Constructo
Constructo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
In Constructor, players take turns adding pieces to the board or stacking them building towers. The object of the game is to control the most towers once the game ends.
Material
- 9 hexagonal tiles (red).
- 3 'ice' rings, 3 medium 'ice' discs and 3 small 'ice' discs.
- 3 black rings, 3 medium black discs and 3 small black discs.
Setup
Each player has an allocated color and gets all 9 pieces of that color. Decide the starting player by any peaceful and constructive means. The starting player builds a board on the centre of the playing surface. The board must comply with one of the following three patterns (shown as three diagrams of the 9 hexagonal tiles in the original)¹.
¹ Players can experiment with other board topologies. The three patterns in the rules are balanced; any other topology may provide unexpected results. We suggest the pattern, chosen by mutual agreement of both players, to be the same in both rounds.
Play
Players will play two consecutive rounds. In each round a different player starts the game and chooses a pattern. After two rounds the player who has scored more points wins. In the first games we recommend using the same board for both rounds.
Players take alternate turns during the game. On each turn players must perform one and only one of these actions:
- Place a piece
- Move a piece
It's not allowed to pass your turn. If you can't perform any action the game ends.
Placing a piece
Place a piece of your color (of any kind) on any empty space on the board.
(Example of piece placement by White: a single small piece placed on an empty tile.)
Move a piece
Move one piece previously placed on the board to form a tower.
- You can only move a piece of your color.
- You can only move a piece that occupies a space on the board not shared by other pieces (this is, towers can't be split).
- Pieces can only move onto another adjacent piece of a different color.
- A ring piece must be moved onto a small piece, but a small piece can't move onto a ring piece.
- A medium piece must be moved onto a ring piece, even if this ring piece has been previously moved onto a small piece.
- A small piece must be moved onto a medium piece, even if this medium piece has been previously moved onto a ring piece.
(Each of these three rules is illustrated in the original by a diagram of a piece moving to an adjacent tile.)
End of the Game
A tower is a stack of 2 or more pieces. Notice that a combination of ring + small disc is not a tower as they don't form a stack.
The game ends when a player can't perform a valid action. The players score one point for each tower they control (top piece of their color).
(Example: White wins 4-2.)