Knitting Circle
Knitting Circle Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Knitting Circle is a stand-alone follow up to the hit spatial puzzle game Calico! In this gorgeous puzzly tile-laying game for the whole family, players are knitters competing to create the coziest, most beautiful assortment of garments. The game takes place over six rounds, and the gameplay for each round is very simple. First, collect yarn from the central basket in the yarn drafting phase, then knit it into garments in the crafting phase. As you choose yarn and knit garments, you must do your best to get the color combinations and patterns just right! Win the game by having the most victory points at the end. You can earn victory points in a variety of ways: by completing garments, matching specific garment criteria and adding buttons, and fulfilling bonus scoring conditions that each new garment adds. Along the way, your furry feline friend can help you out by reaching their grabby paws into the bag to secure you the best yarn!
Components
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- 144 Yarn Tiles (24 each of 6 colors)
- 8 Knitting Needle Tokens
- 4 Unique Deluxe Wooden Cat Tokens
- 4 Unique Double-sided Player Boards
- 18 Unique Double-sided Request Cards
- 1 First Player Marker
- 12 Grabby Paw Tokens
- 1 Deluxe Cloth Yarn Bag
- 12 Ugly Garment Button Tokens
- 1 Rulebook
- 90 Button Tokens (30 each of 3 types: Color, Pattern, Garment)
- 84 Garment Cards (12-16 each of 6 types)
- 2 Unique Double-sided Central Knitting Circle Boards
Setup
- Give each player a Player Board and 2 Knitting Needle Tokens.
- Place all of the Yarn Tiles in the Yarn Bag and shuffle them thoroughly.
- Use the appropriate Central Knitting Circle Board based on the player count, and place it in the center of the play area within easy reach of all players.
- Place the Cat Tokens for each player on the starting spaces at random on the Central Knitting Circle Board.
- Give the player whose Cat Token was placed on the first player space (indicated with a star) the First Player Marker.
- Remove 6 Yarn Tiles (one of each of the 6 colors) from the Yarn Bag and place them in the center of the Central Knitting Circle Board. (This will be used to track rounds - see step 12)
- Place 2 random Yarn Tiles from the Yarn Bag next to each space on the Central Knitting Circle Board and flip them to the appropriate orientation (knit or purl) based on the space they are adjacent to.
- Give each player two random Yarn Tiles from the Yarn Bag. Place these in each player's Personal Yarn Bowl on their Player Board.
- Shuffle each of the Button Token types/shapes and place them in facedown piles within easy reach of all players. Give each player 2 of each type/shape. Each player flips these over and adds them to the slots in their workspace in the center of their Player Board.
- Place the Grabby Paw tokens and Ugly Garment Button Tokens within easy reach of all players and give each player 1 Grabby Paw Token.
- Shuffle each of the 6 decks of Garment Cards and place them in stacks within easy reach of all players. Each player chooses any single garment type and then draws 2 Garment Cards of that type and chooses one. (Note: players will likely want to choose a garment type based on the Button Tokens they received) Each player places the card they chose in their play area and places one of their Knitting Needle Tokens onto it. Players place the card they did not choose facedown on the bottom of the matching Garment Card deck.
- The player with the First Player Marker selects one of the 6 Yarn Tiles in the center of the Central Knitting Circle Board and adds it to any yarn slot around the Central Knitting Circle Board, replacing the Yarn Tile in that slot and discarding it to the Yarn Bag (5 Yarn Tiles will remain on the Central Knitting Circle Board).
Advanced Setup
A1. Shuffle the deck of Request Cards and deal 4 of them with the Grabby Paw bonus side up (top right corner of the card) within view of all players.
When playing with the Request Cards, players gain bonus points and Grabby Paws for completing the specific requests on each of the cards. If a player is the first to complete the conditions of a Request Card, they may take a Grabby Paw Token from the supply as a bonus. If two players complete the conditions in the same round, they may both take a Grabby Paw. At the end of the round, any Request Cards that have been completed are flipped over to indicate that no further Grabby Paws may be gained, but all players may still complete any number of Request Cards in order to score the points printed on them at the end of the game.
