Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar

Overview

Tzolk’in features a unique rotating-gear mechanism representing the Mayan calendar. The central Tzolk’in gear connects to 5 smaller gears representing cities where Mayan civilization develops: Palenque, Yaxchilan, Tikal, Uxmal, and Chichen Itza. Players place workers on the gears and retrieve them later to take actions. As the calendar advances, workers automatically move to more powerful action spaces. The game spans two ages with four Food Days triggering feeding and scoring.

Components

• 1 Game board with 6 interlocking gears
• 13 Monuments, 32 Buildings (16 per age)
• 4 Player boards (double-sided)
• 24 Workers (6 per player in 4 colors)
• Corn tokens, Crystal skulls
• Wood, Stone, Gold resource blocks
• Harvest tiles
• 21 Starting wealth tiles
• Temple markers, Technology track markers
• Scoring markers
• Rulebook

Setup

1. Assemble the board with all gears connected.
2. Rotate Tzolk’in gear until the arrow points to a Food Day tooth.
3. Create resource banks for corn, wood, stone, gold, and crystal skulls.
4. Place corn/wood harvest tiles on jungle fields.
5. Deal 6 monuments face-up and 6 Age 1 buildings face-up.
6. Each player takes a player board, scoring marker (start at 0), and temple/technology markers.
7. Deal 4 starting wealth tiles to each player; keep 2 secretly.
8. Award starting player marker to the player who “most recently sacrificed something.”

Turn Structure

Player Turn

Each turn, a player must perform exactly ONE action:

Option A: Place Workers

• Place 1 or more workers on the lowest available numbered spaces on gears.
• Cost: Base corn cost for the space number + cumulative worker cost (0 for 1st, +1 for 2nd, +2 for 3rd, etc.).

Option B: Pick Up Workers

• Remove 1 or more workers from gears.
• For each worker, choose: perform the action at the worker’s current space, pay 1 corn per space to move backward for a lesser action, or do nothing (just retrieve).

Calendar Advance (after all players finish)

1. Rotate the central gear one space counterclockwise.
2. All workers advance to the next action space.
3. Workers pushed past the highest space are returned with no action.

Actions

Palenque (Corn/Farming)

Harvest corn or wood from jungle fields. Higher spaces yield more resources.

Yaxchilan (Resources)

Collect wood, stone, gold, or crystal skulls. Higher spaces provide rarer resources.

Tikal (Buildings/Technology)

Build buildings (1 or 2 per action at higher spaces), construct monuments, or advance temple steps.

Uxmal (Trade/Temple)

Trade corn for temple advancement (3 corn per step) or build 1 building.

Chichen Itza (Crystal Skulls/Religion)

Place crystal skulls for VP and temple advancement. Convert resources.

Starting Player Space

Place a worker to claim the starting player marker during the next calendar advance.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Food Days (4 per game)

Players must feed 2 corn per worker (on gears or in supply). Unfed workers cost 3 VP each.

Mid-Age Food Days (1st and 2nd): Players receive resources and crystal skulls based on temple positions. Receive items at current step plus all lower steps.

End-of-Age Food Days (3rd and 4th): Players receive VP based on temple position. Highest player on each temple receives bonus VP.

Age Transition (at 2nd Food Day)

Remove all Age 1 buildings; deal 6 Age 2 buildings.

Final Scoring

1. Convert all remaining resources to corn at market rates.
2. Score 1 VP per 4 corn.
3. Score 3 VP per crystal skull.
4. Score monument effects.

Winner: Most VP. Tiebreakers: most workers on gears; shared victory if still tied.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Temples: Three temples with variable heights. Reaching the top provides special privileges. Only 1 player can occupy the top step. Angering the gods (burning forests, begging for corn) forces you down 1 step.
• Begging for Corn: If you have 2 or fewer corn at turn start, discard all corn and take 3 from bank. Step down 1 temple level.
• Technology Tracks (4 tracks):
  • Agriculture (green): Bonus corn when harvesting.
  • Resource Extraction (brown): Bonus resources from Yaxchilan.
  • Architecture (blue): Cheaper buildings.
  • Theology (red): Enhanced Chichen Itza actions. Reaching level 3 locks advancement; subsequent advancement triggers the bonus instead.
• Building Types: Single-use buildings provide immediate bonuses. Farms reduce feeding costs during Food Days.
• Monuments: Built only through Tikal action 4. Provide end-of-game scoring effects only.
• Worker Limit: 6 workers per player maximum. Cannot place more than available.
• Backward Movement: When retrieving workers, you may pay corn to move backward for a weaker action.
• Free Action Spaces: The highest spaces (6-7 on most gears) allow choosing any action on that gear.

Player Reference

Gear	Actions
Palenque	Corn, wood harvesting
Yaxchilan	Wood, stone, gold, crystal skulls
Tikal	Build 1-2 buildings, monuments, temples
Uxmal	Corn-to-temple trades, build 1 building
Chichen Itza	Crystal skull placement, conversions

Feeding: 2 corn per worker at Food Days

Unfed = -3 VP each

Calendar: 1 rotation per round

Workers advance automatically