Tonari
Tonari Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
In Tonari, 2 to 4 players each take on the role of fishermen from the small Island of Kuchinoshima after a storm has left them with only one boat to fish. While all the fish must be shared when the fishermen return to the island, each one still wants to prove their prowess by catching the most, and best, fish.
In turn, each player will take control of the boat and decide where to pilot the dinghy. When they move into the new space, they collect the fish there. If a player finds they cannot move the boat into a space with any fish, the game ends, as the fishermen think that they've caught all the fish possible for the day.
At the end of the game, each player scores the fish they caught and in a 3 or 4 player game the fish the player to their left caught. So, while players might find it tempting to set the boat on a poor course for their competitors, they may end up harming themselves!
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 35 Fish tokens
- 7 Skill tokens
- 1 Boat marker
Game Setup
- Unfold the game board and place it in the center of the table.
- Take all Fish and Skill tokens, place them face down in the lid of the box, and shuffle them together.
- Draw the tokens from the box and place one in each space, starting with the top space to the left and moving left to right and top to bottom. Fill all of the spaces on the game board except for the two Kuchinoshima island spaces in the center.
- At this time, players determine a starting player. This can be done by any method deemed fair by all players, such as by determining who either went fishing or ate fish most recently.
- Once the starting player is determined, the player to their right takes the Boat marker and places it on either of the two Kuchinoshima island spaces.
You are now ready to play Tonari!
Playing the Game
Tonari is a game of simple actions but deep choices. While there is only one choice to make during a player's turn—where to move—it is incredibly important to consider where that move will place your neighbor, who, in a three or four player game, will ultimately add to your score.
- On their turn, each player, with the starting player going first, must move the Boat marker from its current space into an adjacent space that contains a token, unless they are collecting a PINK TOKEN, which has special rules (see "Pink Tokens" below).
- After they move the Boat marker, they collect the token in the new space. Occasionally, a player may collect a Skill token. In that case, the Skill token takes effect immediately, before play passes.
- After the player has moved the Boat marker and collected their Fish or Skill token, play passes clockwise. The next player must always take control of the Boat marker at its current location and determine their move from there.
Play continues until a player has no legal move (i.e. all neighbouring spaces being empty and no Pink token jump being possible).
Fish Tokens
Red, Blue, Green, Yellow
Master fishermen are known for being able to consistently land the exact type of fish they're after. To prove this, they'll often bring home a boat full of only one type of fish. For fish of these colors, collecting sets of the same color increases their total value. See the chart below for how scoring works for these Fish tokens.
| Count | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VP | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 21 |
Orange
A hard fish to wrangle, the fisherman who can catch the most of these will surely be recognized for having the strength to reel in such a beast! Unfortunately, everyone else who catches any will probably be overlooked.
The player with the most Orange tokens scores a flat 8 points. All other Orange Fish are not worth any points. If there is a tie for the most Orange tokens, no points are awarded for Orange tokens.
Purple
Not only is this debris a cold, hard reminder of the damage done by the storm the night before, but it's also inedible. A master fisherman knows better than to reel in trash.
Purple tokens are worth -5 (negative five) points each when scoring the fish a player caught. They cannot be swapped using the Rough Waters Skill token.
Pink
A rare delicacy, and truly the key ingredient in one of the island's finest dishes, the PINK TOKEN usually only bites when the waters are calm and lacking the commotion of other fish feeding. After last night, if one can be caught, the island will surely appreciate the chance to enjoy such a treat.
Each PINK TOKEN is worth 5 points when scoring, but players cannot catch them by moving directly into their space from an adjacent space. Instead, a player must move the Boat marker 2 spaces in a straight line, jumping over an empty space to land on the PINK TOKEN. The Boat marker may jump over an island space during this move. Pink tokens cannot be swapped using the Rough Waters Skill token.
Skill Tokens
The best fishermen always have a few tricks up their sleeves. Skill tokens allow a fisherman to focus their skills into performing one of their masterful tricks, but at the cost of not catching any Fish for a turn. All Skill tokens are used immediately when collected, before play passes to the next player.
Sense the Schools
Using a variety of methods, such as chumming the water or breaking the surface tension, a clever fisherman can attract schools of the fish they want to catch, while scaring off those they do not.
When collecting this token, the player must swap the tokens on any 2 spaces on the board with each other.
Rough Waters
While usually a Fisherman's catch is all skill, occasionally there's a little bit of luck. The waters are still choppy from last night, and during the boat's rocking, a few fish might slide from one pile to the another.
Swap 1 Fish from your pile with 1 from an opponent's pile. You cannot swap any PURPLE or PINK Fish tokens.
Scare it Off
Sometimes, a master fisherman just doesn't want to catch the wrong thing. In those cases, it's better to scare them off.
Remove any 1 token from the board.
In Season
While anyone can catch a fish, a truly skilled Fisherman knows what fish are in their prime and at their plumpest. These are sure to be the most mouth-watering catches of the day! Place the In Season token next to a collected Fish token of one of the following types of Fish: BLUE, RED, YELLOW, or GREEN. That type of Fish is worth double points for all players. If there are no collected Fish tokens of these four types, discard the In Season token with no effect.
End of the Game & Scoring
After the game ends, each player adds up the value of all the Fish they have caught (see the Fish Tokens section for how each Fish scores). Then, follow the appropriate player count rules below:
In a 2 player game, the player with the highest total score wins, and is considered the best Fisherman on the island! In the case of a tie, the player who last moved the boat wins.
In a 3-4 player game, players then add the value of their Fish to the value of the Fish caught by the player to their left. The total is their total score for the game. The player with the highest total score wins, and is considered the best Fisherman on the island! In the case of a tie, the player who last moved the boat wins.