The Cubes of Europe
The Cubes of Europe Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
1 player, ages 10+, 15 minutes.
Required Components
- 9 double-sided cards (each has a board side and a market side)
- 2 six-sided dice
- 20 8mm cubes: 4 red, 4 blue, 4 green, 4 white, 3 yellow, 1 black
Setup
- Choose Board and Create Deck: Select one card at random to be the board; place it board-side up in front of you. Shuffle the remaining eight cards and place them in a deck, market-side up.
- Create Market: Take the top card of the market deck and put it to the direct right of the deck, market-side up. This pile to the right of the deck is the market discard. The combined top card of the market deck and market discard are called the market.
- Distribute Cubes: Take a yellow cube and place it (randomly or not, your choice) onto one of the three yellow spaces on the board. This is your starting position for the game. Take the black cube and place it on the "1" space of the Workers track on your board; this cube will be moved up and down as you gain and lose workers. Place all other cubes within easy reach to form the supply; you are now ready to begin the game.
Gameplay
The Cubes of Europe is played over a series of 12 turns. To begin each turn, roll both dice and place them in front of you. Then, use each die to take one of three actions: gain a cube, place a cube, or gain a worker.
Gain a Cube: There are six central squares containing die faces in the market, three on each card. Each square has a corresponding cube color next to it. When gaining a cube, place the die used onto the central square matching the die's number, then if possible move a cube of the color corresponding to that square from the supply into your inventory. You may place a die onto a market square that already contains a die. If you gain a cube but all three inventory spaces are full, return a cube from your inventory to the supply.
Important: Only the six central squares in the market are available; ignore the outer squares when gaining a cube.
Place a Cube: Choose a hex on the board adjacent to a hex already containing a cube. The number of the die used must match the number of the chosen hex. Place the die used above the board, and place a cube matching the color of the chosen hex from your inventory onto that hex. After placing a cube, perform any effects of that cube's color.
Gain a Worker: Place the die used above the board, and, if possible, move the cube on the "Workers" track forward one space.
Using Workers: Whenever you take an action using a die, you may spend a worker (move the cube on the track backward one space) to modify the number of the die used by +1 or -1. Whenever you modify a die's number, you may convert a 1 to 6 or a 6 to 1. You may spend any number of workers each turn, but cannot spend any if you have 0 workers remaining.
End of Turn
After you have used both of your dice to take actions, the turn is over. Put both dice in front of you again, and place the top card of the market deck onto the market discard to form a new market. You are now ready to begin the next turn.
After moving the top card of the market deck, if there are no cards left in it, reshuffle all market cards and form a new market by following the "Create Market" step of setup. However, after doing so, place an extra card onto the market discard for each empty yellow hex on the board. The second time the deck runs out, the game is over; proceed to the "End of Game" section of rules instead of reshuffling the deck.
End of Game
After going through the market deck two times, the game is over. Calculate your point total using the following criteria:
- Territories: A territory is a group of adjacent hexes on the board with the same color. For each territory with all its hexes filled, gain points based on its number of hexes using the following chart:
| # of Hexes | Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 10 |
(Note: The total potential points from territories is always 30. To aid in scoring calculations, you can give yourself 30 points, then subtract an appropriate number of points for each unfilled territory on the board.)
- Completed Colors: A completed color is a color with all its hexes on the board filled. For each completed color, gain 1 point.
- Green Cubes: For every placed green cube, gain 1 point.
- Yellow Effects: Some yellow effects give points at the end of the game; count these effects now.
- Workers: For every 2 workers you have, gain 1 point.
After calculating your score, compare it against the following chart to determine your rank:
| Score | Rank |
|---|---|
| 0-21 | Novice |
| 22-25 | Apprentice |
| 26-29 | Journeyman |
| 30-33 | Expert |
| 34+ | Master |
A rank of Expert or higher counts as a victory.
Cube Effects
Every color of cube has a special effect associated with it, either when it is placed or at the end of the game:
- Red: When this cube is placed, you may immediately place another cube from your inventory adjacent to an already placed cube, ignoring dice and number requirements. Activate the effect of cubes placed this way.
- White: When this cube is placed, you may immediately gain a cube whose color matches the color of a hex in the market.
- Blue: When this cube is placed, you may immediately gain a worker.
- Green: At the end of the game, this cube is worth 1 point.
- Yellow: Yellow cubes have no effect immediately when they are placed. However, at the end of any turn in which a yellow cube was placed, before you move the top card of the market deck, take the rightmost market card and tuck it underneath the board so that the yellow text box at the bottom is showing (If you placed 2 yellow cubes during the turn, do this twice). The effect of that text box comes into effect immediately when it is tucked under the board, and remains in effect for the rest of the game. Do not activate the effect of the first yellow cube you place during setup.
Important: Yellow text boxes only affect the game after being tucked; they have no effect while in the market.
Clarifications
You can use both workers and yellow effects to modify a single die in one action.
Scoring Example
Endgame scoring after a normal game:
- Territories: This board scores 23 points for territories, as follows: 5 one-hex territories (1p each), 2 two-hex territories (3p each), 2 three-hex territories (6p each). 5 + 6 + 12 = 23 Points.
- Completed Colors: This board has 3 completed colors: Red, White, and Yellow. 3 Points.
- Green Cubes: There are 3 placed green cubes, each scoring 1 point. 3 Points.
- Yellow Effects: The first yellow effect in play does nothing in endgame scoring, but the second one gives 1 point for each placed white cube. All 4 white cubes are placed. 4 Points.
- Workers: The player receives 1 point for every 2 workers they have. In this case, even though the player has 3 workers, only 1 point is received; no half-points are gained from single workers. 1 Point.
Adding together all sources of points, the total score is 34 Points, which barely falls into the Master rank and is easily a win.