The Daily Weather
The Daily Weather Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 6 Weather Cards. Each card has 6 cells. Each cell has an icon (sun, cloud, raindrop or snowflake) and a background (plain or striped).
- 1 Month Card (its cells are labeled with months).
- 3 Date Cards (cells labeled with dates or holidays).
- 2 Week Cards. Each shows a date range, a setup diagram, and weather pattern symbols.
- 6 Day Cards. Each shows a season, a weather pattern, and a scoring condition.
Card terms: a cell is one square of a card; its icon is the picture in it; its background is the plain or striped field behind the icon; a month or date/holiday is the label on a Month or Date Card cell; the date range is printed on the Week Card; the setup diagram on the Week Card shows how to arrange the Month and Date Cards; the weather pattern symbols on the Week Card are the symbols a Day Card's arrow can point to; the season and weather pattern are on the Day Card; the star marks the scoring condition.
Setup
- Shuffle the 6 Weather Cards, randomly flipping some over as you shuffle. Set them down to form a face-up deck.
- Of the remaining cards, find the Week, Day, Month and Date Cards that form today's date and remove the rest from the game.
- Place the Week Card on the table and the Day Card directly to its right. Ensure that today is within the date range of the Week Card, and that today's season is on the Day Card.
- Place the Month and Date Cards on the table, arranged exactly as shown on the Week Card. Reserve space around them to build your weather map.
- Draw two Weather Cards to form your hand. Throughout the game, never flip cards as you draw them or play them.
Example: completed setup for Saturday, February 14, 2026.
If today is one of the following holidays, you may instead use the Date Card with that holiday:
- Birthday/Celebration (varies)
- Valentine's Day (FEB - 14)
- Halloween (OCT - 31)
- Thanksgiving (NOV - varies)
- Christmas (DEC - 25)
Gameplay
Over 6 turns, create the perfect weather map: it should show today's month and date, and match the Seasonal Weather Pattern.
Each turn, choose 1 Weather Card from your hand, place it in your map following the Placement Rules, and draw a card. If the deck is empty, skip drawing and continue playing until your hand is empty.
Placement Rules
- At least one cell on a new card must cover a matching cell on an existing card in the map (both icon and background must match).
- All cells must align to the grid set by the Month and Date Cards. The grid extends infinitely in all directions.
- Cards may be rotated 90°, 180°, or 270°, but may not be flipped or tucked under any existing card.
- Cards may not cover today's month or date cells, but may completely cover an existing card otherwise.
Seasonal Weather Patterns
By the end of the game, your map must contain cells that match the Day Card's seasonal weather pattern at least once. The pattern can be anywhere in the map. It may be rotated or flipped to match.
The Day Card has an arrow that points to a symbol (either icon or background) on the Week Card. Each cell in the pattern must match the indicated symbol. Any extra matching cells grouped with the pattern are allowed and cause no penalty.
If today is Saturday or Sunday, use the arrow labeled with the correct day.
Example: matching seasonal weather pattern for June 1, 2026.
End of Game
The game ends after you place all 6 Weather Cards. If your map meets all four of the following requirements, proceed to Scoring. Otherwise, shuffle the Weather Cards into a new deck and try again.
- Today's date is the only date cell visible.
- Today's month is the only month cell visible.
- It matches the seasonal weather pattern.
- The map must be fully connected (cells touching only by diagonal corners are not connected).
Scoring
Tally your points based on how the cells in your map meet the scoring condition (star) on the Day Card.
Scoring conditions use the following terms:
- Rows, Columns and Diagonals: You only score an uninterrupted line of cells. Any gap will end that line for scoring purposes. If multiple lines match the scoring condition, only score one of those lines.
- Border: The outermost cell of your map, each with at least one edge not touching another cell.
- Group: One or more cells with matching symbols, all adjacent (not diagonal). Any single cell is a group of size 1.
Scoring Example
Example: winning map for December 23, 2026 (Week 4/5, dates 22 - 31; Wednesday, Winter). The Day Card's scoring condition is scored per group of the matching symbol.
- December is the only month cell visible.
- 23 is the only date cell visible.
- The weather pattern (the symbol indicated by the Day Card's arrow) is visible.
- Score 1 point for each group of the scoring symbol = 6 points!