Flow Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Overview
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Draw a Tile
    • Tile Placement Rules
  • Play an Action Card
  • Giant Wave Phase
• End of the Game
• Action Cards
• Playing with Scenario Cards
  • Additional Setup
  • Scenario Cards

Components

• 1 game board
• 2 Giant Wave dice: 1 black and 1 white
• 3 Bird tokens
• 26 cards: 15 Action cards and 11 Scenario cards
• 51 tiles: 42 Map tiles (without obstacles: 8, 9, 7 and 7 of four tile types; with obstacles: 3, 2, 3 and 3 of the four types), 1 Boat tile, and 8 Scenario tiles with obstacles

You need to provide a 1-minute timer to play the game (a phone works).

Game Overview

"Flow" is a cooperative game where players work together to connect four animal spaces to the Boat tile in the center of the board before they run out of tiles.

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.

2. Put the Boat tile with the 4 open paths facing up on the center of the game board.

3. Leave the 11 Scenario cards and 8 Scenario tiles with obstacles in the box (they are used when playing with scenarios).

4. Shuffle the 42 Map tiles and place them face down in many draw piles next to the game board within easy reach for all players.

5. Place the 3 Bird tokens and 2 Giant Wave dice nearby within easy reach for all players.

6. Shuffle the Action cards and deal a number of them to each player based on the number of players:

   • 1 player: 3 cards
   • 2 players: 2 cards each
   • 3-6 players: 1 card each

   Place the remaining Action cards face down on the table to form a draw pile within reach.

7. The player who most recently watched the film "Flow" goes first and sets a 1-minute timer. If nobody watched the film, then the player who most recently went swimming goes first.

How to Play

To start the first round, the first player starts the 1-minute timer and then takes their turn.

On their turn, the player must perform one of the following actions:

• Draw a tile.
• Play an Action card.

After completing the action, the turn passes to the next player in clockwise order.

Draw a Tile

The player draws a tile from any face-down pile and places it on an empty space on the board. This creates a safe swimming path to the boat for the animals.

If the drawn tile is one of the three tile types pictured in the rulebook (marked in the original with illustrations), instead of placing it on the board, the player may choose to discard it and draw an Action card into their hand. They cannot do this if the Action card draw pile is empty.

Tile Placement Rules

1. The tile must be placed next to an animal space or at least one other tile on the board, connected horizontally or vertically.
2. The tiles must create an uninterrupted path of water from at least one animal space to the newly placed tile. (A tile connected to tiles on the board that would not form an uninterrupted path from an animal space may not be placed.)
3. The tile's edges must match the edges of all the tiles it touches - an edge with an open path must touch an edge with an open path. An edge without an open path must touch another edge without an open path.

Any tile edges may touch the edges of the board (either an open-path edge or a no-path edge may point to the edge of the board).

The player must discard any tile with obstacles without drawing an Action card if:

• there is no valid space to place it on, or
• the only valid placement would lead to both paths of an animal space being completely blocked, making an uninterrupted path to the boat impossible.

After removing one or more tiles from the board (e.g. Giant Wave phase, card effects), all other tiles stay on the board, even if they do not have an uninterrupted path to an animal space.

Important: A player may only draw a tile after the previous player has fully completed their turn.

Play an Action Card

The player plays an Action card from their hand and performs its effect. Then, they discard the card face up, except for the "Calm Waters" card, which gets discarded after next Giant Wave phase. Unless stated otherwise, players can always share information about the cards in their hand.

Giant Wave Phase

Players must always keep an eye on the timer. When the 1-minute timer runs out, the round is over and the game pauses. If the current player has already drawn a tile, then they must first finish their action as usual.

Then, the current player rolls both of the Giant Wave dice and removes all of the tiles from the rows that match the number and color of the dice by discarding them face-up. (Example: a player rolls 3 on the white die and 2 on the black die. All tiles from the white row number 3 and the black row number 2 must be removed.)

