Lumberjack
Lumberjack Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
100 tree trunks ("Baumstämme") in 5 colours (20 each in blue, red, green, black, natural)
10 tree crowns ("Baumkronen")
Goal
Players build towers from the trunks of the stack in front of them and try to trigger a scoring at the right moment. Points are awarded to players whose towers have a trunk of the scored colour on top.
The player with the most points at the end wins.
Setup
Build the stack of 100 trunks as shown in the illustration. Each layer consists of 6 trunks (the top layer only of 4). The colours of the trunks play no role here, i.e. the trunks are mixed together in all colours and are not sorted by colour.
Place the 10 tree crowns next to the stack. They may be used by all players.
Keep paper and a pencil ready for noting the points.
Course of Play
The youngest player begins. Play then continues clockwise. On his turn, a player does one of the following three things:
- A) build on one of his own towers
- B) trigger a scoring
- C) place a tree crown
A) Building: Build on One of Your Own Towers
Each player may build up to three towers in front of him, each of which may consist of trunks of any number of different colours. To do so he takes a freely accessible trunk from the stack, i.e. a trunk with no other trunk lying on it (not even partly). He immediately places it either on one of his own towers or begins a new tower in front of him. Whether the trunk lies or stands is up to the player and has no effect on the scoring. Trunks are not placed directly next to one another.
B) Triggering a Scoring
The player takes a freely accessible trunk from the stack, but places it beside the stack. This triggers a scoring in the colour of the trunk taken.
Now all players receive points for towers whose topmost trunk is of this colour. The number of points equals the height of the respective tower. The colour of the trunks beneath the topmost trunk plays no role.
The points are noted on a piece of paper.
From each scored tower, the topmost trunk is always removed from play and placed beside the stack.
Examples: A player triggers a scoring with a black trunk.
- A tower of one blue, one green and one black trunk, with the black one on top, scores 3 points.
- A tower of 5 black trunks scores 5 points.
- A tower of three black trunks and one green trunk scores 0 points.
C) Placing a Tree Crown
The player takes a tree crown and places it on one of his own towers.
No further trunk may then be built onto this tower. However, if the topmost trunk colour of this tower is scored, the player receives double the points for it. The tree crown is returned to the other tree crowns after the scoring. Afterwards the tower may be built up again.
Example: scoring in red: 8 + 0 + 3 = 11 points.
If a tower topples over, it is rebuilt observing the correct topmost trunk. The order of the trunks beneath should also be kept as far as possible.
End of the Game
After the last trunk has been built from the stack, the final scoring takes place. The winner is the player with the most points.
Variants
The publisher's rulebook presents three variants: the beginner's variant "Easy goin'", the variant "Pyramido" (the trunks built into a pyramid, with the focus on the colours), and the variant "Blockhütten" (log cabins, where complete cabin footprints score bonus points).
[Translator's note: the printed heading of the second variant is "Pyramiden"; the introduction names it "Pyramido". Both names are kept as printed.]
Easy goin'
Each player builds as high a tower as possible during the game, but scores for it only at the end. But if a player is too greedy and his tower topples over beforehand, he gets nothing!
Goal: the player with the most points at the final scoring wins. The rules of the basic game apply, with the following changes:
A) Building towers
Each player may build one tower per colour, so there are at most 5 towers per player.
(Only trunks of the same colour may be built onto or next to one another.)
Trunks are placed directly next to one another (for a good foundation) or on top of one another (for height). Players may place trunks directly on the table surface only until they have placed the first trunk of that colour on another trunk (i.e. no longer on the table). From then on, no further trunk of this colour may touch the table for this player.
Heading: "Einmal vom Tisch weg - immer vom Tisch weg!" (Once off the table, always off the table!)
B) Scoring
There is only one scoring, at the end of the game, after the last trunk has been built from the stack.
For each colour, the player with the highest tower of that colour receives 1 point. In addition, the player with the highest tower overall receives 1 further point. In case of a tie, all tied players receive a point.
A toppled tower is not scored.
Example: Player A = 3 points. Player B = 2 points. Player C = "Z Pkt." (printed as shown).
