Lumicora Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Action Phase
    • Special Action: Spend a Jellyfish to swap Luminos
• Establishing Corals
• Scoring Phase
  • Coral Scoring
• End of the Game
  • Category 1: Jellyfish
  • Category 2: Limestone markers
  • Category 3: Animals
  • Category 4: Color majorities
  • Scoring Example
• Variants
  • Light Side of the Score Board
  • B-Side of the Reef Board
• Special Case: No More Luminos in the Bag?
• Overview

Components

• 4 reef boards (1 for each player), double-sided (A side and B side). Each has slots for Luminos (personal display), a starting area, storage for limestone markers, and storage for points markers.
• 104 Luminos: 26 tiles in each of the 4 coral colors. Each color has the following tiles (front): 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6. The backs show fish (used to sort Luminos by player count).
• 6 starting Luminos
• 40 limestone markers
• 4 fish markers
• 1 turtle marker
• 1 octopus marker
• 1 score board (double-sided: dark side and light side)
• 16 scoring tiles (4 tiles in each of the 4 coral colors; coral side on the front, jellyfish side on the back)
• 4 victory point tiles (front: 50, back: 100)
• 1 bag

Setup

1. Place the score board in the middle of the table and place the following components on it:

   • Place the turtle marker on space 1 of the round track (A).
   • Put all the limestone markers in area B as a limestone supply.
   • Place the 4 victory point tiles next to the upper left corner of the score board (C).
   • Each player chooses a fish marker and places it on space 0 of the score track (D).

   The score board is double-sided with a dark and a light side. For your first game, we recommend using the dark side. The rules for the light side can be found under "Light Side of the Score Board" below.

2. Each player takes the reef board that has their fish marker in the top right corner. Together, choose a side (A or B) and place all the reef boards with that side facing up in front of you, with the slots pointing away from you.

   For your first game, we recommend using side A of the board. The rules for side B are found under "B-Side of the Reef Board" below.

   Shuffle the 6 starting Luminos and randomly deal one to each player. Place your starting Lumino oriented as you like in the starting area in the middle of your reef board (E). Return all unused starting Luminos to the box.

   Each player takes a set of scoring tiles. Each set consists of 4 tiles, one in each color. Place them with the coral side facing up on the matching spaces at the bottom edge of your reef board (F).

3. Take all 104 Luminos and sort them according to the number of players:

   • Two-player game: find all Luminos with 3 or 4 fish on the back and return them to the box. Then shuffle the remaining 72 Luminos (without fish on the back) and place them in the bag.
   • Three-player game: find all Luminos with 4 fish on the back and return them to the box. Then shuffle the remaining 88 Luminos face down and set aside 6 as a hidden emergency stack somewhere near the playing area. You only need this stack in the rare case that you run out of Luminos before the end of the game (see "No More Luminos in the Bag?"). Place the remaining 82 Luminos in the bag.

How to Play

Lumicora is played over 10 rounds. Each round has an Action Phase, in which each player takes a turn, followed by a Scoring Phase. After the Scoring Phase of the 10th round, the game ends with a Final Scoring.

Action Phase

Starting with the player with the octopus, in clockwise direction, each player takes one turn. A turn consists of the following 4 steps:

Step 1: Choose 1 Lumino from your personal display and place it face up with the others in the Atoll.

Step 2: Carry out your choice of one of the following actions:

• Action A: Take limestone, OR
• Action B: Take 1 Lumino from your personal display, OR
• Action C: Take 1-3 Luminos of one other color from the Atoll.

Action A: Take limestone. Check the number on the Lumino you placed in the Atoll in Step 1 and take that many limestone markers from the limestone supply. Place them on free storage spaces in the bottom left of your reef board. As you have only 10 such spaces, you can only store 10 limestone markers. Return any excess to the limestone supply.

Example: Anni chooses the pink Lumino showing the 6 from her personal display and places it in the Atoll. If Anni chooses Action A, she receives 6 limestone markers from the limestone supply, as the Lumino she added to the Atoll shows a 6. She places them on free storage spaces on her reef board.

Action B: Take 1 Lumino from your personal display. Choose one of the 3 remaining Luminos in your personal display and take it into your hand.

Example: If Anni chooses Action B, she may take into her hand one of the 3 Luminos in her personal display (for example, the green Lumino).

Action C: Take 1-3 Luminos of one other color from the Atoll. Choose 1-3 Luminos of a single color from the Atoll. This color can't be the color of the Lumino you added to the Atoll in Step 1.

Example: If Anni chooses Action C, she can take 1 or 2 of the blue Luminos OR the single yellow Lumino from the Atoll into her hand. She can't take the pink one, as she added a pink to the Atoll.

Step 3: If there are fewer than 4 Luminos in the Atoll, draw new ones from the bag and place them face up in the Atoll until there are 4 there again.

