Sanibel Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object
• Contents
• Set Up
• Play
  • Who Goes First?
  • On Your Turn
• Placing Shells in Your Bag
• The Wave's Turn
  • Wave's Turn Example
• Visiting the Lighthouse
• Lighthouse Tiles
• The Beach Chairs
• Turn Example
• Ending the Game
• Scoring
  • Hexagon Shells
  • Diamond Shells
  • Triangle Shells
• The Shells of Sanibel
• Shell Distribution

Object

Walk along the shore, collecting shells and arranging them in your bag for points. Earn more points based on which shells you collect and how you place them in your bag. When all the players have finished their walk, the game ends and players total their points. The player with the most points wins!

Contents

• 3 gameboard pieces
• 1 scorepad
• 4 Sanibel field guides
• 4 player mats
• 14 lighthouse tiles
• 24 triangle tiles
• 95 diamond tiles
• 79 hexagon tiles
• 4 player tokens
• 1 wave token
• 2 fabric tile bags
• 1 cardboard lighthouse standee

Set Up

Make sure to read the entire game guide from start to finish before you jump in and play!

1. Separate the shell tiles by shape into four piles: hexagon, diamond, triangle, and zigzag.
2. Add all the hexagon tiles to their matching bag.
3. Add all the diamond tiles to their matching bag.
4. Leave the triangle tiles and zigzag-shaped lighthouse tiles to the side for now.
5. Place the three gameboard pieces next to each other in the center of play so that the beach chair piece is to the left, the lighthouse piece is to the right, and the third piece is in the middle. The ocean should be along the bottom of all three gameboard pieces.
6. Slot the two cardboard lighthouse pieces into one another so that the base of the standee forms an X, then place the lighthouse on the lighthouse piece.
7. Place the starting shells on the beach. Notice the numbers on the diamond and hexagon symbols above the shoreline of each beach section on the gameboard. For each diamond and hexagon symbol, draw tiles from the matching bag equal to the number on that symbol and place them on that section.
   • In a 2-player game, place one fewer shell of each type (diamond and hexagon) on each space!
8. Shuffle the triangle shell tiles and draw 5 tiles per number of players. Place them in a shared pile near the gameboard. Return any remaining tiles to the box.
9. Each player chooses a player mat and token of the same color. Your player mat is the bag you'll be placing your shells in! Place it in front of you with the open side at the top.
10. Shuffle the zigzag-shaped lighthouse tiles and deal 2 tiles to each player. Read your lighthouse tiles—they'll be important later on. You get the chance to place them in your bag when you reach the lighthouse! After you read them, keep them to the side of your player mat. Return the remaining lighthouse tiles to the box.
11. Shuffle the players' tokens under the table without looking, then draw one at a time. Place them in the order drawn, from left to right, on the footprints at the top of the beach chair section. This is your starting turn order!
12. Each player draws as many diamond tiles as shown on their starting footprints from the diamond tile bag. Before the first player takes their turn, everyone places those tiles on their player mat. See Placing Shells in Your Bag ahead for more information.
    • If you draw a sand crab tile, draw a different diamond tile and return the sand crab to the tile bag!
13. Place the wave token on the large wave symbol on the second beach section, next to the player tokens.
14. Each player takes a Sanibel field guide. These remind you how to score the different types of shells, and what to do on your turn!

Play

Begin at the beach chairs and walk along the path, collecting shells and arranging them in your bag for points. When you reach the lighthouse, place your special lighthouse tiles and make your way back down the beach to the beach chairs. When all the players have finished their walk, the game ends and players total their points. The player with the most points wins!

Turn-taking doesn't happen in a set order. Instead, the player furthest back on the path always takes the next turn.

Who Goes First?

The player furthest behind on the path goes first. Then play continues to the next player furthest behind on the path.

On Your Turn

1. Move your token down the path any number of spaces and place your token on a footprint to claim it.
   • You must leave the beach section that you started your turn on.
   • You cannot claim a footprint occupied by another player.
   • You may skip a beach section (or several) entirely.
2. Collect the number of shell tiles shown on the footprint you claimed. For example: if you claim a footprint marked 3, collect three or fewer tiles.
   • You may pick up any combination of hexagon or diamond tiles, but they must be from the beach section you're currently on and you must be able to place them in your bag. (If you can't place any of the available shells, you can't collect anything.)
   • Did you pick up a sand crab tile? Immediately discard it and collect any one shell tile from another beach section. You cannot collect another sand crab or a shell from the beach section you're currently on. Create a separate discard pile for the sand crabs – don't place them back in the tile bag or on the beach!
3. Place all the shells you collected on your player mat. See Placing Shells in Your Bag ahead for rules on tile placement!
   • As you're placing your shells, the player furthest back on the path may start their turn.
   • While placing the shells you collected on this turn, you may move them around until you like their placement. You cannot move any shells placed on previous turns.

