Colour Lines Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Sheet
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Placing the Dice
  • Dice Faces
  • Drawing Your Lines
  • Using Jokers
  • Corrections
  • Hiding or Covering Your Sheet
• Scoring (End of the Game)
  • 1. Crossing the Red Line
  • 2. Letters
  • 3. Colour Pairs
  • 4. Colours with Starting 'X's
  • Scoring Example
• Variants
• Advanced Game
• Solo Mode
  • A Challenge 1: Breaking the Line!
  • A Challenge 2: Dot Dot Dot...
  • A Challenge 3: Now I Know My ABC
  • A Challenge 4: Multitalent
  • B Challenge 5: Into the Circlepit!

Game Sheet

The game sheet has two different sides: A and B. The stars in the top right-hand corner indicate the complexity of the respective game variant. The Standard Game uses side A; the Advanced Game uses side B.

Visit our website www.spiel-das.de for more variants and replacement blocks.

Setup

All players receive a game sheet from the pad and grab a pencil. Make sure that everyone uses the A-side of their sheet! Write your name at the top of game sheet. Place the dice board (see page 4) at the center of the table.

Choose two colour squares on the scoring track [1] and mark them with an 'X'. At the end of the game, these will award additional victory points. Players are allowed to choose the same colour(s).

Our recommendation for the first game: pink and light blue.

The game sheet is divided into two halves by a red line [2]. Mark the center spaces of two colour squares with an 'X' [3]; one in each half of your sheet. This is where your COLOUR LINES begin. Players are allowed to mark the same colour(s) on each side.

Our recommendation for the first game: Purple in the left-hand half and light-green in the right-hand half.

Note: In future games, you may freely choose your colours - and each person for themselves. You have to place your starting 'X's in four different colours! The positions for your starting 'X's within a square can also be chosen freely (you don't need to place them in the center space) - only spaces with letters [letter icons; four different letter symbols, see page 3] and the grey area in the middle may not be chosen as starting points.

How to Play

Whoever wears the most colourful clothes starts the game!

Placing the Dice

A game is played over 5 rounds.

The active player rolls 2 randomly chosen dice and places them on the left-hand side of the dice board [1]. The next two dice are rolled and are placed on the right-hand side [2]. The fifth die is rolled and placed on "1" of the round tracker.

Dice board: the five dice are placed in a row on the top of the board, numbered 1 to 5 on the round tracker; the left-hand side and right-hand side of the board are marked with the numerals I and II.

Dice Faces

The faces of the dice determine how you need to extend the COLOUR LINES on your game sheet.

Faces with shapes: The lines on the die have to be drawn in the exact same shape at the end of your COLOUR LINE. All shapes may be rotated freely, but not mirrored. [The shape faces are shown as artwork on page 4 and are not reproduced as text.]

Faces with numbers: You may draw as many lines at the end of your COLOUR LINE as the number shown on the die - in any direction you choose. [Faces 1, 2, 3 and 4 are shown on page 4.]

Faces with 0: Tough luck! This die doesn't let you draw anything.

Drawing Your Lines

Starting from your 'X's, everybody draws their lines according to the shapes or numbers on the dice and where these dice are positioned on the dice board. Two dice must be drawn into the left-hand half and two dice into the right-hand half of the game sheet.

The fifth die (the one on the round tracker) may be drawn into either half (left or right).

If a line reaches a space inside a square (or passes it), it is marked with a dot in the center of the space.

The following rules apply when drawing your lines:

• You always start at the end of your COLOUR LINE - never at the starting 'X' (exception: The first die on the left-hand and right-hand side in round 1.)
• All dice must be used to extend your lines. The order in which you use any of the 5 dice is up to you.
• You must draw exactly as many lines as are shown on the face of a die - no more and no less.
• The exact shape shown on the face of the die must be drawn. Remember: All shapes may be rotated freely, but not mirrored.

[The rulebook shows correct and incorrect examples of drawn lines (marked with a tick and a cross) as artwork; they are not reproduced as text.]

This example shows how the COLOUR LINES in the left-hand half (3 + shape) and the right-hand half (shape + shape) were drawn. The fifth die (shape) was drawn into the left-hand half.

Using Jokers

By extending your COLOUR LINES you will reach new spaces on your game sheet. Each space may only be passed once; your COLOUR LINES may not cross each other! If you would need to cross one of your lines, you are not allowed to draw any shapes in this half of the game sheet until the end of the round.

[The rulebook shows a correct and an incorrect example (marked with a tick and a cross) as artwork; they are not reproduced as text.]

You may ignore up to two dice per game. In this case, mark one of the boxes in the bottom left-hand corner of your game sheet. You may now instead draw a single line at the end of your COLOUR LINE - please note that it has to be drawn into the half of the game sheet that the respective die was intended for.

Corrections

Corrections on your game sheet (i.e. changing a line that you just drew) are allowed until the next roll of the dice.

Hiding or Covering Your Sheet

You may not hide your game sheet from the other players or cover it! It is permitted and encouraged to look at how other players are extending their COLOUR LINES.

Note: The COLOUR LINES on either side may never touch a space on the opposite side of the game sheet. Only spaces in the grey area may be touched by either line, as long as they do not touch one another.

Once everyone has drawn their lines, the next person (in clockwise order) rolls the dice and places them on the dice board. The fifth die is placed on position "2" of the round tracker; in subsequent rounds to "3", "4" and "5".

Scoring (End of the Game)

The game ends after 5 rounds. Victory points are awarded as follows, using four scoring options (shown as 1 to 4 on the rulebook's scoring page).

1. Crossing the Red Line

Count all the different colours (in both halves of your game sheet) which you have marked with at least one dot. Each of the 8 colours may be counted only once; dots in the grey area do not count. Also count how many times your COLOUR LINES have crossed the red line. Multiply both values.

