• Fortune City: Gain 1 Resource of each kind.
• Loreville: Gain 3 Scrolls.
• Lanternquill: Gain 2 Lanterns.
• Twin River Town: Gain 1 Favor point for each 2 Revelation cards you own.
• The Outpost: Gain 1 Resource of your choice for each empty Event slot.
• Cove of the Owl: Cloak one of your Unveiled Kin at no cost.
• Bandit's Lair: Return the top card of the Events Discard Pile back into an empty Foreseen Slot to gain 3 Favor Points.
• Featherglow: Gain 1 Favor for each of your Kin placed in Highlighted Sectors.
• Townhall: Activate the Capital daytime effect.
• Nomad Encampment: Move one of your Unveiled Kin from the current Spot onto an empty Spot of a different Sector at no cost. Neither Kin's abilities are performed nor Daytime effects are triggered.
• Moonforge: Move your Pioneer back by 1 Village and get 1 Moon Shard of your choice.
• Moon Heaven: Activate the Nighttime reward of a Sector currently Highlighted by the Palace. This applies to all players who have at least 1 Kin placed in that Sector.

Shrine Tile

Shrine Tile: Pay 1 Resource of each kind to gain 7 Favor Points and Build the path to the Shrine.

Build the Path to the Shrine: Once you have built the last village (the village prior to the Shrine Tile), you can build one more time: the Path to the Shrine. If your Pioneer is placed on the last village, following the standard building rules (see "Build a new Village" in "The Rim" reference), you can build the Path to the Shrine: pay the amount of resources indicated on the Shrine tile, flip it and move your Pioneer on top of it.

Explore the Shrine and collect its benefits: Once all the Villages and the Shrine have been built, Pioneers can reach the Shrine to explore it. Once the Shrine has been explored, it will be possible to collect its benefits: refer to the reward depicted on the Phoenix statue.

Revelation Cards

• Strategic Maneuvers: At the beginning of your turn, you may spend 1 Coin to move one of your Kin to another Sector's available Spot (ignoring costs if any, and placement benefits). Note: You cannot move a Kin from/to the Palace, only from a Sector to another Sector.
• Camouflage: At the beginning of your turn, you may spend 1 Scroll to Cloak one of your Unveiled Kin.
• Wealth Offering: At the beginning of your turn, you may hit one of your Kin to gain 1 Coin.
• Prayer of the Coral Moon: At the beginning of your turn, you may spend up to 2 Lanterns to gain an equal amount of Coral Moon Shards, then discard this Revelation.
• Wisdom Offering: At the beginning of your turn, you may hit one of your Kin to gain 1 Scroll.
• Prayer of the Agate Moon: At the beginning of your turn, you may spend up to 2 Lanterns to gain an equal amount of Agate Moon Shards, then discard this Revelation.
• Spirit Offering: At the beginning of your turn, you may hit one of your Kin to gain 1 Lantern.
• Prayer of the Jade Moon: At the beginning of your turn, you may spend up to 2 Lanterns to gain an equal amount of Jade Moon Shards, then discard this Revelation.
• Phoenix Offering: At the beginning of your turn, you may hit one of your Kin to gain 2 Favor Points.
• Seal of the Capital: Whenever you perform the Capital Daytime effect, gain 1 Resource of your choice.

Event Cards

• Walls Breach: Lose 1 Resource of each kind.
• Locals Riot: Lose 1 Favor Point for each Village your Pioneer has explored.
• Fire in the Clanhouse: Lose 1 Revelation.
• Bandit Raid: Hit one of your Unveiled Kin.
• Suspicious Rumors: Unveil one of your Cloaked Kin (if any).
• Sinister Shadows: Lose 1 Favor Point for each Highlighted Sector where there is at least 1 Kin of yours.
• Coral Eclipse: Discard 1 Coral Moon Shard. If you don't have any, gain 1 Coral Moon Shard.
• Sunlight Reflections: Lose 1 Favor Point for each Sector where there is at least 1 Kin of yours.
• Agate Eclipse: Discard 1 Agate Moon Shard. If you don't have any, gain 1 Agate Moon Shard.
• Lunar Fest: Lose 1 Lantern for each Kin of yours in any Highlighted Sector.
• Jade Eclipse: Discard 1 Jade Moon Shard. If you don't have any, gain 1 Jade Moon Shard.
• Invisible Presences: Unveil all your Cloaked Kin in the Highlighted Sectors (if any).
• Curse of the Shadow: Hit one of your Kin in each Highlighted Sector (if any).

Phoenix Palace Alternative Mode

Use the 3D Palace to play an alternative mode where Kin can guard the Palace's Outer Wards, Battlements and Pinnacle during the last nights of the Phoenix's sleep, in order to merit her blessing once she awakens.

This is an alternative mode that can be played along with any other Ryozen game mode.

Components

• 1 Phoenix Palace (double-sided)
• 1 Rotating Board (double-sided) with plastic spinner

Phoenix Palace Kin Placement

Take advantage of the Palace balconies and acquire the possibility of performing the new special actions indicated on the sides of the building! With the introduction of this alternative variant, a new Kin placement concept is introduced too. You can now choose where to place your Kin in the Palace: new and different slots are available and give you the chance to gain distinct rewards according to the Kin position.

Important note: It is important that during the setup each player sits at one of the board's sides. That will determine their Point of View (see Point of View section) and will limit their Palace placements.