Giant Waves do not remove a tile with a Bird token on it. If a tile with a Bird token is about to be removed, remove the Bird token instead. However, if the tile with a Bird token is targeted by both Giant Wave dice (at the intersection of the rolls), both the Bird token and the tile are removed (see Action Cards).

Once the tiles are removed and discarded face-up, restart the timer and start a new round. The turn passes over to the next player in clockwise order.

End of the Game

Winning condition: Players win when all animal spaces are connected to the Boat tile by one or more uninterrupted paths of water by the end of a player's turn.

Losing condition: Players lose when, at the start of a player's turn, there are no tiles left to draw and no Action cards to play.

Action Cards

• Support (x3): Remove and discard any tile, except for the Boat tile, from the board.
• Bird (x3): Put a Bird token on any tile, except for the Boat tile, on the board. If a Giant Wave hits a tile with a Bird token on it, then remove the Bird token instead of the tile. A tile can only have one Bird token on it.
• Current (x3): Take any tile from the board, except for the Boat tile, and place it on a new empty space. The tile must be placed according to the tile placement rules, except it does not need to create an uninterrupted path to an animal space.
• Fishing (x2): Flip over 2 tiles from the draw piles. In future turns, players may choose to draw 1 of these revealed tiles instead of drawing from a draw pile.
• Calm Waters (x2): In the next Giant Wave phase, roll only 1 die instead of 2. The player rolling the die chooses which die to roll. Note: Only one "Calm Waters" card can be played during a 1-minute round.
• Return (x2): Choose any of the previously discarded tiles and place it on the board according to the tile placement rules. You cannot play this card if there are no discarded tiles.

Playing with Scenario Cards

Scenario cards are a key element of the game that add variety, depth and exciting surprises for you and your friends. Some cards introduce Scenario tiles with obstacles on the board, while others impose restrictions, making the game more engaging and challenging. We recommend that your group start using Scenario cards after your first playthrough.

Additional Setup

After setting up the game, carry out these additional setup steps:

1. Place the 8 Scenario tiles with obstacles within reach. They are only used for certain Scenario cards.
2. Shuffle the 11 Scenario cards and place them next to the game board as a face-down draw pile.
3. Agree on a difficulty level and draw the number of Scenario cards as shown below:
   • Very Easy: 1 Scenario card
   • Easy: 2 Scenario cards
   • Medium: 3 Scenario cards
   • Hard: 4 Scenario cards
   • Very Hard: 5 Scenario cards
   • Inconceivable!: 6 Scenario cards
4. Place the drawn Scenario card(s) face up near the game board. Continue playing as usual, following the rules of each Scenario card.

Scenario Cards

• Scenario obstacles (x4): Take 2 Scenario tiles with obstacles. For each of those tiles, roll the 2 Giant Wave dice to determine their position. For example, if the roll indicates the intersection between the white row number 3 and the black row number 4, place the Scenario tile with obstacles there. Reroll the dice if the rolled space is already occupied, is an animal space, or makes reaching the Boat tile with an uninterrupted path impossible.

  Important: Scenario tiles with obstacles are different from regular Map tiles. When placing a tile next to a Scenario tile with obstacles, any of its edges (with or without open paths) may touch the Scenario tile with obstacles.

• No Communication (x2): Players cannot communicate, except during the Giant Wave phase. If you draw both "No Communication" cards, discard one and draw a new Scenario card.

• One Action Card per Round (x1): The group can play only one Action card per round.

• No New Cards (x1): Players cannot discard Map tiles to draw new Action cards during the entire game.

• No "Support" or "Current" Cards for obstacles (x1): "Support" or "Current" Action cards cannot move or remove any tile with obstacles. They can still be used on other tiles.

• Single Path Boat Tile (x1): After setup (and potentially after placing Scenario tiles with obstacles), flip the Boat tile so that it shows the side with only one open path. You may choose the side of the board that the open path faces.

• Obstacles remain after Giant Wave (x1): Obstacles cannot be destroyed by Giant Waves. They will remain on the board.

Note: If the restrictions on Scenario cards conflict with the standard game rules, follow the restrictions provided by the Scenario cards.