Landfall: A Cozy Volcano Island-Building Game

Landfall: A Cozy Volcano Island-Building Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components Overview

Land tiles
Volcanoes
Oasis chips
Player guide
Formation cards (one set per player)

Setup

Give each player:

3 volcanoes (of their color)
3 oasis chips
16 tiles (of their color)
1 player guide
3 formation cards (one set per player). These are your "goal" formations. Each player has the same set of three.

Building the Starting Island

To start, take four green tiles and four beige tiles, and arrange them into the formation below. Your volcanoes start off to the side, and your very first move will always be "landing" a volcano onto the island.

Step 1: Arrange three beige tiles and three green tiles like this.
Step 2: Place an additional green and beige tile on a second layer.

All table space around the island is considered "water".

Game Overview

Here's how Landfall works. More details about each step follow in the sections below.

Grow the island. Land your volcanoes onto the island, and use them to place and rearrange the tiles around them.
Shape the island to match your cards. Use your volcanoes to shape the island into the "Land Formations" on your cards before your opponent!
Place oasis chips to claim a formation. Once you've built a matching land formation, place down an oasis chip to mark it.

First player to place three oasis chips wins!

Actions You May Take on Your Turn

Now that the game is set up, you're ready to play! Green goes first.

On each turn, you get to do two of the actions below (even repeating one, if you like!):

Land a volcano: Land a new volcano onto the island.
Move a volcano: Move a volcano to an adjacent tile.
Place or remove a tile: Place a new tile or remove a tile directly next to one of your volcanoes.
Throw a tile: "Throw" an existing tile directly over the top of one of your volcanoes, to land on the other side of it.

Landing Volcanoes

You may land a new volcano from your hand onto the island. It must land on one of your tiles that's touching water.

All three of your volcanoes may be on the island at the same time (after landing on it individually).

You may only land volcanoes on the first or second level on tiles of your color.

You may not land a volcano on a tile where another volcano already is, or where there is an oasis chip (more on those later!).

Moving Volcanoes

Moving a Volcano

Once a volcano is on the island, you may use one of your actions to move it to any adjacent tile (including your opponent's).

However, you can't move it up or down more than one "level" of tiles.

You may move a volcano onto an oasis chip (more on those later!).

Pushing a Volcano

You can even "push" another volcano by moving into it! If you do, it will back up a space.

You can push a volcano onto any space it could legally move onto on its own. If it has a wall 2+ tiles high, or another volcano behind it, it can't be pushed.

Falling Off of Cliffs or Into Water

If your volcano moves off a cliff 2+ tiles high or into the water, it dies!

A volcano moving off a cliff 2+ tiles high and landing on another volcano kills them both!

Simply return volcanoes that die to your hand to be used again.

Placing, Removing, and Throwing Tiles

Placing and Removing Tiles

You may use an action to place a new tile from your hand in any of the six spots next to one of your volcanoes! This includes an unoccupied "water" space or stacking onto existing tiles of any height, of anyone's color.

You may also use an action to remove one of your volcano-adjacent tiles back into your hand. You may not place or remove a tile on a spot where a volcano or oasis chip is.

Throwing an Existing Tile

You may use an action to "throw" an existing tile over the top of one of your volcanoes and directly onto the other side of it!

You MAY throw your opponent's tiles.
You MAY NOT throw a tile that has a volcano or oasis chip on it.
You MAY NOT throw a tile if it will land on a volcano or oasis chip.

Think about throwing tiles to avoid wasteful use of the tiles in your hand.

Building Formations That Match Your Cards

To win, you'll need to use your volcanoes to build one each of the three formations matching your cards.

Mountain: A mountain is a stack of four or more tiles, but only the color of the tile on top matters. This tile must be your color to claim it. The other three tiles can be of any color.
Valley: A valley is a single tile of your color surrounded by higher stacks on at least five sides. As long as the tile in the center is your color, the surrounding higher stacks in a valley can be of anyone's color and any height.
Plain: A plain is simply six same-level tiles, ALL of your color, that touch. They can be in any shape!

Example: Successfully Building a Formation

To win, you'll need to use your volcanoes to build one each of the three formations matching your cards as the island takes shape.

In the card diagrams, "grey" tiles represent ANYONE's tiles, yours or your opponent's.

Example: Green has successfully built a "Mountain": a stack of four tiles of any color with their color on top, and their volcano on the green tile in the diagram.

Remember: to claim a Formation card, you must have a volcano sitting on one of the tiles of your color in the card's diagram.

Claim a Formation With an Oasis Chip

At the end of your turn, if you have a volcano sitting on one of the tiles of your color in the card diagram, you may claim that formation! Claiming a formation DOES NOT count as an action on your turn.

To claim a formation:

Remove your volcano from the island and return it to your hand.
Place down an oasis chip where your volcano was.
Flip your associated Formation card facedown.

Navigating Oasis Chips

Placing down an oasis chip effectively "locks" that tile and any tiles underneath it. Think of it as lava that has cooled!

A volcano already on the island can move on top of an oasis chip. But a new volcano can't land onto an oasis chip.
Tiles with oasis chips count as a "neutral" color. (E.g., they may still count towards the "grey" tiles on a formation card, but no longer count as your own color!)
Oasis chips are just markers. They don't count as an extra "level" of tiles.

Winning the Game

The first player to place three oasis chips and claim all of their Formation cards wins!

Adjusting Difficulty

Landfall is most fun when both players are challenged! Adjust difficulty by starting the more advanced player with fewer tiles. (We recommend removing two tiles to start.)

Different Island Setups

For a new challenge, try designing a new starting island shape you build collaboratively with your opponent, each using up to 6 tiles! The island can be any shape, as long as it's symmetrical.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I place a tile anywhere I want on the island? On your turn you can place a tile in any space directly next to one of your volcanoes.

Which tiles can I throw? You can throw any tile that does not have a volcano or an oasis chip on it.

What happens if I legally can't land a volcano on the island? If there are no legal spaces of your color left to land on, and you currently have no volcanoes on the island, your opponent must place a volcano from your hand anywhere on the island. (This does not count as an action for anyone.)

What happens if we undo each other's moves back and forth forever? To prevent this scenario, it is not legal to take a turn that reverts the board state back to exactly what it was on your opponent's turn. The board state must evolve in some way.

Can I land a new volcano onto a tile with an oasis chip on it? No. However, you may move a volcano onto an oasis chip once it's already on the island.

Can I remove an opponent's tile? No. You may only reclaim your own color tiles, and this tile must be adjacent to one of your volcanoes and without a volcano or oasis chip on top of it.

Can a tile with an oasis chip on it count towards my formation? Tiles with an oasis chip are a "neutral" color, meaning they don't count towards your formation, even if they were originally your own color tile. However, tiles with an oasis chip can still count as the "grey" tiles in a formation diagram (i.e., the grey tiles surrounding a Valley), but can't count as a tile of your color in the diagram (i.e., part of a Plain).