Sweets Stack
Sweets Stack Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
In Sweets Stack you will be passing your candies into your neighbors' candy bucket. If you manage to overfill your neighbors' bucket by passing awkwardly shaped candies, then you get a magical candle that lets you become friends with a ghost. Try to keep your bucket from overflowing by cleverly placing candies passed to you!
Components
- Candy Cards: 64 cards
- Candy Cards with crown symbol: 4 cards (not used in the basic game)
- Round Cards: 3 cards
- Candy Bucket Sheets: 120 sheets (download additional sheets from the publisher's website)
- Pumpkin Chips: 20 chips
- Candle Chips: 4 chips
- Advanced Rule Cards: 8 cards (not used in the basic game)
Components marked with a star are not used in the basic game. Put them back in the box and use them once all players are familiar with the game rules.
Additional Required Components
- Writing Utensil: 1 per player (not included in the game; provide a pen or a pencil.)
Descriptions of Candy Cards (including crown cards)
- Candy Type / Color (background color): Indicates type of the Candy. Blue (Star Lollipop), Yellow (Guimauve), Green (Candy Cane), Red (Heart Cookie).
- Candy Shape: Shape of the Candy when placed in the Candy Bucket.
- Symbols: Cards with symbols here trigger special powers when played (more details later). Same symbols are also drawn on the top left corner.
Descriptions of Candy Bucket Sheet
- Round Number and Pumpkin Summary: Fill in with the current Round number. Summary of powers by spending Pumpkin Chips is on the right.
- Bucket Grid: Mark the spaces filled with Candy Cards.
- Favorite Candy Checkbox: Check the box when the corresponding row is completely filled.
- Round Scores: Fill in with your scores for this round.
Setup
- Players sit around the table. Shuffle all 64 Candy Cards (Cards from here on) and deal 16 Cards face down to each player. (Keep Candy Cards with the crown symbol separate.)
- Each player shuffles the 16 dealt Cards and creates a face down draw deck (Deck) in front of them. If you are playing with 3 or fewer players the remaining cards are not used.
- Give 3 Candy Bucket Sheets (Sheet) and 1 writing utensil to each player. Put the remaining Sheets back in the box.
- Place the 3 Round Cards in order (1, 2, 3) at the center of your play area. Then rotate Round 1 card 90 degrees to the right to indicate that you are now starting Round 1. Place all Pumpkin Chips and Candle Chips at the center of your play area.
Game Rounds
Sweets Stack is played over 3 rounds. Each round consists of the following 3 phases.
Round Preparation Phase, then Main Game Phase, then Scoring Phase.
At the end of the 3rd round, each player totals their scores. A player with the highest total score is the winner. In case of a tie, a player who scored more points in the 3rd round is the winner. If there is still a tie, all tied players share the victory.
Round Preparation Phase
- Each player takes 2 Pumpkin Chips (Pumpkins) and draws 5 Cards from their Deck to form their Hand. (Keep your Hand hidden from other players.)
- Place 1 Sheet and a writing utensil in front of you. Write the current round number on the top left corner.
Main Game Phase
Main game phase is played by following steps 1-5 below. This phase ends and continues to Scoring phase when there is only 1 player remaining (i.e., all other players have been eliminated).
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Each player chooses 1 Card from their Hand and places it in front of them face down. After all players have chosen a card, reveal all of them at once. All players who played a card with a Pumpkin symbol takes 1 Pumpkin Chip. (Note: Not the Pumpkin-with-arrow symbol.)
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Each player passes the revealed Card to their left or right (direction is indicated in the Round Card) on the upright orientation. (Pass left during Round 1 & 2, Pass right during Round 3.) However, skip over any eliminated players. For example, if you played this red Candy Card on the right, take 1 Pumpkin Chip and pass the card to your neighbor keeping this orientation.
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Each player marks the shape of the received Card on their Sheet by following rules below. Write a check mark or X to indicate that the space is filled. (The color of the Card and your pen/pencil does not need to match.)
Mark the shape of the Candy on any location reachable when it is dropped from the top of your Sheet. You may move the Candy to left or to right even after entering the Sheet. The Candy stops at and determines its placement when it reaches the bottom of the Sheet or hits an already filled space. You may move the Candy to left or right even after hitting the bottom.
The Candy drops from the top so it cannot pass through a space narrower than itself. (Example: a Candy cannot be placed in a spot where there is not enough space horizontally to pass through.)
You cannot rotate the Candy unless you spend 2 Pumpkins. If you spend 2 Pumpkins, you can rotate it to any orientation before entering your Sheet. You can rotate it 180 degrees too, but only before entering your Sheet. It cannot rotate after entering your Sheet.
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After marking the Candy on your Sheet, place the Card next to your Deck face up. These Cards are called Scored Cards. (Splay the cards to right so everyone can see the symbols on the top left.) If any rows are completely filled with your marks, then check the Favorite Candy checkbox of that row.
Example: Scoring Cards and Favorite Candy checkbox. You just placed the red Candy. The red Candy card is added to your Scored Cards. Since the 4th row is now completely filled, you check the 4th Favorite Candy checkbox. Be careful not to mix your Hand and Deck with the Scored Cards and Cards you are currently adding to your Sheet.
If there is no legal space on your Sheet to mark the new Candy, then you are eliminated from this round. You are skipped for the rest of this round. The player who gave you the last Card gains 1 Candle Chip (Candle). Note that the player takes a Candle even if he/she was also eliminated at the same time. The last Card that you could not mark on your Sheet is added to your Scored Cards pile face down. This Card is ignored when calculating your score.
