Board Game Arena - User contributions [en]

Gamehelpwelcometo

2026-07-23T21:53:59Z

Chaotic iak: bis effect on eggs

Build houses on your personal three streets. Players share the same choices of house numbers and actions, but will pursue their own strategies. Show your strategy is the best by scoring the most points.

== Setup ==

Each player has their personal '''game sheet'''. The top half of the sheet contains the three '''streets''', each divided into several '''houses'''. The bottom half of the sheet is for scoring.

Your game sheet is for your own use only. Players ''never'' write on other players' sheets.

In every game, there are 3 shared '''city plans''', numbered no.1 (blue), no.2 (yellow), and no.3 (red). These are goals that players may compete for points.

In addition, there is a deck of 81 '''construction cards'''. Each construction card has a number (1-15) on the front face, and an effect (6 possible effects) on the back face. Certain numbers and effects are more common than others; see [[Tips welcometo#Construction card breakdown|#Construction card breakdown]] for a full table.

== Game overview ==

The following describes the basic game. See [[#Variants]] for game variants that may change some aspects of the game.

The game is divided into turns. Every turn, all players play simultaneously. The game continues until one player triggers the end of the game.

Each turn follows these steps:

# 1. New construction cards are revealed. There will be 3 number/effect pairs.
# 2. Choose one of the number/effect pairs, and write in the number on one of your empty houses.
# 3. Optionally, use the effect on your chosen pair.
# 4. You may complete any city plan.
# 5. All players' choices are revealed. Check if the game ends.

==== 1. New construction cards are revealed ====

The construction cards are divided into 3 stacks of 27 cards each, initially showing the number side. Every turn, the top card is flipped over, turning it into the effect side while revealing the next number side.

'''Note:''' The number side of each card also shows its effect side on the corners. Because of how the cards are flipped, this means the effects on the corners are exactly the effects you'll see next turn.

If the decks run out, the top card of each discard pile (showing the effect sides) is kept, and all other cards are reshuffled to make new piles.

==== 2. Choose a number/effect pair and write its number ====

Choose one of the three available number/effect pairs. Then choose one of your empty houses, and write in the number in that house.

Your house numbers must follow this rule: '''house numbers on a street must be strictly increasing from left to right'''. Duplicates are not allowed. However, gaps are allowed, including gaps that wouldn't be able to be filled with numbers. Also, numbers do not have to be consecutive; e.g. it is legal to put a 10 to the right of a 7.

You '''must''' write in the number. It is not legal to choose a number/action pair and then not write in the number.

If any of the numbers among the number/effect pairs can be written, you must choose a number/action pair. If you cannot, you will have to take a '''permit refusal'''. (See [[#Permit refusal]] below.)

==== 3. Optionally, use the effect ====

You ''may'' use the effect of your chosen number/effect pair. Effects are always optional; you don't have to use the effect if you don't want to.

See [[#Effects]] for a list of all effects.

==== 4. You may complete any city plan ====

If you satisfy the conditions for a city plan, you ''may'' complete it. Completing a city plan is always optional; you may choose to postpone it for a later turn if you wish.

Each city plan comes with two point values. The first player to complete a particular city plan scores the higher amount of points. If multiple players complete the city plan in the same turn, all of them score the higher amount. After this, any other player that completes the city plan will score the lower amount of points. (On BGA, city plans are displayed under each player on the sidebar. If a player completes a city plan first, they have a "1" for that city plan. If they complete a city plan later, they have a "2" for that city plan.)

If you complete a city plan and this is the first time any player completes a city plan, you may also choose whether to reshuffle the construction cards or not. If you choose to reshuffle, all construction cards are gathered together and reshuffled into 3 new piles. (This also causes the effects for next turn to be completely unpredictable.)

This option is only available the first time any player completes a city plan; there is no reshuffling option afterward. If multiple players complete a city plan at the same time, the cards are reshuffled if any one player chooses to do so.

See [[#City plans]] for more rules about city plans.

A player completing all 3 city plans is one of the game-end triggers.

==== 5. Check if the game ends ====

Steps 2-4 above are all done simultaneously, and each player doesn't know what the others are doing. Once all players are finished with the turn, everything each player does is revealed. (On BGA, there is an animation showing which houses are filled by which player. Also, you can click on each player to see their game sheet.)

The game ends when ''any'' player satisfies ''any'' of the following game-end conditions:
* • They have 3 permit refusals.
* • They complete all 3 city plans.
* • They fill all houses on their sheet.

If the game doesn't yet end, a new turn begins following the same steps.

When the game ends, each player's score is tallied; the player with the highest score wins. See [[#Scoring]] for details.

==== Permit refusal ====

If you cannot do step 2 (write in a number) of your turn, you must take a '''permit refusal'''. Cross off the smallest uncrossed number in your permit refusal area, and skip steps 2-3 of your turn. (You can find the permit refusal area in the rightmost column in the bottom half of your game sheet; it is the lower one of the two tracks.)

You may still do step 4 (complete a city plan). You will also do step 5 (reveal and check game end) with the other players.

A player having 3 permit refusals is one of the game-end triggers.

== Effects ==

There are 6 effects. Remember that all effects are ''optional''.

==== Surveyor (white fence) ====

Surveyor allows you to draw a fence between two houses. This divides your houses into estates of various sizes.

When you use a surveyor effect, draw any fence between two houses, if they are not yet connected by a line (see below) and if they are of different numbers (see "bis" effect below). You may draw any legal fence regardless of where you wrote your house number. (There are also free fences on the far left and far right of each street.)

A '''completed estate''' is a series of ''completely numbered'' houses (no gaps) in a single street, with a fence on the left and the right.

Estates may only be up to 6 houses in size. A series of more than 6 houses is not an estate, it has to be split up. On the other hand, even if an estate is already 6 houses (or fewer) in size, it may still be further split up.

Estates are often used to complete city plans. If some houses are used to complete a city plan, there will be a horizontal line drawn above the houses. Surveyor '''may not''' be used to draw a fence between two houses connected by a horizontal line.

==== Agent (purple arrow) ====

Agent allows you to improve the value of all estates of a specific size.

On your game sheet, the agent area contains 6 tracks, corresponding to estates of sizes 1-6. When you use an agent effect, cross off one of the numbers on any track. In each track, you must cross off numbers from top to bottom. (The bottom-most number of each track cannot be crossed off.)

The value of an estate of a certain size is equal to the top-most (smallest) uncrossed number of its track.

==== Landscaper (green trees) ====

Landscaper allows you to build parks on streets.

Each street has several parks, marked with circles on the far right of the street. When you use a landscaper effect, look at the street where you wrote your house number. Cross off the left-most park circle on that street. (The right-most number is not in a circle and cannot be crossed off.) At the end of the game, you will score the left-most uncrossed number from each street.

Note that there is a significant jump in score if you manage to cross off all park circles on a street. If all park circles on a street have been crossed off, further landscaper effects on this street do nothing; you cannot cross off parks from other streets.

==== Pool manufacturer (blue pool) ====

Pool manufacturer allows you to build pools for certain houses that can support them.

Some houses have a pool above them. When you use a pool manufacturer effect, look at the house where you wrote your house number. If it has a pool, circle the pool and cross off the smallest number in your pool scoring (found on the bottom half of your game sheet). At the end of the game, you will score the smallest uncrossed number from your pool scoring.

You may use a pool effect on a house that does not have a pool, but it does nothing. You may write a number on a house with a pool even though its effect is not pool, but that means the pool will never be circled.

