Seashells
Seashells Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
1 Beach board, 1 Sun token, 49 Seashells (7 of each color), 6 Fossil Parts (3 heads & 3 tails), 5 Sand Dollars, 4 Bottles, 1 Bucket, 3 Shovels (Stroll Mode only), 5 Player mats, 71 Coins, 7 Shape cards, 7 Colour cards, and 2 Scoring cards.
How to Win
Move cleverly to grab the most desirable shells from the beach. Win by having the most valuable shell collection at the end of the game. Earn coins for having the most of each shell shape and colour, complete fossil pairs, and sand dollars.
Setup
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Unfold the Beach board, with the Sun tile next to it. Make a supply of coins nearby; they will be used during final scoring only.
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Randomly place the 64 seashells, fossils, sand dollars, and bottles onto the beach, 1 item per space.
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Shuffle the Shape and Colour decks face-down separately. Draw one card from each deck, and find the one shell that matches that shape and colour. Move that shell to the Sun tile, and place the Bucket in its empty beach space. Discard both cards from the game.
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Decide whether you want to use Simple or Advanced scoring, and place the Scoring cards on the table with that side up.
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Each player takes a player mat, then draws one Shape card and one Colour card, and keeps their cards secret.
In a 2-player game, each player draws two cards from each deck.
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The youngest player goes first.
Gameplay
The game goes in turns. After each turn, play proceeds clockwise to the next player, continuing around until it is impossible to take any more turns.
On Your Turn
Choose one item on the beach in the same row or column as the Bucket, any distance away. Move the Bucket to that space, and collect the item to your mat.
For example, you could move to any of the items in the Bucket's row or column. So if you moved to the Pink Scallop, you'd collect it and place it on your mat.
Place a collected shell into the matching space on your "towel". Place any other collected item (Fossil parts, Sand Dollars, and Bottles) into your "basket".
Then it's the next player's turn.
The towel's shell shapes, top to bottom, are: Scallop, Conch, Whelk, Cowrie, Oyster, Starfish. Its colour columns, left to right, are: Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, White, Violet.
Your Secret Cards
Your secret cards don't do anything during the game, but during final scoring they count as one extra unit of that shape/colour in your collection. So for example if you have the Scallop card and three Scallop pieces, you actually have four Scallops in your collection!
Messages in a Bottle
If you have a Message in a Bottle, you may spend it (by discarding it from the game) at the end of your turn to immediately take a second turn. You may not spend one on the same turn that you got it.
Game End & Scoring
The game ends immediately if your turn begins and there are no items in the Bucket's row and column (meaning there is no legal spot to move it). Everyone reveals their secret cards, and scoring begins.
Everyone scores at the same time, grabbing coins from the supply when appropriate (make change if necessary). Score the different categories in this order:
1. Shell Shapes & Colours
Score each shell shape and colour one at a time, working top to bottom on the player mat for the shapes, and left to right for the colours. So start scoring shapes by announcing "Scallops", and then each other shape downward. Then start scoring colours by announcing "Yellow", and then each colour in order rightward.
As each shape/colour is announced, everyone calls out how many they have in their collection (including their secret cards). Players earn coins depending on which scoring type you are using:
Simple — The player (or all tied players) with the most earns 3 coins.
Advanced — If one player has the most, that player earns 3 coins and the player (or all tied players) with second-most earn 1 coin. If more than one player is tied for most, they all earn 1 coin each and there is no reward for second place.
2. Complete Fossil Pairs
For each complete pair of Fossil parts (one head and one tail) you have, earn 3 coins. Unmatched Fossil parts do not score.
3. Sand Dollars
Earn 1 coin for each Sand Dollar in your collection.
The player with the most coins wins!
Ties are broken in favour of the tied player who has the most shapes/colours matching the shell on the Sun tile. If that is still tied, the tied players share their victory.
For example, if the shell on the Sun tile is a Pink Starfish, then in a tied game the player with the highest combined total of Starfish plus Pink shells would win.
Stroll Mode - A Boardless Variant
Setup Changes
- Do not use the beach board. Instead, randomly arrange all 64 items in a single-file rough ring. The Sun tile and Coin supply can go in the middle.
- When you place the Bucket (by drawing two cards and determining the tiebreaker shape/colour as usual), pile the 3 Shovel tokens under it.
On Your Turn
Ignoring any gaps, move the Bucket up to four items clockwise, and claim the one you land on.
It is helpful to condense the ring as gaps appear.
Shovels do not count as items in the ring. Each time the Bucket passes the Shovel pile (which marks a full lap of the ring), discard one of the Shovels from the game. When the final Shovel is discarded, the game ends immediately.
All other rules and final scoring are the same as usual.
Credits & Thanks
Game Design: Bruno Faidutti
Illustration & Graphics: Christopher Chan
Creative Director: Josh Cappel
Communications Director: Sean Jacquemain
Project Management: Helaina Cappel
Localization Manager: Tara Gilmour-Long
KTBG Playtesting and feedback: Josh Cappel, Helaina Cappel, Sean Jacquemain, Tara Gilmour-Long, Evan Derrick, Trevor Douglas, Jory Cappel, Sasha Korman, Noa Korman, Dylan Korman, and Riley Korman
Published with love by KTBG — www.kidstablebg.com — ©2026 All rights reserved