Yin Yang Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Flow of the Game
• Phase One: The Ways and the Will of the Gods
  • 1. The Ways of the Gods
  • 2. The Will of the Gods
  • Turn Order
• Phase Two: Divination
  • 1. Perform the Divination
  • 2. Interpret the Divination
• Phase Three: Actions
  • Goods Action
  • Carriage Action
  • Boat Action
  • Temple Action
• Special Anytime Actions
  • Gift from the Gods
  • Mortal Will
  • Divine Intervention Cards
• Phase Four: Gods' Will Be Done
• End of the Game and Scoring
  • End of the Game
  • I. Kingdom Scoring
  • II. Mission Card Scoring
  • III. Turn Order Track Scoring
  • IV. Development Scoring
  • Determine the Winner
• Rules Reminders
• Solo
  • Solo Turn Order Track Changes
  • Victory Condition
  • Achievement Table

Components

• 1 Game Board (double sided: 4-player / 2-3-player)
• 1 Tai Ji Board
• 4 Player boards
• 30 Divination coins (6 coins are numbered 1-6)
  • Yang front side
  • Yin back side
• 1 Bag
• 1 Divination Shell
• 4 Player Aid Cards (double sided)
• 40 Action tiles: 10 each of Carriage, Boat, Goods, and Temple
• 4 Yin tokens and 4 Yang tokens
• 10 Gods' Will tokens
• 68 Goods tokens: 17 each in Bronze (blue), Bone (brown), Jade (green), and Silk (red)
• 4 Turn Order tokens (1 of each color)
• 7 Solo tiles
• 40 Scoring tiles (10 of each color)
• 52 Temple tokens (13 of each color)
• 4 Player pawns (1 of each color)
• 5 Disaster tokens
• 16 Mission cards: 12 Goods Mission cards and 4 Temple Mission cards
• 32 Divine Intervention cards

Game Setup

1. Place the main board as follows:
   • In a 2- or 3-player game, use the side showing "Starting Resource Placement for two and three players".
   • In a 4-player game, use the other side of the board.
2. Place the Tai Ji board next to the game board, then place Action tiles on it as follows:
   • Sort the Action tiles by type (Carriage, Boat, Goods, and Temple) and form 8 stacks of 5 tiles each. Then randomly place 1 stack face up on each Action tile space of the Tai Ji board.
3. Place a number of Gods' Will tokens equal to the number of players plus 1 beside the Tai Ji board.
4. Place the Divination Shell and the 6 Divination coins numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 near it.
5. Each player takes 1 player board, 6 Divination coins, 10 Scoring Tiles, 1 Player pawn, 1 Turn Order token, 13 Temple tokens, 1 Gods' Will token, 1 Yin value indicator token, 1 Yang value indicator token, 1 random Goods Mission card, and 1 random Temple Mission card. Place the Yin and Yang value indicator tokens on the 0 spaces of the Yin and Yang tracks.
6. All players randomly place their 10 Scoring Tiles on the indicated spaces of their Development Area (along the outer edges).
7. According to the table for your player count, take the listed Bronze, Bone, Jade, Silk, and Disaster tokens. Mix them together, then randomly place 1 token face up on each city except Luo; but in a 2-player game, do not place starting tokens on blue cities.
8. From the remaining Goods tokens, place 6 Bronze, 6 Bone, 6 Jade, and 6 Silk tokens into the bag, then remove the rest from the game.
   • Randomly draw 2 Goods tokens from the bag and place them in the Yin area of the Tai Ji board, then draw 2 more Goods tokens and place them in the Yang area.
9. The player who has most recently read their horoscope becomes the starting player, then proceed in clockwise order to determine the turn order of the remaining players, then stack the Turn Order tokens accordingly on the starting space of the Turn Order track.
   • The token on top of a stack is considered earlier in turn order; as shown, red is the starting player, blue is 2nd (the player clockwise from the starting player), green is 3rd (next clockwise), and yellow is 4th.
10. Beginning with the player latest in turn order and proceeding backward to the player earliest in turn order, each player places their Player pawn on any legal city:
    • You cannot choose Luo or a city with a Disaster token.
    • You may choose a city that already has another player's pawn and/or a Good.
11. Place the stack of Divine Intervention cards near the main board. All are identical, so no shuffling required. Each player takes a number of Divine Intervention cards based on player order:
    • 1st and 2nd position: 2 cards

