Minigolf Designer
Minigolf Designer Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Content
- Family or Advanced version
- Setup
- Playing the Game
- Advanced game: Client visit
- Game's End
- Tile placement
- Land card
- Hole Number
- Hole Par Value
- Score sheet
- Overall Mini Golf Course Design
- Scoring
- Checking the Playable condition
- Scoring the Promise cards
- Declaring the Winner
- Solo Variant
- Tile Reference
- Setup Summary
Content
- 264 mini golf square tiles
- 28 Pond tiles
- 20 Stream tiles
- 7 Client Visit tiles
- 1 bag
- 5 score tiles
- 1 statistics sheet (This is not the tile setup count. It shows how many tiles each player can expect to obtain during the game, depending on the number of players.)
- 3 racks
- 14 clients cards (7 males and 7 females)
- 47 land cards
- This rule book
- 1 common scoreboard
- 5x7 Promise cards (in 5 different colors)
- 5 personal score sheets (in 5 different colors)
- 5 entrance gate quarter-disk tiles (in 5 different colors)
- 5 wooden Player's Pawns (in 5 different colors)
- 5x7 wooden Promise disks (in 5 different colors)
- 5x36 acrylic Par cubes (in 5 different colors)
- 30 acrylic black Par cubes
- 5x9 hole number tokens
Family or Advanced version
This game can be played in two versions. The family version will please casual gamers and is suitable for young children. The advanced version is more competitive, and will force the player to pay more attention to what the other players do in their designs.
In the advanced version, players use Promise cards which represent the commitments they pledge to please the client couple. Promises are easy to make, but more difficult to keep. Although a kept promise can greatly improve the satisfaction of the clients. If you fail to keep your promises, this will greatly impact the satisfaction of the clients.
In the following chapters, the rules referring to the Advanced version will be framed like this paragraph. For your first play, we suggest you play the family version and for now skip reading framed paragraphs.
Setup
For a quick setup overview, you can refer to the last page of this book.
B. Randomly draw only one "Mr Client" card and one "Mrs Client" card and place them in the center of the table for anyone to see. They represent the client couple for this game and are the same for all players.
C. Each player takes the game components that match their preferred color. This includes a set of hole number tokens (numbered from 1 to 9), an entrance gate tile, a score sheet, all the par cube markers, and for the advanced version, the promise cards and disks.
D. Randomly distribute 3 land cards to each player. Each player should then choose one that they place face up in front of them and return the other two to the box.
Note that the land cards have a difficulty level indicated (see page 11). For your first game, or if you play with young children, we suggest to discard the most difficult cards before dealing them to the players.
The remaining client and land cards should also be returned to the box, as they won't be used for the rest of this game.
E. Place the double sided pond and stream tiles in a stack accessible for all players.
Place the mini golf tiles in the bag. Shake the bag to mix them. One player is designated to draw the mini golf tiles, and this player places the bag next to them.
F. Place the 3 racks in the center of the table. Take all player pawns and place them randomly on the first rack. You can shake all pawns in your hands and draw them one by one.
The top rack is set up for 3 players, the red player will play first, the yellow second, and the blue one will be last.
Then the player in charge of the bag fills the two following racks with one more tile than the number of players.
G. Draw the first mini golf tiles to fill the second and third racks (see the next chapter to learn how to fill a rack according to their back number order). You will draw one more tile than the number of players.
H. Decide if you want to play the family or the advanced version of the game and place the scoreboard on the according side, in the center of the table. In the family version of the game, players don't use the Promise cards nor the Promise disks.
For the advanced version of the game:
I. If you play the advanced version, add the appropriate number of "Client visit" tiles in the bag depending on the number of players.
J. Each player selects at least one (you can select more) of their promise cards and slides those cards face down under their score sheet (or their land card). These cards specify your secret and personal goal. The other promise cards are kept in front of the player in a facedown stack, in order to not reveal what they selected.
It is not wise to take too many promise cards now, as you can take more later during client visits (see page 8), however, there's no guaranty that a client visit would happen. A player may always look at their own promise cards to help them remember what they should focus on. But you should take care to keep the selected and unselected promise cards apart during play.
Playing the Game
Turn order
The player pawns on the top rack indicates the turn order. The player whose pawn is on the first spot from the left takes their turn first. During your turn, you can only do two things: pick a tile from the middle rack or pass.
Picking a tile
When you pick a tile, you take it in your hand and place your pawn at the exact same spot where the tile was. The location your pawn ends up indicates the turn order for the next round. You can only take a tile from the middle rack, never from the bottom one.
The bottom rack shows the players which tiles can be taken next round. Therefore if you desperately need a tile from the bottom rack, you can choose a tile more to the left or pass. This way you will be in a good position during the next round to be able to pick the tile you want.
After taking a tile you must immediately place it on your mini golf map (see the Tile Placement rules, page 10).
Example: The red player decides to take the third tile and moves their pawn to the same spot.
Passing
You are not obliged to take a tile. If you don't like what is available on the middle rack, you can pass instead. You indicate this by placing your pawn on the bench, all the way to the left of the middle rack in front of all the other pawns.
If another player decides to pass after you have, then they will place their pawn to the left of all the other players on the bench. As a rule, the last player to pass will always be the first player to play the next round.
