Drop It Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Contents
• Set Up
• Shapes
• Game Play
• Landing Rules
• Scoring Points
• Game End
• Notes
• Variants
  • Teams
  • Shape
  • Easy: Without Edge Pieces
  • Jokers
• The Authors

Overview

Choose a shape. Drop it in the drop zone. If your shape doesn't break any rules based on where it landed, then you earn points based on how high it landed and if it is touching bonus circles. Players take turns dropping their shapes until all of the shapes have been dropped. Then, the player with the most points wins!

Contents

• Vertical board with a drop zone, levels, and a base
• 4 side-edge pieces (2 with colors and 2 with shapes)
• 2 bottom-edge pieces (double-sided)
• 9 blue shapes, 9 green shapes, 9 red shapes, 9 yellow shapes — each color set contains 3 circles, 2 squares, 2 diamonds, and 2 triangles
• Scoring track
• 4 score markers (1 in each color)
• 4 x +25/+50 point tokens (1 in each color)
• 8 jokers (2 in each color) (see Variants)

Set Up

For the base game with the colored side-edge pieces.

1. Place the base in front of you so that the letters A and D are on the left side, and B and C are on the right side.
2. Hold the vertical board so that the letters A and D are on the left side, and B and C are on the right side.
3. Carefully slide the vertical board into the channel in the base from the left side of the base. Make sure that the letters in the four corners of the vertical board and base match: A with A, B with B, C with C, and D with D.
4. Lay the bottom-edge pieces into the recesses in the base with their colored sides facing up. Make sure the letters match.
5. Slide the colored side-edge pieces down into the slots on the sides of the vertical board. Make sure the letters match.
6. Place the game board in the middle of the table so everyone can reach. Place the scoring track next to the game board. Set your score markers on the large yellow starting space.

Note: You do not need the two side-edge pieces with shapes, or the jokers, for the base game. See Variants for more.

Shapes

Four players: Each player gets one complete set of shapes in one color, and the matching score marker and point token.

Three players: Each player gets one complete set of shapes in one color, and the matching score marker and point token. In addition, divide up the shapes of the unused fourth color as shown.

Two players or two teams: Each team or player gets two complete sets of shapes, one matching score marker, and both matching point tokens.

Game Play

The player who most recently had a birthday begins. Players take turns dropping one of their shapes into the drop zone. When it's your turn, do the following five steps. Then, it's the turn of the player to your left. Proceed in this way, in clockwise order.

1. Choose one of your shapes.
2. Drop it in the drop zone.
3. Check to make sure your shape didn't break any landing rules.
4. If you didn't break any landing rules, figure out how many points you scored.
5. Move your score marker forward on the scoring track according to the number of points you scored.

Landing Rules

These rules apply to the final resting position of your shape after you drop it and it stops moving.

• SHAPE: Your shape is not allowed to be touching any shapes that are the same shape.
• COLOR: Your shape is not allowed to be touching any shapes of the same color.
• EDGE: Your shape is not allowed to be touching any edges of the drop zone that are marked by symbols of the same color or shape printed on the side-edge pieces or bottom-edge pieces. (Note: This rule only pertains to the edges of the drop zone, not the entire area of a level or the entire column area above a bottom-edge symbol.)
• HEIGHT: Your shape is not allowed to be sticking out above the top of the drop zone (at the top of the vertical game board).

If you break one or more of the landing rules, you earn no points for that shape.

Scoring Points

• LEVEL POINTS: Determine the highest level in which your shape landed. You earn the number of points equal to the level number.

  For example, a shape in level 3 earns 3 points, and a shape in level 5 earns 5 points.

• BONUS POINTS: Determine if one or more of the bonus circles on the game board is covering a part of your shape. If so, you earn bonus points according to the size of the bonus circle.

  • Large bonus circle: 1 point
  • Medium bonus circle: 2 points
  • Small bonus circle: 3 points

  In the example in the rulebook, the blue square is touching only a yellow edge and a red triangle. It did not break any landing rules. Therefore, it earns 5 points for landing (at least partly) in level 5, and 2 bonus points for overlapping a medium bonus circle, for a total of 7 points.

• POINT TOKENS: If you earn more than 25 points, place your point token with the "+25" side face up on the scoring track space of the matching color. If you earn more than 50 points, flip your point token so the "+50" side shows. In a two-person or team game, use your second point token if necessary.

Game End

As soon as all of the players have dropped their final shapes and assessed any points earned with them, the game is over. The winner is the player with the most points! Don't forget to factor in your "+25" or "+50" point tokens. In case of a tie, all of the tied players are the winners.

Notes

• When it's your turn, you may turn the game board toward you. But be careful. Don't change the positions of the shapes in the drop zone by mistake!
• Points are assessed during your turn — in other words, immediately after you have dropped your shape. If the position of your shape changes after this point assessment, it will not affect your score! Points cannot be taken away once earned!

Variants

In each case, play the game as usual, but with the changes described for each variant.

Teams

Divide up into two teams. The members of Team 1 and Team 2 always alternate turns. If the two teams have different numbers of players, make sure that each player on a team always gets the same number of turns as the other team members. Each team chooses one score marker for the entire team, which is always advanced when any team member scores points. If it is your turn, select any shape from your team's shape supply and drop it into the drop zone. Then check for broken landing rules and assess any points earned. Team members are allowed to advise each other. If you are playing with jokers, discuss with your fellow team members whether or not you want to use a joker.

Shape

When setting up, take the two side-edge pieces with the shapes and the two bottom-edge pieces with their sides showing the shapes facing up and insert them so that the letters match. Again, make sure that all of the letters match up. You will not need the two side-edge pieces with the colors. When checking the edge landing rules, you will now have to pay special attention to the shapes along the edges, instead of the colors.

Easy: Without Edge Pieces

• When setting up, use just two side-edge pieces (shape or color) but no bottom-edge pieces. Again, make sure that the letters match up.
• When checking, you may ignore all of the edge landing rules. In this version, the only role of the side-edge pieces is to make it easier to count the points for the levels you reach. This makes the game much easier.

Jokers

• When setting up, in a three-player and four-player game you will get two joker tokens in your color. In a two-person game or team game, you will get just two jokers (one in each of your two colors).
• If you determine that you have broken a landing rule (or more than one), you can spend one of your jokers, which allows you to get the full point allocation as if you hadn't broken any landing rules at all. Each joker can be spent only once.
• Unused jokers are worth three points at the end of the game.

The Authors

Now that he has retired, Uwe Rapp will be able to spend even more time inventing games. He is married and has two children. Bernhard Lach is an attorney in Heilbronn, Germany, and is married with three children. After over 25 years together in the Marbach chess club, the two decided to try inventing some games of their own. With their game ideas developed as a team, as a counterbalance to their more contemplative games of chess, they always look for simple but clever game concepts with an emphasis on fun. Drop It is their latest game published by Kosmos.