Carré
Carré Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 64 carrés, 16 per player, with the values 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12
- 4 player boards, one in each player colour
- 8 bonus chips
- 8 stoppers
- 3 dice
Players: 2-4. Age: 8 and up. Duration: approx. 30 minutes.
Setup
Each player places in front of them:
- one player board,
- the 16 carrés in their colour, and
- one bonus chip.
It is recommended that each player sort their carrés by value and place them around their player board.
Count out twice as many stoppers as there are players and place them in the centre of the table. Place as many bonus chips as there are players in the centre of the table as well. Any remaining stoppers and bonus chips go back into the box.
The youngest player takes the dice and is the start player.
Turn Sequence
The start player begins, and play then proceeds clockwise. On their turn, a player rolls all three dice once and then carries out one or more actions, in any order. The player pays for these actions with the rolled points (and, if needed, with one or more bonus chips). The actions are:
- Build
- Buy stoppers
- Use stoppers
- Buy bonus chips
If a player does not carry out any action with the rolled points (because they do not want to or cannot), those points are lost. The next player then takes their turn.
Building
Each carré consists of one to twelve squares and shows a number. This number gives the cost of the carré, i.e. the number of dice points the player must spend from their roll to build that carré.
- The largest carré consists of twelve squares and costs 12 dice points.
- The 4-carré costs 4 dice points and consists of four squares.
- The 7-carré is an exception. It costs 7 dice points, but covers only one square on the player board.
To build a carré, the player must have rolled the exact cost. The player pays the cost of a carré with the points of one or more dice from their roll. The three rolled numbers can either:
- be used individually (in which case the player can carry out several actions), or
- be combined by adding two or three dice together (in which case the player can pay higher costs).
Example: A player rolls 2, 4 and 6. With these, they can build the following carrés:
- Either: a carré costing 2, a carré costing 4, or a carré costing 6 (each paid with a single die).
- Or: a carré costing 6 (paid with 2 + 4), or a carré costing 8 (paid with 2 + 6).
- Or: a carré costing 12 (paid with 2 + 4 + 6).
The player may only build carrés that are in their stock and that they are able to build.
A player may at any time, without spending dice points, take any number of their carrés from their player board and return them to their stock (for example, if they have built in such a way that they can no longer fit the remaining carrés).
It is not allowed to split the value of a die into lower numbers.
Building rules for carrés
The player may freely choose where to build the carré on their player board, as long as they observe the following rules:
- If the player builds a carré directly on the player board, it must fit exactly onto the grid and must not extend beyond the grid.
- If the player builds a carré on top of one or more carrés already built, it must also fit into the grid. It must also rest with its entire area on the carré or carrés beneath it. No part of the carré may "float in the air".
Tactical tip: When building carrés, make sure that all remaining carrés can still be built. It is usually better to build the large carrés at the lower levels early on.
Example: Building the 9-carré as the last carré is not possible. The player's only way out is to take one or more already built carrés back.
Buying Stoppers
Stoppers make it possible to remove carrés from another player's player board.
On a turn, a player may buy either one or two stoppers:
- One stopper costs 5 dice points.
- Two stoppers cost 10 dice points.
The player pays the exact price and takes the stopper(s) from the centre of the table.
Special case: no stopper in the centre of the table
- If the player buys one stopper and there is none in the centre of the table, the buyer chooses another player, who must place one of their stoppers in the centre of the table. In this case the buyer does not receive a stopper for their five dice points.
- If the player buys two stoppers and there is no stopper in the centre of the table, the buyer chooses another player, who must place one of their stoppers in the centre of the table. The buyer receives this stopper. If only one stopper is in the centre of the table when two are bought, the buyer receives that one. The buyer then chooses another player, who must place one of their stoppers in the centre of the table.
Using Stoppers
Stoppers may not be used in the same turn in which they were bought.
A player who uses a stopper may return one opposing carré of their choice to its owner's stock. As with building, this action must be paid with exactly matching dice points.
A player who uses two stoppers may additionally, with the points paid, build one carré of their own of that size onto their player board.
The carré to be removed must be exposed, i.e. no part of it may be covered by another carré.
Example: Justus rolls 3, 4 and 5 and, as his first action, uses a stopper to stop the leading player, Marianne. He pays with the 3 and 5 dice (total 8) and requires Marianne to take her exposed 8-carré back into her stock. Marianne's 12-carré is blocked and cannot be chosen by Justus, even though he rolled 12 points. If Justus were to use a second stopper, he could additionally build an 8-carré of his own. Justus pays for the second stopper with the remaining 4 die together with a bonus chip (see below), and buys a new stopper.
The player against whom a stopper is used cannot defend against it. Used stoppers are placed in the centre of the table.
During one turn it is possible to use several stoppers, including against different players. For each stopper, the player must have the correct dice number available.
Buying Bonus Chips
Bonus chips can be very useful for building larger carrés than the dice roll would allow.
On a turn, a player may buy either one or two bonus chips, but two bonus chips are much more expensive:
- One bonus chip costs exactly 1 dice point.
- Two bonus chips cost 11 dice points.
The player pays the exact price and takes the bonus chip(s) from the centre of the table.
Special case: no bonus chip in the centre of the table
The same rules apply as for stoppers (see Special case under Buying Stoppers).
Using Bonus Chips
Bonus chips may not be used in the same turn in which they were bought. On their turn, a player may use any number of bonus chips from their stock to pay for actions. In this case: 1 bonus chip = 1 dice point. Each bonus chip is therefore used like an additional die showing the number "1".
Examples:
- Justus rolls 5, 5 and 1 and takes one bonus chip from his stock to build a 12-carré.
- Marianne rolls 6, 6 and 3 and, with her three bonus chips, builds an 8-carré and buys two stoppers.
Once a player has used bonus chips, they immediately place them in the centre of the table as the common supply.
It is allowed to pay for an action using only bonus chips.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately as soon as a player builds their last carré. That player wins.
Storage Note
After you have punched all the pieces out of the punch sheets, please do not throw the empty punch sheets away! Simply take the sorting insert out of the box and place the empty punch sheets on the bottom of the box. Then place the sorting insert on top of the punch sheets. This way the components will not get mixed up even when the box is stored upright.