Tien Zi Que
Tien Zi Que Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
For 2 players aged 8 and up. Duration: 20 minutes.
Contents
54 cards divided as follows:
- 15 "Character" or "Honour" cards, divided between:
- 12 "Cardinal Point" cards: 3 "East" cards, 3 "South" cards, 3 "West" cards, 3 "North" cards
- 3 "Red Dragon" cards
- 36 "Coin" cards: 4 series numbered from 1 to 9 in 4 different colours
- 3 "Tien Zi Que" cards.
Goal of the Game
Score the most points by the end of the game, after 4 Rounds.
Glossary
- "Active player": The player whose Turn it is.
- "Hand": All the cards a player holds in hand. At the start and at the end of his Turn, a player must always have five cards in hand.
- "Round": A Round begins when the 1st player starts his 1st Turn, and ends when a player makes Mah-jong.
- "Mah-jong": A player makes Mah-jong when he has made five Combinations, thereby winning the Round.
- "Combination": A Combination is always made up of three cards (no more, no less), and can be of two kinds: a Run or a Triplet.
- "Run": A Combination of three cards following each other in numerical order. Example: three "Coin" cards numbered "5", "6" and "7".
- "Triplet": A Combination of three identical cards. Example: three "North" cards, or three "Coin" cards numbered "2".
- "Colour": Each card has a colour drawn in its corners. There are five colours: white, blue, black, red and green. These colours are taken into account only at the end of a Round and are used to determine the award of certain points (see below: "Scoring").
- "Score Pile": The pile where each player gathers the cards that will let him score points if he makes "Mah-jong".
Setup
Determine the 1st player of the 1st Round (each player will be 1st player during 2 Rounds). Shuffle all the cards together, form a face-down draw pile, then deal five cards to each player. These cards form the players' Hands, and must not be shown to the opponent. The rest of the draw pile is placed between the two players.
Course of Play
During his Turn, a player must carry out one (and only one) of the following three Actions:
- "Draw": The player draws a card, then discards one.
- "Make a Pung": The player draws and creates a Combination from his Hand.
- "Make a Chow": The player creates a Combination using a discarded card.
I. "Draw"
The player whose Turn it is takes the 1st card of the draw pile, adds it to his Hand, then discards a card face up onto the Discard Pile in order to keep five cards in hand.
II. "Make a Pung"
The player whose Turn it is takes the 1st card of the draw pile, adds it to his Hand, then creates a Combination.
III. "Make a Chow"
The player whose Turn it is takes the card on top of the Discard Pile (the card discarded last) then creates a Combination that must include the card he has just taken.
Note: It may be that on the previous Turn, two cards were discarded. The player whose Turn it is may then choose between these two cards in order to make the Chow.
Exposing a Combination
When a Combination has been made (Pung or Chow), the active player shows it to his opponent, then immediately chooses one of the cards of that Combination, which he places face up on his Score Pile. The other two cards of the Combination are placed face up on the Discard Pile. The active player refills his Hand to five cards by taking the top two cards of the draw pile and ends his Turn. His opponent may then possibly use one of the two cards just discarded if he wants to make a Chow.
A player may never expose more than one Combination per Turn, even if he has in hand all the cards to do so.
Reminder: At the start and at the end of his Turn, a player must have five cards in hand.
"Tien Zi Que" ("TZQ") Cards
A "TZQ" card can be used as a joker, to replace any other card in a Combination.
Example 1: A player has in Hand a "Coin" card numbered "4" and a "TZQ" card. If he draws a "5", the "TZQ" card can be treated as a "6" or a "3" and thus allow a "Run" to be formed.
Example 2: A player has an "East" card and a "TZQ" card in Hand. If his opponent discards another "East" card, the player can make a Chow to take that card and form a Triplet of "East" cards, the "TZQ" card replacing the missing "East" card.
A player may decide to keep the "TZQ" card that allowed him to create a Combination and put it in his "Score Pile". However, during scoring, a "TZQ" card is a black card that can never replace another card. A "TZQ" card can only be counted for the following two Combinations only: "Five Elements" and "Emperor of the Sparrows" (see: "Scoring").
It is forbidden to form a Combination using a "TZQ" card that has just been discarded, and a Combination may never contain more than one "TZQ" card.
Exhausted Draw Pile
When the draw pile is exhausted, the cards of the Discard Pile are shuffled to form a new draw pile. However, if the draw pile is exhausted while a player is refilling his Hand after making a Combination, the draw pile is rebuilt from the discarded cards minus the two cards discarded at the end of the Combination.
Example: A triplet of "North" cards has been formed. When the active player wanted to refill his Hand, there was only one card left in the draw pile. All the cards of the discard, except the two "North" cards discarded after forming the triplet, are then shuffled to form a new draw pile, and the active player draws one last card so as to have five in Hand again.
End of the Round
When a player forms his 5th Combination, he makes "Mah-jong" and thus wins the Round. That player then uses the five cards of his Score Pile to calculate his points.
Only the player who made Mah-jong scores points for that Round, and it is possible to score no points in a Round.
Scoring
A card can be used to make several valid Combinations. Here is the list of Combinations and the points they score:
| Type | Points scored | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | +3 | Five cards all of the same Colour (blue, red, green) |
| White Hand | +4 | Five cards all of white Colour |
| Five Elements | +4 | Five cards, each of a different Colour |
| Emperor of the Sparrows | +6 | Three "Tien Zi Que" cards |
| Proud Dragon | +6 | Five "Coin" cards following each other exactly (example: "Coin" cards "2", "3", "4", "5" and "6") |
| Pair | +2 | Two identical cards (example: two "South" cards) |
| Three of a Kind | +5 | Three identical cards (example: three "Coin" cards numbered "4"). The "Pair" points are not counted |
| Four of a Kind |
* Important: Only the "Characters" Combination corresponding to the number of different types of "Characters" held by the winner in his Victory Pile can be scored.
Scoring example: This player will score +9 points: +1 point "Character" (one type: "East"); +2 points "Pair" (two identical cards); +6 points "Emperor of the Sparrows" (three "Tien Zi Que" cards).
Optional Rules
- To be able to make "Mah-jong", a player must score a minimum of two points with the five cards of his "Victory Pile" (see "Scoring").
- A Round ends at the end of the Turn in which the draw pile is entirely exhausted. If neither of the 2 players has been able to make "Mah-jong", the Round ends in a draw and no points are scored.