Re-Chord
Re-Chord Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Keywords
FAME - Scoring in Re-Chord is tracked by gaining FAME. FAME points are shown on the silver or gold pick icons with a star in the center.
GENRE - Your GENRE is private information until the end of the game. GENRES are represented by color & guitar symbol; each has a matching set of 5 picks.
CHORDS - Your CHORD cards depict the required spaces for picks to be located in to complete them. These are diagrams of real guitar chords you can actually play.
SONG - Your SONG card shows a mixture of CHORDS that must be completed to play it. SONG cards are parodies of our favorite popular guitar tunes.
LEAD GUITAR - LEAD GUITAR scoring happens as you fill the each fret with picks. Continue to keep your GENRE hidden & record FAME per pick color.
FRET - A single FRET includes all six pick spaces (finger locations) between two fret markers. Re-Chord uses the first five frets of the guitar as it "board".
SUPPLY - The SUPPLY is the area you'll take your pick from if you choose the first action. At the end of your turn refill the SUPPLY based on player count.
PICK ABILITY - Every type of pick has it's own special function which MAY be used when it is chosen. Each PICK ABILITY is unique and can help you score FAME.
BAG - The BAG is where picks are kept. Picks taken from the BAG are pulled randomly. Any picks removed from the board are placed back in the BAG.
Anatomy of the Playmat
- This is the playmat diagram. It includes the proper terms for each part of the fretboard.
- In Re-Chord, we play on the first five FRETS. The fretboard is the entire area guitarists play on.
- Notice FRET and SUPPLY are in black because they are keywords. The teal text is other reference.
- Each FRET has six available spaces. These are the six strings you'd put fingers on.
- It is important to check the orientation of your CHORD cards to ensure the nut is on the correct side.
- The rule reminders on the playmat are for quick reference, there are more specific rules in this book.
Playmat labels: FRET, FRET MARKER, INLAY (POSITION MARKER), NUT, SUPPLY, RULE REMINDERS.
Playmat rule reminders:
- 5th fret / 4th fret - Fretboard Pick Scoring Guide: 1 pick = 1 Point; 2 picks = 4 Points; 3 picks = 11 Points; 4 picks = 17 Points; 5 picks = 25 Points.
- 3rd fret
- Take another pick from the public pile and place it face up - May take its action.
- Remove any other pick on the fretboard and place it in the bag.
- Move or swap any other pick to a new space.
- Remove all picks of any one type from the fret this pick is placed in.
- 2nd fret
- Turn any pick face down. You may move that pick to an available space.
- Pluck any face down pick revealing its color. May take its action.
- Can be placed anywhere & may replace any other pick. (Replaced pick to bag).
- Can remove an adjacent pick if placed using the second action.
- 1st fret - Take ONE action per turn:
- Take one pick from the SUPPLY and place it face up on any available space. You MAY use its PICK ABILITY.
- Take one pick from the BAG and place it face down on any available space. You MAY remove an adjacent pick.
- Draw two CHORD cards. Max hand size is three.
Introduction
Re-Chord is a strategy boardgame for 1-5 players which plays in approximately 40-60 minutes. You are a budding guitarist, a rising star in your genre of music perfecting your craft to become a legend. Using real guitar picks and chords, can you become the most famous guitarist of all time?
Components
- Neoprene playmat
- 36+ CHORD cards
- 30 guitar picks
- 5 GENRE cards
- Pick bag
- 36+ SONG cards
- Score pad
- Rulebook
Setup
- Set the Re-Chord Playmat in the center of the play area & choose a starting guitarist.
- Randomly deal one GENRE card to each guitarist face down. This card shows your pick color for LEAD GUITAR scoring. Keep your GENRE and color hidden from other guitarists. Keep any remaining GENRE cards hidden and remove them from the game.
- Choose a set of SONG cards and the 7 CHORD card sets (of 4) that they require.
- Deal three CHORD cards to each guitarist. You may view your own CHORD cards but remember to keep them hidden from other guitarists until completed.
- Deal one SONG card to each guitarist, You may view your own SONG cards but remember to keep them hidden from other guitarists until completed.
- Place all of the GENRE colored guitar picks into the BAG. Add Wyldes (rainbow picks) equal to one more than the number of players to the BAG and mix them up. (In 4+ guitarist games, use 5 Wylde picks)
- Draw picks equal to one more than the number of players from the BAG and place them on the board to create the SUPPLY for the first turn. (In 4+ guitarist games, use 5 picks.)