3-Player Setup Example
The rulebook illustrates a full 3-player setup, numbered to match steps 1-12 and A1 above: each player receives a Player Board and Knitting Needle Tokens (1); Yarn Tiles go into the Deluxe Cloth Yarn Bag (2); the 3-player Central Knitting Circle Board is placed centrally (3); Cat Tokens are placed at random on the starting spaces (4); the player on the starred space takes the First Player Marker (5); 6 Yarn Tiles (one per color) are placed in the center to track rounds (6); 2 random Yarn Tiles are placed next to each space, flipped to the correct knit/purl orientation (7); each player gets 2 random Yarn Tiles in their Personal Yarn Bowl (8); Button Tokens are shuffled, dealt 2 of each type per player, and flipped into each player's workspace (9); Grabby Paw and Ugly Garment Button Tokens are set out, with 1 Grabby Paw per player (10); each player chooses a garment type, draws 2 Garment Cards of that type, keeps one, and returns the other to the bottom of its deck (11); and the First Player selects one of the 6 center Yarn Tiles and swaps it into a yarn slot around the board, discarding the replaced tile to the bag (12).
The example also shows four sample Request Cards used in Advanced Setup:
- Same Stripes — 2 garments with identical stripe patterns.
- Perfectly Tailored — 2 garments that are length 6.
- Garment Master — 5+ garment buttons on garments (any combination).
- Funky Feet — Mismatched socks (same length, but different patterns).
Gameplay
Knitting Circle is played over 6 rounds. Each round has two phases: the Yarn Drafting Phase and the Crafting Phase.
Yarn Drafting Phase
Players complete the Yarn Drafting Phase in turn order, starting with the First Player and proceeding clockwise until each player has taken 4 turns each round.
- On each turn during the Yarn Drafting Phase, you must move your Cat Token 1 or 2 spaces in the clockwise direction around the Central Knitting Circle Board to one of the next two available spaces (skipping unavailable spaces) and select one of the available Yarn Tiles adjacent to the space you move to. (Note: You must always move either 1 or 2 spaces to the next available space. A space is available if it does not have another Cat Token on it and has at least 1 Yarn Tile adjacent to it. Therefore, you must always skip over any occupied spaces and spaces with no remaining Yarn Tiles and select from the next available spaces.)
- When you select a Yarn Tile, place it in the next available slot along the top of your Player Board. (Important Note: Yarn Tiles must stay in the orientation (knit or purl) they were drafted in. They may not be flipped during the Yarn Drafting Phase.)
Play passes to the next player in clockwise order.
Play continues until all players have drafted exactly 4 Yarn Tiles from the Central Knitting Circle Board and have filled all 4 slots along the top of their Player Board.
The Yarn Drafting Phase then ends and players proceed to the Crafting Phase.
Crafting Phase
Players carry out the Crafting Phase simultaneously. There are no turns. During the Crafting Phase, you may carry out any number of the following actions, as long as you have the required resources.
Start a Garment
You will begin the game with 1 Garment Card, but to start a garment, you must have an available Knitting Needle Token (you must not have more than 1 Garment already in progress) and you must discard 1 Yarn Tile of the corresponding card color to the Yarn Bag (the required color for each matches the color of the card back, and the symbol on the top righthand corner of the card back). Draw 2 cards from the corresponding Garment Card deck and choose one (Note: Garment Cards of each type have the same requirements, but different bonuses for completion). Place the card you chose in your play area and place one of your Knitting Needle Tokens onto it. Place the card you did not choose facedown on the bottom of the matching Garment Card deck.
