Positano Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Assembling the Cliffside
• Setup
• Round Order
  • 1. Bid
  • 2. Pick Lot
  • 3. Obtain Blocks
  • 4. Build
  • 5. Refresh
• End of Game
• Scoring
• Goal Card Notes
• Solo Mode
• Credits

Components

• Cliffside (the tiered building frame)
• Beach Board
• 64 Building Blocks (16 per color)
• 28 Bid Cards (7 per player)
• 24 Bid Booster Cards (6 per player)
• 18 Roof Pieces (6 per type)
• 16 Lot Tiles
• 16 Block Tiles
• 16 Build Tiles
• Scorepad
• 6 Double-Sided Goal Cards

Assembling the Cliffside

1. Set the center staircase piece into two of the narrow support pieces to form a stable base.
2. Set the two staircase side pieces into the base.
3. Connect the final support piece across the top of the staircase pieces.
4. Put each of the platform pieces in place. Row 1 should be the lowest row, then row 2, then 3, then 4 at the top.

Setup

1. Place the Cliffside next to the Beach Board, making sure that it is placed so that all players may view the front of the Cliffside during the game.
2. Randomly select 3 Goal Cards, then randomly determine which side of each one is facing up. Place them next to the Beach Board. Return the remaining Goal Cards to the box.
3. Place the bronze, silver and gold roofs near the Cliffside.
4. Each player chooses a color and takes 1 Building Block of that color into their Personal Supply. Leave the remaining blocks of that color near the Cliffside to form the General Supply.
5. If playing with fewer than 4 players, remove Lot tiles as follows:
   • For a 3 Player game, randomly remove one Lot tile, face up.
   • For a Solo or 2 Player game, randomly remove four Lot tiles, face up. (See Solo Mode for more information.)
6. Shuffle the remaining Lot tiles and place them in a face-down stack to the left of the Beach Board. Reveal one tile for each player, placing them face up in the top row of the Beach Board.
7. Find the starting Block tiles with grey borders and player icons less than or equal to the number of players and place them face-up on the second row of the Beach Board. Shuffle all other Block tiles, including leftover starting tiles, and place them in a face-down stack to the left of the Beach Board.
8. Find the starting Build tiles with grey borders and player icons less than or equal to the number of players and place them face-up on the third row of the Beach Board. Shuffle all other Build tiles, including leftover starting tiles, and place them in a face-down stack to the left of the Beach Board.
9. Each player takes the set of Bid Cards that correspond with their Building Blocks' colors. Each set should be identical with 7 Base Bid cards (with numbers 10-70) and 6 Bid Booster cards (with numbers +5 to +22). Players may view their own cards but should keep them hidden from other players.

Players should arrange themselves around the table so that all players have a clear view of the front of the Cliffside.

Round Order

1. Bid

All players secretly and simultaneously select 1 Base Bid card (with numbers 10-70) and 1 Bid Booster card (with numbers +5 to +22) from their hands and place them face down on the table.

Once all players have selected their bids, reveal bids. Each player's revealed pair of bid cards will be used to draft all 3 tile types. Perform the following steps to first draft all the face-up Lot tiles, then Block tiles, then Build tiles:

Each player adds the number on their Bid Booster card to each of the three numbers on their Base Bid cards corresponding to the tile type being drafted: yellow for Lots, green for Block, and blue for Build.

Example Bid: Base Bid shows 60, 50, 10 for Lots, Block, and Build respectively; Bid Booster shows 22. So the totals are 60+22=82 (Lots), 50+22=72 (Block), 10+22=32 (Build).

Bidding Ties: In the case of a tie for any bid total, the player that drafts first is the one with most (sun) icons showing on the right-side of the Base Bid value for the tile type being drafted.

Starting with the Lot tiles, the player with the highest bid total for that tile type selects 1 tile and places it face-up in front of them. The remaining players then draft in order from highest to lowest bid totals for that same tile type.

Once all Lot tiles have been claimed, repeat this process for the Block tiles, then the Build tiles.

2. Pick Lot

When a player drafts a Lot tile, they put it in front of them. That tile determines where they will be able to build later in the round.

3. Obtain Blocks

When a player drafts a Block tile, they obtain Building Blocks of their color from the General Supply equal to the number of blocks shown on their drafted Block tile and place those Building Blocks in their Personal Supply.

Some Block tiles have options:

• For the Double your blocks tile, you may take the same number of blocks that you currently have in your Personal Supply, or you may draw 2 blocks.
• For the Triple your blocks tile, you may draw the twice the number of blocks that you currently have in your Personal Supply, or you may draw 3 blocks.

