Tranquility

For setup, first, take 25 of the 26 border cards and arrange them face-up in a 6x6 square on the table, leaving the center 4x4 area empty. The remaining border card is set aside. Each player receives one start card, and any extras are returned to the box. All island cards (numbered 1-80) and the single finish card are shuffled together to form a draw pile, which is then divided as evenly as possible among all players, forming individual draw piles. Each player draws five cards from their personal draw pile into their hand. Finally, each player shuffles their start card into their personal draw pile.

The objective of Tranquility is a cooperative one: players must work together to fill the entire 6x6 grid with island cards, ensuring that the numbers on adjacent cards always ascend from left to right and bottom to top. The ultimate goal is to play the finish card in the top-right corner of the grid, successfully completing the journey to the tranquil island, all while ensuring no player runs out of cards in their hand or personal draw pile before the grid is complete.

During your turn, you have two main options: either play one island card from your hand into an empty space in the grid, or discard two cards from your hand. When playing an island card, it must be placed such that its number is higher than any adjacent card to its left or below it, and lower than any adjacent card to its right or above it. If you place a card between two existing cards, you must discard a number of cards from your hand equal to the difference between the numbers of those two existing cards. After playing or discarding, you must draw cards from your personal draw pile until you have five cards in your hand. If your draw pile runs out, you can no longer draw cards.

Tranquility is a fully cooperative game, meaning there is no individual scoring. Players collectively win or lose based on whether they achieve the game's objective. Success is shared when the tranquil island is reached, and failure is shared if the journey cannot be completed.

The game ends in a win if the entire 6x6 grid is filled with island cards, and the finish card is successfully played in the top-right corner. This can only happen if a start card has already been played. The game ends in a loss if any player cannot make a valid move (either playing a card or discarding two cards) during their turn, or if any player runs out of cards in their hand and personal draw pile before the grid is complete and the finish card is played.