Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King

Edition and goal: This entry covers Lookout Games' 2015 standalone Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King base game, BGG 176494, using the publisher's official English rules. It is for 2–5 players; use the front of the board for two to four and the reverse for five. Players build clan territories and compete for the most VP. Four of the game's sixteen scoring tiles are selected at random, creating different public goals each game.

Set up: Shuffle the sixteen scoring tiles and place four at spaces A–D, returning the others to the box. The round track shows which scoring tiles are assessed in each round. Each player chooses a color and takes the matching castle starting tile, screen, scoring marker, and discard marker. Set the marker to zero and place the castle as the start of the player's territory. The youngest player takes the first-player marker. Play six rounds except in a five-player game, which lasts five rounds.

Income: At the start of each round, each player receives five coins from their castle. They also gain one coin for each landscape tile with a whisky barrel that is connected to the castle by a continuous road. From round three onward, players ahead of you on the score track provide additional income according to the round track; the catch-up amount depends on the number of players ahead, not the size of the VP gap. Coins are used for secret pricing, tile purchases, and end-game scoring. For example, round five grants three per player ahead; two opponents with higher VP give six extra coins. A tied score is not ahead.

Draw and secretly price tiles: Each player draws three regular landscape tiles from the bag and places them in front of their screen. Behind the screen, mark one tile for discard and place a price of at least one coin beside each of the other two. Keep any remaining coins hidden in your hand. When everyone is ready, all players reveal their tiles, prices, and discard markers at the same time. Return the discarded tile to the bag and shake it; it is not available for purchase or building this round.

Buy a tile: Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player may buy one tile from another player or pass. No one may buy more than one tile per round. Pay the assigned price to the seller, who then retrieves the deposit placed beside that tile. After everyone has bought or passed, each player takes back any unsold tile and returns its attached deposit to the supply. An unsold tile therefore costs its owner the deposit, making an overly high price risky. Buying is optional, including when a player cannot afford a price.

Build the territory: Add all tiles gained this round to your clan lands. Every new tile must touch at least one existing tile, and touching terrain edges must match; road paths do not have to connect. If a tile cannot be legally placed, return it to the bag without refunding any purchase price. A region is complete only when it is entirely enclosed by other terrain. Completed regions and roads can matter for scoring and income, but each scoring condition specifies what features count. A tile placed earlier in this same building phase can support the next placement; a corner touch alone does not meet the shared-edge requirement.

Round scoring: After building, score the A–D tiles indicated by the round track and adjust each player's VP marker. The sixteen objectives reward different territory features such as animals, buildings, completed regions, road connections, shapes, coins, or ships. Some tiles require a minimum number of a feature to qualify, and ranking objectives handle ties according to their printed rules. Do not assume all four objectives score in every round. Each scoring tile is used three times during the game. After scoring, pass the starting-player marker clockwise and advance the round marker.

Scoring conditions and ties: Apply only a selected goal when its letter is active. Examples include two VP per cattle connected to the castle, one per sheep, or two per 2×2 square of four tiles, with tiles allowed in multiple squares. The most-ships, most-whisky-tiles, and most-gold goals award five for first and two for second, requiring at least one relevant object. Tied first places each score five and cancel the second-place award; tied seconds each get two. Completed mountains worth two per area and the largest completed water area worth two per tile are also specific objectives, not automatic points every round.

Final scoring and scrolls: After the last ordinary scoring, each scroll awards one VP per two sheep, two ships, or two whisky-barrel tiles of its kind; cattle, brochs, farms and lighthouses give one each for their matching scroll. Fractions are rounded down. Double a scroll’s points if its own terrain area is complete: five sheep give two VP normally, or four for a sheep scroll in a completed area. Then add one VP per full five coins, ignoring the remainder for VP rather than discarding the coins. Highest VP wins; remaining gold breaks a tie. Journeyman, Druids, Tunnel, Borderlands, Big Box modules and promos are outside this entry.