==== Temp agency (orange construction) ====

Temp agency modifies the house number you're writing. Unlike all other effects, temp agency applies when you're writing the house number (step 2).

When you choose a number/effect pair with a temp agency effect, you may add or subtract 1 or 2 from the house number. For example, if you choose number 12, you may write a house number of 10-14.

House numbers may go as low as 0 (it is not allowed to write -1), and as high as 17.

In addition, cross off one space in your temp agency area (found on the bottom half of your game sheet). At the end of the game, players receive bonus points based on how often they use their temp agency.

'''Special case:''' Remember that you ''must'' write a number from the number/effect pairs if possible, but using an action is always optional. If there is a number/effect pair with a temp agency effect, where you cannot write the number normally, but you would be able to write the number using temp agency, it ''is'' allowed to decline using the temp agency, in case you prefer to take a permit refusal.

==== Bis (red mailbox) ====

Bis allows you to write duplicate numbers on the same street.

When you use a bis effect, choose a house adjacent to one of your numbered house with no fence in between. Write the same number, followed by a "b". (If a house is adjacent to two numbered houses, you may choose which number you're duplicating.)

For the purpose of the increasing order rule, duplicates made by bis are considered to still be in increasing order.

Duplicated houses may '''never''' be split by a fence. That means, when you duplicate a number to an adjacent house, there may not be a fence between them; and in the future, you may not draw a fence between these two houses any more.

In addition, cross off the smallest number in your bis penalty (found on the bottom half of your game sheet). At the end of the game, you will lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number from your bis penalty.

Remember that effects are optional. You don't have to use the bis effect if you don't want to, and you only have to take the bis penalty if you decide to use the bis effect.

== City plans ==

At the beginning of the game, there are 3 city plans. All players compete for the same city plans, and they are not removed or replaced during the game.

All city plans in the standard game ask you to have estates of certain sizes. To complete such a city plan, you must have the required estates on your game sheet. In addition, houses may not be re-used between different city plans. To show this, estates that are already used for city plans will have a horizontal line drawn above its houses.

When you choose to complete such a city plan, draw a horizontal line above all the houses in each estate used.

Estates may appear anywhere on your game street. There is no requirement on which street(s) they must appear on.

Variants of the game may use city plans that do not refer to estates. As a general rule, if a city plan refers to houses, then the houses are "used up" and cannot be reused for other house/estate-related city plans. If a city plan refers to something else (pools, bis numbers, etc) that a house might have, the house is not "used up". See [[#Variants]] for more information about game variants.

Each city plan comes with two point values. The first player to complete a particular city plan scores the higher amount of points. If multiple players complete the city plan in the same turn, all of them score the higher amount. After this, any other player that completes the city plan will score the lower amount of points. (On BGA, city plans are displayed under each player on the sidebar. If a player completes a city plan first, they have a "1" for that city plan. If they complete a city plan later, they have a "2" for that city plan.)

If you complete a city plan and this is the first time any player completes a city plan, you may also choose whether to reshuffle the construction cards or not. If you choose to reshuffle, all construction cards are gathered together and reshuffled into 3 new piles. (This also causes the effects for next turn to be completely unpredictable.)

This option is only available the first time any player completes a city plan; there is no reshuffling option afterward. If multiple players complete a city plan at the same time, the cards are reshuffled if any one player chooses to do so.

== Scoring ==

At the end of the game, your score is calculated from the following. (These are in the same order as they appear on the bottom half of your game sheet, from left to right.)

* • City plans: You score points for each city plan you complete. If you're the first player to complete a city plan, you score its higher amount of points. If you complete the city plan later, you score its lower amount of points. If you don't complete a city plan at all, you score nothing for it.
* • Parks: For each street, you score the smallest uncrossed number for its parks.
* • Pools: You score the smallest uncrossed number in your pool scoring area (based on how many pools you've circled).
* • Temp agency: All players with the most crossed spaces in the temp agency area score 7 points each. All players with the second most score 4 points each, and all players with the third most score 1 point each.
* • Estates: You score points for every completed estate. The value of each estate of a specific size is the smallest uncrossed number on its track. (Remember, estates must be fully numbered to score, and estates can only be up to 6 houses in size.)
* • Bis: You lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number in your bis penalty area (based on how many bis effects you've used).
* • Roundabouts: This penalty does not exist in the base game. In the advanced variant, you lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number (based on how many roundabouts you've built).
* • Permit refusals: You lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number (based on how many permit refusals you've taken).

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most completed estates wins. In case of even further ties, the player with the most completed size-1 estates wins, then size-2, then size-3, etc.

== Variants ==

The following variants can be chosen during setup. Only one "board" variant can be chosen in a game, but otherwise all of them are compatible with each other.

* • Advanced variant
* • Expert rules
* • Board: Ice cream truck
* • Board: Christmas lights
* • Board: Easter eggs

The advanced variant has additional city plans for no.1 and no.2. They are shuffled with the other city plans, and may or may not appear in a game.

Each board has additional city plans for no.3. They replace the base game's no.3 city plans, so one of them will always appear in a game.

== Advanced variant ==

In the advanced variant, you have access to an additional action: '''build a roundabout'''. If you wish to build a roundabout, you do this before step 2 (choosing a number/effect pair) of your turn.

To build a roundabout, choose an empty house. That house is turned into a roundabout, represented using a circle with a dot. In addition, cross off the smallest uncrossed circle in the roundabout penalty area. At the end of the game, you will lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number in the roundabout penalty area.

A roundabout separates its street into two parts. Each part must individually have strictly increasing numbers, but the numbering resets on the roundabout; the left part does not have to be smaller than the right part.

You may only build a total of 2 roundabouts during the game (represented by 2 circles in the roundabout penalty area), and you may only build 1 roundabout each turn. You may build a roundabout even if you cannot write a number afterward. Building a roundabout is always optional; however, if you build a roundabout, you might end up being able (or unable) to write a number/effect pair, and must take your turn (or take a permit refusal) accordingly.

A roundabout also comes with a fence to its left and right, similar to how streets have fences on the far left and far right of them. This may create estates. A roundabout is never a house and does not count for anything that references houses (or estates of size 1).

==== Advanced city plans ====

In an advanced variant game, city plans no.1 and no.2 may use the advanced city plans. Some notes:

* • All no.2 advanced city plans refer to pools and parks. These do ''not'' refer to houses, and thus do not use up houses. A house whose pool counts for one such city plan may still be used for another city plan.
* • Two no.1 advanced city plans require building all houses on a specific street. These ''do'' use up the houses, and its estates cannot be split further. (And note that estates are only up to 6 houses in size.) Roundabouts on the street are allowed and count toward the city plan.
* • One no.1 advanced city plan requires building the left-most and right-most houses on all streets. These ''do'' use up the houses. Unlike all other city plans, this city plan marks the houses individually. An estate containing one such marked house cannot be used for a city plan, but the marked house can be split off with a fence, and the remaining estate can still be used for another city plan.

== Expert rules ==

In the expert rules, the rules for choosing a number/effect pair are completely changed. Each player has their own cards to choose from.

At the start of the game, each player is dealt 3 construction cards. For step 2 (choosing number/effect pair), you choose one card for its number side and another card for its effect side.

In step 5 (reveal and check game end), you also pass your third card to the next player. This causes you to receive one card from the previous player. You draw two new cards, so you have 3 cards to choose from for the next turn.

It's unclear what happens when the deck is reshuffled, but it seems that any leftover card in players' hands remain and are not reshuffled.

Expert rules do not have their own city plans, they simply modify the rules to choose a number/effect pair. They also introduce asymmetry to the game, since players have their own cards.

