The idea
Two enemy camps vie for political control of the city. Elections are about to take place in the citadels,
markets and temples, selecting the nine representatives who will rule the high council. Each player must
carefully allocate their soldiers, merchants and priests, in order to win the majority of votes during each
successive election. The battles are closely fought and all manner of dirty tricks are not only allowed,
but also expected, as each faction applies pressure on the others in an effort to nullify their votes.
In Tyrus you must carefully balance force and influence in order to affect the best possible outcome for your
political party. Since both players start the game with equal forces, bluff and misdirection are your main
weapons to win the day, and become Master of the city.
Components
- 1 Game Board depicting 6 buildings (2 Citadels, 2 Markets, 2 Temples)
- 9 Two-sided Representative Tokens
3 Generals 
3 Merchant Guildmasters 
3 High Priests 
- 9 Green Election Cards
- 30 Ivory Electorate Tiles
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- 30 Brown Electorate Tiles
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- 1 "1st Player" Marker
Setup
The players choose their color (on Yucata.de every player plays with the ivory color). Place the game board lengthwise
between the players so that each player has all three of their buildings in front of themselves.
The Election Cards are shuffled and placed in a pile face down in the space indicated on the board.
The Representative tokens are placed on their respective sites in the center of the board.
Each player then takes all of their Electorate Tiles and places them in a pile face down beside themselves. The
players then pick nine of their Electorate Tiles at random, and place them upright in front of themselves,
taking care to conceal the faces of the selected tiles from their opponent.
Object of the game
To win the game, you must either: Be the first player to win three elections in a row, or;
Be the player with the most elected representatives after nine elections have been held.
Order of play
Once the players have chosen their color, the 1st Player Marker is tossed (like a coin toss) in the
air to determine the starting player. This player will place the first Electorate Tile in the 1st election,
as well as in all odd-numbered elections. This player keeps the 1st Player Marker for the entire game. The
other player will play first in all even-numbered elections.
Course of an election
1. Designating the Election
An Election Card is turned over to indicate which type of Representative will be elected, and
consequently in which type of building (citadels, markets or temples) the election will be held.
2. Placing the 3 Electorate Tiles
Starting with the first player, each player alternates placing one Electorate Tile from their hand into one of the six buildings on
the game board until both players have placed 3 Electorate Tiles. The Electorate Tiles are placed upright facing their
owner, so their opponent cannot see the front.
Important: The players can place their tiles in any building on the board, including those buildings
unrelated to the election in progress: in this case, they will be useful for future elections. They
can also be placed in your opponent's buildings (see Electorate Tiles - Blocking &
Countering below).
3. Tallying the Votes
All the Electorate Tiles present in the two buildings of the election in progress (two citadels, or two markets, or two temples), and in
only these two buildings are laid face up on the board. The votes are then counted according to the rules
set forth in Counting the Votes below.
The player who receives the most votes wins a corresponding Representative Token. The winning player
then places it on the Election Chart in the column of their color, beside the number corresponding
to the election that has just taken place.
In the event of a tie, the Representative Token is placed face down (Null side up) and is placed in the center
column on the Election Chart (see Null Elections below).
4. Discarding & Picking New Electorate Tiles
All face up Electorate Tiles on the board are discarded and removed from play and placed so
their values are out of view of both players.
Each player then picks three more Electorate Tiles of his color at random, and adds them to the six remaining tiles
standing upright in front of him.
Note: The reserve of Electorate Tiles will be exhausted before the start of the eighth election. Therefore,
the players do not draw any more tiles during the last two elections and finish the game with three tiles in hand.
This three remaining tiles are used only if the game ends in a tie (see Ending the Game below).
Electorate Tiles
There are 30 Electorate Tiles of each color. Each player has an identical set, divided into three professions:
- Soldiers (symbol: the sword)
- Merchants (symbol: the gold coins)
- Priests (symbol: the Temple)
There are 10 Electorate Tiles per profession, numbered from 1 to 10. The number on the Electorate Tiles indicates the
quantity of soldiers, merchants or priests whom the tile represents.
An election is decided by counting the members of the relevant profession (matching that of the Representative being
elected) present in the building where the election took place.
Example: In order for a player's General to win an election, the total number of his soldiers present in his citadel
at the time of the election must be higher than that of the enemy soldiers present in his opponent's citadel.
