Genial Spezial
Genial Spezial Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
- 1 game board
- 4 sets of 20 double hex colored tiles
- 4 score boards
- 16 scoring counters (4 each in four colors)
- these rules
- Score token holders: 10 tall towers and 14 short towers (half height)
- 24 score tokens (6 each in four colors)
Board spaces:
- Four game board spaces have the number 3 and 4.
- Eight game board spaces have un-numbered grey spaces.
- 23 golden bonus spaces (light blue with an asterisk-like symbol). Score 1 bonus point in a color of your choice.
Preparation
Lay out the board. The set-up of the board varies with the number of players:
- Two Players: Place one tall tower on each of the six spaces with the number "2," place the short towers on the 10 remaining grey spaces. Lay out the 24 score tokens with the light side (white background) face up and remove one 1 and one 2 in each color. Shuffle the remaining 16 tokens and randomly place them light side up onto the towers on the board.
- Three Players: Place one tall tower on each of the eight spaces with the number "3," place the short towers on the 12 remaining grey spaces. Lay out the 24 score tokens with the light side (white background) face up and remove one "2" in each color. Shuffle the remaining 20 tokens and randomly place them light side up onto the eight tall towers and twelve short towers on the board.
- Four Players: Place one tall tower on each of the ten spaces with the number "4," place the short towers on the 14 remaining grey spaces. Lay out the 24 score tokens with the light side (white background) face up and randomly place them light side up onto the ten tall and fourteen short towers on the board.
Each player receives one set of 20 colored tiles. Each player places a score card in front of them and places one corresponding color counter on each of the four start spaces (0). The colors of the player tiles and the scoring colors are unrelated.
Any unused components remain in the box.
Objective
Score as many points as possible in all four colors. To score points, place your tiles on the board to build chains that connect two or more towers. Focus on connecting towers to score bonus points.
Play
The youngest player begins and play then progresses clockwise. On your turn, place one of your tiles on two empty spaces on the board. Check for any new scores, and then conclude your turn. A player is never restricted on where he can play tiles. He can always just drop them wherever he wants, regardless of connection. Same for a player's first tile, it can play anywhere.
Scoring - Score Tokens
When you place your tiles next to each other they form a chain. If a chain only touches one tower, it scores nothing. If your chain connects two or more towers, you score the points indicated on the score tokens for towers that are newly connected by the played on chain. Advance the respective color counters on your score board accordingly.
After scoring a light score token, flip it over onto its dark side. Future scores of this token yield the higher value - leave it on its dark side.
For scoring, essentially just look at the chain before the piece and after the piece. A player gets points when he connects new towers into a chain, not when he touches a tower with a single tile. (Like oasis in the game Through the Desert, it's possible to score a tower multiple times, but it has to be by extending distinct chains to touch the towers.) Each chain can only score each tower once.
Examples
- The RED player's just placed tile scores 1 blue point and flips the blue scoring marker to "2" and also scores 2 green points and flips the green scoring marker to "3."
- The second play scores 1 green point and flips the green scoring marker to "2."
- The third play scores 0 points because the tile touches a red chain that is already connected to the blue "2" and the green "2" and green "3." The small chain becomes part of the big chain and scores nothing.
- The RED player has an existing chain connecting 3 towers. In the left example, the placed tile will connect for 2 purple and 3 green points as it is a new chain. However, in the right example, the newly placed tile connects the small red chain to the large chain and the green 3. Since the large red chain was already connected to the green 3, there is no new scoring.
- The score board shows a scoring gain of 1 orange and 2 blue.
Important: With each chain, score each score token only once. After placing a tile, only score those score tokens that have been newly connected to the entire chain. With different chains a player can score the same towers multiple times. Note that chains do not connect through the towers. In the picture, the RED player has two different chains in each of the three examples.
Golden Spaces and Towers
Score - Golden Spaces Scoring Bonus
When placing a tile on the board over one of the 23 golden bonus spaces (light blue with an asterisk-like symbol on some boards), score 1 bonus point in a color of the player's choice. (In the picture, the right part of the tile covers a golden bonus space.)
Score - Tall Towers Scoring Bonus
The short towers are irrelevant for the "tall tower" bonus scoring. When you connect two or more towers (not the shorter towers), you score 1 bonus point in all four colors for each tall tower connected. With each chain, score this bonus for each tall tower only once. After placing a tile, only score those tall towers that have been newly connected to the entire chain. With different chains, the same tall tower can be scored multiple times.
Examples:
- RED player scores 2 Blue points. Then RED scores 2 tall tower bonus points for a total of 2 orange, 2 purple, 2 green, and 3 blue points. Previously, RED had scored 2 tower bonus points for the separate chain to the right.
- No new towers are connected so there is no standard scoring. Then RED scores 1 tall tower bonus point for connecting the blue tower to the chain already connecting the green and orange towers.
- RED player scores 1 Blue point for the newly connected tower. Then RED scores 2 tall tower bonus points for connecting the purple and blue tall towers to the previously connected green and orange tall towers.
- RED player scores 2 Green points for the newly connected tower. Then RED scores 3 tower bonus points for connecting the blue, green, and orange tall towers.
- RED player scores 1 Orange point for the newly connected tower. Then RED scores 2 tall tower bonus points for connecting the green and purple tall towers.
- No new towers are connected so there is no standard scoring. Then RED scores 0 tall tower bonus points. Previously, RED had scored 2 tall tower bonus points for connecting the purple and blue tall towers; and 2 tall tower points for connecting the orange and green tall towers.
Game End
The game ends after 20 rounds when all players have played all of their tiles. Then determine the smallest scored color of each player. That color is the player's score. The player with the largest score wins. In the case of a tie, use the next lowest color as a tiebreaker, and so on. In the example, the player on the right wins. Both players score 11. On the tiebreaker, the left player scores 12 orange. The right player scores 13 with his 2nd lowest score and wins.