Unused Building Blocks will be retained by players in their Personal Supplies from round to round.

If the General Supply runs out of blocks of your color, you may not obtain any more. You will still draft Block tiles in this case, but you will not get any more blocks.

4. Build

When a player drafts a Build tile, they must place at least 1 Building Block from their Personal Supply on the Cliffside square matching the Lot tile they drafted this round, and may choose to build up to the Regulation Height:

Regulation Height: Each Lot tile specifies the regulation height in the bottom right corner.

Each level of the Cliffside has a consistent Regulation Height:

• Level 4: 4 Blocks
• Level 3: 3 Blocks
• Level 2: 2 Blocks
• Level 1: 1 Block

Some Build tiles provide +1 or +2 Height, enabling you to exceed Regulation Height by 1 or 2 blocks. For example, when building on Level 1, you can normally only build buildings that are 1 block tall, but with a Height +2 tile, you can build a building that is 3 blocks tall.

The maximum height for any building is 2 blocks higher than the Regulation Height.

No Blocks Left: In the unlikely event that a player has no Building Blocks in their Personal Supply after drafting a Build tile, they do not build.

Roof: After a player has placed their Building Blocks, they top their building with a roof corresponding to the type shown on the banner at the top of the player's drafted Build tile:

• CHEAP = Bronze roof
• STANDARD = Silver roof
• LUXURY = Gold roof

Build Actions: Some Build tiles offer a second build action that may optionally be used immediately AFTER performing the main build action:

• Add-On: Add 1 Block to one of your existing buildings. The tile with the add-on icon indicates the maximum height that you may build up to (in this example, the maximum is Regulation Height +1). The extension to maximum height applies to both the main build action and the add-on.
• Remodel: Change the building type of an existing building from Cheap to Standard or from Standard to Luxury by replacing its roof. Remodels do not change the height of the building.

5. Refresh

At the end of the round, players retain any unused Building Blocks in their Personal Supplies for use in future rounds.

Players place their played cards and tiles face down into their own personal discard area. At the end of the game, these cards and tiles will be used to tally Gelato for scoring.

From each of the 3 draft decks, draw 1 tile per player, placing them face-up on the Beach Board. Then begin the next round.

End of Game

The game ends when all available Lot tiles have been taken. With 4 players, there will be 4 rounds. 3 players will play 5 rounds. 2 players will play 6 rounds. Note that for 2-3 player games, there will be tiles remaining in the Block and Build decks at the end of the game.

Scoring

At the end of the game, players get victory points for Buildings, Gelato, and Goal cards.

Buildings: Buildings score for each individual block with a seaside view. A block is considered to have a seaside view when there is not a block in front of it (in the same column on the Cliffside) at the same height.

Blocks with seaside views score victory points based on the building type:

• CHEAP = 1 point per block.
• STANDARD = 2 points per block.
• LUXURY = 3 points per block.

Example: In this example, red has 10 Building points, yellow has 17, and blue and green each have 18. Note that a Building Block with a view that is partially obscured by the tip of a roof in front still counts as having a seaside view.

Gelato: Each player scores 1 victory point for each Gelato icon on the cards and tiles that they have played over the course of the game. Gelato on unused Base Bid Cards and Bid Booster Cards do not count.

Goals: Each player scores victory points based on the Goal cards. Some Goals give points to anyone who meets the conditions. For example, Perfetto awards 2 points per building of exactly Regulation Height.

• Perfetto (worth 2 points): Earn for each building at exactly regulation height.
• Piccolo (worth 3 points): Earn for each building under regulation height.

Other Goals require players to compete to have the most of something. For example, Mezzo awards 6 points to the player with the most Buildings on the inner columns, and awards 3 points to the player with the second most.

• Mezzo (worth 6/3 points): Most buildings on the inner columns. (If tied, most blocks.)
• Bordo (worth 6/3 points): Most buildings on the outer columns. (If tied, most blocks.)
• Equilibrato (worth 5 points): Earn for having at least 1 of each roof type.
• Eccesso (worth 6/3 points): Most leftover blocks in your personal supply.

For these competition Goals, ties for the most Buildings are broken by the most Building Blocks in those Buildings, even if those Blocks do not have seaside views. If, after applying the Block tiebreaker, there is still a tie for first place, the tied players divide the combined first and second place points, rounded down, and no other players get points for that Goal. If, after applying the Block tiebreaker, there is still a tie for second place, the tied players divide the second place points, rounded down.

Example: In this example, the players are comparing Buildings for the Mezzo Goal. Green has three Buildings on the inner columns, so they get 6 points for first place. Red and yellow each have two Buildings on the inner columns. However, yellow's Buildings in the inner columns have a total of 6 Building Blocks while red's only have 5. Yellow gets the 3 points for second place, and red gets no points.

