Polders: Flip & Write Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Setup
• How to play
  • In short
  • Getting into the finer details
  • Now what does a turn look like?
• Drawing Rules
• Drawing the filling
• Assignments
• Scoring
  • What earns you points?
    • Areas
  • Assignments
  • End of the game
• Appendix 1: Score example
• Appendix 2: Assignment cards
  • Manor master
  • Mill maker
  • Farm frenzy
  • Set Builder
  • Horizontal rows
  • Vertical columns
  • Area control
  • Correct buildings
  • Wrong buildings
  • Road pairing
  • Solo square
  • Empty areas
  • Minimal miller

Game Setup

• Each player receives a polder, only use the polders that have the right player count on it. Each player receives a marker in their own color and two corresponding wooden cubes, these cubes are used to keep track of the score at the end of the game. Place the scoring chart on the table, it is only used at the end of the game.

• Separate the cards, creating a deck of assignment cards and a deck of polder shape cards.

• Shuffle both decks separately and place them face down on the table.

A four-player set up should look like this:

1. Polders
2. Markers
3. Polder shape deck
4. Polder shape card space
5. Discard pile
6. Assignments deck
7. Assignment card space
8. Score board
9. Score markers

How to play

In short

The game is played in five rounds, each round consists of five turns. Every turn a player takes the top three polder shape cards from the deck and turns them open. Players use these cards to claim squares in polders and then pass along the polder they had to the player to their left. The polder shape cards are discarded. Squares can be filled with one of three fillings, combining fillings with buildings in the polders result in points. Assignments will also result in points.

Important, this guilder symbol represents points:

Getting into the finer details

For the first round, you pick a random player to be the dealer. This first round, the dealer takes the top two cards from the assignment deck and places them face up on the table. These are the first two assignments, they will be scored at the end of the game.

Each subsequent round has a new dealer, this is the player to the left of the current dealer. In rounds two, three and four the top assignment card is taken from the deck and placed on the table face up, adding to the available assignments. At the end of the game, there are therefore five assignments available. In round five there is no new assignment added.

Now what does a turn look like?

Every turn is made up of these steps:

The dealer takes the top three polder shape cards from the deck and places them face up in on the table.

Simultaneously, all players must use one of these cards to fill square(s) in the polder they currently have in front of them. The polder shape cards depict a certain shape, players fill squares using that shape. Players need to adhere to the "drawing rules" set out later.

When all players have completed their shape, the dealer discards the three polder shape cards onto the discard pile. All players now hand their polder to the player to their left.

This is repeated until the dealer cannot draw three new polder shape cards anymore, this is the end of the round. As there are seventeen cards in the deck, there are five turns in each round. The player that currently has the polder 'De Schermer' in front of them crosses off the rounds. The game ends after five rounds.

Drawing Rules

The polder shape cards depict the shape you get to draw on the polder in front of you, the shape is indicated by the marked squares.

There are a couple of rules to this:

You must be able to draw the entire shape depicted on the card, the shape may not overlap squares already filled by yourself or other players and may not go beyond the edges of the polder. You are not allowed to only draw part of the shape and you are not allowed to use extra squares.

You may rotate or mirror the shape.

You must use the same type of filling for all the squares of the shape you draw in one turn.

You must ensure that at least one square in the shape you are drawing directly borders (1) a road, or (2) a square already filled by you. Squares directly border each other horizontally and vertically, not diagonally.

You must draw a shape if you can. If you cannot use any of the shapes, you have to fill a single square.

Note: that roads do not divide areas, they only play a role in where you can start with a shape and in assignments.

Drawing the filling

When drawing the polder card shapes onto a polder, you have three options of fillings to choose from. Each type of filling is associated with a type of building that can be found in the polders.

At the end of the game, you score points based on the number of buildings that are connected to filled squares with the associated filling.

• Manor: the manor's associated filling is a circle, drawn in the manor's garden square.
• Mill: the mill's associated filling is a cross (X), drawn in the miller's field square.
• Farm: the farm's associated filling is stripes, drawn in the crop field square.

The three fillings are shown as illustrations in the original rulebook; the descriptions above follow those illustrations.

A building is correctly filled if it has the associated mark drawn on it. For instance, a manor is correctly filled when it has a circle drawn on it. You are allowed to use filling on a building not associated with it but in that case the building is ignored. So, for instance, a mill that has a circle drawn on it will not score you points.

When two or more squares with the same filling (drawn by the same player) border each other, they form an area. This is relevant for the end of game scoring and the assignment cards.

