Isle of Skye: Big Box

To set up the game, each player receives a starting tile, a player screen, a discard marker, and 20 gold coins. The double-sided scoring board is placed in the center of the playing area. Sixteen scoring tiles are shuffled, and four are randomly placed face-up on the scoring board, one for each scoring column (A, B, C, D). The remaining scoring tiles are returned to the box. The terrain tiles are placed in a cloth bag, and the round marker is placed on the first space of the round track.

The objective of Isle of Skye: Big Box is to become the most powerful chieftain and ultimately the king of the Isle of Skye. Players achieve this by strategically expanding their territories, managing their finances, and earning victory points through various scoring conditions. The player who accumulates the most victory points by the end of the game will be crowned the king.

Each round of the game is divided into six distinct steps. Step 1: Income, where players receive money based on their castle tile and connected whisky barrels, plus additional income from round 3 onwards based on their position on the score track. Step 2: Tile Selection and Pricing, where each player draws three tiles from the bag, secretly assigns a discard marker to one, and sets a price for the other two using their personal gold. Step 3: Discarding a Tile, where players reveal their discard markers and return the marked tile to the bag. Step 4: Buying Tiles, where players, in turn order, can buy one tile from another player or one of their own remaining tiles. Step 5: Building, where players place their acquired tiles into their territory, ensuring at least one side connects to an existing tile and matching terrain types. Step 6: End of Round and Scoring, where players score victory points based on the current round's scoring tiles.

Players earn victory points in two main ways: during the end-of-round scoring and at the end of the game. At the end of each round, players receive points based on the active scoring tiles for that round, which are indicated on the scoring board. These tiles award points for specific features in their territory, such as sheep, whisky barrels, ships, cattle, round towers, farms, or lighthouses. Additionally, at the end of the game, players receive victory points from any scroll tiles in their territory. If a scroll tile is located within a completely enclosed area of the same terrain type, its points are doubled. Finally, for every 5 gold coins a player possesses at the end of the game, they receive one additional victory point.

The game concludes after six rounds of play. If playing with only two players, the game ends after five rounds. Once the final round's scoring is completed, players tally their total victory points from all sources, including the end-of-game scroll tiles and remaining gold. The player with the highest total victory points is declared the winner and becomes the King of the Isle of Skye. In the event of a tie in victory points, the player with the most remaining gold coins wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.