Sgailstone Glen: Victory or Death

Game overview & objective

Sgailstone Glen is an inverse trick-taking area-control game for 3 to 4 players set in a decaying fantasy highland. Over four seasons, players lead rival clans, deploy forces, march across modular tarot regions, and play hidden strategic tokens to seize control before Cat Sith corruption consumes the glen.

After Winter scoring, the clan with the most Victory Points wins.

Components

Shared components

• 36 Action Cards: Four suits—Spear (Spades), Flame (Hearts), Lore (Diamonds), and Knot (Clubs)—with ranks 2 through 10.
• 12 Tarot Region Cards: Three regions per suit, used to build the modular Glen.
• Shared trackers and rules booklet.

Per player

• 1 Denheart Chieftain Tile: worth 2 Control Units and 2 Presence.
• 12 Clan Member Cubes: each worth 1 Control Unit and 1 Presence.
• 10 single-use Secret Action Tokens: 3 Alliance: +1 Self Presence during scoring.
• 3 Blight: −1 Presence to every rival during scoring.
• 1 Sanctuary: shields all friendly units in the region from Ambush.
• 1 Deploy: place 2 Clan Members from supply.
• 1 March: move up to 4 Control Units.
• 1 Ambush: displace 1 rival Clan Member cube.

Game deck & map layout

The deck

The Action Deck contains 36 cards across four suits. Each suit contains ranks 2 through 10.

The map

Shuffle the Tarot Region Cards and arrange them face-up as a connected modular grid representing the Glen. Each region belongs to one Action Card suit.

Game setup

• Build the Map: Shuffle the appropriate Tarot Region Cards and lay them face-up to form the Glen.
• Place Denhearts: In reverse turn order, each player places their Denheart Chieftain Tile onto any region. Multiple Denhearts may share a starting region.
• Form the Deck: Shuffle the appropriate Action Cards into a single draw deck.
• Prepare Tokens: Each player keeps their 10 Secret Action Tokens face-down in a personal supply.
• Prepare Clan Members: Each player places their 12 Clan Member Cubes in their personal supply.

Seasonal structure

The game lasts four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Each Season contains two Half-Seasons, followed by Region Scoring and Map Decay.

• Half-Season 1: deal 4 cards, Market Swap, play 3 tricks.
• Half-Season 2: deal 4 cards, Market Swap, play 3 tricks.
• Region Scoring Phase.
• Map Decay Phase.

Half-Season 1

• Deal & Market: Deal 4 cards to every player and place 4 cards face-up in the Market.
• Market Swap: In reverse VP order, each player may swap 1 card from hand with 1 Market card. Ties break toward the dealer’s right.
• Play 3 Tricks: Each player retains 1 unplayed card for Half-Season 2.

Half-Season 2

• Deal: Deal 4 fresh cards to every player. With the carried card, each player now has 5 cards. Leave unselected Market cards in place.
• Market Swap: Repeat the optional swap in reverse VP order.
• Play 3 Tricks: After the third trick, discard each player’s 2 remaining cards into the full-season reshuffle.

Trick-taking rules

Lead & following suit

The lead player plays one Action Card. Its suit is the Active Suit for the trick. Every other player must follow suit if able, even when every region matching that suit has already corrupted. A player unable to follow suit may play any card.

Determine the winner

The lowest-ranked card matching the led suit wins the trick. Off-suit cards cannot win.

Suit hierarchy

When the rules require suit-order resolution, use this hierarchy:

• Led Suit.
• Spear / Spades.
• Flame / Hearts.
• Lore / Diamonds.
• Knot / Clubs.

Reverse resolution order

Resolve the trick in reverse play order. Trick losers resolve their Minor Actions or Secret Tokens first. The trick winner resolves their Major Action or Secret Token last.

Action execution & resolution

Spatial action scope

• Major Action — Trick Winner: Execute the action in 1 active region matching the led suit.
• Minor Action — Trick Loser: Execute the action in 1 active region matching the suit of that player’s card.
• Extinct Suit: If all regions matching the relevant suit are corrupted, execute the action at the current location of that player’s Denheart.

Action matrix

Control Unit values

• 1 Denheart Chieftain Tile = 2 Control Units.
• 1 Clan Member Cube = 1 Control Unit.

