Clocks Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Contents
• Game Preparation
• Gameplay
  • Phase 1: The Auction of the Dice
  • Phase 2: The Player Turns
    • 2a. Placing the dice (and possible bonuses)
    • 2b. One FREE Action
    • 2c. One EXTRA Action
  • The Actions
  • Phase 3: New Start Player and Possible Return of Dice
  • Game Overview
• End of the Game
• Rules for 2 Players
• Rules for 1 Player

Object of the Game

Try and score the most points by completing your clock! Put your dice onto your game board in the best places possible and then spend money and actions to alter their values, so that your dice match the values on the clock face.

Can you finish your clock before the game ends? The clock is ticking ...

Contents

• 4 double-sided game boards, with a "forwards" clock face (from 1 to 12) and a "backwards" clock face (from 12 to 1).
• 50 coins: 25 silver (value "1") and 25 gold (value "3")
• 50 dice (12 white, 12 grey, 12 black, 12 red and 2 yellow)
• 1 black bag in which to put the dice
• This Rule book. For convenience in the rules, we will refer to all players as "he"

Game Preparation

• Each player receives a game board, depicting a clock, and may choose which side to place face-up in front of him. For the first couple of games it's recommended to use the "forwards" clock. Place any unused game boards back in the box.
• It's not necessary for all players to use the same side of the gameboard.
• Each game board has 12 spaces (hollows) to place your dice.
• The "Ghost" dice (value "6") help to complete the numbers on the clock face; they have no other game effect.
• Your starting capital depends on which side of the game board you have chosen:
  • Playing on the "forwards" clock (from 1 to 12), you receive coins to a value of "6" as your starting cash.
  • Playing on the "backwards" clock (from 12 to 1) receive coins to a value of "10" as your starting cash.
• You may keep your money hidden from the other players during the game.
• Place the rest of the coins to one side to form the bank.
• Randomly determine a start player, and give him the 2 yellow dice.
• The start player takes the bag and puts all of the other dice into it.

Gameplay

(Extra rules for the 1- and 2-player game can be found at the end of the rules.)

The game is played over a number of rounds. Each round consists of 3 phases.

Phase 1: The Auction of the Dice

The start player pulls 1 die from the bag for each player in the game, plus one more. He rolls these dice and divides them into as many groups as there are players (so there will be 1 group of 2 dice). These dice are now auctioned under a closed bidding system.

Each player secretly chooses how much money he wants to bid (a bid of zero is allowed), puts this money in his closed fist, and then all players simultaneously open their hands. The player with the highest bid has first choice of the groups of dice; the second highest bidder has second choice, and so on. All players lose the money they have bid and return it to the bank. In case of a tie, ties are broken in favour of the player amongst the tied players who is closest to the start player in a counter-clockwise direction (so the start player always loses a tie). The players take their chosen dice and put them in the centre of their clocks.

Example from a 3 player game: Start player pulls 3+1 dice from the bag, rolls them and divides them in 3 groups. Each player secretly takes an amount of his money in his closed fist as a bid. Player 1: 3rd choice (loses tie). Player 2: 1st choice (highest bid). Player 3: 2nd choice (wins tie).

Phase 2: The Player Turns

The start player begins, and each player takes their turn in clockwise order. In your turn you have to place your just obtained die (or dice) onto your clock. Then you get one free action, and finally you may choose to pay for one extra action.

2a. Placing the dice (and possible bonuses)

On your turn, you must use your new die (or dice), usually by placing them onto your clock face. If you have acquired more than 1 die, you may choose in which order you use them. Each die must be resolved before the next die is used.

By the end of the game it is possible that you won't be able to place all of your dice because your Clock's twelve spaces are all occupied. In this case, you return the unplaced die to the start player, who puts the die back in the bag, and you then receive 1 silver coin from the bank as compensation.

