Canal King Brugge Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
  • Before each game
• How to Play
  • Building the canal routes
• Special Tiles
• Moving Along Your Finished Route
• Winning

Setup

Contents: game board, sheet with 12 special tile stickers, 6 character discs, 12 route cards, 6 character cards, 6 wooden ship pawns, 147 canal tiles, 6 wooden special tiles.

Before the first game, remove the canal tiles and character discs from their frames. The blank tiles are not used in the game. Put a pair of stickers on each of the wooden special tiles. Each special tile should have a grey sticker on one side and a different colour on the other. (Picture 1)

Before each game

1. Place the game board on the table.
2. Shuffle the canal tiles thoroughly, divide them into piles and place them picture side down around the game board so everyone can reach them. Each player takes 5 canal tiles. The tiles are kept open on the table.
3. Shuffle the special tiles grey side up. Each player randomly chooses one of them. Carefully check the colour of your special tile, and make sure the others cannot see it! This is your own colour.
4. Each player chooses a character card and the corresponding character disc.
5. Deal one route card to each player. Do not reveal your route card to the others, but check the starting port, ports of call and final destination carefully. (Picture 2)

How to Play

Building the canal routes

Use the canal tiles to build a route connecting your starting port to your final destination via your two ports of call. It has to be possible to move your pawn all the way along that route (see Moving along your finished route, page 4).

• On your turn, place a canal tile into a free space of your choice.

  • A canal can never merge with "terrain". The non-canal sides of tiles are considered terrain, as are the outer edges of the board grid. (Picture 3) So a new canal can either have only empty spaces around it or it can be connected to existing canals.
  • Some canal tiles include flags of different colours. Tiles with flags of your own colour will slow you down when it's time for you to start moving. (Picture 4)

• After you have placed a tile onto the game board, draw a new tile to fill your hand back to 5 tiles.

• Instead of a normal turn, you may do one of the following:

  • Replace a tile that is already on the game board. Replacing a tile is possible only IF the new tile contains all the canal parts of the original tile, in addition to any new ones. (Picture 5) The new tile has to comply with the normal tile laying rules.
  • Choose to swap 1-5 tiles from your hand for new ones.
  • Play your special tile (see Special tiles).

• Your route is finished when it's possible to travel from your starting port to your final destination via your two ports of call. (Picture 6, an example of a finished route: 1 starting port, 2 and 3 ports of call, 4 final destination) You can also visit other ports on the way!

  • When you finish your route on your turn, or start your turn after another player has finished your route for you, reveal your route card to the other players, and show them how you have intended to travel. If your route is accurate and accepted by the others, place your ship pawn into your starting port. You can start moving on your next turn.
  • You will not place any further tiles on the board.
  • The special tiles of all players are also turned over at this point, and the players' colours are revealed. The character discs stay on the special tiles.

Special Tiles

• You are allowed to place your own special tile into an empty space of your choice once instead of a normal turn. You can also use it to replace a normal tile with only a straight canal. Place it according to the normal tile placing rules, with the grey side up, and with the canal running in the intended direction. (Picture 7) Then mark your special tile with your character disc. This way it is easy to see who has played which special tile.
• The special tile cannot be placed into the darker spaces of the board that are directly connected to ports. (Picture 8)
• Once a special tile has been played, it cannot be removed or replaced. Its direction cannot be changed either.

Moving Along Your Finished Route

• Moving across a tile is only allowed in one of the three basic canal shapes: straight, gentle curve or tight curve along the white line. No other twists or turns on a tile are allowed. (Picture 9)
• Each turn, move your pawn along your route, until you reach a tile with your colour flag on it. Stop on that tile and continue in the same direction on your next turn. (Picture 10)
• You also stop whenever you reach a port. Continue in any direction on your next turn.
• If you have accidentally travelled in the wrong direction, you can use your turn to return to the port you came from.
• When moving, you can move through your own special tile without stopping, but you always have to stop on an opponent's special tile where you lose your next turn as well. (Picture 11)

Winning

The player, who moves his/her ship pawn from the starting port to the final destination via the correct ports of call first, wins the game!