== Board: Ice cream truck ==

The board features some ice cream trucks, and houses may now request ice cream (indicated by ice cream by each house, with 1 or 2 scoops).

Each street has an ice cream truck, starting from the left or right of the street. For the bottom street, you may choose where the ice cream truck starts from, at the moment you write the first number on that street. Trucks will only move in one direction along the street, and will never backtrack.

When you write a number on a street, its truck may move along the street. If your number is further ahead than the truck, the truck will move until it stops on the house you numbered. (The movement is represented by drawing a line underneath the houses.) If the house has an ice cream, circle the ice cream. In addition, the truck skips any house in between; cross off any ice cream on those houses.

If you circle or cross off the last ice cream on a street, the truck on that street has finished its run. If you are the first player to do so for this street, circle the bonus at the end of the street. (Like city plans, if multiple players do so in the same turn, all of them get the bonus.) All other players cross off the bonus, meaning they can no longer obtain this bonus for the street. However, their respective trucks may still continue their runs, and trucks on other streets aren't affected. For the bottom street, there is only one bonus available for all players, even if they choose to move their trucks in different directions.

Roundabouts are not houses. Placing a roundabout does not move the truck, and ice cream on a roundabout can never be collected.

==== Scoring ====

You score additional points as follows:

* • Ice cream scoops: 1 point per scoop on circled ice creams. Note that some ice creams have 1 scoop while others have 2 scoops.
* • Truck bonus: If you get the truck bonus on a street, 1 point per circled ''ice cream'' (not scoop) on that street.

==== City plans ====

* • Two plans require estates that have (or don't have) ice cream cones. These refer to ice cream scoops in houses of that estate only. They count ice cream cones, not ice cream scoops. Remember that collecting ice cream is mandatory if the truck stops on that house.
* • One plan requires all ice cream cones on a street. Since it does not refer to houses, its houses can be used for another city plan.

== Board: Christmas lights ==

You may draw Christmas lights underneath the houses.

Whenever two house numbers are consecutive (difference of at most 1) or equal (using bis effect), they are connected together with Christmas lights. (This is represented by a curved line underneath the houses connecting them.)

A string of Christmas lights is a series of houses, all connected together to the next in this way. A string must be of length at least 2 houses; if there is no connection at all, there is no string.

Roundabouts are not numbers. They will always break a string.

==== Scoring ====

You score additional points as follows:

* • Christmas lights: For each street, you score points equal to the ''longest'' string of Christmas lights on that street, counting the houses connected by it. If you have multiple strings, only the longest counts; if you have multiple longest strings, count one of them.

==== City plans ====

* • One plan requires estates, each of which has houses connected with Christmas lights. For each estate, its houses must all belong in a single string. The two estates themselves may or may not be connected together.
* • One plan requires estates, each of which has houses that are '''not''' connected with Christmas lights. Note that drawing Christmas lights is mandatory if the house numbers are suitable. The houses on the ends of the estate may be connected outside the estates.
* • One plan requires all houses on a street to be connected in a single string. Since it does not refer to houses, its houses can be used for another city plan. Roundabouts do not count; a roundabout on a street will cause this city plan to not be completed for that street, even if the roundabout is on an end of the street.

== Board: Easter eggs ==

Some houses have 1 or 2 eggs on them. You have to circle these eggs using your house numbers.

When you write a number on a house, its "holes" may circle the eggs on that house. It is legal to write a number that does not circle the eggs (or circles fewer eggs than there are), but in that case, the eggs not circled on that house will be lost.

The following table lists each possible house number and how many eggs they can circle. As a general rule: Digits 6 and 9 can hold one egg each. Digit 8 can hold two eggs (one for each hole), and digit 0 can also hold two eggs (it's large enough to have two).

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align: center; width: auto; border: 2;"
| '''Number''' || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17
|-
| '''Holes''' || 2 || - || - || - || - || - || 1 || - || 2 || 1 || 2 || - || - || - || - || - || 1 || -
|}

Duplicated numbers can hold eggs as normal. The "b" part of a bis effect doesn't hold any egg.

Roundabouts are not numbers. They cannot collect eggs.

==== Scoring ====

You score additional points as follows:

* • Easter eggs: Count up the number of eggs you collected. You score 5/10/20/35 points for collecting at least 6/10/14/18 eggs. (Only the largest score counts.)

==== City plans ====

* • Two plans require estates that have (or don't have) eggs. These refer to eggs in houses of that estate only. Remember that collecting eggs is mandatory if the number is suitable.
* • One plan requires all eggs on a street. Since it does not refer to houses, its houses can be used for another city plan.

Gamehelpfornorthwood

2026-07-23T21:43:18Z

Chaotic iak: spacing

Play multiple hands of trick-taking. Win an exact number of tricks, aided by your allies' special abilities, to win a hand. Win enough stars from hands to win the game.

== Game modes ==

There are two ways to play the game: the standard game, or one of the 16 scenarios.

The following are the rules for the standard game. Scenarios put a twist on the standard game; see [[#Scenarios]] for more details about them.

== Game overview ==

The game uses two kinds of cards: '''dialogue cards''' and '''character cards'''.

Dialogue cards are the cards used to play. They come in 4 suits (claws, flowers, leaves, eyes) and 8 ranks (1-8), for a total of 32 dialogue cards. During the game, dialogue cards will be either in the '''deck''', in your '''hand''', in the '''discard pile''', or in the '''score pile'''.

Character cards have a suit and a special ability. There are 6 cards in each of the 4 suits, for a total of 24 character cards. All special abilities are unique.

There is a row of 8 '''fiefs'''. Each fief has a certain number of stars, and requires a specific number of tricks won. From left to right:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align: center; width: auto; border: 2;"
| '''Stars''' || 4 || 3 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4
|-
| '''Tricks''' || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7
|}

Each fief begins with a character card, called its '''ruler'''. Each ruler is initially '''neutral''' to you; your goal is to make them '''friendly'''.

You begin with 4 character cards, referred to as your '''allies'''.

The game is divided into 8 '''visits'''. Each visit follows the procedure below.

== One visit ==

Each visit is played following the steps below:

# 1. Shuffle the dialogue cards, and deal 8 cards as your hand. The rest becomes the deck.
# 2. Choose an unvisited fief to '''visit'''. The suit of its ruler becomes the '''trump suit''' for the hand.
# 3. Choose any number of friendly rulers to temporarily substitute an equal number of your allies.
# 4. Play tricks until the visit ends. (See [[#One trick]] for rules on playing tricks.)
# 5. If the number of cards in your score pile is ''exactly'' the fief's number, you have won the fief. Its ruler becomes friendly to you. Otherwise, you have lost the fief.
# 6. If you substituted in any ruler (from step 3), remove them from the game. You will begin the next visit with your 4 allies again.

If there is still an unvisited fief, repeat this procedure. Thus you will play a total of 8 visits; each fief will be visited exactly once during the game.

== One trick ==

The bulk of the visit is in playing out tricks. Each trick is played following the steps below:

# 1. Choose if you want to activate any ''one'' special ability. You have access to any ability of allies that you didn't substitute out, as well as any ruler you brought for the hand. Each ability can be activated once during the visit.
# 2. If your hand or the deck is empty, skip the rest of this procedure. The visit ends (see step 7 below).
# 3. Place the top card of the deck into the discard pile. This is the ruler's '''statement'''.
# 4. Play a card from your hand. This is your '''response'''. You ''must'' follow suit if able, i.e. play a card with the same suit as the ruler's statement. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card from your hand.
# 5. Determine if your response beats the ruler's statement:
#* • If your response is '''the same suit''' as the ruler's statement and your rank is '''higher''', you win the trick.
#* • If your response is '''the trump suit''' and the ruler's statement '''is not the trump suit''', you win the trick.
#* • In all other cases, you lose the trick.
# 6. If you won the trick, put the played card into your score pile. If you lost the trick, put the played card into the discard pile (on top of the statement).
# 7. If your hand or the deck is empty, the visit ends and you proceed to check if you won this visit. If neither is empty, the visit continues with the next trick.

