Roll In One Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setting Up
• Summary of Play
• Starting a Hole
• Playing a Hole
• Hole Design
• On Your Turn
  • 1. Swing
  • 2. Flight
  • 3. Landing
  • Terrain
• Clubs
  • Symbols
• Caddie Cards
• Golfer Cards
• Movement Details
• Ball Collisions
• Tie Game
• Want to Modify the Game?
  • Golfer Cards
  • Ricochet
  • Handicap Points
  • Game Variant - Campaign Mode
  • Game Variant - Bumper Golf
• Solo Play
  • 3-Hole Round
  • Survival
• Sample Turns

Components

• 6 dice (clubs)
• Course boards - 1 tee, 5 diamonds, 2 triangles, 1 narrow, 3 green tokens
• 5 Golf ball player tokens
• 8 Golfer cards
• 29 Caddie cards
• 15 Penalty tokens
• First player marker
• Scorepad & golf pencil

Setting Up

1. Set the six dice in the center of your play area.
2. Shuffle the caddie cards and set them in a pile facedown. See Caddie Cards for more information.
3. Shuffle and deal each player a golfer card. See Golfer Cards.
4. Roll the Putter (4-sided die) to see who goes first. The player who rolls the lowest score receives the first player marker.

Summary of Play

The game involves designing and playing a golf course.

One player designs a hole and then all the golfers play it, racing to be first to the green. After completing a hole, take score. Then discard penalty tokens, pass the first player marker clockwise and repeat.

The game ends once each player has designed a hole and each hole has been played. Tally up the scores from each hole - lowest player score wins!

In a two-player game, each player creates two holes, for a total of four holes.

Starting a Hole

1. The player holding the first player marker designs a hole. Learn how to design a hole under Hole Design.
2. Deal caddie cards to each player. On the first hole, each player receives three cards. On subsequent holes, deal one new caddie card to each player.
3. Each player begins their first turn from the tee.

Playing a Hole

1. Players take turns, beginning with the first player. During your turn, choose a die and roll it to see where the ball goes. Learn more about turns under On Your Turn. Continue play clockwise. A round is all players taking a turn.
2. The hole is over once any player stops on the green token! Any player who has not yet gone this round gets their turn.

After stopping on the green, remove your ball from play.

3. Add each player's score to the scorecard. Your score is the number of penalty tokens you hold plus the number of players that are closer to the green than you, including players who have reached the green.

Hole Design

Start by placing the tee board on the table, connect 2-4 additional boards, then place one green token on any space.

Play around! Use obstacles like trees, water, sand, and "out-of-bounds" areas to make tricky paths. Try arranging the boards without a clean line to the green.

Each board is made of various types of terrain. Anywhere not on a board is considered "out of bounds".

The green token is the goal. Reach it in as few rolls as possible!

Pro Golfer's Note: The tee and each diamond board represent 1 par. Others represent 1/2 par.

On Your Turn

1. Swing

At the start of each turn, choose a club (die), point your ball in a direction, and start rolling!

2. Flight

Roll the die to keep your ball in the air. Each time you roll a number higher than your previous number, move one space along the direction of your shot.

• You cannot change dice mid-turn.
• You can only change direction mid-turn if you roll a curve symbol. If that happens, you must turn.
• You MUST keep rolling and moving until the ball lands.

3. Landing

The ball lands (stops moving and the turn ends) for any of the following reasons:

• Roll a number that fails to beat your last rolled number.
• Roll a triangle while in trees.
• Roll dot(s). Move as many spaces as dots, then land and end your turn.

Terrain

Different types of terrain have different effects on the ball.

• Sand: If starting a turn here, the first roll will not move the ball. Sand does not affect dotted rolls.
• Trees: While here, triangle rolls land. This is the only terrain that can affect a ball in flight.
• Fairway: If the ball lands here, move one more space forward and end turn. Fairways don't affect dotted rolls.
• Water: If the ball stops here, take a penalty token.
• Rough: No special rules.

When ending a turn on an occupied space: Hit the other ball forward one space. If at the edge of the board, the colliding ball instead stacks on top of the first ball.

Flew out-of-bounds? Stop at the edge, take a penalty token, and end the turn.

Clubs

Dice represent golf clubs. The more sides, the farther you are likely to travel. Each club serves a different purpose, with symbols that have unique rules. Some clubs can curve, others are bad for the trees, others great when you're close to the green. Try them out to learn their quirks!

Club	Likely travel distance	Die faces
Putter (4-sided)	1-2	1, 2, 3, 4
Wedge (6-sided)	1-3	1, 2, 3, curve, dot (1 dot), dotted curve
9-Iron (8-sided)	2-4	1, 2, 3, then five dotted faces (increasing numbers of dots)
6-Iron (10-sided)	2-5	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, curve, triangle, triangle, dot (1 dot)
4-Iron (12-sided)	3-6	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, curve, curve, curve, triangle, triangle
Wood (20-sided)	3-7	1 through 10, then 10 triangles

Dotted symbols are like high-angled shots. Good for escaping sand and not rolling. Triangles are like low-angled shots, which is why they get stuck in trees.

