Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar Game Rules

Hey there! Let’s dive into the amazing world of Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar. Get ready to explore an ancient civilization and uncover the secrets of their remarkable calendar system.

So, what’s this game all about? Well, in Tzolk’in, you’ll step into the shoes of a Mayan civilization leader. Your aim is to develop your tribe, construct buildings, and navigate the changing tides of time. But be careful! Each decision you make will have a significant impact on your success.

Now, let’s talk about the gameplay. Tzolk’in is played on a dynamic game board that represents a Mayan calendar. It’s made up of several interlocking gears that rotate throughout the game. These gears are a crucial element of the game and drive the passage of time.

During your turn, you can choose from a variety of actions that will move your workers onto different gears. The position of your workers on the gears will determine the resources you gain and the actions you can take. It’s a delicate balance to manage!

One important aspect of the game is timing. As the gears rotate, your workers will gradually move along them. You’ll need to carefully plan your moves ahead of time to ensure you maximize your resources and take advantage of strategic opportunities.

But that’s not all! Tzolk’in also features a unique twist – the concept of sacrificing. Yes, you heard it right. In this game, you’ll have to make tough choices and sacrifice your workers at certain points to gain powerful bonuses. It’s a risk-reward situation that adds an extra layer of strategy to your gameplay.

As you progress through the game, you’ll have the chance to construct buildings. These buildings provide various benefits, such as extra resources, special abilities, or victory points. Choosing the right buildings at the right time can greatly boost your chances of success.

Victory in Tzolk’in is achieved by earning victory points throughout the course of the game. You can earn them through various means, such as constructing buildings, fulfilling certain requirements, or making sacrifices. Keep a close eye on your opponents, as the race for victory can be fierce!

In conclusion, Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar is a captivating game that combines strategy, timing, and resource management. It’s a journey into the rich history and culture of the Mayan civilization, where every decision counts. So, gather your tribe and embark on an unforgettable adventure through time!

When it comes to the game components, here’s what you’ll find in the box:

• Game Board
• 13 Monuments
• 32 Buildings divided into 2 ages
• 4 two-side player boards
• 1 starting player marker
• 6 gears of various sizes
• 4 scoring counters
• 65 wooden blocks
• 13 crystal skulls
• 65 corn tokens of values 1 or 5
• 28 harvest tiles
• 21 starting wealth tiles
• 1 sheet with stickers
• 6 plastic fasteners
• 24 workers in 4 colors
• 28 markers in 4 colors

Setting up the Game

To get started, place the assembled game board right in the middle of the table. Then, simply arrange the remaining components as shown.

Bank

So, here’s what you need to do: gather up all the wood, stone, gold, crystal skulls, and unused workers and put them in a bank. Make sure it’s a place where everyone can easily access them. As for the corn, put it in a separate bank right in the middle of the Tzolk’in gear.

Now, let’s talk about the jungle. You’ll see groups of four spaces on the Palenque gear that represent fields in the jungle. These fields can be cleared and used for farming. Each field should have a Corn Harvest Tile placed on it.

The group of fields associated with Palenque action 2, which is right next to the number 2 written over the corn symbol, can only produce corn. But the other three groups can also produce wood. So, on top of each Corn Harvest Tile in the groups corresponding to actions 3, 4, and 5, place a Wood Harvest Tile.

Now, let’s move on to the Calendar. Rotate the Tzolk’in gear until the arrowhead points to one of the two teeth that represent an end-of-age Food Day. You can recognize them by the blue-green stickers.

Lastly, let’s determine the starting player.

Hey there! Let me show you how we get started in this game. First things first, we need to decide who gets the honor of being the starting player. It goes to the player who has most recently sacrificed something. If there’s a tie, we give it to the player who steps up and volunteers for the next sacrifice. Talk about dedication!

Now, here’s the cool part. The Starting Player Marker doesn’t rotate; it stays with the chosen player. You can snag it for yourself by placing one of your workers on the Starting Player Space. I’ll explain more about that later.

