Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King

Welcome to the Isle of Skye

Five clans are fighting for dominance over the island. Only the chieftain who best develops their clan territory and trades most cleverly will become king of the Isle of Skye. Next time everything will be different though, so play again and have revenge!

Objective

Over 6 rounds (5 in a 5-player game), collect the most victory points and become the king of the Isle of Skye.

Components

Carefully punch out the cardboard pieces before your first play!

• 1 double-sided game board
• 16 scoring tiles
• 73 landscape tiles (green backs)
• 5 landscape tiles with a castle (differently colored backs)
• 1 starting player marker
• 1 round token
• 5 scoring tokens (1 in each player color)
• 6 discard markers (1 spare)
• 6 player screens (must be assembled before play; 1 spare player screen)
• 1 cloth bag
• gold coins (22x 1 gold, 20x 2 gold, 18x 5 gold, 13x 10 gold)
• 1 rule book

1. Place the game board in the middle of the table. Use the front side in a 2 to 4-player game (as indicated) and the back side in a 5-player game.
2. Shuffle the scoring tiles and place a random scoring tile face up on each of the spaces marked “A” to “D”. Put the remaining scoring tiles back into the game box – you will not need them. (Tip: Use the pictured scoring tiles for your first game.)
3. Place the round marker on the first space of the round track.
4. Place the coins in a supply next to the game board, easily accessible to all players.
5. Player components: Each player chooses a color and takes:
   • a player screen,
   • a landscape tile with a castle,
   • a score token, and
   • a discard marker in the chosen color.

   (Put the components in the colors that are not in play back into the game box.)

   • Place your score token on space “0” of the scoring track on the game board.
   • Place your landscape tile with your castle face up in front of you. This is the first tile in your clan’s territory.
   • If you are the youngest player, take the starting player marker and place it in front of yourself. You get to go first.
6. Put the landscape tiles into the bag and shuffle them thoroughly.

The game is played over 6 rounds (5 rounds in a 5-player game). Each round goes through the following six phases:

1. Income
2. Draw Tiles and Set Prices
3. Discard a Tile
4. Buy a Tile
5. Build
6. End of Round and Scoring

After the final round, there is a final scoring.

Phase 1: Income

Each player receives income:

• You receive 5 gold for your castle.
• You receive 1 additional gold for each tile with barrels of whisky connected to your castle via roads.
• Beginning in round 3, you receive additional gold for each player whose token is ahead of yours on the scoring track (i.e. who has more victory points than you). The amount of gold you receive per player increases from round to round and is displayed next to the round track.

You can make change from gold at any time, if need be.

Example: tile income – Total income: 13 gold. Note that one tile earns no gold as the road is not connected to the castle.

Example: In round 5, the round track shows 3 gold. Two players have more victory points than blue – blue receives an additional 2×3 gold.

Phase 2: Draw Tiles and Set Prices

Each player draws 3 landscape tiles from the bag and places them face up in front of their player screen.

Behind your screens, simultaneously:

• Assign your discard marker to one of the tiles you drew (which will go back into the bag later).
• Assign at least 1 coin from your supply to each of the other two tiles.

If you have gold left, you should keep it in your hand to hide the amount from the other players.

Once all of you have finished assigning gold and marker to the tiles, remove your player screens and place them aside.

Example: The tile in the middle has been marked with the discard marker. In the next phase, it will go back into the bag.

Phase 3: Discard a Tile

Each player puts the tile marked with their discard marker back into the bag. Then shuffle the contents of the bag thoroughly.

Phase 4: Buy a Tile

Beginning with the Starting Player, each player in clockwise order can buy exactly one tile from another player:

• To do so, pay an amount of gold from your remaining supply equal to the assigned amount at the tile you want to buy.
• As the selling player, you not only receive the proceeds from the sale, but you also immediately take back the gold you assigned to that tile.
• As the buying player, place the tile you purchased beside your screen – in phase 5, you will add it to your clan territory.

If you cannot or do not want to buy a tile, you must pass.

