Yucatan Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Concepts
  • Turn order
  • Effects resolution
  • Battle cards
  • Troops
  • Buildings
  • Resources
  • Prisoners and Capture
• Setup
  • Setup for 2-4 players
  • Setup for 5-6 players
• Gameplay
  • Round structure
  • I) Action Phase
  • Activate a Leader
  • Activate a Building
• Battle
• Activate a Central City
• II) Sacrifice Phase
• III) Revolution Phase
• End of Game

Components

Common components:

• 1 Great Pyramid with Calendar on its top
• 1 Yucatan board depicting the Jungle, the 3 Central Cities and the Score track
• 3 Central City panels
• 40 Corn tokens
• 30 Jade tokens
• 1 First Player token
• 9 Summoning Battle cards
• 9 Summoning miniatures
• 9 Summoning tokens
• 60 Unit miniatures
• 1 Evolution board
• 23 Special Battle cards
• 26 Resource Multiplier tokens (8 "x2" tokens, 10 "x4" tokens / 8 "x5" tokens)

Components in each player color:

• 1 City tray
• 1 City board
• 2 Troop Leader miniatures
• 1 City Leader miniature
• 3 Building Action tokens
• 3 Leader Action tokens
• 1 Score marker
• 1 Sacrifice marker
• 3 Evolution markers
• 5 Starting Battle cards
• 2 Timer tokens
• 12 Building tiles
• 3 Upgrade tokens
• 4 Advisor tokens
• 3 Special Ability tiles
• 9 Ability tiles
• 3 Clan tokens

Concepts

Turn order

Each time an effect says to follow the turn order, proceed this way: starting with the 1st player then clockwise, each player resolves the effect.

Effects resolution

Any time an effect from a component, such as card or tile, contradicts what is written in this rulebook, use the effect as written on the component.

Resolving an effect is always mandatory. The only time an effect is optional is if it has a cost, in which case the player may choose to pay the cost thus triggering the effect. Some effects provide a Building action, which is resolved the same as an action triggered by the corresponding Building.

Effects are only applied once each time they are triggered.

Battle cards

Battle cards are split into 3 categories:

• Starting Battle cards: each player starts the game with 5 Battle cards of their color (every player has the same starting hand). Once played, remove the cards from the game (return them to the box).
• Special Battle cards: these are acquired during the game through various effects that allow players to draw from the Battle deck. Once played, these cards are discarded face up next to the Battle deck.
• Summoning Battle cards: they are gained when tying a Summoning to a Troop. Once played, these cards are discarded in the Summonings area and become available.

Troops

A Troop is made of its Troop Leader, all the Units it contains, and any Summoning tied to this Troop.

Buildings

There are 5 Building types: Construction Site, Military School, Barracks, Temple, Granary.

Buildings printed on your City board are Level 0. You will be able to replace each of them with higher level versions during the game, except the Granary.

Resources

Corn and Jade are the Resources of the game.

Costs are shown under the corresponding Resource icon. Discounts are shown above the corresponding Resource icon (a cost cannot be lower than 0 after a discount).

Prisoners and Capture

Each player owns a Prison on their City board: it contains the Clan tokens and the Units its owner captured thanks to different effects. Prisoners may be sacrificed during the Sacrifice Phase.

During Battles, there are two different Capture effects that allow a player to take Prisoners. These effects trigger either before the resolution of the Battle (Take 1 Prisoner in Step 1: Preparation), or after (Take 1 Prisoner in Step 3: Captures).

Each time a player takes a Prisoner during a Battle, they take a Unit if able, or the Troop Leader if there are no Units left in that Troop. They also gain 1 Clan token of their opponent's color if they do not already have one (a player is limited to 1 Clan token from each opponent at a time).

Multiple Captures that are triggered in the same Battle Step are cumulative.

