Gamehelpmicrochip

Goal

Microchip is a spatial abstract strategy game for 2–5 players designed by Néstor Romeral Andrés. Draft circuit tiles from a shared grid pool and arrange them on your personal 5×5 circuit board. Build the most valuable closed microchip with connected white paths: each connection earns 1 point, while unused tiles outside your microchip cost 2 penalty points each.

Components

Component	Icon	Shape	Connections	Description
Cross		4-way plus	4 connections	1 copy per color (Blue). Connects in all 4 cardinal directions.
T-Junction		3-way T	3 connections	3 copies per color (Red). Branches path into 3 directions.
Corner		90° bend	2 connections	2 copies per color (Green). Turns path around a corner.
Straight		Direct line	2 connections	2 copies per color (Yellow). Carries path straight through.
Terminal End		Dead end	1 connection	4 copies per color (Pink). Caps and closes an open wire end.

Setup

• Shared Pool: Circuit tiles are arranged face up in a grid (60 tiles for 3–5 players; 50 tiles for 2 players). The rightmost active column forms the draw column.
• Circuit Board: Each player receives a unique 5×5 grid of colored spaces (each of the 5 colors appears exactly 5 times).
• Play proceeds clockwise around the table.

Your turn

1. Draft a Tile (Mandatory): Take one tile of your choice from the current draw column into your tray. When a column is exhausted, the next column to the left becomes the new draw column.
2. Arrange Board (Free Action): You may arrange, rotate, exchange, or return tiles from your tray to your board at any time, even during opponents' turns.

Placing circuit tiles

A tile may be placed on your board only when all conditions are satisfied:

• The board cell is empty.
• The color of the tile matches the color of the space.
• Paths may be rotated in 90° increments, but no connection may point off the edge of the board.
• Where two tiles touch, their paths must match (path meets path, or blank meets blank). A mismatched path shows an illegal red badge. A path pointing to an empty cell shows a warning marker until closed.

End of the game and scoring

• When the draft pool is completely emptied, all players finalize their circuit layouts and press Finish.
• Valid Microchip: Your scored microchip is your single largest connected structure of tiles with zero open/unclosed paths. Any structure with a hanging open wire is invalid and scores 0 points.
• Scoring:
  • +1 point for each connection point on tiles within your closed microchip.
  • -2 points for each unused tile remaining in your tray or placed outside the microchip.
• The player with the highest final score wins!
• Tiebreaker: The tied player with the greatest number of tiles in their microchip wins; if still tied, victory is shared.

Controls on BGA

• Drafting: Click any tile in the active rightmost draw column to take it.
• Placement: Tap a tile in your tray to select it, then tap an empty matching-color board cell.
• Rotating: Tap a tile already placed on your board to rotate it 90° clockwise.
• Moving & Tray Return: Drag or click a board tile to move it to another cell, swap with another tile, or return it to your reserve tray.
• Finish: Once all pool tiles are drafted and your layout is ready, click blue Finish to submit your final board.