LONGANA
Longana is a fun game of connecting dominos designed for 2 to 4 players. The objective of the game is to be the first player to reach 100 points before your opponent does.
GETTING STARTED
To set up the game, shuffle the dominos and distribute 8 tiles to each player. The remaining dominos are not used in the current round.
SPECIAL TILES
In Longana, there are special tiles called doubles. These tiles can be played on any player’s arm at any time. Unlike other tiles, doubles are placed sideways and do not branch off into separate arms.
HOW TO PLAY
The player who has the highest-ranked double starts the round by placing it in the center of the play area. In subsequent rounds, the winner of the previous round gets to start and can lead with any double they have. If a player does not have a double, the player to their right can lead with a double, and so on.
If no player has a double to start the game, we reshuffle the dominoes and deal them again.
Once the first domino is played, it becomes the spinner. Each player has their own arm to play on. In a two-player game, there are two arms. In a three-player game, there are three arms. And in a four-player game, we have four arms.
The game is played in a counterclockwise direction, starting with the player to the right of the spinner.
When it’s your turn, you have three choices. You can place a tile on your own arm, play a double on any arm, or add a tile to another player’s arm if it’s available.
If you choose to play on your own arm, you need to match one end of your tile to the open end of the previous tile. For example, if the spinner was a [7-7], you will need to play a tile with a 7 on it to extend your arm. The other number on your tile will be the next number you need to extend.
If I’m playing a double, I can play it on any arm. I play the double sideways, but it doesn’t branch out the arm. Any future plays should be made in a straight line from the center of the double.
If I want to play on another player’s arm, they must have marked their train as open (explained below). If their train is marked open, then I can extend their arm just like I would with my own. If there are multiple open arms that require the same number of tiles to extend, I must play on the arm that has been open for the longest time first.
If I can’t play a tile on any arm during my turn, I must open my own arm and pass. I can indicate this by placing a token near the end of my arm. Once I can play a tile on any part of the layout, I immediately remove the token, and my arm is closed again.
When you play a token or extend your arm, it becomes my turn. The round will either end when you domino and play all your tiles, or when the layout is blocked and no more tiles can be legally played.
SCORING
The winner of a round is the player who dominoes or has the fewest pips left in their hand if the round is blocked. The winner earns points equal to the sum of the number of pips in each player’s hand. These points are added to the player’s cumulative score. If no player has won by the end of the round, the next round begins.
END OF GAME
The game concludes when a player reaches or exceeds 100 points at the end of a round. That player becomes the winner.
The game concludes when a player reaches or exceeds 100 points at the end of a round. That player becomes the winner.