Learn the rules to the card game Xylotar quickly and concisely - This video has no distractions, just the rules.
0:00 - Intro
0:07 - Setup
1:15 - Gameplay Rules
1:58 - Taking Tricks
2:37 - Bidding
3:33 - Scoring
4:29 - 2 Player rules
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buy.triplesgames.com/xylotar
boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4...
RULES:
The object of the game is to score the most points after 3 hands. Give each player 1 high note card and return any extra to the box, they will not be used. If playing with 3 players, remove the red and orange cards, they will not be used. Otherwise play with all the cards. Shuffle the deck so the colored backs are mixed then deal out all the cards facedown to all the players. Players look at their own cards and sort them in numerical order from largest at the left to smallest at the right, ignoring color. Then, each player places their high note card at the back left. Flip all your cards facedown and pass them to the player to your left. Now, players spread their cards on the table in a facedown line in front of them, without looking at them, from left to right, with the high note card on the left, to assemble their xylotar. The high note card reminds players which card is their highest. The high note card may not be played. The back of the cards indicate the value distributions of that particular color. These values are also on the back of the High Note card as a reminder.
The player to the left of the dealer leads the first trick. When you lead a trick, pick any one of your facedown cards, except for your highest card, which is your leftmost card closest to your high note, and flip the chosen card faceup to the middle of the table. Now, proceeding clockwise, the rest of the players must play any 1 card from their xylotar that matches the color played. If they don’t have a matching color, then they may play any color. Unlike the player who lead, the other players are allowed to play their highest card if they want. If you only have 1 matching color, you must play it, even if you don’t want to. Once everyone has played 1 card, then the player who played the highest trump card wins the trick. Red is always trump, unless you are playing with 3 players, then yellow is always trump. If no trump card was played, then the highest card in the lead color wins.
The winner of the trick collects the cards facedown next to them, overlapping previously won tricks to keep count. The winner of the trick leads the next. Repeat this process until all the cards have been played. The very last trick of the hand is the only time a player can lead with their highest card.
During each hand, every player must bid once. To do this, immediately after you play a card and before the next player's turn, announce you are bidding. If you're the last player to play a card into the trick when you bid, complete your bid before gathering the cards. To bid, pick any 2 of your cards that are adjacent to each other, ignoring any gaps, and secretly view both cards. You must now pick one of those cards to be your bid and place it 90 degrees rotated below your xylotar, near the tricks you have taken. Return the other card facedown back to its place in your xylotar.
If you wait until you only have 2 cards left when you bid, then you must make a legal play first and then the remaining card becomes your bid card. You may not look at both cards before deciding. Your bid card may not be played into a trick.
When the hand ends, each player scores 1 point per trick taken and 5 additional points if the value of their bid is exactly equal to the total number of tricks they took, even if that value is zero. Record the scores on a paper then gather up all the cards and play another hand, with the player with the lowest total score leading the first card in the new hand. If it is a tie, then the tied player to the left of the previous start player goes first. Whoever has the highest score after 3 hands wins. If it is a tie, then the tied player who matched their bid with the fewest tricks in the last round is the winner. Still a tie, then all the players play another round, not just the tied players, then they all add points to determine a new winner, allowing a non-tied player the chance to win. Follow the same tiebreaker rules in this scenario if necessary.
In a two-player game, play with these modified rules. During setup, players sit across from each other and deal cards for 4 players. Each player sorts the cards for their opponent as well as the side imaginary player to their left, then turn over the exact center card for each of the 2 side players to use for their bids. The side players always play their lowest legal card on their turn...