Strange World Above the Clouds
Strange World Above the Clouds Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Goal
Obtain the most Stars by creating a World made of 16 cards (a 4 by 4 square) in 5 turns.
Icons
The rulebook uses pictograms for the Land types. Throughout this transcription they are written out as words:
- Star — the victory point symbol.
- Mountain — the grey peak icon.
- Water — the blue droplet icon.
- Plant — the olive sprout icon.
- Forest — the green tree icon (the Lands where the animals live).
- Portal — the dark navy icon of a dimensional Portal.
- Volcano — the red volcano icon.
- animal — the green question-mark icon shown on the animal cards.
Land Deck Creation
- Cards marked 1+: solo.
- Add the cards marked 2+ for 2 players.
- Add the cards marked 3+ for 3 players.
- Add the cards marked 4 for 4 players.
Game Setup
- Shuffle the starting Land cards (4 cards without Tzimimes on the back of the card) and give one to each player. Put the card in your play area. Put aside the cards that eventually remain in the game box.
- Create the Land deck (see Land Deck Creation). Shuffle it and place the Land deck (1) face down, meaning the side with the Tzimimes face up.
- Place the Dark City cards (2) in a stack in descending order: 9 Stars > 7 Stars > 5 Stars > 4 Stars > 4 Stars.
- Place the Fumarole cards (3) near the play area.
- Place the Travelers cards (4) in a stack.
- Determine randomly who takes the Sun card (5).
- For games with 3 or 4 players: this player chooses the side of the card, thus choosing the direction the cards are drafted for the next turn (see Drafting cards) and the order in which the cards will be played.
- Each player puts their starting Land card (6), face up in their play area.
Turn Sequence
1. Deal the cards
Each turn, deal, face down, 3 Land cards to each player.
2. Drafting cards
Take a look at your cards, without showing them to the other players. Then, simultaneously, give 2 of them to the player next to you in the direction indicated by the arrow on the Sun card.
You then have once again 3 cards in your hand. Take a new look, secretly, at your cards. Then, simultaneously, give 1 card to the player next to you in the same direction as before. You now have 3 cards in your hand.
3. Play your Land cards
One player at a time starting with the player who has the Sun card, then continuing on in the direction it indicates, play a Land card, face up, orthogonally adjacent to any cards already placed in front of you while respecting the play restriction: creating a 4 by 4 cards square, and watch out for the desolation caused by the Tzimimes (see The Desolation of the Tzimimes)!
Important: Each player plays their cards in their own play area. You cannot play cards in an opponent's World.
4. End of a turn
The end of a turn happens when each player has played their 3 Land cards in their World.
If you have not completed your World, meaning you do not have a full 4 by 4 square in front of you, proceed to a new turn. The Sun card is passed to the player on the left.
- For games with 3 or 4 players: The player who takes the Sun card chooses the face of the card to define the drafting direction and the play order for the next turn.
End of the Game
If you have completed your World, meaning every player has a 4 by 4 square in front of them, the game ends. Proceed to adding up the victory points (see Stars Counting).
The player with the most Stars wins the game.
Scoring example
- Mountain: 2 Stars — 2 Mountains for the biggest mountain range.
- Water: 8 Stars — 3 Waters with 8 viable sides.
- Plant: 6 Stars — 2 Plants alone on their rows.
- Forest: 10 Stars — 5 different animals out of 6.
- Portal: 6 Stars — 2 Stars per Mountain for the 1st, 0 Stars for the 2nd.
- Dark City: 9 Stars.
- Traveller: 5 Stars — 5 Stars + 0 Stars as only 2 Waters are there in the 2 rows.
Stars Counting
- Mountain: Score 1 Star for each Mountain contained in your biggest Mountain range (= the group of cards with the most Mountains orthogonally adjacent and contiguous).
- Water: For each Water, score 1 Star for each orthogonally adjacent card to this Water. Important: the cards with Tzimimes face up do not score any points.
- Plant: For each Plant, score 3 Stars.
- Forest: For each different animal in your World, score 2 Stars.
- Portal: For each Portal, score 2 Stars for each icon on the card adjacent below and each occurrence of these icons in the column. If below a Portal, you have a Fumarole or a Tzimime face up, you score 0 Stars.
- Dark City: Add the Stars of your Dark Cities.
