Block and Key Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components and Overview
  • Placement Rules (summary)
  • Quick Setup
• Objective
• Building the Ruins (See Ex.1)
• Blocks vs. Faces
• Setting Up for Your Player Count
• On Your Turn
  • Excavate Blocks
  • Position a Block
• Placement Rules (See Ex.3)
• How to Claim Key Cards
  • To claim a Key Card
  • Examples
• End of the Game
• Strategy Tips
• The Ancients (Solo Mode)
  • Setup
  • Objective
  • Each Turn
  • Ancients' Turn
  • Game End
  • Solo Scoring
• Credits

Components and Overview

Designed by David Van Drunen. Developed by Conor McGoey. Illustrated by Edu Valls. Edited by Daniel Mansfield.

• 8 Easy Keys (Star backs)
• 24 Medium Keys (Sun backs)
• 16 Hard Keys (Moon backs)
• 4 Enigmas
• Core Cube (the 2x2x2 multicoloured Block)
• Temple Floor (the box top, with the "Setup for Player Count" gold icons in its centre)
• Sun Altar and Moon Altar
• Excavation Yard, with 9 Excavation Sites
• Blocks and the draw bag

Reference notes printed on the overview page:

• Key cards can be claimed from any rotation, but they cannot be mirrored.
• You must place a Block that is a part of the Key to claim it on your turn. You cannot claim a Key card that was already completed before your turn started.
• A stack is a vertical column of faces, regardless of which Block they are from.
• Blocks are refilled one at a time starting with the lowest numbered site.
• Key cards show Victory Points and a unique design. Stars and Pips are only used in the solo mode during the Ancients' Turn (p.7).

Placement Rules (summary)

1. Corner to corner
2. Taller if face-to-face
3. Max face height of 6
4. Straight bridge
5. No ledges

Quick Setup

1. Create ruins
2. Fill Excavation Site
3. Deal Cards (2 Stars, 1 Sun, 1 Moon & 1 Enigma)
4. Place Core Cube
5. Draft Blocks
6. Begin

Objective

Place Blocks to create designs on Key cards for victory points.

The objective of the game is to score as many points as possible by claiming Key cards. Key cards are claimed when a player fulfils the design as shown on their card(s).

To fulfill the designs, players will be placing Blocks into a shared space, but they are only able to claim their Keys if the design is visible from their unique 2D perspective.

Building the Ruins (See Ex.1)

1. Locate the 4 support columns. With the grooved side on the inside, fold each corner support along the grooved center to create a 90° angle.
2. Empty the game box and flip the box bottom (the Excavation Yard) upside down.
3. With a support column's flanges pointing up, tuck a corner of the box bottom over both bottom flanges.
4. Repeat for each of the 3 other corners.
5. Finally, do the same with the top flanges and the box top (the Temple Floor).

Each flange is labeled with a letter or number that matches a corner of the box top and box bottom. Use them to help you line up the artwork if you wish.

Blocks vs. Faces

Players will be placing Blocks on the Temple Floor (box top), but once placed, they will be looking at all the Blocks as individual faces.

It is these faces that make up the Key card designs. Faces may be used for any number of Key cards, as long as at least one face in a design is from the player's most recently placed Block.

Although the game is played in a 3D space, players are only able to claim Key cards (designs) as seen from their 2D perspective of the playing area. Players can only look at another player's perspective when confirming that the player has completed a design when claiming a Key card.

The Temple Floor is the box top.

Setting Up for Your Player Count

Use the gold icons in the center of the Temple Floor.

With 4 players, each player will face a different side of the game board. When there are less than 4 players, the seating locations are important, as is the placement of the Core Cube (the 2x2x2 multicoloured Block).

1. Randomly choose the starting player and give them the Core Cube. Place all other Blocks in the draw bag.
2. Separate the Key cards by their backs (Star, Sun, and Moon). Shuffle and deal each player a hand of 4 Key cards: 2 Stars (easy), 1 Sun (medium), and 1 Moon (hard).
   • Remove any remaining Star cards from the game.
   • Place the rest of the Sun cards face-down on the matching Altar (see Ex.2) to create a draw stack.
   • Do the same with the Moon cards.
3. Shuffle the Enigma cards and deal 1 to each player, face-down. Players look at it but keep it secret until the end of the game. Remove any remaining Enigma cards from the game.
4. Fill each site in the 3x3 Excavation Yard (see Ex.2) with Blocks by randomly drawing and placing them one at a time from the bag onto each numbered site. Only one Block per space. Every time a Block is drawn, it must be placed on the empty site with the lowest number. There are 9 sites numbered 1 through 9 using pips (dots) on the blocks.
5. The starting player places the Core Cube with one of its moss (green) sides on the golden icons in the middle of the Temple Floor.
   • These icons show player count and seating locations and are specific to the number of players — be sure to cover the correct icons and to sit facing the correct sides of the Ruins.
   • The starting player may place the Core Cube with any colour facing their side; however, the top and bottom must be moss (green).
6. Going counterclockwise, the player to the right of the starting player draws all 3 Blocks from any row or column on the Excavation Yard.
   • They must take all 3 Blocks in a straight line before refilling each Excavation site for the next player.
7. Continue in counterclockwise order until all players, including the starting player, have 3 Blocks and the Excavation Yard is refilled.
8. Finally, the starting player begins the game by taking one action (see "On Your Turn"). Turns progress in clockwise order, with each player taking only one action per turn, and a round consisting of each player having one turn.

