Yozu Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set Up
• Goal of the Game
• Game Play
  • Example
• End of the Game

Components

32 YOZU cards consisting of 4 animals:

• The Panda (peace)
• The Carp (abundance)
• The Dragonfly (grace)
• The Tiger (strength)

in the 4 seasons:

• Spring (green)
• Summer (Yellow)
• Fall (Red)
• Winter (Blue)

16 different cards, each card in duplicate.

Set Up

Shuffle the cards and create a deck, face down, in the middle of the playing area.

Give each player a card he or she places in front of themselves, face up.

Goal of the Game

Be the first to collect and complete a «YOZUKA»: The 4 different animals in the same season, or a «YOZUMI»: an identical animal in the 4 different seasons.

(Illustrated examples: a YOZUKA of Winter; a YOZUMI of Carps.)

Game Play

Randomly determine who goes first. He or she will be the Oracle.

The Oracle draws the first two cards from the deck and consults them secretly.

If the Oracle draws two strictly identical cards (the same animal in the same season), put them back in the deck, shuffle the deck again and draw two new cards.

The other players have to guess one of the two cards the Oracle has in hand.

The player sitting to the left of the Oracle makes a first guess, made up of one animal and one season:

1. If the proposal corresponds exactly to one of the two cards, the Oracle gives that card to the player. The winner can then put it in front of him or herself, or exchange it with a card already in front of another player. Then, the Oracle keeps the second card in front of him or herself, without possibility of exchange.
2. If the proposal does not correspond exactly to one of the two cards but if one element (animal or season) is nevertheless present, the Oracle has to indicate to all players the element present. If both proposed elements are present but on two different cards, the Oracle only has to reveal one of his or her choice. It is then up to the next player to make a new proposal, with a limitation: he or she cannot guess the element which has just been revealed by the Oracle.
3. If the proposal contains no element present on the cards, the Oracle announces it and the following player clockwise can make a proposal without any limitation.

As long as one of the two cards of the Oracle has not been guessed, the other players continue to make proposals in turn. Once one of the two cards is guessed and the other is kept by the Oracle, go to the next round, the player sitting on the left of the Oracle becomes the new Oracle and draws two new cards from the deck.

Example

The Oracle draws the cards « Winter Panda » and « Summer Tiger ».

1. The first player guesses « Summer Panda », the Oracle has the choice to announce « Panda » or « Summer », both present on his cards. He announces « Summer ».
2. The following player cannot therefore propose « Summer », so proposes « Spring Tiger ». The Oracle announces « Tiger ».
3. The following player cannot propose « Tiger », so tries « Fall Dragonfly ». The Oracle answers « Nothing ».
4. The next player announces « Summer Tiger ». The Oracle gives it to the winner who can keep it or exchange it with any card in front of another player. The Oracle then keeps the « Winter Panda » with no possibility of exchange.

End of the Game

Rounds continue until a player manages to collect a YOZUKA or a YOZUMI, and he or she immediately wins the game.

Tradition dictates that we must play several games in a row, and a player must win twice in order to become a true... Master of Yozu.