Example: The next player is the yellow player. Since they don't like any tiles available on the middle rack, they decide to pass, by placing their pawn on the bench.
All the players take their turn
Once a player has taken their turn (either pick and place a tile, or pass), the next player according to the order of the pawns on the top rack, takes their turn. When all the players have taken their turn, then the top rack becomes empty.
The empty top rack should then be moved to the bottom of the rack stack and pushed up, so that the middle rack becomes the top one, and so on. Then draw new tiles from the bag to fill the new empty bottom rack.
Example: The blue player decides to take the first tile. They are the last player to play, now we need to prepare a new rack. The players can now move the top empty rack to the bottom of the stack.
Drawing new tiles
To fill a rack, the player responsible for drawing the tiles, should draw one more tile than the number of players. Drawn tiles should be placed face down on the table, just under the bottom empty rack, so that everyone can see the number written on the back of the tiles. The draw order is important for when tiles with the same number on their back are drawn multiple times.
The tiles are then placed face up on the bottom rack from left to right in an ascending order according to the number on the back. If two tiles have the same back number, you place them in the order they were drawn.
If a "client visit" tile is drawn, inform all players and draw another tile (see the "Client visit" chapter next page).
After the new rack is filled, take all the tiles remaining on the now top rack and put them back in the bag.
Example: The player in charge of the bag draws a tile numbered 5 on the back, followed by a 2, another 5 and a 12 to finish. After having laid them face down on the table, they place them in ascending order on the bottom rack. Then they can put the two remaining tiles back in the bag. The yellow player will start the new round.
Next Round
When the bottom rack has been filled, a new round can start, as usual by starting with the player whose pawn is the most left on the top rack.
The game is played until all the players decide to stop (see the "Game's End" chapter on page 9), or ends if there's no tiles in the bag.
Advanced game: Client visit
When a "Client Visit" tile (a tile showing a handshake) is drawn, that means that the client couple visits each of you to evaluate the progress made so far. This is the moment that you, as a mini golf course designer, can reassure the client on the quality of your final product, and this is usually the moment when we make more promises to soften their concerns...
When a "client visit" tile is drawn, leave it outside of the bag for the rest of the game, draw another tile to replace it.
Make sure every player has seen the "client visit" tile because it gives them the opportunity to select one or more promise cards from their stack. This is not an obligation, you can keep what you have promised so far and not add anything. You can take more than one promise card if you want. Even if you have stopped adding tiles to your mini golf layout, you can still take more promise cards when a "client visit" tile is drawn.
Beware, you cannot return or exchange any promise card already taken. A promise made must be kept... or consequences based on the clients satisfaction have to be suffered.
To select a promise card, take your stack of available promise cards, look at them and choose the one(s) you want. Then place the selected cards face down, under your score sheet or your land card in order to not mix them with the available ones. The stack of unselected cards can then be returned face down, next to you.
The Promise cards depict the designer that the player embody. On the front, the name of the card refers to one of the 7 satisfaction conditions, with the associated icon that is depicted on the scoreboard as well.
There are 7 different promise cards. Each one corresponds to one of the satisfaction conditions you have to fulfill to gain satisfaction points. An icon is printed on each card and on the scoreboard for quick reference. Selecting a promise card means that you will try to focus specifically on that satisfaction condition, and to satisfy that condition better than the other players.
Alternative rule: If you don't like the randomness of the "client visit" tiles, you can ignore them, and trigger a single client visit in the middle of the game. For that, put aside the untaken tiles instead of putting them back in the bag. You can line them up along the score board, and when 3 sides of the board are filled (i.e. when there are 21 tiles), declare a client visit and put back all the tiles in the bag.
Game's End
Triggering the End Phase
The players should continue to design their mini golf course until someone fulfills their land card (no matter if there are extra tiles outside of their land boundaries or not). The first player to fill their mini golf course according to their land card, triggers the final phase of the game. This gives the option for the other players to stop building if they so wish.
Example: The yellow player is the first player to have completed their mini golf course during the last round, according to their land card. In this round, during their turn (they play second after the red player), they take a tile and place it face down next to their mini golf map.
Choosing to stop
During this final phase, players who didn't finish their mini golf course can continue to play as normal, or can decide to stop. If you decide to stop (or have finished your mini golf course), you will keep taking tiles, following the normal turn order rule, while waiting for the other players to stop or finish their land card.
During their turn, players who stopped cannot pass and must pick a tile and replace it with their pawn as normal. Instead of placing the tile on their mini golf map, they add those collected tiles face down to a pile. Each tile you take this way is worth 3 satisfaction points. During this phase you can still annoy the other players depending on which tile you take. The other players have to evaluate their gains and losses of continuing to design their mini golf course or stopping even if it is incomplete.
Stopping is definitive
Once you have decided to stop and started to collect tiles, you cannot add any more tiles to your mini golf design.
Example: After 3 more rounds, the red player also decides to stop (even if one tile is missing to complete their mini golf course). They start collecting tiles too, but the blue player wants to continue.
From now on, discard the unchosen tiles
Once the End Phase has been triggered, do not return the unchosen tiles to the bag, except if a player who is still designing specifically asks to put back a/some tile(s) in the bag. Removing the unchosen tiles from the game will increase the chances of players to get the tiles they are waiting for.
