Setup
Select 15 discs in 3 colors to use throughout the game. The remaining 5 discs should be returned to the box.
Game Play
The player will begin a round by flicking all 15 discs, in any order, onto the game board. The player will then select a set of the discs (in the same color) and will assign one to the AI, one to themselves and the other will be discarded.
AI icons appear on the scoresheet as a small black square. These are important for the solo-mode.
The AI will then complete their turn followed by the player. The player will make all choices for the AI following the AI rules. The players turn follows all rules from the base game, but the AI has special rules:
Cliff Dwellings
The value of the discs given to the AI will circle a number of AI hexes at the top of the scoresheet.
Each circled AI hex must be crossed off prior to filling in the normal hexagonal spaces over the cliff dwellings that provide points.
Canyon
There are some AI icons within the cayon. The AI will be adding shapes following all rules of the canyon zone.
However, the AI will fill in the underlying squares and prevent the player from claiming the underlying cacti and bonuses. Once the AI has filled a space in, it is no longer accessible to the player.
The AI shapes cannot be downgraded, but may use any adjacent player's shapes to "jump".
This means that if the player's shape is touching an AI shape and the AI is going to take a turn, the AI may use the player's shape as an adjacent shape for placement of the new shape. The player may not use this same jumping rule.
Creek Bed
There are AI icons scattered around the bottom of the creekbed. The AI will be moving along the creek bed in the opposite direction as the player starting from any of these spaces.
The AI will follow the same rules as the section but will not circle the final step. All crossed off spaces are inaccessible to the player and the player cannot use them to start a new path. The AI movements should be filled in to distinguish them from marks made by the player.
Mudcracks
Each node on the outside of the mud cracks puzzle has small spaces on the outside. The value of the discs given to the AI will be summed and can be distributed in any way between all of these spaces.
Each space crossed off will increase the value of the node by one. So, if the player wants to cross off a node with a 7 and two AI spaces, the disc value required is now 9.
If the AI has maxed out a zone with penalties, discs can no longer be assigned by the player for that zone. Any discs that are flicked into that zone must instead be assigned to the player or discarded.
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