== Abilities ==

Each character card has a special ability.

During a hand, you have access to 4 of them. Normally, these are your 4 allies.

However, at the beginning of each hand, you may choose to substitute out some allies with ''friendly'' rulers (i.e. rulers from fiefs you have won). You must do the substitutions before you begin playing tricks for the hand.

You may only use abilities '''before''' a trick (i.e. before you reveal the ruler's statement), and you may only use '''one''' ability before each trick.

Each ability can only be used '''once''' during a hand. Once used, the character will be '''exhausted''' (represented by dimming out on BGA). However, allies will refresh between hands, so you may activate each ally once every hand.

Each friendly ruler may only substitute in once. Whether their ability is used or not, they are removed from the game after the hand concludes.

If you use an ability, you must do it in full. If you cannot, it does nothing. The exception is that you may move cards from piles that don't have enough of them.

''For example: The ability of Queen of Claws is "draw the top card from the deck, the discard pile, and the score pile". If any of them is empty, you may still activate her to draw from the other piles.''

See [[#List of abilities]] for a list of all character cards.

== Game end ==

The game ends after all 8 visits.

Each fief you won awards stars according to the fief. You get the stars regardless of whether its ruler has been called in to substitute or not.

Each fief you lost gives no stars.

In total, there are 20 stars available. '''You win if you score 16 stars or higher.'''

== Important points ==

* • Unlike usual trick-taking games, the ruler (the deck) always leads tricks no matter who won the previous trick.
* • You can click on the discard pile and the score pile to fan out their contents. They cannot be rearranged, however.
* • When moving multiple cards to the discard pile or score pile at once, you may choose their order by clicking the cards in the order you want. They are moved to the pile in that order; the last card clicked is the one on top.
* • '''There is no undo.''' Make sure you click correctly. There are game options to add various confirmations.
* • The win condition is set at 16 stars out of 20. The more difficult win conditions available in the physical rulebook are not compatible with the scenarios, and are too luck-based.

== Game options ==

When creating a table, you may choose the game mode: "single game" or "scenario mode".

In "single game" mode, you may choose whether to play a standard game or any of the scenarios. There are 3 options for standard games:

* • "Introductory setup": Your 4 allies are the 4 Jacks. The 8 rulers are the 4 Queens and the 4 Kings, in random order.
* • "Standard setup": Your 4 allies consist of 1 random character from each suit. The 8 rulers consist of 2 random characters from each suit, in random order.
* • "Custom setup": When you start the game, you first choose your allies, then the rulers. You may choose up to 4 allies in any combination: it doesn't have to be 1 per suit, and you may even choose fewer allies. You may choose 8 rulers in any combination (it doesn't have to be 2 per suit), and the order you click them is the order of the rulers from left (fief 0) to right (fief 7).

You may also choose any one of the 16 scenarios.

In "scenario mode", you play through the 16 scenarios one by one. You may start at any scenario; BGA will also remember if you've played before, and the "Start/continue" option will let you start a new run or continue from your last scenario.

During the game, the following options are available:

* • "Display confirmation": When enabled, there is a confirmation button to every click (activating abilities and playing cards)."
* • "Display automatic visit completion button": When enabled, if your hand is guaranteed to lose every remaining trick (or sometimes win every remaining trick), a button will pop up that allows you to play out the hand automatically. The check is pretty rudimentary; you must be holding the lowest cards (i.e. 1, 2, 3, ...) of non-trump cards, in order for the button to appear. (For the auto-win, you must be holding the highest trumps and no other card.)

== List of abilities ==

See [https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2774038/official-rules-and-ability-explanationfaq this BGG thread] for a list of all abilities, together with some frequently asked questions.

== Scenarios ==

See [https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/239924/for-northwood-challenge-booklet-the-noisy-year this file on BGG] for the scenarios.

Gamehelpwelcometo

2026-07-23T21:42:34Z

Chaotic iak: full rewrite

Build houses on your personal three streets. Players share the same choices of house numbers and actions, but will pursue their own strategies. Show your strategy is the best by scoring the most points.

== Setup ==

Each player has their personal '''game sheet'''. The top half of the sheet contains the three '''streets''', each divided into several '''houses'''. The bottom half of the sheet is for scoring.

Your game sheet is for your own use only. Players ''never'' write on other players' sheets.

In every game, there are 3 shared '''city plans''', numbered no.1 (blue), no.2 (yellow), and no.3 (red). These are goals that players may compete for points.

In addition, there is a deck of 81 '''construction cards'''. Each construction card has a number (1-15) on the front face, and an effect (6 possible effects) on the back face. Certain numbers and effects are more common than others; see [[Tips welcometo#Construction card breakdown|#Construction card breakdown]] for a full table.

== Game overview ==

The following describes the basic game. See [[#Variants]] for game variants that may change some aspects of the game.

The game is divided into turns. Every turn, all players play simultaneously. The game continues until one player triggers the end of the game.

Each turn follows these steps:

# 1. New construction cards are revealed. There will be 3 number/effect pairs.
# 2. Choose one of the number/effect pairs, and write in the number on one of your empty houses.
# 3. Optionally, use the effect on your chosen pair.
# 4. You may complete any city plan.
# 5. All players' choices are revealed. Check if the game ends.

==== 1. New construction cards are revealed ====

The construction cards are divided into 3 stacks of 27 cards each, initially showing the number side. Every turn, the top card is flipped over, turning it into the effect side while revealing the next number side.

'''Note:''' The number side of each card also shows its effect side on the corners. Because of how the cards are flipped, this means the effects on the corners are exactly the effects you'll see next turn.

If the decks run out, the top card of each discard pile (showing the effect sides) is kept, and all other cards are reshuffled to make new piles.

==== 2. Choose a number/effect pair and write its number ====

Choose one of the three available number/effect pairs. Then choose one of your empty houses, and write in the number in that house.

Your house numbers must follow this rule: '''house numbers on a street must be strictly increasing from left to right'''. Duplicates are not allowed. However, gaps are allowed, including gaps that wouldn't be able to be filled with numbers. Also, numbers do not have to be consecutive; e.g. it is legal to put a 10 to the right of a 7.

You '''must''' write in the number. It is not legal to choose a number/action pair and then not write in the number.

If any of the numbers among the number/effect pairs can be written, you must choose a number/action pair. If you cannot, you will have to take a '''permit refusal'''. (See [[#Permit refusal]] below.)

==== 3. Optionally, use the effect ====

You ''may'' use the effect of your chosen number/effect pair. Effects are always optional; you don't have to use the effect if you don't want to.

See [[#Effects]] for a list of all effects.

==== 4. You may complete any city plan ====

If you satisfy the conditions for a city plan, you ''may'' complete it. Completing a city plan is always optional; you may choose to postpone it for a later turn if you wish.

Each city plan comes with two point values. The first player to complete a particular city plan scores the higher amount of points. If multiple players complete the city plan in the same turn, all of them score the higher amount. After this, any other player that completes the city plan will score the lower amount of points. (On BGA, city plans are displayed under each player on the sidebar. If a player completes a city plan first, they have a "1" for that city plan. If they complete a city plan later, they have a "2" for that city plan.)