Each die that you place onto your clock, must be placed in a clockwise direction starting with the first space on your clock to the right of the minute hand (the 1 or the 12 depending on which clock you have chosen). Spaces may be skipped, but only at a price: For each space on your clock that you skip when placing a die, you must pay to the bank a number of coins equal to the number of pips on the skipped space(s).

Important: You must pay for each die that skips spaces!

When placing a die there are 3 possibilities:

• Value on the die is smaller than the value on the space: you get no bonus
• Value on the die is larger than the value on the space: cash bonus, you receive the difference between the two values in silver coins (example: die with 4 pips on space 1 = 3 silver coins)
• Value on the die matches the value on the space (a "perfect die"): you receive a bonus action: you may choose to execute the corresponding bonus action once at no cost. The bonus action is shown on the clock face next to the die you have just placed.

The different actions are explained later in the rules.

Some dice have special abilities:

A red die can be used to gain extra money. Instead of placing this die onto a space on your clock, you may choose to reroll the die and receive the value on the rolled die in silver coins from the bank (the red die then goes back into the bag).

A black die makes it cheaper to skip a space on your clock. You don't need to pay for the last skipped space when placing a black die.

Examples:

• Player 1 places the white '5' die on the first space of his 'backwards' clock. As the value of the die is smaller than the value of the space he gets no bonus.
• Player 2 places the white '6' die on the first space of his 'forwards' clock. As the value of the die is larger than the value of the space he gets a cash bonus. The difference between the two values is '5' so he gets coins to a value of '5'.
• Player 3 first places the black '2' die on the third space of his 'forwards' clock. As he is placing a black die, he doesn't have to pay to skip the last space, so he only pays 1 silver coin to place the die instead of 3. (picture A) Then he places his grey '2' die on the second space on his clock (again paying 1 silver coin to skip the first space). (picture B) As the second die is a "perfect die", he may execute the corresponding bonus action at no cost, and so he increases the value of his black die by one pip. (picture C)

2b. One FREE Action

After placing your die (dice), you can perform one of those free actions:

• Either receive 3 silver coins from the bank.
• Or choose 1 die on your clock, re-roll it and replace it on the same space.

Note: There are no bonuses available when re-rolling.

2c. One EXTRA Action

Finally you may spend money for one extra action. For this, you may choose any one action shown on the inside of your clock. You pay the price equal to the corresponding hour on the clock (2/4/6/8 coins for the "forwards" clock or 12/10/8/6/4 coins for the "backwards" clock).

Important: you may only choose an action if there is a die on the corresponding space for that hour.

Note: An extra action never triggers a bonus. Bonuses can only be obtained when placing dice onto your clock in phase 2a (Placing the Dice).

The Actions

• 1 Coin: You receive 1 silver coin from the bank.
• 2 Coins: You receive 2 silver coins from the bank.
• 4 Coins: You receive 4 silver coins from the bank.
• +1: With this action you may increase the value of a single die on a space on your clock face by one pip.
• -1: With this action you may decrease the value of a single die on a space on your clock face by one pip.
• Flip Die: With this action you may turn a single die on a space on your clock face upside-down, changing a "1" to a "6", etc.
• Swap: With this action you may exchange two adjacent dice on your clock face with each other (the value of the dice may not be changed).
• Leapfrog: With this action you may move a single die on your clock face to the first available space in clockwise direction (the value of the die may not be changed).
• Lucky 7: You may roll the 2 yellow dice. If the rolled sum is exactly 7, you receive 7 silver coins from the bank.
• Snake Eyes: You may roll the 2 yellow dice, if each die shows 1 pip ("Snake Eyes!") you receive 11 silver coins from the bank.
• +1/+2: With this action you may increase the value of a single die on your clock face by one or two pips.

Phase 3: New Start Player and Possible Return of Dice

When all players have taken their turns, the start player passes the yellow dice and the bag to the player on his left. This player is now the new start player.

If at this stage you have 12 dice on your clock face, and the game has not yet ended, then you must return any one of your dice to the bag. For this, you receive 1 silver coin from the bank as compensation.

