Intarsia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Notes about the color icons
• Playing the Game
  • Preparation phase
  • Building phase
    • Building action
    • Step 1) Pay for the wood element
    • Step 2) Build the wood element
    • Step 3) Claim a tool tile (if applicable)
    • Step 4) Take new material cards (if applicable)
  • Passing
  • Conclusion phase
• End of the Game
• Variant: The B Side of the Floor Board
• Overview of the Wood Elements
• Credits

Components

• 4 floor boards (1 per player), each with an A side and a B side
• 5 starting hand cards
• 76 material cards: 16 of each of the 4 colors, and 12 wild cards
• 1 tool board
• 48 tool tiles (front and back)
• 1 score board
• 150 wood elements: 36 frames (9 of each of the 4 colors), 36 midsections, 28 cores, 20 tables, and 30 connectors
• 4 point tiles
• 4 scoring markers
• 1 round marker and 1 reward marker

Setup

1. Put the score board in the middle of the table and place the following items onto it:

   • Each player chooses a scoring marker and places it onto space 0 of the score track.
   • Place one of the light brown markers as the reward marker onto the reward track space with the arrow.
   • Stack the 4 point tiles in the center of the score board.
   • Place the second light brown marker as the round marker onto space 1 of the round track.

2. Place the tool board next to the score board. Then take the tool tiles. Depending on the player count, remove some of them:

   • In a 2-player game, return all tool tiles with a 3(+)-player icon or 4-player icon on their back to the box.
   • In a 3-player game, return all tool tiles with a 4-player icon on their back to the box.
   • In a 4-player game, remove no tool tiles.

   Place the remaining tool tiles face up onto the tool board, each onto its matching space in the column of its tool type. In 3- and 4-player games, there are up to two tool tiles per space. If these two tiles show different point bonuses (and backgrounds), make sure to place the tile with the higher point bonus on top.

3. Sort the material cards by color and place them as 5 face-up material stacks within reach of all players.

4. Sort the wood elements by shape and color. Place them in a supply within reach of all players. Depending on the player count, you must then remove some of the frames from this supply and return them to the box:

   • In a 2-player game, remove 4 frames per color.
   • In a 3-player game, remove 2 frames per color.
   • In a 4-player game, remove no frames.

5. Each player takes the floor board whose wall color matches their chosen scoring marker.

   Decide together which side to use (A or B). Then, each player places their floor board with that side facing up in front of them. For your first play, we recommend using the A side. The rules for the B side can be found under Variant, below.

   Afterwards, each player takes 1 connector from the supply and places it in their floor board's center.

6. Take the starting hand cards. Place the card showing 5 card pairs next to the score board in a resting area. Shuffle the other 4 cards and give each player 1 at random.

   Any spare starting hand cards are then also placed in the resting area.

Notes about the color icons

If it's difficult to tell the color of the ornaments apart, take note of the small icons on the components. On the material cards and the floor board, you can find them in the center of the depicted ornaments. On the tool tiles, you can find them in the bottom right corner.

These icons have no other meaning for gameplay.

• Yellow: diamond
• Red: hexagon
• Green: square
• Violet: circle

Since the wooden frames are not marked with these icons, we recommend setting up their supply beside the tool board by placing each of them next to the row of its color.

As an alternative, you can leave the wood elements in their pigeon holes of the game box, and place it beside the score board. Make sure, however, that you then store any frames, which you remove during the setup of 2- or 3-player games, somewhere else (e.g., in the box lid).

Playing the Game

Intarsia is played over 3 rounds. Each round comprises the following 3 phases: the Preparation phase, the Building phase, and the Conclusion phase. After the 3rd round, the game ends with the final scoring.

Preparation phase

From the material stacks, each player takes the 10 material cards depicted on their starting hand card. Accordingly, you gain 8 or 9 material cards of certain colors and 1 or 2 wild cards. Take those material cards into your hand. From the second round onward, it is possible that you also have a few leftover cards from the previous round.

Once you've taken all your cards, place your starting hand card next to your floor board.

Example: According to her starting hand card, Anni adds 4 violet material cards, 3 green material cards, 2 yellow material cards, and 1 wild card to her hand, where she already has 2 yellow material cards from the previous round. Then, she places her starting hand card beside her floor board.

Building phase

First, determine the starting player for this round. In the first round, this can be any player. In later rounds, this is the player who was the last to pass in the previous round.

Beginning with the starting player, players take turns clockwise.

On your turn, you carry out 1 building action, which comprises 4 steps. If you cannot or do not want to carry out a building action, you must pass instead and drop out of the round. Once all players have passed, the Building phase ends and you move on to the Conclusion phase.

Building action

With each building action, you add exactly 1 wood element to your floor board. The building action comprises the following 4 steps:

1. Pay for the wood element
2. Build the wood element
3. Claim a tool tile (if applicable)
4. Take new material cards (if applicable)

The wood elements

In Intarsia, you assemble wood elements into ornaments. An ornament always consists of one frame to which you can gradually add one midsection, one core, and one table (in that order). So, each ornament may consist of 1 to 4 wood elements and has a fixed color that is defined by the color of its frame.