Scoring counter

Okay, so now that we have our starting player, each player takes their scoring counter and puts it on space 0 of the scoring track. This is where we’ll keep track of our scores throughout the game. Exciting, right?

Starting Wealth Tiles

Let’s get down to business. After we’ve set up everything for the game, including revealing the buildings and monuments, it’s time to mix up the Starting Wealth Tiles. Each player gets dealt 4 secret tiles. Now here’s the tricky part. Each player chooses 2 tiles to keep and discards the other 2. Once everyone has made their choices, we reveal what we’ve got and collect the items shown on our tiles. It’s like a surprise gift!

When we play, we each have a set of Starting Wealth Tiles that we keep in front of us. Some of these tiles have special effects that we can use while we’re playing the game.

Markers for players

Each of us has 7 markers in our own color. We place one marker on the white step of each of the 3 temples, and one marker on the leftmost space of each of the 4 technology tracks.

Spaces for Monuments

We put 6 monuments face up on the board in the spaces that are meant for them. Any extra monuments go back in the box and we won’t need them anymore.

Spaces for Buildings

We deal out six Age 1 buildings face up and put them in the building spaces. The stacks for Age 1 and Age 2 buildings are placed face down near the board.

How to Play the Game

Playing the game involves going through different steps:

1. It’s your turn to play, so take your time and make your move. Remember, the starting player goes first, and then it’s the next person’s turn in a clockwise direction.
2. During a food day, you need to feed your workers and gain rewards. There are only 4 food days in the entire game, so most of the time you won’t have to worry about this phase.
3. Now it’s time to advance the calendar. This means moving the central Tzolk’in gear ahead by one day. If you have a worker on the Starting Player Space, the Starting Player Marker will change hands at this point.

I’ll explain each of these phases in more detail below.

The game comes to an end after the second age, which is when the central Tzolk’in gear completes one full rotation. The player with the most victory points at the end is declared the winner.

When it’s your turn, you have a few options to choose from:

• You can either put workers in play and pay with corn, or take workers from the gears and perform actions.
• You must do one of these two options; you can’t skip your turn, and you can’t place some workers while taking others from the gears.

Just keep in mind that on the first turn of the game, you will always need to place workers because you don’t have any on the gears to take.

Asking for Corn

When your turn starts and you have 2 or fewer corn, you have the option to ask for more. To do this, you need to discard all the corn you have and take 3 from the bank. But beware, asking for more corn angers the gods, and you have to move down one step on one of the three temples.

If you don’t have enough corn to place a worker and you also have no workers on the gears, then you have to ask for more corn.

Placing Workers

When I first start playing the game, I have three workers. But as I play, I can get more workers. However, I must always have at least one worker available to use.

If I decide to place my workers instead of picking them up, I can put any number of my available workers on the gears. I have the option to place multiple workers on my turn, and I can even place all of them if I want.

To place a worker, I simply need to choose a gear and put one of my available workers on the lowest-numbered action space that doesn’t already have a worker on it. The action space numbered 0 is considered the lowest.

So, here’s the deal. Red had placed a worker on the Palenque gear during their last turn, and now it’s on action space 1. Now it’s Green’s turn, and she wants to place her workers on the Palenque gear. The first worker has to go on action space 0 because it’s the lowest-numbered unoccupied action space. Then, the second worker has to go on action space 2 because action space 1 is already occupied. As for her third worker, Green wants to place it on Yaxchilan, and it has to go on action space 0.

But wait, there’s more! Placing workers comes with a cost, my friend:

• You gotta pay corn, and the amount is equal to the number of the action space.
• On top of that, you also gotta pay for each worker you place, according to the rates shown on your player board. Just remember, the boldfaced number is the total cost, and the number in parentheses is the cost for adding that specific worker.

When I, Red, put two workers on the Palenque gear, I must choose action spaces 3 and 4. The first worker costs 3 corn (3 + (+0)) and the second costs 5 corn (4 + (+1)), so it adds up to 8 corn. I know I can place a third worker, but I don’t have any more available workers.

