Lighthouse Run
Lighthouse Run Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Players: 2–4. Ages: 8 and up. Duration: about 25 minutes.
- 56 movement cards (4 decks of 14 cards)
- 6 lighthouses (consisting of 2 parts each)
- 3 beacons
- 1 cloud
- 20 ships (in 4 colors)
- 1 sticker sheet
- 1 game board
- 1 storm card (= starting player card)
Note: Put the stickers on the boats. This will help you tell them apart not only by their colors, but also by their symbols. Pick one ocean symbol per color and stick the corresponding stickers on both sides of the ships.
Setup
Before your first game: Carefully remove the pieces from the punchboard. Take the lighthouses, fold them and put rings over their tops. After the game, you can put the lighthouses back in the box without taking them apart.
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Place the game board on the table between you.
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Put the 6 lighthouses on the indicated spaces of the game board in random order.
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Place the 3 beacons on top of the first, third, and fifth lighthouses (starting at the starting area and moving along the river towards the harbor).
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Put the cloud on the first space of the cloud track (= the lightest cloud symbol).
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Each player takes 5 ships of the same color. All players place their ships next to the game board, near the first river space. This is called the "starting area." Any unused ships go back in the box.
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Take the 14 movement cards that match the color of your ships. Shuffle your deck, and place it in front of you as your personal draw pile. Draw the top three cards for your starting hand. Any unused decks go back in the box.
Note: If your first three cards include both cards that show several ships of your own color, put all three cards back, reshuffle your deck, and draw three new cards.
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Pick a starting player. They take the storm card and place it in front of them.
Playing the Game
The game consists of 12 rounds. During each round, each player plays exactly one of the three cards in their hand, then draws one card from their personal draw pile.
The starting player goes first, and the other players follow in a clockwise direction. After each round, the starting player passes the storm card to the player on their left.
On your turn, the card you play gives you two actions. Carry out the actions in this order:
- Place a Beacon
- Move Ships
Your turn ends after you move the ships.
1st Action: Placing a Beacon
Beacons determine which sections of the river ships may sail on and which they can't. Ships can only move into a section of the river where the corresponding lighthouse is marked with one of the three beacons.
The top half of your movement card shows either a single lighthouse or all 6 lighthouses.
a) Cards with 1 Lighthouse
If the card you've played shows exactly 1 lighthouse, you must take a beacon from any other lighthouse and place it on the lighthouse shown. If the lighthouse on the card already has a beacon, skip this step and go straight to Moving Ships.
b) Cards with All 6 Lighthouses
If the card you've played shows all 6 lighthouses, you may move one beacon from any lighthouse to any other lighthouse. You may also skip this action and go straight to Moving Ships.
2nd Action: Moving Ships
The lower half of your movement card shows you which and how many ships you may move towards the harbor on your turn.
a) Solo Cards
Solo cards show one single ship of your color. When you play a solo card, pick any one of your ships and move it towards the harbor the number of spaces indicated on the card. You may either move a new ship from the starting area onto the game board or move a ship that's already on the board.
1st Example: Jenise (red) plays the solo card "4". First, she has to move a beacon to the purple lighthouse with the anchor. Then, she chooses one of her ships from the starting area and moves it 4 spaces down the river.
b) Group Cards
Group cards show several ships of your color. When you play a group card, pick any space on the game board. Take all ships of your color from that space and move them towards the harbor the number of spaces indicated on the card.
Important: Group cards don't allow you to move new ships from the starting area onto the game board.
2nd Example: Björn (yellow) plays the group card "3". First, he could move any beacon to any lighthouse, but he decides not to. Then, he picks a space of the river with two of his ships on it, and moves them both 3 spaces down the river.
c) Co-op Cards
Co-op cards show one ship of every color. When you play a co-op card, pick any space on the game board or the starting area. Take exactly one ship of each color from this space (or the starting area) and move them towards the harbor the number of spaces indicated on the card.
Movement Bonus: If you use this action to move at least one ship belonging to another player, you may move your own ship that you've just moved the number of spaces on the card again.
3rd Example: Julia (green) plays the co-op card "1". She decides not to move a beacon. She picks a space with one green and two blue ships on it and takes one of each color. She moves these ships one space down the river. Because she moved one of John's blue ships, she gets the movement bonus and may move her green ship another space down the river.
You Can Only Move in Lit Sections!
This rule concerns all types of movement: A ship may only move onto a space of the game board if that space is lit. A space counts as lit if it is within the cone of light from a lighthouse that has a beacon. The final three spaces in the harbor are always lit.
Note: This rule applies only to movement onto the next space. The space you move ships away from does not have to be lit.
