SETUP

To set up, place the game board in the center of the play area. Each player chooses a side and collects a tile holder and a playing piece matching the highlighted color on their side. Place all playing pieces on the 'SETUP' space. Collect all card tiles, mix them in the bag, then draw and place four random tiles face-up into the four central common spaces of the board. Each player draws four random tiles from the bag and places them on their tile holder, keeping them secret from other players. Finally, draw four more random tiles from the bag and set them face-up nearby as the common hand.

The objective of Setup is to be the first player to reach or cross the finish line on the scoring track. The finish line is indicated by a space showing a number of diamonds equal to the number of players in the game (e.g., two diamonds for a two-player game, three for a three-player game, and four for a four-player game).

On your turn, you must choose to either make sets or swap card tiles. To make sets, you play one or more card tiles from your personal hand (on your tray) and/or from the common hand (the four face-up tiles near the board). You can place tiles on your personal bonus squares (the two highlighted spaces on your side) or on any of the four central common squares. If there are fewer than four players, unused personal bonus squares are treated as additional common squares. All tiles played in a single turn must be part of the same set. A set can be any combination of tiles sharing the same number (e.g., three 5s of different suits) or consecutive numbers of the same suit (e.g., 2, 3, 4 of diamonds). Sets must contain at least two tiles and cannot go past 10 or below 1. Tiles must be connected one by one through the white lines on the board. You can even place a new tile on top of an existing tile in a space. If you choose to swap tiles, you can set aside any number of tiles from your tray, draw an equal number of new tiles from the bag, and then mix the set-aside tiles back into the bag. This action ends your turn.

When you make a set, you score one point for every tile that was part of that set, including both tiles you played and any existing tiles on the board that completed the set. A tile is only worth one point, regardless of how many sets it is part of. If any of the tiles you scored were in your personal bonus squares (the two highlighted spaces on your side), you gain an additional point for each of those tiles. If you use tiles from an opponent's personal bonus squares, that opponent also gains one point for each of those tiles. Move your playing piece clockwise around the scoring track by the total number of points you earned. If playing in teams, teammates can see each other's tiles and openly discuss strategy. When a teammate scores points, they move their own scoring piece. If a player uses tiles from their teammate's bonus squares, the teammate also gains points as normal.

The game ends immediately when any player's playing piece reaches or crosses the finish line on the scoring track. That player is the winner. If multiple players reach or cross the finish line on the same turn, the player whose piece is furthest ahead on the track wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player who last added tiles to the board wins. In a team game, the game ends when any player's piece reaches or crosses the four-diamond space. The team with a piece in last place loses, and the other team wins. If more than one team has a piece in last place, the team with a piece in first place wins. If there is still a tie, the team that was last to place a tile on the board wins.