AYA Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Principle of the Game
• Contents
• Set-Up
• Game Flow
• A. Placing Phase
  • Dominoes with a camera
  • Placing a Landscape tile
  • Extraordinary Garden dominoes
  • Placing an Animal Photo token
• B. Toppling Phase
• C. Counting Phase
  • Animal Photo tokens validation
  • Landscape Photo tokens validation
  • Calculation
  • The number of points you gathered determines your success rate

Principle of the Game

In Aya, you will have to cooperate to connect as many Landscape tiles and Animal Photo tokens as possible to arrange a chain of dominoes placed upright one after another. At the end of the game, they will fall onto each other, each one toppling the next – in a cascade effect – to reveal the ultimate number of landscapes and animals and bring back the greatest photos.

Contents

• 16 round Landscape tiles: 1 Start tile, 3 Forest tiles, 3 Mountain tiles, 3 Desert tiles, 3 Pole tiles, and 30 Field tiles. Each Landscape tile has front and back sides, the front side being the irrigated face. Editor's note: as printed, the component list gives 30 Field tiles, but the stated total of 16 round Landscape tiles only works with 3 Field tiles (1 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 16). The printed text is kept here; the count should be checked against the physical components.
• 156 River dominoes: 30 Forest, 30 Mountain, 30 Desert, 30 Pole, 30 Field, and 6 Extraordinary Garden. 40 of the dominoes show a Camera icon.
• 25 Animal Photo round tokens: 5 Forest, 5 Mountain, 5 Desert, 5 Pole, and 5 Field. Each token has front and back sides, the front side representing the animal.
• 15 rectangle-shaped Landscape Photo tokens: 3 Wood, 3 Mountain, 3 Desert, 3 Pole, and 3 Field.
• 10 Retrigger tokens.
• A 10-minute hourglass.

Set-Up

The play area is defined by the edges of your game space... whatever it is!

1. Place the Start tile anywhere on the play area, so that all the players can reach it.
2. Arrange the Animal Photo tokens and the Landscape tiles with their back side up, dividing them into piles corresponding to their types, on the edge of the play area. Insert a Landscape Photo token of the same type between each Landscape tile.
3. Place the Retrigger tokens in a pile aside. If you are skilful enough... You will keep them! (See the Counting phase below).
4. Place the hourglass next to the piles, so that it is visible to all the players.
5. Deal the River dominoes face down to the players so as to form their STOCKS:
   • 78 dominoes in a 2-player game;
   • 52 dominoes in a 3-player game;
   • 39 dominoes in a 4-player game;
   • 31 dominoes in a 5-player game (32 for the first player).

Choose the first player, be nice and let the youngest start!

Tip: Aya gives a lot of flexibility to the players; few rules are strict. However, if you want to be efficient, we advise you to follow carefully the advice ("Tips") given by experienced domino topplers.

Tip: We advise you to "arrange" the face down dominoes from your STOCK into 5-domino piles.

Tip: Before your first game, you should practice placing the dominoes one after the other, and toppling them on each other. This will allow you to better assess the distance that you need to leave between 2 dominoes. If they are too far apart, they will not fall, and you will have to topple them again (retrigger)! If they are too close, you might use too many dominoes, and not have enough left to connect them all. It is all a matter of finding the "right balance". You should also train with the Y-junction Extraordinary Garden dominoes and the turns on the Landscape tiles.

Game Flow

A game is divided into 3 phases:

• A. A phase of placing the dominoes, the tiles, and the Animal Photo tokens. It is the heart of the game. It lasts the time of two 10-minute hourglasses, with possibly a break between.
• B. A toppling phase, which lasts... a few seconds, and is the outcome of the game!
• C. A counting phase, which lasts one minute, and embodies the result of your teamwork.

Terms used in the Set-Up diagram:

• STOCK: at the beginning of the game, the dominoes being face down.
• RESERVE: during the game, the dominoes being in a face up pile.

A. Placing Phase

1. First of all, start the hourglass! Once it has run out for the first time, turn it over again for 10 more minutes. Between the two hourglasses, moving or placing dominoes or tiles is not allowed.

   Tip: Take advantage of this break before starting the hourglass again to talk more calmly and adjust your strategy. Everyone around the table must stay cool, this is one of the keys to success!

2. Draw ONE domino:

   • EITHER randomly from your STOCK, face down;
   • OR the first domino of your RESERVE, which is face up on top of the pile. (Note: on the 1st round, the players do not have any domino in their RESERVE.)

   Tip: Do not hesitate to announce the type of domino you draw to facilitate anticipation and team-work.

3. Then, beginning with the first player, the players take turns placing the River domino they have in hand:

   • EITHER vertically, anywhere on the play area;
   • OR on a Landscape tile that was previously placed (including the Start tile);
   • OR on top of their RESERVE piles, face up.

   Once he has laid a domino, the player can immediately draw the following domino so as to get ready for his next turn.

   Tip: A domino can be placed after other dominoes to extend a chain or somewhere else to start a chain that will be connected later.

   Tip: On the Landscape tiles, you must place dominoes of the same ground type to have them validated at the end of the game. On the Start tile, you can lay any type of domino.

Dominoes with a camera

When a player draws a domino showing a Camera icon, he CAN:

• EITHER take a Landscape tile and the Landscape Photo token which lies on it, of the type corresponding to the domino (see the "Placing a Landscape tile" section);
• OR take an Animal Photo token of the type corresponding to the domino (see the "Placing an Animal Photo token" section);
• OR use it as a "standard" domino.

