Small Islands
Small Islands Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Content
- 56 Landscape Tiles
- 4 two-sided Starting Tiles (with seagulls)
- 1 Navigation Tile
- 4 Ship Tiles (colored on one side, grey on the other)
- 32 Clan Houses (8 per player)
- 16 Bonus Tokens (4 per player)
- 12 Discovery Tokens (x2, x4, x4, x2)
- 45 Prestige Tokens (x20, x12, x8, x5)
- 12 Objective Cards (Normal Mode)
- 12 Mission Cards and 12 Reward Cards (Advanced Mode)
- 3 Alexis Cards and 15 Expedition Cards (Solo Mode)
Ages: 8+ Players: 1-4 Playing time: 30'
Overview
A game of Small Islands is played in maximum 4 Rounds.
At the beginning of each Round, each player secretly picks an Objective Card. This card indicates the objective to achieve at the end of the Round and the Prestige Points (PP) that can be earned.
In turn, players must perform one of the 2 following actions:
- Draw and place 1 Landscape Tile
- Draw and place 1 Ship Tile
During the game, the Landscape Tiles will form islands with Resources, Temples and Ports.
When a Ship Tile is placed, all players place Houses on the islands and earn Prestige Points according to their Objective Cards, chosen at the beginning of the Round. Then, players start a new Round.
When the game ends, players receive additional Prestige Points for their Ship Tiles.
The player with the most Prestige Points is the winner of the game.
There are 2 game modes: Normal & Advanced. In Normal Mode, ignore the rules framed in blue.
Set Up
- Each player picks a color and takes 4 Houses and the 4 Bonus Tokens of his color.
- The 4 remaining Houses are placed in the reserve.
- The last player to have been on an island is the First Player. He takes the 4 Starting Tiles (with seagulls) and places them as he wishes, in the center of the table, according to the Tile Placement Rules (see Tile Placement Rules).
- Shuffle the Landscape Tiles and create the Reserve Stack, face down.
- Next to this stack, place the Ship Tiles of the players, colored Ship up. With 2 or 3 players, place the remaining Ship Tiles, next to the others, Grey Ship up. Whatever the number of players, there must always be 4 available Ship Tiles.
- Place the Navigation Tile, then draw 3 Landscape Tiles in the reserve Stack and place them face up, making them available to all the players.
- Shuffle the Discovery Tokens, and place them face down, next to the players, along with the Prestige Tokens.
- Each player grabs 2 Landscape Tiles in the Reserve Stack without revealing them to the other players.
- Shuffle the 12 Objective Cards and form a new stack, face down.
- Each player grabs 1 Objective Card, without revealing it to the other players.
Advanced Mode
- Instead of playing with the 12 Objective Cards, use the 12 Mission Cards and the 12 Reward Cards. Shuffle them separately and form 2 stacks, face down.
- Each player draws 1 Mission Card and 1 Reward Card.
Set Up Example for a 2-Player Game
The setup diagram shows: houses and bonus tokens taken by each player (2), the Reserve Stack of Landscape Tiles (4), the Ship Tiles (5), the Navigation Tile with the Discovery Tokens and Prestige Tokens (6, 7), the Objective deck (9), the two Starting Tiles placed in the center forming the first islands (3), each player's Prestige Tokens and Houses (1), and each player's 2 secretly-drawn Landscape Tiles plus Objective Card (8, 10).
Landscape Tiles
The 3 Natural Resources:
- Lotus Flower
- Dragon Fruit
- Arka Leaf
Other symbols:
- Temple
- Port
- Location for House
- Seagulls to mark the Starting Tile
Purpose of the Game
Earn the most Prestige Points for your clan and thus become the most renowned explorer.
Game Play
A game of Small Islands is played in maximum 4 Rounds. A Round is divided into 3 phases:
- Preparation: set up for the new Round.
- Exploration: players place Tiles (Landscape or Ship) in turn.
- Reward: players place Houses on the islands and earn Prestige Points.
1. Preparation
Draw 6 Landscape Tiles from the Reserve Stack without looking at them and place them face down on the Navigation Tile to form the Navigation Stack.
