Limes
Limes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
48 landscape cards — 2 identical sets, one with black backs, one with red, each consisting of 24 cards.
14 workers — 7 each in red and in black.
Object of the Game
In Limes, each player lays out a landscape of 16 cards and places his workers in the different territories. Depending on the landscape type of the territory, each worker pursues a specific profession and gives you victory points in the end. The player with the most victory points wins.
Set-up of the Game
Each player takes the landscape cards and the workers of one color. The older player is declared the initiating player. He shuffles his cards and puts them out ready as a face-down draw pile. The other player sorts his cards according to the numbering on the front side (1-24), in order to make it easy to pick out the default cards later on. He lays them out ready as a face-up pile.
Each player puts his workers next to his card pile as a supply.
Course of the Game
The game proceeds over 16 rounds. In each round, the following actions are carried out:
- Drawing a card
- Laying out a card
- Placing or moving a worker
1. Drawing a Card
The initiating player takes the top card from his draw pile, reveals it and reads the number on the front out loud. The card with this number will be laid out this round. Now the other player picks out the card with this number from his pile.
2. Laying Out a Card
Each player forms his own display. In the first round, you put the card you have drawn face up in front of you, as the starting card of your display. In the following rounds you have to place every card in such a way that it is vertically or horizontally adjacent to at least one complete side of cards you have already laid out. The placed card may be oriented in any direction.
Size of the display
For laying out the cards, it has to be considered that the display of each player may have a maximum length of 4 cards and a maximum width of 4 cards. This way, in the course of the game, a 4 x 4 (=16) square display is built up.
Zones
Each card is divided into 4 zones. Each zone is assigned to one of the following 4 types of landscape: field, water, forest, rock with a tower. Some zones additionally show fishermen's huts marked by blue roofs.
Territories
For field, water, and forest zones, the following applies: Vertically or horizontally adjacent zones of the same type of landscape together form a territory. A territory can also consist of just one zone if it is not adjacent to any zones of the same landscape type.
The rock zones with the tower are special: Each of these tower zones is always considered a territory of its own, independent of whether or not other tower zones are adjacent to it.
3. Placing or Moving a Worker
After laying out the card, you may either place 1 worker or move 1 worker.
Placing
You place 1 worker from your supply on one of the zones of the card you have just played. Depending on the landscape type on which a worker is placed, he pursues a particular profession:
- Field — Farmer
- Water — Fisherman
- Forest — Woodcutter
- Tower — Watchman
Moving
You move 1 worker that is already standing in your display to any horizontally or vertically adjacent territory, and put him on any zone there. If the worker is moved to a zone of a different type of landscape, he also changes his profession.
There may be several workers in the same territory.
You do not have to place or move a worker if you don't want to.
When each player has laid out one of his cards and, if desired, placed or moved a worker, the round ends. The initiating player begins the new round by drawing a new card.
End of the Game
The game ends when each player has 16 cards in his display. The 8 remaining cards of each player are not needed; they don't play a role in the scoring to follow.
Scoring
Depending on their profession, the placed workers give you the following victory points:
Farmer — 1 victory point for each zone of his field territory.
Example: This farmer scores 5 points.
Fisherman — 1 victory point for each fisherman's hut that is directly adjacent to the shore of his water territory.
Example: This fisherman scores 6 points.
Woodcutter — 1 victory point for each territory that is vertically or horizontally adjacent to his forest territory. Attention: Each tower zone is always considered a territory of its own.
Example: This woodcutter scores 5 points.
Watchman — 1 victory point for each forest zone that the watchman can see in a horizontal or vertical direction from his tower zone. Attention: Other tower zones in his line of view block his view, so forest zones beyond this obstruction don't count.
Example: This watchman scores 5 points.
Important: Only 1 worker can be scored per territory. If there are several workers in one territory, only one of them gives you victory points.
For a better overview, the players should score the workers of the different professions one after another and lay down the workers that have already been scored.
The players add up the victory points for their workers. The player with the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the best worker wins, i.e., the worker who has scored the most victory points. If the number of victory points is the same here as well, players compare the number of victory points for the second best worker, and so on.
If there is a tie for all workers, the players share the win.
Tip
Playing is creative: Whoever copies the display of his opponent cannot win!
Solitaire Game
You can also play Limes alone. The rules are the same. The object of the game is to earn as many victory points as possible:
- A score of less than 28 points is capable of improvement
- A score of 28 – 34 points is OK
- A score of 35 – 41 points is good
- A score of 42 – 48 points is very good
- A score of 49 or more points is excellent.
More Than 2 Players
If you have more than one copy of the game, you can play Limes also with more than 2 players. The basic rules are the same. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of players.
Variant 1: Laying Out on the Diagonal
In this variant, you may also place the card (that you are about to play) on the diagonal so that it is only diagonally adjacent to already laid-out cards.
Variant 2: The Fisherman as Ferryman
This variant adds to the movement rule for the workers. If a water territory with a fisherman borders the territory of the worker that is going to be moved, the worker may be moved to any territory beyond this that is horizontally or vertically adjacent to this water territory.
Find additional exciting variants at www.martynf.com
Credits
The author thanks all playtesters; special thanks go to Maartje, Carly, Els, Floris, Joop, Kyrill, Roderik, Scott, and Susanne. The publisher thanks Klaus Bubert for the numerous test games.
Designer: Martyn F. Artist: Claus Stephan.
English translation: Sybille & Bruce Whitehill, "Word for Wort".
Distribution in Switzerland: Carletto AG, Moosacherstr. 14, CH-8820 Wädenswil.
© 2014 ABACUSSPIELE Verlags GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurter Str. 121, 63303 Dreieich, Germany. All rights reserved. Made in Germany. www.abacusspiele.de