Yeah! Diamonds Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• Determine the First Player
• Tile Orientation
• Player Turn
• Play
• Tiles
• Scoring
  • Base score
  • Set bonus
• Game end

Components

• 4 Starting Tiles (x4): brown starter arrows, one set of four (up, down, left, right) per player.
• 8 Rock Tiles.
• 40 Land Tiles.

Goal of the Game

The goal of Yeah! Diamonds is to gain the most gems by collecting tiles. Tiles are collected by moving them off any board edge. Once a tile is moved off the board it becomes yours and is placed in your discard stack, along with the tiles used to gain it. Immediatly refill any gaps left in the board using the draw stack.

Setup

Give each player one set four of brown starter arrows: up, down, left, and right. Place any unused starter arrows back in the box. Shuffle your arrows and put them face down in front of you to form a draw pile.

Shuffle the board tiles face down and deal out 16 tiles in a 4 x 4 grid. Place the remaining tiles face down next to the board to form a draw pile. Any tiles removed from the board will be immediatly replaced from this pile.

Players should sit around the board with one edge of the board in front of them.

Determine the First Player

The person who most recently held a rock is the first player.

Tile Orientation

Orientation is a key aspect of Yeah! Diamonds. How you sit facing the board determines which way is "up" for you. Generally, the edge of the board closest to you is "down" and the edge furthest away is "up". This means that "up" will be different for each player. If you're sitting at an angle, choose which way is "up" before the game starts and use it throughout the game. Tiles are oriented with the sky up and the ground down, so you always know which way your arrows are pointing.

Following these two rules should help you find "your" horizon.

1. Do not reorient tiles placed in the grid area.
2. Keep the tiles you are about to play with the ground towards you.

Player Turn

1. Flip over two (2) tiles from your draw pile face up.
2. Play the two tiles in the order you'd like.
3. Place all used and gained tiles in your discard pile.

Play

On your turn, flip two tiles from your draw pile face up. These tiles must be used on your turn, but can be used in any order. They each target tiles on the board and can be used to target the same tile. Each tile type has a unique effect on its target tile.

At the end of your turn put all tiles used or gained into your discard pile.

Tiles

If a special rule needs to be remembered for a tile it will be in bold.

• Rocks - Rocks can't be moved once they are placed on the board and no tile action can affects them. Rocks can't be moved, swapped, hopped, or taken.

• Arrow Tiles - All arrows, including starting arrows, move their target tile one space in the direction indicated.

  If the target tile is moved off the board edge, it becomes yours. Otherwise, its position may be switched with the tile adjacent to it in the direction of the arrow.

• Swap Tile - A Swap allows you to choose two tiles on the board and exchange their places, regardless of distance.

• Hop Tile - A hop allows you to jump one of the four center tiles over the outer tiles and off the board. It becomes yours and goes in your discard pile. Hops only work on the four center tiles.

• Take Tile - A take allows you to remove a board tile and place it in your discard pile. Instead of refilling the open space from the draw pile, put the Take tile in the open spot. Remember, the Take Tile always ends up on the board when used.

Scoring

Any tile with gems on it is considered a scoring tile. Gems come in four colors (red, green, white, and blue), with eight tiles of each color in the game.

Scoring is divided into two parts:

Base score

Count up the number of gems shown on your tiles, regardless of color. This is your base score.

• Example: an arrow tile showing 1 gem is worth 1 point.
• Example: a tile showing 2 gems is worth 2 points.
• Example: a tile showing 3 gems is worth 3 points.

Set bonus

Count the number of tiles you have of each color. If you have a majority of that color (more than any other player), count one extra point per tile of the color(s) you have majority in. If two players are tied for majority in a color, neither receives the bonus.

• Example: Player 1 has the most Blue tiles and gets 3 points.
• Example: Player 2 has the most Green tiles and gets 5 points.

If two players are tied for score, the one with more scoring tiles is the winner.

Game end

The game ends when the draw stack runs out and an empty space is left in the board.