Knit
Take any of your available Yarn Tiles and place it onto a space on one of your active Garments (Garments with a Knitting Needle Token on them and available spaces to fill). Yarn Tiles must only be placed in spaces that match their orientation - knit tiles (side with 'V' pattern) in knit spaces and purl tiles (side with solid color) in purl spaces. Spaces on Garments must always be filled from top to bottom. Yarn Tokens taken from your Personal Yarn Bowl on your Player Board are flexible, and may be flipped to either their knit or purl sides. If you added a Yarn Tile to a space that provides a bonus Yarn Tile or Grabby Paw Token, take it immediately from the Yarn Bag or Grabby Paw supply and place it into your Personal Yarn Bowl on your Player Board or Grabby Paw Token Slot - you may use these immediately to complete more actions!
Flip Yarn
You may discard any 1 Yarn Tile to the Yarn Bag in order to flip the orientation (from knit to purl or purl to knit) of any 1 other Yarn Tile.
Use Grabby Paw Token
You may discard 1 Grabby Paw Token from your Player Board to the supply in order to search the Yarn Bag for a Yarn Tile of your choice! Place the Yarn Tile into your Personal Yarn Bowl on your Player Board.
Complete a Garment
If you have filled all of the mandatory spaces on a Garment Card, you may 'cast off' and complete the garment. The mandatory spaces on the Garment Card are the ones at the top of the card that are lighter in color - the final mandatory space on each garment is the first slot that has a number of points indicated to the left of the space. To complete a garment, remove the Knitting Needle Token from the garment. Check the bonus conditions at the bottom of the garment card. If any of them are immediate rewards, collect the reward(s) now (either Yarn Tiles from the Yarn Bag or Grabby Paw Tokens from the supply) and place them into your Personal Yarn Bowl on your Player Board or Grabby Paw Token Slot. Check to see if your completed Garment meets any of the criteria of the Buttons in your workspace on your Player Board. Check to see if the Garment you completed contains all of the color(s) from one of the Color Buttons, matches the pattern of one of the Pattern Buttons, and/or is of a matching Garment Type of one of the Garment Buttons. If so, take the corresponding Button Token(s) from your workspace and place them above the Garment Card to indicate that they have been completed. Do not immediately refill your workspace with Button Tokens - this only happens at the end of each round, once the Action Phase has ended.
(Note: you may only have 1 of each of the 3 Button Token shapes/types adjacent to each Garment. If the criteria for 2 Buttons of the same shape/type are satisfied by your garment, choose which 1 of the 2 you will place above the garment.)
If your garment was completed without ANY pattern (does not meet the criteria for stripes, colorblock, symmetrical, or solid - see page 12 for descriptions), take an Ugly Garment Button Token from the supply and place it below the Garment Card. (At the end of the game, each Ugly Garment Button Token will be worth -3 points).
Garment Card Anatomy
- Garment Type — icon at the top of the card indicating which of the 6 garment types the card is.
- Mandatory Spaces — the lighter-colored spaces at the top of the card; the final mandatory space is the first one with a point value to its left.
- Optional Spaces — the darker-colored spaces below the mandatory spaces; filling these is not required to complete the garment but scores additional points.
- Completion Bonus — the reward shown at the bottom of the card, granted when the garment is completed.
Round End
Once all players have completed all of the actions they would like to take, the round ends and the following is completed to set up for the next round (Note: at the end of the 6th round, proceed directly to Scoring and skip these steps):
- Each player may transfer any unplaced Yarn Tiles from the slots along the top of their Player Board to their Personal Yarn Bowl on their Player Board. However, each player may only keep 2 Yarn Tiles in their Personal Yarn Bowl for the next round. If you have more than 2 Yarn Tiles, any excess must be discarded back to the Yarn Bag. (Players will generally want to make sure they have used as many of their Yarn Tiles as possible during the Crafting Phase by carrying out actions in order to minimize tiles that must be discarded in this way)
- Each player refills the workspace on their Player Board with new Button Tokens drawn from the appropriate stacks to fill any empty slots. Players should always have 6 Button Tokens in their workspace at the beginning of each round.
