Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar (2012)

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About the Game

Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar presents a new game mechanism: dynamic worker placement. Players representing different Mayan tribes place their workers on giant connected gears, and as the gears rotate they take the workers to different action spots.

During a turn, players can either (a) place one or more workers on the lowest visible spot of the gears or (b) pick up one or more workers. When placing workers, they must pay corn, which is used as a currency in the game. When they pick up a worker, they perform certain actions depending on the position of the worker. Actions located “later” on the gears are more valuable, so it’s wise to let the time work for you – but players cannot skip their turn; if they have all their workers on the gears, they have to pick some up.

The game ends after one full revolution of the central Tzolk’in gear. There are many paths to victory. Pleasing the gods by placing crystal skulls in deep caves or building many temples are just two of those many paths…

Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar board game — Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar board game | Source: czechgames.com

How to Play Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar

Each player starts with a set of workers and some starting resources (randomly assigned based on a tile drawn). On a player’s turn, they can take one of two following actions.

Place Workers – A player can place any number of workers from their reserve onto one of the 5 gears. For each worker placed beyond the first, the player must spend a number of corn. Also, a player must place their worker on the lower spot on a gear. If that spot is occupied, they may place on a higher location, but must pay more corn for the privilege. A player may place as many or as few workers as they wish (up to their max available).

Retrieve Workers – If a player has no free workers to place (or just doesn’t want to place any) they may retrieve any or all of their workers from the gears. When a worker is retrieved, they take the action of whichever space their worker is currently on. Two of the wheels will provide resources to the player. Two of the other wheels will let players take actions, such as researching technology, construing buildings or getting more workers. The final wheel will help the player score more victory points and advance on the temple tracks.

After each player has taken their turn, the starting player spins the center wheel one “cog” clockwise. This will cause all the other wheels to rotate in turn. Any placed workers rotate with their gear, changing the location they are on. Players must plan carefully so they can retrieve their workers when they get to the appropriate location.

At four different spots on the center wheel (ever 1/4 full rotation), player must feed their workers corn. This can be assisted by certain buildings players can buy if they are lucky enough to be drawn in the building market. Once the wheel fully rotates back to its starting spot, the game ends and the player with the most victory points is the winner.

The gears close-up view | Source: boardgamehalv.com

Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar Review

“The criticisms of Tzolk’in I’ve heard have either been that it is too gimmicky, or too much just the familiar reassembled. I think that exactly between the two is the truth for me. The aspect of how many turns you leave a worker in place affecting what that worker does is very compelling. As you gain familiarity with the game you start planning what you will do in overlapping chunks of five turns or so. This makes for really rewarding mental puzzles that need to be tweaked, upgraded and expanded upon with every turn.”

Brian Leet, opinionatedgamers.com

“In the end, I think Tzolk’in is a good game, just not an amazing one that the hype has been promising. To be honest, if it weren’t getting all the attention for the gears, I don’t think it would have been so high on everyone’s radar.

Tzolk’in does a lot of things right and is going to appeal to a lot of gamers. Anyone looking for a game that’s going to push your abilities to plan ahead is going to have a great time with Tzolk’in.”

Tony Mastrangeli, boardgamequest.com

“Tzolk’in is one of those games that I feel is just within my grasp. That’s part of what makes it so challenging, we’re each facing the same obstacles and issues. It’s just a question of who is going to manage our workers and resources in the best way to get those elusive points.

It’s also a game that, once I’ve finished playing, I need to take a short breather—and then I want to play it again.”

Tom Franklin, meeplemountain.com

The content of this article is originally from Board Game Geek and boardgamequest.com. For more information and a better understanding of the game, you can watch the videos below.

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