Balconia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Playing the Game
• End of the Game
• Final Scoring
• Game Variants
• Scoring Help
  • Position of the balcony(ies) that the condition applies to
  • Points
  • Balcony conditions
  • Entrance conditions
• Scoring Example

Components

• 1 5x5 building grid
• 22 building blocks
• 3 entrance blocks
• 22 tokens (with numbers from 1 to 22)
• 1 dual-layer selection disc
• 1 scoring pad
• 2 player aids

Setup

Note: Before your first game, assemble the dual-layer selection disc using special stickers.

1. The players sit on opposite sides of the table. Place the building grid in the middle of the table, between you and your opponent.
2. Spread out the 22 building blocks (yellow and numbered on the inside) on the table.
3. Shuffle the 22 tokens face down, then return 8 tokens back to the box without looking at the numbers on them (you won't need them for this game). You should be left with 14 face-down tokens.
4. Randomly select 1 of the 3 entrance blocks (pink on the inside). Put the 2 remaining entrance blocks back in the box (you won't need them for this game, either). Then randomly place the selected entrance block in the middle space of the bottom row of the grid.

The player facing the green door is the green player, and the player facing the pink door is the pink player.

On the side of the entrance block that is facing you there is a scoring condition that applies to the whole building at the end of the game. A detailed description of the entrance blocks is given later in the rules.

5. Then take the selection disc and place it next to the building grid, between you and your opponent. The green side must face the green player, and the pink side must face the pink player.
6. Each player takes a scoring sheet (you will need it at the end of the game) and a player aid.

Playing the Game

Note: The players must not look at the opponent's side of the building throughout the game.

Every turn one of the players will be selecting a building block and the other will be placing it in the grid (the players switch roles every turn).

• The green player begins the game. First, he reveals one of the face-down tokens and takes a building block with the corresponding number.
• Then the green player looks at each side of the building block, chooses 2 adjacent sides and places the building block on the selection disc so that these 2 sides are on his half of the disk.
• Now the pink player takes the selection disc with the building block. The pink player may look at all 4 sides of the building block; however, only 2 of the 4 sides are available to him (the ones on the pink half of the selection disk).
• Then the pink player chooses one of these 2 sides and places the building block in the grid so that the chosen side is facing him.

Important! Every new building block must be adjacent (vertically or horizontally) to at least one of the previously placed blocks — even if it's on the ground floor. The first building block must be adjacent to the entrance block. A building block can be placed above an empty grid cell, as long as it is vertically or horizontally adjacent to at least one other building block.

Note: The player adding the building block to the grid ultimately decides which balcony the other player will get (his opponent will always see the side opposite from the one that he chose for himself).

• After this, the turn is over and the players switch roles: now the pink player will be choosing the building block and the green player will be placing it in the grid.

Example of a turn:

The green player reveals the token with the number 4. He takes the building block with the same number, chooses 2 adjacent sides of the building block and then places it on the selection disc so that these two sides are on his half of the selection disc:

Now the pink player can choose between the other two sides:

The pink player chooses this side, and then places the building block in the grid so that the chosen side is facing him:

The green player gets the opposite side of the building block on his side:

End of the Game

The game ends as soon as the last token is revealed and the corresponding building block is placed in the grid. The building should in total consist of 15 blocks (1 entrance block and 14 building blocks). The players then proceed to the final scoring.

Final Scoring

Each player takes his scoring sheet (for more convenience, you may cross out all empty grid cells). Count the points for each block (including the entrance block) on your side and tally up the score. See Scoring Help on page 3.

The player with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most points for the entrance block wins. If the tie persists, the players share the victory.

Game Variants

Instead of placing each new building block so that it is adjacent to at least one of the previously added blocks, you can now place it anywhere in the grid.

You can also choose to place the entrance block anywhere in the bottom row (it doesn't have to be the middle space).

Note: You can play with both of these rules at the same time.

Scoring Help

The majority of the balconies have a scoring condition. Each balcony with a condition brings the player points depending on the placement of other balconies.

Where to look: The pictogram on the left indicates the position of the balcony(ies) that the condition applies to (an X marks the balcony with the condition). The balcony marked with an X is orange when it is included in the scoring and dark blue when it is not.

What scores the points (and how many): The pictogram on the right represents the scoring condition.

Example: gain 1 point for each individual piece of laundry on the balconies in the row directly above this balcony.

Important! Entrances are not balconies, thus they cannot be scored for the conditions that appear on the balconies. The conditions on the entrance blocks are scored separately.

Empty grid cells do not score any points on their own.