- Traveller: Score 5 Stars + X Stars if the requirement described by the card in the 2 indicated rows by the arrows on the Traveller card is met in your completed World.
Travellers Counting
- Splash: +5 Stars if there are at least 3 Waters in the 2 rows concerned.
- Burk: +4 Stars if there is 1 Plant in each of the rows concerned.
- Kark: +6 Stars if there are at least 5 Mountains in the 2 rows concerned.
- Floulou: +8 Stars if there are at least 2 Forests, 2 Waters, 2 Mountains and 2 Plants in the 2 rows concerned.
- Pshit: +5 Stars if there are at least 3 Fumarole cards in the 2 rows concerned.
- Boung: +8 Stars if there are at least 2 dimensional portals in the 2 rows concerned.
- Roro: +4 Stars if there is are least 4 different animals in the 2 rows concerned.
- Rumph: +6 Stars if there are at least 3 Volcanos in the 2 rows concerned.
Welcoming a Traveller
When you assemble a dimensional Portal in your World, you may immediately take a Traveller card from amongst the ones available and place it at the end of the line where the Portal is, either on the left side or the right side overlapping the row above or below. The Traveller card limits a side of your World and is not a part of your 4 by 4 square.
"Limits" means that you cannot extend your World beyond the Traveller card.
Important:
- All the Travellers must be placed on the same side of your play area as the first Traveller.
- In the rare situation where you welcome a Traveller and the only spot available is already occupied by another Traveller previously placed, you have the possibility to put the Traveller in the same spot, slightly aside.
Volcanos and Eruptions
As soon as you place a Land card with a Volcano, take a Fumarole card and cover one of the adjacent cards to the Volcano you have just placed.
A Fumarole card must be placed on an adjacent card, including a face down card (Tzimimes face up), but a Fumarole card can never cover another Fumarole card.
You must place a Volcano card next to an adjacent Land card that may be covered by a Fumarole card. If this is impossible, flip the card, Tzimimes face up.
Dark Cities
If you place a Fumarole card next to another Fumarole card, immediately place the Dark City card with the highest Star value available at the junction of these 2 Fumarole cards.
A Fumarole card cannot be part of the creation of several Dark Cities.
If there are no more Dark Cities available, you cannot create any.
Important: If you cover a card with a dimensional Portal connected to another card, you do not discard the Traveller that arrived through this Portal.
The Desolation of the Tzimimes
- A card that has been involved in the creation of a Dimensional Portal cannot be involved in the creation of a second one. If you cannot do otherwise, as you place a card with a Portal next to a card with a completed portal, flip this card immediately, with the Tzimimes face up.
- As soon as you place a Water card next to another Water card: immediately flip this card Tzimimes face up so that there are no 2 Water cards adjacent at the end of your play.
- As soon as you place a Plant card in a row that already has a Plant card: immediately flip this card Tzimimes face up so that there are no 2 Plant cards in the same row at the end of your play.
- As soon as you place a card in a row above one or several Portal cards or as soon as you place a Portal in a row in your World other than the upper row, immediately flip the involved Portal cards Tzimimes face up.
Beware! The desolation of the Tzimimes happens BEFORE the creation of a Portal or the effect of a Volcano.
Solo Rules
- Take the Land cards with the 1+ icon, shuffle them, make 7 stacks of 3 cards, face down. Reveal the card at the top of each of these stacks.
- Draw a starting Land card, and place it in front of you, face up.
- Shuffle the Traveller cards, reveal 3 cards face up. Put the remaining cards in the game box.
- Each turn, pick 1 of the available stacks. Put the face up card in your play area, then reveal the 2 other cards and place them in the order of your choice. You must respect the placement requirements of the multiplayer rules.
- Repeat this step until you have a 4 by 4 square.
- Count your points and compare it to the scale below to know your level!
Solo scale:
- 59 Stars or less: Who gave the right to create a world? Whoops! A Tzimime devours you.
- Between 60 and 69 Stars: It is a good start but the Tzimimes decide to kick you out of the skies.
- Between 70 and 74 Stars: Oh, now we are happy, the Tzimimes are calm and tolerate you.
- Between 75 and 79 Stars: Wonderful! The Tzimimes are impressed, you are now home. Sit back and enjoy your strange World.
- 80 Stars or more: Amazing! The Tzimimes bow, they have found their master. The strange World above the clouds is yours.