Confusing Lands Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Objective
• Setup
• Card Anatomy
• Gameplay
  • Placement Examples
• Game End
• Scoring
  • Scoring Example
• Key Terms
• Scoring Conditions
• Solo Play Variant
• Credits

Contents

18 cards, 1 scoring pad, 1 pencil

Objective

To create the landscape that scores the most points at the end of the game.

Setup

Shuffle all 18 cards (with their scoring conditions facedown) to form the deck, and place it in the center of the play area. Deal 1 card from the top of the deck to the center of the play area with its scoring condition faceup. This will be the Shared Scoring Condition for this game.

Card Anatomy

Cards are double-sided with 6 spaces per side. There are 7 different symbols: river, forest, mountain, village, elk, wolf, and crystal.

Each card has a scoring condition on 1 side. Each scoring condition takes up 2 spaces and has a number next to it to help locate its description in the rules.

Any space with no symbol or scoring condition is an empty space.

Gameplay

1. Deal each player 2 cards. Each player chooses 1 card to place in their landscape. (They may look at both sides.)
2. Each player adds their chosen card to their landscape. They may place it with either side faceup, with any number of 90 degree rotations, with the following restrictions:
   • The new card must cover at least 1 space already in the player's landscape. (Ignore on first turn.)
   • The new card cannot cover any part of a scoring condition.
   • Spaces in a landscape must form a grid: no partially covered spaces. Once placed, cards can't be moved.
3. Once both players have placed their chosen cards, they pass the cards they didn't want to each other, then place the new cards in their landscapes following the rules above.
4. Repeat until both players have 8 cards in their landscapes.

Placement Examples

• The new card covers at least 1 space without covering any scoring conditions — valid.
• The new card doesn't cover any spaces already in the player's landscape — not valid.
• The new card was tucked under an existing card — not valid.
• The new card covers a scoring condition — not valid.

Game End

Once both players have 8 cards in their landscapes (and the deck has 1 card remaining in it), the game ends and players proceed to scoring.

Scoring

Each player scores points as directed by all of the scoring conditions in their landscape and the Shared Scoring Condition. (See Scoring Conditions below.)

If a player has no scoring conditions in their landscape, they score 0 points from the Shared Scoring Condition.

Then each player subtracts 10 points from their score for each scoring condition in their landscape (not the Shared Scoring Condition).

The player with the most points wins! In the event of a tie, the player with the single most valuable scoring condition wins. If there is still a tie, players share the victory.

Scoring Example

In this example, the player scores 8 points from the Shared Scoring Condition, "Mighty River," plus 38 points from their other conditions (12 + 14 + 12).

Then they subtract 10 points for each scoring condition in their landscape (-10 x 3).

This gives them a final score of 16 points.

Key Terms

• Touching: The 4 orthogonal spaces around a space.
• Near: The 8 orthogonal and diagonal spaces around a space.
• Connected: A group of spaces where each space is touching at least 1 other space in the group.
• Border: Any space that touches the area outside your landscape.
• Flows Into: A river space "flows into" another space if they touch on an edge that contains a river end.
• Flows Past: A river space "flows past" another space if they touch on an edge that does not contain a river end.
• X Spaces From: To determine how far a space is from another space, count the shortest orthogonal path of spaces in your landscape.

Scoring Conditions

1. Mighty River — Score 4 points for each space in your largest group of connected river spaces that touch end to end.
2. Noble Woodlands — Score 3 points for each of your forest spaces that is in a connected group of 2 or more forest spaces.
3. Barrier Range — Score 3 points for each mountain space that is on the border of your landscape.
4. Thriving Villages — Each of your village spaces scores 1 point for each different type of non-village symbol in spaces near it.
5. The Circle Of Life — Score 6 points for each set of 1 wolf space and 1 elk space in your landscape.
6. Ancient Relics — Score 4 points for each crystal space that is neither near nor in the same row/column as another crystal space.
7. Roaring Falls — Each of your river spaces scores 4 points for each mountain space it flows into.
8. Shaded Streams — Each of your river spaces scores 4 points for each forest space it flows past.
9. Valley Guardians — Each of your crystal spaces scores 2 points for each mountain space that is exactly 4 spaces from it.
10. Fierce Hunters — Score 8 points for each of your wolf spaces that is 5 or more spaces from any village spaces or other wolf spaces.
11. Forest Spirit — Score 8 points for each of your elk spaces that is near 3 or more forest spaces.
12. Town Center — Choose a crystal space. Score 3 points for each village space that is 3 or fewer spaces from the chosen crystal space.
13. Distant Outposts — Score 1 point for each space in your longest continuous straight line of spaces (that contains no scoring conditions).
14. Close Neighbors — Score 1 point for each space in your largest perfect square of spaces (that contains no scoring conditions).
15. The Great Prairie — Score 2 points for each space in your largest group of connected empty spaces.
16. Land of Plenty — Score points equal to the value of your least valuable other scoring condition (including the Shared Scoring Condition).
17. Tranquility — Score 1 point for each village, mountain, and/or forest space in your landscape.
18. Wilderness — Score 1 point for each river, crystal, wolf, and/or elk space in your landscape.

Solo Play Variant

Set up the game as normal, shuffling the deck and dealing a Shared Scoring Condition.

Deal cards only to yourself.

When you would give a card to your opponent, discard it instead.

When your opponent would give you a card, discard the top card of the deck and take the card below it.

At the end of the game, you will have only your own landscape to score. Score it as normal, then refer to the table below to see how you did!

• 50+ points: Astounding
• 40+ points: Unbelievable
• 30+ points: Confusing
• 20+ points: Perplexing
• 10+ points: Bewildering
• 9 points or less: Lost

Credits

Game Design, Art, Graphic Design: Zak Eidsvoog

Playtesters: Alec Chase, Alex Cooley, Harry Lee, Ian Rickett, Madeline Ross, Joellen Sweeney

Special thanks to Ian, for all his help workshopping, and to Maddy, for all her support. Thanks also to everyone who downloaded and played the original print-and-play (PNP) version on itch.io!

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