Place tiles on the board to create a line connecting your player markers.
The more tiles the line passes through, and the higher those tiles are stacked, the more points you will score!
Components
- First Player Marker
- 15 Player Markers
- 15 Level Markers
- 42 Tiles
- Game Board
- Score Board
- Instructions
Setup
Place the game board and the score board in the center of the table.
Shuffle the tiles, keeping them face down, and divide them into three stacks of fourteen tiles. Place these next to the game board. Draw the top tile from each stack and place it face up next to the stack.
Place the level markers next to the game board.
Take all five player markers of the color of your choice. Place one on the START space of the score board.
Decide who will play first using a mutually agreed method. Give this player the first player marker.
The first player chooses one of the board's edges, and places one of her player markers on any space along that edge. Going clockwise around the table, the other players place one of their player markers on any open space along the same edge.
Once all players have placed their first marker, the player to the right of the first player places one of his player markers on any space along the opposite edge of the board. Going counterclockwise, the other players place one of their player markers on any open space along that edge.
Repeat the above steps for the two remaining edges. When this is finished, all players should have placed 4 player markers, one on each edge of the board.
Game Play
Beginning with the first player, each player takes a turn, with play passing to the left.
On your turn, you must perform two of the following actions. You may perform the same action twice.
Place a Tile
Take one of the three face up tiles and place it on the board, following the placement rules detailed in the following section. Then draw the top tile of the stack from which you took the tile, and place it face up next to the stack.
You may try out the placement of different tiles to test how their lines will connect.
Once you have drawn the top tile of the stack after placing your chosen tile, you may not change your move.
Move Player Marker
Choose one of your player markers and move it up to two spaces.
Jump over any occupied spaces you encounter.
At the end of your turn, you score points if there is a complete line between two of your player markers.
First, count the number of passes your line makes. Every tile your line passes through counts as a number of passes equal to its level. A tile placed directly on the game board is considered to be a 1st level tile and counts as one pass. A tile placed on top of two 1st level tiles is considered to be a 2nd level tile and counts as two passes, and so on. ( Figure 1).
 Figure 1 |
Example: The Orange player's line passes through a 1st level tile, a 1st level tile, a 2nd level tile, and a 1st level tile.
1 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 5 passes
If a single line passes through a tile more than once, count that tile each time the line passes through it.
Place the appropriate level markers on 3rd and 5th level tiles to make them easier to count.
The first player marker can also be used to measure a tile's level.
If your two remaining player markers are also connected by a line, count how many passes the second line makes and add it to that of the first line.
Once you have tallied the total number of passes, reference the score board to convert the number of passes to victory points. Move your player marker the appropriate number of spaces on the victory point track. (Figure 2)
 Figure 2 |
Example: Line 1: 5 passes + Line 2: 4 passes = total of 9 passes
Convert 9 passes to points on the score board, scoring a total of 4 points
Tile Placement Rules
Tiles cannot be placed in a way that would cut off one or more lines. Additionally, tiles can only be placed horizontally or vertically. Diagonal placement is not allowed, as it would result in lines being cut off.
Tiles placed on the second level or higher must be placed on two tiles of the same height.
Tiles cannot be placed in a way that would cut off one or more lines.
Tiles cannot be placed diagonally.
A tile cannot be placed on two tiles of differing heights.
A tile cannot be placed on top of a single tile.
End of the Game
If any of the following three conditions are met, the game ends when the player to the right of the first player finishes their turn:
- A player has a score of 50+ points
- Any of the three stacks of tiles runs out
- A tile cannot be placed anywhere on the board
The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
The game ends immediately if all three stacks of tiles run out, or if a tile cannot be placed anywhere on the board. In the case of a tie, the player higher in the turn order wins.
Variant Rule
For a more exciting game, impose a 60 second time limit on each players' turn.
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