Claim It! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Setting Up
  • Before the First Game
  • Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Rolling and Placing a Marker
  • "Busting"
  • Decide: Take Spaces or Roll Again
• End of the Game
  • Last Round
  • Scoring
• Rule Variation

Contents

• 1 game board
• 1 sheet of 6 number stickers (for the Squatter markers)
• 30 Claim markers (black)
• 6 Squatter markers (white)
• 120 player markers, in five colors
• 3 dice
• 1 rule book (you're reading it)

Setting Up

Before the First Game

Apply the stickers (1-6) to the top of the white squatter markers.

Setup

Place the board in the center of the table. Place the white markers labeled 1 through 6 next to the board, and the black markers nearby. Each player chooses a color and takes all the player markers of that color. Roll the dice to determine the first player.

Playing the Game

Players will claim spaces on the board by rolling three dice. You may keep rolling and claiming more spaces, or you may stop at any time. When you stop, you replace all the white "Squatter" markers with markers of your own color. If you keep rolling, you risk losing what you gained this turn. If you roll a combination of numbers that you can not use, you "bust" and all the spaces that you claimed this turn are lost. When the game ends, the player with the largest connected group of spaces wins.

Rolling and Placing a Marker

On your turn, roll the three dice. You must assign one die to a column, one to a row, and the third to either a Squatter marker (white) or Claim marker (black). The row and column numbers are repeated on the board spaces to make the space easy to find.

Example 1: Column 5, row 2. The column is determined by the numbers across the bottom of the board, and the row by the numbers along the side. Their intersection gives the space 5,2.

For each roll of the three dice you will place one and only one marker (white or black) on the board.

Example 2: You rolled numbers 2, 3, and 5. You may place squatter #2 on space 3,5 or 5,3. You may place squatter #3 on space 2,5 or 5,2. Or you may place squatter #5 on space 2,3 or 3,2. You have six choices, but you may only place one marker for each roll of the three dice.

If the space where you wish to place is empty, you must place a squatter marker (white) on it. The number on the squatter marker must match the number on the third die (the die that was not used for the row or column). If the squatter marker with that number is not available because you have already placed it on the board, then you may not place a marker on that space.

If the space where you wish to place has a marker of an opponent's color on it, but no claim marker (black), then you should treat it as a blank space. Place the white Squatter marker on top of the opponent's marker.

Example 3: You are the green player, and you rolled 1, 4, and 5. On which space may you place a marker?

• A: No. The space is empty, but squatter #5 is unavailable.
• B: Yes. Place squatter #4 on top of the brown piece.
• C: Yes. Place a claim marker (black) on top of your own color.
• D: Yes. Place a claim marker (black) on top of squatter #2.
• E: No. Orange has a claim marker (black) there.
• F: No. You already have a claim marker there.

If the space where you wish to place has a marker of your color on it, but no claim marker (black), then you place a claim marker on top of it. If the space where you wish to place has a squatter marker (white), then you place a claim marker on top of the squatter. When placing claim markers (black), it does not matter what the number on the third die is.

If the space where you wish to place has a claim marker (black) on it, either on top of or beneath another piece, then you may not place a marker on this space.

Note that until you decide to end your turn, no player markers in your color are placed, and no markers are removed. White and black markers may sit on top of the player markers.

"Busting"

If you roll the dice and cannot place a marker on any of the possible row/column combinations given by your dice, then you have "busted" and your turn is over. You must remove all black (claim) markers that are stacked on top of other markers. Then remove all white (squatter) markers from the board. Pass the dice to the next player.

Example 4: You are the green player and you rolled 3, 4, and 6. Squatter #3 and #6 are both unavailable (Squatter #3 is under the claim marker on 6,3). You can't place squatter #4 on 3,6 or 6,3 because both those spaces have claim markers. You bust! You must remove the claim markers from 4,2 and 6,3; and remove the squatters from 2,1 and 6,3 and 4,4. Your turn is over.

Decide: Take Spaces or Roll Again

If you did not "bust" on your roll, you may choose to roll again, or else end your turn and take the spaces you marked this turn. If you roll again, you risk "busting" and losing all the spaces you have earned this turn. As long as you don't "bust", you may keep rolling as many times as you want. Your turn only ends when you "bust", or when you decide to stop and take your spaces.

If you decide to stop, any stack that is topped by a black claim marker should be replaced by a marker of your color on top of a black claim marker. (You have staked your claim to this space.) These spaces permanently belong to you. Any space which contains a white squatter marker is now cleared. Place a marker of your color in this space. If the space had another player's marker on it, give it back to him. Your turn is over. Pass the dice to the next player.

Example 5: You are the green player and you decide to stop and take your spaces.

• 5,5: Remove squatter #1 and replace it with a green marker.
• 5,6: Remove squatter #6 and the brown marker. Place a green marker on the space and give the brown marker back to the brown player.
• 6,2: Replace the claim marker on top of the green marker with a green marker on top of a claim marker. (Move the black marker under the green one.)
• 4,3: Remove the white and black marker, and replace with a green marker on top of a black marker.
• 3,4: Remove all three markers (white, black, and orange), and give the orange marker back to the orange player. Place a green marker on top of a black marker on the space.

End of the Game

Last Round

As soon as one player has a specific minimum number of claimed spaces (marked with a black marker) on the board, there will be one more round of turns before the game ends. The number of claimed spaces required is listed on the board.

• 5 players = 6 claimed spaces
• 4 players = 7 claimed spaces
• 3 players = 9 claimed spaces
• 2 players = 13 claimed spaces

Note: the claimed spaces do not have to be connected. When a player meets the last round condition at the end of his turn, this player calls, "Last round!" Each player then has one more turn, including the player who called last round.

Scoring

The player with the single largest connected group of territories (horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally) wins. Note that both settled spaces (without black markers) and claimed spaces (with black markers) count as yours.

Example 6: Orange has nine claimed spaces and calls last round. After green, brown, and orange take their last turns, this is what the board looks like. Green's largest group is a group of six. Brown has a group of five. And orange has a group of seven. Orange player wins!

If players are tied, the player with the most black (claim) markers on the board wins. (Total number: they do not need to be connected.) If that is tied also, the player with the most total spaces on the board wins.

Rule Variation

The following rule change may be used if you want to have longer turns with more spaces claimed. It is not recommended for a five player game:

When you place a black Claim marker on top of a white Squatter marker, remove the Squatter marker from the board. It may now be used again.