Setup

Setup for 2-4 players

1. Place the Great Pyramid, the Yucatan board, and the Evolution board in the center of play area. Place the 3 Central City panels on the 3 cities on the Yucatan board (yellow, blue, and red).
2. Randomly choose the 1st player; they receive the First Player token.
3. Each player chooses a color and receives the corresponding City tray containing the following components in this color: 1 City board, 1 City Leader miniature, 2 Troop Leader miniatures, 2 Timer tokens, 1 Building tiles set, 1 Ability tiles set, 1 Advisor tokens set, 1 Special Ability tiles set, 1 Upgrade tokens set, 3 Building Action tokens, 3 Leader Action tokens, 5 Starting Battle cards, 3 Clan tokens.
4. Create the Supply by placing all the Corn, Jade, Clan tokens, and the Units next to the Great Pyramid.
5. Each player receives 2 Jade and 5 Corn.
6. Each player places:
   • 1 Score marker on the "0" space of the Score track,
   • 1 Sacrifice marker on the "0" space of the Score track,
   • 1 Evolution marker in the "Level 1" space of each column of the Evolution board.
7. Each player places in the Jungle 2 Troops, each containing 1 Troop Leader and 3 Units from the Supply.
8. Each player secretly chooses 2 Advisors they assign to each of the troop Leaders on their City board. Put the unchosen ones back in the City tray.
9. Each player secretly chooses 1 Special Ability for their City Leader and places it on their City board. Put the unchosen ones back in the City tray.
10. Each player secretly chooses 1 Level 1 Building and places it in the corresponding space on their City board.
11. Each player takes 1 Unit from the Supply and places it in their Prison as a Prisoner.
12. Each player places their City Leader miniature at the bottom of the Great Pyramid.
13. Shuffle the Special Battle cards to create the Battle deck. You may add Special Battle cards from the different Game Up boxes.
14. Create the Summonings area next to the Yucatan board by organizing the Summonings miniatures by Level with their tokens and their Summoning Battle cards.

Setup for 5-6 players

Setup is the same as it is for 2-4 player games with the following exception. Add the following text to step 14 of the Setup: Add the Monkey, Unahpu & Ixbalanque and Avatar of Hun Ahpu Utiu components in the Summonings area.

Note: You may add any number of Summonings to your game, depending on the Game Up boxes you own. There is no upper limit to the number of available Summonings during a game.

Gameplay

A game of Yucatan is played over 4 Rounds. Each Round is divided into 3 Phases.

The game ends after Round 4 has been fully resolved. Resolve the End of game to determine the winner.

The Calendar shows for the current Round:

• the available bonuses when activating Central Cities,
• the Sacrifice value of a Prisoner,
• the number of Evolutions the player may gain during the Sacrifice Phase.

Round structure

I) Action Phase

The Action Phase is split in 3 Turns.

On each Turn: in turn order, each player plays 1 Building Action token and 1 Leader Action token in any order of their choosing.

II) Sacrifice Phase

Each player simultaneously reveals how many Prisoners and Resources they sacrifice, scores their VP, and potentially advances on the Evolution board.

Note: A variant for your first games is explained below.

III) Revolution Phase

Turn the Calendar 1 space clockwise. Some Summonings may be removed from the board.

The player with the First Player token gives it to another player of their choosing.

I) Action Phase

The 1st player is the first active player of the Round.

The active player resolves the 2 following points in the order of their choosing:

• they cover the picture of 1 of their Buildings on their City board with 1 of their Building Action tokens and activate this Building,
• they cover the picture of 1 of their Leaders that is not already covered with 1 of their Leader Action tokens and activate the corresponding Leader.

Note: The same Building may be activated each Turn, but each Leader may only be activated once per Round.

Once the active player has resolved their Action Phase, the player on their left becomes the active player and resolves their Action Phase. As soon as every player has no available Action tokens, resolve the Sacrifice Phase.

Activate a Leader

Activate the City Leader

When you activate your City Leader, resolve the following steps in any order:

• Choose 1 option among the following:
  • gain Corn (option 1),
  • gain Jade (option 2),
  • buy 1 Special Battle card (option 3).
• Activate the Special Ability of your City Leader.

Activate a Troop Leader

When you activate a Troop Leader, choose 1 effect among the following:

• spend 1 Corn to move this Troop from the Jungle to a Central City which is not occupied by your other Troop (option 1),
• spend 2 Corn to move this Troop from a Central City to another Central City which is not occupied by your other Troop (option 2),
• do not move this Troop (option 3).

Central Cities / Jungle

When the Troop enters a Central City:

• if this Central City contains no opposing Troop, gain 1 Jade and all the Jade already in this Central City, then activate it (see Activate a Central City),
• if this Central City is occupied by an opposing Troop, resolve a Battle between these two Troops (see Battle).

Activate a Building

The 5 Building types are the following: Construction Site, Military School, Barracks, Temple, Granary.

Resolve the Building's action on which you placed your Building Action token.

The effects of each of the 3 actions (Build, Train, Summon) depend on your Level on the Evolution board. The Evolution board has Levels for each action, plus a last line (End of game bonus).

Construction Site - Build action

This action allows you to build the Buildings of your City.

Choose a Building of a Level equal to or lower than your Build Level on the Evolution board.

Spend as many times the Resources shown on your Construction Site as the difference between the current level of this Building and the Level you want to build.

Then, place the new Building tile on your City board in the corresponding space.