Step 4: Finally, if you took one or more Luminos into your hand in Step 2, you may place them in any order into your reef (see "Establishing Corals"). To speed the game up, the person to your left may begin their turn while you do this. However, if you are the last person in this round, the others must wait until you have placed your Luminos. After that, the Scoring Phase begins.

Special Action: Spend a Jellyfish to swap Luminos

If one of your scoring tiles has its jellyfish side facing up (which happens when you perform a coral scoring in the Scoring Phase), you may spend it in the Action Phase at the start of your turn to swap Luminos in the Atoll OR in your personal display with random Luminos taken from the bag. To do this, first return your scoring tile showing the jellyfish to the box. Then choose any number of Luminos, all of which must come from the Atoll OR from your own display (not a combination of both), put them back in the bag, and mix thoroughly. Draw the same number of Luminos from the bag and place them back in the Atoll or in your personal display. If you have several scoring tiles showing jellyfish, you can do this several times in a row.

Establishing Corals

At the beginning of the game, your reef consists of 42 base spaces. These are either limestone spaces or water spaces. Additionally, you have 1 starting Lumino, which consists of 2 coral spaces of different colors. (All other Luminos consist of 2 coral spaces of a single color.)

You establish corals by placing Luminos from your hand onto spaces in your reef: either onto the base spaces or onto coral spaces of already placed Luminos. Luminos placed on base spaces are in Level 1. Luminos placed on other Luminos are in correspondingly higher levels.

Observe the following rules when placing Luminos:

1. Touch the same color. When you place a Lumino in your reef, it must touch (edge to edge) at least 1 coral space of the same color.

   • In Level 1, this means that when you place a Lumino on base spaces, it must touch at least 1 other coral space of the same color that is also in Level 1.
   • Exception: If there are no visible coral spaces of this color in Level 1 OR the Lumino cannot be placed because there aren't 2 free adjacent base spaces, you may place it adjacent to any Lumino in Level 1.
   • On higher levels, this means that when you place a Lumino on another Lumino, it must either be placed on at least 1 coral space of the same color OR touch another coral space of the same color in this level (or both).

2. Do not place exactly overlapping. When you place a Lumino on other Luminos, two coral spaces of different Luminos must be covered. A Lumino may not be placed entirely covering another one.

3. Place in one level. A Lumino can't be placed on two spaces in different levels, causing it to be tilted.

4. Pay limestone markers to place on water spaces. To place Luminos directly on water spaces, you must pay limestone markers. If you place a Lumino on 1 water space and 1 limestone space, you must take 1 limestone marker from your storage and return it to the limestone supply. If you place a Lumino on 2 water spaces, you must take 2 limestone markers from your storage and return them to the limestone supply. If you cannot pay the necessary limestone markers, you can't place the Lumino in this way.

5. If you can't place a Lumino, return it to the bag and lose 1 VP. If you can't place a Lumino from your hand into your reef due to the above placement rules, or you do not wish to, you must put it back in the bag and lose 1 victory point (move your fish marker 1 step backwards).

Once you have placed all Luminos from your hand into your reef (or returned them to the bag), your turn ends. All Luminos in your reef remain in their place for the rest of the game.

Scoring Phase

Once each player has finished their turn in the Action Phase (and no one has any Luminos left in hand), the Scoring Phase begins. Carry out the following steps in order:

Step 1: Refill your personal display. Each player draws Luminos from the bag and places them face up in the slots of their personal display until they have 4 Luminos again.

Step 2: Perform a color scoring. Starting with the person holding the octopus marker, each player in turn, clockwise, chooses either to perform a Coral Scoring or to skip it.

Coral Scoring

To carry out a coral scoring, select one of your scoring tiles that has its coral side facing up (at the bottom edge of your reef board). Flip it to the jellyfish side and immediately score the coral spaces of its color:

• You may score 1 visible numbered coral space in each level of your reef.
• In each level of your reef, only score the smallest visible number of your scoring tile's color.
• The coral spaces you score need not be adjacent.

Example: It's Anni's turn and she wants to perform a coral scoring. She chooses her pink scoring tile and flips it to its jellyfish side. She now checks each level of her reef for which number to score:

• In Level 1, she has 2 pink spaces with the number 3. She scores a 3.
• In Level 2, she has one pink space with a 5 and one pink space with a 2. In this case, she must score the 2, as it is smaller.
• In Level 3, she has no visible space with a number value.
• In Level 4, she has one pink space with a 6. She scores the 6.

Therefore, Anni receives a total of 11 victory points (3 + 2 + 0 + 6 = 11).

Add the numbers and receive that many victory points, by moving your fish forward on the score track.