You can’t put more workers than you can afford. You also can’t choose to put zero workers. If you have to put workers (because you don’t have any on the gears already) and you can’t afford to do so, you have to beg for corn first, as I explained earlier.

By the way, there’s a space between the Palenque and Chichen Itza gears called the Starting Player Space. If it’s empty, I can put a worker there, just like when I put a worker on action space 0.

Picking up workers

If you have at least one worker on one of the gears, you can choose to pick them up instead of putting them down. When you pick up workers, you take some of your workers off the gears. You can choose to pick up one, some, or all of the workers you’ve placed.

For each worker you pick up, you have three options:

• You can use the action where your worker was standing.
• You can use an action with a lower number on the same gear by paying 1 corn for each step back. (You can do this even if another worker is already on that lower-numbered action space).
• You can choose not to do anything, except pick up the worker.

You perform the actions you’ve chosen in the order you want.

A Special Action to Choose

There are certain action spaces that grant you complete freedom to choose your next move. These spaces are typically numbered 6 and 7 on most gears, and 10 on Chichen Itza. When you take a worker from one of these spaces, you can perform any action on that particular gear without having to pay any additional costs.

Moving Forward in Time

Once all players have finished their turns, the Tzolk’in calendar gear rotates 1 day counter-clockwise. This causes all placed workers to move forward by 1 action space. If a worker happens to be on the highest numbered action space (7 on most gears, 10 on Chichen Itza), it will be pushed off the gear and returned to its owner. However, no additional actions can be taken when workers are returned this way.

Note: Make sure to use your worker’s action before it gets pushed off the gear.

Note: The little guys on the gears won’t move. They’ll stay there the whole game. So, sometimes they might “block” a spot without a number.

If I didn’t put any workers on the Starting Player Space this turn, I need to take 1 corn from the bank and place it on the current tooth of the Tzolk’in gear. However, if I did put a worker on the Starting Player Space, things change when it comes to advancing the calendar.

Temples

Hey there! Let me tell you about the three gods and their temples on the game board. Each temple has a different height, and the top step of each temple is shaped like the god it represents.

Now, the cool thing is that the white step on each temple is marked with the symbol of the god. It’s where players start the game.

If you want to climb a step on a temple, you have a few options:

• You can choose a starting tile that gives you a bonus at the beginning of the game.
• Leaving a crystal skull in Chichen Itza is another way to climb a step.
• If you’re on Uxmal action space 1, you can pay 3 corn to climb a step.
• On Tikal action space 5, you can pay 1 resource block to climb a step.
• You can also construct a building that gives you the privilege to climb a step.
• Oh, and applying a technology also grants you the privilege to climb a step.

Here’s an important thing to keep in mind: if you receive the privilege to climb a step on a temple that you can’t go any higher on, well, that privilege is wasted. So, make sure you use it wisely!

Note: There are two actions in this game that allow me to move up on the temples. With Uxmal action 1, I can move up one step on one temple, but I need to pay 3 corn. With Tikal action 5, I can move up one step on two different temples, but I need to pay 1 block. I cannot pay extra to move up extra spaces.

Each temple has a top step that can only be occupied by one player. Once someone reaches the top step, no one else can reach it unless they anger the gods and step down. However, the other steps on the temple can be shared among players.

When I reach the top step of a temple, I must immediately place my board lighter-side-up. This allows me to use the ability to speed up the Tzolk’in gear more than once per game. But if my board is already lighterside-up, I won’t get this benefit.

Angering the Gods

Sometimes, you have to do things that anger the gods, even if it’s not a good idea, because you need the corn. But be careful, because when you anger the gods, you have to move down a step in one of the temples. You can’t choose a temple where you’re already on the lowest step.

