Stone Layer
Stone Layer Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- Game board
- 37 stones (3 different sizes, each size with its own colour)
- 6 flat round base stones
- 35 stone tiles
- 76 score tokens (19 in each colour)
- 4 five-point tokens
- Location marker
Setup
Place the game board in the center of the table and place the six flat base stones on the board as shown in the picture below. Spread all the other stones evenly across the river. Place the location marker next to a random base stone. Shuffle all the stone tiles and pile them face down next to the game board. Then, draw five tiles and place them face up next to the game board. Each player chooses a colour and takes the corresponding score tokens, placing them in front of them with the colour side facing up.
How to play
The player who was most recently by the river starts. After that, turns proceed clockwise.
On their turn, the player 1) selects one stone tile, 2) places a stone on the stack determined by the location marker, and 3) moves the location marker the number of steps indicated by the stone tile.
1) Selecting a stone tile
The player chooses one of the stone tiles that are face up next to the game board. The picture on the tile determines the size of the stone to be placed. Some of the tiles have two or three size options, in which case the player chooses one of them.
Once the player has selected a tile, they pick a corresponding stone from the river. The stones are of different shapes, but the size of the stone is always indicated by its colour.
If there are no more stones of a certain size in the river, that size cannot be selected.
Diagram captions: "Size options from which the player selects the size of the stone to be placed." (the tile's three size options are labelled Small, Medium and Large); "The number of steps by which the player moves the marker in step 3 Moving the location marker." (the number on the tile).
2) Placing the stone
The player carefully adds the selected stone to the stack indicated by the location marker. The first stone of each stack is placed on the base stone. The stone must remain on top of the stack and can only touch the stone directly beneath it. The player may not touch any other stones in the stack during their turn, only the one they are adding.
If the player successfully adds the stone, they place one of their score tokens, with the coloured side facing up, next to the stone stack.
If the stack falls, the stone leans on stones other than the previous one, the player touches other stones on the stack, or another stack falls during the player's turn, the player may not place a score token.
If the stack falls, either completely or partially, all the stones from the stack are returned to the river. Note: The flat base stones are not counted as part of the stack and are not to be moved from their original places.
Only one stone is placed during each turn.
High stacks
When a player adds the fourth stone to a stack (excluding the base stone), they can place one additional score token next to the stack (for a total of two tokens). The player placing the fifth stone can place two additional score tokens, and the player placing the sixth stone and any subsequent stones can place three additional score tokens.
Diagram captions: the stack illustrations are marked with the stone count 4, 5 and 6+ and the bonus +1, +2 and +3.
3) Moving the location marker
Once the player has placed the stone and possible score tokens, they move the location marker the number of steps indicated by the stone tile, clockwise along the base stones. After this, the played stone tile is set aside and the player's turn ends.
If the player took the last face-up stone tile from the table, five new tiles are flipped over and placed next to the game board.
If there are no more tiles left to flip, the previously used tiles are shuffled and used to form new draw piles.
The river runs out of stones
If there are no stones left in the river, the stone to be placed on the stack is taken from the top of another stone stack. This means that at the start of their turn, the player must choose a stone tile that has stone options, at least one of which can be found on top of one of the stacks. The player picks the chosen stone from the top of the stack and places it on the stack indicated by the location marker. If the stone stack from which the player takes the stone falls, the points from that stack are distributed to the other players as usual (see "Collecting the score tokens"), and the player's turn ends. If none of the available face-up stone tiles have possible stone options, they are put aside and five new tiles are turned onto the table.
Collecting the score tokens
If any of the stone stacks (either the one built by the player or another one) falls during the player's turn, all the score tokens next to the fallen stack are returned to their owners as points. Players flip their collected score tokens' golden side up and place them in front of them. These golden score tokens represent earned points, and they can no longer be lost or placed on the game board.
The player who is in turn when the stack falls does not receive any points. If the player had score tokens next to the fallen stack, they place them in front of them as normal score tokens with the coloured side up.
If the collapse of a stack during a player's turn is clearly caused by another player, the points from the fallen stack are distributed to all players except the one who caused it (including the player in turn). After this, the player in turn continues their turn as normal.
If a player's score tokens are running low, they can exchange five points for one 5-point token.
Winning the game
The player who first collects 10 points wins the game. If multiple players collect 10 points at the same time, the player with the most points wins. If the game is still tied, the player with the most score tokens on the game board next to the stone stacks wins. If no winner can be determined, the victory is shared.
Alternative way to start
If you want to speed up the game (especially in a two-player game), some stones can be placed on the game board in advance before the game begins.
In this case, the players draw four stone tiles and take the corresponding stones. The stones are placed on the stacks indicated by the step numbers on the tiles, starting from the location marker. Finally, the location marker is placed next to the stack indicated by the last tile, and that is where the game begins. After creating this starting setup, all the remaining stone tiles are shuffled, and five tiles are turned over next to the game board.