Philosophy Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • 2-Player Game
• Gameplay
  • Overview
  • Player Turns
• Step 1: Place a New Idea
  • Example: Placing New Ideas
• Step 2: Activate Your Ideas
  • Idea Tiles
  • Example: Activating a New Idea
  • Moving Idea Tiles
  • Off the Board
  • Chain Reactions
    • Reaction Type 1: An opponent tile moves into the targeted space of one of your Existing Ideas.
    • Reaction Type 2: One of your Existing Ideas moves and now targets an opponent tile.
    • Reaction Type 3: Both tiles move together so that your Existing Idea targets the opponent tile.
  • Not a Reaction
  • Multiple Reactions
• Step 3: Check for Conclusions
• Game End
  • Winning
  • Losing
  • Conceding
• Idea Tiles
  • Push
  • Corner Push
  • Slide Left
  • Slide Right
  • Pull Left
  • Pull Right
  • Long Shot
  • Corner Long Shot
  • Decision
  • Rephrase
    • Rephrase Continued
  • Toss
  • Persuade
• Sage & Amber Expansion

Components

• A. 12 Indigo Idea Tiles
• B. 12 Teal Idea Tiles
• C. 1 Double-Sided Board*
• D. 1 Respect Token
• E. 1 Rulebook

* From Dawn to Dusk: The 2 sides of the game board have no functional difference and are simply an aesthetic choice for the players. The front (blue) side is known as "Dusk", and the back (green) side is known as "Dawn".

Setup

2-Player Game

1. Place the board between the players.
2. Choose your player colors however you like, and give each player a set of 12 Idea Tiles in their player color. Place your Ideas in front of you, in any order.
3. Place the Respect Token near the board between the players.
4. Have a discussion to determine the starting player.

Gameplay

Overview

The goal of Philosophy is to place your Idea Tiles so that you end up with 3 of them in a row. This is called a Conclusion. You can reach a Conclusion anywhere on the board at the end of any player's turn. Clever placement of your tiles can allow you to move your opponent's tiles around, and prevent them from winning.

Player Turns

Players take turns placing and activating their Idea Tiles. During your turn, you must follow these steps in order:

1. Place a New Idea
2. Activate Your Ideas
3. Check for Conclusions

Step 1: Place a New Idea

Start your turn by choosing 1 of your unplayed Ideas and placing it onto the board as follows:

Placing New Ideas. Your New Idea...

• ...must be placed onto an empty space.
• ...must be placed in the center 9 spaces of the board.
• ...may be rotated to face any direction as long as it aligns with the grid.

Conversation Starter. The first Idea of the game may not be placed on the very center space. After the first Idea is placed, any player may place a tile on the center space.

No New Ideas. If you can't place a New Idea, either because you don't have any left or because the center 9 spaces are all occupied, you lose the game. See Game End below for more details.

Example: Placing New Ideas

• New Ideas must be placed in one of the center 9 spaces. They can never be placed in the outer spaces. Additionally, the first player cannot place their first tile in the very center space.
• Indigo is the starting player and may not place their first Idea on the center space, so they place it on the space above instead. They choose to rotate their Idea so that it points to the left.
• Now it's Teal's turn. They may not place their Idea in the space blocked by Indigo's tile. But since Teal is not the starting player, they may place their first Idea on the center space, and do so.
• Many rounds later, it's Teal's turn again. Unfortunately, there is nowhere for them to place a New Idea, so Teal immediately loses the game.

Step 2: Activate Your Ideas

When you place a New Idea, it will activate if it targets an opponent tile. Which tile is targeted, and what happens to it, is defined by the icons on your Idea.

Idea Tiles

Each Idea Tile has 2 icons: a Targeting Icon and an Impact Icon.

The Targeting Icon defines the space your tile targets. An opponent tile in that space will be targeted by your tile.

The Impact Icon defines what happens to the targeted tile when your Idea is activated. In most cases, the targeted tile will move.

Example: Activating a New Idea

It's Indigo's turn, and they place their New Idea below Teal's tile 1. They've rotated it so that it targets Teal's tile 2. Since it's targeting an opponent tile, Indigo's New Idea activates. As indicated by the Impact Icon 3, this moves Teal's tile to the right 4.

Moving Idea Tiles

When the space you're moving an Idea to is occupied by any other tile, move both Idea Tiles in the direction the Impact Icon indicates.

If a line of tiles needs to be moved out of the way, move them all.

If the movement is diagonal, move the outermost tile first, and then move the rest, one-by-one.

Example: Moving Two Tiles. Indigo places a New Idea so that it targets Teal's tile. Indigo's New Idea activates and moves Teal's tile one space to the right. However, one of Indigo's other tiles is in that space, so it is also pushed to the right.