Then, each player secretly draws 2 Objective Cards in order to have 3 of them, then:
- Chooses 1 Objective Card for the Current Round.
- Puts aside 1 Objective Card for the Next Round (place a House on it as a reminder).
- Returns the remaining Objective Card face down onto the stack.
Advanced Mode
Each player secretly draws 2 Mission Cards and 2 Reward Cards in order to have 3 of each.
An Objective is composed of 1 Mission Card and 1 Reward Card.
Each player:
- Creates 1 Objective for the Current Round.
- Puts aside 1 Mission Card and 1 Reward Card for the Next Round.
- Returns the remaining 2 Cards, face down onto their respective stack.
Objective Cards
An Objective Card is composed of a Mission (left part) and a Reward (right part). During the Reward phase:
- The Mission determines the condition that an island must fulfill in order to place a House on it.
- The Reward determines how many Prestige Points will be earned for each island that receives a House.
(See the example of a Reward Phase below, and Cards Explanation under Missions and Rewards.)
Choosing a good objective is important but the best sailors know that exploration is even more important...
2. Exploration
Starting with the first player, and in clockwise order, each player must perform only one of the following 2 actions:
- Explore: draw and place a Landscape Tile.
- Land: draw and place a Ship Tile. This action ends the Exploration Phase.
Note: As long as there are Landscape Tiles on the Navigation Tile, players cannot Land. Indeed, many storms are hitting the coast, which is why the sailors often have to wait for the right time to bring their discoveries back to the Great Continent.
Explore
- Take 1 Landscape Tile from the 3 available face up Landscape Tiles and add it to your hand.
- Place down 1 of the 3 Landscape Tiles in your hand while respecting the Tile Placement Rules.
- Optional: If you wish, you can place one of your Bonus Tokens as well (See Bonus Token Placement Rules).
- Replace the Landscape Tile taken with a new Tile from the Navigation Stack.
If the Navigation Stack is depleted, replace the Landscape Tile with a new Tile from the Reserve Stack.
Land
This action is only available if the Navigation Stack is depleted. Then:
- Take the Ship Tile of your color in the Reserve OR a Grey Ship Tile (with 2 or 3 players).
- Place the Ship Tile using the Tile Placement Rules.
If a Ship Tile cannot be taken or placed, then it is not possible to Land. Exploring is the only alternative.
When a player places a Ship Tile, the Exploration Phase is over. Move on to the Reward Phase.
Only the experienced sailor knows how to choose the right time to land: neither too early nor too late...
Tile Placement Rules
- You can choose the orientation of the Tile you place.
- A Tile must be placed adjacent to at least one other Tile by its side, and aligned with it.
- A Tile must continue the landscape illustration in a coherent manner on all sides AND corners.
- An island is constituted by several Landscape Tiles, adjacent by their sides only.
- A Landscape Tile cannot go over the edge of the table. As everyone knows, the Earth is flat and the edge of the table represents the end of the world.
Valid placements: extend an island, or explore a new island (start a new island by placing a Tile adjacent only by its side, matching the landscape illustration coherently). Placements that break the coherent-illustration rule, or that are not adjacent by a side, are not allowed.
Bonus Token Placement Rules
During your turn, while performing the action Explore (and only this one), you can place 1 Bonus Token (one Token per turn) on any Landscape Tile already in play. The Bonus Tokens are double-sided:
Resource side
- A Resource Token must be placed on top of one of the other two Natural Resources of the game.
- A Resource Token can hide another one.
Port side
- A Port Token must be placed on the coast of an island.
- There cannot be more than 2 Ports on the same Landscape Tile.
Example: a Port Token placed on the coast of an island; a Flower Token hiding a Leaf Resource underneath it.
3. Reward
All players place House on islands and win Prestige Points. Starting with the player who placed the Ship Tile and moving in clockwise order, the players perform once, in turn, the Reward Phase.
-
Reveal your Objective Card for the current Round. (Advanced Mode: Reveal your Mission and Reward Cards.)
