Fireworks
Fireworks Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
The goal is to collect fireworks tiles and arrange them on your city board to create stunning displays. On your turn, you launch the fireworks die out of the barrel and into the box. You then take some face-up fireworks tiles from the box and place them on your city board. The game end is triggered when a player fills up their entire city board. Whoever has the most valuable fireworks display wins!
Components
- 4 City Boards
- 4 Player Aids
- 1 Start Player Marker
- 7 Character Cards
- 7 Score Markers
- 1 Starry Sky Box
- 50 Action Cards
- 119 Fireworks Tiles a. 8 Start Tiles b. 88 Basic Tiles c. 16 Special Tiles d. 7 Function Tiles
- 1 Fireworks Die
- 1 Launch Barrel
Game Setup
- Shuffle the character cards and deal 1 to each player at random, face up. Give each player the score marker that matches their character card.
- Give each player 1 city board, 1 player aid, and 2 start tiles of different colors.
- Each player then places their 2 start tiles in any 2 spaces on their city board. (It is recommended to place them with at least 2 empty spaces between them.)
- Place the starry sky box in the center of the play area, with all 111 fireworks tiles (do not include any leftover start tiles) shuffled face down inside the box.
- Remove all action cards marked with "1" in the upper left corner. Then shuffle the remaining action cards and split them into 2 face-down draw piles. Place on either side of the box.
- Give the start player marker to the oldest player, or whoever has most recently watched a fireworks display. Also give that player the fireworks die and launch barrel.
- Remove all other components from the game — they will not be used.
How to Play
Players take turns, in clockwise order, beginning with the start player. This continues until a player triggers the end of the game.
On your turn, carry out these 3 steps:
1. Launch the Die
Put the fireworks die into the launch barrel, then raise the launch barrel high (at least 18 inches above the playing surface) and drop the die into the starry sky box. Then check to see if your launch succeeded or failed.
Success! If at least 1 tile in the box was flipped face up as a result of your launch, then the launch was successful. Proceed to the "Choose Tiles" step of your turn.
Fail! If no tiles were flipped face up as a result of your launch, then you will get a second attempt. First, you must draw an action card (see ACTION CARDS).
2. Choose Tiles
Look at the die, wherever it has landed. The number of paw prints (1–3) showing on the die determines how many fireworks tiles you get to take. Take tiles of your choice until you have reached the allowed number of tiles -OR- until there are no more available tiles. Any fireworks tiles that are face up in the starry sky box are available to be taken. Face-down tiles cannot be taken, nor can any tiles that landed outside the box, no matter whether they landed face up or face down.
At the end of your turn, resolve any function tiles that are revealed (see FUNCTION TILES). Then return to the starry sky box any fireworks tiles that landed outside the box. Keep them in the same orientation they were in (face up or face down) when they landed.
ROLLING THE FIREWORKS SYMBOL: If the die shows the fireworks symbol, you take and place 1 available tile of your choice. When your turn is over, you then immediately take another turn!
3. Place Tiles
Place the tiles you took this turn anywhere you wish on your city board. Each space can only hold 1 tile. You are always allowed to rearrange your fireworks tiles, including those you took on previous turns!
Action Cards
When you draw an action card, there are 2 important pieces of information on the card: The illustration shows you how to launch the fireworks die into the box. The number in the top left indicates how many players must participate. If the number is "2" or "2–4" you must select other players to help you. Once you have launched the die, you will choose tiles, as normal. But the players who helped you get to choose tiles as well! You choose the first tile, then each helper in clockwise order. Continue this way until each participating player has chosen the number of tiles indicated by the die -OR- until there are no more available tiles.
Cooperation Example: Audrey draws the "Ring of Fire" action card, which requires 2 players. She asks Miguel, who currently has the fewest tiles, for help. After she launches, the die shows 2 paws, and there are 3 face-up tiles in the box. Audrey takes 1 tile, then Miguel takes 1, then Audrey takes a second tile. Miguel would be allowed to take a second tile also, but there are no more tiles available for him to take.
When your turn is over, place your action card in the discard pile. If a draw pile runs out during play, reshuffle the discards to form a new draw pile.
Function Tiles
When a function tile is flipped face up during a player's turn, its effect is resolved at the end of that turn (i.e., after all tiles are chosen and placed), then removed from the game.
