Ukiyo
Ukiyo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Multiplayer Rules (2-4 players)
The aim of the game is to complete the task on the last card remaining in your hand, once all other cards have been played. Each card contains different combinations of four different Japanese symbols — crane (origami bird), sakura (cherry blossom), acorn and butterfly. Each task involves arranging those symbols in certain ways, for example to create a line of four acorns.
Shuffle the 16 game cards and deal them to the players:
- 7 cards each for 2 players, discarding the other two cards face down;
- 5 cards each for 3 players, discarding the last card face down;
- 4 cards each for 4 players.
Players take it in turn to play a card into the centre. Cards can be played horizontally or vertically, and can partially or fully overlap cards already played. The total playing area can never exceed a square of 6x6 symbols.
You do not need to complete the tasks on cards that you play; only the task on your last remaining card. You do not play your last card other than to settle a tie (see below).
When all players have one card remaining in hand, each player shows their card. The winner is the player with the highest-scoring completed task.
If no player completes their task, each can play their last remaining hand card, in reverse playing order, to try and complete that final task. If there is still no completed task, the player who had the highest-numbered last card is the winner. It is recommended that you play several rounds (for example three rounds if three players) to give all players a turn in each start position.
Solo Rules
In solo mode, your aim is to complete puzzle challenges, each consisting of a combination of several card tasks, once all the remaining cards have been played. The challenges are listed on the solo challenge card in ascending order of difficulty - start with 1-5 (Easy) and work your way up. Can you complete all twenty?
Find the tasks for your chosen challenge and lay out the corresponding cards in front of you (so for challenge 1, you would deal out cards 2, 3 and 7). Shuffle the remaining cards into a face-down deck. Then deal each card from the deck, one at a time, placing them however you want within a total grid of 6x6 symbols. As per multiplayer rules, cards can be played horizontally or vertically and can partially or fully overlap previous cards.