Snowfall over Mountains Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • A Game Turn
  • Expand the Woods
  • Use a Tool
  • Start a New Turn
• Game End & Scoring
  • Final Scoring
  • Wanderlust Table
• Scoring Concepts
  • Tiles, Squares, and Features
  • Features and Adjacency
  • Special Feature: Bear and Rabbit Paths
• Scoring Cards
  • Tree
  • Bear
  • Rabbit
  • Bush
  • Pond
• Tool Card Additional Notes

Objective

Explore the mountains around your cabin by placing tiles. Find ways to earn points by arranging natural features and connecting walking trails in the woods.

Components

• 1 Cabin tile (double-sided)
• 30 Snow tiles
• 15 Scoring cards
• 8 Tool cards

Setup

A. Place the double-sided Cabin tile in the middle of the table, either side up. Leave extra room around it to expand the woods as you play.

B. Shuffle the Snow tiles and place them in a face-down stack.

C. Then, remove the top 4 tiles and place them in the game box without revealing them; they will not be used.

D. Separate the Scoring cards by type (Bear, Bush, Pond, Rabbit, and Tree). Then, select 1 random scoring card for each type and place the 5 cards face-up so you can easily reference them. Place the remaining scoring cards in the game box; they will not be used.

E. Shuffle the Tool cards and draw 3. Choose 2 to keep, then discard the other. Place the remaining tool cards (including the discarded one) in the game box; they will not be used.

• For a harder game, choose to keep only 1 tool card.

F. Draw 2 tiles from the stack. These tiles make up your hand.

Gameplay

Over the course of Snowfall Over Mountains, you expand the woods around your cabin by placing connected tiles or using tool cards. Your scoring cards and keeping the walking trail connected will help guide your decisions.

Once all available tiles have been played, the game ends and you score based on your scoring cards, unused tool cards, and disconnected trail penalties. Compare your score to the Wanderlust Table to see how you did!

A Game Turn

Each turn, you will choose to either Expand the Woods OR Use a Tool. Your placed tiles will score based on various criteria. (See Scoring Concepts and the scoring cards.)

Expand the Woods

Choose a tile in your hand and place it directly adjacent to any previously placed tile.

• Tiles may never overlap or be placed diagonally.
• Tiles must be orthogonally adjacent to each other.
• A tile may align with 1 square of another tile.

After you place a tile, refill your hand back to 2 tiles from the stack.

• If there are no more tiles to draw, proceed to Start a New Turn with less than 2 tiles in your hand.

Important: You do not have to connect walking trails on tiles, but you typically want to connect as many walking trails as you can to the cabin tile. At the end of the game, there is a penalty for each tile with a trail that doesn't connect to the trail on the cabin tile. (See Game End & Scoring.)

Use a Tool

Choose an available face-up tool card. Follow the instructions on the tool card and then flip it over to indicate it's been used. (See Tool Card Additional Notes.) Each of your tool cards may only be used once during the game.

Example (Snow Shovel): Permanently remove up to 2 placed tiles from the game.

• As you expand the woods and use tools, keep your 5 scoring cards in mind.

Start a New Turn

Continue playing turns by expanding the woods or using a tool until all tiles have been placed, including tiles in your hand. When you have placed all of the tiles, the game is over. Proceed to Game End & Scoring.

Game End & Scoring

The game ends when you place the last tile.

Final Scoring

Total your points from these sources:

• Scoring Cards: Score each of the 5 scoring cards (Bear, Bush, Pond, Rabbit, and Tree) by following the text on each card.
• Available Tools: Score 1 point for each unused tool card. Remember: For a harder game, you only have 1 tool card to use.
• Disconnected Trails: Lose 3 points for each tile with a trail that doesn't connect to the trail on the cabin tile.

Compare your total score to see how you did!

Wanderlust Table

Score	Rank
<46	Lost Traveler
46-55	Wayward Hiker
56-65	Cozy Sightseer
66-75	Experienced Explorer
76+	Master Trailblazer

Scoring Concepts

Tiles, Squares, and Features

• A tile is made up of 2 squares.
• Each square contains up to 2 features: Bear, bush, pond, rabbit, and tree.
• A trail is NOT a feature.

Features and Adjacency

• Features on the same square or orthogonally adjacent squares are adjacent.
• A square located orthogonally next to another square is adjacent to that square.
• Diagonal squares or features are NOT adjacent.

