Eco-Links Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Overview
• Set-up
• Game play
  • Can you spot the 4 mistakes?
• End of round & scoring
• Next round set-up
• Game end & victory
• Round winning penalty
• Beginner's tip

Contents

• 4 player boards
• 64 path tiles (4 sets of 16)
• 24 animal markers (4 sets of 6)
• 18 gold number tiles
• 4 completion tiles
• 1 hourglass

Overview

The game is played in four rounds and all players play simultaneously each round.

Before the start of each round 6 gold number tiles are revealed. Players then place their animal markers to the corresponding numbers on their board. The aim is to connect them all together using your path tiles. Players will earn points if they finish their path in time. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Set-up

Each player takes 1 player board, 16 path tiles, and 6 animal markers of a single color.

Stack the completion tiles in the middle of the table in descending order, 1st on top.

Shuffle the 18 gold number tiles and stack them face-down next to the game play area. Then reveal the first 6 number tiles from the top of the pile and place them in the center of the table.

All players then put their 6 animal markers on the corresponding numbers of their boards.

Place the hourglass next to the game play area.

Game play

On the count of three, all players begin trying to solve their puzzle at the same time.

Players must fill their board's empty spaces with path tiles to connect all of the animal markers together.

However there are a few placement rules you must respect:

1. The path must only be connected to animal markers, never to a number with no marker on it.
2. The path must never be cut-off by the edge of another tile.
3. Animal markers must be connected using a single interconnected path, never separate paths.
4. You must fill all 7 empty tile spaces on your board.

Can you spot the 4 mistakes?

The "Incorrect" example board in the rulebook shows four mistakes:

1. The path is not connected to all the animal markers.
2. The path has been cut-off by the edge of another tile.
3. The path is connected to a number with no animal marker on it.
4. There are 2 separate paths; however there should only be one single interconnected path.

The first player to succeed in connecting all of their markers takes the first completion tile and places it on their board.

Remember: once a completion tile is placed, that player cannot modify their board anymore, even if they spot a mistake!

Once a completion tile has been placed that player flips the hourglass to start the final countdown.

The remaining players keep trying to connect their animal markers during the final countdown and will place a remaining completion tile on their board if they finish in time.

If all players are finished, or if the hourglass runs out, game play moves on to scoring.

End of round & scoring

Check if players made any placement mistakes. Any mistakes made will disqualify a player from scoring points that round.

A disqualified player loses their spot in the completion order and any players who finished after that player move up one spot in the completion order.

For the players who finished and did not make any mistakes, gold number tiles are collected as follows:

• 1st player: highest gold number tile
• 2nd player: second highest gold number tile
• 3rd player: third highest gold number tile
• 4th player: fourth highest gold number tile

Any number tiles taken during a round should be kept and stored in front of the player who earned it. These points will be used to calculate final scores at the end of the game.

If only 1 player succeeds at connecting all their animal markers, that player is the only one to get points.

If no one succeeds, no one gets points for this round.

Next round set-up

Re-stack the completion tiles in the middle of the table in descending order, 1st on top.

Put all previously unclaimed gold number tiles aside and reveal 6 new gold number tiles.

If there are not enough gold number tiles left in the pile, shuffle all previously used tiles and add them to the bottom of the draw pile.

Once 6 new gold number tiles are revealed, players then put their 6 animal markers on the corresponding numbers of their boards in preparation for the next round.

Game end & victory

The game ends after four rounds.

All players then count the values of their gold number tiles.

The player with the highest score wins the game.

In a case of a tie, the player with the most number tiles is the winner. If there still is a tie, then the victory goes to the player who has the highest number tile.

Round winning penalty

At the end of each round the winning player of that round takes a winning penalty. This winning penalty means they must return to the box a path tile featuring a winning penalty symbol.

• The ① symbol means this tile should be discarded upon a player's first win.
• The ② symbol means this tile should be discarded upon a player's second win.
• The ③ symbol means this tile should be discarded upon a player's third win.

Once discarded, a tile can no longer be used for the rest of the game.

Beginner's tip

When beginning to place your tiles, put the 6-direction tile in the middle of your board (1) as seen below.

Using this strategy, first try to connect the animal markers to the middle (2) and then try to fill in any remaining empty spaces with the terminus tiles (3).