Kilin



"Only 30 Stanford trees were hurt in the making of this game."

- Kilin box

Kilin is a game that was created for a history project. It is a faster variant of Uno. Each color corresponds to an ancient West African empire, and each number corresponds to a fact about that empire. Wild cards are renamed "Geography" cards and feature landscapes or animals.

Gameplay

 * Ages: 5+
 * Players: 2 - 8


 * 1) All cards are placed in a pile, called the draw pile, face-down. One player draws one card from the top. Starting with the player to the left of the first player to draw, every other player draws one card in a clockwise order. The player with the highest number on their card (Geography cards are worth 0) gets to go first, and has the option to pick a variant or a combination of variants that alter the gameplay. In the case of a tie, the players with the highest number will draw again as a tiebreaker.
 * 2) The cards that were taken out are put back randomly into the draw pile. Then each player draws 5 cards, starting with the player who won the initial draw and continuing in a clockwise fashion. After everyone has drawn, one card is flipped over and the game begins.
 * 3) The first player must put down another card of the same color or number as the one that was flipped over, or a Geography card. If the card that was flipped over was a Geography card, any card can be played. If the player cannot play any card, they must draw cards from the draw pile until they are able to. The game continues going towards the left of whoever started, and this continues on for each subsequent player.
 * 4) Gameplay continues as usual until one person has a single card remaining in their hand. Upon placing their penultimate card, they must declare "Kilin!" If they do not and are caught, they are penalized and have to draw 2 cards from the draw pile.
 * 5) The first player to have 0 cards in their hands wins. After this happens, gameplay may or may not continue, depending on preference.

Mali (green)

 * 1) Leaders (2)
 * 2) Rise (2)
 * 3) Government (2)
 * 4) Conquest (2)
 * 5) Religion (2)
 * 6) Art (2)
 * 7) Trade (2)
 * 8) Fall (2)

Ghana (blue)

 * 1) Leaders (2)
 * 2) Rise (2)
 * 3) Government (2)
 * 4) Conquest (2)
 * 5) Religion (2)
 * 6) Art (2)
 * 7) Trade (2)
 * 8) Fall (2)

Songhai (red)

 * 1) Leaders (2)
 * 2) Rise (2)
 * 3) Government (2)
 * 4) Conquest (2)
 * 5) Religion (2)
 * 6) Art (2)
 * 7) Trade (2)
 * 8) Fall (2)

Villages (yellow)

 * 1) Leaders (2)
 * 2) Rise (2)
 * 3) Government (2)
 * 4) Conquest (2)
 * 5) Religion (2)
 * 6) Art (2)
 * 7) Trade (2)
 * 8) Fall (2)

Geography (white)
Geography cards can be played over any card.


 * Rift (4) - The next player's turn is skipped.
 * River (4) - Reverse the direction of play.
 * Camel (4) - Take another turn.
 * Savannah (2) - Change the color in play.
 * Rain Forest (2) - The next player must draw 2 cards and has their turn skipped. Change the color in play.
 * Sandstorm (2) - The next player must draw 4 cards and has their turn skipped. Change the color in play.

Other Rulesets
New rulesets provide more variety to playing Kilin.

Progressive Kilin

 * This game mode adds one crucial rule: Rift, River, Sandstorm, and Rain Forest are cumulative (however, Camel and Savannah are not cumulative.) If any player is targeted by any one of those cards and have their own in their hand, they can, instead of taking the penalty, choose to instead play any corresponding cumulative card, passing on the penalty of both cards to the next person ("chaining" the geographies).
 * Only one skip in a chain applies. If Player A plays a Rift and Player B plays another Rift, Player C after them is not skipped twice, nor is Player D after Player C skipped.


 * In all geography card "chains," any color changes are decided by the person who played the last color-changing geography card.
 * If a player is forced to draw from their own Rain Forest or Sandstorm in this way, they still get to choose the color in-play.


 * The goal of this mode was to finally allow players to counter geographies played against them, whereas before they were completely helpless after being hit by one.

Jump-In Kilin

 * If a player has exactly the same card as one on the pile, they are able to immediately play their own card out of sequence if they are fast enough ("jumping in" on a card).
 * Players may jump-in on their own cards if they have two or more of the same type of card.
 * The order then continues from that person.
 * Players may also jump in on the card(s) that was/were first flipped over.


 * If players jump in on geography cards:
 * Camel - The player who jumped in steals the turn from the original person.
 * Rift - The next player after the player who jumped in is skipped (the initial player who got skipped does not suffer a penalty).
 * River - The turn order is reversed once again.
 * Savannah - The color choice of the pile is up to the person who jumped in, not the person who initially played the Savannah.
 * Rain Forest & Sandstorm - Both players who are targeted by this card will draw, but only the player who jumped in will choose the color. If a player's last card is a Rain Forest or Sandstorm and they jump in after being hit by one, and it isn't Progressive, they are still required to draw even though their hand is at 0.


 * In Progressive mode only, jumping in on geographies counts as a chain, so only the person targeted by the chain will suffer the penalties.
 * Cards must be played individually. This is to prevent situations where another player has a legal jump-in card, and can shut down the first player's combo (or even their win,) but cannot play it because the game has already ended. This is also to prevent players from abusing this to win without saying "Kilin!"
 * The goal of this mode was to speed up gameplay and introduce complex combos, especially when combined with the Two-Pile mode. It also adds a little more reflex skill in playing the game.

Two-Pile Kilin

 * Start the game as usual, but flip over 2 cards and have 2 piles instead of one. Players may put down cards on either pile.
 * Players can opt to use 3 or more piles at the discretion of other players, but this is not recommended.