If you complete a city plan and this is the first time any player completes a city plan, you may also choose whether to reshuffle the construction cards or not. If you choose to reshuffle, all construction cards are gathered together and reshuffled into 3 new piles. (This also causes the effects for next turn to be completely unpredictable.)

This option is only available the first time any player completes a city plan; there is no reshuffling option afterward. If multiple players complete a city plan at the same time, the cards are reshuffled if any one player chooses to do so.

See [[#City plans]] for more rules about city plans.

A player completing all 3 city plans is one of the game-end triggers.

==== 5. Check if the game ends ====

Steps 2-4 above are all done simultaneously, and each player doesn't know what the others are doing. Once all players are finished with the turn, everything each player does is revealed. (On BGA, there is an animation showing which houses are filled by which player. Also, you can click on each player to see their game sheet.)

The game ends when ''any'' player satisfies ''any'' of the following game-end conditions:
* • They have 3 permit refusals.
* • They complete all 3 city plans.
* • They fill all houses on their sheet.

If the game doesn't yet end, a new turn begins following the same steps.

When the game ends, each player's score is tallied; the player with the highest score wins. See [[#Scoring]] for details.

==== Permit refusal ====

If you cannot do step 2 (write in a number) of your turn, you must take a '''permit refusal'''. Cross off the smallest uncrossed number in your permit refusal area, and skip steps 2-3 of your turn. (You can find the permit refusal area in the rightmost column in the bottom half of your game sheet; it is the lower one of the two tracks.)

You may still do step 4 (complete a city plan). You will also do step 5 (reveal and check game end) with the other players.

A player having 3 permit refusals is one of the game-end triggers.

== Effects ==

There are 6 effects. Remember that all effects are ''optional''.

==== Surveyor (white fence) ====

Surveyor allows you to draw a fence between two houses. This divides your houses into estates of various sizes.

When you use a surveyor effect, draw any fence between two houses, if they are not yet connected by a line (see below) and if they are of different numbers (see "bis" effect below). You may draw any legal fence regardless of where you wrote your house number. (There are also free fences on the far left and far right of each street.)

A '''completed estate''' is a series of ''completely numbered'' houses (no gaps) in a single street, with a fence on the left and the right.

Estates may only be up to 6 houses in size. A series of more than 6 houses is not an estate, it has to be split up. On the other hand, even if an estate is already 6 houses (or fewer) in size, it may still be further split up.

Estates are often used to complete city plans. If some houses are used to complete a city plan, there will be a horizontal line drawn above the houses. Surveyor '''may not''' be used to draw a fence between two houses connected by a horizontal line.

==== Agent (purple arrow) ====

Agent allows you to improve the value of all estates of a specific size.

On your game sheet, the agent area contains 6 tracks, corresponding to estates of sizes 1-6. When you use an agent effect, cross off one of the numbers on any track. In each track, you must cross off numbers from top to bottom. (The bottom-most number of each track cannot be crossed off.)

The value of an estate of a certain size is equal to the top-most (smallest) uncrossed number of its track.

==== Landscaper (green trees) ====

Landscaper allows you to build parks on streets.

Each street has several parks, marked with circles on the far right of the street. When you use a landscaper effect, look at the street where you wrote your house number. Cross off the left-most park circle on that street. (The right-most number is not in a circle and cannot be crossed off.) At the end of the game, you will score the left-most uncrossed number from each street.

Note that there is a significant jump in score if you manage to cross off all park circles on a street. If all park circles on a street have been crossed off, further landscaper effects on this street do nothing; you cannot cross off parks from other streets.

==== Pool manufacturer (blue pool) ====

Pool manufacturer allows you to build pools for certain houses that can support them.

Some houses have a pool above them. When you use a pool manufacturer effect, look at the house where you wrote your house number. If it has a pool, circle the pool and cross off the smallest number in your pool scoring (found on the bottom half of your game sheet). At the end of the game, you will score the smallest uncrossed number from your pool scoring.

You may use a pool effect on a house that does not have a pool, but it does nothing. You may write a number on a house with a pool even though its effect is not pool, but that means the pool will never be circled.

==== Temp agency (orange construction) ====

Temp agency modifies the house number you're writing. Unlike all other effects, temp agency applies when you're writing the house number (step 2).

When you choose a number/effect pair with a temp agency effect, you may add or subtract 1 or 2 from the house number. For example, if you choose number 12, you may write a house number of 10-14.

House numbers may go as low as 0 (it is not allowed to write -1), and as high as 17.

In addition, cross off one space in your temp agency area (found on the bottom half of your game sheet). At the end of the game, players receive bonus points based on how often they use their temp agency.

'''Special case:''' Remember that you ''must'' write a number from the number/effect pairs if possible, but using an action is always optional. If there is a number/effect pair with a temp agency effect, where you cannot write the number normally, but you would be able to write the number using temp agency, it ''is'' allowed to decline using the temp agency, in case you prefer to take a permit refusal.

==== Bis (red mailbox) ====

Bis allows you to write duplicate numbers on the same street.

When you use a bis effect, choose a house adjacent to one of your numbered house with no fence in between. Write the same number, followed by a "b". (If a house is adjacent to two numbered houses, you may choose which number you're duplicating.)

For the purpose of the increasing order rule, duplicates made by bis are considered to still be in increasing order.

Duplicated houses may '''never''' be split by a fence. That means, when you duplicate a number to an adjacent house, there may not be a fence between them; and in the future, you may not draw a fence between these two houses any more.

In addition, cross off the smallest number in your bis penalty (found on the bottom half of your game sheet). At the end of the game, you will lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number from your bis penalty.

Remember that effects are optional. You don't have to use the bis effect if you don't want to, and you only have to take the bis penalty if you decide to use the bis effect.

== City plans ==

At the beginning of the game, there are 3 city plans. All players compete for the same city plans, and they are not removed or replaced during the game.

All city plans in the standard game ask you to have estates of certain sizes. To complete such a city plan, you must have the required estates on your game sheet. In addition, houses may not be re-used between different city plans. To show this, estates that are already used for city plans will have a horizontal line drawn above its houses.

When you choose to complete such a city plan, draw a horizontal line above all the houses in each estate used.

Estates may appear anywhere on your game street. There is no requirement on which street(s) they must appear on.

Variants of the game may use city plans that do not refer to estates. As a general rule, if a city plan refers to houses, then the houses are "used up" and cannot be reused for other house/estate-related city plans. If a city plan refers to something else (pools, bis numbers, etc) that a house might have, the house is not "used up". See [[#Variants]] for more information about game variants.

Each city plan comes with two point values. The first player to complete a particular city plan scores the higher amount of points. If multiple players complete the city plan in the same turn, all of them score the higher amount. After this, any other player that completes the city plan will score the lower amount of points. (On BGA, city plans are displayed under each player on the sidebar. If a player completes a city plan first, they have a "1" for that city plan. If they complete a city plan later, they have a "2" for that city plan.)

If you complete a city plan and this is the first time any player completes a city plan, you may also choose whether to reshuffle the construction cards or not. If you choose to reshuffle, all construction cards are gathered together and reshuffled into 3 new piles. (This also causes the effects for next turn to be completely unpredictable.)

This option is only available the first time any player completes a city plan; there is no reshuffling option afterward. If multiple players complete a city plan at the same time, the cards are reshuffled if any one player chooses to do so.

== Scoring ==

At the end of the game, your score is calculated from the following. (These are in the same order as they appear on the bottom half of your game sheet, from left to right.)