Is the wave token further back on the path than all the player tokens?

• If yes, the wave takes its turn and washes new shells along the beach! See The Wave's Turn ahead for more.
• If no, play passes to the player furthest back on the path. (Sometimes the same player takes multiple turns in a row!)

After you collect your shells, your turn is over.

See Scoring on page 8 to learn how to score points for your shells. You can reference your Sanibel field guide as you play to remember how scoring works!

Placing Shells in Your Bag

Shells fall to the bottom. At least one bottom edge of the tile you're placing must touch either the bottom of the bag or another shell. (For example, a whelk whose bottom edges aren't touching the bottom of the bag or another shell can't be placed there; a whelk with at least one bottom edge touching another shell can be placed!)

Place shells within the lines of the grid. You can't place a shell in a way that splits up the diamonds printed on the grid, leaving partial spaces uncovered. If a part of a shell would be outside of the grid (for example, over the top of your bag) it can't be placed. (For example, a coquina covering half of two grid diamonds can't be placed; a shell that is within the lines of the grid can be.)

If you close off empty grid spaces, you can't fill them later. To place a shell on a space, that space must have at least one edge open to the top of the bag, creating a path. (You can't fill a space that has no open path to the top of the bag. You can place a diamond on any space that has an open path to the top of the bag!)

Shells that share an edge are adjacent. Depending on the tile you're placing, you'll score points based on if they're adjacent (or not adjacent!). Two or more adjacent shells (including those on the same tile, like a special hexagon) of the same type are considered a connected group. (Shell tiles that only touch at their points are not adjacent – tile points touching don't count! Shell tiles that share an edge are adjacent.)

Fill triangle spaces for free! There are five triangle-shaped grid spaces along the edges of your bag. On your turn, whenever a triangle grid space has a tile directly beneath it, you may fill that space for free (as long as there's an edge open to the top of the bag)! Take a triangle tile of your choice from the shared pile. When scoring, these tiles count as diamonds. (There must be a shell directly under the triangle space to place the triangle tile. The triangle tile can be placed because there's a tile directly beneath it!)

The Wave's Turn

Throughout your journey, the wave washes new shells ashore.

The wave token moves along the path with the player tokens. Whenever the wave is furthest back on the path, take the wave's turn!

1. Move the wave token to the next wave symbol on the path.
2. Look at the symbol the wave token was just placed on. It tells you which type of tile and how many to place on each beach section!
3. Randomly draw that number of shell tiles from the diamond or hexagon bags and place that number of tiles on each of the seven middle beach sections, starting with the section next to the beach chairs.

When you see the player-count symbol, it refers to player count. Sometimes you'll place more shells based on the number of players!

For example: if there are 2 players, draw and place 1 hexagon shell and 1 diamond shell on every beach section. If there are 3+ players, draw and place 2 hexagon shells and 2 diamond shells on every beach section instead.

Wave's Turn Example

In this 3-player game between Michael (Green), Daniel (Blue), and Nikki (Purple), Nikki has just taken a turn. She passed the wave token as she claimed her footprint, leaving the wave token furthest back on the path. Now it's the wave's turn!

They move the wave token to the next wave symbol on the path. They're in a 3+ player game, so they draw and place 2 diamond shells.

Visiting the Lighthouse

All players must stop at the lighthouse – this section can't be skipped!

Place your token on one of the footprints at the lighthouse and complete that footprint's actions. Now you can place the zigzag-shaped lighthouse tiles you drew during set up into your bag!

When placing lighthouse tiles in your bag, follow the rules of shell tile placement—a tile must be placed within the lines of the grid and at least one bottom edge of the lighthouse tile must touch either the bottom of the bag or another shell. These tiles can be flipped over, which will change how they fit in your bag's grid! (A lighthouse tile with no supported bottom edge in the lines of the grid can't be placed there. A lighthouse tile with at least one bottom edge supported and in the lines of the grid can be placed!)

