Links
Links Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 65 Easy cards (green)
- 55 Difficult cards (red)
- 30 Tokens (star-shaped, 6 per colour)
- 1 Hourglass
Introduction and Aim of the Game
Important: How to Create Links in Links
In Links, the basis of the game is creating links between the characteristic cards, by finding a word that can be “a thing”, “a person”, “an animal” etc. with the characteristics required by the cards. For example, if during the game you need to find a word that links the characteristics “Yellow” and “Vegetable”, the word “Lemon” is correct, because being yellow is an absolute, peculiar and widely known characteristic of this fruit, which belongs to the vegetable world. The word “Flower” is not correct, because the characteristic “Yellow” is relative and not peculiar: a flower can in fact be of very many different colours. We could instead say “Sunflower”: this word is correct, because the sunflower is a type of flower with the peculiarity of being yellow. Using the word Clown to link “Funny” and “Masculine” is correct, because being funny is one of its peculiar characteristics and is associated with it by definition. The word Clown is also masculine, since in the Italian language the most common form is “il Pagliaccio”. Obviously there are people in the world who do not find clowns funny, but this does not affect the fact that in common opinion the clown is associated with laughter, nor, even less, the validity of the word.
Who Decides Whether a Declared Word Is Correct?
If, despite the indications on correct links, the players are in doubt about whether a word is correct, the judgement is left to the group. If a player challenges the validity of a word declared by another player, the group votes; in case of a tie or a majority of “correct”, the word is valid.
Difference Between Green and Red Cards and Use in Play
In any game mode you choose, you can always decide whether to use the green cards, considered “Standard” difficulty, or the red cards, considered “Expert” difficulty. You can also mix the two decks in whatever proportions you think best, to create your own customised level of challenge.
Which Game to Play Today?
This simple chart will help you choose at a glance the perfect Links mode for every occasion.
| Number of players | Quick and Immediate Play | Play in Teams | Playable Outdoors | Suitable for Adults and Children | Mind-Blowing Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Speedy, Storm | Original, Negative | Speedy | Speedy | Original, Negative, Cross Storm |
| 3 | Speedy, Storm, Blitz | Original, Negative | Speedy, Blitz | Speedy | Original, Negative, Cross Storm |
| 4 | Speedy, Storm, Blitz | Original, Negative | Speedy, Cruel, Blitz | Speedy, Cruel | Original, Negative. Cross Storm |
| 5 | Speedy, Blitz | Original, Negative | Speedy, Cruel, Blitz |
Links Original
Number of players: 2-5 (4-10 in teams). Duration: 20-40 minutes. Components: from 55 to 120 cards, hourglass, 6 star tokens per player.
Setup
Each player chooses a colour and takes all the star tokens of the chosen colour. In the game you can use a minimum of 55 cards up to a maximum of 120 green and/or red cards, in the proportion preferred by the players; for the first games it is advisable not to include red cards, or to include only a limited number of them. Shuffle the deck and, with 16 cards drawn at random (face does not matter), form a 4x4 grid on the table. Take the remaining deck and place it in the appropriate card holder. Then place the card holder and the hourglass in a spot easily reachable by all players. One player is declared the “dealer” (“mazziere”), whose task is to draw the cards during the game, as well as playing their own game normally. Usually the player closest to the card holder is chosen. Setup is complete.
Aim of the Game
Connect two opposite sides of the grid with your own star tokens. To be considered a valid path, all the tokens must be placed on cards that are adjacent to one another, whether diagonally, vertically or horizontally. In the example alongside, the yellow player has connected the left and right sides, while the red player has not managed to connect the top and bottom sides, because the two stars in the two central rows are not adjacent.
How to Play
The game is played in rounds (“manche”), with all players playing at the same time.
At the start of a round, the dealer draws a characteristic card at random from the card holder, without looking at it, and places it on the table beside the grid, clearly visible to all players. The card may be placed on either of its two sides. All players must simultaneously think, as quickly as possible, of a valid word that links the characteristic of the card just drawn to any one of the 16 cards in the grid. The first player who finds such a word must shout it aloud and, at the same moment, place one of their star tokens on the grid card that is linked. If the group raises no objections, the player takes the card that was placed outside the grid by the dealer earlier and places it in front of them.