Game Overview

• Phase 1: The Auction of the Dice
• Phase 2: The player turns
  • 2a. Placing the dice (and possible bonuses): smaller value = No bonus; larger value = Money (difference in silver coins); matching value = Bonus Action: corresponding action
  • 2b. One FREE Action: 3 silver coins, or reroll 1 die and replace it on the same space
  • 2c. One EXTRA Action: spend money to do ONE Extra Action
• Phase 3: New start player and possible return of dice

End of the Game

The game ends at the end of the round in which one (or more) player(s) has all of his dice matching the hours on his clock face (twelve "perfect dice"!). The game also ends automatically at the end of a round in which all players have 12 dice on their clock (in this case, players do not return a die to the bag).

At the end of the game, each player counts his points:

a) 1 point for each "perfect die" (the value of the die matches the value of the space)

b) A number of bonus points (0-12) equal to the number of "perfect dice" in a clockwise direction starting from the first space on your clock face (counting clockwise from the minute hand)

c) 2 points for each set of 4 different colours of dice (black, red, grey and white) on your clock face, no matter what numbers they are showing

The player with the most points wins the game.

In the case of a tie, of those players tied the one with the most money remaining is the winner.

Scoring example:

• Left clock: the player scores 21 points: 11 points for "perfect dice"; 8 bonus points ("perfect dice" from 1 to 8); 2 bonus points (1 set of 4 colours) = 21 points.
• Right clock: the player scores 17 points: 9 points for "perfect dice"; 4 bonus points ("perfect dice" from 1 to 4); 4 bonus points (2 sets of 4 colours) = 17 points.

Rules for 2 Players

Unless otherwise noted, all of the above rules remain the same.

Before the game starts, remove 4 dice of each colour from the game (16 dice in total) and put them back into the box. The remaining dice are put in the bag.

During the game, any red dice that are rolled for money are not put back into the bag -- Instead they are completely removed from the game.

Rules for 1 Player

Unless otherwise noted, all of the above rules remain the same.

Before the game starts, remove 8 dice of each colour from the game (32 dice in total) and put them back into the box. The remaining dice are put in the bag.

During the game, any red dice that are rolled for money are not put back into the bag -- Instead they are completely removed from the game.

Each round, you pull 2 dice from the bag and you must place them onto your clock face (or, of course, roll the red ones for money).

The free action "Receive 3 silver coins from the bank" is no longer available. Therefore, the only free action available to you is to re-roll a die and replace it on the same space.

At the end of the round in which you have 12 dice on your clock face, count your temporary score. You must then continue to play by paying for extra actions until you have 12 "perfect dice".

Each extra action that you are forced to take gives you 2 penalty points; and then if you run out of money, each extra silver coin that you need to borrow gives you 1 penalty point.

Your final score is your temporary score minus the penalty points you have accrued.

To easily track your score you can take as many "scoring dice" from the box (of those 32 that you have removed at the beginning of the game) to represent your temporary score and then pay your penalty points (2 for each extra action, 1 for each borrowed silver coin) by returning "scoring dice" to the box. The number of "scoring dice" left gives you your final score.

How many points do you have? Can you improve your score? Can you reach the maximum of 30 points?

Example of a 1 player game: At the end of the round in which you placed the twelfth die on your clock you count your temporary score: This clock scores you 22 points (10+8+4) and you have 7 coins left. You take 22 "scoring dice" from the box. You must now complete your clock by taking extra actions.

• With one action (-2 scoring dice) and 4 coins you decrease the grey '5' die to a '4'.
• With one action (-2 scoring dice), 3 coins plus a borrowed coin (-1 scoring die) you turn that grey '4' die into a perfect '3' die.
• You now borrow 6 more coins (-6 scoring dice) and take one last action (-2 scoring dice) you turn the red '1' die into a perfect red '6' die and complete your perfect clock!

Your final score is the total of your remaining "scoring dice", i.e. just 9 points in this example (22-13)!