Now, let’s talk about burning the forest. On action spaces 3, 4, and 5 in Palenque, you have the option to burn the forest. To do this, you need to discard a Wood Harvest Tile and take the Corn Harvest Tile underneath it. But beware, this action angers the gods, and you have to move down a step in one temple. If you’re already on the bottom step of every temple, you can’t burn the forest.

Lastly, let’s discuss begging for corn. If you have 2 or fewer corn at the start of your turn, you can beg for more corn. To do this, you need to discard all your corn and take 3 from the bank. However, be warned that this action also angers the gods, and you have to move down a step in one temple. If you’re already on the bottom step of every temple, you can’t beg for corn.

Rare Special Case: Let’s say it’s the beginning of my turn, and I don’t have any workers on the gears. In that case, I have to place workers. But here’s the catch – if I don’t have enough corn to place a worker, I have to beg for corn. Now, if I’m already at the bottom step of every temple, I can’t beg for corn anymore. But don’t worry! In this situation, the gods will take pity on me and allow me to place exactly 1 worker. I’ll place that worker on an action space that has the lowest possible cost, and I’ll give all my corn to the bank.

Buildings and Monuments

When I construct a building or a monument, I’ll place it on the table in front of me.

Buildings

When I construct a building, I have to deal a new building to replace it at the end of my turn. The new building will be from the current age. If all the current-age buildings have already been dealt, then that space will be left blank.

When we reach the end of Age 1, which is halfway through the game, each player has to take care of feeding their workers. Once that’s done, we need to clear out any remaining buildings from Age 1 in the building row and replace them with 6 new buildings from Age 2. These new buildings will be used for the second part of the game.

Now, let me tell you about the different types of buildings. Some buildings give you a bonus right away, but it’s only a one-time thing. On the other hand, there are buildings called farms that give you a bonus every time you feed your workers. So, they keep benefiting you throughout the game.

Buildings for One-Time Use

When you build a single-use building, you automatically get all the benefits shown.

For example, as soon as you build this structure, you move up one level on every temple track and earn three victory points.

Farm Basics

Let me tell you about farms. They’re pretty cool because they give you something useful when it’s time to feed your workers.

Now, remember this: no worker can survive without at least 0 corn. It’s just not possible!

Here’s an example to help you understand better. Say you’re feeding your workers and you have to pay 3 corn. In this case, two of your workers don’t need any corn at all. But the rest of them, well, they each need 1 corn. It’s important to keep everyone well-fed!

Monuments Explained

When I play the game, I start by dealing out the monuments. They’re only given out at the beginning, so if I build one, I don’t get another to replace it.

The monuments are special because they have effects that only apply at the end of the game. Each monument has its own effect, indicated on the tile. And the best part is, I can build more than one monument!

But here’s the catch – I can only build a monument with the Tikal action 4. The architecture bonus doesn’t apply to monuments.

Now let’s talk about technologies.

Technologies are cool because they make certain actions more valuable throughout the game. They give me an extra boost!

There are four technology tracks in the game. Each track has a starting space, three levels of technology, and a bonus space. I can choose to level up in any track to gain special benefits.

When you reach the third level in a technology, you can’t progress any further. But don’t worry! Instead of advancing, you’ll get a bonus every time you take an action that would have moved you forward. And guess what? You can keep getting this bonus multiple times! Even if an action allows you to advance twice, you can still receive the bonus twice.

Technologies have an impact on specific actions. The color of the technology level tells you which actions are affected. And here’s a cool thing: if your marker is on a higher level technology, you get the benefits of all the lower level technologies in that track too!

Agriculture

If you harvest corn from the jungle using action 2, 3, 4, or 5 in Palenque, you can take an extra corn. Isn’t that neat?

If you’re using the Palenque action space and you can’t see any Corn Harvest Tiles because they’re hidden or all gone, don’t worry. You can still get corn without a tile. Plus, when you go fishing with action 1, you also get an extra corn.

Here’s another rule: when you harvest corn from the jungle using action 2, 3, 4, or 5, you can take two extra corn. That’s even more delicious corn for you!

