Topology
Topology Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Topology is a tile placement game for 2 to 4 players. The players alternately place double-hex shaped tiles with 5 curved lines in order to build rings. The longer the ring, the higher the score.
Components
Topology includes:
- 52 tiles (double-hex) in 26 different designs (twice each)
- Carrying bag.
Goal
By placing tiles, players try to close rings, and if possible also surround other rings, in order to score points.
Setup
The tiles are shuffled and stacked face down. One tile is drawn and placed face up in the middle of the table.
Rules for 2-Player Game
The first player reveals the top three tiles and places them adjacent to tiles played before.
Then he scores for the rings he's closed (see Scoring).
His opponent reveals three tiles and places them adjacent to the already played ones. Then he scores too.
The match continues this way until there are no more tiles left. The player with the highest score is the winner.
If there is a tie, the player who played the last turn loses.
Scoring
Each part of a ring on a tile counts one point. If an already closed ring is surrounded, the player scores the value of the inner ring in addition to the outer ring he actually closed. If a ring is closed and surrounded in one turn, you score twice (1x for closing, 1x for surrounding).
Example
The example diagram shows a board before and after a turn, with three tiles placed on the right side of the board.
The three tiles on the right side are placed, so three new rings are closed. The largest one has 10 sections and surrounds a ring with 2 sections (which is scored twice, because it was built and surrounded in this turn).
Moreover, there is another ring with 2 sections. So this turn the player scores 10 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 16 points.
Rules for 3-4 Player Game
With 3-4 players, each turn only two tiles are revealed and placed instead of three. The starting player only gets one tile to place in his first turn.
Advanced Variant (2 Players Only)
At the beginning of every turn, only two tiles are revealed. Then the player chooses to reveal a third one, or to rotate an already placed tile 180°.
This makes sense if the rotation reopens a large ring that can be closed again with the two tiles remaining. Only rings closed by laying the tiles score points. Rings closed by the rotation do not.