Circles Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Darts
  • Object of the game
  • Setup
  • Playing the game
  • Triple - Instant win
  • Lucky 7
  • End of the round
    • Small and large street
  • End of the game
• Wild West
  • Object of the game
  • Setup
  • Playing the game
    • Bank
    • Saloon
    • Bandit
    • Gold
    • Shop
    • Donation bowl
    • Money bag
    • Mine
    • Dig
    • Ranch

Contents

Components are listed on each side's own page below. Darts side: 1 Circles ring, 1 game board (darts side), 25 wooden cubes (5 cubes in each of 5 colours). Wild West side: 1 Circles ring, 1 game board (Wild West side), 5 pawns, 75 wooden discs (2 black stones, 37 silver pieces, 24 gold pieces, 12 red rubies), 1 bandit die, 1 bag, 20 train tickets, 10 shovels, 5 wagons, 1 sheriff's star.

Darts

Flicking for beginners!

A fast-paced game that rewards accuracy and skill. For 2-5 players, ages 7 and up.

Object of the game

Aim as accurately as you can to collect as many points as possible, or try to land a big hit! The first player to collect more than 100 points by the end of a round OR to have 3 cubes on the same space during a round wins!

Setup

Place the board darts side up into the Circles ring and make sure it is level. Each player takes a set of cubes and places one of them as their scoring cube on the 0 space of the game board. Place the ball onto the ring at the 7-square.

Now decide who goes first: Take turns flicking the ball from this position; try to flick the ball with enough force that it completes one full revolution of the ring. Mark the position where the ball has stopped by placing a cube of your colour next to the ring. Then return the ball onto the ring at the 7-square. The player that gets closest to the 7 starts the game. Take your used markers back.

Playing the game

Play proceeds in clockwise order.

When it's your turn, flick the ball from its current position on the ring; you can choose to flick the ball in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. The ball must at least reach the opposing space, otherwise your turn is invalid.

If the ball falls off the ring, your turn is invalid as well. When this happens, place the ball back onto the ring, next to the 7.

If your turn is valid, place one of your cubes on the numbered space on the edge of the game board where the ball has stopped. If there are already one or more cube(s) of another colour on that space, remove them and set them aside for this round, before placing your own cube.

If your turn is invalid, you must set aside one of your cubes for that round.

Then it's the next player's turn.

Example: Yellow hit the 12 and removes the blue marker from the board while placing their own. Yellow now has a small street and will score extra points later!

Sometimes the space on which the ball has landed cannot be clearly identified. If you cannot agree on the space on which the ball has landed, the space with the lower number applies.

Triple - Instant win

If, at any time, a player has 3 cubes on a single space, they scored a triple! They have won and the game ends immediately. There is no need to add up the points at the end of the round.

Lucky 7

If you hit the 7, place a cube on this space as usual. You can then move another cube of any colour from its numbered space to another numbered space, applying the usual rules for placing a cube. This may result in a triple (instant victory) for a player.

Example: Orange hit the 7 and uses the special ability to move their cube from 17 to 8. As Orange now has 3 cubes on a single space, the game ends and Orange wins!

End of the round

After you played all 4 turns, you should have no cubes left. They should all be either in play on the board or they will have been set aside for the round.

This ends the round and the points are added up.

To add the points for each player, each cube is worth as many points as the number on its space. Advance your scoring cube in the middle of the game board accordingly.

Small and large street

If there are cubes of the same colour on 3 adjacent numbered spaces (or cubes on 4 adjacent numbered spaces), they form a small (or large) street! A small street scores 60 points and a large street 80 points instead of their regular amount!

Once this has been done, retrieve all of your cubes from the numbered spaces as well as all the cubes that have been set aside and start a new round. The player with the least points decides who goes first. In case of a tie, the younger player decides. Place the ball in the ring next to the 7 and start a new round.

End of the game

If a player has at least 100 points at the end of the round, that player wins! If several players have at least 100 points, the player with the most points wins.

However, if at any time a player has 3 cubes on a single space, they win immediately!

Note: the Darts side's scoring track and the numbered point values of the spaces are printed on the board artwork and are not reproduced here in text form. Each cube scores the number printed on its space, as described above.

Source note on the Darts side: the booklet says "more than 100 points" in Object of the game and "at least 100 points" in End of the game. Both are transcribed as printed.

Wild West

Advanced-level flicking!

Roll for riches in this Wild West game. For 2-5 players, ages 7 and up.

Object of the game

Collect 2 rubies to afford to buy the ranch. The first player to buy the ranch and thereby claim their territory in the Wild West wins!

Setup

Place the game board, Wild West side up, into the Circles ring and make sure it is level. Place the ball into the ring on the ranch space.