[Translator's note: the printed score for Player C reads "Z Pkt." in the source. The example diagram shows two 1-point labels for Player C (one on the tallest white tower and one on the tallest black tower, which is the highest overall), so the intended figure appears to be 2 points. The printed text is kept as it stands here; the figure is not changed in the translation.]
C) Tree crowns
Tree crowns are not needed.
Toppled towers leave the game
If a tower topples over, its trunks are removed from the game. The player may start a new tower in that colour.
Pyramido
Each player builds a pyramid from trunks of the stack and tries to place as many trunks of the same colour next to one another as possible. Only the player who holds the colours together well and takes trunks from the stack tactically wins.
Goal: the player with the most points summed from the colour areas of his pyramid at the end of the game wins. The rules of the basic game apply, with the following changes:
A) Building the pyramid
Each pyramid may consist of any number of colours. The aim, however, is to have as many trunks of the same colour touching as possible (= colour area).
The trunks of the 1st level are laid on the table, long side down, directly next to one another; the further levels are placed on top.
Each higher level must contain one trunk fewer than the level beneath it.
It is permitted to build into levels higher than the next one up. For this, two trunks must already lie directly beneath each trunk placed (except on the 1st level).
The bottom layer consists of 9 trunks with 2 players, 7 trunks with 3 players, 6 trunks with 4 players and 5 trunks with 5 players.
[Translator's note: the source prints "A Spielern" (with 4 players), which is an apparent misprint for "4 Spielern". The number 4 is used here because it follows the 2, 3 and 5 pattern of the other player counts.]
B) Scoring
After the last player has finished building his pyramid, the game ends and the pyramids are scored. Trunks remain in the stack.
The value of each colour area is found by squaring the number of trunks of that colour which are connected: multiply that number by itself. For example, a colour area of 3 blue trunks is worth 9 points, and a colour area of 1 trunk is worth 1 point.
Example: Christina scores the following points for her pyramid:
- green: 1 + (2 × 2) = 5 points
- blue: (2 × 2) + (2 × 2) = 8 points
- red: 5 × 5 = 25 points
- natural: 6 × 6 = 36 points
- black: 3 × 3 = 9 points
Total: 83 points.
C) Tree crowns
Tree crowns are not needed.
Blockhütten
Players build log cabins (or their foundations) from trunks of the stack. At the end of the game there are points for every trunk built, with bonus points for certain floor plans.
Goal: the player who receives the most points at the final scoring wins. The rules of the basic game apply, with the following changes:
A) Building the cabin
Players lay the trunks only directly on the table and do not build upwards.
Trunks are laid either lying (beams) or standing (posts) on the table, alternating within each cabin. The first trunk of a cabin is always a post, the next a beam, and so on.
Each player may build only one cabin per colour.
B) Scoring
After the last trunk has been built from the stack, scoring takes place.
According to the illustration on the back of this rulebook, points are awarded. Incomplete cabins score only 1 point per trunk.
Example (from above): 20 points, 5 points, 10 points, 7 points, 4 points = 46 points.
Each tree crown on a complete cabin scores +10 points. However, each tree crown on an incomplete cabin scores −10 points!
C) Tree crowns
With the tree crowns, players can gain additional points, but only if their cabin is complete at the end of the game, i.e. has one of the floor plans shown on the back of this rulebook. Otherwise there are minus points! On his turn, a player may additionally take one tree crown and must then place it on any trunk of one of his cabins (more than one on a single cabin is permitted).
Floor plans (illustration on the back page; scores):
- 5 points: two standing posts with a beam laid between them (three trunks)
- 10 points: an L-shape of posts and beams (five trunks)
- 20 points: a rectangular frame of four beams and four posts
- 30 points: a larger frame three rows high, with posts and beams in the top, middle and bottom rows and beams between them on both sides (thirteen trunks)
[Translator's note: the back-page diagram is a picture, so the floor plan descriptions above are the transcriber's description of the drawn shapes, not printed text. The point values 5, 10, 20 and 30 are as printed.]