End of the game
When all the players have stopped, i.e. when the last player still designing, decides to stop and collect their first facedown tile, the round is still finished and then the game ends. Players should now count their satisfaction points (see the scoring chapter).
Example: Two rounds later, the blue player decides finally to stop by collecting a tile face down. Once all players have collected their tile for this round, the game ends.
Tile placement
Placement rules
At the beginning of the game, you can place and orientate your entrance gate any way you want in front of you. It is recommended to place your entrance gate in the same orientation as shown on your land card for easy reference and comparison.
As soon as you take a tile from the rack, you must place it on your mini golf layout (you cannot keep it aside for later placement). When placing a tile, it must touch another tile or the entrance gate. Touching by just one corner is allowed.
The colors on the edge of the tile should also connect to its neighbour. There are basically two types of connections: either the green grass or the red mini golf pathway. The green edges should be connected with green edges, and the red edges with red edges.
Example: In this example, the player can place their 6th tile in one of the grey spots.
If you made a mistake placing a tile and it is not spotted immediately, do not change the layout and continue to play. You will lose satisfaction points at the end of the game for violating the playable condition.
Hole design
A hole is always composed of one "Tee" (a starting tile which has one red edge and 3 green edges), one "Putting Green" (a large round red area with the target hole in the middle, which also has one red edge and 3 green edges), and any number of red pathway tile(s) in between (which are tiles with 2 red edges and 2 green edges). It is also possible to directly connect a Tee with a Putting Green to form a hole.
The green arrow shows the green edges, and the red arrows the red edges.
If your hole doesn't meet this design, you will lose 3 satisfaction points per malformed hole at the end of the game (see the "Checking the Playable Condition" chapter for more details).
Example: A hole starts with a "Tee" tile (like on the left), followed by any number of pathway tiles, and finishes with a "Putting Green" tile (like on the right).
Land card
The clients have done some research in the neighborhood to find a suitable plot to buy in order to build the mini golf course they ask you to design. They have spotted several possible plots that they like more or less. The satisfaction points on the land card represents the couple's preference, however they will let you choose the land for which you will propose a design.
At the beginning of the game, you can freely select one of the three land cards that you received (distributed randomly to each player during setup). Leave your selected land card face up in front of you and visible to the other players, and return the two unselected cards to the box.
During the game, you should try to design your mini golf course inside the terrain dimensions as specified by the blueprint on the land card that you have selected.
The layout of the land that you should try to respect when designing your mini golf course. The dimensions in term of number of tiles are also indicated on its side.
- The satisfaction points that you will get if you choose to design your mini golf course on this land.
- The number of golf balls indicates the level of difficulty.
- A pond in the center of the land.
- The total surface of the terrain: this land measures 410 m² which means that you will need 41 tiles to fill it (including the Entrance gate that takes the surface of 4 square tiles).
Tips: The land card also indicates the surface of the terrain. Choosing a smaller land will let you finish earlier (if you don't pass), which will place you in a good position for the Fast satisfaction condition.
Tips: Some lands are more difficult to fill than others. There is a difficulty level printed on the land card (the more golf balls the more difficult). You should learn the game with the easiest cards and later introduce the more difficult ones.
Pond and Stream
Some lands have a pond or stream in the middle. If you select that land, you have to work with this constraint and design your mini golf course around the water. You should try to not place a tile in the pond or stream. Doing so, the tile will be considered outside the land, and you'll lose satisfaction points to the land condition.
As an aid, you can freely take at any time pond and stream tiles and place them on your mini golf course.
Example: The red player placed pond tiles to better visualize their minigolf layout. They can extend their minigolf course by placing a tile on the grey spots adjacent to minigolf tiles. But they cannot extend it from the pond tiles.
However, you can never extend your mini golf course from a pond or stream tile. Ignore these water tiles when considering a valid spot to place a new tile.
Hole Number
At the beginning of the game you receive 9 small tokens numbered from 1 to 9. These are small signs that should be placed on top of the Tee tile to indicate the hole number. They allow you to make a link between your layout and your score sheet.
The hole number tokens.
You can place and rearrange those hole number tokens at any time during the game. You can even change your mind at any time, and relabel a hole with a different number, especially if you have made a mistake. However in order to count the satisfaction points all the holes must be labeled at the end of the game.
Example: Example of hole number tokens 3 and 4 placed on two Tee tiles. Be careful to not hide people with the hole number tokens.
Hole Par Value
Each golf hole has a difficulty value called "Par" which represents the typical number of ball hits that a golfer should use to put their ball in the hole.
Since the Par of a hole depends on its difficulty, it is directly linked to the number of obstacles you've put in this hole design. This is shown by the flags on the tile with the number representing the Par value.
The par icon looks like a little red flag with a number between 1 to 3, and is located in one corner of the mini golf tiles.
To know the Par of your complete hole, you just need to add the Par values of all tiles composing the hole. Note that some tiles (usually without obstacle) don't have any Par value printed, these tiles can make the hole longer without impacting the total Par value.
The Par value of a hole typically ranges between 3 to 5. A Par 2 hole would be too easy, and a hole with a Par greater than 5 can be quite difficult.