* • City plans: You score points for each city plan you complete. If you're the first player to complete a city plan, you score its higher amount of points. If you complete the city plan later, you score its lower amount of points. If you don't complete a city plan at all, you score nothing for it.
* • Parks: For each street, you score the smallest uncrossed number for its parks.
* • Pools: You score the smallest uncrossed number in your pool scoring area (based on how many pools you've circled).
* • Temp agency: All players with the most crossed spaces in the temp agency area score 7 points each. All players with the second most score 4 points each, and all players with the third most score 1 point each.
* • Estates: You score points for every completed estate. The value of each estate of a specific size is the smallest uncrossed number on its track. (Remember, estates must be fully numbered to score, and estates can only be up to 6 houses in size.)
* • Bis: You lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number in your bis penalty area (based on how many bis effects you've used).
* • Roundabouts: This penalty does not exist in the base game. In the advanced variant, you lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number (based on how many roundabouts you've built).
* • Permit refusals: You lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number (based on how many permit refusals you've taken).

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most completed estates wins. In case of even further ties, the player with the most completed size-1 estates wins, then size-2, then size-3, etc.

== Variants ==

The following variants can be chosen during setup. Only one "board" variant can be chosen in a game, but otherwise all of them are compatible with each other.

* • Advanced variant
* • Expert rules
* • Board: Ice cream truck
* • Board: Christmas lights
* • Board: Easter eggs

The advanced variant has additional city plans for no.1 and no.2. They are shuffled with the other city plans, and may or may not appear in a game.

Each board has additional city plans for no.3. They replace the base game's no.3 city plans, so one of them will always appear in a game.

== Advanced variant ==

In the advanced variant, you have access to an additional action: '''build a roundabout'''. If you wish to build a roundabout, you do this before step 2 (choosing a number/effect pair) of your turn.

To build a roundabout, choose an empty house. That house is turned into a roundabout, represented using a circle with a dot. In addition, cross off the smallest uncrossed circle in the roundabout penalty area. At the end of the game, you will lose points equal to the smallest uncrossed number in the roundabout penalty area.

A roundabout separates its street into two parts. Each part must individually have strictly increasing numbers, but the numbering resets on the roundabout; the left part does not have to be smaller than the right part.

You may only build a total of 2 roundabouts during the game (represented by 2 circles in the roundabout penalty area), and you may only build 1 roundabout each turn. You may build a roundabout even if you cannot write a number afterward. Building a roundabout is always optional; however, if you build a roundabout, you might end up being able (or unable) to write a number/effect pair, and must take your turn (or take a permit refusal) accordingly.

A roundabout also comes with a fence to its left and right, similar to how streets have fences on the far left and far right of them. This may create estates. A roundabout is never a house and does not count for anything that references houses (or estates of size 1).

==== Advanced city plans ====

In an advanced variant game, city plans no.1 and no.2 may use the advanced city plans. Some notes:

* • All no.2 advanced city plans refer to pools and parks. These do ''not'' refer to houses, and thus do not use up houses. A house whose pool counts for one such city plan may still be used for another city plan.
* • Two no.1 advanced city plans require building all houses on a specific street. These ''do'' use up the houses, and its estates cannot be split further. (And note that estates are only up to 6 houses in size.) Roundabouts on the street are allowed and count toward the city plan.
* • One no.1 advanced city plan requires building the left-most and right-most houses on all streets. These ''do'' use up the houses. Unlike all other city plans, this city plan marks the houses individually. An estate containing one such marked house cannot be used for a city plan, but the marked house can be split off with a fence, and the remaining estate can still be used for another city plan.

== Expert rules ==

In the expert rules, the rules for choosing a number/effect pair are completely changed. Each player has their own cards to choose from.

At the start of the game, each player is dealt 3 construction cards. For step 2 (choosing number/effect pair), you choose one card for its number side and another card for its effect side.

In step 5 (reveal and check game end), you also pass your third card to the next player. This causes you to receive one card from the previous player. You draw two new cards, so you have 3 cards to choose from for the next turn.

It's unclear what happens when the deck is reshuffled, but it seems that any leftover card in players' hands remain and are not reshuffled.

Expert rules do not have their own city plans, they simply modify the rules to choose a number/effect pair. They also introduce asymmetry to the game, since players have their own cards.

== Board: Ice cream truck ==

The board features some ice cream trucks, and houses may now request ice cream (indicated by ice cream by each house, with 1 or 2 scoops).

Each street has an ice cream truck, starting from the left or right of the street. For the bottom street, you may choose where the ice cream truck starts from, at the moment you write the first number on that street. Trucks will only move in one direction along the street, and will never backtrack.

When you write a number on a street, its truck may move along the street. If your number is further ahead than the truck, the truck will move until it stops on the house you numbered. (The movement is represented by drawing a line underneath the houses.) If the house has an ice cream, circle the ice cream. In addition, the truck skips any house in between; cross off any ice cream on those houses.

If you circle or cross off the last ice cream on a street, the truck on that street has finished its run. If you are the first player to do so for this street, circle the bonus at the end of the street. (Like city plans, if multiple players do so in the same turn, all of them get the bonus.) All other players cross off the bonus, meaning they can no longer obtain this bonus for the street. However, their respective trucks may still continue their runs, and trucks on other streets aren't affected. For the bottom street, there is only one bonus available for all players, even if they choose to move their trucks in different directions.

Roundabouts are not houses. Placing a roundabout does not move the truck, and ice cream on a roundabout can never be collected.

==== Scoring ====

You score additional points as follows:

* • Ice cream scoops: 1 point per scoop on circled ice creams. Note that some ice creams have 1 scoop while others have 2 scoops.
* • Truck bonus: If you get the truck bonus on a street, 1 point per circled ''ice cream'' (not scoop) on that street.

==== City plans ====

* • Two plans require estates that have (or don't have) ice cream cones. These refer to ice cream scoops in houses of that estate only. They count ice cream cones, not ice cream scoops. Remember that collecting ice cream is mandatory if the truck stops on that house.
* • One plan requires all ice cream cones on a street. Since it does not refer to houses, its houses can be used for another city plan.

== Board: Christmas lights ==

You may draw Christmas lights underneath the houses.

Whenever two house numbers are consecutive (difference of at most 1) or equal (using bis effect), they are connected together with Christmas lights. (This is represented by a curved line underneath the houses connecting them.)

A string of Christmas lights is a series of houses, all connected together to the next in this way. A string must be of length at least 2 houses; if there is no connection at all, there is no string.

Roundabouts are not numbers. They will always break a string.

==== Scoring ====

You score additional points as follows:

* • Christmas lights: For each street, you score points equal to the ''longest'' string of Christmas lights on that street, counting the houses connected by it. If you have multiple strings, only the longest counts; if you have multiple longest strings, count one of them.

==== City plans ====

* • One plan requires estates, each of which has houses connected with Christmas lights. For each estate, its houses must all belong in a single string. The two estates themselves may or may not be connected together.
* • One plan requires estates, each of which has houses that are '''not''' connected with Christmas lights. Note that drawing Christmas lights is mandatory if the house numbers are suitable. The houses on the ends of the estate may be connected outside the estates.
* • One plan requires all houses on a street to be connected in a single string. Since it does not refer to houses, its houses can be used for another city plan. Roundabouts do not count; a roundabout on a street will cause this city plan to not be completed for that street, even if the roundabout is on an end of the street.

== Board: Easter eggs ==

Some houses have 1 or 2 eggs on them. You have to circle these eggs using your house numbers.

