Baltic Year – A Journey Through the Ancestral Year Cycle

“Baltic Year” is a board game that brings the ancient Baltic Year Cycle with its eight main celebrations to cards. Each celebration is marked with authentic symbols verified by folklore experts. While playing, you’ll discover ancient wisdom and experience an exciting strategic adventure.

Why Choose “Baltic Year”

• 🧠 Strategy + culture – learn while playing
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family evening favorite – 15-minute games, suitable for ages 6+
• 🇱🇹 Authentic Lithuanian product – original design, scientifically grounded content
• 🎁 Perfect gift – for culture enthusiasts, children, friends, or even foreign guests

How to Play?

Game Objective: Collect the fewest points OR win by gathering:

• 4 symbol tokens of any kind, OR
• 3 symbol tokens that are adjacent in the Baltic Year Cycle

Setup

• Each player receives 7 cards
• Remaining cards form a face-down draw pile, with one top card flipped face-up to start the discard pile
• 8 symbol tokens are placed in the center of the table

Gameplay (clockwise):

1. Discard a card or combination (a sequence of the same symbol OR cards with the same number but different symbols)
2. Take one card – either from the draw pile or from the discard pile
3. When you play a sequence of one symbol’s cards – take the corresponding token

Special Cards

• Magic card (value 0) – can substitute any number or symbol
• Symbol tokens – each reduces your points by -7, and certain combinations let you win instantly

End of Round

• If you have 7 or fewer points in hand, you can shout “STOP” – the round ends
• All other players take one final turn
• Remaining cards in hand = point sum, tokens subtract points (-7 each)

End of Game

• The game continues for several rounds until at least one player reaches 30 points or more
• The winner is the player with the fewest points
• Any player who collects 4 tokens of any kind OR 3 consecutive tokens in the year cycle wins immediately

What’s in the Box?

• 56 high-quality cards with authentic Baltic symbols
• 8 symbol tokens
• 7 player pieces
• Point scoring board (inside the box)
• Game rules

Who Is It For?

• Families wanting fun and meaningful gameplay
• Board game enthusiasts looking for quick but exciting strategy
• Culture enthusiasts and educational institutions
• Tourists and Lithuanian communities abroad

Authors and Creators

• Game mechanics author – Tadas Kastanauskas
• Design – Povilė Šlepetytė
• Content created in collaboration with “Mėnuo Juodaragis” team and folklore experts