Note that the Tee and the Putting Green tiles have a minimum Par value of 1.
Example: The hole #3 has a total Par of 5: the Tee tile has a par of 1, then the corner is free, the third tile with flowers and pipes has a Par of 2, and finally the Putting Green tile also has a Par of 2 (so 1 + 2 + 2 = 5). The hole #4 already has a Par of 4 (3 + 1).
Score sheet
Once you have calculated the Par value of your hole, you should use the Par cubes to mark the Par value on your personal score sheet. Your score sheet lists all the 9 holes that you are supposed to design. This allows you to easily track the total Par value of your mini golf course as well as tracking each individual hole Par value to see if they stay inside the sweet green area of the score sheet.
For a balanced mini golf course design, you should try to keep the Par of each hole in between 3 to 5. Par 4 is the average, and since you need to design 9 holes, the total Par of the mini golf course should be 9 x 4 = 36. This is why you have 36 Par cubes of your color.
If you have used all your 36 Par cubes, and still need some cubes to track the Par value of your holes, then you must use the common black Par cubes to complete marking your Par on your score sheet.
Example: On their score sheet the yellow player uses five cubes to mark the par 5 of their third hole, and four cubes to mark the par 4 of their fourth hole.
You can update your score sheet at any time, based on how you design your mini golf course and how you label the holes with their number, but at the end of the game, your score sheet must be complete in order to count the satisfaction points from the Par satisfaction conditions.
Example: Near the end of the game, the yellow player used all their 36 par cubes, therefore they needed to use black cubes to correctly mark the par of their holes.
Overall Mini Golf Course Design
You are free to design your mini golf course the way you want, respecting no rules but your creativity, but if you want to win the game, you should understand in advance all the constraints, restrictions and requirements expected by the client couple.
We recommend that before playing (especially with new players), you should review the satisfaction conditions list, written on the scoreboard, together, in order to give a focus to your design.
Scoring
Once all the players have stopped, i.e. at the end of the round in which the last player decides to collect a tile face down, the game ends and players can now start counting their satisfaction points, starting from the top of the satisfaction condition list down to the bottom.
For each satisfaction condition, count the points for each player, and move their pawn on the score track. Score all the players before moving to the next satisfaction condition.
Use the "100/200" score tiles to track the players with more than 100 points by giving them a tile when their pawn has looped the score track.
The satisfaction condition list
The ranking tables for each condition (Advanced version)
Ranking table
The list of satisfaction conditions is the same for both the family and advanced game modes. However on the advanced version of the scoreboard, each satisfaction condition has a ranking table on its right to receive the promise disks of the players, ordered by the players' performance. You should go through the list from top to bottom.
Example: In this three player example the yellow player was the best for the Fun condition, the red player was second, and the blue one was worst.
For each satisfaction condition, each player counts their score silently and places their corresponding promise disk on the score track. Once all players have done this, start with the highest scoring disk on the score track: add the points indicated by the disk to the pawn of the same color, then move the disk on the ranking table to the first place. Continue to move all the promise disks to the ranking table by keeping their order, and transferring their points to the pawn of the matching color.
Example: In this five player example, the yellow player was the best for the Circuit condition, then the green, blue and red players were tied and finally the purple player performed the worst.
Ties are friendly: If players have the same amount of points in one satisfaction condition, they occupy the same position in ranking with exactly the same benefits. Doing this will result in one or more empty spaces, see example.
Example: In this last example, blue and yellow were tied for the first place for the Fast condition, magenta and green were tied for the second place. The red player came last.
Once all the disks have been moved to the ranking table, proceed to the next satisfaction condition. These ranking tables will be used at the end for counting the points of the promise cards.
Scoring the Fun condition
The Fun characteristic of your mini golf design depends on the popularity of your mini golf course. The more golfers you get, the more fun it should be.
Simply count the number of people (not dogs) printed on your mini golf course tiles, and add that number to your score.
The player who gets the most people takes first place, and so on.
This tile doesn't give any points. This tile gives 1 point. This tile gives 2 points. This tile gives 3 points.
Scoring the Fast condition
Each tile that you have collected facedown after finishing your mini golf layout is worth 3 satisfaction points. Count the number of tiles you have collected, multiply the total by 3, and move your pawn accordingly on the score track.
The player who has collected the most tiles takes first place, and so on.
Scoring Mrs Client's whim
Mrs Client is concerned by a certain type of element. As written on the Mrs Client card, count the points indicated for each visible element that satisfies Mrs Client, on your mini golf course (Mrs Client cards give between 1 to 3 points per element). On some rare tiles, this element may appear more than one time (like for example a tile with two dogs, or three pipes), in such a case, that tile can bring you more points. Move your pawn by the total number of points gained this way.
Example: This tile has two dogs, and three groves, it is worth 6 points for Mrs Hotdog (2x3), and 3 points for Mrs Evergreen (3x1). This tile has three pipes and a water pool, it is worth 6 points for Mrs Plumber (3x2), and 2 points for Mrs Sprinkle.
Example: This tile has one water pool, one flower bed, one bench and one grove, it is worth 2 points for Mrs Sprinkle and Mrs Bloom, 3 points for Mrs Lazy, and 1 point for Mrs Evergreen. This tile has one tunnel and one slope, it is worth 2 points for Mrs Plumber (1x2), and 3 points for Mrs Sloppy.