For all competition Goals, a player must have at least one of the items being counted in order to be eligible. For example, a player with no leftover Blocks scores no points for Eccesso, even if no other player had leftover blocks and there could have been a tie for first or second place with zero leftover blocks.

Final Score: Add up each player's final score on the scorepad. The player with the highest total is the winner. In the case of a tie, the players share the victory.

Goal Card Notes

For all Goal cards, a "row" is a set of lots with the same number, and a "column" is a set of lots with the same letter.

Altezza: Height is measured in number of Building Blocks. Being on a higher level of the Cliffside does not give a Building a different height. So, for example, a 2-block Building on level 2 and 2-block Building on level 4 have the same height for the purposes of Altezza.

Eccesso: Leftover Blocks in the General Supply do not count.

Gruppo: Contiguous Buildings must be vertically or horizontally adjacent. Diagonally adjacent does not count as contiguous.

Solitario: An independent Building is one that is not vertically or horizontally adjacent to any other Building of that color. Buildings that are only diagonally adjacent count as independent.

The remaining Goal Cards — Grande, Dietro, and Colonna — are named in the Solo Mode goal-card sets below; their scoring conditions are printed only on the physical cards and are not otherwise detailed in the rulebook text.

Solo Mode

In Solo Mode, you'll be coordinating your construction with a partially-automated fellow builder named Otto Amalfi.

Setup: Begin by setting up a two-player game, choosing different colors for yourself and Otto. Separate Otto's Base Bid cards from his Bid Booster cards, then shuffle each separately and place them in separate face-down stacks. Set up the Beach Board with the normal two-player starting tiles, but randomize the position of the tiles within each row.

Bidding: In the Solo Mode game, Otto's bids will be random, and you must respond to them. At the start of each Bid Phase, reveal one Base Bid card and one Bid Booster card from Otto's face-down decks. You then choose which cards from your own hand to bid, as normal.

The higher bid for each tile type always takes the leftmost tile on the Beach Board. You will need to choose your own bid cards carefully to get the best outcome. However, once you determine who gets which tile, you make all other choices in the round for both yourself and Otto.

Example: In the first round, you reveal a random bid for Otto (Base Bid 50/10/60, Bid Booster +14). You then decide to bid Base Bid 40/40/40, Bid Booster +5. You win the bid for the middle row and Otto wins on the other two. Since the winner always takes the leftmost tile, you distribute the tiles accordingly. From here, you make all other choices in the round. You decide to build a two-block Building on 3D with a silver roof, and you have Otto build a two-block Building on 2B with a copper roof. You then proceed to the next round, revealing two new tiles in each row of the Beach Board and revealing a new random bid for Otto.

Build Actions: When taking the extra build actions Add-On or Remodel, you may not modify Otto's buildings, and Otto may not modify yours.

Scoring: Calculate your score and Otto's score normally. Your final score is the lower of those two scores. You'll need to build as evenly as possible to do well!

Example: At the end of the game, you have 35 points and Otto has 32. Your score for this game is 32. Not bad!

Goals: We recommend playing several games with the same set of Goal Cards, trying to improve your score. You can choose Goals randomly, as in the multiplayer game, or you can select them yourself. Here are a few sets of Goals that we recommend for Solo Mode:

• Big in the Back: Grande, Gruppo, Dietro
• The Spice of Life: Altezza, Equilibrato, Bordo
• Tiny Homes: Piccolo, Solitario, Eccesso
• Balanced and Centered: Mezzo, Perfetto, Colonna
• Location, Location, Location (Hard): Solitario, Mezzo, Dietro
• More Blocks, More Problems (Hard): Grande, Altezza, Eccesso

Credits

Positano, First Edition - Published by SlugFest Games West, LLC. Made in China. Package and Contents © SlugFest Games West, LLC. 2025. The SlugFest Games logo and the Positano logo are trademarks of SlugFest Games West, LLC.

Designer: Jeff Grisenthwaite. Additional Development: Jeff Morrow, Sam Waller, Jen Kitzman. Art: Beth Trott. Graphic Design and Layout: Chris Byer, Sam Waller, Jeff Morrow. 3D Models: Gui Landgraf, Velrock Art Miniatures. Project Management: OffDutyNinja. Special thanks to Kristin Robrock, Anne Grisenthwaite, Aidan Grisenthwaite, Emmett Grisenthwaite, and the playtest groups at Break My Game, Cardboard Edison, Chicagoland Boardgame Designers Meetup, and Protospiel.