Yukon
Yukon Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Sheriff card
- 24 Gold cards, valued 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 (3 of each)
- 24 Pebble cards, valued 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 (3 of each)
- 1 Prospector figure
- 30 Townsfolk cards (expansion, "A város lakói"; 3 each of 10 types)
- 9 Gold nugget discs (expansion)
Setup
Put the Townsfolk cards and the Gold nugget discs back in the box; they are not needed for the base game. Shuffle the remaining cards together with the Sheriff card and lay out a 7x7 grid of cards, face up. Take the Sheriff card out and put the Prospector figure in its place.
The player who most recently stepped into a river starts the game.
Playing the Game
General rules: The playing area is divided into rows and columns. The starting player decides whether to take a card from the Prospector's row or from its column, places it in front of themselves, and then moves the Prospector onto the empty space left by the card, which completes their turn.
Each following player always takes their card in the direction perpendicular to the previous move (if the previous move was along a row, take from a column, and vice versa), always moving the Prospector onto the place of the card they took.
Important: From the row and column where the Prospector is, any card at any distance may be taken.
End of the Game
The game ends in one of two ways:
- All the cards making up the playing area have been taken (this is very rare).
- The next player cannot take a card in accordance with the rules, because there are no cards left to take in the Prospector's row or column.
In either case, the player who took the last card receives the Prospector figure, which is worth 5 points.
Card values are the numbers printed on them: Gold cards are positive and Pebble cards are negative. The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the players share the victory.
Rules for 2 Players
Play the game as described above; no changes are made.
Rules for 3 Players
A player who took a card from a row takes their next card from a column, and then from a row, and so on, alternating.
Rules for 4 Players
Counting from the starting player in seating order, the 1st and 3rd players form a pair, and the 2nd and 4th players form a pair. During the game the players may not discuss their next move. At the end of the game, each pair adds up the points its two players have collected, and those team totals form the final result. The pair with more points wins.
Note: Partners always take cards in the same direction.
Example: Players 1 and 3 take cards horizontally, and players 2 and 4 take cards vertically.
Townsfolk Expansion ("A város lakói")
The Townsfolk expansion is printed in the same rulebook as the base game. Its rules are kept in this separate section.
Expansion Components
The expansion adds 30 Townsfolk cards (3 each of Trapper, Goldsmith, Commander, Swindler, Courier, Innkeeper, Jailer, Teacher, Telegraph Operator and Pan) and 9 Gold nugget discs. The card names are the transcriber's English translations of the Hungarian titles, which are given in brackets: Trapper (Prémvadász), Goldsmith (Aranyműves), Commander (Parancsnok), Swindler (Orgazda), Courier (Kézbesítő), Innkeeper (Kocsmáros), Jailer (Börtönőr), Teacher (Tanítónő), Telegraph Operator (Távírász), Pan (Tálka).
Expansion Setup
Shuffle the expansion's cards thoroughly and draw 15 of them. Shuffle these 15 together with the Gold, Pebble and Sheriff cards. Form an 8x8 grid of cards, face up.
Take the Sheriff card out and put the Prospector figure in its place.
If a Pan card came onto the table, shuffle the Gold nugget discs face down, then stack 3 of them face down on each Pan card.
Return all unused discs and cards to the box; they are not needed in this game.
The rules of the game do not change with these additions; they are only expanded. With 2, 3 or 4 players, each player collects Gold and Pebble cards for themselves, and the players follow each other in clockwise order.
Townsfolk Card Rules
Trapper (Prémvadász): "Lurks in ambush and, when you're not looking, takes a gold nugget." When a player takes a Trapper card, they must give up one of the Gold cards they have collected so far. The player chooses which Gold card to discard. The discarded Gold card is placed beside the playing area, face down, together with the Trapper card.
Goldsmith (Aranyműves): "A pebble hiding among the nuggets holds valuable ore; the Goldsmith found it." When a player takes a Goldsmith card, they immediately get rid of one of the Pebble cards they have collected so far. The player chooses which Pebble card to discard. The discarded Pebble card is placed beside the playing area, face down, together with the Goldsmith card. The discarded cards do not take part in scoring.