Then check the position of the turtle marker on the round track and receive as many limestone markers from the limestone supply as are shown under the round track: In rounds 1 to 4, you receive 4 limestone markers. In rounds 5 to 7, you receive 2 limestone markers. In rounds 8 and 9, you receive 1 limestone marker. In round 10, you do not receive any limestone markers. Place these limestone markers as usual on free storage spaces on your reef board.

Note:

• You may only use each scoring marker once per game. Once you have turned a scoring marker to the jellyfish side, you cannot perform the coral scoring of that color again.
• You can only perform one coral scoring per Scoring Phase. Therefore, think carefully about when you want to do it.
• You can perform a coral scoring even if you would receive 0 victory points (for example, if you have no visible numbered coral space in that color).

Step 3: Pass the octopus marker if necessary. The player who carried out the last coral scoring in this Scoring Phase now receives the octopus marker. If no coral scoring was performed, the octopus marker stays with the same player.

Step 4: Move the turtle marker forward. Move the turtle marker to the next space on the round track. When the marker reaches space 10, a final round (the 10th round) is played. After the Scoring Phase of the 10th round, the game ends and the final scoring is carried out.

End of the Game

The game ends after the Scoring Phase in the 10th round. Now conduct the Final Scoring by working out the following 4 categories on the score board and distributing victory points (VP) accordingly. Whenever you receive VPs, move your fish marker forward that many steps on the score track. Take a victory point tile and place it in front of you as soon as you cross the 50 VP space for the first time.

Category 1: Jellyfish

Gain 2 VP per scoring tile on your reef board with its jellyfish side up.

Category 2: Limestone markers

Gain 1 VP per pair of limestone markers in the storage area of your reef board.

Category 3: Animals

Gain VP for each of the 4 species. The more animals of a species visible in your reef, the more VP you gain for that species. However, you can score at most 4 animals per species. If you have more than 4 animals of a species, the excess are ignored.

• Shellfish: Gain 0/1/4/8 VP for 1/2/3/4 visible shellfish.
• Crabs: Gain 2/4/7/10 VP for 1/2/3/4 visible crabs.
• Seahorses: Gain 1/6/7/12 VP for 1/2/3/4 visible seahorses.
• Starfish: Gain 4/8/11/14 VP for 1/2/3/4 visible starfish.

Category 4: Color majorities

For each color, compare the number of spaces your reef has of that color with your opponents (it doesn't matter what level they're in, what they're touching, or what's showing on them).

• Gain 4 VP if you have the most visible spaces of that color.
• Gain 2 VP if you have the second most visible spaces of that color.
• No VP are awarded for third or fourth place.
• In case of a tie for the most spaces, all tied players receive 3 VP, and no VP are awarded for the second most spaces.
• In case of a tie for the second most spaces, all tied players receive 1 VP.
• If you have no visible spaces of a color, you cannot score points for that color.

Note: The Luminos in your personal display and in the Atoll do not count in the final scoring.

The player with the most victory points after the final scoring wins. In the event of a tie, the tied player with the most limestone markers on their reef board wins. If still tied, the victory is shared.

Scoring Example

1. Peter has 2 jellyfish on his reef board, so he gains 4 VP.
2. For his 5 limestone markers he gains 2 VP.
3. Animals:
   • Peter has 5 visible shellfish in his reef, so he gains 8 VP.
   • He has one visible crab, so he gains 2 VP.
   • He has 3 visible seahorses, so he gains 7 VP.
   • As he has no visible starfish, he gains nothing.
4. Color majorities:
   • Peter has 6 visible green coral spaces, sharing second place with Anni. He gains 1 VP.
   • He has no visible pink coral spaces. Therefore, he cannot score points here.
   • He has 9 visible blue coral spaces, more than any other player. He gains 4 VP.
   • With 7 visible yellow coral spaces, he shares first place with Moritz. He gains 3 VP.

Variants

Light Side of the Score Board

The double-sided score board has an alternative reverse side. If you choose in Step 1 of the set up to play with this side, continue with the set up as usual.

The light side of the score board differs from the dark side only in the way animals are scored in the final scoring. Rather than being about the number of animals of one species, each animal is scored individually and earns victory points depending on the level of adjacent spaces.

Don't score Category 3: Animals as described above. Instead, do the following:

You gain VP for each animal in your reef. Each species has requirements for what level the adjacent spaces must be in. Spaces that are next to each other when viewed from above are considered adjacent.

There are two different scorings, each bringing a different number of victory points. For the smaller scoring, you only need one adjacent space in the required level. For the larger scoring, several adjacent spaces in the required level are needed.

Important: Each animal can receive the victory points from only one of the two scorings.

