- BGG rank
- BGG #4,674
- BGG rating
- 6.4
Foodie Forest
- 2–5 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 1.4/5
- 2002
- BGG rank
- BGG #7,071
- BGG rating
- 6.3
Zen Master
2010
Rules assistance for Zen Master
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 3–5 players
- 30 min
- 8+
- Complexity 1.3/5
For 3 players
Rules assistant for Zen Master
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Zen Master is a board game released in 2010 for 3–5 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Reiner Knizia and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Trick-taking.
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About the game
Each round in Yin Yang, a.k.a. Fifty-Fifty or Zen Master, players play a card from their hand. The highest card played on a turn receives light tokens, the lowest card dark, with the exact number of tokens determined by a scoring card revealed for that turn. Once the round ends, players eliminate pairs of light and dark tokens from their holdings, and their score for the round equals however many tokens remain. After a certain number of rounds, whoever has the lowest score wins. Yin Yang differs from its predecessor Relationship Tightrope in that only nine of the ten cards in hand are played each round — giving players some wiggle room when deciding what to play — and the scoring cards have differing numbers for the light and dark tokens received on a turn (whereas in the previous game the scoring cards were parallel — such as 9/9 or 8/8).
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Popcorn Games
- Mandoo Games
- 999 Games
- Zoch Verlag
- Gigamic
- Egmont Polska
- Gen-X Games (GenX)
- Helvetiq
- Eagle-Gryphon Games
- Vem Pra Mesa Jogos
Questions and answers
Zen Master supports 3–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Zen Master is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Zen Master for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Zen Master has a complexity rating of 1.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Zen Master belongs to these categories: Card Game. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Trick-taking. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Zen Master are: Reiner Knizia. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Zen Master as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.