Torres Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview and Goal
• Preparation
  • Counting levels
• Playing the Game
  • Tower block distribution
  • Starting player
  • A player's turn
    • Add a knight — 2 AP per knight (any number per turn)
    • Move a knight — 1 AP per space (any number per turn)
    • Place a tower block — 1 AP per block (maximum one stack per turn)
    • Acquire action cards — 1 AP per card (maximum 2 cards per turn; basic version only)
    • Play an action card — 0 AP (maximum 1 card per turn)
    • Move along the scoring track — 1 AP per space (any number per turn)
• Scoring
  • The castle positions
  • The king's bonus
  • After the scoring
  • Move the king
• Game End
• Rule Variant — Common action deck
• The Action Cards
• Master Version
  • Initial placement of the castles
  • Action cards
  • The master cards
  • Turn order
  • The master cards (requirements)

Components

• 1 game board
• 92 tower blocks
• 24 knights (6 in each of 4 colors)
• 4 scoring markers
• 1 King figure
• 40 ACTION cards (10 per color)
• 4 CODEX cards (action summary cards)
• 3 PHASES cards (describe the phases and scoring, one each for 2, 3 and 4 players)
• 8 MASTER cards (used in the master version)

Overview and Goal

The board has a scoring track circling the outer edge and an 8 x 8 area for castle building. The starting locations for the 8 castles are marked within the castle-building area.

Players earn points at the end of each of the three years for every castle where they are represented by a knight. The score for a castle is the product of the surface area of the castle and the level where the knight stands. The player who collects the most points over the three years is the winner.

Preparation

• Place the board in the middle of the table.
• Each player selects a color and takes 1 scoring marker and the 6 knights of that color. Place the scoring markers at the start of the scoring track.
• Each player takes a CODEX card.
• Place the PHASES card for the current number of players (2, 3 or 4) face up on the table and return the other two cards to the box.
• Each player takes the 10 action cards in his color, shuffles them, and places them face down as a personal deck.
• Place the King next to the board.
• Place the tower blocks next to the board as the common supply. Place 8 of them on the 8 spaces on the board marked with towers. These are the foundations of the 8 castles and may be removed during the game.
• Beginning with the youngest player and going clockwise, each player places one of his knights on an empty castle, so that each player starts one knight on a different castle.
• The last player then places the King on any empty castle, making it the king's castle for the first year.

Counting levels

A knight's level is the height above the board where it stands:

• A knight standing on the board is at level 0.
• A knight on a tower of a single tower block is at level 1.
• A knight on a tower of two tower blocks is at level 2, and so on.

A knight need not be on the highest level of a tower. When scoring, only the knight's own level is counted.

Playing the Game

Torres is played over three years (phases). At the end of each phase, the players' positions are scored.

The first phase lasts four rounds; the second and third phases each last three rounds. (Exception: in a two-player game, all three phases last four rounds.) Each player takes one turn in clockwise order during each round.

Tower block distribution

Before each phase, the players take tower blocks from the common supply. The number to take, and how the blocks are stacked, is printed on the PHASES card. These blocks are the player's personal supply for the phase.

Example (four players):

• Phase 1: Each player takes 4 stacks of 2 tower blocks each.
• Phase 2: Each player takes 3 stacks of 2 tower blocks each.
• Phase 3: Each player takes 3 stacks of 2 tower blocks each.

The number of stacks a player holds shows how many turns he has left in the phase, because he may only place blocks from one stack per turn.

Starting player

The youngest player starts, and play follows clockwise around the table.

A player's turn

On his turn, a player has 5 action points (AP) to spend in any order on the actions below (also summarized on the CODEX card).

Add a knight — 2 AP per knight (any number per turn)

Place a new knight on an empty space (on the board or on a tower block) adjacent to a knight of the same color already on the board.

• Adjacency for adding knights is orthogonal, not diagonal. There are at most four possible spaces adjacent to an existing knight.
• The space must be at the same level or a lower level than the existing knight. The new knight may be placed any number of levels lower, but never higher than the existing knight.

Move a knight — 1 AP per space (any number per turn)

A player may move as many knights as many spaces as he has AP. Unless altered by an action card:

• A knight moves orthogonally, never diagonally.
• A knight may move up only one level per move, but may move down any number of levels.
• A knight may only move to a space not occupied by the King or another knight (of any color).