The lighthouse footprints, numbered 4, 3, 2, and 1 from back to front:

1. Place two lighthouse tiles in your bag.
2. Place one lighthouse tile in your bag and collect any two shell tiles from any other beach section. Return your other lighthouse tile to the box; you won't get another chance to place it.
3. Place one lighthouse tile in your bag and collect any one shell tile from any other beach section. Return your other lighthouse tile to the box; you won't get another chance to place it.
4. Place one lighthouse tile in your bag and collect any one shell tile from any other beach section. Return your other lighthouse tile to the box; you won't get another chance to place it.

Lighthouse Tiles

Sea Glass — Gain 1 point for each different color tile adjacent to this tile. (4 points)

Skate Jaw — Gain 1 point for each shark tooth adjacent to this tile. This tile connects with a group of connected shark teeth without disrupting that group's connection, but it is not a shark tooth tile itself.

Wentletrap — Gain 1 point for each cerith adjacent to this tile.

Sea Whip — Gain 4 points if this tile is touching the top of your bag.

Murex — Gain 1 point for each covered row of horizontal diamonds on your bag's grid. The row must be completely covered with tiles to count! This tile counts as a snail. (2 points)

Calico Crab — Gain 1 point for each triangle shell tile in your bag.

Barnacles — Gain 5 points if you fully enclose 5 separate empty diamonds in your bag.

Worm Snail — Gain 1 point for each snail tile in your longest straight and connected line of snail tiles. (4 points)

Prickly Pear — Gain 5 points if you have at least 1 pinwheel of cerith diamonds. The cerith diamond on the edge of this tile counts as a cerith! You don't gain additional points for multiple pinwheels, but they sure look nice.

Blue Crab — Gain 1 point for each echinoderm tile touching the sides of your bag. This tile does not count as an echinoderm.

Driftwood — When you're dealt this tile during set up, immediately discard it and draw two new lighthouse tiles. Choose one to keep and discard the other. Place the one you keep to the side with your other lighthouse tile.

Mermaid's Purse — Gain 1 point for each set of 1 bivalve + 1 echinoderm + 1 snail in your bag. (1 bivalve + 1 echinoderm + 1 snail = 1 point; 2 bivalves + 2 echinoderms + 2 snails = 2 points; and so on.)

Kitten's Paw — Gain 1 point for each unique bivalve tile in your bag. This tile counts as a bivalve.

Turtle Grass — When you place this tile in your bag, collect two sand crab tiles. Take them from the discard pile, if available–if not, take them from the diamond tile bag. Keep those sand crab tiles to the side of your player mat. On a future turn when you would collect shells, you can also discard these tokens and take sand crab actions. (They don't count towards the number of shells you pick up!) The shark tooth and sand crab symbols on this tile count as diamonds of their type.

• Sand crab action: When you discard a sand crab, collect any one shell tile from another beach section and place it in your bag. You cannot collect another sand crab or a shell from the beach section you're currently on.

The Beach Chairs

When you land on the beach chair section, claim a footprint as you normally would. Each footprint allows you to perform a certain action.

1. Choose any two tiles on any beach section and place them in your bag.
2. Gain 2 points.
3. Choose any one tile on any beach section and place it in your bag.
4. Gain 1 point.

When all the players have claimed a footprint beneath the beach chairs, the game ends and everyone counts their points.

Turn Example

A 2-player game between Maisie (blue) and Jackie (purple).

Turn 1 — Maisie is furthest back on the path, so it's her turn! Maisie moves her token to the next beach section and claims the third footprint, right behind Jackie's token. She collects two shell tiles and places them in her bag.

Turn 2 — Because Maisie's token is still furthest behind on the path, she takes another turn immediately! She moves her token and claims another footprint. She collects three shell tiles and adds them to her bag. Because she places a shell tile directly beneath an open triangle space on her bag's grid, she can immediately select a shark tooth triangle shell and fill the triangle space. Jackie is now furthest back on the path, so it's her turn!

Ending the Game

When all the players have finished their walk and claimed footprints by the beach chairs, the game ends. Tally up the shells in your bag for points. The player with the most points wins!

In the case of a tie, the tied player furthest forward on the path wins.

Scoring

Hexagon Shells

Echinoderms — Gain 1 point for each unique echinoderm tile that does not share an edge with another echinoderm tile in your bag. (3 points)

Bivalves — Gain 1 point for each bivalve tile that matches another bivalve tile in your bag. The matching tiles can be adjacent but don't have to be! (3 points / 5 points)

Remember: You don't score 1 point for each pair of matching bivalves, but rather 1 point for each bivalve that matches another. That means one pair of matching bivalves is worth 2 points. Three matching bivalves are worth 3 points!

Snails — Gain 1 point for each unique snail tile in your largest connected snail tile group. 1 snail tile by itself is worth 1 point (if you don't have a larger group of snails). (5 points)

Diamond Shells

Ceriths — Gain points based on how many ceriths are in your bag. Cerith tiles can be adjacent or separate.

# of ceriths	Total Points
0–4	0
5–9	3
10–14	7
15–19	12
20–24	17
25–29	22
30–34	27
35–39	32
40–44	37

Coquinas — Gain points for each separate (non-adjacent) pair of coquinas. If you have 1–4 pairs: 1 point per pair. If you have 5+ pairs: 2 points per pair. (3 points)

Shark teeth — Gain 1 point for each pair of shark tooth tiles in your largest connected shark tooth group. The players with the most and second-most shark teeth in a connected group get bonus points! Most teeth: 3 points. 2nd most teeth: 1 point. In the case of a tie, tied players receive all the points. (6 points; if this player has the largest shark tooth group out of all players, they get an extra 3 points!)

Triangle Shells

Triangle shell tiles are always ceriths, coquinas, or shark teeth. They function the same as diamonds of those types – for example, a triangle tile adjacent to a coquina diamond tile counts as a pair! A triangle tile adjacent to a coquina on a special hexagon tile also counts as a pair. See the back cover for more on special hexagons.

In a connected group, shells must share an edge.

The Shells of Sanibel

Most of the treasures we find on the beach were once living creatures (or at least their hand-me-downs). Always make sure no one's inside before you take a shell home!

Nine-Armed Sea Star (Luidia senegalensis) — The nine-armed sea star feasts on mollusks and small crustaceans. It can also regenerate lost extremities!

Noble Sea Cucumber (Holothuria princeps) — Like many of its close relatives, this sea cucumber is benthic—it travels in herds along the ocean floor. It uses its tube feet to propel itself forward, stick to surfaces, and collect detritus to eat. The Holothuria princeps can reach almost a foot in length!

Sand Dollar (Mellita quinquiesperforata) — Some folks call this echinoderm the keyhole urchin or five-slotted sand dollar. It typically lives in shallow waters below the tideline.

Sea Urchin (Lytechinus variegatus) — The variegated sea urchin is the most common species of sea urchin found in Sanibel's waters. It sometimes covers itself in bits of algae and shell to protect against sunlight in shallow waters.

Small-Spine Sea Star (Echinaster spinulosus) — Sometimes called the orange sea star due to its brightly colored tube feet, the small-spine sea star moves more quickly than most other sea star species.

Calico Scallop (Argopecten gibbus) — The calico scallop has unique color splotches of red, maroon, and lavender. The term "calico" originates from a now out-of-style colorful floral print on heavy, coarse textile. Cats with a tri-color coat are also called calicos!

Coquina (Donax variabilis) — Many collect this mollusk's colorful shell for craftmaking and jewelry. Its hues range from yellow, to pink, to purple, to blue, and beyond. It's especially satisfying to find these shells with both valves still connected at the hinge!

Jingle Shell (Anomia simplex) — Characterized by its paper-thin shell, the jingle shell (sometimes called a mermaid's toenail) is used in jewelry due to its beautiful, shiny exterior. Its common name comes from the jingling sound the shells produce when strung or carried together.

Kitten's Paw (Plicatula gibbosa) — This bivalve's fan-shaped shell has ribs resembling the toe beans of a kitten's paw. A close relative of the lion's paw scallop (Odipecten nodosus)!

Pen Shell (Atrina rigida) — The rigid pen shell is one of the largest bivalves in the world, sometimes growing to 10 inches long! Shells can usually be found along the shore after particularly heavy storms. The inside of the shell can be beautifully iridescent.

Spiny Jewel Box (Arcinella cornuta) — This bivalve boasts several radial rows of hollow spines to protect from predators, inspiring its common name. Its shell is quite thick relative to its typically smaller size.

Transverse Ark (Anadara transversa) — This clam can be found all along the Atlantic coast of North America and its neighbors, lining the pockets of shellhunters in Cape Cod and the Bahamas alike.

Turkey Wing (Arca zebra) — Boldly dressed in brown and white stripes, this bivalve's name originates from its resemblance to, well, a turkey wing! Areas with an abundance of these mollusks support rich communities of sea creatures.

Venus Clam (Macrocallista nimbosa) — The beautiful sunray venus clam varies in color and is known for its distinctive, asymmetric patterning that resembles sunlight.

Alphabet Cone (Conus spurius) — Like many of its Conus relatives, this sea snail is a predator with a venomous sting! They're even capable of stinging humans, so be sure no one's home before you scoop up one of these shells.

Cerith (Cerithium atratum) — This petite snail is omnivorous, feasting on algae and detritus. It's distinguished by its conical, slender shell that comes to a sharp point.

Florida Fighting Conch (Strombus alatus) — The Florida fighting conch is in fact an herbivore! Its explosive name comes from its defensive behavior: it may thrust a small foot out when handled. "Alatus," from this sea snail's scientific name, means "winged".

Junonia (Scaphella junonia) — This rare, bespeckled sea snail typically washes alongshore after strong storms and hurricanes. It's named after the ancient Roman goddess of marriage, Juno.

Lace Murex (Chicoreus florifer) — This spiny sea snail will drill on the shell surface of clams and other bivalves to pierce and feast on the soft tissue inside! The lace murex is among the largest of the Florida murex shells.

Lightning Whelk (Sinistrofulgur sinistrum) — Lightning whelks have a left-handed or "sinistral" shell, meaning the shell spiral coils counterclockwise with its opening on the left side. Right-handed shells are called "dextral".

Lettered Olive (Oliva sayana) — These snails have smooth, glossy oblong shells that vary in color from tan to gray. Some would say they resemble...olives.

Scotch Bonnet (Semicassis granulata) — This mollusk is named for its resemblance to a traditional tartan Scottish cap. Its shell pattern commonly features square or rectangular patches in hues of orange and brown.

Shark Eye (Neverita duplicata) — This snail's shell is typically gray brown, except for the dark blue central apex of the shell that inspired its name. To protect their eggs, female snails will create eye-catching protective barriers of sand and mucus called "sand collars".

Slipper Snail (Crepidula fornicata) — Also called the boat shell or quarterdeck shell due to the "deck" on the inside of their shell, these sea snails tend to live in stacks, one slipper snail on top of another.

True Tulip (Fasciolaria tulipa) — Despite its demure name, this flowery sea snail is a devoted and accomplished predator known for preying on the queen conch (Aliger gigas).

Wentletrap (Epitonium angulatum) — This snail's intricate and beautiful shell makes its shoreside hand-me-downs incredibly coveted, but it's quite fragile and difficult to find intact. The name wentletrap is derived from the Dutch word meaning spiral staircase.

Worm Snail (Vermicularia knorrii) — This sea snail is named for its uncanny resemblance to a worm. Its irregularly coiled shell allows it to anchor into sponge colonies.

Colorful Sea Whip (Leptogorgia virgulata) — As implied by its name, this soft coral can range from a host of hues: red, orange, purple, yellow. Its internal skeleton is flexible and composed of sclerites, unlike the calcium carbonate skeletons of hard corals.

Mermaid's Purse (Belonging to a clearnose skate, Rostroraja eglanteria) — The egg cases of skates frequently wash ashore. These casings are composed of collagen protein strands and are charmingly referred to as mermaid's purses. (Some are wallets, some are tote bags.)

Sand Crab (Emerita analoga) — These little crustaceans, also known as mole crabs, live within the "swash zone" — the area of the beach where the waves break and recede, exposing the soft sand of the exposed shoreline. That soft sand is where our friend Emerita analoga burrows! These tenacious critters follow the swash zone as it moves throughout the day with the shifting of the tides.

Shark Teeth (Belonging to various shark species found in the waters of the Gulf) — A single shark can lose 20,000 teeth in its lifetime! There is a large bed of fossilized teeth off the shore of Venice, Florida, where they wash up more commonly than on Sanibel Island.

Shell Distribution

Hexagon Shell Tiles (79)

• Echinoderms (20): 4 each of 5 types
• Bivalves (28): 4 each of 7 types
• Common Snails (20): 4 each of 5 types
• Special Snails (4): These tiles have stars next to the shell's name.
• Special 3-Diamond Hexagons (7): These tiles count as 1 tile when collecting, but 3 separate diamonds when scoring.

Diamond Shell Tiles (95)

• Ceriths (27)
• Coquinas (27)
• Shark Teeth (27)
• Sand Crabs (14)

Triangle Shell Tiles (24)

• Ceriths (8)
• Coquinas (8)
• Shark Teeth (8)