Board cannibalization

If your 12-cube supply is empty and an action requires placing one of your cubes, remove any 1 of your Clan Member Cubes from anywhere on the board—including a corrupted Cat Sith region—and place it in the target region.

March: range versus volume

• One Origin: Choose 1 Origin Region containing your forces.
• One Destination: Choose 1 adjacent active Destination Region. All moving units travel together from the chosen origin to that destination.
• Distance: A normal March moves only 1 adjacent step. Units cannot chain through multiple active regions.
• Major Payload: Move up to 4 Control Units—for example, 4 cubes or a Denheart plus 2 cubes.
• Minor Payload: Move up to 2 Control Units—for example, 2 cubes or a Denheart alone.

End-of-season region scoring

After the sixth trick of the Season, resolve every active region one at a time across the Glen path.

Step 1: Reveal and resolve Secret Tokens

Flip all face-down Secret Tokens in the region and resolve them in this strict order:

• Sanctuary: Shield all friendly units in this region from Ambush actions during this resolution.
• Ambush: Displace 1 unshielded rival cube and replace it with 1 of your cubes from supply.
• March: Move up to 4 Control Units to an adjacent active region.
• Deploy: Place 2 Clan Members from supply into this region.
• Alliance: Add +1 Presence to your total for this region.
• Blight: Subtract −1 Presence from every rival total for this region.

Step 2: Calculate Effective Regional Presence

Effective Regional Presence = Clan Member Cubes + Denheart Presence + Alliance bonuses − rival Blight penalties.

• Each Clan Member Cube contributes 1 Presence.
• Each Denheart contributes 2 Presence.
• Each Alliance contributes +1 Presence to its owner.
• Each Blight subtracts 1 Presence from every rival.
• A player must retain at least 1 Effective Regional Presence to qualify for any Victory Points.

Drop-down ties

Tied players drop to the next payout rank. Two players tied for first both receive second-place VPs. In a 4-player game, the next player receives third-place VPs. Two players tied for second both receive third-place VPs.

Tight Highlands VP scoring track

3-player adjustment: Remove all third-place payouts. Only first and second place score.

Map decay & Cat Sith corruption

• Count Physical Units: Count Denheart tiles and Clan Member Cubes in every active region. Alliance and Blight tokens do not count.
• Corrupt Two Regions: The 2 active regions containing the most physical units flip to their Cat Sith side.
• Break Decay Ties: First corrupt the tied region containing the most Blight tokens. If still tied, corrupt the region with the lower printed Tarot card number.

Denheart eviction

A Denheart may not remain in a corrupted region. When its region flips, its owner moves it to 1 adjacent active region.

Stranded Clan Members

Clan Member Cubes remain on a region when it corrupts. They are stranded “in the dark” and produce no future Victory Points, but they may March out during a later movement action.

Corrupted regions as leapfrog corridors

• No Entry or Landing: Units from an active region may not enter or finish movement on a corrupted tile.
• No Secret Tokens: Secret Tokens may never be placed on corrupted tiles.
• Leapfrog Passage: A March may move through any contiguous span of corrupted regions to the next adjacent active region. The entire corrupted span counts as a single 1-step move.
• Escaping Corruption: Units already stranded in a corrupted region may select that region as their March origin and move into an adjacent active destination.

Game victory & tie-breakers

The game ends after Winter, Season 4, scoring. The player with the most Victory Points wins.

Resolve ties in this order:

• Most total physical units—Clan Member Cubes plus Denheart—in active regions.
• Fewest Clan Member Cubes stranded in corrupted Cat Sith regions.
• Shared victory.

Quick reference player aid

Trick play

• Lowest card matching the led suit wins.
• Off-suit cards cannot win.
• Losers resolve first in reverse play order; the winner resolves last.

Action targets

• Major: active region matching the led suit.
• Minor: active region matching the played card’s suit.
• Extinct suit: current location of that player’s Denheart.

March

• One origin to one adjacent active destination.
• Major March: up to 4 Control Units.
• Minor March: up to 2 Control Units.
• Denheart = 2 units; cube = 1 unit.
• Contiguous corrupted tiles are leapfrogged without adding distance.

End-of-season token order

• Sanctuary.
• Ambush.
• March.
• Deploy.
• Alliance.
• Blight.

Frequently asked questions

Questions and clarifications