Pixies
Pixies Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
70 cards, 1 rulebook.
Each card shows a front with a number, a color, and (on some cards) symbols; the back shows shared artwork.
Game Setup
Shuffle the cards into a deck, placed facedown. Choose the first player at random.
Game Objective
The player with the most points at the end of 3 rounds wins. Place your cards wisely in your playing area to earn points according to their number, color, and the symbols shown on them.
Game Turns
A game consists of 3 rounds, each of which is divided into several turns that continue until one of the players has filled their playing area. Each turn follows these 3 steps:
- The first player reveals as many cards from the deck as there are players.
- In turn order going clockwise, each player must take 1 of those cards and place it in their playing area following the placement rules (see below). The last player has no choice other than to take the last remaining card.
- The turn is finished. The player who chose their card last starts the next turn.
In a 2-player game, 4 cards are revealed, and the players take turns (choosing a card and placing it) until the last card has been chosen. In other words, for each turn, each player plays twice.
Card Placement Rules
Each player's playing area consists of 9 spaces, arranged in a 3x3 grid numbered 1 through 9. If possible, you must put the card in the space matching its number, but cards already in play may affect where and how you play the card. There are 3 possible scenarios:
Case 1. The player does not have a faceup card with this number. They must place their card faceup in the space indicated by its number. If this space is occupied by a facedown card, they must place their card on top of it.
Case 2. The player already has a faceup card with this number. They must choose which of the 2 cards to keep faceup; the other is flipped over and placed underneath it. The player ensures it is partially visible so that their opponents can see it.
Case 3. The player already has a faceup card with this number and it is already validated. They must place their card facedown on any empty space, regardless of its number.
Note: This card cannot be placed under another card to validate it. It can be covered later with a card bearing the number of that space (see Case 1), and that card will then be directly validated.
Important: A faceup card that covers a facedown card is "validated," and will earn the player points at the end of the round.
End of the Round
The end of the round is triggered when, at the end of any turn (after all players have placed a card), a player has filled all 9 of their spaces, regardless of whether the cards are faceup or facedown. The points are then counted, and the score of each player is noted.
In a 2-player game, the round can also end when there are still 2 cards to take. For example, at the beginning of the turn, player 1 takes a card, places it, and fills the last empty space in their playing area. They can play no more. However, player 2 must place another card so that they have both played the same number of times. After this player has placed their card, the round is over, even though there are still 2 cards left on the table.
Scoring
Each player counts the number of points they have in their playing area.
Validated Cards
Each validated card earns as many points as the number on it.
Symbols
A spiral symbol earns 1 point.
A cross symbol makes the player lose 1 point.
Special cards earn 1 spiral for each faceup card of the indicated color.
Note: All faceup cards are taken into account, whether they are validated or not.
The Player's Largest Color Zone
A color zone is made up of at least 2 cards of the same color touching along a side. Diagonals do not count.
Each card that is part of the player's largest zone earns:
- 2 points in round 1
- 3 points in round 2
- 4 points in round 3
Note: All faceup cards are taken into account, whether they are validated or not.
A multi-colored card has all the colors at the same time. This means that it counts for the player's color zone of course, but also for all their special cards as well.
Example of Counting Score
Here is a player's playing area at the end of the 1st round: cards numbered 1 through 9 (excluding 6, which is empty) fill the grid, with card 1 a special (blue) card, card 5 a special (green) card, and the rest a mix of colors and symbols.
Points for validated cards: 1 + 5 + 7 + 8 = 21 points
Symbol points: 10 spirals on the cards + 5 spirals for the special card (1 x 5 blue cards, including the multi-colored one) - 4 crosses = 11 points
Points for the largest color zone: 4 connected blue cards (1, 2, 3 and 4) x 2 points for round 1 = 8 points
A total of 40 points for this player's first round!
Preparation for the Next Round
All the cards are shuffled to create a new deck. The last player to play starts the new round.
End of the Game
At the end of Round 3, the players add up their scores from the 3 rounds. The player with the most points wins the game! In case of a tie, victory is shared.
Noting Your Score
To keep track of your score, you can copy the score sheet printed on the rulebook or download the BombyxScore app. The score sheet has a row per round (1, 2, and 3) tracking, for each player: number of validated cards, largest color zone (worth 2/3/4 points per card by round), spiral/cross symbol points, and a round sum, followed by a grand total sum.
ColorADD
The color of the card is represented by the sign in the middle at the bottom.
Colors used: Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple, Brown — each with its own ColorADD glyph.
ColorADD is a universal, inclusive, and nondiscriminative language that enables the colorblind to identify colors. Used under license by Bombyx.
Credits
Game designer: Johannes Goupy
Artwork: Sylvain Trabut
Published by Pandasaurus Games. ©2024 Pandasaurus Games, LLC.