Finally, something exciting! When you use any of the temple actions, you can move up one step in the temple of your choice. So, go ahead and climb those temple steps like a champ.

Hey there! Let me break it down for you. So, when it comes to bonuses, it’s like getting extra goodies. If a player has reached the 3rd level of agricultural technology, they’ll get an additional 3 corn when they gather corn from the jungle. Pretty cool, right? What’s even cooler is that they can still gather corn, even if there’s no Corn Harvest Tile around. And that’s not all! When it’s time to go fishing, they get an extra corn as well. Talk about a sweet deal!

Getting Resources

1. Whenever I obtain wood from Yaxchilan (action 1) or Palenque (action 3, 4, or 5), I can take an additional piece of wood.

2. If I obtain stone from Yaxchilan (action 2 or 5), I can also take one extra stone.

3. Similarly, if I acquire gold from Yaxchilan (action 3 or 5), I can take an additional piece of gold.

4. To kick-start my resource collection, I immediately grab two resource blocks of my choice.

Note: I only receive the bonus resource when I acquire a resource of the same type. For example, I won’t get a free piece of wood if I harvest corn at Palenque or use Yaxchilan action 2.

Note: These technologies specifically apply to Yaxchilan and Palenque. They don’t grant bonus resources when I acquire them through other means, such as buildings, gods, Chichen Itza actions, or the market.

Architecture

Hey there! I’ve got some cool tips for you on how to play the game. Let’s dive right in!

1. Whenever you build a building, grab yourself a corn. You can do this during Ticoma action 2 or 4, or Uxmal action 4.

2. Here’s a sweet bonus for you – every time you construct a building, you score 2 victory points. How awesome is that? This applies to Ticoma action 2 or 4, as well as Uxmal action 4.

3. When you’re constructing a building at Ticoma (action 2 or 4), you’ve got a nifty trick up your sleeve. You can pay for it as if you’re missing one of the resource blocks! Yep, you get to choose which block you don’t need. And when it comes to building at Uxmal (action 4), you can save yourself 2 corn. That’s a great deal!

4. Get ready for some instant gratification – you earn 3 victory points as soon as you activate this ability. Woohoo!

But hold up, there’s one thing to remember. When you’re using Ticoma action 4, you can only apply the technology levels to one building. The other building, if you decide to build it, will be at full price without any corn or victory points. Oh, and remember, these cool technologies don’t apply to monument construction.

Theology

When I play the game, I have a special ability with the Chichen Itza gear. I can choose to do an action that is one space ahead when I pick up my worker. I don’t have to pay any extra corn to do this action. It’s like getting an extra bonus!

Also, when I use the Chichen Itza gear, I can spend one resource block right away to move up one step on the temple of my choice. It’s a great way to make progress in the game!

Another cool thing is that whenever I get a crystal skull from Yaxchilan, I get to take one more crystal skull. It’s like a little bonus on top of the crystal skull I already got.

And finally, I can immediately take one crystal skull from the bank. It’s always good to have more crystal skulls!

Food Days

A Food Day is a special round where you have to give food to your workers. Each game has 4 Food Days.

On the Tzolk’in gear, you will see four teeth marked as Food Days. When the gear turns and the arrowhead points to a Food Day, or if a player uses the privilege of the Starting Player Space to skip a Food Day, the next round becomes a Food Day. The numbers on the Tzolk’in gear show how many days are left until the next Food Day.

But here’s something important to know: the first round of the game is not a Food Day, even if the arrowhead starts pointing to a Food Day. That particular tooth actually represents the last Food Day, which only happens when the Tzolk’in gear completes one whole revolution.

During a Food Day, the round is played just like a normal round, with one key difference. After every player has taken their turn (but before moving the Tzolk’in gear), all players must do the following:

Feed the Workers

To keep my workers well-fed, I have to give them 2 corn each. A worker is considered “in play” if they’re in front of me or on one of the gears. The only workers that aren’t in play are the ones still in the bank.

I have to feed as many workers as I can. If I can’t feed them all, I’ll lose 3 victory points for each hungry worker.

