How to Play Lunar

Game Objective

In Lunar, players combine moon phases and nocturnal animals to form cards and win tricks. The goal is to score points by winning tricks and collecting special cards. The game ends when a team reaches over 30 points, being declared the winner.

Setup

To set up the game:

• Select the number of players: 2 or 4.
• For 4 players: Divide into teams of 2, with partners sitting across from each other. Each team receives 2 partnership tiles of the same color, and each player chooses one to place in front of them.
• For 2 players: Each player receives a partnership tile with the word "lead."
• Place the trick board near the play area. Each team (or individual player) chooses a trick marker and places it at position 0.
• The player with the black lead tile goes first.

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Game Flow

The game is divided into rounds where players compete for tricks. Each round follows these steps:

1. Card Distribution: Shuffle the suit and value cards separately and deal 6 of each type to each player.
2. Card Selection: Each player chooses 2 suit cards and 2 value cards and passes them to their partner.
3. Trump Selection: Flip the 4 trump tiles face up. Starting with the first player and moving clockwise, each player flips a tile of their choice until only one remains, which becomes the trump suit for the round.
4. Trick Play: The starting player begins the first trick by playing a card. Other players must follow the game rules to complete the trick.

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Actions and How to Play

During trick play, players must follow these rules:

• The first player on a team may play a suit or value card. If their partner has already played, the second player must play the type of card their partner did not play.
• The first suit played in a trick becomes the leading suit. If you play a suit after the leading suit has been established, you must play the same suit if possible. Otherwise, you may play any suit.
• The trick is decided as follows:
• If teams played the same suit, the team with the highest value wins. In case of a tie, the last team to play a card wins.
• If one team played the trump suit and the other did not, the team that played the trump wins.
• If teams played different suits and neither was the trump, the team that played the first suit wins.

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when a team reaches over 30 points and is not tied with the other team. Scoring is calculated as follows:

• Each team scores points equal to their position on the trick board.
• Add 1 point for each special icon card the team has kept.

If both teams exceed 30 points and are tied, play a final round to determine the winner.

Tips for Winning

Here are some tips to improve your chances of winning:

• Strategically communicate with your partner, but remember that discussing hand content during the round is not allowed.
• Prioritize selecting the trump suit to gain an advantage in tricks.
• Pay attention to the leading suit to maximize your chances of winning each trick.