Scenery Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview
• Setup
  • Routes board
• Turns
  • 1. Take a hex from the market
  • 2. Move your compass
  • 3. Place a new hex in the market
  • 4. Add your hex to your landscape
  • 5. Place landscape elements
  • 6. Mark a route
  • Route requirements
• End of the Game
• Scenery Points (SP)
• Goals (optional)
• Endscore Example
• Variant: Total Ascent

Components

• 5 compass arrows
• 83 height hexes
• 1 routes board
• 25 score stakes (5 per route color)
• 100 wooden stakes: 10 white, 15 yellow, 20 orange, 25 red, 30 blue
• 15 waterfalls, 10 cliffs, 10 viewpoints
• 7 double-sided goal tiles
• 5 player aids
• 1 scorepad

If a stock gets exhausted (unlikely), use a substitute.

Overview

Create routes within walkable elevation changes to give hikers views of waterfalls, flowers, and animals, and access to climb sites and valley overlooks. Score the most scenery points, gained from your routes and landscape.

Setup

1. Mix all height hexes face-down. Build a market in the center of the playing area with randomly drawn height hexes (face-up) and each player's compass arrow, as shown below. (The source gives a diagram of the market and compass-arrow layout for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 players; the layouts are not reproduced in text.)
2. Place all waterfalls, cliffs, and viewpoints within reach.
3. Place the routes board near the market. Randomly draw a number of score stakes per color, equal to the number of players. Place these on the routes board, white number up. Example: In case of 3 players, 3 score stakes per color are drawn. Put the 10 remaining back in the box.
4. Place the 100 wooden stakes near the routes board.
5. Optional: Draw 1, 2, or 3 goal tiles (one side). Place these where all players can see them.
6. The player whose compass arrow points to the lowest height hex is the first player. If tied, the best hiker goes first. Turns progress clockwise.

Routes board

The routes board has five columns, one per route length. Each column shows the elevation limit for that route length and the score stakes of that color:

Route length (hexes)	Maximum difference	Stake color	Stake values (top to bottom)
3	≤500m	white	5, 4, 3, 2, 1
4	≤1000m	yellow	6, 5, 4, 3, 2
5	≤1500m	orange	7, 6, 5, 4, 3
6	≤2000m	red	8, 7, 6, 5, 4
7	≤2500m	blue	9, 8, 7, 6, 5

Turns

Each turn consists of 6 steps, in this order:

1. Take a hex from the market

Take a hex around your compass' space, except for the hex at your compass' back end.

Exception: If opponents block all (!) directions, jump straight over a compass to the first available hex.

Example 1: One of the spaces around Beige is occupied by Purple. (The source shows the Beige compass with checkmarks on the open spaces around it and a cross on the blocked space.)

2. Move your compass

Move your compass to where you took your hex. Position the compass' back end near the space where it came from.

Example 2&3: The Beige compass turned and moved. And the market is refilled.

3. Place a new hex in the market

Take a random hex from the stock to fill the space your compass came from (face-up).

Example 4: Beige has 4 spots to place the new hex.

4. Add your hex to your landscape

Place your first hex anywhere in front of you. For every subsequent hex, at least one of the paths must connect to a path in your landscape.

If this is impossible, add the hex adjacent to any hex in your landscape.

5. Place landscape elements

If two adjacent hex sides aren't connected by a path AND their heights differ by 1500 meters or more, place at their intersection a:

• waterfall, if the connected sides both have no path. The bottom of the waterfall goes on the lower hex.
• cliff, if only the lower side has a path.
• viewpoint, if only the higher side has a path. The viewpoint looks from the higher hex to the lower hex.

Example 5a: A waterfall from 2900 to 1200 meters. Example 5b: A cliff from 1200 to 3300 meters. Example 5c: A viewpoint from 2800 to 1300 meters.

6. Mark a route

If you meet all route requirements (see below), you may mark it.

1. 1st: Take, from the routes board, the highest score stake of the route length. Place this on your last placed hex, at one of the two path connections with an adjacent hex in the route.
2. 2nd: Place wooden stakes, in the color of the score stake, at all the other path connections in the route.
3. 3rd: If you place half or more, of all stakes, at spots which already have a stake(s), flip the new route's score stake upside-down (lower score).

Route requirements

• A route must be one loop. No double loop (figure-8).
• The route length is 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 hexes.
• Each player can only mark each route length once.
• The maximum difference between the lowest and highest hex in 3/4/5/6/7 hex routes is 500/1000/1500/2000/2500 meters, respectively.

Example loops: The 1300m hex gets added. It completes a 3-hex, a 4-hex, and a 5-hex loop. The 3-hex loop passes the 1200m, 1300m, and 1900m hex, so 700 meter difference (1900-1200). A 3-hex route must stay within 500 meters difference, so isn't allowed here.

Example orange route: A 5-hex route can have maximum 1500 meters difference. The difference here is 1100 meters (1900-800), so this route is allowed.

