A Sky of Stars
A Sky of Stars Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 6 Celestial Vault boards (Plance Volta Celeste)
- 1 Star Die (Dado Stellare)
- 6 Markers (Pennarelli)
- 30 Constellation cards (Carte Costellazione)
- 30 Player cards (Carte Giocatore), numbered 1 to 5 in 6 different colors
Object of the Game
A Sky of Stars is a game that will stimulate the imagination and the capacity for abstraction of the players. Each player will be called on to create new constellations, drawing the image on their Celestial Vault by joining together the stars suggested by the Star Die. Each creation is submitted to the judgment of the other players, who must work out which object is depicted on the respective Celestial Vaults. The player who is most skilled at creating these images and most attentive in interpreting those of others will earn the most points and be proclaimed the winner at the end of the game.
Setup
- Each player receives 1 Celestial Vault board, 1 Marker and the whole set of Player cards (1 to 5) of a single color.
- Shuffle the Player cards of your color into a deck to be kept face down beside your Celestial Vault board.
- Place the Star Die and the deck made up of the Constellation cards in the center of the table.
Course of the Game
A game of A Sky of Stars is made up of 3 rounds of play (I, II and III), after which the game ends.
At the start of the round, draw a Constellation card from the deck and place it face up in the center of the table. Each player then draws a card from their own deck of Player cards, secretly looks at the number and places it face down to the left of their Celestial Vault board. The number on the card just drawn indicates the word on the Constellation card that the player must represent on their own Celestial Vault board during the round.
Then, each player circles on their own Celestial Vault any star that does not already belong to a previous constellation. This is the starting star for this round: you are ready to begin your celestial work of art!
Any player then takes the Star Die and rolls it. Depending on the result of the die, the players must simultaneously do one of the following:
Star Die
The three star shapes (a four-pointed star, a five-pointed star and an eight-pointed star) share the first result; the other two faces are a question mark and a swirl (galaxy).
Result: a star shape (four-pointed, five-pointed or eight-pointed star). Join a new star of the type indicated by the result of the Star Die to a star already present in the constellation of the current round. The stars can be of any color and must always be joined by straight lines.
Example: Michela has to manage to represent a pot. The result of the die indicates the five-pointed star face; she therefore decides to draw a line from a four-pointed yellow star, already belonging to her constellation, to a five-pointed red star.
Result: question mark. Join any new star to a star already present in the constellation of the current round. The stars can be of any color and must always be joined by straight lines.
Example: The result of the die indicates the question mark. Michela decides to draw a line from a red star, already belonging to her constellation, to a yellow star. Michela's pot is finally taking shape.
Result: swirl (galaxy). Cancel any star on the Celestial Vault of the player to your left by marking it with an X with the marker. That star can no longer be used by that player for any constellation. However, in the following turns it will be possible to draw a line over the cancelled stars as if they did not exist.
Example: The result of the die indicates the swirl. Luca, the player to the right of Michela, decides to draw an X on a blue star. Too bad: with that star Michela's constellation would have been unmistakable!
ATTENTION
- When you mark a stroke that joins two stars, you may not in any way make it pass over other stars. Cancelled stars are the exception.
- It is not possible to mark a stroke that crosses that of another constellation.
The result of each die roll is valid for all players at the same time. After each roll, in fact, every player draws a line on their Celestial Vault board. Then a new player rolls the Star Die again for everyone and play proceeds to a new stroke.
This sequence ends as soon as, before a new roll of the die, one of the players declares "STOP". At that point all the other players may choose whether or not to draw one last stroke from their constellation to any star, respecting the normal connection rules.
Guessing
Once drawing is finished, the players must try to guess which object the other players tried to represent. Starting with the player who called "STOP" and continuing clockwise, each player shows the others their constellation of the round. The player who is showing their constellation must not rotate the board or offer any hint in any way. After a few seconds, at their discretion, they say a countdown 3-2-1 out loud. At the end of the countdown all players, simultaneously, must indicate with the fingers of one hand the number on the Constellation card corresponding to the mystery object (for example, showing 2 fingers indicates object number 2, three fingers object number 3, and so on).
Round Scoring
For each round (I, II or III) each player fills in on the round's score track as many spaces as the number of players who guessed their drawing plus the number of other players' constellations they guessed in that round. If all players guess the object represented by a player, that player also fills in the +1 box of the current round.
After that, the players discard the Constellation card just used, put the Player cards back into their respective decks and shuffle them, before proceeding to the next round.
Example: Michela is rather satisfied with her "pot" constellation; the other 3 players all manage to guess it, indicating a 2 with their fingers at the end of the countdown. She therefore fills in the first 3 spaces on the round's score track, in addition to the +1 space for having been guessed by everyone. For her part, Michela guesses only 2 of her opponents' constellations, thus filling in the next 2 spaces as well. In this round Michela has therefore scored 6 +1 points.
End of the Game
The game ends at the end of the third round of play. At this point the players count how many stars of each color they used to represent their constellations. For each color, the player who used the greatest number of stars marks the corresponding box on their board, thereby gaining 1 additional point. In case of a tie, all tied players receive the bonus.
Each player adds the points gained during the 3 rounds of play to those they may have gained from color majorities. The player who has scored the most points is proclaimed the winner. In case of a tie, the player who has filled in the greatest number of +1 boxes wins; if still tied, the player with the greatest number of colored majority boxes wins; if the tie persists, the victory is shared.
Example: Adding up the boxes filled in over the three rounds, Michela has scored 15 points. Michela has also used the greatest number of yellow and red stars compared to the rest of the players. She therefore marks the corresponding spaces on her board. Michela's final score is 17.
Some Ideas for Drawing Constellations
Six examples are shown, each with a Constellation card (words 1 to 5, the target word highlighted) and the drawing made on a Celestial Vault, with the starting star circled:
- Constellation in the shape of Scissors: 1 Airplane, 2 Pinwheel, 3 Scissors, 4 Kite, 5 Sailboat.
- Constellation in the shape of a Dog: 1 Dog, 2 Plant, 3 Vase, 4 Window, 5 Banknote.
- Constellation in the shape of a Woman: 1 Heart, 2 Carrot, 3 Woman, 4 Pyramid, 5 Indian tent.
- Constellation in the shape of an Octopus: 1 Tree, 2 Hand, 3 Man, 4 Octopus, 5 Chicken foot.
- Constellation in the shape of a Heart: 1 Heart, 2 Carrot, 3 Woman, 4 Pyramid, 5 Indian tent.
- Constellation in the shape of an Umbrella: 1 Flower, 2 Wheel, 3 Balloon, 4 Umbrella, 5 Hook.