TwinStar Valley Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• The Playing Field
  • The Gemstones
• Playing the Game
  • Leapfrog manoeuvre
• Main Actions
  • Construct
    • 1) Factory
    • 2) Regular Road
    • 3) Crossroad
    • 4) Bridge
  • Transport
    • Transport examples
  • Mine
  • Upgrade
• Optional Actions
  • Sell refined gems
  • Claim contract
  • Contract types
  • Contract bonuses
• Round 1 / Game End
  • Final scoring

Components

• 1 Market board to keep track of fluctuating prices of the 4 gems. It also holds 6 Factory discs, keeping track of their building cost
• 4 glass Market beads to mark the current price of each gem
• 6 modular tiles that are used to build the playing field that represents Twinstar Valley
• 2 double-sided Action boards, one used for the 2-player game and one for 3/4-players
• 1 draw bag with 64 gems total: 16 gems in 4 different colors
• 1 Upgrade board that keeps track of the different Upgrades players unlock
• In each of the 4 player colors (orange/blue/white/yellow): 12 smaller size Action discs and 15 larger size Road pieces
• 45 Contracts divided over 3 decks: A/B/C
• 60 credits in total with values 1/5/10
• 6 Factory discs
• 4 Upgrade pawns in each of the player colors
• 16 Factory Specialisation pawns: 4 in each of the 4 gem colors

Game Setup

Depending on the number of players, there are small but significant changes in setup, as described in the steps below (the manual's example shows a 2 player game).

1. Set up the Playing field. The number of tiles used depends on the number of players: 4 in a 2-player game / 5 in a 3-player game / 6 in a 4-player game. Form a configuration of tiles that creates 1 continuous shape, without any seams/space between individual tiles. Each tile placed must touch at least 2 other tiles. Blindly draw 2 gems, and place them on a free Mine (holding no gems).
2. Position the Action board on the table. Depending on the number of players, use the appropriate board: 5X5 grid for 2 Players / 6X6 for 3/4 Players. The board is two-sided. Play starts on the side with a cogwheel in the center square for 2P and on the side with the flower for 3 and 4P.
3. Position the Upgrade and Market board on the table. The Market board starts with a Market bead on each "2" value of the gem price listing tracks. Place a Factory disc on each factory slot. Place the Upgrade pawns in the used player colors next to the Upgrade board.
4. Players place the Action and Road pieces in front of them in the color they have chosen. The number of (small) Action discs depends on the number of players: 9 for 2 Players / 7 for 3 players / 6 for 4 players.
5. Place the Factory Specialization markers, credits (forming a reserve), and the bag containing all the gems near the playing field.
6. Take each of the 3 Contract decks (A/B/C) and shuffle them separately. Take 8 cards from deck "A" and place these face-up into a grid. Next, take 8 cards from deck C and put these face-up as a draw pile, next to the grid. Do the same for deck "B" and put deck "B" on top of deck "C". The remaining cards of each deck are not used in this game and are put aside.

Each player now receives a starting capital:

Player	Credits
Starting Player	7
2nd Player	8
3rd Player	10
4th Player	12

The top card of the Contracts draw pile is always visible, so players always know which new Contract will enter the grid next.

The Playing Field

The valley is composed of modular tiles, each containing 19 hexes. Most hexes will be used to build roads, connecting mines with Factories in order to transport precious gems. The different types of hexes:

• Plains: The most common type of hex. On this type of hex a Road piece can be built at the cost of 1 Credit.
• Mine: Each tile forming the playing area holds 1 Mine hex. On this hex gems will be mined that need to be transported to Factories. Mines can never be built on.
• Lake: These water hexes can only be crossed by building bridges, at the cost of 2 Credits.
• Mountains: These hexes can not be built on unless you unlock an upgrade (see further in the rules).
• Factory Site: Pink hexes represent potential spots to build a Factory, and may never be used to build road on. A group of factory hexes forming a "site" can only hold 1 factory, even when it is composed of two connected tiles forming one big pink area.

The Gemstones

Fire Opal, Forest Emerald, Aquamarine, Sunstone.

Playing the Game

TwinStar Valley consists of two rounds, with the Action board turned to its reverse side for the second round. A single Round has players performing actions in turn, starting with the start player and going clockwise around the table.

In a player's turn, 1 Action disc is placed onto a free spot found on the Action board. Each of these represents one Main action. After the Main action is resolved, a player may choose to perform one or two Optional actions to end their turn.

The first disc placed in a given round by a player needs to be positioned in one of the spots at the outer edge of the board and may never be adjacent to a disc placed by a rival player, even diagonally. The action covered by the disc is immediately resolved. The edge squares showing a flower on the 3/4P board are never used.