Flow of the Game

The game is played over five rounds. Each round is divided into the following four phases:

• Phase 1: The Ways and the Will of the Gods — Remove a Disaster from the board, then some actions are blocked for the round.
• Phase 2: Divination — Each player resolves 1 lower-divination action and takes 1 upper-divination Action tile using their coins.
• Phase 3: Actions — Each player performs 4-8 actions using their coins and Action tiles.
• Phase 4: Gods' Will Be Done — Remove all Gods' Will tokens from the boards, then start the next round. If it is the 5th round, instead proceed to final scoring.

Special Anytime Actions are described below, after Phase Three.

Phase One: The Ways and the Will of the Gods

1. The Ways of the Gods

The starting player removes 1 Disaster token from the board and places it on the Round Track to mark the current round. They choose any token they wish.

The starting player is the player with their token furthest right on the Turn Order track; if tied, the token on top of the stack furthest right is the starting player.

2. The Will of the Gods

Spaces will be blocked by Gods' Will tokens according to the results shown on the shaken coins. Players cannot choose actions to perform that are blocked by Gods' Will tokens later during the round!

The use of a tortoise shell for Divination dates back to ancient China.

The starting player does the following:

1. Place the 6 numbered Divination coins into the shell, then shake them out. Keep each coin on the face it lands on. The face of each coin corresponds to Yang or Yin: see the graphic to determine which side is which.
2. Arrange coins 1, 2, and 3 in order, in a column, with coin "1" at the bottom: read the coins in order, from the bottom to the top (1, 2, 3):
   • Cover the space corresponding to this column of the Lower Divination area of the Tai Ji board, using its Gods' Will token.
   • Each player blocks the matching space on their player board using their own Gods' Will tokens.
3. Arrange coins 4, 5, and 6 in order, in a column with coin "4" at the bottom: read the coins in order, from the bottom to the top (4, 5, 6):
   • Cover the space corresponding to this column of the Upper Divination area of the Tai Ji board, using its Gods' Will token, reading from the center outwards.

Tip: Anytime you add coins to the turtle shell, the shell should be shaken vigorously and repeatedly, and then inverted at an almost 90-degree angle relative to the table when pouring out the coins.

Example: The starting player shakes the coins in the shell and lines up their results as follows: For coins 1, 2, and 3: a Gods' Will token is placed to cover Zhen of the Lower Divination Section AND all players cover Zhen on their player boards with their own Gods' Will tokens. For coins 4, 5, and 6: a Gods' Will token is placed to cover Xun of the Upper Divination Section. Actions covered by Gods' Will tokens cannot be used by anyone this round.

Turn Order

The first player in turn order is the player whose Turn Order token is farthest to the right on the Turn Order track. If multiple tokens share that space, the token on top of the stack is earlier. Resolve the rest of turn order by continuing downward within that stack, then moving leftward across the track.

Turn order can change between phases!

Phase Two: Divination

In turn order, each player does all of the following:

1. Perform the Divination

Put your 6 coins in the shell, then shake them out (to randomize the side of each coin). Keep each coin on the face it lands on.

• For each Yin result, advance your Yin tracker by 1 space, up to 8 max.
• For each Yang result, advance your Yang tracker by 1 space, up to 8 max.
• If your Yin or Yang value would go above 8, it remains at 8 and any excess is lost. See Special Anytime Actions for ways to mitigate this.

2. Interpret the Divination

Arrange your 6 coins into 2 groups of 3: one group for the Upper Divination Section and one group for the Lower Divination Section. You may choose which coins go in each group, and you may arrange the 3 coins within each group in any order. Read each group exactly as shown on the Tai Ji board.

