Canyon
Canyon Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 30 pace cards (6 sets with values from 0 to 4)
- 50 playing cards (5 colors with values from 1 to 10)
- 1 game board
- 6 game pieces as Indian canoes
- 1 black piece for the round marker
Setup
- Each player chooses a game piece and receives the five matching-colored pace cards (= the color of the large number).
- The 50 playing cards are shuffled, and each player draws a card. Whoever draws the highest card becomes the dealer for the first round. The player to the dealer's left becomes the first start player. In later rounds, the dealer and start player each move on clockwise.
- The black piece is placed on the space marked "1." above the arrow of the round marker, at the start.
- Beginning with the start player and then proceeding clockwise, each player sets their canoe piece on any one of the six starting spaces.
Goal and Game Play
The winner of the race through the canyon is, of course, the canoe that is first to reach one of the three landing jetties at the Indian village. Canyon is played over several rounds, each made up of five quick phases:
» Phase 1: Dealing the playing cards » Phase 2: Setting the pace » Phase 3: The card play » Phase 4: Moving the canoes » Phase 5: Moving the round marker
Phase 1: Dealing the Playing Cards
The dealer shuffles all 50 playing cards and deals each player the number of cards set by the marker piece. In the first round it is 8 cards for each player. Finally, the dealer turns up the top card of the remaining stack. This card gives the trump, the strongest color for the current round. Cards left over are no longer needed for this round.
Phase 2: Setting the Pace
Once all players have taken their cards into hand, each one decides how many tricks (see Phase 3) they want to win this round. Beginning with the start player, the players in turn reveal their matching pace card. For the rest of the round, the revealed cards show what pace each player has to reach, i.e. how many tricks each wants to win.
The sum of the revealed pace cards does not have to match the number of possible tricks in the current round.
A rather rare pace of 5 or higher is shown with two pace cards (e.g. 4 + 2 = 6).
Example: Anja wants to make 2 tricks with her hand this round. So she lays her pace card with the 2 face up in front of her on the table.
Phase 3: The Card Play
Once all players have revealed their pace card, the actual card play begins.
The current start player plays the first card. Going clockwise, every player must also play a card. The color played first must be "followed" (matched). If, for example, blue (paddle) was played as the first card, every player must likewise play a blue card. A player who has no card in the required color may play any other color, or the trump color.
Once every player has laid down a card, it is determined who wins this trick. If only cards of the required color were played (e.g. only blue), the player who laid the highest card gets the trick. If, however, one or more trump cards were played, the highest trump card wins the trick. A card in any color other than the one played first or the trump color can never win a trick.
Whoever wins a trick places all the cards of that trick as a face-down stack in front of themselves on the table. With several tricks won, the cards are stacked so that every other player can see at any time how many tricks that player has won.
Whoever has won a trick also plays the first card to the next trick.
Example of a trick: Green is trump. Anja starts and plays a blue 7. Bernd follows with the blue 8, and Carola follows with the blue 3. Dirk plays a red 9. Since Bernd laid the highest card in the color led, and no trump was played, Bernd wins the trick. Bernd then plays the first card for the next trick.
Phase 4: Moving the Canoes
Once the tricks of a round have been awarded, the canoes are moved. The start player always moves first. The other players follow clockwise. The dealer moves their canoe last.
As a basic rule, a player moves their canoe as many spaces as the number of tricks they won. A player who, for example, made 3 tricks also moves their boat 3 spaces further.
If a player won exactly as many tricks as their pace card shows, they receive a bonus. The higher the chosen pace was, the higher the bonus (see the bonus table on the game board):
- A player who showed and made 0 tricks moves 1 extra space.
- A player who showed and made 1 trick moves 2 extra spaces.
- A player who showed and made exactly 2 or more tricks moves 3 extra spaces.