Example: This tile has two flower beds, it is worth 4 points for Mrs Bloom (2x2). This tile has one slope, one flower bed and one water pool, it is worth 2 points for Mrs Bloom and Mrs Sprinkle, and 3 points for Mrs Sloppy.
The player who gets the most points takes first place, and so on.
Scoring Mr Client's whim
Mr Client is more concerned about a certain feature of the holes. Check each completed and correctly formed hole of your mini golf course that has that feature and get 2 points for each. Uncompleted and/or unplayable holes do not score. Move your pawn by the total number of points gained that way.
Example: Here are five examples of holes to show who would give you 2 points.
- Mr Short will give you two points for each hole made of only two tiles, i.e. a Tee and a Putting Green tile directly connected to each other.
- Mr Long will give you two points for each hole with 4 or more tiles.
- Mr Linear will give you two points for each straight hole, i.e. hole without corners.
- Mr Turner will give you two points for each hole that contains at least one corner tile. Note that he doesn't give 2 points per corner tile, but 2 points per hole, regardless of the number of corners that the hole has.
- Mr Luckyfor will give you two points for each hole whose Par value equals 4.
- Mr Überstitious will give you two points for each hole whose Par value does not equal 4, except for hole #4. For hole #4, he will give you two points if the Par equals exactly 4. The other holes can have any Par except 4 to get two points.
- Mr Straightforward will give you two points if the Tee tile is in the same direction and adjacent to The Putting Green tile of the previous hole. You get an extra bonus of 2 points if all the 8 transitions are aligned.
Example: The first configuration is the only one that gives you 2 points for Mr Straightforward.
The player who gets the most points takes first place, and so on.
Scoring the Par condition
If you didn't place Par cubes for all your holes at the end of the game, place them now on your score sheet, even for the incomplete holes (sum up what you can for the Par value of the incomplete holes).
Then look at your score sheet and count the number of holes whose Par is inside the green area (i.e. Par value equal to 3, 4 or 5). For each of these holes, you gain two points (which means you can get a maximum of 18 points).
Example: The mini golf course designed by the red player will bring them 12 points for the 6 holes in the green area (the holes #1, #3, #4, #6, #7 and #8). You can notice that the other holes have Par cubes in the red area of the score sheet (the hole #2 has a Par 6, the hole #5 a Par 2, and the hole #9 a Par 8). For these 3 too easy or too hard holes, they will not gain any points.
Moreover, you did receive 36 Par cubes at the beginning of the game. You should try to use them all, no more, no less.
If you used all of them on your score sheet, then you won't lose any points! However, if you have remaining cube(s), or if you used the black cube(s), count them and remove that number from your Par score.
Then you can move your pawn on the score track according to your final Par score (which is the points gained for the holes in the green area minus the number of unused or black cubes).
Example: For their whole mini golf course, the blue player only used 34 Par cube. The 2 remaining cubes will cost them 2 points. They have 7 holes in the green area. So the total Par score will be 2x7 - 2 = 12 points.
Example: The yellow player had to use 40 cubes to count the Par of all their holes. The 4 extra black cubes will cost them 4 points. They have 8 holes in the green area. So the total par score will be 2x8 - 4 = 12 points.
The player with the best Par score (number of holes in green area minus the number of black or unused cubes) gets first place, and so on.
Scoring the Land condition
The land condition is scored in two parts. You first get the points that are noted on the land card that you have selected at the beginning of the game. Then subtract three points for each tile of your mini golf layout that is outside of the map or on a pond/stream. And subtract one point for each tile that is not present in your mini golf layout, that is printed as land on the map. Move your pawn on the score track according to your land condition score (points on the card minus the points for the mistakes).
Example: This player tried to follow the land card above to design their mini golf course, but seemed to have problems fitting their hole #7. They first get the 15 points of the land card, then they compare the land map with their mini golf layout. The two circled tiles are outside of the map and will make them lose 6 points. One tile is missing in the center for which they will lose 1 point. In total: 15 - 6 - 1, the player gains 8 satisfaction points.
The player with the best land score (points from the land card minus points due to errors) gets first place, and so on.
Scoring the Circuit condition
In order to be easily playable, the holes of your mini golf design should be arranged in a circuit thus forming a golf course. The Tee of hole #1 should be close to the entrance gate, then the Tee of hole #2 should be close to the Putting Green of hole #1, and so on, so that the golfer can follow a circuit all the way along, up to the Putting Green #9 that should bring the golfers back close to the entrance gate.
Example: This is an example of a perfect circuit.
Players will gain two points for each Putting Green tile ("end tile" of the hole) adjacent to the Tee tile ("start tile") of the next hole (i.e. the hole which has the following number). Tiles are not considered adjacent if they are touching by just one corner. If the Tee or Putting Green tile is missing from a hole, no points are awarded.
You will also gain two points if the Tee #1 is adjacent to one edge of the entrance gate, and two other points if the Putting Green #9 is adjacent to the entrance gate.
Move your pawn on the score track according to your circuit score. Since there's 10 connections, you can gain a maximum of 20 points.
