Treehouse
Treehouse Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Number of Players: 2 - 4 (or more with more pyramids)
Equipment: one Rainbow Stash, Treehouse die
Setup
Each player gets three pyramids: a Small, a Medium and a Large. This is called a Trio. Stack your pieces in the "Tree" formation (Large at the bottom, Medium on it, Small on top).
Place one trio in the center of the table. This set is called the House. The House pieces begin in this arrangement (the Tree).
Who Starts: The player holding the die goes first!
How to Play
On your turn, roll the die, then alter the arrangement of your trio of pyramids using the type of action indicated by your roll.
- If you can use the action on your trio, you must.
- If you cannot do it to your own pieces, you may do the action to the House, or pass.
- If you cannot use the action in either place, then you roll again.
Goal
You win if you can rearrange your pyramids, or the House, so that your pieces and the House pieces match each other exactly.
Ties: If more than one player matches the House at once, the player who caused the win is the winner. If one causes multiple others to win without winning themselves, it's just a tie.
Arranging Your Trio
Stacked pieces are always kept upright. Lying down pieces can never be nested.
Keep your trio arranged in a line parallel to the House. If your line isn't parallel, it will be confusing. Imagine that all trios are on invisible parallel lines.
Pieces may be moved apart to make room for a piece to go in between them during a Hop or Dig. Close up the gaps in the line when your turn ends.
Turn Options
There are six actions: Tip, Aim, Hop, Dig, Swap, and Wild.
- TIP: Knock over a stack or an upright piece.
- AIM: Reorient a solitary piece (pointing left, right, or up).
- HOP: An upright piece jumps up, then lands upright. Hopped pieces land upright in any other spot in the line, or onto any other piece in your trio. A piece can Hop alone, or with a piece on top.
- DIG (only): A lying down piece tunnels down, moving in the direction in which it points, and surfaces upright. The piece may surface upright in place, under another piece, at any spot between pieces, or at the end of the line.
- SWAP: Any two of your pieces switch positions. Swapped pieces retain their orientation, except when a lying down piece enters a stack.
- WILD: You or the House. Perform any action on either the House or your own trio.
Tip
Tip turns an upright piece or stack of pieces sideways. After a stack is Tipped, the pieces separate, all pointing one way (either direction).
- You can only Tip an upright piece (or a stack). You cannot Tip a lying down piece up.
- You cannot Tip just one piece in a stack.
Hop
Only upright pieces can use Hop. When your pieces are stacked as a Tree, you can Hop 4 ways. There are 4 ways to Hop the Medium piece in a Tree: onto the Large, between the Large and Small, onto the Small, or to the end of the line.
- You cannot Hop in place.
- You cannot Hop a lying down piece.
Aim
Aim changes the direction of a single piece. There are only 3 directions a piece can ever be pointed in: Left, Upwards, or Right. Therefore, Aiming allows you to point a piece in one of the two other directions it can be pointed.
You cannot Aim just one piece in a stack. So, for example, if the Small is on top of a stack, you can only Aim the Small piece (the others in the stack cannot be aimed individually).
Swap
It's always possible to Swap two pieces in a trio.
- You cannot Swap a piece with a stack of pieces.
- Example: to Swap the Small and Medium pieces, the Medium must turn upright to take the place of the Small, while the Small stays upright as they trade places.
- There are 3 ways to Swap when your Trio is a Tree: A) the Top two, B) the Bottom two, C) the Bottom and Top. Moving the Small piece to the bottom is NOT a valid way to Swap a Tree; that is not a Swap.
- You can ONLY Swap the House if you roll a Wild.
Dig
Digging always starts with a lying down piece and ends with that piece standing up.
When you Dig, the piece either stays in place or moves in the direction in which it points. After Digging, the piece stands up. The Digging piece goes on the bottom of the stack if you Dig under another piece. If your piece Digs under a lying down piece, both pieces are turned upright.
There are 5 ways to Dig the Large piece in the example shown: A) in place, B) under the Small, C) in between the other two, D) under the Medium, E) to the end of the line.
- You can't Dig an upright piece.
- You can't Dig backwards (nor wraparound).
- You can't Dig under more than one stack (i.e. you can't scoop up two separate pieces).
Additional Clarifications
- You can never change another player's Trio of pieces.
- You can only Pass when you can't do the Action to your own Trio, and don't wish to do it to the House.