The golden arrows in the middle of the Temple Floor show on which sides the players must sit. The Core Cube will be placed on top of the icons matching your player count.

Remember that Blocks are refilled one at a time starting with the lowest numbered site.

On Your Turn

Excavate 3 Blocks, or Place 1 Block.

Players take one action per turn: Excavate Blocks or Position a Block (and check/refill Key cards).

As a reminder, each side of the Excavation Yard shows the characters taking the different action options.

Excavate Blocks

To Excavate Blocks, simply take all the Blocks from a row or column in the Excavation Yard, and then refill each site by drawing Blocks from the bag.

• You may have a maximum of 7 Blocks in your supply. If you have more than 7 after taking the Excavate Blocks action, discard your choice of extra Blocks back into the bag until you have 7 Blocks.
• If the bag runs out, refill the Excavation Yard as much as possible. Near the end of the game, players might get fewer than 3 Blocks when they excavate!

Refill Blocks starting with the lowest numbered site.

Position a Block

To Position a Block: Place ONE Block from your supply onto the Temple Floor, following the placement rules below.

• Then if possible, claim one or more Key cards if they were fulfilled on this turn. A card is fulfilled when one or more faces from the Block you placed contribute to the design depicted on each Key card. (See "How to claim Key cards" on p.6.)

You cannot claim Keys that were fulfilled before you placed your Block. The Block from your current turn must contribute at least one face to a Key card for it to be claimed (see "How to claim Key cards" on p.6).

Placement Rules (See Ex.3)

Corner to corner, or taller than what it touches.

1. You may place a Block in any area of the Temple Floor as long as at least one corner touches the corner of an existing Block.

   See Ex.3A: The green Block can be placed next to the grey stack as they are only touching corners. They could not be placed flush (face-to-face) as the grey stack is taller.

2. If any faces are touching, your Block must be taller than the highest face of the stack(s) that it touches.

   See Ex.3B: The grey Block has one face higher than the stack of brown faces that it is touching. The higher face of your Block does not need to be on the stacks that are touching, just somewhere on the Block that was placed.

   • Blocks do not need to be placed directly on the Temple Floor. They may be placed on top of other Blocks.

   See Ex.3C: The white Block can be placed face-to-face on top of the brown Block because it is higher than the face it touches.

3. The maximum height of a stack is 6 faces.

   A stack is a vertical column of faces, regardless of which Block they are from.

4. Creating a straight bridge (a single straight line as seen from above) is allowed, but only if both ends of the Block are supported. See Ex.4A.

5. Creating a ledge/overhang (an unsupported end face) is not allowed. See Ex.4B.

For proper spacing, Blocks must remain within the grid lines on the Temple Floor!

Placement rules are shown on all sides of the Temple Floor to help players remember.

The Block must touch at least 1 corner or 1 face* of a previously placed Block.

*At least one face must be taller than all stacks it touches. (You count the highest face of the stack even if you only touch a lower face.)

Bridges are allowed (a gap under the Block but both ends are supported). Ledges are not allowed (a gap under the Block with no end support).

How to Claim Key Cards

You must contribute at least one face (this turn) to a Key card for it to be claimed!

As you place Blocks, your goal is to complete your Key cards by creating the depicted pattern, as seen from your perspective.

To claim a Key you must contribute one or more faces from the Block you played this turn to a Key card's design.

• Each face can contribute to any number of designs.
• It is possible to claim more than one Key card at a time if you contribute at least one face to each Key card's design. See Example 1 below.
• Empty squares on a Key card can contain empty spaces, or any coloured face. A player only needs to see their Key within all faces on the Temple Floor. See Example 2.
• The faces do not need to be touching each other, they only need to look like the Key from your 2D perspective.
• You may rotate Key cards to claim their design (see Example 1), but they cannot be mirrored (see Example 3).
• Only Keys that have been claimed will score their victory points (VP) at the end of the game.

Although the game is played in 3D, on the Temple Floor, players are only able to claim Key cards as seen from their 2D perspective.

To claim a Key Card

1. Place a Block with at least one face contributing to the Key's design.
2. Place the Key card face-up and show where the Key is claimed. Opponents may check your perspective to confirm the claim, but they may not see your Key cards or Enigma card.
3. Draw back up to 4 Key cards, choosing which Altars to draw from.

You must place a Block that is a part of the Key to claim it on your turn. You cannot claim a Key card that was already completed before your turn started.