Each additional disc placed by a player after the first one must be orthogonally adjacent to at least 1 other disc of its color. As players progress further into a round, it will become trickier to reach their preferred Action spots, as they will be blocked by strings of discs placed by competing players.

If the placement of a disc results in a square-shaped 2X2 configuration of discs, after resolving the action and optional action(s), the player may not perform any more actions in the current round.

In their turn, players continue placing their discs and perform actions, until they create a 2X2 configuration or have positioned their last Action disc. If this is the case for all players, the current round ends.

Leapfrog manoeuvre

The player performing a Leapfrog must pay 2 credits to a rival player. This allows the active player to place an Action disc on top of that of this rival and immediately position a second disc to cover an adjacent Action spot that will be resolved. The action on which you stack the disc is not resolved. It only helps to reach an adjacent action that becomes available.

Each square of the grid may be used only once for this manoeuvre, so a square may never hold more than 2 discs. Take note that a Leapfrog manoeuvre means the player is forced to position 2 discs to perform 1 action, and thus loses 1 action in the process.

Once the Leapfrog is executed, only the top disc matters, both for the 2X2 configuration that ends a player's turn as well as future placement of adjacent discs.

Example: by covering the orange disc using a Leapfrog, the white player can position a second disc on either the Transport or Mine action and resolve it.

Main Actions

There are 5 unique Main actions on each side of the Action board. Before performing one or two Optional actions, a player must always perform the Main action.

Construct

The Construct action allows a player to build specific elements in the valley. When performing a Construct action, a player can either build 1 Factory, or any combination of 2 Road pieces. Road pieces come in 3 variants: Regular Roads, Bridges and Crossroads.

1) Factory

A Factory will help players convert unrefined gems, transported from a Mine, into refined gems that become more valuable when sold. Factories are presented as a large pink disc, positioned on a Factory building site hex. The player Constructing it takes the top left Factory disc remaining on the Market board and pays the price listed next to the slot that holds the disc to the reserve. Each Factory building site can only hold one Factory, regardless the amount of pink hexes it contains. This is still the case when 2 adjacent sites merge into one when the Playing field is set up.

Next a player places a Road piece of his color on top of the pink Factory disc to mark ownership. The player additionally needs to decide on the "speciality" of the Factory. He chooses 2 Speciality pawns in different colors from the reserve. These pawns come in the 4 gem colors. Stacked on top of each other on a building site hex next to the Factory disc, they form a chimney, marking what types of gems the Factory is allowed to refine.

2) Regular Road

In order to transport gems from a Mine to a Factory, players must build a road that connects both locations. Each time a player chooses the Construct action to build Road, he may construct up to 2 Road pieces (discs) at the cost of 1 credit per piece. A Road piece may be built on any square that is allowed to hold a piece. It does not need to be built adjacent to a Road piece of the building player's color or any road piece for that matter.

Once the hex holding the pink Factory disc itself is connected with a road in a continuous line to a Mine, players are able to transport gems from this Mine towards this Factory.

3) Crossroad

Once and only once per round (so twice in the game) a player may build a single Crossroad: He places one of his Road discs from his reserve on top of a disc of another player already present on the playing field. Both colors are considered present on the hex. It allows the player who built it to "cross" the road(piece) of another player in order to reach the other side. The player pays 4 credits to the rival whose disc he overbuilds. Each hex may only hold 1 crossroad: 2 player colors stacked.

4) Bridge

Bridges are the only way to cross Lake hexes. A player may build a Road piece onto such a hex by paying 2 credits to the reserve.

Take note that Crossroads can be built on top of bridges, as bridges are considered Road pieces.

Transport

This action allows you to transport gems from a single Mine to a single Factory, connected by road. The Transportation is performed in one movement from the mine to the factory. Only the "Chief logistics" upgrade allows a player to perform 2 movements when choosing a Transport action.

The amount of gems a player may transport equals the amount of Road pieces of their player's color, as part of the route used for the transportation. Players are not obliged to take the shortest route, but you can only use each road piece once per movement over several road pieces.

However, when the chosen route contains Road pieces constructed by a rival player, the transporting player must pay credits to this rival equal to the number of rival Road pieces used, for each gem transported.

If several rivals contributed to the used road, the cost is only paid to the rival player with the most contributed pieces (majority). If tied with other rival players, this cost is divided equally between the tied players, rounded up. Take note that both rival player colors part of a Crossroad count to determine majority!