Examples: Anja showed 2 tricks but wins 3. She gets no bonus and moves three spaces forward. Bernd showed 1 trick and made it. He moves 3 spaces (1 space for the trick and 2 for the bonus). Carola showed 0 tricks and also made none. She moves 1 space of bonus forward. Dirk showed 4 tricks but only made 2. He moves 2 spaces forward.
A canoe may be moved in any direction (forwards, sideways, backwards, diagonally). Canoes must, however, be set "optimally," i.e. at the end of their movement they must have approached the goal as closely as possible.
No space may be crossed twice in one move. A player may also not forgo movement points. Other game pieces may not be jumped over.
Only one canoe may ever stand on any one space.
Only when the path is completely blocked must surplus movement points be forfeited.
Only spaces that are predominantly water may be used. A canoe may not be moved onto mountains or islands.
Movement Examples
Bernd (B) must set 2 spaces and is to move. He must move diagonally next to the island and, by doing so, blocks Carola (C), who would be next to move.
Dirk (D) must set 3 spaces and is to move. Although blocked, he can still set his move and must go back first before he can move forward. He then lands next to Bernd.
Carola (C) must set 3 spaces and is to move. But since a mountain, Anja (A), the island, and Bernd (B) block the entire row in front of her, Carola cannot move.
Carola (C) must set 2 spaces. She would like to remain in the narrow passage and block the following players, but must use her movement points "optimally" and so lands next to Anja.
Current and Waterfall
Before the finish, the canoes have to fight the current. That's why special movement rules apply on the arrow-marked spaces of the last 7 rows.
A player who pulls their canoe from a normal space into the current moves quite normally. A player whose movement begins on a current space (with an arrow), however, may only move if their revealed pace is reached exactly. Now it is no longer the number of tricks won that is moved, but only the corresponding bonus value.
A player who stands on a current space and does not reach their pace exactly is swept one space in the direction of the arrow. If a fellow player's canoe stands on the neighboring space in the arrow's direction, it is likewise swept along. It is possible for one drifting canoe to push several other canoes ahead of it toward the waterfall.
If a canoe is ever driven into the waterfall, the experienced Indians quickly save themselves onto the bank, must take the path through the cave, and start back into the race from the jetty there in the next round.
The jetty of the cave is, incidentally, the only space on which more than one canoe may stand.
Examples of the current: Anja showed 2 and also reached it. She moves the bonus of 3 spaces. Bernd showed 0 and reached it. He moves the bonus of 1 space. Carola showed 2, but reached 4 tricks. She does not move forward at all, but drifts 1 space in the direction of the arrow. Dirk showed 4 and reached it. He moves the bonus of 3 spaces.
Bernd (B) and Anja (A) have already moved their canoes in the current area. Now it is Carola's (C) turn. Unfortunately she did not reach her pace and must drift with the current. In doing so she pushes Anja and Bernd ahead of her. Bernd even ends up in the waterfall and comes back into play at the cave.
Phase 5: Moving the Round Marker
Once all canoes have been moved, the round marker is pushed one space forward for the next round. This reduces the number of playing cards for each player over the course of the game down to one, and then increases again.
The last start player becomes the new dealer, shuffles the playing cards, and deals them out again according to the round marker. The player to the left of the new dealer becomes the new start player and plays the first card of the new round. If the game should ever last longer than fourteen rounds, the game continues with round 1.
Although the rounds with only one or two cards for each player have their own particular charm, the luck factor is fairly high there. Anyone who wants to reduce the luck somewhat simply skips the darkly highlighted rounds 6, 7, 8, and 9 and continues playing with round 10.
End of Game and Victory
Whoever is first to reach one of the three landing jetties of the Indian camp wins the game. If several canoes reach the goal in the same round, the player whose canoe had the most movement points left over wins. In the event of a further tie, the player with the highest last pace wins.
Credits
Author: Frederick A. Herschler Comic: Sascha Krämer Development and Production: Grünspan-Spiele Graphics: Franz Vohwinkel © 1997 ABACUSSPIELE Verlags KG, 63303 Dreieich, Germany. All rights reserved.