Important: If there is no card that could be discarded when a Trapper or Goldsmith card is taken, the card is not kept; it is discarded immediately after being taken.
Commander (Parancsnok): "As soon as the cavalry regiment rides in, order is restored." As soon as a player takes this card, they may immediately take one Gold card that was previously discarded beside the playing area, and return the Commander card to the box. If no Gold card has been discarded, the player keeps the Commander card, and at the end of the game it is worth points equal to the number of gold nugget discs the player has collected.
If the Prospector figure is with this player at the end of the game, the points scored by the Commander are doubled.
Note as printed: the end-of-game scoring of the Commander refers to "gold nugget discs" (Aranyrög korong), while the card's first ability refers to a discarded Gold card (Aranyrög lap).
Swindler (Orgazda): "He arranges every deal so that you think you came out ahead." When a player takes this card, they place it in front of themselves and use its ability at the end of the game. The Swindler halves the value of one Pebble card the player collected during the game, rounding down.
Example: Erik took a Swindler card and has a Pebble card worth 5. He therefore scores -2 points instead of -5.
Note: The Swindler did not say that the pebble hides a valuable gemstone. You only concentrated on gold; you don't know about stones anyway.
Courier (Kézbesítő): "Fortunately, you've now had good news, so you were knocked off rhythm." When a player takes this card, they place it in front of themselves and may use its ability once during the game. When the Courier's ability is used, the player may change direction for the current move only. Once used, the Courier card is returned to the box.
At the end of the game, an unused Courier scores points equal to the number of Pebble cards the player collected during the game.
Example 1: Anett has a Courier in front of her, and her turn begins. She judges that the choice of cards in the direction she should move is poor, so she decides to move in the opposite direction and take a card. The next player does not change direction; they keep their original direction in accordance with the normal rule.
Example 2: At the end of the game, Móni has a Courier in front of her. She collected 2 Pebble cards, so she scores 2 more points. If she had not collected any Pebble cards, the Courier would not have scored for her.
Innkeeper (Kocsmáros): "A lot of beer was drunk during the night, so you can't walk straight home." When a player takes this card, they place it in front of themselves and may use its ability once during the game. The Innkeeper does not care about the guests, only about the takings. So it often happens that too much beer is poured down throats, and the guests cannot walk straight home. When the Innkeeper's ability is used, the player may also move diagonally, provided there is a card they can take. The next player takes a card in accordance with the original rule.
At the end of the game, an unused Innkeeper scores points equal to the number of Townsfolk cards the player collected in total, together with the Innkeeper.
Note: Townsfolk cards that were used during the game and returned to the box do not count.
Jailer (Börtönőr): "When he appears, everyone panics and sets off in the opposite direction." When a player takes a Jailer card, the turn order is reversed. The player who took the card takes again next, and the other players follow in the direction opposite to clockwise. If someone takes a Jailer card again, the turn order reverses again, every time this happens.
Teacher (Tanítónő): "Indeed, it wouldn't have hurt to go to school; now you wouldn't have trouble with numbers." When a player takes this card, they choose another player and randomly take one of that player's cards. The randomly taken card is placed in front of the Teacher, next to the Teacher card. Regardless of the card's type, it scores the number of points printed on it.
Important: Pebble cards taken this way also count as positive points.
Telegraph Operator (Távírász): "Always well informed, and everybody likes to be on good terms with them." When a player takes this card, they place it in front of themselves. Once during the game, before taking a card, the player may move the Prospector figure onto one card, but then chooses and takes a card from among that card's neighbours in the direction of the Prospector's movement. The card the Prospector moved onto is not taken by the player.
At the end of the game, an unused Telegraph Operator is worth points equal to the number of Gold cards that remain on the table.
Pan (Tálka): "You obtained a new washing pan, so you find more gold." When a player arrives on a Pan card, they take the top Gold nugget disc from the discs on that card and place it in front of themselves, among their Gold and Pebble cards. Once the last disc has been removed from the card, return the Pan card to the box.
At the end of the game, a Gold nugget disc is worth the number of points printed on it.