Position of the balcony(ies) that the condition applies to

• All balconies in this row (including this one).
• All balconies in the column above this balcony.
• All balconies in the row directly above this balcony.
• All balconies in the column below this balcony.
• All balconies around this balcony.
• The balcony directly to the right of this balcony.
• All balconies in the column directly to the right of this balcony.
• The balcony directly to the left of this balcony.
• All balconies in the column directly to the left of this balcony.
• A group of vertically and/or horizontally connected balconies (including this one)*.

The group can be of any shape (not just the one shown on the pictogram). It can also consist of only one balcony (the one with the condition).

Points

• 1x — 1 point for EACH TIME the condition is met.
• 2x — 2 points for EACH TIME the condition is met.
• 3x — 3 points for EACH TIME the condition is met.
• →5 — 5 points IF the condition is met*.

If the condition implies the presence of 2 elements, you score 5 points if there is at least one of each element present in the corresponding area (on the same balcony or not). If the condition implies the absence of an element, you score 5 points even if there are no balconies (only empty grid cells) in the corresponding area.

Balcony conditions

• Another balcony.
• Heart.
• Cat (always purple).
• Musical note.
• Individual piece of laundry (of any shape or type).
• Bird (always turquoise).
• Flower of a specific color (for example, only orange).
• Unique colors of flowers (max. 6).
• Flower of any color (magenta, light pink, purple, orange, turquoise, white).
• No such element (element must be absent on the balcony(ies) that the condition applies to).
• Sunblind.
• Person.
• Lovebird (facing left). Must be paired with another lovebird (facing right) in the column directly to the left*.
• Lovebird (facing right). Must be paired with another lovebird (facing left) in the column directly to the right*.

See items 5, 8, 13 and 14 of the Scoring Example on page 4.

Important! Each lovebird can be paired with only one other lovebird that is facing the opposite direction. They can also be on different levels.

Entrances have a scoring condition that applies to the whole building (all balconies in the grid). The scoring condition is pictured on the door.

Entrance conditions

• Gain 5 points if you have more of the upper symbol on your side of the building, than your opponent has on his. Similarly, gain 3 points if you have more of the lower symbol on your side, than your opponent has on his. Note: You can gain points for both symbols as long as you have the majority. In case of a tie, neither player gets the points for the majority.
• Gain 1 point for each symbol (between those two pictured) that you have fewer of on your side of the building. In this example you gain 1 point for each bird if there are fewer birds than flowers (and vice versa).
• Gain the number of points equal to the difference between the total amounts of these two symbols: count the number of each symbol then subtract the smaller number from the bigger number.

Scoring Example

Read before playing the game.

The example shows a completed 5x5 grid of balconies (numbered 1-15 for reference, with the remaining cells crossed out as empty) and walks through the scoring of each numbered balcony, from top to bottom, left to right:

1. The player could have gained 5 points if there were no people on the balcony directly to the left; however, this balcony is already in the leftmost column of the grid, so it doesn't score any points.
2. There is only 1 bird in this row of balconies: 1 point.
3. There are 2 pieces of laundry on the balcony directly to the left: 4 points (2 points per each piece of laundry).
4. This balcony makes up a group with three other balconies (they all have cats and are either vertically or horizontally connected): 6 points (1 point per each cat, including the cat on this balcony).
5. There is another lovebird facing right in the column directly to the left, so this balcony scores 5 points.
6. There are 3 flowers on the balconies around this one (1 turquoise and 2 purple), but only 2 different flower colors (turquoise and purple): 6 points (3 points per each color).
7. There is only one balcony in the column below this balcony: 2 points.
8. There is another lovebird facing left in the column directly to the right, so this balcony scores 5 points.
9. This balcony doesn't have a condition, so it doesn't score any points.
10. There are 4 balconies in the row directly above this one; however, only one of them has no people on it: 1 point.
11. In order to score 5 points, there should be at least 1 person and 1 cat (together or separately) on the balconies around this one. There are 2 people on 2 different balconies and a cat on another balcony: 5 points.
12. There are no other balconies either vertically or horizontally connected to this balcony that also have flowers, so this group is made up of only 1 balcony (the balcony with the condition): 1 point (for the single flower).
13. There are two lovebirds in the column directly to the right. However, one of them is already paired with another lovebird (see #5) and the other one is facing the wrong way, so this balcony doesn't score any points.
14. There are no lovebirds facing left in the column directly to the right, so this balcony doesn't score any points.
15. There are fewer musical notes (3) than birds (5), so the entrance scores 3 points (1 point per each musical note).

Final score: 39 points.