Gemblo
Gemblo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Info
1-6 players / ages 6 and up / 20+ minutes
Components
- 1 hexagonal game board
- 108 pieces of various shapes (18 of each color)
The pieces are made up of hexagonal blocks joined together:
- 1 piece made of a single 6-sided block
- 2 pieces made of 2 blocks
- 3 pieces made of 3 blocks
- 5 pieces made of 4 blocks
- 8 pieces made of 5 blocks
Objective
Place the greatest number of blocks of your color on the game board.
Basic Rules
Setup
Set up the game board in front of the players so that everyone can reach every corner of the board. Each player chooses a color and takes the whole set of pieces of that color (18 pieces).
- 6-player game: the entire board is used. The starting points are at its corners.
- 4-player game: only part of the board is used. The starting points are marked with the number 4. Pieces may only be placed within the playing area (shown on the diagram with a dashed line, and marked on the board with hexagon and flower symbols).
- 3-player game: only part of the board is used. The starting points are marked with the number 3. Pieces may only be placed within the playing area (shown on the diagram with a solid line, and marked on the board with a "flower" symbol).
- 2-player game: the same part of the board is used as in the 4-player game, but each player takes 2 full sets of pieces (of two different colors, 36 pieces total).
The diagram of the board shows the playing areas schematically for each player count.
Playing the Game
Randomly choose the first player; play then passes clockwise. On their turn, each player places one piece on the board, starting from their starting point.
Pieces of the same color must be placed near each other, but must not touch one another — the distance between them must be exactly one straight line-segment on the board (see the example in diagram A). In that example, the next piece of the same color may be placed starting at any of positions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, or 7.
Diagrams B and C show different valid ways of placing pieces on the board.
Note: Blocks of the same color may not touch each other edge to edge.
Interception
You may not use a connecting line on the board that passes through another player's pieces. That is, to place your pieces you must choose a line through an open space, rather than "jumping over" pieces of another color. (Example in diagram D: you may not place a red piece at position 4.)
However, you may use a connecting line that runs between two pieces of other colors (as shown in diagram E).
End of Game
Every hexagonal block that is part of a piece you were unable to place on the board counts as one penalty point (-1 point). The player with the fewest penalty points is the winner.
Special Rules for 2 Players
Play follows the same rules as for four players, except each player takes 2 full sets of pieces (2 sets of 18 pieces, of different colors). Each player's first pieces are placed on the opposite starting points of the playing area marked with the number 4, one piece per turn.
Special Rules for 5 Players
In a 5-player game, the pieces of one unused color are placed on the board, as shown in the diagram above. These pieces serve as obstacles that block the placement of the other players' pieces.
Additional Rules: Puzzle Mode
In addition to playing by the basic or special rules, you can use the pieces to create shapes and pictures on the game board.
Credits
Designer: Justin Oh
Copyright © 2015 Korea Boardgames Co., Ltd and Gemblo, Inc. All rights reserved.