Examples

Example 1: By placing the green Block on your turn, you have completed these two Key cards and can claim them.

Example 2: You ignore the white faces when you claim this Key card. "Empty" spaces can contain any coloured face, or empty space, as long as placement rules are followed.

Example 3: You cannot "mirror" this Key's design to claim it. Keys may only be rotated.

End of the Game

The player with the most VP at the end of the game wins.

After a player claims a set number of Key cards, the game end is triggered. Every player will now take one final turn. The number of Key cards needed to trigger the end game is set by the player count, and is shown on the columns: 12 cards for 2 players, 8 for 3 players, 7 for 4 players, and 11 turns in a solo game (see page 7).

After the game ends, players add up the individual number of coloured faces (visible from their perspective) that match those on their Enigma card, and then divide that number by 3 (rounded down). Players add that number to the VP on each Key card they successfully claimed during the game. The player with the most VP wins!

Tiebreakers:

• The player with more claimed Key cards wins.
• Still tied: The player with more leftover Blocks wins.
• Still tied: The player earlier in turn order wins.

Strategy Tips

• Start small and simple with the Star (easy) Keys. As more blocks are added, the Sun and Moon Keys become easier to fulfill.
• Completing a Star Key card is only 1VP but it also gets new Keys into your hand.
• It can be easier to build next to vertical stacks than it is to build over horizontal faces.
• Don't spend too much time "Blocking" other players; you don't know what colours they may need for their Keys or their Enigma.
• Try hiding your Block from your opponent's perspective by tucking it behind other Blocks.
• Once you get used to the game, start planning how to complete multiple cards with a single Block placement.

The Ancients (Solo Mode)

Setup

1. Set up the ruins (game board) as explained on pages 3 and 4.
2. Draw Key cards (2 Stars, 1 Sun, and 1 Moon) and draw 1 Enigma card.
3. Place the Core Cube on the 4-player starting icons with any colour facing you.
4. Fill the Excavation Yard with Blocks.
5. Take all 3 Blocks from one row or column.

As usual, restock the Blocks whenever some are removed.

Objective

With only 11 turns, try to score as high as possible. Check the score ranges to see how well you did!

Each Turn

1. Take your turn, as explained on page 5.
2. Mark the turn as completed by doing the following:
   • If you claimed a Key card, place it face-up. If you claimed multiple Key cards this turn, stack them in one face-up pile.
   • If you did not claim any Key cards, take 1 Key card from either Altar and place it face-down. This includes turns when you take Blocks.
3. You may discard 1 Key card from your hand to the bottom of its matching Altar.
4. Refill your hand to 4 Key cards, from any Altars you wish.
5. If you added at least 1 new Key card to your hand, enact one "Ancients' turn" (see below).
   • Do not enact an "Ancients' turn" if you did not add any new Key cards to your hand or after your last (11th) turn.

Play these steps 11 times total. Track this by laying each round's card(s) perpendicular to the card(s) from the last round.

Ancients' Turn

1. Based on the last Key card you drew, find its "Stars and Pips." Example: 2 Stars surrounding 7 Pips.
   • If you drew multiple Key cards, use the last Key card drawn.
   • The Pips match a site in the Excavation Yard.
   • The Stars match one of the corners of the Temple Floor.
2. Draw the Block from the Excavation Site with Pips matching those on the Key card (i.e., 7 Pips).
3. Place that Block on the Temple Floor following standard Block placement rules as well as these directives:
   • a) It must be placed corner to corner with the Block that is closest to the Stars matching those on the Key card (i.e., 2 Stars).
   • b) If two Blocks are equal in proximity to the Stars, you may choose which Block to place it next to.
   • c) All faces of the Block placed must remain within the grid lines.
   • d) If a Block cannot be placed due to lack of grid space, it is returned to the bag and the Ancients' turn is over.
   • e) As long as you follow all points above, you may choose how to position the Block.

Clarifications for claiming Key cards: You cannot claim Key cards completed by the Ancients' Block placement.

Game End

After your 11th turn (do not count the Ancients' turns), add up the individual number of coloured faces that match those on your Enigma card, and then divide that number by 3 (rounded down). Add that number to the VP on each face-up Key card you successfully claimed during the game.

• Blocks and unfulfilled Keys in your supply do not count for you, nor do they count against you.

Solo Scoring

• 0 to 9 Trainee: You spent time and resources with few results.
• 10 to 20 Researcher: You are learning and your work is functional.
• 21 to 26 Field Director: You are organized and clever. Continue your study.
• 27 to 32 Dig Director: You understand the site completely and how to manipulate a single block to unlock multiple Keys.
• 33 and up Expert Archaeologist: You have unlocked secrets that could bring you great fame, or even power...

Credits

Designed by David Van Drunen. Developed by Conor McGoey. Illustrated by Edu Valls. Edited by Daniel Mansfield.

Copyright Inside Up Games 2021©. PO Box 26033 Memorial PO, Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada P7B 0B2. Questions or comments? [email protected]