When gems reach a factory, all whose color match the Factory's Specialization are immediately refined and placed in the transporting player's personal reserve (tablespace in front of him). This reserve may hold up to 5 gems at the end of a player's turn, but they will have the option to sell before their turn ends. Non-matching gems stay unrefined and are immediately sold to the market for 1 credit/gem. Selling unrefined gems does NOT influence market prices.

Transporting gems to a Factory owned by a rival forces the transporting player to pay them 1 credit per gem transported, refinable or not. The transported gems are, regardless of the use of the rival factory as a destination, owned by the transporting player.

It is not necessary for players to have the money beforehand to pay the use of a rival Road or Factory. They are allowed to pay rivals with the credits earned from the sale, but must do so within the same turn.

Transport examples

• The Road was built by 2 players. The orange player, performing the Transport, only contributed 2 Road pieces. As a result he can only transport 2 of the 4 gems present at the mine. Therefore he must pay white 2 credits/gem x 2 (road pieces) = 4 credits.
• In a variation, the white player has built 4 Road pieces. As a result he is able to transport all 4 gems present at the mine. Arriving at the Factory owned by the orange player, he must pay 4 Credits for the delivery to the orange player. White is forced to sell the red unrefinable gem to the market, receiving 1 credit.
• White player's turn, with several options for his Transport action:
  1. Starting at Mine 1 he could transport up to 3 gems to Factory A. Transporting all 4 gems present is not allowed as the Road used consists of only 3 discs built by his company.
  2. Transport up to 4 gems from Mine 1 to Factory C. He needs to pay 3 credits for each gem transported to the orange player, who holds majority (2 orange vs 1 purple piece).
  3. Transport up to 3 gems from Mine 2 to Factory A, paying 1 credit per gem to the Orange player.
  4. Transport 1 gem from Mine 2 to Factory C, given only 1 white Road piece is present. The transport would cost 2 credits as rival Road pieces are present. Orange and Purple each receive 1 credit as they are tied in their contribution.
  5. Transport up to 3 gems from Mine 2 to Factory B, paying the orange player 3 credits: one for each gem delivered at this Factory.
• In a variation on the first example, the white player has built an additional 2 Road pieces in order to bypass those built by the orange player. Now white can transport up to 4 gems from Mine 2, without the need to pay the orange player.
• In a last example the white player deliberately takes a long circular route around the mine in order to pass 3 of his Road pieces, allowing him to transport all 3 gems. Approaching his Factory, he takes the shortest route, passing only 1 Orange route piece, so he must only pay 3 credits for the 3 gems transported: 3 gems x 1 Road piece = 3 credits.

Mine

This action allows you to dig up gems at Mining sites. When performing this action, the player blindly picks 2 gems from the bag and places them on a single Mine location of his choice. Each Mine may only hold a maximum of 4 gems. Therefore, if there are at least 3 gems present, a Mine cannot be targeted for this action. After this first placement, again 2 gems are blindly drawn and positioned at a single Mine with 2 or fewer gems present. This can be the same Mine that was the target for the first draw. To end the Mine action, a player takes 3 credits from the general reserve as a reward.

Upgrade

This action allows you to upgrade your company in order to perform specific actions more effectively. When this action is resolved, the player must position an upgrade pawn on one of the slots marked with a star, thus unlocking the Upgrade. It is now considered active for future turns. The third upgrade needs two steps to unlock: with the first Upgrade action the pawn is placed in the top slot. With a future Upgrade action the pawn can be moved to the bottom slot, unlocking the Upgrade. Each upgrade can be obtained/unlocked by multiple players, so a slot can hold multiple pawns.

Example: the orange player performs an upgrade. He now has 2 options: either position a new Upgrade pawn on track 1, 2, 4 or 5 as these don't yet hold one of his pawns, or move his pawn on track 3 to the bottom position, unlocking this "Chief logistics" upgrade.

The 5 available upgrades:

• Bridge Architect: You build a bridge for 1 credit. Also, road can be constructed on mountain hexes at the cost of 1 credit.
• Construction Master: Each Construct action allows you to build up to 3 Road pieces instead of 2, including bridges and crossroads, but not factories.
• Chief Logistics: When resolving a Transport action you can now perform 2 movements. This means that gems can be transported on 2 separate roads. You are also allowed to take the same road for both transports.
• Mining Expert: A Mining action allows you to draw 4 gems with each of the two draws instead of 2. The player chooses 2 for each draw and puts the remaining two gems back into the bag.
• Corporate Manager: Instead of using an Action selection disc from your limited Action pool (losing an actual action) when performing a Leapfrog manoeuvre on the Action board you take a disc from your general reserve at the reduced cost of 1 credit.