 * If a player plays a Camel, they may proceed to play on either pile during their additional turn.
 * Any geography card that changes the color in-play only does so on the pile that it was played on.
 * The goal of this mode was to make playing cards easier in general, and also eliminate or minimize infinite draw sequences by giving players a broader range of options to choose from when placing down cards.

Face-up Kilin

 * All cards in the players' hands must be revealed at all times.
 * This mode was intended for Kilin: Gold Edition moreso than for Kilin Classic, as Gold Edition bans cheating and this mode reintroduces the nostalgic "cheating factor". However, it was playtested and deemed valid in Kilin Classic.

Draw Control Kilin

 * This mode cannot be paired with the Inverse mode, as it creates an exploit where players can infinitely pick up cards at will, thus making the game unplayable.
 * Draw Control mode acts exactly as it says- it allows players to have greater control of their hand and their drawing. Players may draw one card during their turn and skip their own turn. If they cannot play, they do not have to draw more than one card, but cannot play on the turn they had to draw.
 * Camels act as a "pass" card, which allow them to act as a buffer in another manner.
 * This mode's goal is to eliminate ridiculous drawing sequences completely, rather than just limit it.
 * It also slows down the pace of gameplay, unlike most other modes introduced, and adds a more strategic factor to the game in that a player may skip their own turn to preserve the top card of the pile, or give themselves more resources to change the color later if the situation is safe for them to do so.
 * This mode reintroduces a rule that was standard in Uno, and also serves as an experiment to how the game would play if the infinite draw sequences were not introduced.

Possible modifications

 * Players do not have to skip their turn after drawing.
 * Players can choose to draw any number of cards, up to a certain number (3).
 * In Inverse mode, players cannot force themselves to draw.

Inverse Kilin

 * This mode cannot be paired with the Draw Control mode, as it creates an exploit where players can infinitely pick up cards at will, thus making the game unplayable.
 * Inverse changes the win condition of the game; in this mode, it is not the goal to get rid of all of your cards, but to be the last person with cards remaining. Play continues until every person except for one has exhausted all their cards.
 * This reinvents the game, allowing for a much more different strategy- players should force others to play all of their cards and win instead of trying to make them draw.

Stacker Kilin

 * This mode allows players to play all cards of the same number on a single turn ("pivoting" the color), given they are fast enough.
 * For example, if a player has several "1" cards, they may pivot the color by playing all the "1"s in any order, considering the first "1" is legal for the pile.
 * If the next player is fast enough, they may play before the turn player finishes putting down their cards to end their stack.
 * Stacked cards must be played on the same pile.
 * As with Camels, as well as Jump-In, cards must be played one at a time.
 * Players may also stack two of the same Geographies at a time. The next player suffers the penalties of only the top card.


 * The goal of this mode is to further speed up gameplay, to a greater extent than even Jump-In did, and give players the opportunities to force wins more easily, while also giving the opportunity to take away someone else's secured win by pivoting the color.
 * This mode was intended for 1v1, and its original intention was to allow players to take a gamble and pivot colors in 1v1 so that they are not forced into an auto-lose situation.


 * Rules change slightly if Stacker is combined with other modes:
 * Progressive - When Geographies are stacked, the recipient takes penalties of both.
 * Jump-In - Players may jump in on any of the cards played, given it is still the top one on the pile. This ends a player's stack.

Floater Kilin

 * This mode adds one critical rule: Along with the regular piles, there will also exist a "pool" of 3 cards that any person can access, but is part of no one's hand. After the initial dealing, the dealer will excavate 3 cards and place them near the pile.
 * Instead of playing a card from their hand, any player can instead use cards from the pool. After doing this, the top card of the Deck replaces it in the pool.
 * Cards in the pool are not considered part of anyone's hand, so players can choose to draw if they would normally not be able to play anything. If players commit to drawing instead of playing a valid card from the pool, they cannot use the pool for that turn; i.e. they cannot stop drawing until they can play something from their hand, and can only play from their hand.


 * Rulings with other modes:
 * Progressive - Players can only use geographies in their hand to chain, not ones in the pool.
 * Jump-in - Players can only use cards in their hand to jump-in, not ones in the pool.
 * Stacker - Players can only use cards in their hand to continue a stack, not ones in the pool. However, they can begin a stack with a card in the pool.


 * This mode gives more resources to everyone overall, and like Draw Control, also forces players to think about hand advantage; should they use a pooled card to change the color and stay at 5 cards, or should they play a card in their hand and go down to 4?

Kilin! Doubles (unofficial)

 * True to the name, this mode involves people pairing up (even number of players required), and teaming up to win.
 * This could be done either by:
 * Each person has a 5-card hand, but if one person from a team wins, their whole team wins.
 * Teams share 10 cards and collude to try to get rid of all of them.

2012 - 2013
People who participated:
 * Rathon (1st place)
 * Wolf787
 * Timson622222 (2nd place)
 * Noodlebrain
 * Mufufu Master
 * Berner5
 * Firetrail4
 * Hoothooot
 * Ryanmasta12345 (3rd place)
 * DragonXxAzn
 * Roger
 * Brenden
 * Jeff
 * Tyler
 * IceySkillz
 * Captain
 * Abhishek

2013 - 2014
A number in parantheses next to the player indicates how many wins they have gotten starting from Monday of that week (the actual values will not be weighted until Friday afternoon of the same week.) ±0 indicates neither an increase nor a decrease. Decreases in points usually do not happen, unless the player had done something extremely controversial consistently. Only then will a deduction in Kils be considered by the developers.

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This, however, is accurate.