Gods' Will tokens: You cannot take Action tiles or perform immediate actions that are blocked by Gods' Will tokens. If no legal split and arrangement allows you to resolve both the Upper and Lower results, reroll all 6 coins and repeat this Divination step. This free reroll does not require returning a Temple. Do not gain Yin-Yang values again.

Upper Divination Section

• Take: According to the group of 3 coins, take the associated Action tile from the Tai Ji board's Upper section; and then,
• Block: Place a Gods' Will token on that stack to block it. If you are the last player in turn order, do not place a Gods' Will token.

As a result of taking Action tiles, players later in turn order will have fewer options available. Action tiles taken are used during the Action Phase.

Upper Divination Example: Allen's Divination result is 2 Yin and 4 Yang. He arranges the coins into 2 groups of 3. For the first group of 3 coins, he takes the Carriage Action tile from the Li position in the Upper Divination Section of the Tai Ji board, then places a Gods' Will token on that stack to block it.

Lower Divination Section

• According to the group of 3 coins, immediately resolve the associated action from the Tai Ji board's Lower section (these are mirrored on your own player board for convenience).

Actions that may require further details are found in Phase Three, below.

Lower Divination Example: For the second group of 3 coins from Divination, he immediately performs the action at the Xun position in the Lower Divination Section, moving his Turn Order token 3 spaces forward.

Phase Three: Actions

In turn order, during a player's turn, they resolve all of their actions in any order.

Actions available to a player include each Action tile they have accumulated up to this point and 3 additional actions determined by their coins arranged into 3 pairs.

Note: Action tiles are permanent and not discarded after use. Each round, the number of actions you may perform that round increases. As a result, in Rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, each player may perform up to 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 actions, respectively.

Arrange your 6 coins into 3 pairs. Each pair grants 1 action, and you may resolve your available actions in any order. There are 4 possible coin combinations as detailed next:

Goods Action

Shaoyang — Take the Goods token from your pawn's city and immediately place it on a matching empty Goods space on your player board's Development Area. If no matching spaces remain, you may still take the Good; place it next to your player board instead.

• You cannot move a Goods token once placed.

Carriage Action

Laoyang — Move your pawn along a road (white) to an adjacent city.

Boat Action

Laoyin — Move your pawn along a blue (river) or dashed (ocean) route to an adjacent city.

Pawn Movement: When moving your pawn, you cannot enter or pass through a city containing a Disaster token. Once per round, each player who enters or passes through Luo immediately gains 2 Divine Intervention cards.

Temple Action

Shaoyin — Build a Temple in your pawn's city by placing one of your Temple tokens on the city with the following restrictions:

• You cannot build a Temple in a city with any player's Temple token (1 Temple max per city).
• You cannot build a Temple in the capital city of Luo.

Example: Blue arranges their 5 Yang and 1 Yin, plus their newly acquired Goods Action tile into the shown order: 1. Move along a road. 2. Build a Temple. 3. Take a Good (Silk). 4. Move along a road.

During the Action Phase, you may forfeit any number of your actions (whether from Coin actions or Action tiles); for each action you forfeit, draw 1 Divine Intervention card.

Special Anytime Actions

During your turn, you may perform Special Anytime actions any number of times, whenever you meet the requirements. These are in addition to anything else done during your turn.

Gift from the Gods

If your Yin or Yang value is at 8, you may reset its value to 0. You can do this immediately when it reaches 8, or anytime during your turn when at 8; if you do:

• If you reset Yin, take a Goods token from the Yin area. If you reset Yang, take a Goods token from the Yang area.
• Immediately place the Good on a matching empty Goods space on your player board's Development Area.
• Refill the Tai Ji board by drawing a new Goods token from the bag.

If no matching spaces remain, you may still take a Good; but instead when taking it, place it next to your player board. You cannot move a Goods token once placed on your player board.

