Components

• 4 boards
• 15 cards
• 4 pencils

The Path

Throughout the course of the game each player develops (draws) a path on his board. The path consists of a continuous line. The line may not be interrupted, intersect or touch itself. Each round, the path can be extended at one of its ends only.

Each player tries to draw his path over as many number fields as possible, as these are worth positive points. Each player also tries to reach as many fields as possible (ideally all of them) since each field that a player does not reach with his path counts as negative points at the end of the game.

Example: Mary managed to draw her path over the numbers 6 and 9. She enters these as positive points in her score table.

Setup

Shuffle the 15 cards and place them face down in a pile in the middle of the table. Each player receives a randomly dealt board and pencil.

Note: The colour and number field distribution is the same on all boards.

The only difference between them is the printed starting position, from which each player begins his path.

Game Play

Someone turns over the uppermost card from the draw pile and lays it next to the pile face up. 4 or 5 color fields are shown on the card. All players can use any number of the color fields shown on the cards (even just one or none at all) in any order to extend their paths on their boards. If a player cannot or does not want to extend his path, he says, "pass".

Note: To avoid confusion, it's recommended to first mark each field that you're planning to use by a little dot and then join them into a solid line later.

Example: The card that was turned over shows the colours blue, green, yellow and grey. Linus can therefore use these four colour fields (maximum) to draw his path.

Beginning from his starting position (yellow next to the number field 3), he uses the fields blue, green, grey and yellow and joins them with a line. In the next round, he can extend his path either from the yellow field next to the number 3 or from the yellow field next to the number 6.

Once everyone has extended his path, the next card from the pile is turned over. Again, each player can use as many of the colour fields as shown on the card (but never more) to extend his path.

Very important: In general, the path can only be extended at (either) one of the existing ends.

Play then continues as described above. In each round, the uppermost card from the pile is turned over and each player can extend his path (at either one of the two ends) accordingly.

Reaching number fields and recording points

When a player reaches a number field with his path (this is also possible in the first round), then he says so loudly and clearly:

• If he's the first player to reach a number field, he records the total point value in the score table. Example: Sarah says: "I've reached the 8". Since no other player has reached the 8 yet, she records 8 points in her score table in field 8.

  Note: If multiple players reach the same number field in the same round, they all receive the full point total and record the points in their respective score table.

• If a player reaches a number with his path that was already visited by another player in a previous round and recorded, than he only gets half of the point total (rounded up if necessary) and records it in his score table accordingly. Example: Tim says: "I've reached the 7". Since Mary already reached the 7 in a previous round, Tim receives 4 points (3.5 rounded up).

Note: It's possible, and allowed, to reach two number fields in a single round. The player then records the point totals for both fields in his score table as described above.

Tip to keep it simple: It's important that all players see which number fields have been reached. Therefore, it's recommended to declare which number fields have been reached at the end of each round.

When a player reaches a number field, all other players that have not yet reached the same number field should put a dot next to this number in their score table so that they know that they can now only receive half the point total for this number field if they reach it in a later round.

End of the Game

The game is over once all 15 cards from the draw pile have been turned over and completed.

Each player adds up all his positive points that he's recorded in his score table throughout the course of the game. k Each empty field on his board that he didn't reach with his path counts as a negative point.

Note: To make it clearer, mark each field that was not reached with an X. Add up and record the total of negative points in the appropriate field.

Subtract the negative points from the positive points. The player with the highest point total (sum) wins.

Example: Linus has reached all number fields with his path except for field number 4. For the numbers 3, 6, 8 and 9 he receives the full point total since he was the first to reach these number fields. For the numbers 2, 5, 7 and 10 he receives only half the points for a total of 39 positive points. Linus did not reach ten fields for a total of 10 negative points. Therefore, Linus's final point total is 29 points (39 - 10 = 29).

Solo Game

The game is played exactly as described above; all 15 cards are turned over, one after the other. Calculating the score is different:

For each number field that the player reaches he receives the full point total only if he hasn't reached a higher number field before, otherwise he receives only half of the point total.

Example: Tim first reaches the number field 4 and receives 4 points. He then reaches the number field 7 and receives 7 points. Then he reaches the 5. Since he already reached a number higher than 5 before (number 7), he receives only half the point total for this number field, which is 3 points (2.5 rounded up). He then reaches the number field 9 and receives 9 points.

A result above 40 points is great!

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