COMPONENTS

CURRENCY

• 100 Dirhams
  (1-unit silver cards)
• 50 Five-Dirham cards
• 50 Dinars
  (1-unit gold cards)

NOTE: 1 Dinar = 10 Dirhams

TROOPS

• 80 Ayubistan Troops
  (can be bought or sold)
• 30 Mushrikeen Troops

RIGHTEOUS & EVIL DEEDS

• 99 Hasanaat Cards
• 23 Sayi'aat Cards

OTHER CARDS

• 44 Action Cards
• 5 Reference Cards

SETUP OPTIONS

ALLOWED PLAYERS

2 - 6
If more than 6 players, play can be with
2 - 6 teams

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PLAY DURATION

Standard Play:

• 40-60 minutes per game
• Play with 63 Hasanaat
• Action Card deck is used once

Extended Play:

• 60-90 minutes per game
• Play with all 99 Hasanaat
• Action Card Deck is used twice
  (unless Hasanaat or Sayi'aat finish first)

GAME SETUP

1. Separate each type of card into its own deck, facing upward in the middle of the table (see image below).
2. Shuffle all 44 Action Cards and place them face-DOWN, also in the center of the table, and lay out each Reference Card (shown in black) facing UP near the other decks (see image below). The center where all these decks are placed is known as the "Treasury". The Treasury holds all communal money, troops, and cards not owned by players.

→ Action Cards

3. Give each player the following to start:
   • 10 "1-Dirham" Cards
   • 6 "5-Dirham" Cards
   • 6 "1-Dinar" Cards
   • 3 Ayubistan Troops
4. Determining the order of play:
   • Youngest player goes first
   • Play proceeds to the right
5. Briefly Review the "Reference Cards"
   • After reading all rules, make sure players understand the reminders discussed on each Reference Card
   • Use them for quick & easy reference during game play

→

TURN STRUCTURE

* EACH PLAYER CHOOSES
ONLY ONE ACTION BELOW
DURING THEIR TURN *

1. DONATE TO THE NEEDY

Donate 20 Dirhams to gain 1 Hasanah:
15 Dirhams go to the Treasury and 5 Dirhams go to the player of your choice.
Only 1 Hasanah can be earned per turn.

NOTE: Hasanaat can never be traded between players.

2. RECRUIT TROOPS

Recruit up to 3 Troops from the Treasury

• Troops cost 5 Dirhams each
• Payment goes to the Treasury
• Players may choose instead to trade up to 3 troops from another player at any negotiated rate
• If Treasury is empty, you may still trade

3. WORK & EARN

Spend your day working & collect 8 Dirhams from the Treasury.

4. DRAW AN ACTION CARD

Draw an Action Card from the top of the deck and follow the instructions on it. Afterwards, place it face up in a "discard" pile nearby.

NOTE:

For additional details on some Action Cards, see subsequent pages.

5. ATTACK & WIN 4 DINARS

Procedure for attacking another player:

1. You need at least 1 Troop and can attack only 1 player during your turn.
2. Upon declaring an attack, the attacking player immediately earns 1 Sayi'ah.
3. Both the attacker and the defending player then secretly select the number of Troops to commit from their hand to prepare for their battle.
4. A defender must have at least 1 Ayubistan Troop to defend, otherwise the defender automatically loses.
5. The attacker and defender can allocate as many troops as they wish.
6. When ready, both players reveal the number of Troops they are committing to the battle at the same time.
7. The attacker then replaces their Ayubistan Troops with Mushrikeen Troops temporarily for the battle.

8. The attacker then shuffles those troops (which are Mushrikeen Troops) with the defender's committed Troops, and lays them all face down between both players.
9. If 5 or more total troops among both players are committed, players resolve the battle using a best-of-3 draw. If less than 5 total troops are committed, players draw a single card from the shuffled pile to see who wins.

NOTE: This means if an attacker commits 5 Troops, the defender must commit at least 2 or automatically loses the battle.

10. Whichever army's troop is drawn, wins that round. If the attacker wins, they collect 4 Dinars from the defender. If the defender wins, they lose nothing.
11. If the attacker wins or loses, they retain the Sayi'ah.
12. Loser forfeits all committed troops; winner loses half, rounded down.

PLAYER VS. PLAYER ATTACK EXAMPLE

→ Player A decides to dedicate their turn to attacking Player B.

→ After declaring who to attack, Player A (the attacker) immediately collects 1 Sayi'ah from the Sayi'ah deck and adds it to their hand, whether they are victorious or defeated.

→ Player A then reveals they are attacking with 5 committed troops, while Player B decides to commit 3 troops and reveals them at the same time.

→

→ Player A exchanges their 5 Ayubistan Troops for 5 Mushrikeen Troops, then proceeds to shuffle all 8 committed troop cards together.

+

Combine all << & Shuffle

First Army to Reveal 2 wins

PLAYER VS. PLAYER ATTACK EXAMPLE

(CONTINUED)

→ The combined committed troop count is greater than 5, so player A must draw 2 Mushrikeen Troops from the pile to win the battle out of a total of 3 cards drawn (i.e. "best-of-3").

→ If player A draws 2 Mushrikeen or 2 Ayubistan Troops in a row, the third card does not need to be drawn.

→ If Player A wins, they take 4 Dinars from Player B's hand, and lose only 2 Troops while retaining 3. Player B loses all 3 of their Troops.

→ Player A returns 3 Ayubistan Troops back to their hand, while placing all 5 Mushrikeen Troops they used back to the main deck of Mushrikeen Troops.

→ If Player B had won, they would have retained 2 of their 3 committed Troops, while Player A would have lost all 5 of their committed Ayubistan Troops and collected 0 Dinar.

NOTE: Use Attacking Reference Card I for quick reminders during gameplay.

