Tinco
Tinco Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 1 Trinko card, also known as Xi, Discord
- 5 Fighting Mantis cards (with blue, pink, red, white, and yellow medallion shards)
- 5 Divine Dragon cards (with blue, pink, red, white, and yellow medallion shards)
- 5 Noble Crane cards (with blue, pink, red, white, and yellow medallion shards)
- 5 Attacking Tiger cards (with blue, pink, red, white, and yellow medallion shards)
- 5 Sliding Snake cards (with blue, pink, red, white, and yellow medallion shards)
- 5 Soaring Eagle cards (with blue, pink, red, white, and yellow medallion shards)
- 5 Sly Monkey cards (with blue, pink, red, white, and yellow medallion shards)
- 5 Medallion of Harmony shards
- 6 Tower of Perfect Harmony cards
- 6 marker clips
Setup
The master only opens the door — the student must walk through it themselves... or with the help of a good smack on the head.
- Each player takes 1 Tower of Perfect Harmony card and 1 marker clip. The marker is used to track the level of the tower you are currently on. Place the marker on the "0" space.
- Choose a challenge, and depending on the number of players, take the necessary number of card sets and Medallion of Harmony shards, as shown in the table below. Return the remaining cards to the box.
| Players | Cards | Xing Challenge | Hong Challenge | Medallion of Harmony shards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 36 | Trinko + 7 animal card sets | Trinko + 7 color card sets | 5 |
| 5 | 31 | Trinko + 6 animal card sets | Trinko + 6 color card sets | 4 |
| 4 | 26 | Trinko + 5 animal card sets | Trinko + 5 color card sets | 3 |
| 3 | 21 | Trinko + 4 animal card sets | Trinko + 4 color card sets | 2 |
A set consists of 5 cards showing the same animal, or the same medallion shard color.
Example: Lena, Katya, and Vanya decide to play Tinco, choosing the Xing challenge. Katya selects 21 cards for the game: 1 Trinko card, 5 Fighting Mantis cards, 5 Divine Dragon cards, 5 Noble Crane cards, and 5 Sly Monkey cards, as well as 2 Medallion of Harmony shards.
- Shuffle the selected cards and deal them to the players one at a time, face down, until the deck is empty. One player may end up with 1 more or fewer card than the others — don't worry, this won't affect the game.
- Place the Medallion of Harmony shards in the center of the table so that all players can easily reach them.
You are ready to begin the game.
Objective
Complete Master Pan Chen Lo's challenge: gather the required combination of cards before the others, grab one of the Medallion of Harmony shards, and be the first to reach the top of the Tower of Perfect Harmony.
Challenges
Look at the Lake of True Reflection, my student. What do you see? One tower in the sky, another in the lake? Ha! You still have so much to learn!
I will wait for you at the top of the Tower of Perfect Harmony. The only way to get there is to master kung fu to perfection and obtain a shard of the Medallion of Harmony.
Listen to me. Do not let Xi, Discord, into your heart, or like a stone you will sink into the waters of this lake and end up at the top of a tower that does not really exist.
Choose one, and only one, challenge from Master Pan Chen Lo.
Xing is the challenge of forms. In Chinese martial arts, certain styles and techniques are named after animals. In this challenge, to achieve Tinco, you must collect a set of cards showing the same animal. For example, 5 Attacking Tiger cards or 5 Soaring Eagle cards.
Since it's easy to tell the different animals apart on the cards, this challenge is well suited to playing with children and with those who haven't played Tinco before.
Hong
Hong is the challenge of color. In this challenge, to achieve Tinco, you must collect a set of cards showing medallion shards of the same color. For example, 5 cards with blue shards or 5 cards with red shards.
Spotting the medallion shard on a card and quickly identifying its color is a harder task. This challenge suits those who already have experience playing Tinco and want to make the game more difficult.
Important! Do not try to play both challenges at the same time. If some players follow the rules of the Xing challenge while others follow the rules of the Hong challenge, the game will not end anytime soon.
How to Play
The wise teach by the strength of the hand, not the strength of words. And Pan Chen Lo is very wise.
In the game of Tinco, no one has to wait for their turn, because everyone acts at the same time.
Each player tries to assemble a set of cards by trading cards with other players, without showing anyone the cards in their hand.
Place any number of cards face down on the table and loudly announce that number. If you want to trade 2 of your cards, you shout "Two, two!"; if 3 cards, you shout "Trading three!" Everyone acts simultaneously; you may trade cards with any other player. You may try to trade any number of cards, from 1 up to your entire hand. To complete a trade, you need to find another player who wants to trade the same number of cards.
And no, you cannot trade different numbers of cards. You can trade 2 cards for 2 cards, but never 1 card for 2, or 5 for 3!
Oh, and avoid the Trinko card. Remember how Pan Chen Lo warned you to keep Discord away from you?
The player who is first to assemble the required set of cards takes 1 Medallion of Harmony shard from the center of the table. They must not announce this out loud or explain what they are doing. As soon as the other players notice that someone has taken a shard, they must try to grab one of the remaining shards before the others, regardless of whether they have assembled the required set of cards or not. As you may have noticed, there won't be enough shards for everyone, and whoever hesitates will be left empty-handed.
As soon as the last shard has been taken from the center of the table, all players reveal the cards in their hand. Well, let's see who climbs to the top of the Tower and who falls into the lake, as Master Pan Chen Lo used to say.
- If a player assembled a set of cards and grabbed a Medallion shard, they move up 1 level.
- If a player did not assemble a set of cards but grabbed a Medallion shard, they stay in place.
- If a player failed to grab a Medallion shard, regardless of whether they assembled a set of cards or not, they move down 1 level.
And what about the player who ends up holding the Trinko card?
- If that player assembled the required set of cards and grabbed a Medallion shard, they stay in place.
- If that player did not assemble a set of cards but grabbed a Medallion shard, they move down 1 level.
- If that player failed to grab a Medallion shard, regardless of whether they assembled a set of cards or not, they move down 2 levels.
Example: Lena managed to assemble a set of 5 cards and grab a Medallion shard. She moves her marker from "0" to "+1" on the Tower card. Vanya, being very attentive and quick, grabbed the remaining Medallion shard before Katya realized what was happening. However, Vanya did not assemble a set of cards, so his marker stays in place, on the "0" space, where it was at the start of the round. Katya was left without a shard, and she was unable to get rid of the Trinko card. She moves her marker from "0" to "-2".
The next round begins. The player to the left of whoever dealt the cards in the previous round shuffles the cards and deals them to all participants, as in setup.
End of Game
The game lasts several rounds, until one of the players reaches the top of the Tower of Perfect Harmony (the "+5" space) or falls to the bottom of the Lake of True Reflection (the "-5" space).
Victory
At the end of the game, compare the levels the players' markers are on. The player whose marker is higher than all the others on the Tower of Perfect Harmony card wins. If the markers of 2 or more players are on the same level, higher than the markers of the other players, they all become winners.
Example: In the final round, Lena failed to grab a Medallion of Harmony shard, and she moves her marker down 1 level to the "-5" space. Lena has reached the bottom of the Lake of True Reflection, so the game ends. Vanya and Katya compare the levels their markers are on: Vanya's marker stopped at "+2," and Katya's at "+1." Vanya wins!