Whenever you want to place a Kin on the Palace, there are now 3 different possibilities, each with their own special Daytime effect:

Outer Wards: Guard the Palace's Outer Wards and enjoy gifts in return for your service. Close to the bases of the Phoenix Palace are the Outer Wards. They feature four Kin Spots, just like in the six Sectors of the game board, and these can only accommodate 1 Kin each. Place the Kin in one of these Spots to acquire a resource of any kind. Then rotate the Phoenix Palace one Sector clockwise.

Battlements: Protect the Phoenix's sleep by defending the Battlements, and you will be allowed to see her light. This is the second level of the Palace: here it is possible to place only one Kin per side of the palace (for a total of four), placing them vertically in the Battlements. Place a Kin in a Battlement and, by spending a Lantern, you can perform any Daytime effect chosen from one of the 3 Highlighted Sectors. Then rotate the Phoenix Palace one Sector clockwise.

Pinnacle: Watching the Pinnacle bestows the highest honor, but everyone is vying for it! This is the Spot on the very top of the Palace. The most prestigious, the Pinnacle can only accommodate one Kin. Place a Kin on the top of the Palace to gain a resource of any kind; in addition, you can also choose whether to spend a Lantern (even the one you may have just gained) to perform any Daytime effect chosen from one of the 3 Highlighted Sectors. Then rotate the Phoenix Palace one Sector clockwise.

Even though the Pinnacle can host no more than 1 Kin, a new one can always be placed there, Bumping the previous one (for further details see the "Bumping a Kin" section).

Once you have placed a Kin on any one of these Palace spots and performed the related special Daytime effect, you must always rotate the Palace 1 sector clockwise.

Point of View

In this alternative mode, Kin placement in the Palace is possible on one condition: the target spot must be visible from the player's point of view. Assuming that each player is seated at each side of the game board, each player is thus able to have at least one side of the building always visible in front of them at all times. Depending on how the rotating board is placed, each player may be able to have even two sides of the Palace visible at the same time.

While the placement on the Pinnacle is always possible as it is always visible to all players (it is the Palace peak after all!), Battlements and Outer Wards positions may not always be granted.

Note: Sitting at one side of the board, you will always be able to see either 1 or 2 sides of the Palace, depending on the current rotating board rotation/position. It is never possible to see more than 2 sides of the Palace at the same time. All positions are equal and no player has any advantage over others.

Example 1: with the Palace oriented so that one side is visible, the purple player, thanks to their point of view, can either place their Kin onto the Pinnacle (even if it's occupied), or on the visible Battlement or Outer Ward (only if they are unoccupied).

Example 2: with the Palace oriented so that two sides are visible, the purple player, thanks to their point of view, can either place their Kin onto the Pinnacle (even if it's occupied), or on the two visible Battlements or Outer Wards (only if they are unoccupied).

Bumping a Kin

If you are about to place a Kin on the Pinnacle but there is already another one there, that one is bounced away (even if it's yours), allowing you to place the new one there: simply return the bumped Kin to its owner, who will keep it face-down (Cloaked) in front of themself.

The Kin is then considered removed from the game until the end of the current round and its influence during the Nighttime Phase will not be counted. At the beginning of the following round, that Kin will become available again as usual in their owner's hand.

A Kin Is Hit

Following the rules of a standard Ryozen game, whenever a Cloaked Kin gets hit, flip the tile to its Unveiled side.

If an Unveiled Kin gets hit, move it to the Phoenix Palace at the center of the board: check if there are any available Spots in the Outer Wards falling within the point of view of the Kin's owner. If so, place your Kin there but trigger no effect (as in a regular game). In case there is no Spot available in the Outer Wards falling under the Kin owner's view, the Kin that was just hit is bumped (see "Bumping a Kin").

Note: when a Kin gets hit they need to recover, so they're moved to the Palace: they will still provide Influence for the Night Phase. On the contrary, if a hit Kin is bumped due to the unavailability of Spots on the Palace, they won't provide any influence for the Night Phase.

Phoenix Palace Nighttime Reward

As in a standard game of Ryozen, during the Nighttime Phase players finally compare their Influence in the Phoenix Palace which is provided by all the Kin that have been placed there. Following the rules of a standard Ryozen game, all players will score 1 Favor point for each Kin theirs in the Phoenix Palace, while the player with the most Influence will also gain the Majority Bonus.

Bumped Kin provide no Influence: they are excluded from the Palace Nighttime scoring of Favor points as they are not considered in play until the beginning of the next round. At the end of the Nighttime phase, bumped Kin fully recover and re-enter the game with no further consequences.

Setup

1A. Follow the indications to assemble the game board and the rotating board together with the plastic spinner. For this alternative, use the side of the rotating board with the 4 white spots.

• For a 2-player game: flip the game board to the side with the least Kin spots and place the Phoenix Palace on top of it.
• For a 3-4-player game: flip the game board to the side with the most Kin spots and place the Phoenix Palace on top of it.
• Note: when setting up the rotating board, align its highlighted sectors to the sectors of the board. By spinning the circular board, you can randomly choose the starting matching sectors.

1B. Assemble together the 3 levels of the cardboard Palace (see The Phoenix Palace), making sure that the sides with the icons depicted on are facing outwards. Secure the bottom piece of the Palace on the rotating board and then place the remaining two levels on top of it.

2. Make sure each player is sitting at a different side of the gameboard.

Follow the remaining steps of the standard setup (steps 3 to 11), and you'll be ready to play!

How to Play

Follow the "how to play" rules of a standard Ryozen game applying the above mentioned exceptions.