How to Play Tzolk’in: Gears, Workers, Food Days & Temples
Tzolk’in is a worker-placement game built around interlocking gears. Workers become more powerful the longer they remain on a gear, so every turn asks whether to cash out now or wait for a stronger action later.
On your turn, place workers or remove workers
You generally choose one mode for the turn. Place one or more available workers onto the lowest legal open gear positions, paying the increasing corn cost, or remove one or more of your workers and resolve the actions at their current positions.
The calendar advances after everyone acts
The central Tzolk’in gear rotates the connected gears, moving workers forward to stronger positions. Waiting therefore improves action strength but keeps that worker unavailable for other tasks.
Different gears specialize in different resources/actions
Palenque, Yaxchilan, Tikal, Uxmal and Chichen Itza emphasize food/resources, materials/skulls, technologies/buildings, commerce/worker development and temple/skull scoring respectively.
Technologies improve repeated actions
Technology tracks enhance resource gathering, agriculture, construction and other systems. Investing early can increase the value of multiple later gear removals.
Food Days interrupt the normal rhythm
There are four Food Days. Feed your workers and then resolve the current monument/temple/resource rewards shown for that Food Day. Some are midgame scoring checks; the final Food Day leads into end-game scoring.
Temples and monuments are major scoring paths
Temple tracks provide Food Day rewards and final standing points, while monuments give end-game VP based on the condition printed on the tile.
Publisher reference: Czech Games Edition. Checked September 21, 2026.