Example: Dario, the dealer, draws the characteristic card “Thin” (“Sottile”). Simona shouts first “Grass” (“Erba”), linking the card “Thin” with the card “Green” (“Verde”) present in the grid. She places one of her light-blue star tokens on the characteristic card “Green” and takes the card “Thin”, placing it in front of her, clearly visible.
From that moment on, the characteristic card with the player's token on it is no longer usable during the game: no player may use that characteristic to make links, nor place their own token on it, unless the token previously placed on that card is removed (see below). The round is then concluded, a new round begins, the dealer draws a new characteristic card, and so on.
The player who has just connected two cards successfully must, when the dealer draws the next card, find a word that links the newly drawn characteristic card, any one of the 15 remaining cards in the grid, and the card(s) they have in front of them. And so on: the more cards a player has in front of them, the more characteristics they must unite in a single word during subsequent rounds. Attention: it is not valid to repeat a word already used earlier by the players.
Example: Dario, the dealer, draws the characteristic card “6 Letters” (“6 Lettere”). For Simona to be able to place another token, she must find a word that links the characteristics “6 Letters” and “Thin” (the card in front of her) to any one of the 15 cards still available in the grid (“Green” currently has a light-blue token on it and is not available). Simona shouts again, before the other players, “Foglio” (the Italian word for “sheet” or “leaf”), linking “6 Letters” and “Thin” to the characteristic card “Common” (“Comune”) in the grid. The word is valid, so she places a second light-blue token on the card “Common”. Then she takes the card “6 Letters” and places it in front of her. In the next round, she must link “Thin” and “6 Letters” together, along with the card in the grid and the card drawn.
As the game proceeds, players may find themselves linking more and more characteristic cards in front of them with the card drawn by the dealer and one of the cards remaining in the grid, making it increasingly difficult to place their token.
During a round, immediately after the dealer has drawn the characteristic card from the card holder and placed it outside the grid, if one of the players feels that the situation has become too complex, they may turn the hourglass over in the centre of the table. If, when the 30 seconds of the hourglass run out, no player has managed to place a token, the game is disconnected (“si sconnette”): all the cards in front of all players and the card just drawn by the dealer are discarded and returned to the box. A new round is then started, and the players begin creating connections from scratch.
Attention: only the cards in front of the players and the card drawn by the dealer are discarded; the cards of the grid and all the star tokens placed on them remain in their places.
If during the rounds a player uses up all six of their star tokens without managing to join the opposite sides of the grid by a valid path, then with their next successful link the player may move one of their star tokens of their choice, previously placed in the grid, onto the grid card just used to create the link. The card from which the token was removed is again available to all players and may be used again for new links and to be occupied by a new token.
End of the Game and Victory
If a player manages to connect two opposite sides of the grid with their own star tokens, by a valid path, before the other players, they are declared the winner.
If the places on the 16 cards of the grid run out without any player having connected two opposite sides of the grid, the player with the most star tokens in the grid is declared the winner. In case of a further tie, the winner is the player who has the most characteristic cards in front of them. In case of a further tie, the winner is the player who created the longest continuous path on the grid. In case of a further tie, the players have competed with honour and both are considered winners.
Team Play
It is possible to play in teams of 2 players each. Both players of a team receive 3 star tokens of the chosen colour. In this way one obtains a team game that is nonetheless individual in nature. The players of a team must sit close together at the table, because the characteristic cards obtained from links are shared by the team.
Links Negative
Number of players: 2-5 (4-10 in teams). Duration: 20-40 minutes. Components: from 55 to 120 cards, hourglass, 6 star tokens per player.
Setup, How to Play and End of the Game
Setup, how the game is played and the victory condition are analogous to Links Original, but the aim of the game is to shout a word that has, and can in no case have, any link with the characteristics of the cards chosen.
Example: Dario, the dealer, draws at the start of the round the characteristic card “Red” (“Rosso”). Federico has in front of him the card “Shorter than the Links box” (“Più corto della scatola di Links”) and decides to shout “Elephant” (“Elefante”), placing his yellow star token on the card “Liquid” (“Liquido”) present in the grid in the centre. The word is valid, because elephants are notoriously much bigger than the Links box, are not red, and even less liquid.
Team Play
Works in the same way as the team mode of Links Original.
Links Cruel
Number of players: 4-10. Duration: 5-10 minutes. Components: 60 cards, hourglass.
