Gamehelpbigsur

Overview

In Big Sur, players compete to build the most impressive section of California's iconic Highway 1.

Collect Highway cards, spend Materials to construct your road, connect matching Scenery to create valuable Stretches, and claim Landmarks for special abilities and bonus points.

The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

• Players: 2–4
• Playing time: Approximately 30 minutes

Game Components

• 69 Highway cards
• 20 Landmark cards
• 1 First Player marker
• Scorepad and pencil (used in the physical game)

Scenery Types

There are five types of Scenery:

• Ocean
• Forest
• Mountain
• Flower
• Field

Matching Scenery icons on adjacent Highway cards can form Stretches that score points.

Material Types

There are five types of Materials:

• Stone
• Water
• Timber
• Engineering
• Steel

Materials are used to pay the construction costs of Highway cards.

Setup

The Highway deck is prepared according to the player count:

• 4 players: Use all Highway cards.
• 2–3 players: Include only Highway cards marked for the current player count.

Each player starts with 2 Highway cards in hand.

Five Highway cards are revealed face-up to form the Depot.

Five Landmark cards are revealed face-up from the shuffled Landmark deck.

The First Player is determined, and play proceeds clockwise.

Turn Structure

Each turn consists of three steps, performed in order:

1. Take 2 Highway cards (required).
2. Build Highway cards (optional).
3. Claim 1 Landmark (optional).

After these steps, the Depot is refilled to five cards and the next player takes their turn.

Step 1: Take Highway Cards

You must take exactly 2 Highway cards each turn.

You may take cards from:

• The five face-up cards in the Depot.
• The face-down Highway deck.
• Any combination of these sources.

The Depot is not refilled until the end of your turn.

There is no hand size limit.

Highway cards serve two purposes:

• Their front side represents a section of Highway you can build.
• Their back side provides a Material that can be spent to build other cards.

The front of each Highway card also shows a reminder of its Material type.

Step 2: Build Your Highway

You may build any number of Highway cards from your hand, provided you can pay their construction costs.

Each Highway card shows the Materials required to construct it.

Materials can be supplied using three methods:

1. Discard Cards from Your Hand

Discard Highway cards from your hand to supply their Materials.

Each discarded card provides the Material shown on its back.

Discarded cards are placed in your personal discard pile, with the most recently discarded Material visible on top.

Material Substitution:

If you need a particular Material, you may discard any 3 Highway cards from your hand to supply 1 Material of your choice.

2. Persistent Materials

Every 1-Mile Highway card provides a Persistent Material.

Once the card has been built into your Highway, you may use its Persistent Material:

• Once per turn.
• Without discarding the built card.
• Even during the same turn in which the card was built.

Each Persistent Material is available independently.

Some Landmark abilities may modify how these Materials can be used.

3. Recycling

Your personal discard pile provides another source of Materials.

You may use the Material shown on the top card of your discard pile once per turn.

This is called Recycling.

Important rules:

• Recycling does not remove the card from your discard pile.
• You can use Recycling only once per turn.
• Changing the top card of your discard pile does not reset Recycling.
• You may choose when to use Recycling while paying construction costs.

You may combine discarded cards, Persistent Materials, and Recycling in any order to pay construction costs.

Highway Placement

Your built Highway forms a single continuous row of cards.

Your first Highway card begins your road.

Every subsequent Highway card must be placed at either:

• The left end of your Highway.
• The right end of your Highway.

You cannot:

• Insert a card between previously built cards.
• Rearrange your Highway.
• Move, replace, or discard a card after building it.

Careful placement is essential for creating valuable Stretches.

Creating Stretches

A Stretch is a continuous sequence of matching Scenery containing at least 3 icons of the same type.

Matching Scenery icons must appear on adjacent Highway cards.

The order of the two Scenery icons on a card does not matter.

Both Scenery icons on a Highway card may connect to matching icons on adjacent cards.

Stretch Examples

• Two matching icons: Not a Stretch.
• Three matching icons: Valid Stretch.
• Four matching icons: Valid Stretch.

Some Highway cards contain two icons of the same Scenery type.

Consequently, a valid Stretch can sometimes be formed using only 2 Highway cards, provided they contain at least 3 matching Scenery icons in total.

Stretch Length

A Stretch's length is calculated by adding the Mile values of all Highway cards belonging to that Stretch.

For example:

A Forest Stretch containing cards worth 2, 2, 3, and 1 miles has a total length of:

2 + 2 + 3 + 1 = 8 miles

This Stretch scores 8 points at the end of the game.

Overlapping Stretches

Because Highway cards can contain two different Scenery types, different Stretches may overlap.

A Highway card may contribute its Mile value to more than one Stretch.

For example, a card containing Ocean and Mountain icons may contribute to both an Ocean Stretch and a Mountain Stretch.

You may also create multiple separate Stretches of the same Scenery type if they are interrupted by cards without matching Scenery.

Step 3: Claim a Landmark

You may claim up to 1 Landmark per turn.

