Katamino Duo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Content
  • A) The Pieces
  • B) The Penta
  • C) The Puzzle Cards (Penta 3 and Penta 4)
• Game Rules
  • Goal of the Game
  • Set Up
  • How to Play
  • End of the Game
• 2 Player Variants
  • Duels Between Child & Adult
  • Duels for Two Players at Different Levels
  • 3D Duels
• Solo Variants
  • Challenges Solo
  • Solo in 3D Mode
  • Solo in Puzzle Mode
  • 3D Construction
• Introduction for Ages 3 and Up
  • Puzzle Activities for Ages 3+
• Balancing Game: Kataboom!
• 3D Construction
• 3D Puzzle Challenges
• Traditional Katamino

Game Content

7 Pentaminos, 5 Tetraminos, 6 Miniminos, 1 game board, 2 sliders, 27 double-sided puzzle cards, 9 double-sided two-colored cards for children and parents, 4 double-sided 3D challenge cards, 1 rulebook.

• 7 Pentaminos: numbered 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
• 5 Tetraminos: lettered A, B, C, D, E.
• 6 Miniminos: V, V, W, W, X, Y.

A) The Pieces

The 18 pieces of the game represent different sets of assembled single cubes: 7 Pentaminos covering 5 spaces on the board; 5 Tetraminos covering 4 spaces; 6 Miniminos covering 1, 2 or 3 spaces. The pieces can be rotated and placed in any direction, but must lay flat when using the board or making a 2-D shape.

B) The Penta

A Penta is a set of several play pieces that perfectly fills the surface of the board as defined by the slider. As you move the slider to the next highest value, the surface of the Penta to complete will increase (see example: Pentas 3, 4, 5, 6).

C) The Puzzle Cards (Penta 3 and Penta 4)

The Puzzle cards are used when playing in duels, and indicate which pieces each player must use to complete the first Penta.

They are divided in two parts, with each player receiving pieces indicated on their half of the card.

Each Puzzle card is used for a round of 3 Duels, except the beginners cards which are for 4 Duels.

Difficulty levels:

• Beginner: the 3 yellow cards
• Easy: the 4 green cards
• Normal: the 6 blue cards
• Difficult: the 6 red cards
• Expert: the 8 black cards

The 9 two-colored cards can be used to balance duels between players of different levels (see Duels Between Child & Adult).

The cards with a checkered border are for 3D challenges (see 3D Duels and Solo Variants).

Game Rules

Goal of the Game

Complete Pentas 3, 4, 5 and 6 as quickly as possible to score points.

Set Up

• Each player sits on one side of the board, facing each other.
• The 18 pieces of the game are placed between them, on the table.
• Both players agree on a difficulty level (beginner, easy, normal, difficult, expert).
• Each player takes a card with the color corresponding to the chosen difficulty level and places it between both players (either side of the card does not matter). One half of the card indicates the pieces player 1 needs to use, and the other half the pieces for player 2.
• Each player places their slider on the game board: between numbers 3 and 4 for the yellow or green cards and between numbers 4 and 5 for the blue, red or black cards.

How to Play

(Beginner's difficulty example)

1. Both players should agree on a starting signal. When the start is signaled, players race to be the first to complete their Penta; completely cover their part of the board with their assigned pieces. The first player to do this wins the match (see Fig 1).
2. The player who lost the duel chooses a Pentamino from the pieces not used and gives it to their opponent. Winner scores one point, and chooses a Pentamino for their opponent.
3. Both players move their slider up one space.
4. On the starting signal, using the same pieces as their first Penta and the extra piece received from their opponent, each player completes their new Penta. The winner of this 2nd duel scores 1 point (see Fig. 2).
5. Players then proceed the same way, completing all the following Pentas (receive an extra piece from their opponent, move their slider up and start a new duel) (see Fig. 3).
6. For the last duel (Penta 6) only one slider is used between numbers 6 and 7 of the board (see Fig. 4), except for the green cards which end with a Penta 5.

End of the Game

The player with the highest score wins the game. In case of a tie, players swap the last duel's piece they gave to each other and duel each other one last time.

2 Player Variants

Duels Between Child & Adult

Using the 9 two-colored cards yellow/purple.

These cards can be used to balance duels between children and parents by playing on two different difficulty levels.

• The child plays with the pieces indicated on the yellow half of the card, placing their slider between numbers 3 and 4 of the board and starts their 1st duel with a Penta 3.
• The adult plays with the pieces indicated on the purple half of the card, placing their slider between numbers 4 and 5 of the board and starts their 1st duel with a Penta 4.

Each game plays in 3 duels.

Duels for Two Players at Different Levels

Using the red and black Puzzle cards.

Before the 1st duel, the player for whom the difficulty needs to be decreased replaces one of their playing pieces with 2 equivalent pieces left on the table.

(The allowed equivalences, one piece replaced by two smaller pieces of the same total size, are illustrated in the source.)

Each game plays in 3 duels (Penta 4, 5 and 6).

3D Duels

Using the checkered black & white border 3D card on green background A and A'.

Example of a game: the first round begins with the first duel (1 against 1').

1. Alternating turns, each player chooses and gives 1 Pentamino then 1 Tetramino to their opponent until one has 3 Pentaminos and 2 Tetraminos and the other player 3 Pentaminos and 3 Tetraminos. NB: Pentaminos and Tetraminos are called Pentas and Tetras on these cards.
2. Each player then takes the Miniminos indicated on their card.
3. On the starting signal, the game begins.