Example: Moving Multiple Tiles. Here is the same example as above, but with more tiles in the way. In this case, all of the tiles that are in the way are moved as well.

Example: Moving Tiles Diagonally. Indigo places a New Idea so that it targets Teal's tile 1. Indigo's New Idea activates and should move Teal's tile one space diagonally. However, several tiles are in the way, so they move out of the way one-by-one 2. Now, Teal's tile can be moved 3.

Off the Board

If one of your Ideas gets moved off the board, you get it back! On a future turn you can place it again.

Example: Off the Board. Indigo's Idea activates, moving a row of tiles to the left 1. However, the leftmost Teal tile was already at the edge of the board, which means it gets pushed off and Teal gets it back 2.

Chain Reactions

Once you're done activating your New Idea, you must check if this activated any of your Existing Ideas anywhere on the board. This is called a Chain Reaction.

During a Chain Reaction, each additional activation is called a Reaction. There are 3 types of Reactions, as shown below.

Once you're done activating a Reaction, check if there are any new Reactions to activate. Keep doing this until there's nothing left to activate, and then check for Conclusions, as described in Step 3.

On your turn, only your own Ideas can be activated, and each of them can only be activated once per turn.

Reaction Type 1: An opponent tile moves into the targeted space of one of your Existing Ideas.

Example: Opponent's Tile Moved. Indigo places their New Idea 1. It activates and moves Teal's tile into the space targeted by Indigo's Existing Idea 2. This activates Indigo's Existing Idea, moving Teal's tile one space to the right 3.

Reaction Type 2: One of your Existing Ideas moves and now targets an opponent tile.

Example: Your Existing Idea Moved. Indigo places their New Idea 1. It activates and moves Teal's tile and Indigo's Existing Idea to the left 2. From its new position, Indigo's Existing Idea targets Teal's other tile and activates, pushing it one space away 3.

Reaction Type 3: Both tiles move together so that your Existing Idea targets the opponent tile.

Example: Both Tiles Moved Together. Indigo places their New Idea 1. It activates and moves Teal's tile and Indigo's Existing Idea to the left 2. Now that they moved, Indigo's Existing Idea targets Teal's tile and activates, moving it one space diagonally 3.

Not a Reaction

There can be situations where an Idea Tile of yours is targeting an opponent tile, but it's not a Reaction. If neither tile has moved during the last activation, your Idea does not activate.

Example: Neither Tile Moved. Indigo places their New Idea 1. It activates and moves Teal's tile 2. Indigo's Existing Idea does not activate 3, even though there is an opponent tile in its targeted space 4. This is because neither of the tiles moved during the last activation.

Multiple Reactions

If more than one Reaction could be activated, you must choose only one to activate. The other ones don't activate.

In some cases, you may have multiple Ideas you can activate. In other cases, you may even have multiple opponent tiles you can target. See the examples below for a detailed explanation of both cases.

Example: Choosing an Idea. Indigo places a New Idea. It activates and moves Teal's tile 1. Now Indigo checks for new Reactions, and there are 2 possible Reactions to activate. Both of Indigo's Existing Ideas now target Teal's tile, so Indigo has to choose which of them to activate 2, 3. Indigo chooses an Idea to activate and moves Teal's tile accordingly 4. Their other Existing Idea does not activate 5.

Example: Choosing a Target. Here is a similar example as above, but with two Teal tiles being moved instead of one 1. In this case, there are again 2 possible Reactions. Each of Indigo's Existing Ideas targets one of Teal's tiles, so Indigo has to choose which of them to activate 2, 3. Indigo makes their choice and moves Teal's tile accordingly 4. Indigo's other Existing Idea still targets Teal's second tile, but does not activate 5. This is because neither of these tiles moved during this last activation.

Step 3: Check for Conclusions

If you have 3 of your Idea Tiles in a row anywhere on the board at the end of anyone's turn, you've reached a Conclusion. If you're the only player with a Conclusion, you've won the game. Otherwise, keep playing.

Example: Winning Conclusions. Teal wins with a horizontal 1, vertical 2, or diagonal 3 Conclusion anywhere on the board.

Reminder: You must activate all possible Reactions before ending your turn. If a Reaction creates a Conclusion, but a following Reaction destroys that Conclusion again, you do not win the game.

Game End

Most games will end with a Conclusion, but it is not the only way to finish your conversation. There are 3 ways the game can end:

• You reach a winning Conclusion and win.
• You are unable to place an Idea and lose.
• You honorably agree with your opponent and concede.

Winning

If anyone's turn ends with a single player having reached a Conclusion anywhere on the board, that player wins the game. If a turn ends with several players having reached a Conclusion, the game continues on.

Beware: Your opponent can win on your turn. If you have moved your opponent's tiles into a Conclusion, they win the game even though it's not their turn.