Connectors help you to open up space for new ornaments on your floor board, because new connectors can only be placed adjacent to frames and new frames can only be placed adjacent to connectors.

The ornament build order, from first to last: Frame, Midsection, Core, Table. Connectors sit between ornaments.

Step 1) Pay for the wood element

Choose a wood element and pay its cost by playing material cards from your hand according to the table below. These cards must be of one color, which is defined by the ornament to which you will add the element in the following step. Only connectors have no specific color (at least not on the A side of the floor board).

Wild cards: Each wild card can be played as a material card of any color.

2:1 trade: You may always play any two material cards as a substitute for one card of a needed color. You can do this as often as necessary when paying costs.

The costs of wood elements (using the example of a violet ornament):

• Frame: 1 material card of the ornament's color
• Midsection: 2 material cards of the ornament's color
• Core: 3 material cards of the ornament's color
• Table: 4 material cards of the ornament's color
• Connector: 4 material cards of one color of your choice

Important: You may only choose and pay for wood elements that you are able to build (see below).

After paying the cards, display them in front of you and take the wood element from the supply.

Note that the number of wood elements in the supply is limited. If a wood element is not available in the supply, it cannot be built. Frames are especially scarce.

Step 2) Build the wood element

Add the new wood element to your floor board. Remember that it must be built adjacent to at least one existing wood element. This means that frames can only be built adjacent to at least one connector, and connectors can only be built adjacent to at least one frame. Midsections, cores, and tables can only be added to existing ornaments and only in that order.

Furthermore, each wood element may only be built onto an empty, dedicated space on your floor board. The spaces for the frames are colored accordingly. Midsections, cores, and tables each have a color of their own. However, they may only be added to an ornament that matches the color of the cards paid in step 1.

Step 3) Claim a tool tile (if applicable)

On the tool board, there are several tool tiles displayed. Each tool tile shows a point bonus, a tool type, and a requirement, which involves 1 to 3 ornaments of one color. The colored tops (wood, silver, gold) only serve the purpose of backing their corresponding point bonus (1, 2, 3 points).

After building a wood element, check whether you meet the requirement of any tool tile on the tool board. A requirement is met if your floor board includes all the ornaments shown, whether or not any of these ornaments include more wood elements than required.

If you meet the requirement of a tool tile, claim it and place it face up beside your floor board. Keep tiles of the same tool type together. Once claimed, none of your tiles can be taken away from you.

After placing the tile beside your floor board, score it by gaining points equal to its own point bonus PLUS the point bonus of each tile of the same tool type that you've claimed already. Then, advance your scoring marker that many spaces on the score track.

Important: In 3-player and 4-player games, on each space of the tool board, there may be up to 2 tool tiles (which show the same requirement but may differ in their point bonuses). You cannot claim more than one of these two tiles.

If you forget to claim a certain tool tile, you may claim it on your next turn if it is still available. However, if you thereby claim more than one tool tile on the same turn, make sure that you score them in the order in which you have met their requirements.

Step 4) Take new material cards (if applicable)

First, return all cards you played in step 1 to their material stacks. Then, take new material cards from the stacks and add them to your hand. How many and which cards you can take (if any) depends on the wood element you built in step 2 and possibly on the color of its ornament (see table below).

Taking new material cards (using the example of a violet ornament):

• Frame: You may not take any new cards.
• Midsection: Take 1 material card of your choice. However, it may neither be a card of the ornament's color nor a wild card.
• Core: Take 2 material cards of your choice. However, those may neither be cards of the ornament's color nor wild cards.
• Table or Connector: Advance the reward marker on the reward track 1 or 2 spaces in a clockwise direction. Then take the 3 material cards depicted on the space to which you moved the reward marker.
  • Example: Take 2 yellow material cards and 1 wild card.
  • Example: Take 2 material cards of one color AND 1 material card of another color (but no wild card). One of these colors may be the same as the ornament.

You want to take a material card but its stack is empty? If you would draw from an empty stack, draw from any other stack instead. This can be the stack of the ornament's color but not the wild one.

Building action example: Anni wants to add a table to the green ornament on her floor board. She must pay 4 green material cards. Since she has only 3, she replaces the fourth by paying 2 violet cards.

Then, she takes the table from the supply and adds it to the ornament.

Afterwards, she takes a look at the tool board and claims the tool tile with a hammer that requires a complete green ornament. She places it next to her other tool tile with a hammer and scores a total of 4 points: 2 for the new tool tile and 2 for that other tool tile with a hammer.

Finally, she returns the cards she paid with to the material stacks and advances the reward marker 1 space. Following the rules on the space she reached, she chooses to take 2 green and 1 yellow material card and adds them to her hand. Then it is the next player's turn.

Passing

If you cannot or do not want to carry out a building action, you must pass instead. Do this by adding your starting hand card to the ones in the resting area and, if necessary, returning material cards from your hand to the material stacks until you have a maximum of 3 left. For the rest of the round, your turn is skipped.

