KOI

To set up Koi, place the main board in the center of the table and shuffle the playing cards, dealing five face-up into the available spaces. Organize supplies of water, foliage, expansion, and shore tiles, along with water lilies, lanterns, coins, luck tokens, and three sizes of koi tiles. Each player receives a sensei board, a spring tile, two coins, one luck token, and a summary card, with the starting player receiving the first player marker. Players collect initial items based on turn order and place them on the brown hex storage spaces of their sensei board. Finally, shuffle the goal cards, reveal three face-up next to the board, and set aside their corresponding pieces.

Players are challenged to create and expand the ultimate aquatic environment for colorful fish. By strategically gathering and placing water, shore, and foliage tiles, adding decorative lanterns and water lilies, and collecting helpers and parchment cards, you work to cultivate a thriving pond. The player who successfully earns the highest number of victory points by the end of the game wins.

The game is played in clockwise turns where you must choose one of two main actions: meditate or work. Meditating lets you take a card from the main board, paying a coin if required, and collect immediate resource rewards. Working lets you use the four action types on your sensei board to place water, shore, foliage, or koi tiles from your storage into your pond, or acquire tokens like lilies and lanterns. You can also utilize helper cards for extra actions and spend luck tokens to gain extra items. Afterward, you may claim one fulfilled goal, and finally, you must discard any excess tiles that exceed your storage capacity.

At the end of the game, players tally their victory points using the score pad. You score each koi based on its size, adjacent water lilies, and whether it is completely surrounded by water to double its points. Shore tiles with lanterns score points for every hex along a straight line path. Additional points come from revealed parchment cards, unused luck tokens, and successfully claimed goal cards, such as the statue or waterfall. The player with the most points wins, with ties broken by leftover coins and then turn order.

The game continues over a series of rounds until either the main card deck is completely depleted or the final koi tile is taken from the supply. Once one of these trigger conditions is met, play continues until the player seated immediately to the right of the first player takes their turn, ensuring everyone has had an equal number of turns. After this final round concludes, players proceed immediately to final scoring.