Example: You are at Build Level 3 on the Evolution board and you have Level 1 Barracks. You activate your Level 0 Construction Site (2 Jade per Level to build) to build Level 3 Barracks: Targeted Level (3) - current Level (1) = 2: you spend 2x2 Jade, then you replace your Level 1 Barracks with Level 3 Barracks.

Military School - Train action

This action allows you to add an Ability to one of your Troop Leaders.

Choose an Ability of a Level equal to or lower than your Train Level on the Evolution board.

Spend as many times the Resources shown on your Military School as the Level of the chosen Ability, then place it in a valid space in front of 1 of your Troop Leaders. You may only place this Ability in a space which rank is equal or higher than this Ability's Level.

Example: You are at Train Level 2 on the Evolution board and you have Level 0 Military School. To add a Level 2 Ability, you have to spend 8 Corn (4 Corn per Level of the Ability you want to add).

Barracks - Reinforce action

This action allows you to add Units to one of your Troops.

Choose 1 of your Troops and add to it as many Units as needed to reach the number shown on your Barracks.

Example: Level 1 Barracks allows you to reinforce either of your Troops to have it contain 4 Units to go with the Troop Leader.

Temple - Summon action

This action allows you to tie a Summoning to one of your Troops and/or to extend the time a Summoning tied to one of your Troops lasts.

To tie a Summoning: choose an available Summoning in the Summonings area of a Level equal to or lower than your Summon Level on the Evolution board.

1. Spend as many times the Resources shown on your Temple as the Level of the chosen Summoning.
2. Take the corresponding Summoning token and place it on your City board next to 1 of your Troops. If it is already tied to a Summoning, place the former one (its miniature, its token and its Battle card) back into the Summonings area.
3. Place the corresponding Summoning miniature on the Yucatan board next to this Troop.
4. Add to your hand the Battle card corresponding to this Summoning.
5. Place a Timer token to show the current Round (by default, a Summoning lasts in play until the end of the current Round).

Example: It's Round 2. To tie the Condor (Level 1 Summoning) with your Level 0 Temple, you spend 2 Jade times the Condor's Level (1 in this case). Then to extend the Summoning for 2 additional Rounds, you also spend 2 Jade. The Condor will last until the end of Round 4.

To extend a Summoning: choose either the Summoning you just summoned or one you already have. Spend 1 Jade for each additional Round you want the Summoning to stay in play (regardless of the Summoning's Level) and align the Timer token to indicate the Round in which the Summoning will be removed from the Troop.

Note: It is possible to extend a Summoning to a "virtual" Round 5 to gain its End game bonus, flip the Timer token to show this (see End of Game).

Granary - Harvest action

Gain 3 Corn.

Battle

The player whose move triggers the Battle is the Attacker, their opponent is the Defender.

Various effects trigger during a Battle. Each effect indicates at which Battle Step it is resolved (see Player Aid to see at which Step each Battle card, Summoning token, Advisor token, and Troop Leader Ability is resolved). When effects trigger at the same Battle Step (whether or not they cost resources), the Attacker tells first and resolves first what they choose to do, then the Defender.

Reminder: When a player captures a Unit, they take 1 Clan token of their opponent if they do not already have one in that color.

A Battle is split into 7 Steps:

Step 1: Preparation

Resolve the effects that trigger at Step 1.

A Summoning Battle card may only be chosen during a Battle in which this Summoning is present.

Then, both players each secretly choose 1 Battle card from their hand (Starting/Special/Summoning Battle cards), then simultaneously reveal them. Each Battle card shows a Strength value, an Effect, and a Type/Faction.

Step 2: Confrontation

Each player sums up:

• the Strength on their Battle card,
• 1 Strength per Unit in their Troop,
• the Strength potentially given by any Abilities from their Troop Leader,
• the Strength potentially given by the Summoning tied to their Troop.

If a player has more Strength than their opponent, that player is the winner of the Battle and their opponent the loser. Else, this is a draw.

Step 3: Captures

If there is a winner, they Capture 1 Prisoner from the opposing Troop.

Then resolve the Captures that trigger at Step 3.

Wiped out Troop: If every Unit and the Leader of a Troop have been captured, that Troop is said to have been wiped out. Resolve the following:

1. The player who wiped out the opposing Troop gains 1 VP and places 1 Unit from the Supply in their Prison.
2. The Troop Leader miniature is now given back to their owner, who then creates 1 new Troop (for free) with this Troop Leader, the maximum Units allowed by their Barracks and the potential tied Summoning by following the placement rules at Step 4 (see below).

Note 1: A player may be the winner even if their troop has been wiped out.

Note 2: The two Troops may be wiped out during the same Battle.

Note 3: It is possible that every Unit and the Leader of a Troop are captured at Step 1: this Troop is wiped out, resolve the points above (Wiped out Troop), but the Battle immediately ends, no Battle cards are played, there is no winner, nor loser, and if the Attacker's troop is in a Central City, they activate it normally.

