Tyrus
Tyrus Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Game Board depicting 6 buildings: 2 Citadels, 2 Markets, 2 Temples
- 9 Two-sided Representative Tokens: 3 Generals, 3 Merchant Guildmasters, 3 High Priests
- 9 Green Election Cards
- 30 Ivory Electorate Tiles
- 30 Brown Electorate Tiles
- 1 "1st Player" Marker
Setup
The players choose their color (Ivory or Brown) and place the game board lengthwise between them so that each player has all three of their buildings in front of themselves.
The Election Cards are shuffled and placed in a pile face down in the space indicated on the board. The Representative tokens are placed on their respective sites in the center of the board.
Each player then takes all of their Electorate Tiles and places them in a pile face down beside themselves. The players then pick nine of their Electorate Tiles at random, and place them upright in front of themselves, taking care to conceal the faces of the selected tiles from their opponent (just like in dominoes).
Note: The printed rulebook refers to a "Description of the Board" for the board's marked spaces. That description is not present in the text of the rulebook; the labels appear only on the printed board art.
Object of the Game
To win the game, you must either:
- Be the first player to win three elections in a row, or;
- Be the player with the most elected representatives after nine elections have been held.
Order of Play
Once the players have chosen their color, the 1st Player Marker is tossed (like a coin toss) in the air to determine the starting player.
This player will place the first Electorate Tile in the 1st election, as well as in all odd-numbered elections. This player keeps the 1st Player Marker for the entire game. The other player will play first in all even-numbered elections.
Course of an Election
1 - Designating the Election
An Election Card is turned over to indicate which type of Representative will be elected, and consequently in which type of building (citadels, markets or temples) the election will be held.
2 - Placing the 3 Electorate Tiles
Starting with the first player, each player alternates placing one Electorate Tile from their hand into one of the six buildings on the game board until both players have placed 3 Electorate Tiles. The Electorate Tiles are placed upright facing their owner, so their opponent cannot see the front (again, just like dominoes).
Important: The players can place their tiles in any building on the board, including those buildings unrelated to the election in progress: in this case, they will be useful for future elections. They can also be placed in your opponent's buildings (see Electorate Tiles - Blocking & Countering below).
3 - Tallying the Votes
All the Electorate Tiles present in the two buildings of the election in progress (two citadels, or two markets, or two temples), and in ONLY these two buildings, are laid face up on the board. The votes are then counted according to the rules set forth in Counting the Votes below.
The player who receives the most votes wins a corresponding Representative Token. The winning player then places it on the Election Chart in the column of their color, beside the number corresponding to the election that has just taken place.
In the event of a tie, the Representative Token is placed face down (Null side up) and is placed in the center column on the Election Chart (see Null Elections below).
4 - Discarding & Picking New Electorate Tiles
All face up Electorate Tiles on the board are discarded and removed from play and placed so their values are out of view of both players.
Each player then picks three more Electorate Tiles of their color at random, and adds them to the six remaining tiles standing upright in front of them.
Note: The reserve of Electorate Tiles will be exhausted before the start of the eighth election. Therefore, the players do not draw any more tiles during the last two elections and finish the game with three tiles in hand. These three remaining tiles are used only if the game ends in a tie (see End of the Game below).
Electorate Tiles
There are 30 Electorate Tiles of each color. Each player has an identical set, divided into three professions:
- Soldiers (sword symbol)
- Merchants (gold coin symbol)
- Priests (temple symbol)
There are 10 Electorate Tiles per profession, numbered from 1 to 10. The number on the Electorate Tile indicates the quantity of soldiers, merchants or priests whom the tile represents.
An election is decided by counting the members of the relevant profession (matching that of the Representative being elected) present in the building where the election took place.
Example: In order for a player's General to win an election, the total number of his soldiers present in his citadel at the time of the election must be higher than that of the enemy soldiers present in his opponent's citadel. Although they are not directly concerned with this election, the merchants and the priests also have their role to play, to either block a vote, or counter a blocked vote (see Blocking a Vote & Countering a Block below).
Blocking a Vote
Each character has the ability to block an enemy character of another profession, according to the following table:
| Character | Can block |
|---|---|
| 1 soldier | 1 priest |
| 1 priest | 1 merchant |
| 1 merchant | 1 soldier |
- To block an opponent's soldier from voting, you must place a merchant in the enemy citadel: the merchant bribes the soldier so that he does not vote.
- To block an opponent's priest from voting, you must place a soldier in the enemy temple: the soldier forces the priest to not vote.
- To block an opponent's merchant from voting, you must place a priest in the enemy market: the priest persuades the merchant not to vote.
Note: Your blocking character must be placed in an opponent's building (not your own) to be effective.
Important: Characters of the same color (belonging to the same player) do not block each other.
Countering a Block
It is possible to thwart your opponent's plots and to counter the characters he has placed in your building to block your supporters.
Each character has the ability to counter a blocking enemy character of another profession according to the same method as blocking. Your countering Electorate Tile must be placed in your own building to be effective.
Example: A General is up for election. You have already placed two soldier tiles in your citadel, when suddenly your adversary places an Electorate Tile in your citadel. Although you cannot see it, there is a strong chance that this tile is some number of merchants sent to block your soldiers. To counter his tile, and thus defend yourself, you may place a priest tile in your citadel in order to counter the enemy merchant(s).
Where to Play Your Electorate Tiles, and Why?
Example: During the election of a General, a player can place his soldiers:
- In his own citadel, of course, to increase his chances in this election.