You cannot do this in the middle of gaining Yin/Yang. For example: If you have 7 Yang, and you gain 2 Yang (from a single effect, e.g., during Phase 2: Divination), you end with 8 Yang, and the remaining Yang is lost. You can, however, discard Divine Intervention cards as a free action (see below) on your turn to increase the value to exactly 8 and claim the token to avoid the loss.

Mortal Will

Return any 1 Temple you have built on the board back to your supply to reroll/throw ALL of your coins.

• You must do this after Yin and Yang values are gained from the original Divination coin throw, and doing so does not change what Yin and Yang values you gained.
• You may do this during the Action Phase, but this reroll only changes the coin results you will use for Action Phase pairs: It does not change any Divination Phase result already resolved, any Action tile already taken, or any Yin/Yang already gained.

Divine Intervention Cards

Hand Limit: Each player can hold a maximum of 8 Divine Intervention cards at a time. Ignore and waste any cards you draw that would take you over the limit of 8.

Benefits: Discard Divine Intervention cards to gain a benefit:

• Discard 1 card to increase your Yin or Yang value by 1. (Can be done during Phase 2 (Divination) before interpreting coins.)
• Discard 2 cards to flip one of your coins; but note: doing so does not change what Yin and Yang values you gain during Divination. (Can be done before grouping into pairs/triples.)
• Discard 3 cards to swap the position of two of your scoring tiles.

When you discard a card, place it back on the pile (all cards are the same).

Phase Four: Gods' Will Be Done

Remove all of the Gods' Will tokens from all boards; then, start the next round.

End of the Game and Scoring

End of the Game

After all players have completed the fifth round, the game ends and proceeds to scoring. Move all Player pawns to the 0 space of the Score Track, then resolve scoring.

I. Kingdom Scoring

There are 7 Kingdoms on the board: Chu, Qin, Zhao, Qi, Yan, Wei, and Han. Players score points based on Temple majority in each. Resolve scoring in each Kingdom as follows:

• If one player has the most Temples, that player scores the first-place points. NOTE! If a player is the only player with any Temples in this Kingdom, that player also gains the second-place points for that Kingdom.
• If one or more players are tied for first place, add together the first-place and second-place points for that Kingdom, divide the total equally among the tied players, and round down. No other player scores points in that Kingdom.
• If one player has the most Temples and exactly one other player has the second-most Temples, those players score first-place and second-place points, respectively.
• If one player has the most Temples and two or more players are tied for second place, divide the second-place points equally among the tied players and round down.

Example: At the end of the game, Alice has 4 Temples in Qi, while Ben and Cara each have 2 Temples there. The Area Control Scoring Reference shows that first place in Qi is worth 8 points and second place is worth 4 points. Because Alice has the most Temples, she scores 8 points for first place. Ben and Cara are tied for second place, so the 4 second-place points are divided equally between them, with fractions rounded down. Ben scores 2 points, and Cara scores 2 points.

II. Mission Card Scoring

At the end of the game, gain 6 points for each Mission card whose requirement you have met.

• Goods Mission: At the end of the game, if you have the depicted number of Goods as shown on your mission card on your player board, gain 6 points. For example: you must have 3 Silk, 2 Jade, and 1 Bone.
• Temple Mission: At the end of the game, if you have built the required number of Temples as shown on your mission card, gain 6 points. For example: You must have built at least 2 Temples in any three kingdoms, and at least 1 Temple in another kingdom.

III. Turn Order Track Scoring

Each player scores points equal to the value shown on the space occupied by their token on the Turn Order track. The Turn Order track score and the Turn Order scoring tile in Development Scoring are different and are scored separately.

IV. Development Scoring

The Development Area contains a total of 10 lines: horizontal, vertical, and diagonal. If all spaces in a line are filled with Goods tokens, the corresponding scoring tile is activated.