The first player who completes a 2x3x5 structure wins the first round (Did you know this block is called a parallelepiped? The structure you make occupies the same space as 30 single cube Miniminos).

Play through the other two challenges on the card for a total of 3 matches. The person winning the most matches wins the game!

Solo Variants

Challenges Solo

Using the checkered black & pink border 3D card on white background.

There are 6 solo challenges with a combination 3D and Puzzle modes.

1. Choose a card and a challenge number, take the playing pieces indicated on the card and build a 3x3x3 structure (27 cubes).
2. After solving the structure, take the playing board and place a slider between numbers 6 and 7. Add to your pieces one of these Miniminos (shown in the source), now complete a Penta 6, placing all pieces into the board so they lay flat.
3. Move the slider one space up, add one of the remaining Pentaminos and complete a Penta 7.
4. Progress in the same fashion to complete Pentas 8, 9 and 10.

If you wish to reduce the difficulty, replace 1 Tetramino with two Miniminos, or 1 Pentamino with two Miniminos (combinations shown in the source).

Solo in 3D Mode

Using the checkered black & pink border 3D card on beige background: choose a card and a challenge number, take the playing pieces indicated on the card and build a structure while respecting the dimensions on the top left corner of the card.

Using the blue, red and black Penta 4 Puzzle cards: choose a Penta 4 Puzzle card. Take the pieces indicated on one half of the card and add 3 Pentaminos and 1 Minimino. Build a 3x3x4 structure (36 cubes).

Solo in Puzzle Mode

Traditional Katamino game: see Traditional Katamino.

3D Construction

Build, alone or with other players, the 3D structures depicted in this rulebook and try to create new ones (see 3D Construction).

Introduction for Ages 3 and Up

Katamino Family is also a logic and dexterity game to introduce little children to geometry and develop their fine motor-skills as well as their imagination:

• Puzzles: Present the child with the flat puzzles included in this rulebook and ask them to reproduce them. You can also try to create new ones!
• Kataboom! the balancing game: the players take turns balancing a piece on top of other pieces to make a structure. The last player to place a piece without causing the structure to collapse is declared the winner.

Puzzle Activities for Ages 3+

Ask the child to complete the following flat puzzles, and try to invent new ones together! Add the blue Pentamino, change a few pieces, create other animals! (The puzzles are pictures in the source.)

Balancing Game: Kataboom!

2 players or more.

Players take turns balancing a piece on top of the previous one. The last player to place a piece without causing the structure to collapse is the winner!

Introduction to stacking: 18 models of 2 or 3 pieces (pictured in the source).

Example:

• Put aside 2 small red pieces (which will not be used for Kataboom).
• Make a starting base using 2 or 3 pieces from one of the 18 models above. In the example, we use the 3 pieces of model n°1 and build the base before starting the game:

1. The first player chooses one of the pieces remaining on the table and places it as they wish on the starting structure.
2. The next player does the same, and so on.
3. The last player to place a piece without causing the structure to collapse is the winner!

You may use both hands, and even nudge parts of the structure if necessary.

3D Construction

Perform the balance challenges pictured, creating the structures shown. Try swapping one or more parts for another of the same size; can you still make the structure?

Structures pictured in the source: 3x3x6 (54 cubes), 4x3x4 (48 cubes), 3x3x5 (45 cubes), 2x3x5 (30 cubes), 3x3x3 (27 cubes), 3x3x4 (36 cubes), 2x3x3 (18 cubes), 2x2x4 (16 cubes), 2x2x7 (28 cubes), 2x2x6 (24 cubes), 2x2x3 (12 cubes).

3D Puzzle Challenges

Using only the pieces shown (Miniminos V, W, X, Y, the Tetraminos and Pentaminos indicated), complete 3x4 puzzles on grid Puzzle A. Try to transform your puzzle into a 2x2x3 structure. The examples in the source show 18 out of 43 possibilities!

1. Select the pieces to complete a puzzle according to the grids B to F:
   • Puzzle B = 16 cubes (example structure: 2x2x4)
   • Puzzle C = 18 cubes (example structure: 2x3x3)
   • Puzzle D = 24 cubes (example structure: 2x3x4)
   • Puzzle E = 27 cubes (example structure: 3x3x3)
   • Puzzle F = 36 cubes (example structure: 3x3x4)
2. After you complete the puzzle transform your pieces into a structure.

Traditional Katamino

Our Katamino Classic game has over 500 challenges! Before you move on to that, try the 168 challenges you can complete with Katamino Family.

168 challenges to solve (the challenge tables for Cards 1 to 6 are pictured in the source).

1. Choose a card and a challenge number.
2. Set the slider between numbers 3 and 4 on the game board.
3. Take the 4 playing pieces indicated in column Penta 3 of the selected challenge and complete Penta 3.
4. Add the Pentamino indicated in column 4 to your playing pieces and complete Penta 4.
5. In the same fashion, move your slider up one space, and add the Pentamino indicated in the next column to complete Pentas 5, 6 and 7.
6. 3D variant: add the V piece to the 8 pieces of a Penta 7 and build a 36 cubes (3x3x4).