Connections
Connections Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
4 game boards and 4 x 28 tiles (in 4 colors)
Game Idea
Each player tries, by cleverly placing the various tiles, to connect as many numbers on the edge of their game board as possible with their center field. Each number not connected at the end of the game brings minus points equal to its value. The player with the fewest minus points at the end is the winner.
Setup
Before the first game, all tiles must first be carefully punched out of the die-cut sheets.
Each player receives
- a game board, which they lay out in front of them, and
- the 28 tiles of the same color.
If fewer than 4 players take part, the surplus game material is put back in the box.
The oldest player is appointed the so-called "Starter". They place all of their tiles face down (that is, with the "spiral" facing up) and well shuffled next to their game board.
All other players spread out their tiles face up next to their game boards.
Course of Play
The "Starter" turns over one of their face-down tiles, announces the symbol on it for everyone (e.g. "key"), and then places it, according to the placement rules (see below), on a free space of their game board.
All other players simultaneously search out this tile from their supply and likewise place it on a free space of their game board.
The next tile is turned over by the "Starter" after all players have placed the previous one. Again each player places the corresponding tile on their game board, and so on.
The Placement Rules
A) Only attach!
Every tile must be placed side by side with at least one tile already on the board (or the center field). Its orientation can be anything (that is, the symbols may well be "upside down").
B) Only matching and continuing!
Every tile must be placed so that at least one of the existing connections ("wide" or "narrow") is continued in a matching way, so "wide" only to "wide" and "narrow" only to "narrow".
Likewise, no tile may be placed so that one of its connections would lead to an empty side of another tile or to the edge.
In other words: no connection may be cut off from a tile or wrongly continued.
Important: The 16 number fields may be connected by both connections (wide and narrow), or may deliberately be left unconnected by an empty side.
C) Not every tile will fit!
If a player cannot (or does not want to) place a tile, they must place it with its back side (= "spiral") face up on any free space. In this case, this may also be a space that is not adjacent to tiles already on the board.
Connections may afterwards lead into such spirals (just as into still unoccupied spaces), although they are thereby interrupted, as long as the other placement rules continue to be followed. Note: each "spiral" counts 1 minus point at the end.
D) What lies, lies!
A tile may be neither re-oriented nor moved to another space once the next tile has been turned over.
Example
(The tile images in the German example are not present in the text layer; the example text as printed:) The tiles [marked in the illustration] are placed wrongly because they do not continue any connections. Two other tiles are placed wrongly because they lead a connection into the empty edge area or into the empty side of a tile. One tile is placed wrongly because it lies with an empty side against a connection. And one tile is placed wrongly because only identical connections may lie against one another.
End of the Game
After 24 rounds, each player's game board is completely filled (and each player has four tiles left over). Now each player determines their minus points by adding up all the numbers on the edge of their board that are not connected by a connection. To this sum they add their "spirals" at 1 minus point each, and so obtain their total minus points. The player with the fewest minus points is the winner. In case of a tie there are several winners.
Alternative End of the Game
At the start of the game, players can also agree to play as many games in a row as there are players, so that everyone is the "Starter" once.
In this case, the players note down their minus points at the end of each game. The winner is whoever has the fewest minus points at the end of all games. In case of a tie there are several winners.
Variant for One Player
All the rules above, as well as the goal of the game, remain: as "Starter" you try to make as few minus points as possible:
- 0-1 minus points: "Connection Virtuoso"
- 2-4 minus points: "Contact Cannon"
- 5-7 minus points: "Tile Combiner"
- 8-10 minus points: "Placement Apprentice"
- 11+ minus points: "Connection Seeker"