• Bronze / Jade / Silk / Bone: Score 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, or 21 points for having 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6+ corresponding Goods, respectively.
• Temple: Gain 3 points for every 2 of your Temples on the main board.
• Turn Order: Gain 3 points for every 4 spaces your Turn Order token is ahead of the starting space at game end (round down).
• Perimeter: On your player board, gain 3 points for every 2 Goods on the 12 outer spaces (i.e., do not count the goods on the center 4 spaces).
• Approval: For each kingdom where you have built a Temple, gain 3 points.
• Yang: Gain 3 points for every 2 points of Yang value you have.
• Yin: Gain 3 points for every 2 points of Yin value you have.

Example: At the end of the game, Alice's Development Area has 3 complete lines, so her Silk, Yang, and Approval Scoring tiles are resolved. Alice has 5 Silk tokens (including one off to the side that didn't have a spot to go), so she scores 15 points. Her Yang value is 7, so she scores 9 points. For Approval, she has 3 kingdoms with a Temple she built, so she scores 9 points. Her other incomplete lines do not score any points.

Determine the Winner

After scoring all 4 categories, the player with the highest total score wins the game and is declared the Yin Yang Master. If there is a tie, the tied player who is earlier in turn order wins.

Rules Reminders

• When moving your Turn Order token: if you move it to a space occupied by other tokens, place it on top of the token or stack of tokens already present on that space.
• Overflow Goods: When taking a Good, if no matching spaces remain, you may still take it; but instead when taking it, place it next to your player board. Goods placed next to your player board still count as Goods you own for color-count scoring and Goods Missions, but they do not occupy spaces in the Development Area, do not complete lines, and do not count for Perimeter scoring.
• Empty Bag: In a rare case: If the bag is empty when you would refill the Tai Ji board, leave the space empty.

Solo

1. Place the 2–3 player game board in the center of the play area.
2. Take 1 player board, along with all tiles and tokens of 1 player color. Randomly place 10 Scoring tiles on the Development Area of that player board (in the pictured example, Blue). Then place the Yin and Yang value indicator tokens at the 0 spaces of their respective tracks.
3. Put the 10 Scoring tiles of a different player color into the bag, then randomly draw 4 tiles. Replace the corresponding tiles on the player's Development Area with these drawn tiles (in this example, Green).
4. Remove the remaining Scoring tiles from the bag and return them to the box, then place the 7 Solo tiles into the bag and draw them one by one, placing them in the order they are drawn.
5. Set up the game board according to the 2-player game setup table (see Game Setup, steps 7 and 8), placing Goods and Disaster tokens as usual.
6. Choose any city on the map, except Luo, and place your pawn there as your starting city.
7. Do not use Mission cards.

All other setup rules not mentioned here follow the normal game setup.

To win in solo mode, you must flip solo tiles as follows: To flip a solo tile, you must build a Temple in the kingdom shown on the leftmost non-flipped solo tile. You may still build Temples elsewhere, but they do not flip solo tiles.

Solo Turn Order Track Changes

When you gain an increase in the printed value on the Turn Order track, you may gain 2 Yin or 2 Yang. For example, if you take the "Xun" action and move 3 spaces from the starting space to the one marked with the number 2, this counts as an increase of 2 points; you can then choose to gain 4 Yin, 4 Yang, or 2 Yin and 2 Yang.

The remaining rules follow normal gameplay.

Example: Shao is playing a solo game and uses the yellow player's tiles and tokens to set up her player board. She then places the 10 green Scoring tiles into the bag and draws Bronze, Silk, Temple, and Bone. She replaces the matching tiles on her Development Area with the drawn tiles. Her Development Area now contains 4 green Scoring tiles and 6 yellow Scoring tiles.

Victory Condition

At the end of the fifth round, you win only if you:

• Completed at least 2 of the 4 scoring lines marked by the second player color; and,
• Flipped at least 4 of the 7 Solo tiles.

Then check the Achievement table for your level of success!

Achievement Table

Lines Completed	4 Kingdoms	5 Kingdoms	6 Kingdoms	7 Kingdoms
Completed 2 Lines	Trainee	Layman	Expert	Master
Completed 3 Lines	Layman	Expert	Master	Immortal
Completed 4 Lines	Expert	Master	Immortal	Deity