-
Mission: You can place one or more Houses on the islands of your choice that fulfill your Mission, while using the House Placement Rules. (See below and Missions and Rewards for Cards Explanation.)
Each player can only place one House per island. Placing a House is not compulsory.
-
Reward: For each island on which you place a House, take the Prestige Points indicated by your Reward (use the Prestige Tokens).
-
Take the Houses from the Reserve in order to have at most 4 Houses.
-
Return the Objective Card you used to the stack of Objective Cards. (Advanced Mode: Return the Mission and Reward cards you used to their respective stack.)
House Placement Rules
IMPORTANT: You can only place a House on an island that fulfills the condition set by your Mission.
- Houses of different colours can be placed on a same island, but not Houses of the same colour.
- A House can only be placed on an available Location for House Symbol.
- A House can only be placed on an island made of at least 2 Landscape Tiles.
- A House can be placed on an island, whether it is complete or not, and whether a ship is nearby or not.
Reminder: You cannot place a second House of your colour on the same island. Therefore, an island will only grant you points once in the game.
Example
Benoit (red color) performs his Reward Phase.
- Mission: at least 1 Temple and 2 Flowers.
- Reward: 1 Prestige Point for each Temple and each Flower.
Island A does not fulfill the Mission, because 1 Temple is missing. Moreover, Benoit has already placed a House on this island during the preceding Round.
Islands B and C fulfill the Mission and Benoit places 1 House on each of the 2 islands. He wins 1 + 3 = 4 PP for island B and 3 + 2 = 5 PP for island C.
End of the Round
When each player has performed the Reward phase, if the game is not over:
- Shuffle all the Objective Cards to form a new stack face down. (Advanced Mode: Shuffle separately all the Mission and Reward Cards to create 2 new stacks face down.)
- The next player in turn, after the player who just placed a Ship Tile, becomes the First Player for the next Round.
- Play a new Round, starting with the Preparation Phase.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately after one of these 3 conditions occurs:
- During the Preparation Phase: if there are less than the 6 Landscape Tiles needed in the Reserve Stack to form the Navigation Stack.
- During the Exploration Phase: at the beginning of your turn, if there are no more Landscape Tiles available face up AND if you cannot place a Ship Tile. Then the players move immediately to a last Reward Phase, starting with you.
- At the end of the Reward Phase: if all Ship Tiles have been placed.
Example
At the end of the game, for their own Ship:
- Aurélie (Purple Ship) earns 8 Prestige Points.
- Benoit (Red Ship) earns 6 Prestige Points.
Prestige Points
Each player adds up all his Prestige Points:
- Prestige Points gained during the game.
-
- the Prestige Points indicated on the Discovery Tokens, if you have collected any through an Objective (see Rewards).
-
- 1 Prestige Point for each Port located on the 8 Landscape Tiles around his Ship Tile.
With 2 or 3 players, Grey Ship Tiles do not grant any Prestige Points.
If a player has not placed a Ship Tile of his colour, he obviously does not receive any Prestige Points for it.
The Player with the most Prestige Points wins the game.
If there is a tie, the winner is, in order:
- The player who has placed the most Houses.
- The player who has the most Ports on the 8 Tiles around his Ship.
- The last player who placed a Tile (Landscape or Ship).
Solo Mode
In Solo Mode, you play against a virtual player. Alexis is the game designer of Small Islands and he will be your opponent in this game. He has his own cards: Alexis Cards and Expedition Cards. Your goal is to beat Alexis at his own game. You can play in Normal Mode or Advanced Mode. Rules are identical but for a few changes, notably in the Set Up phase.
Set Up
Do a regular set up, with the following changes:
- You are the First Player.
- Choose 1 Alexis Card. It will determine the difficulty level and the AI behavior. Watch out: Alexis is not a morning person. Take him by surprise during that time of day and you might have a chance of beating him.
- Among the Expedition Cards, pick at random the number of Explore Cards and Land Cards indicated on the Alexis Card. Shuffle these to create the Expedition Stack, face down. Put the remaining cards back in the box.
- Pick a color for Alexis and grab the 8 matching Houses at the start of the game (Purple is Alexis' favorite).