If a ship is prevented from completing its movement, it stays on the last lit space and the rest of its movement is lost.
4th Example: John (blue) plays the co-op card "3". First, he moves the beacon to the green lighthouse. Then, he picks a space with one red and one blue ship and moves both of these ships 3 spaces down the river. Because he has moved another player's ship, he gets the movement bonus of 3 spaces for his blue ship. However, the section of the river beyond the green lighthouse is unlit, so he can only move 2 additional spaces. The third one is lost.
The End of the Round—The Storm Is Coming!
A round ends after every player has taken one turn. When the turn to play reaches the starting player again, they must move the cloud 1 space along the cloud track onto the next cloud symbol. They do not play a movement card at this time, but instead must pass the storm card to the player on their left. That player becomes the new starting player for the next round.
Ships Get Caught in the Storm!
The storm reaches the river at the end of Round 7. The cloud now starts moving by larger steps from one cloud symbol to the next, overtaking the ships as it moves along the river. Ships that get caught by the storm (the cloud moves onto their space or moves past them) have to stop their voyage immediately. They may no longer move until the end of the game.
The numbers on the white ship symbols show how many points those ships have earned on their way to the harbor.
Note: To make things easier, you may want to place any of your ships that have been overtaken by the cloud on the last white ship symbol they have passed.
5th Example: After the 9th round, the cloud reaches the space with the "3" white ship symbol. All ships in this space or any space behind it may no longer move during the following rounds of the game.
To make it easier to see whose ships have collected how many points, all players owning ships overtaken by the storm put them in the space with the last ship symbol they've passed. In this example, the three ships that have been overtaken are moved back to the "2" ship symbol.
The End of the Game
The game ends after Round 12, when the cloud has reached the final space of the cloud track. This means that you will each have two movement cards left over at the end of the game.
Take a look at how far your ships have made it on the game board. Add up the points on the white ship symbols your ships have reached, taking into account only the highest-value symbol for each ship. The player who has collected the most total points with all their ships wins the game.
In case of a tie, compare your remaining two movement cards. The player with the higher-value cards (= sum total of the numbers on the lower halves of their cards) wins the tie.
6th Example: At the end of the game, the players have collected the following points:
Julia (green): 12 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 0 = 20 points Jenise (red): 11 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 22 points John (blue): 11 + 6 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 24 points Björn (yellow): 9 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 22 points
John wins the game with 24 points. Jenise gets second place with her 22 points because her remaining cards show a value of 3+1=4. Björn, who comes in third, has 22 points as well, but his cards only have a value of 2+1=3. Julia gets fourth place with her 20 points.
Two-Player Variants
Of course, you can play with only two players by the rules described above. But if you find that there's not enough action on the river, try the following two variants:
1. Support from Erik
Erik, the Enigmatic Rough-and-tumble Irish Kobold, is the third player. His ships always move at the end of each round. He will help you reach the harbor more quickly.
Note the following changes to the game's rules:
Setup: Erik plays one of the two leftover colors. Place his ships in the starting area as usual. Remove the group cards (= cards with several ships of his color) from his deck and shuffle the remaining 12 movement cards. Place his cards next to the game board in a face-down draw pile.
Playing the game: After you've each played a card during a round, draw the top card from Erik's draw pile. Erik ignores the Placing a Beacon action. His Moving Ships action always follows these rules:
- He always moves one of his own ships that's farthest from the harbor, starting with his ships in the starting area.
- He always moves one or more ships, according to the lower half of his card, but he completely ignores the lighthouses along the river. This means that he does not have to check whether a section of the river is lit or not, moving his ships and those of the other players there regardless of the lighthouses.
The End of the Game: Add up Erik's ships as well as your own. He may just turn out to be the winner of the race…
2. The Great Fleet
Both of you play two colors each—and collect their points in the end, of course.
Note the following changes to the game's rules:
Setup: Pick two colors each and take the corresponding ships and movement cards. Shuffle your decks separately and place them in front of you in two separate piles. Draw the top 3 cards from each pile and take them into your hand.
Playing the Game: In the course of a round, you each play 2 cards, alternating between you, starting with the starting player of the round. Your first card can be any card, but the second one has to be your other color. At the end of the round, draw 1 card from each of your draw piles.
In order to receive the movement bonus, you have to move at least one of the other player's ships. It is not enough to move a ship of your own second color.
The End of the Game: Count the points your two colors have earned and add them together. If there is a tie, the player with the smaller difference between their two colors wins the game. If there is still a tie, compare your remaining 4 cards. The player with the highest total value wins the game.