To claim a Landmark:

1. Have a qualifying Stretch in your Highway.
2. The Stretch must match the Scenery requirement shown on the Landmark card.
3. The Stretch must not have been used previously to claim another Landmark.
4. Choose an available Landmark from the face-up Landmark row.
5. Place the Landmark above one of the Highway cards belonging to its qualifying Stretch.

The Landmark row is immediately refilled after claiming a card.

Landmark Restrictions

• Only 1 Landmark may be claimed per turn.
• Each Stretch can be used to claim only 1 Landmark.
• A longer Stretch does not allow additional Landmarks to be claimed from that same Stretch.
• Each Highway card may have only 1 Landmark placed above it.
• Claimed Landmarks cannot be moved or replaced.
• Two overlapping Stretches may each qualify for their own Landmark, subject to the placement restrictions.

Landmark Abilities

Landmarks provide special abilities or additional scoring opportunities.

Some examples include:

• Using a Persistent Material more than once per turn.
• Using a Material from another player's Highway.
• Using the top Material of another player's discard pile.
• Increasing the Mile value of a Highway card.
• Scoring bonus points for particular Scenery icons.
• Scoring additional points for collecting certain Landmarks.

Some Landmark abilities provide benefits during gameplay, while others provide points during final scoring.

Read each Landmark's text carefully before claiming it.

End of Turn

After taking 2 Highway cards, optionally building, and optionally claiming a Landmark:

1. Refill the Depot to 5 face-up Highway cards.
2. End your turn.
3. The next player takes their turn clockwise.

The Landmark row is refilled immediately whenever a Landmark is claimed, rather than at the end of the turn.

End of Game

The game ends when the Highway deck is empty after refilling the Depot at the end of a player's turn.

The deck is configured so that all players receive the same number of turns.

Players then score their completed Highways.

Final Scoring

Your final score consists of three categories:

1. Stretches
2. 2-Mile Bonuses
3. Landmarks

1. Stretch Scoring

Score 1 point per mile in each qualifying Stretch.

A qualifying Stretch must contain at least 3 connected Scenery icons of the same type.

Add together the Mile values of the Highway cards in each Stretch.

Different overlapping Stretches score independently, even when they share Highway cards.

Highway sections that do not form a qualifying Stretch score no Stretch points.

2. 2-Mile Bonuses

Each 2-Mile Highway card has a special scoring condition.

Score the indicated bonus points for every applicable 2-Mile card in your Highway.

These bonuses apply even if the card is not part of a qualifying Stretch.

Follow the scoring condition printed on each card.

3. Landmark Scoring

Score points based on the total number of Landmarks in your Highway:

• 0 Landmarks: 0 points
• 1–2 Landmarks: 3 points
• 3–4 Landmarks: 5 points
• 5 or more Landmarks: 8 points

These are total category scores, not points per Landmark.

Additionally, score any points provided by individual Landmark abilities.

Important: If a Landmark increases the Mile value of a Highway card, that increase applies to the entire card.

All qualifying Stretches containing that Highway card benefit from the increased Mile value.

Scoring Example

Suppose your completed Highway contains:

Stretches:

• Field Stretch: 6 miles = 6 points
• Ocean Stretch: 6 miles = 6 points
• Mountain Stretch: 7 miles = 7 points

A Forest icon that does not belong to a qualifying Stretch scores nothing.

2-Mile Bonuses:

A card awards 1 point for each different Scenery type in your Highway.

You have Forest, Field, Ocean, and Mountain.

• 4 different Scenery types = 4 points

Landmarks:

• 1 Landmark = 3 points
• Landmark ability awards 4 additional points

Final Score:

• Stretches: 19 points
• 2-Mile Bonuses: 4 points
• Landmark count: 3 points
• Landmark ability: 4 points

TOTAL: 30 POINTS

Winning the Game

The player with the highest total score wins!

Strategy Tips

• Plan your Scenery: Build matching icons beside one another to create longer Stretches.
• Use both ends: You can expand your Highway from either end, creating opportunities for different Scenery types.
• Build 1-Mile cards early: Their Persistent Materials provide additional construction resources throughout the game.
• Manage Recycling: The top card of your discard pile can provide a useful free Material once each turn.
• Watch the Depot: Available Highway cards are limited, and the Depot does not refill until the end of your turn.
• Choose Landmarks carefully: Each Stretch can claim only one Landmark, and Landmark placement is permanent.
• Consider overlapping Stretches: A single Highway card can contribute to the scoring of multiple Scenery types.
• Do not ignore 2-Mile Bonuses: Their scoring abilities work even outside qualifying Stretches.

Credits

• Game Design: Mondo Davis
• Illustration: Tristam Rossin
• Graphic Design: Matt Paquette & Co.
• Development and Production: Chad Elkins
• UX/UI Consulting: Kate Finch, Joel Finch
• Rulebook Editing: Joel Finch, Jon Healey

Rules based on the official Big Sur rulebook, version 1.05 (second printing).