SEVEN
SEVEN Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Equipment
Each player has 7 different tetrahexes of the same colour (black or white). The game also includes a case for storage.
Additionally, players can purchase a second set, containing red and blue pieces.
How to Play
White starts by placing a white tile on the playing surface. Black then places a black tile adjacent to it so that it fits within an imaginary hex grid.
Example of opening (imaginary grid drawn in light grey).
From now on, players alternate turns placing any tile of their colour according to the following rules:
a) The tile must be aligned with the hex grid.
b) The selected tile must be placed on the highest level on which it can be placed legally.
c) The tile must be placed either on the table and adjacent to a piece already on the table, or atop at least 2 tiles, regardless of their colour.
d) The tile must lie flat, with every hex directly supported, either by the table or by a lower tile.
Example: White places the 'O' piece on Level 1. Black then chooses his 'Y' piece, and places it on Level 2, for it is mandatory to do so. Level heights are indicated with numbers for clarity. (Black had 4 places to play the 'Y'. Can you find them?) Notice that no matter which piece Black chooses, he's forced to place it on Level 2, because White cleverly created a space that can hold any piece.
Game End
The game ends when all tiles have been placed. The player with the most tiles on the highest level wins (so, if the stack is 3 levels high, look at Level 3). In case of a tie, the 2nd-highest level, then the 3rd-highest level, and so on.
Variant for 3 Players
To play this variant you'll need one set of black and white pieces (acrylic) and one set of red or blue pieces (plastic).¹
Three players (white, black and red; for example) take turns in clockwise order playing as usual. The 4th colour is not used.
¹ They are sold separately.
Variant for 2 Couples (2 vs 2)
To play this variant you'll need one set of black and white pieces and one set of red and blue pieces.
Members of the same pair sit in front of each other. It is recommended that one pair plays with the acrylic pieces and the other pair plays with the plastic pieces (for clarity).
Play as usual taking turns in clockwise order (member 1 of pair 1, member 1 of pair 2, member 2 of pair 1, member 2 of pair 2, and so on...). At the end of the game, the pair whose member is the winning player wins the game (this is, the tiles for both members are NOT considered being of the same team for scoring and tie-breaking).
Note: A pure 4 player game is too chaotic, so I don't recommend it.
Misère Variant
Play as usual, but the player with most tiles on the lowest level wins.
Strategies
Rule 'b' (mandatory placement on the topmost level) is the key for winning the game. Force your opponent to place 2 adjacent tiles on the topmost level, so you can place one of yours on top of them. But be careful: timing is important. If you force a placement too soon or too late, you will lose the game!
Puzzles
The 5th Level
Can you reach the 5th level placing all the tiles according to the rules?
The Island
Pick any black tile. Fully surround it with the lowest number of white tiles possible (all edges of the black tile must be touching white tiles). Can you then fully surround the white tiles with the remaining black tiles?
Example: A black tile (the volcano) is fully surrounded by 3 white tiles (the island). Can you now fully surround the island with the remaining 6 black tiles?
The Holes
The following arrangement of the black tiles has 5 holes (marked in red in the diagram):
Can you rearrange them to get more holes? What is the maximum number of holes that you can create?
Now remove one of the tiles. How many holes can you create with the remaining ones?
How many holes can you create using the 14 tiles?
The Copycat
Arrange all the black tiles in any shape. Can you arrange the white tiles on top of them so all the black tiles are completely overlapped and every white tile is atop at least 2 black tiles?
Example of setup. Can you overlap the whole arrangement with white tiles?