When you write a number on a house, its "holes" may circle the eggs on that house. It is legal to write a number that does not circle the eggs (or circles fewer eggs than there are), but in that case, the eggs not circled on that house will be lost.

The following table lists each possible house number and how many eggs they can circle. As a general rule: Digits 6 and 9 can hold one egg each. Digit 8 can hold two eggs (one for each hole), and digit 0 can also hold two eggs (it's large enough to have two).

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align: center; width: auto; border: 2;"
| '''Number''' || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17
|-
| '''Holes''' || 2 || - || - || - || - || - || 1 || - || 2 || 1 || 2 || - || - || - || - || - || 1 || -
|}

Roundabouts are not numbers. They cannot collect eggs.

==== Scoring ====

You score additional points as follows:

* • Easter eggs: Count up the number of eggs you collected. You score 5/10/20/35 points for collecting at least 6/10/14/18 eggs. (Only the largest score counts.)

==== City plans ====

* • Two plans require estates that have (or don't have) eggs. These refer to eggs in houses of that estate only. Remember that collecting eggs is mandatory if the number is suitable.
* • One plan requires all eggs on a street. Since it does not refer to houses, its houses can be used for another city plan.

Tips welcometo

2026-07-23T21:38:19Z

Chaotic iak:

== Construction card breakdown ==

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; text-align: center; width: auto; border: 2;"
!colspan="2" rowspan="2"|
!colspan="15"| House number
|-
! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! 13 !! 14 !! 15
|-
!colspan="2"| Actions
! 3x !! 3x !! 4x !! 5x !! 6x !! 7x !! 8x !! 9x !! 8x !! 7x !! 6x !! 5x !! 4x !! 3x !! 3x
|-
! Surveyor (white) !! 18x
| 1 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
! Agent (purple) !! 18x
| 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
! Park (green) !! 18x
| 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
! Pool (blue) !! 9x
| 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! Temp agency (orange) !! 9x
| 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! Bis (red) !! 9x
| 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0
|}

== The Basics ==

:- When in doubt; build a fence. Estates larger than 6 don't give any points.
:- If you're not the first one to finish a plan, consider creating parks (up to 42 points) and pools (up to 36 points).
:- Estates whose value has been increased by real estate agents are often worth more than second-place points for a city plan.
:- It's easier to work from ''outside in'', i.e. play very high and very low numbers first to leave more opportunity to fill the middle spaces.

== The Big Picture ==

'''Welcome To is like the games Lucky Numbers and Boomerang had a baby, who grew up to be a tract home architect.''' You're juggling 7 ways to get (and lose) points, while trying to fill up all the land parcels. Probably there's no single best strategy. BUT...
::<code>'''Experiment with a strategy framework and you will soon see what moves get what points.'''</code>

'''One strategy framework''' 
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh7S0d7go7w Win Games. 2020. YouTube. "How to win Welcome to Your Perfect Home" (Video).]
[[File:StrategyClear.png|thumb|center]]

'''Effects'''
:1. Pools (3 to 5, start early)
:2. Parks (10+, max out blocks)
:3. Fences (7-9) / Real Estate Agent (5-7) (balance)
:4. Temp Agency (if you have to)
:5. BIS (last 4 or 5 houses)

'''Numbers'''
:A) Less common numbers (1-4, 12-15)
:B) Sequential with a number in play
:C) Useable in the bottom block
:D) Does not lock out numbers (until 18-20 houses filled)

2017-06-22T14:08:22Z

Chaotic iak:

Hive is an abstract board game for two players. Players compete to gain control of a hive, trying to surround their opponent's queen bee to win the game.

=== Start of the game ===

Each player takes all pieces of their color (white or black) into their reserve. The following pieces are available:

* 1 queen bee
* 2 beetles
* 2 spiders
* 3 ants
* 3 grasshoppers

Additionally, expansion pieces are available if the game is played with them:

* 1 ladybug
* 1 mosquito
* 1 pill bug

Initially, the play area is empty.

=== Player's turn ===

During a player's turn, a player may do one of two actions:

* Place a piece from their reserve to the play area
* Move one of their pieces in the play area

At the start of the game, a player may only place pieces until they place their queen bee. In addition, the queen bee must be placed by a player's fourth turn; if after three turns a player hasn't placed their queen bee, they must place it on the fourth turn.

If a player is able to make a legal move, they must do so. If a player is unable to make any legal move, they must pass.

==== Placing a piece ====

To place a piece, a player takes one piece from their reserve and place it onto the playing area. The piece must touch at least one of their own pieces by a complete side, and it may not touch any of the opponent's pieces. Exception: The first piece placed, of course, will not touch anything, and the second piece placed will necessarily touch the first piece (of opposing color).

==== Moving a piece ====

To move a piece, a player chooses one of their pieces in the play area and moves it according to its movement rules. The following golden rules must be followed:

* Adjacent pieces must always share a complete side, never part of a side or touching only at a point. Imagine a hexagonal grid; each piece occupies one such space.
* The One Hive rule: The hive may not be disconnected at any time. When a player moves a piece, the rest of the pieces must form a contiguous group, and the moved piece must also end up adjacent to the group.
* The Freedom of Movement rule: A piece must be physically able to be moved to its destination, one space at a time. In most cases, this means a piece must "slide" to its destination. Some configuration of pieces might leave a gap that is too narrow for a piece to pass through. A piece that climbs can also be subject to this rule, if there are two tall stacks that leave a narrow gap.

'''Piece movement rules:'''

* '''Queen bee''': slides to an adjacent space. A player loses if their queen bee is surrounded (see below).
* '''Beetle''': slides or climbs to an adjacent space. The beetle may climb over other pieces; if an adjacent space is occupied by a piece (of either color), a player may move their beetle on top of the piece. The piece underneath is immobilized and cannot move until the beetle moves away. It's possible to have beetles climbing over other beetles, making a taller stack. If a beetle moves on the same level, it slides.
* '''Spider''': slides three spaces around the hive. The spider may not turn back within the same move. Occasionally the spider may be adjacent to more than one parts of the hive during the move; it may continue crawling on any side of the hive it touches as long as it's not traveling backward.
* '''Ant''': slides to anywhere. The ant may move anywhere as long as the golden rules are respected.
* '''Grasshopper''': jumps over a line of pieces. The grasshopper picks a direction, then jumps in that direction, landing on the first empty space. It must jump over at least one piece (of either color, which may also be a grasshopper).
* '''Ladybug''': climbs for two spaces then drops back down. Like the spider, the ladybug moves three spaces: the first and the second are on top of the hive, and the third must brings it back to ground level.
* '''Mosquito''': moves like any piece it's touching. The mosquito may choose any piece it's adjacent to, and copies its movement. It may climb onto the hive as a beetle; then, while on top of the hive, it is a beetle (even if it doesn't touch any beetle) until it moves to ground level. A mosquito that is only adjacent to another mosquito cannot move. A stack of pieces is treated as a beetle for the mosquito (it may not copy a piece underneath the beetle). If the pill bug is also in play, a mosquito adjacent to a pill bug may copy the special ability of the pill bug.
* '''Pill bug''': slides a single space, or moves an adjacent piece to another space adjacent to the pill bug. If the pill bug decides to move another piece, it chooses a piece adjacent to it, moves it up onto the pill bug, and moves it back down to another empty space. The pill bug may not move the piece that just moved in the previous turn, and the piece moved may not move in the next turn. The pill bug may not move any piece in a stack of pieces. The pill bug must also respect the golden rules (in particular, a piece may not be moved if it will break the hive, or if the gap is too narrow).