Example: This mini golf design contains many examples of circuit mistakes. A white arrow indicates a correct situation where a Putting Green is directly connected to its following Tee, and therefore will give two points to the player. A yellow arrow indicates a situation where a Putting Green is not adjacent to its following Tee.
- Hole #1: Tee #1 is not adjacent to the Entrance gate, therefore the player won't get points for this hole.
- Hole #2: There's one tile between Putting Green #1 and Tee #2, therefore the player won't get points for this hole.
- Hole #3: Putting Green #2 is adjacent to Tee #3, for this the player will get two points. Note that Putting Green #2 is also adjacent to Tee #4, but since these hole numbers are not sequential, it doesn't matter and this doesn't give points to the player.
- Hole #4: Putting Green #3 and Tee #4 are only touching by their corners, but they are not adjacent, so the player won't get any points for that.
- Hole #5: Even if the reserved area of Putting Green #4 is adjacent to Tee #5, the player won't get any points for this connection, since the actual Putting Green tile is missing.
- Hole #9: There is one tile between Putting Green #9 and the Entrance gate, which means Putting Green #9 is not adjacent to the Entrance Gate, so the player will not get any points for that.
Overall, the player will gain 4 points for the 2 white arrows denoting a correct connection.
The player with the best circuit score (number of correctly connected Putting Green-Tee tiles) gets first place, and so on.
Checking the Playable condition
Finally, after getting so many points for all the design aspects of your mini golf course, you should check if you made any mistakes. Mistakes make your mini golf course unplayable for golfers, and therefore have a negative impact on the satisfaction of the client couple. For your first game, or if you play with young children, you can ignore these mistakes.
Hole Count
Players should have designed a mini golf course with 9 holes exactly. For each missing hole or for each additional hole (even incomplete), the player will lose 10 points. You are considered to have created an additional hole, if there's an isolated red tile, or an isolated group of red connected tiles, not related to your 9 holes.
If your land is incomplete (because you decided to stop before finishing it), explain to other players how you would have finished the uncompleted holes as if you could have any tile you need (without creating mismatched connections), before counting and losing points for the missing or additional holes.
Incomplete holes are not considered as missing. You can pretend to complete incomplete holes even outside the land, but you cannot pretend to build non existing hole.
Example: The Blue Player didn't fulfill their land at the end of the game. Initially they planned to connect the 7th Tee to the already placed Putting Green, but instead, at the end of the game they can pretend to complete their holes by building the 7th and 8th holes with two tiles each. They can also pretend to complete the 5th hole with a corner tile, even if it is outside of the land. But none of the 9th hole tile is present, therefore the 9th hole is considered missing and the player will lose 10 points. Note that if any of the three 9th hole tiles were present, the 9th hole would have become incomplete therefore not missing, and so the Blue Player wouldn't have lose 10 points.
Malformed Hole
A correct hole should also have exactly one "Tee" tile (starting tile) and one "Putting Green" tile (tile with the final hole). For each complete hole that does not follow that condition (i.e. a hole with two Putting Greens, two Tees or forming a loop), players will lose 3 points. Do not penalize the players here if the Putting Green or the Tee is missing because their hole is incomplete. Obviously there was space to add the Putting Green or the Tee later, but the player could not complete the hole before the end of the game (for that they have already lost points in the land condition).
Example: On the left you can see an example of hole with two Putting Greens, and on the right, an example with two Tees. Both will lose the player 3 points.
Mismatched connections
If a player did not match a two tile connection, i.e. has connected a green edge with a red edge, that player will lose 3 points per mismatched connection. All the boundaries of the land, including the ponds and streams are considered to be green edges.
Example: In this mini golf layout, the player has made 3 connection errors, they will then lose 9 points (3 points for each mistake).
Wrong tile direction
Some mini golf tiles can only be played in one direction (for example a tile with a jumping ramp). This direction is indicated by a white painted arrow on the red pathway of the minigolf tile. Players will lose one point for each tile placed in the wrong direction.
Beside is an example of tile with a directional arrow painted on the pathway.
Example: All the four holes above have their middle tile placed in the wrong direction.
- Hole #1 and #2: The jumping ramp is reversed. If they start from the Tee tile, the golfer won't be able to climb the ramp.
- Hole #3 and #4: The exit of the tunnel faces the Tee tile, instead of the ramp. The ball is supposed to fall in the hole at the top of the ramp, then exit from the tunnel on the side. A hole on the ground on top of an elevation is always the entrance of a tunnel, therefore this side should face the Tee.
For this mini golf design the player will lose 4 points (one for each of these wrongly oriented tiles).
For each player, sum up all the mistake penalties, and move their pawn back on the score track by the total number of points lost.
The playable condition is mandatory for the clients, and so easy to fulfill that no promise card is available for this condition. Come on! Do you really plan to deliver an unplayable mini golf course?
Scoring the Promise cards
If you play the Advanced version of the game, once you have scored all the conditions, every player now reveals the promise cards they selected.
For each of your promise cards, you gain or lose points depending on your position in the ranking table and depending on the number of players. Refer to the table on the side (also printed on the scoreboard) to know the number of points gained or lost.
| Players | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 players | 10 | -10 | |||
| 3 players | 10 | -2 | -10 | ||
| 4 players | 10 | 1 | -4 | -10 | |
| 5 players | 10 | 2 | -1 | -5 | -10 |
Even though you have not selected a promise card, you still occupy a space on the ranking table. But the promise cards that you didn't select, won't lose or gain you any points. You only move your pawn on the score track for the promise cards you selected.