- Starting with the space containing the Cat Token of the First Player and moving clockwise, fill all open yarn spaces around the Central Knitting Circle Board by drawing tiles randomly from the Yarn Bag, filling the spaces with tiles, and flipping them to their correct orientation based on their location.
- Pass the First Player Marker clockwise to the next player. The new first player selects one of the remaining Yarn Tiles in the center of the Central Knitting Circle Board and adds it to any yarn slot, replacing the Yarn Tile in that slot and discarding it to the Yarn Bag.
Game End
The game ends at the end of the 6th Round. The 6th round will be the round when the final Yarn Tile of the 6 Yarn Tiles in the center of the Central Knitting Circle Board is added. The game will proceed to scoring once both phases of the 6th Round have been completed.
Scoring
Incomplete Garments
Incomplete garments do not score. At the end of the game, remove any incomplete garments (including Yarn Tiles) from players' play areas and return them to the game box.
Buttons
Add up the total number of points printed on all Button Tokens above each of your completed garments.
Garments
Add up the total number of points adjacent to the lowest filled yarn slot on each of your completed Garment Cards.
Garment Bonuses
Add up the total number of points from any bonuses at the bottoms of Garment Cards. See scoring example and clarifications section for more information on how to score each bonus.
Ugly Garment Buttons
Subtract 3 points for each Ugly Button Token you have below your garments. (Note: Incomplete Garment Cards do not receive Ugly Button Tokens, only completed ones do.)
Request Cards (Advanced Only)
If playing with the Advanced Setup rules and using Request Cards, add up the total points from completed Request Cards. (Note: Multiple players may score each of the Request Cards)
Examples shown: Same Stripes (2 garments with identical stripe patterns), Perfectly Tailored (2 garments that are length 6), Stretch Goals (2 full length garments of the same type).
The player with the most total points wins! In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most remaining Yarn Tiles wins. If still tied, the players share the victory!
Scoring Example
The example play area shows one incomplete garment (does not score - return it to the game box) alongside six completed garments, illustrating how each scoring category is tallied:
- A completed sock, scored 3 times for having 3 garments with all spaces filled.
- A completed hat, scored 2 times for having 2 garments with 3 buttons.
- A completed pair of long johns, scored 1 time for having 1 striped garment.
- A completed sock, scored 3 times for having 3 garments with all spaces filled.
- A completed sweater, scored 1 time for having 1 garment type with 1 or more garments (socks).
- A completed mitten, scored 2 times for having 5 total green Yarn Tiles on garments.
Two example Request Cards are also shown as completed: Same Stripes (2 garments with identical stripe patterns) and Perfectly Tailored (2 garments that are length 6), alongside two Player Board bonus tiles: Favorite Color (completed for having 8 purple Yarn Tiles - 7+ of any 1 color) and Garment Master (completed for having 5 Garment Buttons on garments - 5+ garment buttons on garments, any combination).
The example scoring table totals each category (Buttons, Garments, Garment Bonuses, Ugly Buttons, Request Cards, Total) across four sample players (EV, DI, JC, SS), with EV totaling 73, DI totaling 70, JC totaling 72, and SS totaling 67 points.
Pattern Explanations
As you complete Garments, you must create one of four patterns based on the arrangement of different colors, otherwise your garment will receive an Ugly Button Token! The possible patterns are:
Stripes
Completed garment must have exactly two alternating colors. Could be A,B,A,B,A… or B,A,B,A,A... Minimum length = 3.
Colorblock
Completed garment must have all colors in 'blocks' (sequential groups) of 2 or more, and all tiles of each color must be within the same 'block' (no repeating the same color in different blocks). Sequence could be: A, A, B, B, B, C, C or A, A, A, B, B, B, or A, A, B, B ...etc. Minimum length = 4.