- Next to the Navigation Tile, place your Ship Tile and 3 Grey Ship Tiles.
- Alexis does not have any Objective, Landscape Tiles, or Bonus Tokens.
Game Sequences
Preparation
No Change, except for Alexis who does not take any Objective Card.
Exploration
Your turn. Play as you would normally in a multi-player game, whether for the Explore or Land actions. You can place either your Ship Tile or the Grey Ship Tiles.
Alexis' turn. When it is Alexis' turn, perform the following actions:
- Draw 1 Expedition Card. If the stack is depleted, shuffle the cards again to form a new stack.
- Perform the action indicated on the Expedition Card. This will either be an Explore action or a Land action.
- Then, discard the Expedition Card.
Alexis Card
- Difficulty level (1 star = easy).
- Number of Explore Cards for the Expedition Stack.
- Number of Land Cards for the Expedition Stack.
- Prestige Points earned by Alexis at the end of the game. Here (example card): 40 PP + 1 PP for each House he placed.
Expedition Card
- Type of card: Explore or Land.
- List of available action for Alexis. Here (example card): Action A: Land. Action B: Explore.
- Possible locations where Alexis will place his Tile.
- Alexis' Mission. Here (example card): Alexis must place 1 House on each island with at least 2 Flowers.
Tile Placement Rules for Alexis
In addition to the usual Tile Placement Rules, Alexis places his Tile in the spot indicated by the Expedition Card:
- As close as possible to the Tile (Landscape or Ship) that you have placed in the previous turn.
- On the same horizontal or vertical line as your Tile.
- As a priority, in direction 1 as indicated by the Expedition Card, if not possible, then in direction 2, and then in direction 3 if neither 1 nor 2 are feasible.
- Alexis never places a Landscape Tile if it would grow an island that already contains a House of his color.
If several orientations are possible, you can choose the orientation that suits you.
Example
During your turn, you have placed the Landscape Tile A. During his turn, Alexis performs action A: Explore. He takes the 2nd Landscape Tile available face up. He cannot place it in direction 1. In direction 2, he cannot place it next to your Tile but he can place it a little further. You can choose the orientation of the Tile.
Explore (Alexis)
- Grab the Landscape Tile indicated by the Expedition Card among the 3 face up Landscape Tiles.
- Place the Landscape Tile in the spot indicated by the Expedition Card.
- If it is impossible to place the indicated Landscape Tile then remove it from the game. Alexis does not place a Tile, but receives 1 Prestige Point.
- If the indicated Landscape Tile is not available among the face up Landscape Tiles, then move immediately to the last Reward Phase, starting with Alexis.
Land (Alexis)
The Land action is only available on the Land Card type.
Alexis can only Land if the Navigation Stack is depleted. If not, he performs action B: Explore.
- Grab a Grey Ship Tile. If your Ship Tile is the last one available, then take it but flip it on the Grey Ship side!
- Place the Ship Tile in the spot indicated by the Expedition Card.
- If it is impossible to place the Ship Tile, then Alexis performs action B: Explore.
Reward (Alexis)
When Alexis has to perform his Reward phase:
- Draw a new Expedition Card.
- Place Alexis' House on all the islands that fulfill the Mission indicated by the card, using the House Placement Rules.
- If multiple islands or locations are possible, you choose for Alexis.
- Shuffle all the Expedition Cards to create a new Expedition Stack.
End of Game (Solo Mode)
Ending conditions remain the same.
Add all Prestige Points for Alexis:
- His Prestige Points earned during the game.
-
- 1 Prestige Point for each Port located on the 8 Landscape Tiles around the Gray Ship Tiles.
-
- the Prestige Points indicated on the Alexis Card.
Missions
There are 8 symbol-combination Mission Cards. You can place 1 House on each island that has at least all the symbols of the card. Combinations printed on the cards: Temple + 2 Flowers; Temple + 2 Fruits; Temple + 2 Leaves; Temple + 2 Ports; 2 Temples; Temple + Port + Flower + Leaf; 2 Ports + Flower + Fruit + Leaf; 2 Ports.