Once all players have passed, the Building phase ends and you move on to the Conclusion phase.

Conclusion phase

Depending on the round, each player receives points for the connectors on their own floor board:

• If it's the end of the 1st round, gain 1 point per connector on your floor board.
• If it's the end of the 2nd round, gain 2 points per connector on your floor board.
• If it's the end of the 3rd round, gain 3 points per connector on your floor board.

Advance your scoring markers on the score track accordingly.

Then, move the round marker to the next space of the round track. If the round marker was already on space 3, the game ends with the final scoring.

Otherwise, the player who was the last to pass in this outgoing round chooses 1 of the 5 starting hand cards from the resting area and places it in front of them. Then, in a clockwise direction, each of the other players also takes 1 of the remaining starting hand cards from the resting area. Afterwards, start the next round with the Preparation phase.

Conclusion phase example: At the end of the 2nd round, Anni has a total of 4 connectors on her floor board and receives 8 points for them. Peter and Jana each have 3 connectors and so gain 6 points each.

After advancing the round marker, the players choose new starting hand cards. Peter was the last to pass in the outgoing round and goes first in choosing a card from the resting area. Then Anni, who comes next in a clockwise direction, takes one of the remaining 4 starting hand cards. Afterwards, Jana chooses a card.

Note: Once your scoring marker moves past space 50 of the score track, take a point tile from the center of the score board and place it in front of you with the 50 facing up. If your scoring marker moves past space 50 a second time, flip your point tile so that the 100 is facing up.

End of the Game

The game ends after the 3rd round. Now, carry out the final scoring, in which each player scores the ornaments of their own floor board as follows:

• For each of your 1-piece ornaments (consisting of exactly 1 frame), gain 1 point.
• For each of your 2-piece ornaments (consisting of exactly 1 frame and 1 midsection), gain 3 points.
• For each of your 3-piece ornaments (consisting of exactly 1 frame, 1 midsection, and 1 core), gain 7 points.
• For each of your 4-piece ornaments (consisting of exactly 1 frame, 1 midsection, 1 core, and 1 table), gain 12 points.

Whoever has the most points wins. In the case of a tie, the tied player who has claimed more tool tiles wins. If that does not break the tie, the victory is shared.

Final scoring example: Over the 3 rounds of the game, Anni has gained 63 points from tool tiles and connectors.

Now, she scores the ornaments on her floor board:

• For her two 1-piece ornaments, she gains 2 points.
• For her four 2-piece ornaments, she gains 12 points.
• For her single 3-piece ornament, she gains 7 points.
• For her three 4-piece ornaments, she gains 36 points.

This brings her total to 120 points (63 + 2 + 12 + 7 + 36).

Variant: The B Side of the Floor Board

The back of the floor board offers a more challenging variant. If during setup you choose to play with this side, note the following changes:

• The four inner spaces that are usually dedicated to connectors show plants now and cannot be built upon.
• The other spaces that are dedicated to connectors each have a specific color. This means when you want to place a connector there, you must pay for it with 4 cards of that space's color.

Example: Once this space has at least one adjacent frame, you can build a connector here if you pay 4 red material cards during step 1 of your building action.

The end of the game and the final scoring are carried out as usual with the following additional scoring:

For each plant that you have completely enclosed, you gain 10 points. A plant is completely enclosed if the 4 adjacent ornaments AND the 4 connectors in its corners have been built. It doesn't matter how many wood elements each of the enclosing ornaments comprises (single frames are enough).

Overview of the Wood Elements

Costs and new cards to take (using the example of a violet ornament):

• Frame — Cost: 1 material card of the ornament's color. New cards to take: none.
• Midsection — Cost: 2 material cards of the ornament's color. New cards to take: 1 material card (but none of the ornament's color nor a wild card).
• Core — Cost: 3 material cards of the ornament's color. New cards to take: 2 material cards (but none of the ornament's color nor a wild card).
• Table — Cost: 4 material cards of the ornament's color. New cards to take: Advance the reward marker on the reward track 1 or 2 spaces clockwise and take the 3 material cards depicted on that space.
• Connector — Cost on the A side of the floor board: 4 material cards of one color of your choice. Cost on the B side of the floor board: 4 material cards of the space's color onto which the connector is placed.

Credits

We wish to thank everyone who participated in the development and testing of this game. A very special "thank you" from Michael Kiesling goes to his wife, Ina.

• Game design: Michael Kiesling
• Artwork: Lukas Siegmon
• Development: Moritz Bornkast, Peter Eggert
• Rulebook: VEB Spielekombinat Katja Volk, Moritz Bornkast, Viktor Kobilke
• Proofreading: Neil Crowley
• Distribution: Pegasus Spiele GmbH, Am Straßbach 3, 61169 Friedberg, Germany.

© 2024 Deep Print Games GmbH, Sieglindestr. 7, 12159 Berlin, Germany. All rights reserved.