After all players have either bought a tile or passed, you receive the remaining tiles in front of you, but you lose all of the gold you assigned to those tiles. Put the lost gold into the general supply.

Phase 5: Build

All players must add all of the tiles they received during this round to their clan territory, according to the following placement rules:

• Each tile you add must share an edge with another tile in your display (this can be a tile you just placed, too).
• If two tiles share an edge, the terrain on that edge must be the same (pasture, mountain, water).
• Important: Roads DO NOT need to be continued.
• If you cannot place a tile according to the placement rules the tile goes back into the bag (you do not get back any money).

Some scoring tiles award victory points for completed areas. An area is considered completed if it is fully enclosed by areas of a different terrain type. Again, roads do not count.

Phase 6: End of Round and Scoring

All players receive victory points according to the scoring tiles of the current round. Which of the four scoring tiles apply in which round is indicated on the scoring track by letters A to D. For each victory point you receive, advance your token on the scoring track by one space.

Each scoring tile will only be used three times per game. See the last page of this rule book for an explanation of what each of them does.

After scoring, pass the Starting Player tile to the next player in clockwise order. The new starting player moves the round token one space forward. After the final round, there is a final scoring.

• 2 VPs for each square of 4 landscape tiles. Landscape tiles can be part of multiple squares.
• 1 VP for each completed area in the clan territory.
• 1 VP for each sheep in the clan territory.
• 3 VPs for each completed area of at least 3 landscape tiles in the clan territory.
• 1/3/6 VPs for each mountain area in the clan territory with 1/2/3 brochs. A single mountain area with more than 3 brochs is still only worth 6 VPs.
• 5 VPs for each set of broch, farm, and lighthouse in the clan territory. Each building can only be part of one set.
• 5 VPs for the player with the most tiles with barrels of whisky in their clan territory, and 2 VPs for the player with the second most tiles with barrels of whisky. In case of a tie, each tied player receives the full 5 VPs, and the 2 VPs are not awarded. If it is a tie for the 2nd place, each tied player receives 2 VPs. You must have at least 1 barrel of whisky in your clan territory to receive any VPs for this scoring tile.
• 5 VPs for the player with the most ships in their clan territory, and 2 VPs for the player with the second most ships. In case of a tie, each tied player receives the full 5 VPs, and the 2 VPs are not awarded. If it is a tie for the 2nd place, each tied player receives 2 VPs. You must have at least 1 ship in your clan territory to receive any VPs for this scoring tile.
• 1 VP for each sheep and each cattle that is orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to a farm in the clan territory. Also, 1 victory point for each sheep and each cattle that is on a farm tile.
• 5 VPs for the player with the most gold, and 2 VPs for the player with the second most gold. In case of a tie, each tied player receives the full 5 VPs, and the 2 VPs are not awarded. If it is a tie for the 2nd place, each tied player receives 2 VPs. You must have at least 1 gold to receive any VPs for this scoring tile.
• 2 VPs for each cattle that is connected to the castle via roads.
• 3 VPs for each water area in the clan territory with at least 1 ship and at least 1 adjacent lighthouse.
• 1 VP for each tile in the clan territory that is connected to the castle via roads.
• 3 VPs for each vertical line of at least 3 contiguous landscape tiles in the clan territory.
• 2 VPs for each landscape tile in your largest completed water area.
• 2 VPs for each completed mountain area in the clan territory.

After the final round, you receive victory points (VPs) for tiles with a scroll you placed in your clan territory. There are the following tiles with a scroll:

• 1 VP for every 2 sheep
• 1 VP per cattle
• 1 VP for every 2 tiles with barrels of whisky
• 1 VP per broch (round tower)
• 1 VP for every 2 ships
• 1 VP per farm
• 1 VP per lighthouse

You do not receive 0.5 VPs for these scrolls. Example: You receive 2 VPs for 5 objects of the same type.

If a scroll is in a completed area, you receive double the victory points for it.

Finally, you receive victory points for gold you have: 5 gold are worth 1 victory point.

These icons on the game board are to remind you of the final scoring values:

Winning the Game

The player with the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, leftover gold breaks the tie.