If 2 or more identical function tiles are flipped face up during the same turn, only 1 of them is resolved; the other remains in the box to be resolved on the next turn.
If 2 or more different function tiles are flipped face up during the same turn, they are all resolved, in the following order: Gale > Heavy Rain > Fireworks.
Gale: Each player chooses a tile from their city board and passes it to the player on their left. (If any player only has 2 start tiles on their city board, discard the function tile without resolving it.)
Heavy Rain: Each player chooses a tile from their city board and returns it to the box face down. (If any player only has 2 start tiles on their city board, discard the function tile without resolving it.)
Fireworks: When your turn is over, immediately take another turn. (If the die is showing the fireworks symbol also, discard the function tile without resolving it.)
End of the Game
The game end is triggered when any player has filled all 23 spaces on their city board. When this happens, finish out the current round, so that all players will have an equal number of turns. Once the last player has taken their final turn, the players are not allowed to rearrange their fireworks tiles any longer.
Score each player's fireworks display (see SCORING FIREWORKS). Turn the starry sky box upside down and move players' score markers on the score track printed on the box bottom. The player who has the highest score wins!
Scoring Fireworks
When scoring your fireworks, only score those formations that are complete. (Big fireworks, which score 1 point even when incomplete, are the only exception to this.)
Big Fireworks
- same shape and same color = 10 points
- same shape, different colors = 7 points
- same color, different shapes = 6 points
- incomplete = 1 point
Kaleidoscopes
- same shape and same color = 2 points
- same shape, different colors = 3 points
Saturns
- same shape and same color = 3 points
- same shape, different colors = 2 points
Small Flowers: 1 point each.
Special Tiles: You score 1|2|3|4|10 points for having 1|2|3|4|5+ different types of special tiles in your display. You only score a single set, so even if you have 6 or more special tiles, the maximum you can score for this category is 10 points.
Character Card Bonus: Score bonus points according to the ability listed on your character card.
- Maicho Cat: Score +3 points if you have 4 different special tiles.
- Kohana Cat: Score 2 points per small flower (instead of 1).
- Manka Cat: Score +3 points if you have 2 kaleidoscopes.
- Tosei Cat: Score +3 points if you have 2 saturns.
- Kagiya Cat: Score +3 points if you have 1 kaleidoscope, 1 saturn, and 1 small flower.
- Tamaya Cat: Score +3 points if you have 2 completed big fireworks.
- Fat Puppy: Score 1|3|5|7|13 points for your special tiles instead.
Scoring Example: This is what Aza's city board looks like at the end of the game. He scores his big fireworks (7 points), kaleidoscopes (3 points), saturns (5 points), small flowers (2 points), special tiles (2 points), and character card bonus (3 points), for a total of 22 points.
Notes & Clarifications
- It's a good idea to let everyone practice launching the die once or twice before the game actually begins.
- You are allowed to carefully mound the tiles together in the box before launching the die on your turn, so long as you do not flip any tiles in the process.
- The maximum number of consecutive turns a player can take is 3 (i.e., 1 bonus turn from a Fireworks function tile and 1 bonus turn from rolling the Fireworks symbol on the die).
- If the number of tiles you are allowed to take on a turn is more than the number of remaining spaces on your city board, you only take as many tiles as you have remaining spaces.
Advanced Variant
In this variant, you will draw an action card on every turn. During setup, shuffle all 50 action cards together, then form 2 face-down draw piles.
At the start of your turn, you must draw an action card.
- If the number in the top left is "2" or "2–4" you must select other players to help you.
- If the number in the top left is "1" then you will launch the die by yourself.
Unlike in the standard game, if your first launch fails, you do NOT get another attempt. Instead, your turn is immediately over.
Speed Variant
In this variant, it's all about how fast you can grab the fireworks tiles that you want.
Make these changes to the standard setup:
- Remove all 7 function tiles from the game.
- Put all the fireworks tiles face up in the starry sky box.
As soon as the game begins, all players begin simultaneously grabbing fireworks tiles from the box and placing them on their city boards. As in the standard game, you are allowed to rearrange the fireworks tiles on your city board at any time.
When any player has filled up their entire city board, they must announce that aloud, and the game ends immediately. When this happens, no one is allowed to place any more fireworks tiles or do any further rearranging of the tiles on their city board.