Symmetrical
Completed garment must be vertically symmetrical, meaning that it reads the same from top to bottom and bottom to top. Sequence could be: A, B, C, B, A or A, B, B, A or A, B, C, D, C, B, A or A, A, B, B, A, A ...etc. Minimum length = 4.
(Important Note: In order to count as a symmetrical garment, a garment must NOT also be a Stripe or a Solid, even though a striped or solid garment may also be vertically symmetrical. For example: A, B, A, B, A would be classified as a Stripes garment, NOT a Symmetrical garment and A, A, A would be classified as a Solid garment, NOT a Symmetrical garment.)
Solid
Completed garment must have all the same color. Sequence is A, A, A… Minimum length = 3.
Clarifications
Request Cards
Request Cards require specific conditions to be met to complete them. The conditions are listed on each card and the following are additional clarifications:
1 - (the published rulebook leaves this line as a placeholder) 2 - (the published rulebook leaves this line as a placeholder)
Garment Bonuses
Garment Card Bonuses are listed on the bottoms of each Garment Card and the following are additional clarifications:
1 - (the published rulebook leaves this line as a placeholder) 2 - (the published rulebook leaves this line as a placeholder)
Solo Mode
Knitting Circle can be played solo! Follow the multiplayer gameplay and setup rules for 2 players, with the following exceptions:
When placing Cat Tokens, place your chosen Cat Token on the first player space of the Central Knitting Circle Board and place another Cat Token of your choice to be the solo opponent cat on the other starting space.
In Solo mode, throughout the game, you will always be the 'First Player'. This means that at the beginning of the game, and the end of rounds, you will always be the one to choose a Yarn Tile from center of the Central Knitting Circle Board and add it to any yarn slot, removing the Yarn Tile in that slot and discarding it to the Yarn Bag. You will also always be the first to draft in the Yarn Drafting Phase.
Yarn Drafting Phase
You play the Yarn Drafting Phase in the solo mode the exact same way that you play in the multiplayer mode, however, there are specific rules for how to control your solo opponent. The solo opponent alternates taking tiles with their Cat Token based on the results of a coin flip until both you and the opponent player have taken 4 Yarn Tiles each.
The Yarn Drafting Phase begins with you taking the first turn moving and selecting a Yarn Tile (per the standard multiplayer rules). Then, you will use the First Player Token as a solo mode coin to determine where the opponent player will move. Flip the First Player Token as you would a coin, and the side that lands faceup will dictate the next slot that the solo opponent will move their Cat Token to. If the result is 'knit', they will move to the next available 'knit' space. If the result is 'purl', they will move to the next available 'purl' space. When the solo opponent moves to a space, remove the Yarn Tile nearest to the Central Knitting Circle Board and place it to the side of the play area, removing it from the game and acting as a turn counter for the solo opponent.
Play continues until both you and the solo opponent have drafted exactly 4 Yarn Tiles from the Central Knitting Circle Board.
Crafting Phase
The Crafting Phase proceeds as described in the multiplayer mode with no exceptions.
Request Cards work the same as in multiplayer mode, with the following exception: if you complete a Request Card in rounds 1-4, you gain a Grabby Paw Token. If you complete a Request Card in rounds 5-6, you do not gain a Grabby Paw Token.
Scoring
Scoring is conducted the same as in a multiplayer game. The solo opponent does not score. You may play solo mode to compete against yourself, or challenge your friends to see who can achieve the highest scores! Use the chart below to see how well you did! You can also challenge yourself to the scenarios on page 16 which provide specific game setups and goals that you must achieve to complete each scenario!
| Score | Rating |
|---|---|
| 40+ | Great Start! |
| 50+ | You're Getting It! |
| 60+ | Very Good! |
| 70+ | Excellent! |
| 80+ | Crafty! |
| 90+ | Knitting Pro! |
| 100+ | Knitting Master! |
Scenarios and Achievements
Work your way up the Achievements chart to become a Knitting Circle Knitting Master! Knitting Circle Achievement points can be earned and tracked as you play the game. Below is the Achievements progress chart where up to 6 players can keep track of their overall Achievements. You may begin gaining Achievement points at any time. To do so, write your name above any of the color rows below. Each time you play, you may choose one of the three Achievement modes: Scenarios (page XX-XX), Normal Game (page XX), or Rule Modifications (page XX). From now on, whenever you gain an Achievement point from any of the Achievement modes, fill in the symbol of your color and then come back to this page and fill in the next stitch on your row from left to right.
