Ys: Ys+ Expansion
Ys: Ys+ Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
For the fifth player:
- 14 broker cylinders
- 1 marker
- 1 sheet with 14 stickers
- 1 screen
- 1 additional screen
Also included:
- 22 'Marker' cards
- 6 'Player Aid' cards
- 12 'Character' cards
- 14 'Event' cards
- These rules
New 'Character' cards
The Customs Officer: The player chooses one gem color (including White, but not Black). During this count, all the gems corresponding to that color are cancelled from the 'Ship' cards that have been placed in the neighborhoods. Consequently, they cannot be earned (to the detriment of the third – or even the second – player in the neighbourhood). However, the market remains unchanged, and white gems (if White is not the chosen color) may still produce the forbidden color.
The Financier: For the duration of the counting phase during which this card has been played, every commercial area yields 1 point for the player who has a majority, instead of 3 points. So, for each area, the 1 point gain can apply to other players than the one who played the card. If this card is played during the same turn as the Merchant, the effects of both cards cancel each other out (commercial areas consequently yield 3 points, as usual).
The Royal Guard: During this turn, the player may place one of their brokers (taken among those which are in front of the screen) on the board. The broker is placed either in the city or in the market; the broker is placed face-up and does not count as one of the two brokers of the player. During the counting phase, the player will only have two brokers left in front of their screen to solve a draw.
The Imitator: This card must be played immediately after a player uses a 'Character' card (without taking the turn order into account). The player 'copies' the power of the card that has just been played, and takes advantage of it. The powers of the Pope and the Intriguer cannot be copied.
The Investor: At the beginning of the counting phase, the player chooses a gem color. This color automatically wins the count in the market. Other colors are counted normally.
The King's Favorite: This card does not count as one of the two cards a player may use in a given turn. At the end of the game, the player who wins this card adds 2 points to the total of their brokers which were put aside for the King's Favor.
The Monk: At the beginning of this counting phase, the player may remove up to two of their own brokers from the city or the market. The brokers are placed behind the player's screen and the player earns as many victory points as the removed broker(s)'s value(s).
The Pope: This card does not count as one of the two cards a player may use in a given turn. The player who wins this card places it next to the gems they have won. During the final counting, the player automatically wins ties when comparing the number of gems of each player (however, this card cannot settle ties when counting the King's favor).
The Philosopher: During this turn, the player can place up to two brokers on the black line separating two areas (including two different neighborhoods). The brokers can be placed on different lines, and in different turns. Right before the counting phase, the player chooses in which areas the brokers will be placed.
The Professor: At the beginning of the counting phase, the player chooses a neighborhood. For this turn, the value of all the player's brokers in the neighborhood is raised by 1.
The Crook: During this turn, the player will be able to exchange two gems of their choice for a black gem or 3 victory points.
The Trafficker: This card does not count as one of the two cards a player may use in a given turn. The player who wins this card places it next to the black gems they have won. If the player ends the game with 8 black gems or more, they earn a bonus of 5 victory points.
Events
'Event' cards (with a purple frame) make for a different game experience (for instance, they alter the rules to place the brokers in the course of the game).
There are two types of events: neighborhood events (which only affect one given neighborhood), and general events. Neighborhood events are represented by a neighborhood icon at the top of the card. In the following description, they are represented by an (N) sign.
Set up: 'Event' cards are shuffled. During the set up of the game, 3 'Event' cards are shuffled with the 3 'Character' cards of each neighbourhood. Unused cards are put back in the box, face down.
Using events: When 'character' cards are placed in palaces (Phase 1), events may take place (if a purple-framed card is drawn).
If the card is a neighborhood event, it is placed in the corresponding port, so that players may consult it during the turn. If it is a general event, follow the specific information below. When an event is drawn, take a new 'Character' card for the palace (except if the event is Quarantine, see below). If a new event is drawn, ignore it. It is discarded, and replaced with a new 'Character' card. The same operations are reiterated for each palace (so, up to four events may be active simultaneously).
Notice that events may occur in the last turn (before the blue-framed 'Character' cards are set up). Events only remain active for the turn during which they were activated.
Event Cards
Embassy: During the set up phase, draw an additional 'Ship' card, and place it at the center of the city. During the next counting phase, the brokers which were placed in each palace are not put back behind the players' screens. Before counting the Market, make a special, additional account by adding up the values of the brokers each player has placed in the four palaces. The gems on the 'Ship' card are allotted to the majority players, as they are in the case of a neighborhood.
Contraband (2x): The card is placed next to the board. During their turn, players may place an unlimited number of brokers (face up or face down) on the board. Before counting the Market, each player adds up the values of their brokers on the board. The player with the highest total wins either 2 gems of their choice, 1 black gem, or 3 victory points.
Brokerage: During the counting phase, all the columns in the Market yield 1 gem. The gem color is based on the color of the column. The gem is allotted following the usual rules, and the column count takes place normally.
Democracy (N): All the brokers located in the corresponding neighborhood will have a value of 1 during the counting of the neighborhood and its areas (this is also true for brokers with a '0' value if cards like the mercenary or the professor have been played in this neighborhood).