Example for the first card (1 Temple and 2 Flowers): On an island with 1 Temple, 3 Flowers and 1 Fruit, there is indeed at least 1 Temple and at least 2 Flowers, so you can place 1 House on this island.
There is also an "equal amount" Mission Card: you can place 1 House on each island that has an equal amount of 2 different Resources present on the island.
Example: On an island with 3 Flowers, 2 Fruits and 2 Leaves, there is an equal amount of Fruits and Leaves, so you can place 1 House on this island.
There are 3 "more of one Resource than another" Mission Cards (Flower vs. Fruit, Fruit vs. Leaf, Leaf vs. Flower): you can place 1 House on each island that has strictly more of the first Resource than the second.
Example for the first card (more Flowers than Fruits): On an island with 4 Leaves, 3 Flowers and 0 Fruit, there are more Flowers than Fruits so you can place 1 House on this island.
Only in Advanced Mode
There are 3 additional Mission Cards, one per Resource (Flower, Fruit, Leaf): you can place 1 House on each island that has an equal amount of the indicated Resource with one of the two other Resources present on the island.
Example for the first card (equal amount of Flowers and Fruits AND/OR Flowers and Leaves): On an island with 3 Flowers, 3 Fruits and 2 Leaves, there is an equal amount of Flower with one other Resource (Fruits), so you can place 1 House on this island.
Rewards
There are 8 "1 PP per symbol + 2 PP" Reward Cards (one per symbol: Flower, Fruit, Leaf, Port, and combinations with Temple: Temple+Temple, Temple+Port, 2 Temples+1, Temple+Leaf). For each island where you place 1 House, you earn Prestige Points (PP) for the symbols that are on the island, as indicated by the card.
Example for the first card (1 PP/Flower + 2 PP): For an island with 3 Flowers and a second island with 2 Flowers, you earn 3 + 2 = 5 PP and 2 + 2 = 4 PP, therefore a total of 9 PP.
Lowest-count Resource Reward Card: For each island where you place 1 House, pick the Resource present on the island with the lowest count. You earn 2 PP for each Resource of that type on the island, + 2 additional PP.
Example: For an island with only 2 Fruits and a second island with 3 Flowers, 1 Fruit and 1 Leaf, you earn 4 + 2 = 6 PP and 2 + 2 = 4 PP, therefore a total of 10 PP.
Flat Reward Card: For each island where you place 1 House, you earn 6 PP.
Island Size Reward Card: For each island where you place 1 House, count the number of Landscape Tiles that constitutes the island. You earn Prestige Points according to the size of the island: 3 Tiles = 4 PP, 6 Tiles = 6 PP, 9 Tiles = 8 PP, 12 Tiles or more = 10 PP.
Example: For an island made of 5 Tiles, and a second island made of 6 Tiles, you earn 4 PP and 6 PP, therefore a total of 10 PP.
Temple-and-Discovery-Token Reward Card: Secretly draw at random 1 Discovery Token for each Temple located on the island. Choose 1 and start over for each island where you place a House. Put the rest of the Tokens back in the reserve and shuffle it. Keep your Discovery Tokens hidden. Their value in PP is kept secret until the end of the game.
Example: For an island with 2 Temples and a second island with 3 Temples, you draw 2 Tokens and you keep 1. Then you draw 3 more Tokens and you keep 1 among these 3. Put back all remaining Tokens in the reserve. You have earned 2 Discovery Tokens with a certain PP value on the hidden side, that you will add to your total PP at the end of the game.
Only in Advanced Mode
Chosen-Resource Reward Card (+2 PP variant): For each island where you place 1 House, pick a Resource (Flower, Fruit or Leaf). You earn 1 PP for each Resource of the chosen type on the island, + 2 additional PP.
Example: for an island with 3 Flowers and 2 Fruits, and a second Island with 4 Leaves and 3 Flowers, you pick the Flowers on the first island and the Leaves on the second. You earn 3 + 2 = 5 PP and 4 + 2 = 6 PP. Therefore a total of 11 PP.