1. Give each player a pawn, 2 train tickets, 2 silver pieces and a wagon. If you want to make the game more challenging: Reduce the starting items, for example by distributing no wagons.
2. Distribute 6 silver pieces, 5 gold pieces and 1 ruby on the designated spaces next to the mine so that the spaces are populated as follows from the outside to the inside of the board: 1 silver / 2 silver / 1 gold / 1 gold + 1 silver / 1 gold + 2 silver / 2 gold / 1 ruby.
3. Put 16 silver pieces, 8 gold pieces, 1 ruby, and 2 stones into the bag.
4. Place the remaining gold, silver, and rubies in the reserve.
5. Have the train tickets, shovels and wagons (if available) ready near the shop.
6. Place the bandit die next to the bandit space.

The youngest player goes first and this player is given the sheriff's star.

Playing the game

Play proceeds in clockwise order. When it's your turn, flick the ball in a clockwise direction from its current position on the ring. The ball must move at least 2 spaces and stay on the ring, otherwise your turn is invalid and it is the next player's turn. If the ball jumps off the ring, place it back where it was flicked from.

If your turn is valid, the outcome of your turn is determined by the space on the board next to where the ball comes to rest:

Bank

You can deposit any amount of money onto the bank. Put it onto the space matching your pawn colour. If you already deposited money at the bank, you can take any amount of money back, which gets you the same amount from the reserve as interest.

Saloon

If you land on the saloon, you can decide to play for money. If you choose not to do this, nothing happens and play continues. If you decide to play for money in the saloon, each player must bet their highest coin (maximum 1 ruby) or buy their way out (pay 1 gold piece to the reserve). Starting with the player on your left, proceed as follows:

• Any player who has not opted to buy their way out places the ball onto the ring next to the saloon. They must then try to flick the ball in a clockwise direction so that the ball will complete a full revolution of the ring.
• When the ball comes to a stop, use your pawn to mark the distance the ball has travelled.

After each player has taken their turn flicking the ball, the player who landed closest to the saloon (measured clockwise!) wins the wager of the player who has landed furthest away. All other players take back their wager. If players are tied, the tied players roll again until their tie is resolved.

Example: Orange wants to play for money at the saloon. White plays it safe and buys their way out by paying 1 gold to the reserve. Green and Yellow made a good shot, while Blue overdid it. Orange came up victorious and gets Blue's wager, as Blue is furthest away from the saloon (measured clockwise).

Bandit

Roll the bandit's die. The die will indicate what you may steal from another player:

• Steal 1 silver
• Steal 1 gold
• Steal a shovel
• Steal a train ticket
• Steal everyone's money from the bank

Even for a bandit, this is going too far! You are not permitted to steal donations! You must place money in the bowl according to the usual rules for the donation bowl or take the money if the rules permit.

If no player has the shown goods, steal from the shop or the reserve, respectively.

Gold

You receive 1 gold piece.

Shop

You can buy 1 token:

• Shovel (costs 1 silver)
• Train ticket (costs 1 gold)
• Wagon (costs 1 gold)

You may own several of each type of token.

Donation bowl

You donate some money and place it on the lowest available donation bowl space (denoting 1 silver / 2 silver / 1 gold). If you don't have enough money to donate or all spaces are occupied, the church will be charitable and help you out. You receive all the money in the donation bowl!

Money bag

Someone dropped a bag of money! Everyone gets 1 silver.

Mine

If you have a wagon, you receive the money on the space located closest to the mine that still contains discs. Unfortunately, if the mine is empty, you get nothing.

Dig

If you have a shovel, you can reach into the bag and randomly draw a disc and keep it. If you pull a stone from the bag, you must return the stone to the bag and your shovel to the shop. You can also choose not to reach into the bag; in this case, you will get nothing.

Ranch

If you have 2 rubies, you can use these to buy the ranch and win immediately!

After resolving the space, it is the next player's turn.

Train tickets, moving the ball

Before resolving the space, note that you can spend any number of train tickets to move the ball one space per ticket in a clockwise direction. Used tickets must be returned to the shop.

Remember to use your 2 free start train tickets in good time as they are worthless at game end.

Exchanging money

3 silver pieces are always worth 1 gold piece and 3 gold pieces are worth 1 ruby and vice versa.

You try to get the biggest piece you can get. So whenever possible, trade your money up for higher value pieces. For example: 3 silver into 1 gold. If you need to spend a lower valued piece you have none of, get the change from the supply.

Important: rubies limit

Each player can only have at most 2 rubies. If they gain additional money, put it back into the supply.

Unclear space

If the space on which the ball has landed is not clear, players should put it up to vote. If you still cannot agree on this, the sheriff has the last word. If a decision from the sheriff is needed, the sheriff's star passes to the next player in a clockwise direction.

End of the game

The game ends as soon as someone buys the ranch for 2 rubies and wins!

Source note on the Wild West side: the booklet prints "Blue`s wager" in the saloon example; it is transcribed here as "Blue's wager". The "Meeples" credit to Hans im Glück on the Wild West page is attribution and is not transcribed.