Step 4: Central City occupation

If there is a winner, place the loser's troop into the Jungle. If there is a draw, place the Defender's Troop into the Jungle. If the Attacker is the loser and they trigger a Prowess effect, their Troop stays in this Central City and they place the Defender's Troop into the Jungle (this effect is only used if the Attacker loses the Battle).

Step 5: Central City activation

If the Attacker's Troop is in a Central City, they activate that Central City (see Activate a Central City).

Step 6: Reinforcements

Resolve the various effects triggered during this Step (most effects, apart from Captures and Strength bonuses, see Player Aid for more details).

Step 7: Cleanup

Each player removes from the game or discards the Battle card they played (depending of its type), except if it shows the return icon, in which case they take it back in their hand (for example, the Eclipse card each player has in their Starting Battle cards).

Activate a Central City

When you activate a Central City, gain 1 of the available bonuses on this Central City panel, depending on the current Round. During Round 4, the bonus on white background is added to every bonus on beige background you chose.

If you choose a bonus which is an action, it is still limited by your Level on the Evolution board.

Example: By activating this Central City during Round 2, the player may choose any of the Round 1 bonuses, or the Round 2 bonus.

II) Sacrifice Phase

After the Action phase has been completed, move on to the Sacrifice Phase. Resolve the following steps:

1. Each player secretly takes in their hand as many Prisoners from their Prison and as many Resources they own they wish to sacrifice for that Round, and may add Clan tokens they own.

2. Each player reveals their hand and sums up their Sacrifice Points (SP) as explained below:

   • each sacrificed Prisoner grants SP depending on the current Round (Round 1=3 SP, Round 2 & 3=2 SP, Round 4=1 SP),
   • each sacrificed set of 2 Jade grants 1 SP,
   • each sacrificed set of 4 Corn grants 1 SP,
   • each Clan token sacrificed beyond the first one grants 1 SP.

3. Place back into the Supply the sacrificed elements.

4. Each player compares SP gained during this Round with their Sacrifice marker on the Score track. If they gained more SP they move their marker to this new value. If they did not, their Sacrifice marker is not moved.

5. The player who moved their Sacrifice marker and gained the most SP this Round may advance their City Leader 1 step on the Great Pyramid and gain the corresponding Upgrade. The Upgrade is placed on their City board in the appropriate spot. In case of a tie, each tied player for the most SP gained during this Round gains this benefit.

6. Each player gains as many VP as the number of SP they scored during this Round.

7. Each player gains as many VP as the number of the Great Pyramid step where their City Leader is (at the bottom = 0 VP).

8. In turn order, each player that moved their Sacrifice marker during this Round moves 1 of their Evolution markers down 1 space on the Evolution board. They immediately gain the bonus shown in that space. Move to the Revolution Phase.

   There are 2 exceptions:

   • During the Round 1 Sacrifice Phase, any player that gained at least 1 SP consecutively chooses 2 Evolutions, each in a different column of the Evolution board,
   • the last line of the Evolution board (green spaces) may only be reached during the Round 4 Sacrifice Phase (each player may reach only one of the 3 Final Bonus spaces and only one for which they reached Level 3).

Variant for your first games: if your Sacrifice marker did not move because you gained too little SP during this Phase, you may choose to lower your Sacrifice marker. To do that, divide by 2 the current value of your Sacrifice marker (rounded up) and place your Sacrifice marker on that value: it will be your Sacrifice objective to exceed during the next Round. You will not move down any of your Evolution markers this Round.

III) Revolution Phase

Resolve the following steps:

1. Any Summoning whose Timer token corresponds to the current Round is removed from their owner: the corresponding Summoning token, Summoning Battle card (if still in hand), and miniature are placed back into the Summonings area.
2. Place 1 Jade in each Central City that contains no Troop.
3. If this is Round 4 Revolution Phase, resolve the End of Game. Else, the current 1st player passes the First Player token to another player of their choice and they turn the Calendar 1 space clockwise, a new Round begins.

End of Game

Each player whose Evolution marker is in a space of the last line of the Evolution board gains the corresponding Final Bonus:

• Build Bonus: 1 VP per apparent Building Level on their City board (12 VP max).
• Train Bonus: 1 VP per Ability Level on their City board (12 VP max).
• Summon Bonus: for each of their Summoning still in play (Timer token with "2 VP" apparent side), they gain 2 VP per Level (12 VP max).

Each player gains 1 VP per Battle card they still have in hand.

The player with the most VP is the winner. In case of a tie, the player whose Sacrifice marker is the highest of the Score track is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players share victory.