De Stijl
De Stijl Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective + Overview
Choose and place cards from the Gallery so that the Painting (the play area) contains as many separate "strokes" in your color as possible. Each separate stroke scores one point, with a bonus awarded to the players with the largest strokes. The player whose color is most prominent in the final Painting wins!
A "stroke" is a series of one or more orthogonally-adjacent cells that share a common color.
A "cell" is one of a card's nine separate squares of color.
Example Scoring
Current Score: Blue: 6, Black: 3, Yellow: 3, Red: 2, White: 2
Setup
- Choose a color, and take that color's matching Player Aid card. If playing with two players, each player chooses two colors.
- Shuffle the Canvas cards together, then deal one to the center of the play area to form the Painting, and one to the side to form the Gallery.
- Build the Canvas deck using a number of cards based on the number of players:
| Players | Cards |
|---|---|
| 2 Players | 16 Cards |
| 3 Players | 27 Cards |
| 4 Players | 32 Cards |
| 5 Players | 25 Cards |
- Return all unused Canvas and Player Aid cards to the box.
- Draw one card from the Canvas deck for each player, and add those cards to the Gallery.
- The player that most recently used a paint brush takes the First Player card.
Components
- 40 "Canvas" cards
- 5 Player Aid cards
- 4 Score Track cards
- 1 "Most Influential Artist" Card
- 5 Wooden Tracker cubes
- 1 First Player card
How to Play
De Stijl is played over a series of game rounds, until the Canvas deck runs out of cards.
Starting with the First Player, choose one card in the Gallery and add it to the Painting. When you place this card, it must cover two, three, or four of the Painting's cells (see example).
Example: Correct - the newly-placed card covers exactly three cells. Do Not: cover fewer than two cells. Do Not: cover more than four cells.
Play proceeds clockwise in order. After each player has taken a turn, exactly one card will remain in the Gallery. At this point, draw one card from the Canvas deck for each player, and add those cards to the Gallery.
Pass the First Player card clockwise, and begin a new game round.
Game End
The game ends when only one card remains between the Gallery and the Canvas deck.
Score one point for each stroke in your color represented in the Painting. A "stroke" is a series of one or more orthogonally-adjacent cells that share a common color.
Award points to the player or players for the strokes composed of the greatest number of individual cells:
| Number of players | Largest Stroke | 2nd Largest Stroke | 3rd Largest Stroke |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Players | +3 Points | - | - |
| 3 Players | +4 Points | +2 Points | - |
| 4-5 Players | +5 Points | +3 Points | +1 Point |
If the largest stroke(s) are in an unused color, no player scores the bonus!
If two or more players tie, all tied players score the appropriate bonus, and the subsequent bonus is awarded normally. It is possible to score more than one of these bonuses (for example, if you have the largest stroke, and also the second largest stroke).
The player with the most points wins! In case of a tie, the tied player with the single largest stroke wins. In any further ties, all tied players share the victory.
Optional Score Track
Points are only totaled at the end of the game. However, if you would like to keep a running tally of these points, use the provided Score Track cards and Wooden Tracker cubes. Be sure to double check your scores at the end of the game!