ADDITIONAL ACTION CARD EXPLANATIONS

BYZANTINES, CRUSADERS, & MONGOLS

These trigger an invasion of Ayubistan.

1. Starting with the player who drew the card and continuing right, each player may contribute troops to the war, up to a maximum number, depending on how many players are playing:

# of Players	Max Troops Each Player can Contribute
2	8
3	6
4	5
5	4
6	3

BYZANTINES, CRUSADERS, & MONGOLS

(CONTINUED)

2. If a player has decided not to contribute any troops, or has no troops to contribute, they earn 1 Sayi'ah, since they failed in their duty to defend Ayubistan.
3. Committed troops do not return to any player after the war is over.
4. If the war is won, players earn 1 Hasanah & 1 Dinar for every troop they personally → committed, as legitimate spoils of war for defending Ayubistan and their homes.
5. If the war is lost, players still earn 1 Hasanah for every troop they personally committed, for defending Ayubistan and their homes. All players also lose 4 Dinars each to the Mushrikeen Army (which are placed back in the Treasury). If a player has fewer than 4, they lose all their wealth.

BYZANTINES, CRUSADERS, & MONGOLS

(CONTINUED)

6. The war against the Mushrikeen Armies is fought in a similar manner to battles between players, however all players unite, and combine all committed Troops, then shuffle together with the number of Mushrikeen Troops designated on the Action Card that was drawn.
7. The war lasts longer depending on which Mushrikeen Army is drawn:

BYZANTINES	CRUSADERS	MONGOLS
Attack with 7 Mushrikeen Troops	Attack with 12 Mushrikeen Troops	Attack with 17 Mushrikeen Troops
Players Draw Best-of-7	Players Draw Best-of-9	Players Draw Best-of-11

BYZANTINES, CRUSADERS, & MONGOLS

(CONTINUED)

8. In the event that the combined number of player troops are not enough to meet the minimum required troops to win a draw (4 for Byzantines, 5 for Crusaders, and 6 for Mongols), the Mushrikeen Army automatically wins, but Hasanaat are still earned for anyone that contributed troops.

NOTE: Troops are committed beginning with the player that drew the Action Card and continuing to the right. Once Troops have been committed, players cannot cancel their commitment.

Players do not need to reveal how many troops they plan to commit until their turn to commit has come.

Players may take turns drawing from the shuffled deck of Troops or may designate one player to draw all.

BYZANTINES, CRUSADERS, & MONGOLS

(CONTINUED)

9. After the war, Hasanaat are awarded 1 at a time, starting with the player who drew the Action Card, and continuing to the right. If the Hasanaat are not enough to award everyone for the Troops they committed, players continue to earn 1 at a time from the Treasury until all Hasanaat run out (and the game ends).

Example War:

Count
12

VS

• 3 Players contributing Troops
• Enemy: Crusaders
• First Army to draw 5 Troops wins (Best-of-9)

Combine all
& Shuffle

Draw until one side reveals 5 Troops

BYZANTINES, CRUSADERS, & MONGOLS

(CONTINUED)

If Players Are Victorious:

Spoils of War
& Reward

If Players Are Defeated:

Reward and
loss of 4
Dinars Each

KHALIFA CARD

After saving the Khalifa's life, he is indebted to you. The player that draws this can hold onto it and reveal it later to redo a lost Mushrikeen war. Alternatively, the player may instead collect 3 Dinars, and the card is then discarded.

INSUFFICIENT FUNDS

(MERCY RULE)

• In the event that a player is unable to pay their dues, they pay what they're able to.
• Any player that is insufficiently paid as a result of an Action Card may also choose to force the player who is in debt to sell Troops back to the Treasury as needed, for 3 Dirhams each. Otherwise, the player who is owed money can choose to forgive the remaining debt (no Hasanah awarded for this).
• Partial payments cannot be used to make purchases.

THE THIEF'S
TEMPTATION CARD

• Sometimes thefts occur in Ayubistan while players are unaware. This theft cannot be stopped.
• The player may steal from 1 single player, or decline to use the card.
• Stealing grants 1 Sayi'ah but earnings vary as shown in the table below:

# of Times Action Card Has Been Drawn	Player's Optional Action
1st Time	Steal 3 Dinars Earn 1 Sayi'ah
2nd Time	Steal 4 Dinars Earn 1 Sayi'ah
3rd Time	Steal 5 Dinars Earn 1 Sayi'ah
4th Time	Steal 6 Dinars Earn 1 Sayi'ah

NOTE: Use The Thief's Temptation Reference Card for quick reminders during gameplay.

ENDING THE GAME
AND SCORING

GAME ENDS WHEN ANY
OF THE FOLLOWING
OCCUR:

• The last Hasanah is earned from the Treasury.
• The last Sayi'ah is earned from the Treasury.
• All Action Cards have been drawn once if playing with 63 Hasanaat.
• All Action Cards have been drawn twice if playing with 99 Hasanaat.

SCORING:

Your Final Score =

Total Hasanaat Earned

Minus

Total Sayi'aat Earned

• Highest scoring player is the most righteous, strategic, and victorious.
• If there is a tie: both players celebrate their righteous victory together...

PRO TIPS FROM THE

CREATOR OF AYUBISTAN

• During gameplay, keep your cards secret to prevent others from knowing your money and troop strength in case they decide to attack you.
• Make sure to stock up on Troops to defend against Mushrikeen armies.
• Always keep at least one Troop in your hand to defend against player attacks, and avoid earning a Sayi'ah if a war with the Mushrikeen Armies occurs.
• During Player vs. Player battles, always commit an odd number of troops.
• Owning too much wealth makes you more susceptible to making enemies. Just like in real life, don't lose sight of the main goal!

Any questions about specific action cards? Click this button: