Rondo
Rondo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 1 game board
- 120 tiles (24 each in 5 colors)
- 4 racks
- 4 victory point markers
- 1 cloth bag
For 2-4 players, ages 8 and up.
Setup
Place the game board in the middle of the table, blue side up, so that everyone can reach it easily. Each player picks a victory point marker and places it on space 0 of the scoring track around the edge of the board. Each player then takes a rack. Put the tiles in the bag and mix them well. Each player then draws 2 tiles and places them on their rack so that only they can see the colors.
How to Play
The "roundest" player starts the game. Play then continues clockwise. On their turn, the active player has 2 options:
- A The active player places as many of their tiles as they like on the board, then draws 1 tile from the bag.
- B The player chooses not to place any tiles, and instead draws 2 tiles from the bag.
Option A: Placing Tiles
The player places as many tiles from their rack onto the board as they wish. They then move their victory point marker forward according to the points they scored, and draw one new tile from the bag. The following rules apply when placing tiles:
- The first tile a player places on their turn must go on an empty space directly adjacent to a space that is already occupied (the center space also counts as occupied).
- If a player wants to place tiles on several spaces, those spaces must likewise be empty. In addition, the spaces must form a consecutive row. Branching off in 2 directions is not allowed, and neither is placing tiles at different points on the board at the same time.
Example: Meike first places the purple tile, then the blue one, and finally the yellow tile (Picture 1). She scores 2 + 1 + 3 = 6 points. She then draws 1 tile from the bag. Matthias chooses not to place any tiles on his turn and draws 2 tiles from the bag. Lukas would like to place a red, a purple, a green, and a blue tile in one turn (as shown in Pictures 2 and 3). This is not possible, because the blue tile (A) and the green tile (B) branch off and therefore do not form a continuous chain. If Lukas wanted to, he could place tile A on position C instead. He decides to place only the red, purple, and blue tiles, and saves the green tile for later. He scores 2 + 1 + 4 = 7 points. He then draws 1 tile from the bag.
There are 2 ways to place tiles on a space:
- A player may place (or stack) any number of same-colored tiles of their own on a space, face up with the color showing. The colors of all these tiles must match the color of the space they are placed on. For each tile placed this way, the player scores the number of points shown on that space.
- A player may place one of their tiles face down (color hidden) on a space. This earns no points. However, it lets them place tiles on the next space. So a face-down tile scores no points, but it can be used as a "bridge" toward a space of a higher point value or the right color.
Example: Meike places no tile and draws 2 tiles. Now it's Matthias's big moment (Picture 4). Since he has no yellow tile, he places a red tile face down on the yellow space worth 1 (A), and then 3 green tiles on the green space worth 5 (B). He scores 3 x 5 = 15 points. He scores no points for the face-down tile. He then draws 1 tile again.
Option B: Drawing Instead of Placing
If a player chooses not to place any tiles, they may instead draw 2 tiles. However, a player may never hold more than 5 tiles. If a player already has 4 tiles on their rack, they may only draw 1 new tile. A player who has 5 tiles on their rack must place at least one tile on their next turn.
End of the Game
The game ends when:
- the last gray space has been filled with a tile, or
- a player can no longer draw enough tiles.
The current round is played to its end, so that every player has had the same number of turns. The player with the most victory points wins the game. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most tiles remaining on their rack wins. If that is also tied, there are multiple winners.
Alternative Game Board
The back of the board has an alternative layout (with a red background) with a different distribution of numbers. On this board, more points are awarded overall. This lets you choose which board to play with — one with a somewhat tighter point yield, and one where you can score a bit more.
Credits
© Schmidt Spiele GmbH, Postfach 470437, D-12313 Berlin, www.schmidtspiele.de
- Game design: Reiner Knizia
- Illustration: Eckhard Freytag
- Editing: Thorsten Gimmler