• Shellfish:
  • Small Scoring: Gain 1 VP if the space with the shellfish is adjacent to at least one water space. (Note: The area outside the play area is not considered a water space.)
  • Large Scoring: Instead, gain 2 VP if the space with the shellfish is adjacent to at least 3 water spaces.
• Crabs:
  • Small Scoring: Gain 1 VP if the space with the crab is adjacent to at least one coral space in the same level.
  • Large Scoring: Instead, gain 3 VP if the space with the crab is adjacent to at least 4 coral spaces in the same level.
• Seahorses:
  • Small Scoring: Gain 2 VP if the space with the seahorse is adjacent to at least one coral space in a higher level.
  • Large Scoring: Instead, gain 7 VP if the space with the seahorse is adjacent to 6 coral spaces in higher levels.
• Starfish:
  • Small Scoring: Gain 2 VP if the space with the starfish is adjacent to at least one coral space in a lower level.
  • Large Scoring: Instead, gain 4 VP if the space with the starfish is adjacent to 5 coral spaces in lower levels.

Scoring example: Peter has 2 shellfish with 1 adjacent water space, and 1 shellfish with 3 adjacent water spaces. He receives 1 + 1 + 2 = 4 VP.

Peter has 1 crab with 3 adjacent coral spaces in the same level. He receives 1 VP.

Peter has 1 seahorse with 2 adjacent coral spaces in higher levels, and 1 seahorse with no adjacent coral space in a higher level. Therefore, he receives 2 + 0 = 2 VP.

Peter has 1 starfish with 3 adjacent coral spaces in lower levels and 1 starfish with 5 adjacent coral spaces in lower levels. He receives 2 + 4 = 6 VP for this.

B-Side of the Reef Board

The double-sided reef boards have an alternative reverse side. If you decide in Step 2 of the set up to play with this side, continue with the set up as usual. All players must play with the same side of the reef boards.

On the B-side of the reef boards, there are fewer limestone spaces adjacent to the starting Lumino. Instead, there are additional remote limestone spaces at the edge of the reef board. You can reach these spaces by placing Luminos on the intervening water spaces (which costs limestone markers as usual).

Each remote limestone space shows a VP penalty. During the final scoring, you lose the points shown on each such visible penalty.

Conduct an additional scoring category at the end of the final scoring:

Category 5: Remote Limestone Spaces. You lose victory points for each visible remote limestone space on your reef board (i.e., each limestone space with a penalty that you have not covered with a Lumino). The penalty varies between -1 VP, -2 VP, and -3 VP per remote limestone space.

When you lose victory points, move your fish marker backward that many steps on the score track (and, if necessary, give back or turn over your victory point tile if you cross the 50 VP space again).

As usual, the player with the most victory points after the final scoring wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most limestone markers on their own reef board wins. If there is still a tie, the victory is shared.

Special Case: No More Luminos in the Bag?

In the rare case that there are no more Luminos in the bag when you need to draw one, proceed as follows: Take all Luminos from the emergency stack and place them in the bag, then continue drawing. If this occurs in the 10th round, continue with the game as usual. If it happens before the 10th round, continue the game until the end of the Scoring Phase in the current round. Then immediately conduct another Scoring Phase. After that, the game ends prematurely, and you perform the final scoring. If the bag empties again this round, neither the Atoll nor your supplies are replenished.

Overview

Lumicora is played over 10 rounds. Each round has an Action Phase, in which each player takes a turn, followed by a Scoring Phase. After the Scoring Phase of the 10th round, the game ends with a Final Scoring.

In the Action Phase, starting with the player holding the octopus marker and proceeding clockwise, each player takes a turn. A player's turn consists of the following 4 steps:

1. Choose 1 Lumino from your personal display and place it with the other Luminos in the Atoll.
2. Perform one of the following actions: A) Take limestone markers OR B) Take 1 Lumino from your personal display OR C) Take 1-3 Luminos of one other color from the Atoll.
3. If there are fewer than 4 Luminos in the Atoll, refill it with new ones from the bag.
4. If you added one or more Luminos to your hand in Step 2, place them in your reef, while the next player starts their turn.

Once each player has finished their turn, continue with the Scoring Phase.

In the Scoring Phase, perform the following 4 steps:

1. Each player refills their personal display with new Luminos from the bag.
2. Starting with the player holding the octopus marker and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses either to perform a coral scoring or to skip it. Coral scoring:
   • Choose a color and flip the scoring tile that has its coral side facing up to the jellyfish side.
   • In each level, score the space showing the lowest number in that color.
   • Sum your scores and gain that many victory points.
3. If at least one coral scoring was performed in Step 2, the player who was last to score gets the octopus marker. Otherwise, the marker stays with its current holder.
4. Move the turtle marker to the next space on the round track and start the next round. Once the marker reaches space 10, the last round of the game begins.

The game ends after the Scoring Phase of the 10th round. Now carry out the final scoring.