Kilim Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Box Contents
• Setup
  • 2-Player Version
• Course of the Game
  • 1st Step: The Market
    • 1. Make an Offer
    • 2. Spy
    • 3. Search
    • 4. Artisan
  • 2nd Step: The Weaving
    • Torn Carpets
  • 3rd Step: End of the Turn
  • End of the Day
• End of the Game
  • Examples of Kilims

Goal of the Game

To weave your Kilim, you will have to take part in the market auctions to seize the most beautiful carpets. Since you are all in competition, you may want the same carpet and will therefore have to propose the best possible offer without ruining yourself.

Once a carpet is acquired, you place it in front of you to compose your work. After 3 days, the Kilims will be judged by the Sultan according to how they were designed. The one who has produced the most beautiful work will then be named High Weaver of the Sultanate!

Box Contents

• 75 Gold cards
• 5 Artisan cards
• 5 Scrap Bag cards
• 5 Spy cards
• 45 Carpet dominoes
• 5 Torn Carpet dominoes
• 3 Perfect Carpet dominoes
• 1 Artisan / Scrap Bag board
• 4 Artisan tokens
• 5 Scraps
• 1 Score pad

Setup

1. Turn the Carpet dominoes face down. Divide them into 3 groups according to their number.

2. Depending on the number of players, replace in each group one or more Carpet dominoes with a Torn Carpet domino (face down):

   • 3 players: 1 Torn Carpet in each group
   • 4 players: 2 Torn Carpets in group 1, 1 Torn Carpet in groups 2 and 3
   • 5 players: 2 Torn Carpets in groups 1 and 2, 1 Torn Carpet in group 3

   The Carpet dominoes removed from the game must remain secret. Then form a pile with each group.

3. Place pile 1, which corresponds to the first day of the game, in the center of the table. Set aside piles 2 and 3 for the following days.

4. Each player chooses a color and receives all the cards of their color.

5. Place the Artisan / Scrap Bag board on one side of the table; place on it the 4 Artisan tokens face up and the 5 Carpet Scraps face down.

6. Everything is ready! To begin the game, turn the first domino of pile 1 face up.

2-Player Version

• Available dominoes: when dividing the face-down dominoes into groups, remove 5 dominoes at random from each group.
• Torn Carpets: 1 Torn Carpet face down in groups 1 and 2.
• Distribution of cards: do not deal the Gold cards with a value higher than 10.

Course of the Game

1st Step: The Market

Each time a Carpet domino is revealed, a turn begins. Each Weaver has a choice:

1. Make an offer
2. Spy on the other Weavers
3. Search the Scrap Bag
4. Call upon the Artisan

Note: The Gold cards used by a player are placed in a face-up pile in front of that player. The three other cards, however, must all be visible at all times.

1. Make an Offer

Players who wish to make an offer place a Gold card face down in front of them. Players reveal their cards at the same time, and the player who made the best offer obtains the coveted domino.

Warning! If several players propose the highest offer, the player who proposed the second highest offer wins the auction.

If all players make the same offer, nobody wins the current auction, but the domino will be given to the player who wins the auction for the next revealed domino. In the same case where the auction would be for the last domino of the day, it is lost, nobody gets it.

Example: The two Gold cards of value 15 cancel each other out; the Green player wins the auction with their Gold card of value 5!

2. Spy

Once per day, and therefore 3 times during the game, players can use their Spy to learn of the competing offers and make their own accordingly.

The Spy card is used at the same time and in the same way as a Gold card.

When the cards are revealed, players who played a Spy card choose a Gold card of their choice and play it.

Example: The Red player played their Spy card. They must make their offer; they can put a Gold card with a value higher than 12 to win it or lower than 12 to leave it to the Blue player. They can also put a Gold card of value 12 so that the Green player wins the offer.

If several players use their Spy card at the same time, they place their offer face down and turn it over simultaneously. The offers are then resolved normally.

3. Search

Once per day, and therefore 3 times during the game, players can use their Scrap Bag card to search the merchant's reserves and obtain a specific Carpet Pattern.

The Scrap Bag card is used at the same time and in the same way as a Gold card. When the cards are revealed, players who played a Scrap Bag card play after the current auction has been resolved.

The player who chose to search must pay an amount of Gold greater than that spent by the player who won the turn's auction.

If a player cannot offer more Gold than the one who won the turn's auction, they cannot access the bag and must discard a Gold card of their choice.