Special Feature: Bear and Rabbit Paths

• The length of a bear or rabbit path is equal to the number of squares containing tracks.
• There is no penalty for disconnected bear or rabbit paths, unlike disconnected trails.

(Example: a bear path of 3 squares. Tracks that meet may face different directions.)

Scoring Cards

Each card type has three versions (marked by the symbols triangle, circle and square in the rulebook).

Tree

• Shady Grove - Score 1 point per tree in a row with no other trees in it. +3 points if this is true for all trees.
• Fair Forest - Score 1 point per tree in a column with no other trees in it. +3 points if this is true for all trees.
• Lonely Pines - Score 1 point per tree not adjacent to any other tree(s).

Examples:

• Shady Grove - 1 point for 1 tree in rows with no other trees.
• Fair Forest - 8 points for 5 trees in columns with no other trees (5 + 3 for all trees in unique columns).
• Lonely Pines - 5 points for 5 trees not adjacent to any other tree(s).

(A tree diagonal to another tree is NOT adjacent.)

Bear

• Follow the Scent - Score 2 points per square of rabbit tracks adjacent to your longest bear path.
• Honey Hunt - Score 2 points per tree adjacent to your longest bear path.
• Ursine Tracker - Score 1 point per square on your longest bear path.

Examples:

• Follow the Scent - 6 points for 3 squares of adjacent rabbit tracks.
• Honey Hunt - 6 points for 3 squares of adjacent trees.
• Ursine Tracker - 3 points for the longest bear path (3 squares).

(Tracks that connect may face different directions; tracks that are only diagonal do not connect and form separate bear paths. In the example, other bear paths are 1 square and 2 squares long.)

Rabbit

• Berry Pursuit - Score 2 points per bush adjacent to your longest rabbit path.
• Thirsty Trek - Score 3 points per pond adjacent to your longest rabbit path.
• Hopping Home - Score 3 points per rabbit path that is 3 or more squares long.

Examples:

• Berry Pursuit - 6 points for 3 bushes adjacent to the longest rabbit path.
• Thirsty Trek - 3 points for 1 pond adjacent to the longest rabbit path.
• Hopping Home - 3 points for 1 rabbit path that is 3 or more squares long.

(In the example, the longest rabbit path is 4 squares; tracks that meet may face different directions; tracks that do not connect are separate rabbit paths, e.g. a 2-square path.)

Bush

• Shrub Search - Score 1 point per bush in your largest cluster of bushes.
• Twiggy Expanse - Score 2 points per bush in your largest rectangle of bushes.
• Hopeful Harvest - Score 1 point per column and 1 point per row in your largest cluster of bushes.

Examples:

• Shrub Search - 9 points for 9 bushes in the largest cluster of bushes.
• Twiggy Expanse - 12 points for 6 bushes in the largest rectangle of bushes.
• Hopeful Harvest - 7 points for 5 columns & 2 rows in the largest cluster of bushes.

(A rectangle of 2 bush squares is also a separate cluster.)

Pond

• Landlocked Lake - Score 4 points per pond that is surrounded on all 4 sides.
• Scenic Overlook - Score 4 points per pond that is adjacent to 4 or more different features: bear, bush, pond, rabbit, tree.
• Twin Ponds - Score 6 points per pair of adjacent ponds not adjacent to any other pond(s).

Examples:

• Landlocked Lake - 4 points for 1 pond surrounded on all 4 sides (not diagonally).
• Scenic Overlook - 8 points for 2 ponds adjacent to 4 or more different features. (A pond adjacent to only 3 different features - bear, rabbit and tree - does not count; a pond adjacent to bush, bear, pond and rabbit does.)
• Twin Ponds - 6 points for 1 pair of adjacent ponds not adjacent to other pond(s).

Tool Card Additional Notes

• Binoculars: Choose the order to put the 2 tiles back on top. Place all tiles face-down.
• Compass: Choose 1 tile you placed that is not covered. (See Snowshoes)
• Map: After you play the new tiles, take the set aside tiles into your hand and continue.
• Sled: The tile may remain in its space, or be placed adjacent to any previously placed tile.
• Snowshoes: The tile may completely cover 2 squares, or 1 square and an empty area.
• Snow Shovel: Choose 2 tiles you placed that are not covered. (See Snowshoes) You will not redraw these tiles.
• Tall Boots: This applies to a tile, not a square. After using this tool card, rotate it 90° as a reminder for final scoring.
• Work Gloves: The tiles must be placed in the exact same spaces, but you may first rotate either or both 180°.