Descriptions of Card Symbols
- Pumpkin: When you play a card with this symbol (step 1) gain 1 Pumpkin chip.
- Pumpkin with arrow: When you score a card with this symbol (step 4) gain 1 Pumpkin chip. Note that the player who gains the chip is different between the 2 Pumpkin symbols.
- Crossed-out circle: As long as this symbol is on the top card of your Scored Cards pile, you cannot rotate Cards by spending Pumpkin chips.
- Ghost: You gain bonus points during Scoring phase for each Candle chip you have (more details later).
Special Powers by Spending Pumpkins
By spending Pumpkin chips you can use special powers. Below is a list of powers you can use and their costs.
Exchange Hand (Cost: 1 Pumpkin)
Before choosing your Card (before step 1) you may return your entire Hand to the bottom of your Deck in any order. Then draw the same number of cards from the top of your deck. You may only do this once before step 1.
Rotate Card (Cost: 2 Pumpkin)
When marking the Candy (during step 3), you may rotate the Card to any orientation (rotate 90/180/270 degrees).
Change Card (Cost: 3 Pumpkin)
When marking the Candy (during step 3), you may change the Card with any other Card in your Hand. The exchanged Card must be in an upright orientation, but you may additionally spend 2 Pumpkins to rotate it to any orientation.
Scoring Phase
Each player (including the eliminated players) calculates the following 3 scores based on their Scored Cards, and writes them at the bottom of their Candy Bucket Sheet. Do not include the face down card in your Scored Cards pile.
- Base Points: 1 point per Card.
- Favorite Candy Bonus: (Total if multiple boxes are checked) Each marked Favorite Candy checkbox x Cards of that color.
- Candle Bonus: Number of Candle chips x ghost symbols.
Example: Scoring. Base Points: 6 cards so 6 points. Favorite Candy Bonus: 1 Red Candy is checked, 1x3 (3 Red Cards) so 3 points. Candle Bonus: 1 Candle chip, 1x3 (3 ghost symbols), so 3 points (0 points if you had no Candle chip). Total: 12 points. Write your score at the bottom of your Candy Bucket Sheet.
After everyone calculates their score, each player shuffles their Scored Cards and cards left in their Hand together face down to form their Deck for the next round. Return all chips to the center of the table.
Rotate the next Round Card 90 degrees to the right to indicate the next Round number. If this was the 3rd Round, then the game is over. Add the scores from each round to calculate the final score. The player with the highest score is the winner!
Advanced Rules
If you wish to add some spice to your game, try playing the game using Advanced Rule Cards. Choose an Advanced Rule Card to use for each round, and place it at the center of the play area next to the Round Cards. You may choose not to use any Advanced Rule Card for your first round of the game.
Example: Place the Advanced Rule Cards next to the Round Cards. If you wish to use an Advanced Rule Card across 2 rounds, place it on its side next to the 2 Round cards. (You cannot do this with Dragon's Fireball.) The example does not use an Advanced Rule Card for the first round.
List of Advanced Rule Cards
Each card shows a difficulty rating in ghost symbols (in the manual).
- Candy Corn (difficulty 2): Start the round with indicated spaces of your Candy Bucket prefilled.
- Rare Candy (difficulty 2): Start the round with indicated spaces of your Candy Bucket prefilled.
- Gummy Python (difficulty 2): The first Candy Card must not occupy the indicated spaces. (does not apply to Candy Card with crown)
- Witches' Cauldron (difficulty 1): Candle Bonus is doubled for this round.
- Candy Fairy (difficulty 1): Favorite Candy Bonus is doubled for this round.
- Seven Flavor Beans (difficulty 2): Players start the round with 7 Cards in their Hand.
- Dragon's Fireball (difficulty 3): Players start the round with 4 Cards in their Hand. Then randomly add 1 Candy Card with crown to their Hand. (Keep the Candy Card with crown after the round end. You do not need to return it. You may use it normally in the proceeding rounds.)
- Sugar Goblin (difficulty 3): Your score for this round is subtracted by the Favorite Candy Bonus points scored by the player to your left (player to your right for the 3rd round).
Recommended Combinations
Here are some recommended Advanced Rule Cards combinations for exciting games! Try these out when you're playing with the Advanced Rule Cards for the first time.
- Come back round (Emphasis on the 3rd round): 1st round: none. 2nd round: Gummy Python. 3rd round: Sugar Goblin or Candy Corn.
- Bonus oriented (Emphasis on Bonus points): 1st round: none. 2nd round: Witches' Cauldron. 3rd round: Candy Fairy.
- Hard mode (Game will be brutal!): 1st round: Dragon's Fireball. 2nd round: Rare Candy. 3rd round: Seven Flavor Beans.
Tips
The most important aspect of this game is how to score the most amount of points before you are eliminated from the round. Let me give you 2 advices (skip this section if you wish to analyze the game yourself).
- Try to gain 1 or more Candle chips by not getting eliminated before your left (right for the 3rd round) neighbor is eliminated.
- "Change Card" special power triggered by spending 3 Pumpkins can not only save you from being eliminated but also help you gain ghost symbols, or let you score a specific Card. Remember that you can also gain a Pumpkin by scoring Cards with the Pumpkin-with-arrow symbol.