- In his opponent's temple, in order to block the votes of enemy priests during the next election of a High Priest.
- In his own market, in order to counter any priests whom his opponent may have placed there in preparation for the next Merchant Guildmaster election.
- In his own temple, in order to make his opponent believe that he is committing priests towards the next election of a High Priest, while in fact keeping his reserve of priests intact for later elections.
- In his opponent's market, in order to make his opponent believe that he is sending priests to block his opponent's merchants during the next election of a Merchant Guildmaster, while in fact keeping his reserve of priests intact for later elections.
- And why not even in his opponent's citadel, in order to make him believe that he is sending merchants to block his opponent's soldiers during the election of the General in progress?
If this bluff works, his opponent will needlessly send priests to the citadel to counter. This strategy may seem far-fetched now, but it will not seem quite so unthinkable by the end of your first game!
Important: Placing tiles in the manners described in examples 4, 5 & 6, above, makes sense only within the framework of a bluffing strategy, because the resources which they represent will not be taken into account at the time the votes are counted. It is thus recommended to use tiles of low values in these cases.
Bluffing
Bluffing is necessary to win. Throughout the game, each player must decide which elections he will try to win and which elections he will concede to his adversary. During the elections which he has decided to concede, it is in the player's best interests to sacrifice a minimum number of points while making his opponent believe quite the opposite, so that this election is as expensive as possible to his adversary, reducing his opponent's chances to win subsequent elections (see Example of the Course of an Election at the end of these rules).
Counting the Votes
To tally the votes, each player looks only at the tiles present in his building associated with the election. Thus, in the election of a General, each player would concern himself only with the tiles in his own citadel. He totals the value of the Electorate Tiles of the same profession as the representative being elected. If his opponent has sent the appropriate Electorate Tiles to block some of his votes, he then makes the proper deductions, unless he has countered the blocks with Electorate Tiles he has placed there for that purpose.
Important: Scores of zero (when the value of the Blocking Tiles is higher than that of the Characters blocked) are deemed to be zero. If both players have a score of zero, the election is null.
Note: The printed text reads "score of zero, (when..." with the opening of the sentence missing; the sentence is transcribed here with that opening restored.
Example: The election of a General is counted:
Brown totals the value of the soldier tiles whom he placed in his citadel: 10 + 8 = 18. Brown's soldiers were blocked by Ivory's merchants with a value of 7; this brings Brown's score down to 11. Ivory totals the value of his soldiers: 7 + 5 = 12. Ivory placed merchants with a value of 8 in Ivory's citadel to block. However, Ivory had placed 6 priests there to counter the block, which reduces the value of Brown's blocking forces to 2 merchants. The Ivory score is thus 12 - 2 = 10. Brown wins this election.
Note: As printed, the example says "Ivory placed merchants with a value of 8 in Ivory's citadel to block." The blocking rules require a blocker to be placed in the opponent's building, and the arithmetic that follows (Brown's blocking forces reduced to 2 merchants; Ivory score 12 - 2 = 10) only works if these 8 merchants are Brown's blockers placed in Ivory's citadel. This appears to be a wording error in the printed example. It is transcribed as printed here and not corrected in the text.
Null Elections
If, when all the votes are counted, the scores of the two players are equal, or both players have a score of zero, the election is declared null. There is no revote or runoff. The Representative Token that would have been won at this election is turned over and placed, Null side up, in the middle column of the Election Chart covering the number corresponding to the election just held.
End of the Game
A player is declared the winner if he either:
- Wins three consecutive elections (they cannot be separated by a null election). In this case, the game stops immediately, or;
- Has more representatives than his adversary at the end of the nine elections.
If, at the end of the game, both players have an equal number of representatives, each player totals the values of their three remaining tiles: the winner is the player with the most points on these three tiles. If this also results in a tie (a very rare case), a new game must be played to decide the winner!
Important: When a player succeeds in winning three elections in a row, he is immediately declared the winner, even if his opponent has won more elections than he. This manner of winning has priority.
Example: Player Ivory wins the first two elections. Player Brown wins the third. The fourth election is null. Player Ivory wins the following two. Player Brown wins the last three. Brown wins the game, even though Ivory won the same number of elections overall.
Example of the Course of an Election
A Merchant Guildmaster Election Card has just been turned over: the election will thus take place in the markets. Brown already has a "2 merchants" Electorate Tile in his market, which he placed during a preceding Ivory's election.
Board 1: Situation before the beginning of an election.
Place tiles: it is Ivory's turn to start.
- Ivory places his "10 merchants" Electorate Tile in his market.
- Brown, who has decided to bluff, places his "1 merchant" Electorate Tile in his own market.
- Ivory places his "9 merchants" Electorate Tile in his own market.
- Brown places his "1 priest" Electorate Tile in Ivory's market.
- Fearing a block, Ivory plays it safe and places his "8 merchants" Electorate Tile to counter the perceived threat.
- Brown's final play is to place his "8 priests" Electorate Tile in his own temple. Being the last to go in this election, he no longer needs to maintain the bluff, and can get a head start in the next election of a High Priest.
Board 2: Situation right before the votes are counted.
After tallying the votes, the scores are:
- Ivory: 10 + 9 + 8 - 1 = 26
- Brown: 2 + 1 = 3
Ivory wins this election, but it cost him dearly. There remain still two Merchant Guildmasters to be elected and after this. Ivory has a good chance of winning them both.