Te Kuiti
Te Kuiti Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
25 tiles
30 wood fences
Setup
Shuffle and place the 25 tiles face down in a 5×5 grid, called the field, leaving some space between the tiles for the fences.
Choose a player to start as the shepherd; the other player will play the sheep. The shepherd player takes all the fences.
Object of the Game
The shepherd player places fences to enclose sheep. The sheep player collects sheep by flipping tiles and finding matching sheep. The shepherd player scores 1 point for each tile enclosed and the sheep player scores 1 point for each sheep collected.
Playing the Game
The game is played in 2 rounds. In each round, the shepherd player begins the game, and then turns alternate between the two players until the end of the round (see Ending the Round).
After the first round, the players switch roles and play a second round. The winner is the player with the highest combined score for both rounds.
Shepherd Player's Turn
During his turn, the shepherd player places 2 fences. Fences may be placed on the lines between the sheep tiles and on the outside edges of the field. The 2 fences do not need to be touching each other nor touch any previously placed fences.
The shepherd player will score 1 point for each tile enclosed at the end of the round. Tiles are enclosed when there are fences completely surrounding them. The enclosure may be of any shape and contain any number of tiles.
Sheep Player's Turn
During his turn, the sheep player flips 2 tiles, one at a time:
- If the sheep player flips 2 matching sheep, he takes them and places them in front of him. The sheep player will score 1 point for each sheep he took (match only the sheep; ignore the little flowers as they are only used in the solo game, see Solo Game).
- If the sheep do not match, they are flipped back over.
The sheep player may never flip a tile that the shepherd player has enclosed. If a ram or shepherd tile is flipped, it is removed and the specified action is performed. The sheep player then flips another tile until two sheep are revealed.
Sheep (20) - There are 4 sheep each of 5 types: Joyful, Sleepy, Timid, Angry, Dreamy. If the player flips 2 matching sheep they are collected.
Ram (3) - When the player flips over a ram, it is removed from the game, and the sheep player chooses 1 fence anywhere in the field to remove and give back to the shepherd. The sheep player then flips another tile.
Shepherd (2) - When the player flips over a shepherd, it is removed from the game and the shepherd player immediately places 1 additional fence anywhere in the field. The sheep player then flips another tile.
Rare case: When the sheep player flips a ram, he may remove a fence that opens an enclosure and may then choose a tile that was previously enclosed. If he then flips a shepherd tile as his second tile and the shepherd player completes an enclosure, no sheep can then be taken from inside that enclosure, even if they were already flipped up.
Ending the Round
Once the field contains 5 or fewer non-enclosed tiles, the sheep player does not flip the sheep back over at the end of his turn: all revealed sheep remain visible. During his turn, he may collect matching pairs among the visible non-enclosed sheep. Once all non-enclosed tiles have been revealed, the shepherd gets one more turn, then the round ends.
If the shepherd ever runs out of fences, the round ends immediately.
Scoring
The sheep player scores 1 point for each sheep that was matched and collected. The shepherd player scores 1 point for each tile enclosed no matter the nature of that tile.
Any unmatched tiles not in an enclosure are not scored for either player.
Game End
After the second round, players add their score from both rounds for a final total. The player with the most points wins! In case of a tie… play again!
Solo Game
Object of the Game
Remove all tiles from the field before they get enclosed by fences.
Setup
Shuffle and place the 25 tiles face down, each in a random orientation, in a 5×5 grid called the field, leaving some space between the tiles for the fences.
Playing the Game
The player flips tiles, one at a time, until 2 sheep tiles are revealed. The player may not flip tiles that have been enclosed.
Each time a tile is flipped that contains a white daisy flower, a fence is placed on the side where the flower is located. The player may not change the orientation of the tile once it is flipped. If there is already a fence on the side where the flower is located, the player places a fence on the first side that does not have a fence, going in a clockwise manner.
- If the two revealed sheep match, they are removed from the field. If not, they are flipped back over.
- If a ram is flipped, the player removes 1 fence of his choice from the field, returns it to the reserve, removes the ram and then flips another tile.
- If a shepherd is flipped, the player places a fence according to the flower location, removes the shepherd, and then flips another tile.
Game End
The game ends when all the tiles in the field are enclosed or the fences run out.
If you have removed all the tiles from the field, you win, otherwise you lose.