Tycoon

A game of Tycoon as seen in Persona 5 Royal

Tycoon is a card game that appears in Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5: The Phantom X.

Origins

Tycoon, also known as Daifugō (大富豪) or Daihinmin (大貧民), is a Japanese shredding-type card game. The game uses the entirety of a standard 52-card deck, including 4 Jokers in the Persona 5 Royal version, and 3-8 players are dealt. Players must place one or more cards of equal value into a pile (card value goes from 3-2 instead of A-K) and everyone else must place the same amount of a higher value (A player places two 3's, the next can place two 5's for example). If players are unable to play any cards/ skip their turn, the current pile is removed from play and the last person to lay down a card goes next. When a player is out of cards, they are declared Tycoon (or whatever else the game is called) and are out of play for that round. Play continues like this until everyone has run out of cards and has a title (in descending order: Tycoon, Rich, Poor, Beggar). After the round is over, players count their score based on placement (for example, Tycoon gets 3 points, Rich 2, Poor 1, and Beggar none) and the next round starts. Upon the next round, players trade cards based on rank:

• The Tycoon must give 2 cards of their choice to the Beggar
• The Rich must give 1 card of their choice to the Poor
• The Poor must give their highest value card to the Rich
• The Beggar must give their 2 highest value cards to the Tycoon

After cards are dealt, whichever player is the Beggar begins the round. Play continues for a set amount of rounds, and the player with the highest score wins.

Gameplay

Persona 5 Royal

Tycoon is unlocked along with the Thieves Den on May 4th. Other members of the Phantom Thieves become available to play as opponents as they join the party throughout the story. The basic rules are as follows:

• The game is always played with 4 players, consisting of Joker as the sole human player and a random selection of three party members.
• Play lasts for 3 rounds
• Whoever has the 3 of Diamonds starts the first round.

Along with the basic rules, there are additional house rules:

Rule	Description
8-Stop	If an 8 comes into play at any point, the current pile is immediately removed from play and whoever played the 8 goes next
Joker Rule	Four additional Jokers are in play along with the standard deck. Jokers are the only thing higher than a 2 and can act as a substitute in a pair (two 10's and a Joker equate to three 10's)
3 of Spades	If a single Joker is in play, a player can play a 3 of Spades, removing the pile from play and letting them go next
Revolution	If someone plays 4 of a kind (including Joker substitutes), the value of the cards are reversed (2 is the lowest, 3 is the highest).
Counter-Revolution	If someone plays 4 of a kind (including Joker substitutes) during a revolution at any point (including before a revolution takes effect), card value returns to normal
Bankruptcy	If someone becomes Tycoon in the second or third round that wasn't Tycoon beforehand, the previous Tycoon is immediately out of play and demoted to Beggar

Extensive Rules can be found here, for the purposes of play with a physical deck of cards.

After the end of the game, depending on the final score and what difficulty they select, the player will earn a certain amount of P Medals to use in the Thieves Den:

P Medal Winnings Chart

Rank	Difficulty
	Casual (Easy)	Serious (Medium)	Cutthroat (Hard)
1st	5	10	15
2nd	4	8	13
3rd	3	5	10
4th	1	3	5

Tycoon also has its own set of Challenges which can be completed for P Medals. These are separate from the main Achievements of the Thieves Den.

Tycoon Challenges

Challenge	Description	P Medals
Easy Champion	Become Tycoon in a casual game.	1
Easy Master	Become Tycoon five times across casual games.	3
Normal Champion	Become Tycoon in a serious game.	1
Normal Master	Become Tycoon 10 times across serious games.	5
Hard Champion	Become Tycoon in a cutthroat game.	1
Hard Master	Become Tycoon fifteen times across cutthroat games.	10
Ritzy Revolutionary	Become Tycoon on a round in which you started a Revolution.	3
Mega-Tycoon	Become Tycoon in every round of a cutthroat game.	5
Running on Fumes	Finish off a round with a Three.	3
Wild Card Finale	Finish off a round with a Joker.	3
Leaving a Mess	Finish off a round with a Revolution.	7
Rags to Riches	Start a round as a Beggar, then end as a Tycoon.	7
Avalanche!	Finish a round of a cutthroat game while all other players have hands of ten or more cards.	10
Riot Control	Perform a Counter Revolution.	5
Soul of a Rebel	Respond to a Joker with a Three of Spades.	3
The 3-Card Kid	Perform "Three Cards" three times within one game.	10
Phantom Tycoon	Reach Tycoon rank in cutthroat games against every party member. This is a mistranslation; the actual requirement is to come in first overall while playing against each party member.	7
Neverending Turn	Force all opponents to pass three consecutive times in a serious or cutthroat game.	10
Karmic Balance	Bankrupt another player and become Tycoon.	3
Comeback Tycoon	Become a Beggar at least once and still end the game at the top final rank.	7
Tycoon Master	Complete all challenges.	20

Persona 5: The Phantom X

Tycoon was added in version 2.3.2 and is unlocked after completing the first Palace. It features a classic mode for offline play, ranked online multiplayer, and a new "Wonder" card. There are two additional modes expected to release in the future as well. The player can change the character they play as and the appearance of certain cards, and additional characters and card skins can be purchased using points gained from winning Tycoon games. The game can be played at any time through an app in the the protagonist's cellphone.

Trivia

• It is not possible for Akechi to be in the same session as either Futaba or Haru in Persona 5 Royal.

Nomenclature

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	大富豪 Daifugō	Very rich person
Simplified Chinese	大富翁 Dàfùwēng	Very rich person
Traditional Chinese	大富翁 Dàfùwēng	Very rich person
Korean	대부호 Daebuho	Very rich person