Setup
Put the star tokens back in the box; they are not needed in this mode. Form a deck of 60 green and/or red cards, mixed according to the chosen difficulty level. Place the card holder and the hourglass in an area of the table easily reachable by all players.
Aim of the Game
Remain the last player in the game.
How to Play
The game is played in rounds, with all players playing at the same time.
The players decide who is the dealer (“mazziere”), i.e. which player will turn the hourglass and the card(s) over in the round. In subsequent rounds, going clockwise, the players take turns in the role of dealer.
When all players are ready, the dealer shouts “ready, Links go!” (“pronti, links via!”), turns the hourglass over and draws a card at random, without looking at it, from the centre of the card holder, placing it in the centre of the table, clearly visible to all. All players think of a word that presents the characteristic of the card in the centre. Whoever finds one shouts it aloud, quickly placing their hand on the card in the centre of the table or on top of another player's hand already there.
When the hourglass runs out, the players who have not placed their hand in the centre of the table are eliminated.
In the next round, the dealer on duty removes the card in the centre of the table, turns the hourglass over and places two new cards in the centre of the table, drawing them at random and without looking at them from the card holder. The round is repeated in the same way: each round, the cards on the table are removed and replaced with the same number of cards plus one, placed in the centre of the table.
If during a round none of the players manages to find a suitable word before the hourglass runs out, the cards in the centre of the table are removed and play restarts with a round of 3 cards. In the subsequent rounds they are replaced with four new cards, and so on, adding one card each round, until only one player remains.
End of the Game and Victory
The last player remaining in the game wins.
Links Speedy
Number of players: 2-8. Duration: 5 minutes. Components: 60 cards.
Setup
Put the star tokens and the hourglass back in the box; they are not needed in this mode. Form a deck of 60 green and/or red cards, mixed according to the chosen difficulty level, and put the remaining cards back in the box. Deal one card to each player. Place the remaining deck in the centre of the table. If you do not have a table available, one player may hold the deck in hand in the centre of the group. You are ready to play.
Aim of the Game
Win more cards than the other players.
How to Play
All players look at the card they have just received. When all players are ready, the dealer shouts “ready, Links go!” (“pronti, links via!”) and removes the first card of the deck, revealing the card immediately beneath it.
From that moment, all players must try to be first to link one of the two characteristics of the card in their hand with the one on top of the deck. The first player who finds a valid word shouts it aloud and wins the card on top of the deck. That player then replaces the card in their hand with the card just won, and places the old card in front of them to form their scoring pile (“mazzo dei punti”). If you do not have a table available, simply keep the cards in hand and place the card just won on top of the card in hand, so that only the word to be linked is visible.
From that moment, the player must link one of the two characteristics of the new card in hand with the one on top of the deck, and so on until the deck is finished.
End of the Game and Victory
The game ends when the deck in the centre runs out. Each player counts the cards they have won; the player with the most cards wins.
Link Cross
Number of players: 2-6. Duration: 30 minutes. Components: from 65 to 120 cards, hourglass.
Setup
Put the star tokens back in the box; they are not needed in this mode. In this mode you can use a minimum of 65 and a maximum of 120 green and/or red cards, in the proportion preferred by the players. Shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards to each player and one to the centre of the table. Place the remaining deck in the card holder and place it, together with the hourglass, at a point on the table convenient for all players. You are ready to play.
Aim of the Game
Get rid of all the cards in your hand first.
How to Play
Play goes clockwise, in turns. The first player on turn turns the hourglass over and, in the shortest possible time, must find a word that joins the characteristic card in the centre of the table with one present in their hand of cards; they may use the cards in hand from either of their sides. As soon as they find the word, the player says it aloud and places the card used from their hand beside the card on the table. The player may attach their card to any one of the four sides of the card already on the table, as they wish. Then they turn the hourglass over and pass it to the player on their left.
If the first player was very quick to find the word and used very little time, little sand will have run down; once turned over and passed to the next player, that player will have little time before it runs out to attach one of their cards to the centre of the table. Conversely, if the first player takes too long or fails to find the right word, the next player will have more time, or a whole hourglass, available to play.
If a player does not manage, in the time available, to attach one of their cards to the centre, they must draw a card from the card holder and pass.