Assignments

At the start of the game, two assignments are revealed and three more are added over the course of the rounds. Each assignment has a specific task to complete, situation to create or situation to prevent.

At the end of the game, each assignment is scored. Multiple players can receive or lose points from the same assignment. If there is a tie for an assignment, both (or all) players divide the points. Details on each specific assignment card can be found in the appendix.

Scoring

The game ends after the fifth round. You now take the scoring table and the two markers per person. Using one marker you keep score of 0-9 and the second keeps track of the 10-150. So, if at some point you are at 69 points, one marker will be on the "60" square and one on the "9" square.

What earns you points?

Areas

Creating an area of multiple squares with the same filling, that includes their associated building results in points. Count the number of squares in an area if at least one building with the correct filling is part of it. The square that has the correct building depicted on it does not count.

The score for that area is determined by the number of squares times the correctly filled buildings that are part of it. However, there is a but! Larger areas will result in diminishing scores as the multiplier is lowered. And the score is rounded down.

So:

• 1-5 squares – correct buildings have a multiplier of 1
• 6-10 squares – correct buildings have a multiplier of 0.5
• More than 10 squares – correct buildings have a multiplier of 0.25

This means that an area with 7 squares filled with circles (manor gardens) that are connected to one manor with a circle on it, scores 7 x 0,5 = 3,5 points but this is rounded down to 3 points.

Score each area individually and keep track of the score on the scoring chart.

Assignments

Completing assignments will earn you points, or will make you lose points. Check each of the assignments and determine if one or multiple players have completed them. Multiple players can receive or lose points from the same assignment. If there is a tie for an assignment, both (or all) players divide the points.

Score each assignment individually and keep track of the score on the scoring table.

End of the game

The player with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, the player that completed the most assignments wins. Is there still a tie, the player with the most correct fillings on buildings wins. If there still is a tie, these players share the victory.

Appendix 1: Score example

This is a simplified example as usually most squares will be filled at the end of the game.

Red has three different areas, two with stripes and one with circles.

• The large stripe area consists of 9 crop fields and 2 farms. This means that each building has a multiplier of 0.5, since there are two of them the combined multiplier is 1. Scoring 9 x 2 x 0.5 = 9 points.
• The small stripe area consists of 3 crop fields, but no farms. Scoring 0 points.
• The circle area has 3 manor gardens and 2 manors. This means there is a multiplier per building of 1. Making the score 3 x 2 x 1 = 6 points.

Blue has two different areas and a single circle not connected to anything.

• The circle area consists of 5 manor gardens and 2 manors. Resulting in 5 x 2 x 1 = 10 points.
• The stripe area consists of 3 crop fields and 1 farm. Resulting 3 x 1 x 1 = 3 points.

Appendix 2: Assignment cards

Manor master

The goal is to have the most manors with the correct filling across all polders. You need at least one manor to score with this assignment.

Mill maker

The goal is to have the most mills with the correct filling across all polders. You need at least one mill to score with this assignment.

Farm frenzy

The goal is to have the most farms with the correct filling across all polders. You need at least one farm to score with this assignment.

Set Builder

For each set of one farm, one manor and one mill across all polders, you score points.

Horizontal rows

For each horizontal row in a polder filled by a single person, that person scores points. Rows shorter than five squares are excluded. The row doesn't have to have the same filling.

Vertical columns

For each vertical column in a polder filled by a single person, that person scores points. Columns shorter than five squares are excluded. The column doesn't have to have the same filling.

Area control

For every area of at least four squares players score points. This goes across all polders. Buildings with the correct filling are counted as part of the area.

Correct buildings

For every building with the correct filling used on it, that player scores points. This goes across all polders.

Wrong buildings

For every building with the wrong filling used on it, that player loses points. This goes across all polders.

Road pairing

For every two opposing squares with a road in between filled by a player, that player scores points. The squares do not have to have the same filling. Only horizontal and vertically opposing squares count, not diagonally. One square can be part of multiple pairs.

Solo square

For every single square that is not connected to a square of the same filling, that player scores points. Correct and wrong buildings also count, as long as they are not connected to other squares with the same filling.

Empty areas

For every area of at least three squares without a building with the correct filling, that player scores points.

Minimal miller

Count all mills with the correct filling per player across all polders. Every player that has four or less mills with the correct filling loses points.

Manor minimalist

Count all manors with the correct filling per player across all polders. Every player that has four or less manors with the correct filling loses points.

Farm fiasco

Count all farms with the correct filling per player across all polders. Every player that has four or less farms with the correct filling loses points.