Four player setup example is shown in the rulebook as a diagram: four hidden GENRE cards placed at the guitarists' positions, the playmat in the center, the pick bag beside it, and a CHORD/SONG card stack for each guitarist.
Rules Overview
In Re-Chord you are a guitarist attempting to gain the most FAME by playing your instrument. You will play guitar CHORDS to score FAME and if you can play the proper CHORDS you earn point bonuses for playing SONGS or repeating CHORDS. The way you'll accomplish these tasks is by taking one of three actions each turn. You and your guitarist opponents will fill the fretboard with real guitar picks over the course of the game by selecting actions. Filling each FRET with picks for the first time will trigger five separate LEAD GUITAR scoring opportunities. After the final FRET is scored the game ends.
Actions
You may take ONE of the following three actions during your turn:
-
Take one pick from the SUPPLY and place it face up on an available space. You MAY then carry out the action of that pick's power if desired.
-
Take one pick from the BAG, view it privately and place it face down on any available space. You MAY then remove an adjacent pick from the same fret this face down pick was placed in. If you remove a pick this way, it goes back into the BAG.
-
Draw two CHORD cards. You may draw two CHORD cards from the deck. You may keep both cards and may return any number of unfinished CHORD cards to the deck during this phase. The maximum number of unfinished of CHORD cards you can have is THREE. If you have three CHORD cards you may still take this action.
Pick Abilities
Activating a pick ability after a pick is placed is optional.
- White - Take another pick from the SUPPLY and place it on an available space (face up). You MAY activate the ability of this pick.
- Red - Remove any other pick from anywhere on the fretboard and place it back into the BAG. You cannot use a red pick to remove itself when placed.
- Blue - Move or swap any other pick to a new available space. You may move one pick to a new available space OR swap two other pick's current spaces.
- Grey - Turn any pick on the fretboard face down. Then you MAY move the pick that was just turned face down to a new available space.
- Purple - Pluck any face down pick on the fret board, turning it over to reveal its color. You MAY choose to immediately use the ability of the revealed pick.
- Green - You may remove all picks of one type from the fret this pick is placed in. This means all facedown, wylde, or matching color picks can be removed from the fret.
- Wylde - Place anywhere on the fretboard including replacing any other pick. Wyldes count as all types when completing CHORD cards. Wyldes are NOT counted for LEAD GUITAR scoring.
- Face Down - Guitarists MAY remove an adjacent pick on the same fret after placing the face down pick. If a pick is removed this way it goes back in the BAG.
Turn Order Overview
Turns in Re-Chord are taken in clockwise order meaning the guitarist to your left should follow you. Starting with the first guitarist each player takes one action per turn.
Once each guitarist has taken their action in a turn two things happen:
- Check for any filled FRETS which trigger a scoring round. Each FRET can only trigger scoring once.
- The SUPPLY is refilled to one more than the player count by drawing picks from the bag. Picks placed in the SUPPLY are always placed face up so players can see their color. The SUPPLY is only refilled at the end of each player's turn. Picks taken from the SUPPLY MUST be placed face up, however all pick power abilities are optional to activate.
Turns continue until the final fret is scored, at which point the game ends.
CHORD Cards
- You will gain FAME over the course of the game by completing CHORD cards.
- To begin the game each guitarist will be dealt three CHORD cards.
- You may use the "Draw two CHORD Cards" action on your turn to draw two new CHORD cards.
- The maximum number of CHORD cards you may keep in your hand is THREE.
- It is important to note that you may keep any number of the drawn cards from the CHORD card action; and may discard any of your current CHORD cards to meet the required hand limit of THREE.
Completing CHORD cards or "playing chords" is accomplished at ANY time during ANY guitarists turn. The required pick locations and colors on the card must match the fret board state exactly for the picks noted on the CHORD card. Take into account that Wylde picks are considered to be any pick color when completing CHORD cards, including face down. There is no limit to how many CHORD cards you can complete during a turn. Completed CHORD cards are placed face up in your tableau.
CLANNNGGG! If you incorrectly attempt to play a chord, shuffle it into the CHORD card deck immediately. (You may wish to ignore this rule for your first game.)
If you play a CHORD during your turn, you may immediately draw a new CHORD card. If you play a CHORD during another guitarist's turn, no card is drawn.
Anatomy of a CHORD Card
The anatomy diagram labels the following parts of a CHORD card: Nut, Re-Chord Score, Base Score, Required Pick Locations, and Chord Name.
Re-Chord Scores
The way you score RE-CHORD points is by playing a CHORD card with the same name as one already in your tableau. The RE-CHORD score represents your mastery of that CHORD, so every time you strum it you'll earn more FAME.