Chosen-Resource Reward Card (Port-pair variant): For each island where you place 1 House, pick a Resource (Flower, Fruit or Leaf). You earn 1 PP for each Resource of the chosen type on the island, + 1 PP for each pair of Ports.
Example: For an island with 3 Flowers, 2 Fruits and 5 Ports, you pick the Flowers and earn 3 PP for the Flowers + 2 PP for the Ports. Therefore a total of 5 PP.
House Location Reward Card: For each island where you place 1 House, you earn 1 PP for each Location for House without any House + 1 PP for each Location occupied by a House on the island. Take into account the House you just placed and the Houses of your opponents as well.
Great Explorer
Hidden inside the heart of Small Islands (look well) there are 2 Stacks of Great Explorer Cards that will allow you to explore the Small Islands in a different way. To earn the privilege of opening them and discovering their content, you must become a Great Explorer by earning a certain number of Achievements.
Only when you win the game in Normal Mode, check if you fulfill one or several of the following conditions:
- You have 60 PP or more.
- You have 10 PP of Ship or more.
- There are at least 12 islands of 2 Tiles or more.
- You have placed all your Houses.
- You have placed your Ship first.
- You have 4 Discovery Tokens.
- You have played at difficulty level 4 in Solo Mode.
Only after you have completed at least 5 of these achievements, you will be allowed to open the Great Explorer Deck for the Normal Mode.
Only when you win the game in Advanced Mode, check if you fulfill one or several of the following conditions:
- You have 12 PP of Ship or more.
- There is an Island of 13 Tiles or more.
- You have placed a maximum of 6 Houses.
- You have not placed your Ship.
- You have not used any Bonus Token.
- You have played at difficulty level 6 in Solo Mode.
- You have 2 of your Houses on the same island (joined afterwards).
Only after you have completed at least 5 of these achievements, you will be allowed to open the Great Explorer Deck for the Advanced Mode.
FAQ
- After drawing a Landscape Tile, if you can't place any of your 3 Tiles (extremely rare occurrence), put one of them back in the box and draw another Landscape Tile from the Reserve Stack or from the Navigation Stack if the Reserve Stack is depleted. If the latter is also depleted, draw from the remaining face up Tiles.
- You can place a Ship next to another Ship.
- A Ship does not have to be next to a port.
Summary
1. Preparation: 6 Tiles for the Navigation Stack OR Not enough Tiles → Choose an Objective.
2. Exploration (placing Tiles): Place 1 Landscape Tile then next player OR Place 1 Ship Tile OR Impossible to play.
3. Reward (placing Houses): There are Ships remaining OR All Ships placed.
End of the Game (total points + Ships Points)
Thanks
The designer would like to thank: Céline for making everything possible; Nicholas for letting me make the game I wanted but better; Aurélie for the dreamy drawings; Nicolas et La Ruelle for making everything fit; Benoit, Joan, Romaric, Sandra and the designers of the MALT for their support; Ludo de la Ludo from Pechbonnieu and Roger for their good advice; Festival volunteers and organisers for their welcome, the FLIP, the ProtoLab, LudiNord, Alchimie and all the others; and of course the players for their enthousiam and their kindness.
The publisher would like to thank: everyone who believed in this crazy project. Their moral, financial and above all warm support. They allowed a whole archipelago of islands to emerge from the blue immensity, brillantly illustrated under a talentuous AD. Also all the distributors and the festivals (for their help since the beginning). A special thank you to Alain (the all-blue), Alain, Arnaud, Aurélien, Benoit, Didier, Emmanuelle, Étienne, Éric, Fred, Ludo, the MALT, Matthieu, KiwiWorld, Roger, Sandra, Yun and… I sadly forget some. The last thank you will be for Alexis, for making all this possible and, who gave me his trust, but also his friendship and so many hours of his time.
Credits
- Game Designer: Alexis Allard
- Illustrator: Aurélie Guarino
- Development: Nicholas Bodart
- Artistic Direction: Nicolas Fedon (La-Ruelle.fr)
- English Translation: Benoit Turpin
Publisher: mushroom games