Doors: The tower blocks have doors on all four sides. A knight may enter a castle through any door and exit from any other door of that castle for only 1 AP. When moving through a castle this way, a knight cannot go up levels but may descend as far as he chooses. A knight may pass through as many castles in a turn as the player spends AP.

Place a tower block — 1 AP per block (maximum one stack per turn)

In a turn, a player may place blocks only from one of his stacks (his choice of which). He may build fewer blocks than the stack holds; unused blocks may be redistributed onto his other stacks, but no stack may ever be taller than three blocks, and a player may never add more than three tower blocks in a turn.

If a player has more unused blocks than fit on his remaining stacks, the extras are returned to the common supply (they may not form new stacks). Any blocks remaining at the end of the phase are returned to the common supply.

Unless an action card allows otherwise, placing tower blocks follows these rules:

• A player may add blocks to any number of castles, up to the blocks he has.
• Each block must be added to an existing castle: either placed on the board next to the castle (level 0), enlarging its surface area, or placed on top of an existing block, making that part of the castle taller.
• A castle may never be taller than its surface area. A castle whose surface area is 3 spaces is limited to 3 levels.
• Increasing a castle's surface area may not connect it to another castle. Castles may only touch diagonally.

Acquire action cards — 1 AP per card (maximum 2 cards per turn; basic version only)

To acquire a card, draw the top 3 cards from your deck, keep 1, and return the other 2 face down to the top or bottom of your deck. A second acquisition repeats the process (up to two cards per turn). A card may not be played on the turn it is acquired; cards may be held until played.

Play an action card — 0 AP (maximum 1 card per turn)

A player may play at most one action card per turn (never one acquired that same turn). Place it face up, perform its action, then return the card to the box, removing it from the game. See The Action Cards below.

Move along the scoring track — 1 AP per space (any number per turn)

A player may spend 1 AP to move his scoring marker forward one space, usually when there is nothing else he wants to do. Only one marker is allowed per space; a marker that would land on an occupied space moves to the next empty space. A player may thus gain several points if his marker is immediately behind another.

Scoring

At the end of each year/phase, players score their positions.

The castle positions

A player receives points for each castle where he has one or more knights, but scores each castle only once regardless of how many knights he has there. Knights of different colors on the same castle each score for their own player.

For each such castle, a player scores the product of the number of spaces in the castle's surface area and the level of his highest knight on that castle.

Example: Anna's highest knight stands on level 3 of a castle whose surface area is 5 spaces. She earns 3 x 5 = 15 points and moves her marker 15 spaces. A second knight on level 2 of the same castle would earn her nothing extra.

Players score in clockwise order starting with the starting player. A marker that would land on an occupied space moves to the next empty space, so there are no ties.

The king's bonus

After all players have scored their castle positions (including the king's castle), the king's bonus is scored. A player with a knight in the king's castle earns the bonus if that knight is on the appropriate level:

• After phase 1: 5 bonus points for a knight on level 1 of the king's castle.
• After phase 2: 10 bonus points for a knight on level 2 of the king's castle.
• After phase 3: 15 bonus points for a knight on level 3 of the king's castle.

Several players may earn the king's bonus. A player with a knight on the appropriate level scores both the king's bonus and the castle position score. A knight in the king's castle that is not on the appropriate level scores only the castle position.

Having two knights on the appropriate level does not earn the bonus twice. A player may have one knight on the appropriate level for the bonus and another higher up for the castle position score. If neither knight is on the appropriate level, only the castle position is scored.

Example E: After phase 1, a player has two knights in the king's castle, neither on level 1, so he scores only the castle position 4 x 4 = 16. (Had it been phase 2, he would also have scored the 10-point bonus, for 26.)

Example F: After phase 1, a player has one knight on level 1 (scoring the 5-point bonus) and one on level 2 (scoring 4 x 2 = 8), for 13 points from the king's castle.

After the scoring

The new phase begins after all players have scored and received their king's bonus. Players take tower blocks from the common supply as indicated on the PHASES card.

Move the king

The player with the lowest score may now move the King, placing it on any empty space of any castle at any level. He need not move it, and does not move it if there is no empty space. Play then continues with the player who was given the chance to move the king.

Game End

The game ends after scoring following the third phase. The player with the most points is the winner.