=== End of the game ===

The game ends when a queen bee is surrounded on all six sides (by pieces of either color). The owner of the surrounded queen bee loses.

In case both queen bees are surrounded at the same time, the game is a draw. In addition, players may agree to a draw if the game ends in a stalemate, of repeating moves over and over.

=== Variants ===

* Ladybug: The ladybug piece is used.
* Mosquito: The mosquito piece is used.
* Pill bug: The pill bug piece is used.
* Tournament opening rule: The queen may not be placed in the first turn.

Expansion Pieces:
* Mosquito: Uses the movement ability of any piece it is touching
* Ladybug: Travels two spaces on top of other pieces and one space back down
* Pill bug: Can move a single space, or move a piece* currently adjacent to it to another adjacent location
*: The pill bug isn't allowed to move the piece that just moved. Also, the piece that the pill bug moves isn't allowed to move on the very next turn

This is just a brief summary of movement rules. This has a comprehensive overview of movement rules: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/371756/hive-detailed-review

2015-09-13T12:14:37Z

Chaotic iak:

Quoridor is an abstract board game for 2 or 4 players. Players move their pawns to reach the opposite side before their opponents; however, the defining quality is that players can place walls on the board that block all pawns, thus forcing pawns to navigate their way around the walls.

= Rules =

== Start of the game ==
The board is 9x9 by size. Each player has one pawn, placed in the middle of their respective side. There are 20 walls, distributed equally to all players (10 each for two or 5 each for four).

== Player's turn ==
In a player's turn, a player must do one of the following:
* move their pawn, or
* place a wall.

=== Moving a pawn ===
A player can move a pawn to an adjacent square in the four orthogonal directions (front, back, or sideways). The pawn may not cross past a wall. The pawn may never occupy the same square as an opponent's pawn; if an opponent pawn is adjacent, the player can jump over the opponent's pawn. If there is no wall, no board edge, and no other pawn behind the opponent's pawn, the jump must be straight (the player's pawn moves two squares in that direction). Otherwise, the jump must be diagonal (the player moves to the opponent, then moves sideways). Jumping is never mandatory.

=== Placing a wall ===
There are some walls in a player's inventory. Each wall are two squares long. A player may place a wall inside the board, between the squares. The wall may not jut out of the board, and it must be aligned with the grid, so that it blocks two pairs of adjacent squares. A wall blocks all pawns' movements; no pawn can jump over a wall. However, there must always be at least one path for each pawn to reach the opposite side; a wall may not be placed to completely isolate a pawn from their destination side.

Note that walls are limited; if a player uses up all their walls, they can no longer place walls.

== End of the game ==
If a player's pawn reaches any one of the nine squares on its destination side, opposite of the starting side, the player wins.

2013-07-25T17:01:39Z

Chaotic iak:

Can't Stop is a game involving rolling dice and knowing when to stop pushing one's luck.

==Rules==

Can't Stop is played with a board consisting of 11 columns, numbered from 2 to 12, four dice, and three temporary pieces.

===Splitting dice===

On a player's turn, they roll the four dice, split it to two groups however they like, then advance a step on each column whose sum is equal to some group of the dice.

Examples:

* Roll: 3,3,4,4. One can split it to 3,3 and 4,4, advancing a step on each of columns 6 and 8, or 3,4 and 3,4, advancing two steps on column 7.
* Roll: 2,3,4,5. One can split it in three ways: 2,3 and 4,5 (columns 5 and 9), 2,4 and 3,5 (columns 6 and 8), or 2,5 and 3,4 (columns 7 and 7).
* Roll: 4,4,4,6. There is only one way to split it, 4,4 and 4,6, which means columns 8 and 10.
* Roll: 1,1,1,1. There is only one way to split it, 1,1 and 1,1, which means columns 2 and 2.

===Temporary pieces===

In a turn, a player may only advance in three columns. The temporary pieces are to help the player in keeping track their progresses. However, one must make as many moves as possible.

Examples:

* One hasn't moved at all and rolled 2,3,4,5. They decide to split as 2,3 and 4,5, advancing on columns 5 and 9. This is allowed; they advanced on columns 5,9. They may not choose to advance only on column 5 or only on column 9 because they must perform all moves possible.
* One has moved on columns 4 and 5 and rolled 2,3,4,5. They decide to split as 2,3 and 4,5, advancing on columns 5 and 9. This is allowed; they advanced on columns 4,5,9.
* One has moved on columns 2 and 3 and rolled 2,3,4,5. They decide to split as 2,3 and 4,5, and so should have advanced on columns 5 and 9. But this is not allowed; it makes them advance on four columns. They must pick either 5 or 9 to advance from.
* One has moved on columns 2, 3, and 12 and rolled 2,3,4,5. No matter how they split the dice, they cannot advance.

===Stopping one's turn===

A player keeps their turn until they state to stop or they cannot advance (like the last of the examples above). In the former case, the temporary pieces are made permanent; they will continue from the positions they have now. In the latter case, the temporary pieces are removed; their position is rolled back to before they have started their turn.

Examples:
* One decides to stop after advancing 3 steps on column 7, 2 steps on column 8, and 1 step on column 9, after previously have advanced 4 steps on column 6 and 3 steps on column 9. Now their position is 4 steps on column 6, 3 steps on column 7, 2 steps on column 8, and 4 steps on column 9.
* One advanced 3 steps on column 7, 2 steps on column 8, and 1 step on column 9, after previously have advanced 4 steps on column 6 and 3 steps on column 9, but then cannot advance. Their position is rolled back to only 4 steps on column 6 and 3 steps on column 9.

===Completing a column===

When one decides to stop and they have reached the end of some column, that column is scored for that player and no other player may advance in that column. For example, if column 5 has been scored and one splits a 2,3,4,5 to 2,3 and 4,5, they cannot advance on column 5 because it has been scored.

===Winning condition===

When one scores three columns, they win.

==Strategy==

The strategy of the game revolves on knowing when to stop. As one keeps playing, they still have the risk of losing all progress on the turn; stopping will save the progress but gives the other players a turn each. Knowing which is more beneficial helps.

Columns with more extreme numbers are less probable (a 2 is only scored by a 1,1 and a 12 is only scored by a 6,6, while a 7 is scored by six pairs of dice), so they have less steps to work on. One's strategy can also revolve on choosing whether to aim for middle columns or extreme columns.

Gamehelpunitedsquare

2013-06-12T05:36:09Z

Chaotic iak:

==Goal==
The goal is to be the player who has the most squares of his color.

==Rules==
The game uses pieces of six types, where each piece is in shape of a square. The sides of each piece are colored with one of red, yellow, green, blue, so that a piece has one side for each color. Each "side" appears as a triangle.

Each player on his turn puts a square next to a square already on the board. The piece may be rotated, but not reflected. The sides coinciding with previous pieces on the board must match in color.

It's possible for a blank square to be adjacent to two sides of the same color, blocking said square from being occupied (because there is no piece that has two sides of the same color).

When a player cannot put any piece, the turn is passed. In all other cases, the player must put some piece.

Due to the appearance of a side as a triangle, matched sides form a tilted square. Each of these squares scores a point for the person holding this color.

==Ending the game==
When no more piece can be put by any player, the player with the most squares of his color wins.

== Game preferences ==

The '''colorblind''' option available for this game enables an alternative setup displaying symbols on the tokens using the great color code designed by Miguel Neiva: [http://www.coloradd.net/code.asp ColorADD].

Learning the code is easy, just take a look at the following synthesis panel:

[[File:ColorADD.jpg]]

'''HAVE A GOOD GAME!'''