If several players use their Scrap Bag card, they must make a face-down offer, always greater than that made by the player who won the turn's auction. The highest offer determines who will have the right to search the bag. In case of a tie, nobody searches the bag.

If the player has offered enough Gold, they then secretly search among the Scraps and keep the one they want.

The player keeps it face down and can use it at any time during the game. (See Torn Carpets, page 7.)

Carpet Scraps: A Carpet Scrap can have several uses:

• Restore a Torn Carpet
• Fill a hole in the Kilim
• Reweave a Pattern on a domino of the Kilim by placing the Scrap over it

4. Artisan

The Artisan helps the Weavers to fine-tune their Kilim.

The Artisan card is used at the same time and in the same way as a Gold card. When the cards are revealed, players who played an Artisan card play last, after the auction and the Scrap Bag cards.

The player who chose to call upon the Artisan must pay an amount of Gold lower than that spent by the player who won the turn's auction. They then take one of the 4 Artisan tokens and keep it. They can use it at any time until the end of the current day.

Whether or not they used it, the player puts the token back on the Artisan board at the start of a new day. It becomes available again for all players.

If a player cannot offer less Gold than the one who won the turn's auction, they cannot call upon the Artisan and must discard a Gold card of their choice.

The Artisan tokens allow the player to perform one of the following actions:

• Take a Perfect Carpet domino (its Patterns will earn no points but allow filling a gap in the Kilim. The domino may or may not be placed, at any time in the game)
• Rotate a domino (as the player wishes)
• Remove a domino or a Scrap (removed from the game)
• Move a domino or a Scrap (anywhere in the Kilim without moving the other dominoes or rotating it)

If several players use their Artisan card, they must make a face-down offer, always lower than that made by the player who won the turn's auction. The lowest offer determines who can call the Artisan. In case of a tie, nobody can.

2nd Step: The Weaving

When a Weaver wins their first auction, they place their Carpet domino in front of them in whichever orientation they want.

At each new auction won, the player places their new Carpet domino in front of them. This domino must always be placed so as to have 1 Pattern in contact with at least 1 other Pattern already present, and can no longer be moved afterwards. It becomes part of the Kilim and is considered Woven.

The Weaving of the Kilim is the key element to please the Sultan. Kilims are scored as follows at the end of the game:

• The Kilim has a rectangular or square shape: +10 points
• The Kilim has only 3 Types of Pattern: +10 points
• The Kilim has all 5 Types of Pattern: +5 points
• For each group of adjacent identical Patterns: + (X Patterns in the group - 1) points
• For each Pattern, the player who has the largest group: +5 points
• For each torn Pattern: -3 points

Note: two adjacent torn Patterns do not count in the calculation of points.

Torn Carpets

A Torn Carpet always has at least 1 regular Pattern and 1 torn Pattern.

A player who wins a Torn Carpet domino must place it in their Kilim, which will cause them to lose 3 points at the end of the game. Thanks to a Carpet Scrap, the player can restore a Torn Carpet by placing their Scrap over the torn Pattern.

3rd Step: End of the Turn

Once the auctions are over and the special cards (Spy, Scrap Bag and Artisan) are resolved, reveal a new domino from the day's pile. Begin a new turn.

End of the Day

A day ends when there are no more Carpet dominoes to reveal in the current pile. Players then take back their played cards and place the next group of dominoes in the center of the table (if it is the 3rd day that ends, see the paragraph End of the Game). A new day begins!

End of the Game

When the three days have passed, players determine the point value of their Kilim (see The Weaving). The most successful Kilim is chosen by the Sultan, and its Weaver is promised a great future! In case of a tie, the Weaver who has the largest Kilim wins.

Examples of Kilims

First example:

• Rectangular: +0 (contains holes: invalid rectangle)
• 3 or 5 types of Patterns: +10 (contains 3 different Patterns, so 10 points)
• Adjacent Patterns: +13 (for each group of at least 2 identical Patterns: X Patterns - 1)
• Largest group: +15 (for 3 Patterns, this player has a larger group than the other players)
• Torn carpet: -6 (contains 2 torn carpets)
• TOTAL: 32 points

Second example:

• Rectangular: +10 (the Kilim is a rectangle or a square)
• 3 or 5 types of Patterns: +5 (contains 5 different Patterns, so 5 points)
• Adjacent Patterns: +16 (for each group of at least 2 identical Patterns: X Patterns - 1)
• Largest group: +10 (for 2 Patterns, this player has a larger group than the other players)
• Torn carpet: -0 (contains no torn carpet)
• TOTAL: 41 points