For example, even if you are first for one satisfaction condition, if you didn't take the corresponding promise card, you cannot claim the points. Similarly, if you are last for another satisfaction condition for which you didn't take the corresponding promise card, you will not lose any points.
Example: In this first example, Yellow and Blue took the Fun Promise card. Therefore Yellow will gain 10 points (because Yellow is in first place) and Blue will lose 10 points (because Blue is third place in a 3 player game). Red will not gain or lose any points because Red didn't take the Fun Promise card.
Example: In this second example, Blue, Purple and Green took the Fast Promise card. Blue will gain 10 points because Blue is first place in a 5 player game. Purple and Green will both lose 1 point because they are both in 3rd place. Yellow and Red won't have their score changed, because they didn't take the Fast Promise card.
Declaring the Winner
Once you have finished counting all the satisfaction points declare the winner: the player with the most satisfaction points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player who finished first (took a facedown tile first), wins the game.
Solo Variant
Setup changes
With a little adaptation of the rules, you can play this game solo. Firstly you don't need the racks, you can leave them in the box. Then place your pawn on the "zero" spot on the scoreboard, during the setup.
Drawing tile and Passing
Every turn, you should draw 2 tiles and take one for your course. You are not obliged to place the unselected tile back in the bag, but you can if you wish to. Otherwise discard it.
It is also possible to pass, in case you don't want any of the two tiles. If you pass, you lose 3 points, to do so, move your pawn back 3 spaces on the score track (your pawn will go on 97, then 94, 91, etc..). At the end of the game, add the points you gain from where your pawn stands. Ignore the scoring of the "Fast" condition, the points you lost by passing replaces the "Fast" scoring. Evaluate your score with this scale of satisfaction:
| Client Satisfaction | Unhappy | Disappointed | Unexcited | Happy | Impressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family Version | <70 | 70-89 | 90-109 | 110-149 | ≥150 |
| Advanced Version | <80 | 80-99 | 100-119 | 120-169 | ≥170 |
Advanced Solo Game
It is also possible to play the advanced version of the game in solo, without any change to the advanced rules. The Promises will be considered fulfilled if you did it perfectly without any mistake. In that case you will score 10 points, and if you failed your promise, you will lose 10 points. More precisely:
- Fun Promise: you succeed if you have at least 50 people.
- Fast Promise: you succeed if you didn't pass at all (meaning your pawn is still on the "zero spot" of the score track at the end of the game).
- Her Whim Promise: you succeed if you scored at least 20 points.
- His Whim Promise: you succeed if all the holes respect his request (i.e. if you scored 18 points for Mr's condition).
- Par Promise: you succeed if exactly all your 36 Par cubes are in the green area (i.e. if you score 18 points for the Par condition).
- Land Promise: you succeed if you have fully filled the land without any mistakes.
- Circuit Promise: you succeed if you have a perfect circuit (i.e. if you score 20 points for the Circuit condition).
Tile Reference
In this section, you will find all the different tiles available in the game. You should ignore these pages before playing, because part of the pleasure of the game is to look at the tiles and discover the elements that the other players didn't notice. However, players can refer to it, in case they have a doubt about certain tile features or need to resolve a disagreement during the scoring phase.
Next to each tile, you will first see the number of copies present in the game (the x1, x2, x3 etc..), then if it is a starting tile (Tee) or if it is an ending tile (Putting Green). Followed by a list of the number of People (or Person), Dogs, Trees, Benches, water Pools, Pipes or tunnels, elevations (Slopes), and Flower beds. Finally each tile that has a directional constraint (like tiles with a jumping ramp) has a yellow arrow printed next to the tile. (The yellow directional-arrow icon is a graphical marker printed on the physical tiles; it is noted here in the source text but is not reproduced per-tile in the table below — see "Wrong tile direction" in the Checking the Playable condition chapter for the rule it supports.)
Moreover, it is also mentioned if the tile contains Obstacles, but this is only useful for a Client card available in the "Putt of No Return" expansion.
Pathway tiles (tiles with two red edges and two green edges, placed between a Tee and a Putting Green) are printed without a name, since they are neither a Tee nor a Putting Green; these are listed below with type "—".
