Twinkle Starship
Twinkle Starship Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
- For a 3-player game, put all 4s, 6s and 8s back in the box: hence only 24 cards are used. For a 4-player game, all 36 cards are used.
- Shuffle the deck and deal cards to each player equally. (8 cards each for a 3-player game, 9 cards each for a 4-player game are dealt.)
- Each player starts a game with: 5 segment sticks for a 3-player game, and 6 segment sticks for a 4-player game.
- The sticks must be kept on the table so the amount is clear to all players.
Play
- Determine a starting player by an appropriate means. (We will refer to the starting player as "the leader.") Starting from the leader, each player plays one card in front of themselves, in a clockwise order. After everyone plays a card, it is counted as one "trick."
- In a trick, all players following the leader must play the same color as that of the leader, if possible. If not, they may play any card. In this game, pink is always the strongest (trump) color.
As a player plays a card, they may add one or more segment sticks onto the card to convert the number to another number (full details will be mentioned later on). Because this process may take time, the next player must wait for the last player to finish their turn. After everyone plays a card, determine who wins the trick. The player who played the highest number within the color that the leader played wins the trick, and takes all the cards and the sticks played in this trick. In case of a tie, the player who played the highest number the latest wins.
Determining the winner of the trick
No pink card (the trump color) is played
The player who played the highest number within the color that the leader played wins the trick. Other colors do not contribute to a win regardless of the number. If more than one card of the same number is played, the card played last is considered to be the strongest.
Pink card(s) is played
The player who played the pink wins the trick. If more than one player played pink, the one who played the highest number among pink wins. If more than one card of the same number is played, the card played last is considered to be the strongest.
Players keep the cards and sticks they take in front of themselves, showing how many tricks have been won.
The winner of the trick becomes the leader of the next trick, in which cards are played in a clockwise order starting from the leader again.
Just like the first trick, everyone plays one card each, someone wins the trick, and takes the cards and the sticks.
After tricks are played until the players' hands run out, the game ends. Move on to scoring.
How to place acquired cards and chips
Players keep the cards and sticks they take in front of themselves, showing how many tricks have been won.
Scoring
A player scores points only when the amount of their unused segment stick(s) and the amount of the trick(s) they have won are the same. If they are not the same, no point is scored. Points are scored as follows: (1) 2 points for each trick won, and (2) 1 point for each segment stick taken (unused sticks are not counted as points). If a player did not win any trick and has no sticks left, they are matched as 0 tricks and 0 sticks. In this case, exceptionally, the player scores 10 points.
Scoring Examples (4-player game)
Amanda has 3 segment sticks left unused and won 3 tricks, so she can now move on to calculating her points. Each of her 3 tricks is worth 2 points so she scores 6 points. Each segment stick is worth 1 point, so she scores 3 more points. She scores 9 points in total.
Brandon has 3 sticks left unused and has won only 2 tricks. Therefore, since the amounts are not matching, no point is scored. (Note that he doesn't score points from the sticks, either.)
Camila has 2 sticks left unused and has won 4 tricks, hence no point is scored. (Points are not scored even when the tricks are more than the sticks or vice versa: The amounts have to be equal.)
David used all the sticks and did not win any tricks. Therefore, since he has 0 sticks left and won 0 tricks he scores 10 points.
Tip: As shown in the scoring examples, when you win a trick, it might be a good idea to place the unused sticks next to the card pile(s) to plan how much sticks you want to use/keep.
End of a Game
After scoring is done, retrieve and shuffle all the cards, deal them, and distribute the segment sticks again. The left-hand player to the first starting player of this game becomes the next starting player. In case of 4 players, play 4 games, and in case of 3 players, play 6 games. After the set amount of games are over, the player with the most combined points wins. (This game does not contain any score recording materials, so use notepads or chips accordingly.)
About Converting Numbers
Valid digital numbers in this game are as follows: the seven-segment digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
As a player plays a card, they may add one or more segment sticks onto the card to convert the number into another (however, it is not required). They may also turn the card upside-down if they wish. (As long as the figure is valid, you may do anything. Try different approaches!)
Examples of number conversion
- 0 to 8
- 1 to 3
- 5 to 9
- 4 to 8
- Inverted 3 to 6
- 7 to 0
These are some examples. You may create anything as long as they are valid figures.
About 7
The left figure, which consists of 3 sections, is valid (OK). Note that the right figure cannot be used in this game (NG).
About 2
2 can be only converted into 8. Attempting to make 6 or 9 would end up mirroring the figure, which cannot be used. Be careful with 2 as it has only one option of converting, so you have to think ahead of the amount of the sticks you have to use/keep.
About Inversion and 6
6 can be turned upside-down and played as 9.
Cards must be played in a way that the top part of the number always points to the center of the table (so that it looks right to you).
6/9 must have the horizontal part at their ends. Other figures are not valid 6/9 in this game.
Other Note
The sticks that can be used to convert numbers are the ones dealt at the beginning of the game: You cannot use the sticks you took along with the tricks.
Game Design: Taiki Shinzawa / Artwork: Keisuke Nakamura / Project: Keisuke Tanaka / Publish: Twins Lion Do Translation: Yuko (JrnyCat)