Enrichment (N): Each gem (including the black gem) collected during the counting phase of the corresponding neighborhood yields 1 point to its owner.
Incognito (N): In this neighborhood, brokers can only be placed face-down. However, players are not allowed to place a broker face-down, when it should have normally been put face-up.
Indiscretion: When counting the columns, the one the players have bet the most on rises by 4 instead of 2; the second column rises by 2 instead of 1. Draws between columns are treated normally, like columns whose value must be reduced (-1, -2).
Shipwreck (N): The ship which was supposed to land in this neighborhood sank. In this neighborhood, the players only win area bonuses (black gem, 3 points, card). The Captain's power is useless in this neighborhood.
Quarantine (N): This neighborhood is quarantined. The areas are empty (do not draw a 'Character' card after the 'Event' card). The ship is the only source of income for the neighborhood (the counting is done normally).
Restriction (N): In this neighborhood, each player may place 2 brokers at the most, either face up or face down.
Revolt (N): Powers have no effect in this neighborhood. You cannot block areas, bring pawns, change the values of the areas, look at hidden brokers, etc…
Speculation: Each player may secretly choose a gem in the stock and place it behind their screen. At the end of the game, players reveal their choices. If a player's gem corresponds to the highest gem on the market (draws are tackled normally), they earn 3 victory points. Players who have not chosen the right gem lose 2 points. Players who did not choose a gem neither earn nor lose any points.
Transparency (N): In this neighborhood, you may only place your brokers face-up. However, players are not allowed to place a broker face-up, when it should have normally been put face-down.
Markers
'Marker' cards can be used when there is a gem shortage in the stock. If there is such a shortage, the players who have 5 gems of a type put them back into the stock, and take the adequate 'Marker' card instead.
3-player game
The 4-player rules are still valid, but:
Players must decide at the beginning of the game if they are going to use 4 or 3 neighborhoods (in which case neighborhood #4 will not be used). Using 3 neighborhoods will make the game more strained!
There are only three gems to win in each port (i.e. the three gems on each 'Ship' card; the large stone now only counts as one gem). The player holding a majority in a neighborhood now wins two gems; the second player wins one gem; the third player wins nothing.
To fill the market, you only use the two smaller gems on the 'Ship' card. These gems are placed on lines 2 and 3 of the market. Brokers cannot be placed on line 1 (which is like line 0 in the 4-player game).
After the broker placing phase, you start counting points. Here are a few modifications for this phase:
The neutral player wins all the ties in which it is involved (there is only one exception: the neutral player can still be beaten by a player who owns the 'Intriguer' card). If the neutral player wins the 'Prince' or 'King' cards, points are normally scored.
If the neutral player wins another card, it is discarded and the player immediately gets a gem instead. When it has to choose a gem color, the neutral player automatically takes the strongest color on the market. If several colors are tied, the leftmost gem is automatically taken (blue, then green, then yellow, then red).
When the neutral player wins a neighborhood, the two gems with the highest values on the market are chosen among those featured on the 'Ship' card. If a white gem is available, it is automatically chosen first and given the color of the most valuable gem on the market (or the leftmost one in case of draw).
If the neutral player has to alter the quotations on the market, priority is given to the colors it owns in the largest amounts. If two or more colors are on a par, the leftmost color is chosen.
At the end of the game, if the neutral player has no gem in one color, points are scored as if the player were in the third place for this color.
Note: If the players are skilled enough, they can raise the neutral player's 'level' by changing the value of the neutral brokers each of them places, to 4, 3, 1 and 0 (and even more, if they want to!)
2-player game
This version is played like the 3-player game (but you have to play on three neighborhoods).
Furthermore: Each player takes the 11 brokers of their color, plus four brokers ('4', '2', '1' and '0') belonging to a third color, representing the neutral player. The score token of this neutral player is placed on the starting square next to the markers of both human players. The bet for the turn order is settled normally between the two human players who take the '1' and '2' Order Cards.
Each player places their two brokers as usual (one faceup, the other facedown), plus one neutral broker facedown. A neutral broker can be placed anywhere, but once it is on the board, no player can check its value.
5-player game
To be able to play this version you must use the blue brokers included in this expansion. The 4-player rules are all still valid, but:
Take one '1' broker and one '3' broker away from your starting pool of eleven brokers (put them back into the box).
To fill the market, use the four gems of the 'Ship' card which has been drawn (counting the big gem twice). Those four gems are placed randomly on lines 0, 1, 2 and 3 of the market. During the broker placing phase, players will consequently be able to place brokers on line 0 (which will grant one victory point, like the other lines).
The bet for the turn order is settled as usual, but do not forget to add Order Card '5'.
In the broker placing phase, players only play three turns instead of four (in other words, they place six brokers – three of them faceup, three of them facedown – instead of eight).
At the end of the game, when basic gems are counted, a player who ends up in fifth position for a specific color scores no points for this color. Likewise, if two players are tied for the fourth place, neither of them scores (which is the normal application of the rule for ties).
The King's Favor
The King's Favor version, which we highly recommend, can be played by 3, 4 and 5 players. In any case, only the first three 'sycophants' score (unless there are ties forcing players to share the points).