Optional Actions

After having selected and resolved the Main action, a player may choose to perform one or possibly two Optional actions.

Sell refined gems

Once per turn a player may sell 1 or more types of refined gems. When selling a gem type, a player must sell all gems of this type. For the sale he receives a number of credits for each gem equal to the current market value, as marked by the Market pawn. Each type of gem sold adjusts its Market value 1 position downwards, regardless of the number of gems sold. Next the gem that currently holds the lowest value and was not sold is pushed 1 position upwards, increasing its value by 1 credit. If multiple gems are tied for the lowest value, all are pushed 1 position upwards. Sold gems do not return to the bag and are instead placed on a discard pile.

Example: a player is selling 4 refined gems. He receives 9 credits for the sale: 3x2 credits for the Sunstones + 1x3 credits for the Red opal sold. As a result, the market value of the sold gem types drops 1 value. The Blue gem holds the lowest position of the unsold gems, so its market value rises 1 position.

Claim contract

A player may claim 1 Contract currently displayed in the grid at the end of their turn when he meets the listed condition: perform the action listed in the turn you claim it. If the Contract for example calls for you to have constructed at least 2 bridges in the valley, you must have built an additional bridge in the turn the Contract was claimed, even if you previously had 2 bridges already present. The Contract taken is immediately replaced with a new one from the top of the Contract pile. So when the first Contract in the grid is claimed, it is immediately replaced with the top card from the B-deck (consisting of 8 cards)... until this is depleted and the cards from the C-deck enter the grid. Your claimed Contracts are open information: players should display Contracts in front of them for everyone at the table to see.

Anatomy of a contract:

• Victory points: This area shows the number of Victory points scored by the end of the game by the owner.
• Contract bonus: This symbol represents a bonus the player immediately gains when the contract is claimed. Often this allows a player to perform an additional action, like building a costless Road piece or performing an Upgrade.
• Goal: These symbols represent the condition a player must reach in order to claim the Contract. Often this lists a specific action that needs to be resolved in the turn the Contract is claimed and what goal needs to be reached.

Contract types

There are 15 different types of Contracts in the deck. In order to claim a contract, you must perform (at least part of) the action in the turn you claim it.

• Transport at least the number and type of gems as listed in your turn.
• Build at least 2 Factories.
• During a single Transport, pass at least the listed amount of Road pieces in your own color.
• During a single Transport, pass at least the listed amount of Road pieces of a rival color.
• Sell at least the listed amount of gems.
• Have at least the listed amount of Action discs on Mine Actions found on the Action board.
• Have at least the listed number of Bridges or road pieces on Mountain hexes.
• Unlock at least the listed amount of Upgrades.
• Have at least 5 Road pieces/bridges on one of the tiles forming the valley.
• Have at least 8 Road pieces/bridges present in the playfield.
• Form the listed configuration of Road discs in your color. Any orientation of the configuration is acceptable.
• Have at least 2 Road pieces/bridges on at least 4 different tiles forming the valley.
• Earn at least the listed number of credits from a sale.
• Mine the listed gems during one Mine action (2 placements of gems at mines).
• Use up all your Road pieces performing Construct actions.

Contract bonuses

Contracts of lower Victory point values (1 and 2) offer players bonuses. These come in the form of extra actions and boosts that still make these lower value Contracts attractive:

• Position the listed amount of your Road pieces (1 or 2) in the Playing field, at no cost. Placement on mountain hexes requires the connected upgrade.
• Immediately take 2 credits from the reserve.
• Immediately perform 1 Upgrade action.
• Draw 2 gems from the bag and place them on a Mine of your choice (if possible).
• Immediately perform a Transport action if possible.

Round 1 / Game End

Once all players have placed their last possible Action selection disc on the Action board, formed a 2X2 configuration or positioned their last disc and resolved possible Optional actions, the current Round ends. Return all discs to the players. The Action board is now turned to its reverse side. Now the second Round starts, continuing clockwise, with the next player (left of the player who finished Round 1). Players again receive their Action selection disc pool based on the number of players: 9 for 2P / 7 for 3P / 6 for 4P.

Final scoring

To calculate the final scores at the end of round 2, follow these steps in order to determine the winner:

1. Players add up the Victory point values of all the contracts they claimed during the game.
2. For each 2 credits the player has, they receive 1 victory point (rounded downwards).
3. Each factory scores the owner a Victory point for each resource anywhere in the playing field (mines) it could refine. This means a gem can be potentially scored by multiple players if their Factory match the gem type at the mine.

If there is a tie for the end score use the following steps in order to break the tie:

1. Player with the most contracts wins.
2. Most points scored with contracts wins.