Although they are not directly concerned with this election, the merchants and the priests also
have their role to play, to either block a vote, or counter a blocked vote (see Blocking a Vote & Countering a block below).
Blocking a vote
Each character has the ability to block an enemy character of another profession, according to the following table:
- 1 soldier can block 1 priest
- 1 priest can block 1 merchant
- 1 merchant can block 1 soldier
To block an opponent's soldier from voting, you must place a merchant in the enemy citadel: the merchant bribes the soldier so
that he does not vote.
To block an opponent's priest from voting, you must place a soldier in the enemy temple: the soldier forces the priest to not vote.
To block an opponent's merchant from voting, you must place a priest in the enemy market: the priest persuades the merchant not to vote.
Note: Your blocking character must be placed in an opponent's building (not your own) to be effective.
Important: Characters of the same color (belonging to the same player) do not block each other.
Countering a block
It is possible to thwart your opponent's plots and to counter the characters he has placed in your building to block your supporters.
Each character has the ability to counter a blocking enemy character of another profession according to the same method as blocking. Your countering
Electorate Tile must be placed in your own building to be effective.
Example: A General is up for election. You have already placed two soldier
tiles in your citadel, when suddenly your adversary places an Electorate Tile in your citadel.
Although you cannot see it, there is a strong chance that this tile is some number of merchants sent to block your soldiers.
To counter his Tile, and thus defend yourself, you may place a priest tile in your citadel in order to
counter the enemy merchant(s).
Where to play your electorate tiles, and why?
Example: During the election of a General, a player can place his soldiers:
1. In
his own citadel, of course, to increase his chances in this election
2. In
his opponent's temple, in order to Block the votes of enemy priests during the
next election of a High Priest.
3. In
his own market, in order to Counter any priest whom his opponent may have placed these in preparation for the
next Merchant Guildmaster election.
But he could also, as part of a bluffing strategy, place his soldiers:
4. In
his own temple, in order to make his opponent believe that he is committing priests
towards the next election of a high priest, while in fact keeping his reserve of priests intact for later elections.
5. In his
opponent's market, in order to make his opponent believe that he is sending priests
to block his opponent's merchants during the next election of a Merchant Guildmaster, while in fact keeping his reserve of
priests intact for later elections.
6. And why not even in
his opponent's citadel, in order to make him believe that he is sending merchants to block his opponent's
soldiers during the election of General in progress?
If this bluff works, his opponent will needlessly send priests to the citadel to counter. This strategy may
seem far-fetched now, but it will not seem quite so unthinkable by the end of your first game!
Important: Placing tiles in the manners described in example 4, 5 & 6, above, makes sense only within the framework of a bluffing strategy, because the resources
which they represent will not be taken into account at the time votes are counted. It is thus recommended to use tiles of
low values in these cases.
Bluffing
Bluffing is necessary to win. Throughout the game, each player must decide which elections he will try to win
and which elections he will concede to his adversary. During the elections which he
has decided to concede, it is in the player's best interest to sacrifice a minimum number of points while making his opponent believe
quite the opposite, so that this election is as expensive as possible to his adversary, reducing
his opponent's chances to win subsequent elections (see Example of the Course of an Election at the end of these rules).
Counting the Votes
To tally the votes, each player looks only at the tiles present in his building associated with the election.
Thus, in the election of a General, each player would concern himself only with the tiles in his own citadel.
He totals the value of the Electorate Tiles of the same profession as the representative being elected.
If his opponent has send appropriate Electorate Tiles to block some of his votes, he then makes the proper deductions, unless he
has countered the blocks with Electorate Tiles he has placed there for that purpose.
Important: Score of zero, (when the value of the Blocking Tiles is higher than that of the Characters blocked) are
deemed to be zero. If both players have a score of zero, the election is null.
Null elections
If, when all the votes are counted, the scores of the two players are equal, or both players have a score of zero, the
election is declared null. There is no re-vote or run-off. The Representative Token that would have
been won at this election is turned over and placed, Null side up, in the middle column of the Election Chart covering the number
corresponding to the election just held.
End of the game
A player is declared the winner if he either:
- Wins three consecutive elections (they cannot be separated by a null election).
In this case, the game stops immediately, or;
- He has more representatives than his adversary at the end of the nine elections.
- Or he has won at least five elections.
If, at the end of the game, both players have an equal number of representatives, each player totals the values of their three remaining tiles:
the winner is the player with the most points on these three tiles.