Symbols

• Numbers (1, 2, 3...): You move one space forward if your roll is higher than your previous rolled number. Move only one space, regardless of the number on the die.
• Triangle: Move one space forward. (Fails while in trees.)
• Dots: Move as many spaces forward as dots, then land.
• Curve: Move one space forward-left or forward-right, your choice, no matter the icon. This is now your movement direction.
• Dotted curve: Move one space forward, then one space in a new direction, then land.

Caddie Cards

Caddie cards are single-use special abilities.

Players may use a caddie card at any point during their turn, before or after a roll.

Players may choose to keep their cards secret.

Players may keep any unplayed cards between holes.

After using a card, place it face up in a discard pile.

Feeling mean? Players may agree at the start of the game to use caddie cards during another player's turn.

Golfer Cards

Golfer cards provide a permanent special ability, and are played face up for all other players to see.

Movement Details

The number to beat only resets at the beginning of each player's turn. If a player rolls a 1, a 4, then a triangle, the 4 remains the number to beat.

You choose your shot's direction at the start of each turn.

Each time you move "forward", you move in that same direction, unless a curve comes into play.

If your first roll is a curve, you may move one space in any direction, which becomes the direction of your shot.

A curve changes the direction of your shot for the turn, not just for a single roll.

An in-progress shot cannot change direction more than 60 degrees per roll, except using special cards.

A dotted curve ignores sand and fairway effects.

Ball Collisions

A golf ball may occupy the same space as another ball during flight.

At the end of a turn, if a ball has stopped in the same space as another, the stopping ball hits the other ball forward, unless at the edge of the board.

Players cannot hit an opponent out of bounds. Balls stack instead.

A player takes a penalty if their ball is pushed into water.

Ball collisions can chain, causing one ball to hit another forward to hit another forward.

Tie Game

In the case of a tie, compare winners' scores without the first hole. If there is still no winner, compare scores without the first and second holes. Continue removing holes until a winner is determined. If all hole scores are tied, shake hands!

Want to Modify the Game?

Consider trying rule variants to make the game more wild, or strategic, or expansive. And if you just want to play a quick hole or two, you should!

Golfer Cards

Let players choose golfers instead of randomly dealing. Or grab 1-3 golfers, set them beside the course, and apply their abilities to all players.

Ricochet

If you land in a space with another ball, move your ball OR the other ball to any adjacent space, and follow that space's rules.

Handicap Points

Give each player 6 points at the start of the game.

Players may spend points to add or subtract to rolled numbers. For example: spend 2 points to change a roll of 4 to a 2 or 6.

Do not replenish points during the game.

Players may spend a point to traverse out-of-bounds spaces; however they must still roll to make progress. Spend one point per out-of-bounds space. If the player fails to cross the out-of-bounds space, they must take a penalty and reset to the space before they exited.

Game Variant - Campaign Mode

Design one large arrangement of boards with three greens. The first player to reach all the greens wins! For each penalty token first place possesses, the other players get a turn to catch up.

Game Variant - Bumper Golf

Arrange five boards and place three greens. Players get a penalty whenever hit by another ball, in addition to normal rules. If a player lands on a green, their penalties drop by one and they move the green at least six spaces away. Game ends when someone has six penalties.

Solo Play

3-Hole Round

• Setup: Draw three caddie cards and a golfer card.
• Play: Design and play three holes with 3, 4, and 5 boards. Create and play these in any order.
• Scoring: Track shots and try to reach the lowest score.

Survival

• Setup: Design a hole. Draw 1 caddie card. Give yourself 2 penalty tokens for each diamond or tee board you place, and 1 token for any other board.
• Play: Spend a token at the start of each turn and any time you take a penalty. You may also spend 1 token to reroll, or 3 tokens to change direction mid-turn.
• Scoring: If you run out of tokens and aren't on the green, the game ends. If you make it to the green, start a new hole! How many holes can you last?

Sample Turns

• The Wood, starting from sand. Rolls: triangle, triangle, 5, triangle, 8, 1, then slides on fairway into the water. After two rolls getting out of the sand, the player flies several spaces, only to land on the final fairway, sliding into a pond.
• 9-Iron. Rolls: 2-dot. A nice simple chip over the water.
• 4-Iron. Rolls: 3, 5, curve, 7, 3. Starting on the Tee, the player travels a couple spaces and is lucky to roll a curve, which they use to turn right, neatly between the out-of-bounds and the trees, landing in decent position for the green.
• The Wedge. Rolls: dotted curve, lands on the green. The player rolls a single lucky Dotted Curve, which moves them one space, then one more space in a new direction, landing neatly on the green.