Our recommendation for your first game: Ignore this scoring option and only use it in later games.

2. Letters

Did you mark any spaces with the letters [letter icons] or [letter icon] with a dot during the game? The first person to achieve this receives 20 victory points. This can also be achieved by more than one person in the same round. Whoever marks that respective letter in a later round receives only 10 victory points.

3. Colour Pairs

Did you manage to reach the same colours in both halves of your game sheet? (It doesn't matter how many dots you marked them with.) You receive 9 victory points for each of these colour pairs.

4. Colours with Starting 'X's

Remember in the beginning of the game? You placed two 'X's in two colour squares on the scoring track. Now count all the dots you placed into spaces of these respective colours (in both halves of your game sheet). You receive 3 victory points for each dot you placed in a space of the respective colour.

Scoring Example

The rulebook gives a worked example for each option (page 9): for option 1, 32 victory points from 8 different colours marked with dots, with the red line crossed 4 times; for option 2, 30 victory points (20 for a letter marked first, 10 for a letter marked after another player); for option 3, 45 victory points for 5 colour pairs (light blue, pink, yellow, dark green, orange) across both halves; for option 4, 33 victory points from 11 dots in total (8 dots in light blue squares and 3 dots in pink squares, each worth 3 victory points). The example's total is 140 victory points.

Variants

Want more interaction, variety and strategy? Then try these game variations:

Variant: Change Setup as follows. Pass your game sheet to the player on your left-hand side: they will mark the two colour squares on your scoring track (in the bottom right-hand corner). Then pass your game sheet to the player on your right-hand side: they will mark the two starting 'X's in both halves of your game sheet. Remember: All four selected colours must be different!

Variant: Change How to Play as follows. The active player rolls all 5 dice at the same time and places two dice on the left-hand side of the dice board, two dice on the right-hand side and one die on the round tracker (on the number corresponding to the current round). This means that the active player may freely choose where each die is placed.

Variant: Change Scoring as follows. Before starting each game, you randomly select three of the four scoring options to play with. The fourth scoring option is ignored.

The remaining rules of the "Standard Game" A are not changed.

Advanced Game

Rules: "Advanced Game" B B. All players receive a game sheet from the pad and grab a pencil. Make sure that everyone uses the B-side of their sheet! The rules are identical to the "Standard Game" - with the following exceptions:

Black spaces. The black spaces on your game sheet may not be touched by your COLOUR LINES.

White circle-spaces. If you mark a white circle-space with a dot, you may extend that COLOUR LINE by two additional lines in a direction of your choosing. However, you first need to finish drawing the shape or number of lines on your current die, before you draw these two additional lines. Note that the dots in white circle-spaces are ignored during scoring option 4!

Solo Mode

Rules: "Solo-Mode" A + B. Choose one of the following challenges and try to overcome it! All rules of the "Standard Game" and "Advanced Game" apply; exceptions can be found in the rules of the respective challenge.

The score graphic below each challenge shows how well you did, with the tiers "Try harder...", "Good.", "Awesome!" and "Best possible result".

How to play: Each challenge is played over 5 rounds. At the start of each of the 5 rounds, roll all five dice at the same time and choose where to place them on the dice board (as long as you place two dice on the left-hand side, two dice on the right-hand side and one on the round tracker).

Variant: If you want to increase the level of difficulty, roll 2 random dice at the start of each round and choose to place them on the left-hand or right-hand side of the dice board. Then roll the remaining 3 dice and place 2 of them on the other side of the board and place the last die on the round tracker.

A Challenge 1: Breaking the Line!

Cross the red line as often as possible! Place your starting 'X's as usual - during this challenge all colours can be ignored. After 5 rounds, count how many times you have crossed the red line. This will show you how well you did. Any other scoring options are ignored.

Result tiers as printed on page 11, in the order Try harder... / Good. / Awesome! / Best possible result: 7 / 11 / 12 / 16.

A Challenge 2: Dot Dot Dot...

Reach as many coloured spaces as possible that you marked with an 'X' on the scoring track! Place your four starting 'X's as usual (see How to Play). After 5 rounds, count how many coloured spaces (the ones you marked on your scoring track at the beginning of the game) you have marked with dots. Any other scoring options are ignored.

Result tiers as printed on page 11, in the order Try harder... / Good. / Awesome! / Best possible result: 16 / 32 / 36.

A Challenge 3: Now I Know My ABC

Reach all 4 letters, score 4 colour pairs and cross the red line at least 3 times! Place your four starting 'X's as usual (see How to Play). If you did not manage to fulfill all 3 requirements after 5 rounds, you lose. If you managed to meet them, check how many victory points you receive (check Scoring). All scoring options are active and you receive 20 victory points for each letter.

Victory point tiers shown on the graphic: 164, 200, 222.

A Challenge 4: Multitalent

Cross the red line at least 5 times, score at least 5 colour pairs and reach at least 2 letters! Place your four starting 'X's as usual (see How to Play). If you did not manage to fulfill all 3 requirements after 5 rounds, you lose. If you managed to meet them, check how many victory points you receive (check Scoring). All scoring options are active and you receive 20 victory points for each letter.

Victory point tiers shown on the graphic: 152, 200, 222.

B Challenge 5: Into the Circlepit!

Reach all white circle-spaces, all letters and score at least 215 victory points! Place your four starting 'X's as usual (see How to Play). If you did not manage to fulfill all 3 requirements after 5 rounds, you lose. If you managed to meet them, check how many victory points you receive (check Scoring). All scoring options are active and you receive 20 victory points for each letter.

Victory point tiers shown on the graphic: 215, 225, 260.