In the case of the G CHORD example below, the first completion will gain you four FAME points (outlined in the silver pick); however each additional G CHORD card completion will gain FAME points based on the golden RE-CHORD FAME score.
You keep your completed CHORD cards face up in front of you until the end of the game.
Example: You have played three different G CHORD Cards during the game which are face up in your tableau. You will add this 24 FAME (4+11+9) to your final total during end game scoring.
Song Card Scores
The way you score SONG CARD points is by playing at least one of each CHORD listed on your SONG CARD. Once each of the CHORDS is in your tableau you must immediately play your SONG CARD. Completed SONG CARDS stay in your tableau and cannot be removed.
The Re-Chord Automa Actions are displayed on the bottom of the SONG CARDS. These icons are only for the solo variant and should be disregarded in multiplayer games.
CHORD Card and Re-Chord Scoring Examples
CHORD Cards. In this example you are able to play a G CHORD because each pick of the correct color is in the required space shown on the CHORD card. The completed G CHORD card is placed face up in front of you. This G CHORD is worth four FAME. Completed CHORD cards are permanent and remain regardless of board changes.
Re-Chording. In this example you are able to play a second G CHORD card later during the game. This card is worth 9 FAME because that is the RE-CHORD value and it matches a CHORD you have already completed.
Any further G CHORD card completions will be worth their RE-CHORD values for you.
Notice that CHORD cards only require the picks shown on the card to be in their correct locations. The blank spaces may contain picks like in this example.
Lead Guitar Scoring
The way you score LEAD GUITAR points for your GENRE is by filling each of the FRETS with six picks. LEAD GUITAR fame scores are recorded on the top portion of the FAME scoring pad during the game. This allows you to keep track of these scores without revealing your secret GENRE.
The FRETS may be scored in any order & picks can be placed on any available space during the game. Once a FRET has been scored it cannot trigger scoring again, but picks can still be moved to & from that FRET'S spaces. When a FRET is scored record the scores on the corresponding FRET on the score pad. You can always check the score pad to see which FRETS have been scored and how many FAME points any color currently has.
Scoring the fretboard happens when a FRET is filled with six picks. Immediately add the totals for each GENRE together based on the amount of colored picks on the ENTIRE fretboard. The GENRE scores are increased when multiple picks of the same color are on the same fret.
When each FRET is filled for the first time, count the picks on the entire fretboard. Give each GENRE its FAME points based on the guide below and record them on the score pad.
Lead Guitar Scoring Guide
- 1 pick ... 1 Point
- 2 picks ... 4 Points
- 3 picks ... 11 Points
- 4 picks ... 17 Points
- 5 picks ... 25 Points
Lead Guitar Scoring Example
In this example you are placing the Grey pick on the first FRET to trigger LEAD GUITAR scoring for the first time in the game (likely giving a clue about your genre!). There are seven other legal placements noted by the teal lines, none of these would trigger scoring since they don't fill the FRETS.
There is one other potential scoring space on the third FRET noted by the red lines. This space can trigger scoring if filled but would be filled out under the "3" column to indicate the third FRET has been scored.
It's important to note that LEAD GUITAR scoring triggers at the end of a turn. If you remove a pick from the same FRET you fill on a single turn it does NOT trigger scoring.
Ending the Game
You end a game of Re-Chord by placing a pick in the last available space of the final FRET, which is the fifth scored FRET. (Remember: scoring FRETS may be done in in any order).
Once the final FRET is filled, the last LEAD GUITAR scoring round will occur and then guitarists reveal their hidden GENRES.
Add your completed CHORD card, RE-CHORD, SONG card, and GENRE FAME together.
The player with the most FAME wins!
In case of a tie, whoever has the highest toal RE-CHORD Score wins. If there is still a tie, the player who completed more CHORD cards wins. If there is still a tie, the player who has more of there GENRE picks on the board at the end of the game wins. If there is still a tie, share the stage!
End Game Scoring Example
In the end game example above, the final pick isbeing placed in the third FRET. The red scores highlight the LEAD GUITAR scores input for the third FRET. This is the final FRET to be filled so the game is over and each guitarist reveals their GENRE. Add all CHORD or RE-CHORD, SONG, and GENRE FAME together to determine your TOTAL FAME. In the example above, Jimmy has the highest TOTAL FAME and wins the game, notice Jimmy was the only guitarist to complete a SONG.
The example shows three guitarists:
- Jimmy - 14 + 18 + 42 = 74
- Kurt - 26 + 37 = 63
- Joan - 10 + 44 = 54