D.O.T
D.O.T Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 2 identical decks of 18 cards each (unique backs)
- 9 Scoring tokens
Setup
- Separate cards into two decks by their back design; each player takes one.
- Each player removes their 3 "star" cards, creating a star card deck and a draw deck.
- Shuffle each draw deck and place it face down. Place each star card deck face down. It can be viewed by its owner at any time, so no need to shuffle.
- Leave space in front of each player for the "pool" of player cards and between players for the "shared pool", as shown in the setup picture below.
- Place all of the scoring tokens in a supply to the side of the play area.
How to Play
D.O.T is played over three rounds. In each round a player will secretly play cards into their card pool and into the shared card pool. Scoring tokens are then awarded based on the scoring condition for that round. Each round consists of the following phases:
- Prepare Tokens
- Draw Cards
- Play Cards
- Scoring
- Discard
1. Prepare Tokens
Take 1 scoring token of each colour from the supply and place into the reserved area next to the shared pool. These are the scoring tokens that can be won this round.
2. Draw Cards
Both players draw 5 cards from their draw deck and must choose and draw 1 star card from their star card deck. Whilst in the draw phase, the player may swap the star card chosen for a different star card in their star card deck. Cards in hand should be kept secret from the other player.
In this phase each player must decide which 3 cards they want to add to their common pool and which 3 cards they will play into the shared pool.
Each card in the game has a number of different coloured shapes on it, called dots. The number of each colour varies from 0-3 dots on each draw deck card and exactly 4 of one colour on star cards.
Example card: 1 blue dot, 3 black dots, 1 red dot.
3. Play Cards
When ready, each player creates two piles of three cards. They place one pile face down into the shared pool and the other face down into their own pool.
Once both players have done this, they first reveal the cards in their own pools, then one by one, reveal all cards in the shared pool.
For easier scoring, arrange cards the same way up as shown in the example, so that all dots of the same colour are aligned horizontally in each pool.
4. Scoring
In D.O.T., scoring tokens are awarded based on the difference in coloured dots between cards in a players pool and cards in the shared pool. Depending on the round, the goal is either the largest or smallest difference.
Round 1 & 3: Largest Difference
For Rounds 1 and 3, each player is aiming for the largest difference in dots between their card pool and the shared pool.
How to score:
- Count the dots of a specific color in the shared pool.
- Each player counts the dots of the same colour in their own pool.
- The player with the largest difference takes the corresponding scoring token(s) (usually one, but more if carried over from a previous tie).
- If there's a tie, no one wins the token, and it carries over to the next round.
Repeat this process for all three dot colors.
Round 2: Smallest Difference
In Round 2, players are instead aiming to achieve the smallest difference in dots between their card pool and the shared card pool. Counting is done the same way as in Rounds 1 & 3, but the scoring token goes to the player with the lowest difference. Ties are handled in the same way as in Rounds 1 & 3.
Scoring Example
Player 1 has: 3 Blue dots, 6 Black dots, 4 Red dots. Player 2 has: 8 Blue dots, 3 Black dots, 4 Red dots. The shared pool has: 6 Blue dots, 10 Black dots, 2 Red dots.
| Dot colour | Player 1 Difference | Player 2 Difference | Winner Round 1 & 3 | Winner Round 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 6 - 3 = 3 | 8 - 6 = 2 | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| Black | 10 - 6 = 4 | 10 - 3 = 7 | Player 2 | Player 1 |
| Red | 4 - 2 = 2 | 4 - 2 = 2 | Tie | Tie |
- Note: to find the difference you always subtract the smaller number from the larger number.
- In this example, there are two blue dot scoring tokens available so the winner of the blue dots this round would win both tokens.
- Neither player wins the red dot scoring token and therefore it will be carried across to the next round.
5. Discard
All cards played into the shared central pool are now discarded face down into a discard pile. These cards can no longer be looked at by the players. Cards played into the player pools are kept in front of the players and carried over to the next round.
At the end of Rounds 1 and 2, players can discard a number of cards from the opponents' pools. The player with the most scoring tokens chooses first. If there's a tie, the tie-breaker is: most blue tokens, then most black, then most red. If still tied, flip a coin.
At the end of Round 1, the first player discards one card from the opponent's pool, and places it face down into the discard pile. The other player then does the same. For Round 2, each player discards two of their opponents cards instead of one.
All remaining cards in the player pools remain face-up and are carried across to the subsequent round. They cannot be exchanged for cards in the hand or moved between pools.
If this is the end of Round 3, move to the end of game. If not move to the next round.
End of Game / Win Scenario
At the end of Round 3, count the number of scoring tokens that each player has. The player with the highest number of scoring tokens wins the game. In the case of a tie, players share the victory.
The game can also be won as soon as a player wins at least 5 scoring tokens. In which case, the game ends immediately.