HUE
HUE Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
Players try to score the most points by strategically placing cards and choosing the most valuable "Score Card."
Components
30 Cards:
- 20 Standard Cards — 10 Solid, 10 Striped
- 5 Starting Cards — a plus symbol on the back
- 5 Poison Cards — a skull and crossbones on the back
Setup
- Choose a dealer to perform the remaining SETUP steps.
- Shuffle the 5 Poison Cards face down and deal 1 to each player face down.
- Shuffle the 5 Starting Cards face down. Draw 3 Starting Cards and randomly lay them diagonally, next to one another.
- Shuffle the 20 Standard Cards together face down and deal to each player:
- 2-4 players: Deal 5 to each player (6 cards total with Poison)
- 5 players: Deal 4 to each player (5 cards total with Poison)
- Set aside any unused Poison, Starting or Standard Cards without revealing them. They will not be used in the game.
- Players take the Poison Card and dealt cards into their hands. The oldest player is the Start Player and takes the first turn.
Playing the Game
5 colors appear on the cards. Each card contains exactly 3 SQUARE sections, separated by a white line or the card's edge.
On a player's turn, he must play exactly 1 card from his hand and place it in the playing area. A card must be placed so that one of its SQUARE sides touches at least one side of a full SQUARE on another card in the playing area. However, it is not mandatory to match colors when placing cards. In the end, each player will earn a score based on the value of only 3 of the 5 colors.
A player may choose (not mandatory) to play a card so that it covers a portion of a previously played card in the playing area. When covering a card, a player must cover exactly one third (full SQUARE) of any previously played card. Once a card is played, it may never be moved. Play continues clockwise with each player playing a single card until all players have exactly 1 card left in their hands. The card remaining in a player's hand is his/her "Score Card."
Poison Cards
Poison Cards are played (or kept as "Score Cards") just like other cards in the game. However, if a Poison Card is played in a way that its middle SOLID SQUARE (skull and crossbones) is touching any section of matching color, the whole contiguous color area is worth '0'. Poison Cards may be covered by other cards, just like Standard and Starting Cards.
Samples of Full Squares, Square Sides, and Cover Placements
The rules sheet illustrates these concepts with a diagram of cards laid out in the playing area:
- FULL SQUARE — points to an entire, uncovered one-third section of a played card; this is what another card's SQUARE side must touch (or what a covering card must exactly cover).
- EXAMPLE A — 2 SQUARE SIDES: a card placed so that two of its SQUARE sides each touch a full SQUARE on cards already in the playing area.
- EXAMPLE B — 1 SQUARE SIDE: a card placed so that only one of its SQUARE sides touches a full SQUARE on a card already in the playing area.
- Example of a covered SQUARE: a Poison Card's middle SQUARE is shown covered by another card's SQUARE.
- EXAMPLE C — Cover Placement: a card placed on an angle to show it covering exactly one full SQUARE (one third) of a previously played card.
Game End
The game ends when all players have exactly 1 card left in their hand. The last (unplayed) card in players' hands will be used as their "Score Card." The 3 colors on this Score Card will determine the players' combined total score for the game. Additionally, the center color on each player's Score Card (middle SOLID SQUARE or MIDDLE STRIPE) will be worth double that color's value in the playing area.
Players may choose ANY card in their hand as their Score Card. During the game, players may switch their Score Card since this information is secret and isn't determined until they have a single card left in their hand at the end of the game. If a player selects a Poison Card as his Score Card, he scores it as if it were any other card (scoring double the middle value, ignoring the skull and crossbones).
Calculating Color Values
Each color's point value is based on its largest contiguously connected area. There may be several sections of a certain color, but only a color's largest contiguous area will generate its value.
Each SOLID SQUARE counts as 3 points in the contiguous area.
Each SMALL RECTANGLE counts as 1 point in the contiguous area.
In the case of a tie, the Start Player wins. If the Start Player is not involved in the tie, the closest player to the Start Player sitting clockwise, is the winner.
Scoring Examples
In this 3-player game example, Player 1 wins with 28 points!
The rules sheet shows each player's Score Card, split into its top, middle, and bottom SQUARE sections. Remember: the middle section of a Score Card counts as double its value.
- Player 1 — Total: 28. Score Card: top Blue = 4, middle Green = 2×9 (18), bottom Purple = 6. (4 + 18 + 6 = 28)
- Player 2 — Total: 25. Score Card: left Purple = 6, middle Red = 2×7 (14), right Yellow = 5. (6 + 14 + 5 = 25)
- Player 3 — Total: 23. Score Card: top Yellow = 5, middle Red (with skull and crossbones) = 2×7 (14), bottom Blue = 4. (5 + 14 + 4 = 23)
Point Values: the sheet shows a sample playing area used to work out each color's value by tracing its largest contiguous area: Blue: 4, Yellow: 5, Purple: 6, Red: 7, Green: 9. It also shows a "Poisoned Purple Area" — three Purple SQUARE sections that score '0' because they are contiguous with a Poison Card's skull-and-crossbones middle SQUARE.
Game Design and Graphic Design
Chris Handy
Thanks to Playtesters
Jenn Handy, Steve and Teri Sartain, The Widmans, Matt and Grace Paradis, John McCloud, Paul Butler, Jenn Spankowski, Christian and Colleen Montague, Ryan Handy, Jack Handy and John Madvig.
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