Rule Variant — Common action deck

Instead of each player having his own action deck, shuffle all 40 ACTION cards together (regardless of color) into one deck placed face down next to the board. When a player spends 1 AP to acquire a card, he draws the top card of the common deck. All other rules are unchanged.

The Action Cards

Each color's deck contains the same set of actions. A played card is performed and then removed from the game.

• Jump up two levels: Jump one of your knights two levels up to an empty orthogonally adjacent space (e.g. from level 1 to level 3).
• Block under a knight: Place a tower block from your supply under one of your knights (from any of your stacks). This may not make the castle taller than its surface area. The knight can be on any level, even level 0. From level 0 you can even create a new castle, provided the space is not orthogonally adjacent to another castle (diagonal is allowed).
• Extra block from general supply: Place one additional tower block taken from the general supply. Normal block-placement rules apply.
• Door climb: Move one of your knights into an adjacent door and out of any door of that castle onto an empty space. The knight may climb as many levels as you like, but must exit onto an empty space orthogonally adjacent to a door.
• Diagonal move: Move one of your knights 1 space diagonally, optionally moving up 1 level. This can move a knight from one castle to another, from a castle to level 0, or from level 0 up to level 1. The destination must be empty.
• 6 action points: You may use 6 action points instead of 5 this turn.
• 7 action points: You may use 7 action points instead of 5 this turn.
• Move a tower block: Move any empty tower block on the board to another empty space. A castle may not be divided. A single-block castle may be picked up and eliminated, but you may not reduce the total number of castles below six, and you may not reduce a castle's surface area so that it would become taller than its surface area. You may use this to begin a new castle on a space not orthogonally adjacent to any other castle.
• Relocate a knight: Move one of your knights from any space to an empty space as though adding a knight: the destination must be orthogonally adjacent to one of your other knights and on the same or a lower level than that knight.
• Jump over a knight: Move one of your knights past one other knight by jumping over it in a straight orthogonal line. The knight may move up 1 level or down any number of levels; the jumped knight may be on any level; the landing space must be empty.

Master Version

Once players are familiar with the action cards, the master version adds extra challenges to the basic game.

Initial placement of the castles

Instead of using the printed starting spaces, players choose the starting positions. Beginning with the youngest player and going clockwise, each player takes a tower block and places it on an empty space until all 8 starting castles are placed. Each new castle must have at least 2 empty spaces between it and any other castle, measured orthogonally (not diagonally).

Action cards

Each player begins the game holding the set of 10 action cards matching his color, so every player has an identical hand from the start. There is no common deck, and acquiring an action card is no longer a possible action.

The master cards

Shuffle the 8 master cards, draw one, and place it face up next to the board. It describes an optional scoring opportunity; each player decides whether to pursue it. Some cards affect scoring at each phase, others only at the end. Players need not announce their intent and are awarded the points if the requirement is met. The descriptions are the requirements; the figures on the cards are examples only.

Turn order

After the first round, the starting player is the player with the most points. If players are tied at the starting space, turn order is unchanged. Because moving a scoring marker can change standings, a player can alter turn order. Play is always clockwise.

The master cards (requirements)

• If all your knights are on different levels during scoring after phase 3, earn 40 bonus points.
• If all your knights are on the same level during scoring after phase 3, earn 50 bonus points.
• If all your knights are in a row during scoring after phase 3 (they need not be adjacent), earn 50 bonus points.
• If 4 of your knights form the corners of a square during scoring after phase 3, earn 50 bonus points (you cannot score 100 for two squares).
• For each knight on a border space, earn bonus points: 2 after phase 1, 5 after phase 2, 10 after phase 3. The player with the most knights on border spaces (no ties) earns an additional 2 / 5 / 10 points after phases 1 / 2 / 3.
• If you have knights on exactly 4 castles after phase 1, earn 5 points; on exactly 5 castles after phase 2, earn 15 points; on exactly 6 castles after phase 3, earn 30 points.
• For each knight on one of the main diagonals, earn bonus points: 2 after phase 1, 5 after phase 2, 10 after phase 3. The player with the most knights on a main diagonal (no ties) earns an additional 2 / 5 / 10 points after phases 1 / 2 / 3.
• If all your knights are on neighboring spaces during scoring after phase 3, earn 40 bonus points.