Losing

If any player is unable to place a New Idea at the start of their turn, they lose the game. This can happen either because they've run out of Ideas, or because the center 9 spaces are all occupied.

Conceding

Even if a Conclusion has not been reached, a player may find their opponent's Ideas convincing. That player can concede by placing an Idea of theirs face down anywhere on the board and saying "I agree". By doing this, that player forfeits the game.

Idea Tiles

On the following pages you will find explanations and examples for each of the Idea Tiles. If any of the tiles have rules that contradict the main rules, the tile rules take precedence.

Reminder: When playing a New Idea, you may rotate it to face any direction as long as it aligns with the grid.

Push

The Push targets an opponent tile 1 space away, and pushes it 1 space forward.

Corner Push

The Corner Push targets an opponent tile 1 space away diagonally, and pushes it 1 space forward diagonally.

Slide Left

The Slide Left targets an opponent tile 1 space away, and slides it 1 space to the left.

Slide Right

The Slide Right targets an opponent tile 1 space away, and slides it 1 space to the right.

Pull Left

The Pull Left targets an opponent tile 1 space away, and pulls it 1 space backwards to the left.

Pull Right

The Pull Right targets an opponent tile 1 space away, and pulls it 1 space backwards to the right.

Long Shot

The Long Shot targets an opponent tile exactly 2 spaces away, and pushes it 1 space forward.

Corner Long Shot

The Corner Long Shot targets an opponent tile exactly 2 spaces away diagonally, and pushes it 1 space forward diagonally.

Attention: It's common that players think the Long Shot and Corner Long Shot move opponent tiles 2 spaces. Be kind and remind new players that they target 2 spaces away and only move 1 space.

Decision

The Decision targets an opponent tile 1 space away diagonally, and slides it 1 space to the left or right diagonally. You choose which way it slides.

Example: Indigo places their Decision Tile 1. It activates, giving them the choice of where to move Teal's tile 2. Indigo chooses a direction and moves it accordingly 3.

Rephrase

The Rephrase targets any tile 1 space away diagonally. Pick up the targeted tile, optionally rotate it any way you wish, and place it back down onto the same space.

Rephrasing an Opponent Tile. Indigo places their Rephrase so that it targets Teal's tile, activates it, and optionally rotates Teal's tile any way they want.

Rephrasing your Own Tile. Indigo places their Rephrase so that it targets an Existing Idea of theirs, activates it, and optionally rotates their Existing Idea any way they want.

Rephrase Continued

Even though the Rephrase does not move any tiles, it can still create Reactions in the following 2 ways:

Reaction Type 1. If you used your Rephrase on an opponent tile, that tile can now be targeted by your Existing Ideas, even though it didn't move. This is also true if you didn't rotate the opponent tile.

Example: Indigo places their Rephrase so that it targets Teal's tile 1. Their Rephrase activates, so Indigo optionally rotates Teal's tile how they want 2. One of Indigo's Existing Ideas targets Teal's tile, so it now activates and moves that tile 3.

Reaction Type 2. If you used your Rephrase on one of your Existing Ideas, that Idea can target an opponent tile and activate. This is true even though it didn't move and even if that Idea was already activated this turn. This is also true if you didn't rotate the Idea.

Example: Indigo places their Rephrase so that it targets an Existing Idea of theirs 1. Their Rephrase activates, so Indigo optionally rotates their Existing Idea how they want 2. Indigo's Existing Idea now targets Teal's tile, so it activates and moves that tile 3.

Attention: Rephrase is the only Idea Tile that can target your opponent tiles as well as your own Existing Ideas, making it an exception to the main rule.

Toss

The Toss targets an opponent tile 1 space away, and moves that tile 2 spaces backwards over the top of itself.

Tossing into a Tile. If there's a tile on the other side of the Toss, move that tile according to the tile movement rules outlined under Moving Idea Tiles.

Persuade

The Persuade targets an opponent tile 1 space away, and pulls it 1 space backwards, moving both the opponent tile and the Persuade together.

Attention: Like the other Ideas, the Persuade must target an opponent tile in order to activate. It cannot move on its own!

Respect

When your fellow player presents a particularly clever Idea, you can give them the Respect Token. It shows your appreciation of their aptly articulated argument. Whenever they feel it's appropriate, they can pass it back to you to express the same!

Designer's Note: "Personally, I don't play the Respect Token offhandedly. I like to have it given only once per game. Then one has to sit with it and explore what that feels like. For me this circumstance motivates a much deeper contemplation before respect is given, and as a result lets me give and receive it in more heartfelt earnesty."

Sage & Amber Expansion

If you want to add another player and expand your philosophizing to more than two unique perspectives, you can purchase the 3-Player Expansion, available in both Sage and Amber colors.