As the game proceeds, rows and columns will form on the table, composed of the cards attached by the players during their turns. If the player on turn wants to, or is forced to, attach their card to a row or column, they must find a word that joins the characteristics of one of their cards in hand with those of the whole row or column chosen.
If a player manages to attach one of their cards to a row or column composed of 3 or more characteristic cards, the player may immediately discard a card of their choice from their hand and place it beside the card holder to form the discard pile, before turning the hourglass over and passing it to the next player.
Attention: if play must stop because of uncertainty over the validity of a word, simply lay the hourglass on its side to stop the time.
Example: Dario wants to attach the card “Urban” (“Urbano”) to the others. He could place it in space 1, saying the word “Poplar” (“Pioppo”). A poplar is in fact heavier than a watermelon, longer than the Links box, and vegetable. It is used to line avenues and is therefore also “Urban”. In this case, Dario would attach the card “Urban” and could also discard one of his cards, because the row is composed of 3 or more cards. He could choose to place it in space 2, saying “Manhole cover” (“Tombino”). A manhole cover is in fact flat, longer than the Links box, and an urban object. Dario could also choose to place the card in space 3, but he would have to find a word that joins “Vegetable”, “Flat” and “Urban”... Your word!
End of the Game and Victory
The player who first finishes the cards in their hand wins.
Links Storm
Number of players: 2-4. Duration: 10 minutes. Components: 120 cards, 6 star tokens per player.
Setup
In this mode all 120 characteristic cards are used. Shuffle the deck and deal one card to each player; place the remaining cards to form a deck in the centre of the table. Assign 6 star tokens to each player and the hourglass to the first player. You are ready to play.
Aim of the Game
Create as many links as possible, gaining more cards than the other players within 3 hourglasses of time.
How to Play
The game is played in as many turns as there are players, clockwise. The player on turn places their card in front of them, on either of its two sides of their choice.
A player not on turn removes the first card of the deck, turns the hourglass over, and takes care of checking it and turning it over again, so that the player on turn gets 3 hourglasses' worth of time.
The player on turn must find, as quickly as possible, a word that links the characteristic card on top of the deck with the card in front of them. As soon as they do, they say the word aloud, take the card from the deck and place it beside the card in front of them, from the side they prefer. The player must then find a word that joins the new card on the deck with the two in front of them, and so on.
At any moment, the player may:
- spend one of their star tokens to discard the card on top of the deck and pass directly to the next one (in that case the discarded card is placed beside the deck to form the discard pile);
- spend two star tokens to "heap up" all the cards in front of them into a pile, leaving visible only one of the characteristic cards of their choice (placed on top of the pile). In this way the player "resets" the game without losing the cards accumulated.
When the 3 hourglasses have run out, the player's turn ends: the player collects the pile of cards they have gained and places it in front of them, and passes the hourglass to the player on their left.
End of the Game and Victory
When all players have had their turn, the game ends and the score is determined: each accumulated card is worth one point, and each star token left over is worth 2 points. The player with the highest score wins the game.
Links Blitz
Number of players: 3-8. Duration: 15 minutes. Components: 100 cards, 36 star tokens.
Setup
In this mode 100 green and/or red characteristic cards are used, in the proportion preferred by the players. Shuffle the deck and deal one card to each player; place the remaining cards in the card holder and place it in the centre of the table, together with the hourglass. Place the star tokens as a group in a spot within reach of all players. You are ready to play.
Aim of the Game
Find as many matches as possible, compared with the other players, during the rounds.
How to Play
The game is played in rounds, and the players play simultaneously. Players take their card in hand and choose which side to show. The hourglass is turned over, and the players extend their arm towards the centre of the table to show their card to everyone.
During the 30 seconds, all players think of a word that links as many of the characteristic cards as possible from those in each player's hand. If they can link two of the visible words, they shout “two!” (“due!”); if they can link three, they shout “three!” (“tre!”), and so on. Players may not shout a number already called by another player.
At the end of the 30 seconds, the player who called the highest number first states the word they found. If it is valid, that player is declared the winner of the round. Otherwise, the game moves to the immediately preceding number, and so on.
The player who has won the round takes a star token from the centre of the table (of any colour) and places it in front of them, and then the game moves on to the next round.
End of the Game and Victory
If playing with 3-5 players, the game ends when one of the players has collected 5 stars. If playing with 6-8 players, the game ends when one of the players has collected 3 stars.