I can’t partially feed a worker. For example, if I have 3 workers and 5 corn, I have to spend 4 corn to feed 2 workers. I can’t feed the third worker, so I’ll keep 1 corn but lose 3 victory points. Victory points can even go into the negative.

There are special buildings called “farms” that let me pay less corn to feed my workers.

The available buildings change from Age 1 to Age 2, right in the middle of the game.

Hey there! Let’s talk about what happens on the second Food Day in our game. After everyone has enjoyed a good meal, it’s time to tidy up a bit. I’ll help you understand what needs to be done.

First things first, we need to remove all the Age 1 buildings that are still on the game board. Don’t worry, this only applies to the buildings from Age 1, so the newer ones are safe. Once those buildings are out of the way, we’ll move on to the next step.

Now it’s time to bring in some new buildings to keep the game interesting. We’ll deal out six Age 2 buildings and place them in the building row. This will give everyone some fresh options to choose from when they’re ready to construct something new.

It’s important to note that any buildings that have already been constructed are not affected by this step. So if you’ve already built something awesome, it’s going to stay right where it is.

And that’s pretty much it! Now you know what happens on the second Food Day in our game. If you have any questions or need further clarification, don’t hesitate to ask. Enjoy playing!

Get Your Rewards

Once we’ve taken care of feeding our workers, the gods in the temple are ready to reward those who have been devout. These rewards can come in the form of goods or victory points, depending on whether we’re in the middle or end of an age.

Mid-Age Rewards

During the middle of an age, we have brown-orange Food Days. These days happen at the one-quarter and three-quarter marks of the game.

Depending on where we are on the temples, we receive different resources and crystal skulls as rewards. For each temple, we receive the resource or crystal skull shown on our current step, as well as all the ones shown on the lower steps of that same temple.

If the bank doesn’t have enough crystal skulls to reward everyone who should receive one, then no one gets any crystal skulls.

End-of-Age Rewards

When an age comes to a close, we enter a special time called the Blue-Green Food Days. This happens right smack in the middle and at the very end of the game. It’s a moment of reckoning where we get awarded some victory points!

Now, here’s the dealio: on each temple, you nab the number of victory points that matches the step you’re currently on. Hold up though, if you find yourself at the bottom step, sorry to break it to you, but you’ll actually lose some victory points. Yeah, they can even go negative. Bummer, right?

Uh-oh, things are about to take a twist. The player who’s climbed the highest on each temple is in for a treat. They score some extra victory points. Those numbers you see above each temple? They show you how juicy your bonus is. The bigger number in the lower left corner is your bonus when the first age ends. The number in the upper-right corner? That’s the bonus when the game itself is over. Pretty sweet, huh?

Hold your horses if you tied with some other players for the highest spot on a temple. In that case, all of you get to split the bonus. Fair and square, right? But hey, don’t get greedy! Each tied player only gets half the bonus.

Oh, we’ve reached the end!

After the fourth Food Day, the game comes to an end. It’s when the Tzolk’in gear completes one full revolution. I convert all of my commodities into victory points and score my monuments.

Now, here’s the exciting part. The player with the most points wins! But what if there’s a tie? Well, it’s not over yet. The player who still has the most workers left on the gears gets to claim victory. And if there’s still a tie, we all win together!

Now, here’s a little secret for you. Technically, the Tzolk’in gear moves forward one more day after the Age-2 scoring. That means, some workers might get pushed off the gears, and that could change the tiebreaker. Interesting, isn’t it?

How to Score Final Victory Points

To determine your final victory points, follow these steps:

1. First, convert all of your resources into corn using the market’s exchange rate.
2. After that, count how many corn you have and score 1/4 of a victory point for each corn.
3. Next, check if you still have any crystal skulls. For each one you have, score 3 victory points.
4. Finally, calculate your victory points from your monuments.

By completing these steps, you will be able to determine your final score and see how well you have performed in the game. Good luck!