| Count | Type | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| x7 | Tee | — |
| x3 | Tee | — |
| x2 | Tee | 1 Tree |
| x2 | Tee | 2 Trees |
| x1 | Tee | 2 Trees, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 2 Trees, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 1 Person, 1 Dog, 1 Tree |
| x1 | Tee | 1 Person, 2 Trees |
| x2 | Tee | 1 Person, 2 Trees |
| x2 | Tee | 1 Person |
| x2 | Tee | 1 Person, 2 Trees |
| x2 | Tee | 1 Person |
| x2 | Tee | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x2 | Tee | 1 Person |
| x2 | Tee | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x1 | Tee | 1 Person, 3 Trees |
| x2 | Tee | 2 People, 2 Trees |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, 1 Dog, 1 Tree |
| x2 | Tee | 2 People |
| x2 | Tee | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x2 | Tee | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 1 Person, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 1 Person, 2 Trees, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 2 People, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 1 Person, 2 Trees, Obstacle |
| x1 | Tee | 1 Person, Obstacle |
| x4 | Putting Green | — |
| x3 | Putting Green | 1 Tree |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 Trees, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Slope, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Dog |
| x2 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x2 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x2 | Putting Green | 1 Person |
| x2 | Putting Green | 1 Person |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Dog, 1 Tree |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Flower |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 2 Pipes |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Tree, 1 Slope |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Dog |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Flower |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Tree, 1 Pipe |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 1 Dog, 1 Slope |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 1 Person, 3 Pools |
| x2 | Putting Green | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x2 | Putting Green | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x2 | Putting Green | 2 People |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, 1 Dog, 1 Tree |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, 1 Pool |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, 2 Pipes |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, 1 Pool |
| x1 | Putting Green | 2 People, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x2 | — | 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 1 Dog |
| x2 | — | 1 Person |
| x1 | — | Obstacle |
| x1 | — | Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 1 Dog, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x2 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Person |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Dog |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 2 Flowers |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Dog, 1 Tree |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 2 People |
| x1 | — | 2 People |
| x1 | — | 2 People |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Dog, 1 Pipe |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree, 1 Bench, 1 Pipe, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree, 1 Pool, 2 Pipes, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Pool, 3 Pipes |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree, 1 Bench, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 1 Flower, 2 Pipes |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Bench, 1 Pipe |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Bench, 1 Piple, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Tree, 1 Bench, 1 Pipe, 1 Pool |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 2 Pools |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Flower, 2 Pools, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Bench, 1 Slope, 1 Pool |
| x1 | — | 1 Slope, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree, 1 Slope, 3 Pipes |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Slope, 1 Pipe, 1 Pool |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Flower, 1 Slope, 1 Pipe |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Flower, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Pool, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Flower, 1 Bench, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Dog |
| x1 | — | 1 Dog, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Person |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Dog |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Dog |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Bench |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 2 People |
| x1 | — | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 2 People, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 1 Bench, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Bench, 2 Flowers, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree, 3 Pipes, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Bench, 2 Pipes |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Bench, 1 Pipe, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Tree, 1 Pipe |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Slope, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 1 Pool |
| x1 | — | 1 Pool, 1 Slope, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Dog, 1 Tree, 1 Pool |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Pool, 2 Flowers |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree, 1 Bench, 3 Pools |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree, 1 Pool, 1 Pipe |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 3 Pools, 1 Pipe, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 2 Trees, 1 Bench, 1 Pool, 1 Pipe |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Bench, 2 Pools, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Bench, 2 Pipes, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Flower, 2 Pipes, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Slope, 1 Pipe |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Slope, 1 Pipe, 1 Pool |
| x1 | — | 1 Slope, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Slope, 1 Bench |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree, 1 Bench, 1 Pool, Obstacle |
| x1 | — | 1 Pipe, 1 Slope |
| x1 | — | 1 Dog, 1 Flower, 1 Slope |
| x3 | — | 1 Tree |
| x2 | — | 2 Trees |
| x3 | — | 3 Trees |
| x3 | — | 4 Trees |
| x1 | — | 2 Dogs, 3 Trees |
| x2 | — | 2 Trees, 1 Bench |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x2 | — | 1 Person, 3 Trees |
| x2 | — | 1 Person, 3 Trees |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 3 People, 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 3 People, 1 Tree |
| x2 | — | 3 People, 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 3 People, 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 3 People, 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Dog, 2 Trees |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Dog, 2 Trees |
| x1 | — | 2 Trees |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Dog, 1 Tree |
| x2 | — | 3 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 2 Trees |
| x1 | — | 3 People, 2 Trees |
| x2 | — | 3 People, 1 Tree |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 1 Dog, 2 Trees |
| x1 | — | 2 People, 3 Trees, 1 Bench |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree, 1 Bench |
| x1 | — | 3 People, 2 Trees, 1 Bench |
| x1 | — | 2 Trees, 3 Flowers |
| x1 | — | 1 Dog, 2 Trees, 1 Bench, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Dog, 1 Tree, 1 Flower |
| x2 | — | 2 People, 2 Trees, 1 Bench, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree, 1 Pool, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Tree, 1 Pool, 1 Bench |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 1 Tree, 1 Pool, 1 Bench, 1 Flower |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 3 Trees, 1 Pool |
| x1 | — | 1 Person, 2 Trees, 1 Pool, 1 Bench |
Setup Summary
- Randomly draw a Mr and a Mrs Client card and place them next to the scoreboard for everyone to see.
- Place the black cubes, the pond and stream tiles next to the scoreboard.
- Shuffle and deal 3 land cards to each player, who then selects one to keep.
- Place the scoreboard on the Family side or Advanced side.
- One player takes the bag containing all the tiles.
- Place the 3 racks in the center of the table. Place the players' pawns in a random order on the first rack, and then fill the second and third racks with tiles.
- Each player takes their playing material (Entrance Gate tile, Score Sheet, Par cubes, Hole Markers, Promise cards and disks).
- Each player selects at least one Promise Card (for the Advanced Version).