The chart provides five color-coded player rows (moon, mushroom, leaf, droplet, and flower icons), each a numbered track from 5 to 50 in increments of 5, for players to fill in as they earn Achievement points.
Scenarios Table
(Note: in the printed rulebook, the Scenarios table's Request Cards and Objectives columns are left as unfilled placeholder text - "Placeholder" - for scenarios 4 through 14, and the Objectives column is blank for scenarios 1-3. This reflects the state of the source document as published to Tabletopia.)
| Number | Request Cards | Min. Score | Objectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | 60+ | — |
| 2 | — | 60+ | — |
| 3 | — | 60+ | — |
| 4 | — | 60+ | Placeholder |
| 5 | — | 60+ | Placeholder |
| 6 | — | 60+ | Placeholder |
| 7 | — | 60+ | Placeholder |
| 8 | — | 60+ | Placeholder, Placeholder |
| 9 | — | 60+ | Placeholder, Placeholder |
| 10 | — | 60+ | Placeholder, Placeholder |
| 11 | — | 60+ | Placeholder, Placeholder |
| 12 | — | 60+ | Placeholder, Placeholder |
| 13 | — | 60+ | APlaceholder, Placeholder |
| 14 | — | 60+ | Placeholder, Placeholder |
Each scenario row also has a "Completed" column with the five player-color icons (leaf, mushroom, flower, flower, droplet) for players to mark off when they complete that scenario.
Scenario 1: Rock Solids
The rulebook illustrates Scenario 1 with four copies of a "Rock Solids" Garment Card requirement (2 solid garments) and a minimum score of 60+. (Note: the objective description for Scenario 1 is left as "PLACEHOLDER" in the published rulebook, alongside the five player-color completion icons - moon, droplet, leaf, flower, and mushroom.)
Credits
In early 2019, Flatout Games opened its doors to create the Flatout Games CoLab. The CoLab is an opportunity for the founding members of Flatout Games to team up with awesome folks in the board game industry and make cool things together. Our approach is to build the best possible experiences by involving everyone in the entire process. We strive to build passion and excitement in each of our collaborators through shared efforts and shared profits. This CoLab publication of Knitting Circle is a passion project for everyone involved, and we are all part of an interconnected team - we take risks and are rewarded together.
The Flatout Games CoLab for Knitting Circle is:
Joseph Z. Chen - development, editing, marketing David Iezzi - development Molly Johnson - development, art direction, administration, marketing, editing Dylan Mangini - graphic design, development Robert Melvin - development, logistics Shawn Stankewich - development, project management, art direction, graphic design, writing, editing, production, marketing, crowdfunding, logistics Emily Vincent - design, development, writing, editing
Illustration - Beth Sobel Solo Mode Design - Shawn Stankewich Scenarios and Achievements - Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, Shawn Stankewich, Emily Vincent
AEG Credits: David Lepore - production Adelheid Zimmerman - director of projects
We would like to say thank you to people who have helped make Knitting Circle the amazing game that it is today:
Monique Brooks, Nicolas Bongiu, Haley Shae Brown, Brian Chandler, Randy Flynn, Kevin Grote, Patrick Hayden, Anuj Khattar, Charlotte Kyle, Aaron Russin, Josh Williams, Kyndra Williams, Samantha Vellucci, and John Zinser.
Playtest Northwest, Blue Highway Games, Arcane Comics, Seattle Area Tabletop Designers, and Zephyr Workshop.
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