Placing a Landscape tile

The player can place the Landscape tile anywhere on the play area and choose its orientation. Once the tile is laid, the player puts the Landscape Photo token next to it (don't forget, it will bring points at the end of the game!). This Landscape tile cannot be moved any more. Then, the Camera domino is placed upright, outside of the Landscape tile, in front of an "entrance" of the river (in the flowing direction so as to ensure that this "Camera" domino falls face up on the tile. See Phase B).

Some Landscape tiles show a fork with several entrances and exits. It is up to you to orientate the tile correctly so as to determine the entrances and exits.

Tip: To connect the Landscape tiles to each other, you have to "orientate" them correctly by imagining the River domino chains you will have to join between the two tiles.

Tip: In order to optimize the available space, we suggest that you leave a distance of approximately the diameter of a tile between each tile.

Extraordinary Garden dominoes

When a player draws an Extraordinary Garden domino, he CAN use it:

• EITHER to create a fork in the domino chain;
• OR as a standard domino.

In both cases, an Extraordinary Garden acts a wild domino, and can be used for any type of domino.

A fork enables to place 2 Animal Photo tokens on the chain, on either side of the Extraordinary Garden domino.

Placing an Animal Photo token

The player lays the Animal Photo token astride the Camera domino and another domino that was placed earlier. Be careful not to put the Animal Photo token too close or on a Landscape tile (see the "Token Validation" section).

Tip: To create a "buffer zone" in the domino chain (in order to prevent the chain toppling from occurring too early because of a clumsy player), you can place the Animal Photo token and the Camera domino flat, just next to the location where it will be put back up later.

Note: don't forget to set this domino back upright and to put the Animal Photo token on it before the end of the Placing phase (2nd hourglass run out)! After that, it will be too late.

4. The Placing phase ends immediately when one of the 2 following conditions is fulfilled:
   • EITHER the 2nd hourglass has run out (which is the most frequent);
   • OR one of the players has exhausted his STOCK (even if his RESERVE is not empty!)

B. Toppling Phase

Hold your breath... with the tip of his finger, a player slightly pushes the 1st domino of the Start tile so as to topple it on the following one, and to bring all the others down in a striking domino-toppling effect. The fall of the dominoes will also result in the Animal Photo tokens placed astride dominoes dropping.

The chain toppling can possibly stop because of a "gap" in the chain or because the dominoes have been wrongly placed (too close, too far away, diagonally, etc.). In this case, the following player pushes again a domino which is still upright so as to retrigger a toppling chain reaction.

For each retriggering (except the first), a Retrigger token is taken out of the pile. When the 10-token pile is exhausted, don't worry, losing more tokens is impossible!

Important: you must retrigger the chain reaction until no domino is left standing!

C. Counting Phase

It is now time to validate (or not) the Animal and Landscape Photos you successfully took during your journey. From the Start tile, go up along the run of the river and count your points.

Animal Photo tokens validation

An Animal Photo token is validated if ALL the following conditions are fulfilled:

• it touches the chain through at least the edge of a domino (it was not ejected aside);
• it is connected by dominoes of the same type to a Landscape tile of the same type - don't forget that Extraordinary Garden dominoes are wild dominoes which do not disrupt the continuity of the domino type of a chain;
• it is strictly outside a Landscape tile;
• there is only one Photo Animal token on the chain between the 2 Landscape tiles except if a fork (created by an Extraordinary Garden domino) was placed between both photos.

When an Animal Photo token is validated, you win it.

Landscape Photo tokens validation

The Landscape Photo tokens are validated if ALL the following conditions are fulfilled:

• ALL the River dominoes lying on it and touching it are of the same type as the Landscape tile;
• ALL the entrances and exits of the Landscape tile are irrigated, that is, covered by a domino of the same type.

When a Landscape Photo token is validated, you win it.

Important: if you validate the 3 Landscape Photo tokens of the same type – SURPRISE! – you can create a panoramic triptych!

Calculation

• Each validated Photo Animal token is worth 1 point.
• Each validated Landscape Photo token is worth 1 point.
• Each triptych of Landscape Photos is worth 1 bonus point.
• Each Retrigger token you kept is worth 1 point.

The number of points you gathered determines your success rate

• 10 points: False start! You went for the trip but forgot the film rolls. Everybody has to start somewhere... Don't get discouraged. It can happen to the best of us.
• 15 points: Beginner's mistake! Once you arrived, you realised your batteries were discharged. But congratulations for the effort!
• 20 points: What potential! You aren't afraid of anything. It is unfortunate that most of your pictures are out of focus. But this is a good start... Keep trying.
• 25 points: Nice shots! Not bad, you are starting to take good photos! A few are beautiful.
• 30 points: Very well! Your team is skilful and solid. A few outstanding pictures will even be published in the local newspaper!
• 35 points: The dream team! With only a few adjustments, your next report will be sold worldwide!
• 40 points: Your report is sold! You are outstanding! All the agencies call you, and fight to get your report.
• 45 points: On the cover! We are dumbstruck! You are on the FRONT PAGE of every magazine. You are going to have an amazing career.
• 50 points: Respect! Send us a photo. Even we (the designers) have never made it!
• 55 points: It was a dream! Well... it seems there is a bug... It is humanely impossible. Would you have cheated?

Editor's note: the printed heading of this table reads "SUCESS RATE"; it is transcribed here as "SUCCESS RATE".