Yut Nori Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Objective
• Setup
  • Yut Stick Patterns
• Gameplay
  • Moving Pieces
  • Stacking Pieces
  • Capturing Opponent's Pieces
  • Extra Turns
  • Starting Point
  • Shortcut
  • Exit
  • Back-Do (Backward Movement)
• Game End

Game Components

• 1 Game Board
• 8 Pieces (4 per player, in 2 colors)
• 4 Yut Sticks (1 of them has 'Back' written on one side)

Objective

The first player to successfully move all 4 of their pieces off the board wins the game.

Setup

1. Unfold the game board and each player takes 4 pieces of their chosen color and places them in front of them.
2. All players take turns throwing the 4 Yut sticks to determine the starting player. The player with the highest result becomes the starting player. In case of a tie, the tied players throw the Yut sticks again until a single player is determined.

Yut Stick Patterns

In Yut-Nori, players move their pieces according to the result of throwing the 4 Yut sticks. Each Yut stick can either land face-up (showing the flat side called 'Front') or face-down (showing the rounded side called 'Back'). The result of throwing the 4 Yut sticks is classified as follows, based on the number of sticks landing face-up:

Yut Pattern	Name	Result
1 Front, 3 Back	Do	Move 1 space
2 Front, 2 Back	Gae	Move 2 spaces
3 Front, 1 Back	Geol	Move 3 spaces
4 Front	Yut	Move 4 spaces + Extra Turn
4 Back	Mo	Move 5 spaces + Extra Turn
The marked stick Front, other 3 Back	Back-Do	Move 1 space backwards

Gameplay

The game proceeds in a counterclockwise direction, starting with the starting player.

On your turn, throw the 4 Yut sticks and use the result to move your pieces forward. After using all the results from your throw, pass the Yut sticks to the next player, ending your turn.

Moving Pieces

Players can choose which of their pieces to move forward. If moving a piece that is not yet on the board, place it on the starting point (the corner flower in the lower right) and move it in the direction of the arrow by the number of spaces indicated by the result. You can also choose to move a piece that is already on the board.

Pieces on the outer ring of the board generally move counterclockwise along the ring towards the starting point.

[Example] On Wanjin's (Red) turn, he throws the Yut sticks and gets 'Geol'. Wanjin already has 3 pieces on the board. Therefore, he must choose between ① moving a new piece forward by 3 spaces, or moving one of his existing pieces on the board by 3 spaces (②, ③, or ④).

If the chosen piece starts on a corner flower, it moves in the direction of that arrow. (This does not apply when merely passing through a corner flower.)

[Example] On Wanjin's (Red) turn, he throws the Yut sticks and gets 'Gae'. Since Wanjin already has all 4 pieces on the board, he must choose which of his pieces to move forward by 2 spaces (①, ②, ③, or ④).

Stacking Pieces

If a piece lands on a space already occupied by your own piece(s), stack all of your pieces on that space to form a 'piece stack'. From then on, the stack is treated as a single piece and moves together without being separated. You can make 3-piece or 4-piece stacks by adding more pieces.

Capturing Opponent's Pieces

If a piece lands on a space occupied by an opponent's piece or stack, return all of those pieces to that player, and your piece claims that space. Immediately gain an 'Extra Turn'.

Extra Turns

If you throw 'Yut' or 'Mo' with the Yut sticks, you get to throw the sticks again. You also get to throw again when capturing opponent's pieces. If you accumulate multiple throws this way, you can use the results in any order to move your pieces.

Starting Point

The corner flower shape at the bottom right is the starting point. It looks different from the other corner flower shapes.

Shortcut

If the piece starts on the corner flower, make sure to move in the direction of the arrow displayed in the corner column to match the result.

[Example] On Wanjin's (Red) turn, he throws the Yut sticks and gets 'Mo'. Wanjin throws again and this time gets 'Yut'. So Wanjin throws once more and gets 'Geol'.

1. First, Wanjin uses 'Mo' to move his piece in the lower right of the board forward by 5 spaces.
2. Next, he uses 'Geol' to capture Jiyeon's (Yellow) piece in the upper left. This immediately allows Wanjin to throw again, and he gets 'Do'.
3. Jiyeon uses 'Do' to enter the corner flower in the upper left. (Printed as "Jiyeon"; from context this is Wanjin's move.)
4. Finally, he uses the unused 'Yut' to move a new piece onto the board by 4 spaces.

Exit

If your piece passes the Start space in the lower right, that piece exits the board. A piece that lands exactly on the lower right corner flower has not exited yet, and must move at least 1 more space to exit.

Exited pieces are removed from the game. If a stack exits, all pieces in that stack are removed.

Back-Do (Backward Movement)

When throwing the Yut sticks, it is possible for the marked stick to land face-up while the other three sticks all land face-down. This is called 'Back-Do'.

Unlike a regular 'Do', 'Back-Do' moves your piece 1 space backwards. You can still stack pieces or capture opponent's pieces when moving backwards with Back-Do.

If moving backwards from a corner flower with Back-Do, the movement paths are as shown in the rulebook's diagram. If there are 2 possible paths, you can choose either one.

It is possible to land on the lower right corner flower using 'Back-Do'. This is the most effective way to exit in Yut-Nori.

Game End

As soon as a player successfully moves all 4 of their pieces off the board, they immediately win the game.