Gamehelpriftvalleyreserve

Summary

Rift Valley Reserve is a game about strategically arranging the most scenic hiking trails on shared boards. Each turn, players draw a single element and pass their board to the left.

Gameplay

All players take turns simultaneously.

On the first turn, players must draw a Stop (a circle) on any empty space that is NOT adjacent to an animal vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

On later turns, players must choose:

• Draw another Stop. Stops adjacent to animals are now allowed. However, Stops must not be vertically or horizontally adjacent to other Stops. Diagonal adjacency is allowed.

• Or, draw a Trail (a line).

• Or, draw a Tent (a triangle).

Stops

Stops must not be vertically or horizontally adjacent to other Stops. Diagonal adjacency is allowed.

At game end, each Stop that is NOT connected to a trail penalizes its owner -2 points.

Trails

Trails can be drawn between two Stops owned by the same player. The Trail must be drawn by this player.

Trails cannot cross any element (animal, tree, water, Stop, Trail, Tent, Rift) except the player's own Rift as described later.

Trails can be a straight line, or an L with a maximum of 1 corner.

At game end, each Trail scores its owner 1 point per area it enters. Areas are the map regions surrounded by thick borders. Every map has 9 areas, and a Trail scores from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 5 points.

Tents

At game end, each Tent scores its owner 2 points for each adjacent connected stop the same player owns. A connected stop is a stop with a trail drawn to it. These connected stops can be vertically, horizontally, or diagonally adjacent to the tent.

Rifts

Each map has a Rift, which is a canyon that blocks trails. However, the Rift has a colored border around it indicating which player started the game with that map. The player with this color is allowed to bridge their own Rift with Trails. These bridges must only be drawn the short way, perpendicular to the Rift.