Example yellow route: A 4-hex route (maximum 1000 meters difference) is allowed too. The difference here is 1000 (1800-800).

Yellow stake flipped, because the route has 50%+ overlap.

End of the Game

The game ends when all players have placed 12 hexes. Then, count each player's Scenery Points.

Scenery Points (SP)

• Routes: Add up all score stake points in your landscape.
• Animals: Each animal scores the number of stakes on the animal's hex.
• Flowers: Each flower scores the number of stakes at the flower.
• Waterfalls: 1 point each, plus 1 point per route through the hex with the waterfall base (the lower hex).
• Cliffs: 3 points each.
• Viewpoints: 1 point for each animal/flower on the viewed hex and on adjacent hexes around the viewed hex (except for the high hex that the viewpoint looks from).
• Goals (optional): 4 points for the player(s) who fulfills a goal the best. 0 points for the player(s) who fulfills a goal the worst. All players in between earn 2 points. In a solo game, use the solo scoring rule on the goal tile.

The player with the most scenery points wins the game. If tied, the player with the highest hex wins.

Goals (optional)

The goals below are the optional goal tiles (see Setup, step 5 and Scenery Points above).

1. Most unique animals: There are 4 different animals. In endscore example: 3 (marmot, ibex, and eagle).
2. Most unique flowers: There are 5 different flowers. In endscore example: 3 (spreading bellflower, orange lily, and gentian).
3. Varied elements: Most unique landscape elements (waterfall/cliff/viewpoint). In endscore example: 3 (all 3 are present).
4. Tallest waterfall: Biggest height difference between the top and base of a waterfall. In endscore example: 2000m (2500m - 500m).
5. Biggest cliff: Biggest height difference between two hexes that create a cliff. In endscore example: 1600m (2100m - 500m).
6. Deepest view: Biggest height difference between two hexes that create a viewpoint. In endscore example: 1600m (2800m - 1200m).
7. Height variation: Biggest height difference between your highest and lowest hex. In endscore example: 2500m (2800m - 300m).
8. Nature area: Biggest area (by number of hexes) uninterrupted by paths. In endscore example: 7 (at the right side with the 300/400/1100/2000/2600/1500/1200m hexes).
9. Dead ends inside: Fewest paths ending on another hex non-path side (not counting cliffs or viewpoints). In endscore example: 1 (from the 2800m to 2100m hex).
10. Dead ends outside: Fewest paths to empty spaces.

Note: The solo scoring thresholds for each goal are printed on the goal tile graphics (for example, "SOLO 4SP: all 4 / 2SP: 3" on the Most Unique Animals tile). They are small in the source and are not transcribed here; see the goal tile in the printed edition.

Endscore Example

• Routes: The 3, 4, and 6-hex routes bring respectively 4 SP, 6 SP (the score stake lays under a wooden stake) and 2 SP (the score stake backside, because the red route overlaps 50% with other routes). So 4+6+2 = 12 SP.
• Animals: 2 red stakes at the 1100m hex with a marmot, 4 (2x2) stakes at the 1500m marmot. The hexes with the ibex and the eagle have no routes. So 2+4 = 6 SP.
• Flowers: 1 stake at the gentian at 2100m, 2 stakes (red and yellow) at the lily at 1200m. The bellflowers at 300m and 500m have no passing routes. So 1+2 = 3 SP.
• Waterfalls: There's no route with a view of the waterfall at 500m. Only the white route gives a view of the waterfall at 600m. And 2 routes (white and red) give a view of the waterfall at 400m. Each waterfall starts at 1 SP. So 1+2+3 = 6 SP.
• Cliffs: One cliff, so 3 SP.
• Viewpoints: The viewpoint from 2800m to 1200m has a view of the lily and the surrounding gentian and marmot. The viewpoint from 2600m to 1100m only sees the marmot at 1100m. So 3+1 = 4 SP.

Total: 12 + 6 + 3 + 6 + 3 + 4 = 34 SP.

Variant: Total Ascent

In this variant you cumulate the elevation changes of all ascending parts of a route (ignore descending parts). This cumulated elevation change in 3/4/5/6/7 hex routes still cannot exceed 500/1000/1500/2000/2500 meters, respectively.

Total Ascent invalid route: The printed example shows elevation changes of 0m (1800m to 1000m), 500m (1000m to 1500m), 0m (1200m to 1500m), and 600m (1800m to 1200m). Total Elevation: 0+500+0+600 = 1100 meters. Not allowed, because a 4 hex route can't have more than 1000 meters ascent.

Total Ascent valid route: The printed example shows elevation changes of 0m (1200m to 1000m), 500m (1000m to 1500m), 300m (1800m to 1500m), and 0m (1200m to 1800m). Total Elevation: 0+500+300+0 = 800 meters. Allowed, because that doesn't exceed 1000 meters.