Polycule – Game Rules

The Game of Shared Relationships and Resources

Welcome to Polycule! A “polycule” is a network of people connected by who they are romantically, sexually, or emotionally in relationship with. This often occurs in non-monogamous situations, but we see polycules in many walks of life, from long term committed partnerships, to blended families, to single parents in communities. We all have close networks of support that we rely on, and that is what this game is about.

Objective

The goal of “Polycule” is to create a strong Polycule and be the first to achieve 6 Goal Points

Game Setup

0. Each Player starts with 9 Free Time (tokens) and 1 Self (game piece) in matching colors

1. Each player draws 6 cards from the deck, known as the “Dating Pool”

2.Choose your Self: During the setup round, players choose one Partner Card from their hand to represent their "Self." Your "Self" is the foundation of your Polycule; you must invest time in your Self equal to your Available Time listed on the card. If a player so chooses, they may discard their entire initial hand and get 6 new cards. After choosing your Self, draw an additional card, replenishing your hand back to 6.

3. The player with the lowest Capacity score goes first (If there's a tie, all tied Players draw a card and the one with the lowest Capacity score listed on their card goes first).

4. Turns proceed clockwise (to the left).

Turn Structure

On their turn, Players may play

1 Partner (blue)
1 Goal (green)
1 Change (orange or purple)
2 Time. (tokens)

Players may play them in any order. Players can also choose to not play any or all of these.

Play 1 Partner (blue) Card:

Partners can be added to a player’s Polycule by playing them face up on their turn
Each Partner has

Capacity (how much they can accomplish)
Qualities (traits or skills needed for Goals)
Available Time (the amount of time that can be invested in this Partner)

To create a relationship, you must invest Free Time in them by moving your tokens onto the indicated circles
Free Time must be placed on the circles in the order indicated on the card. A Quality is only available to your Polycule when you have invested time in that specific Quality.
You do not have to fully occupy all of a Partner’s Available Time, but you may choose to. You also may not be able to, depending on circumstances (ig, lack of time)
A Partner cannot be in relationship more than they have Available Time for
If there is a Partner in another polycule with Available Time, another player can also invest time in that Partner, and they would be said to be in 2 Polycules. This Partner’s Capacity is available to all participating Polycules, but their available Qualities correspond to invested Free Time
Starting a relationship with a new Partner or ending a relationship with a Partner qualifies as playing a Partner card for your turn

Breakups & De-escalation:

If at any time a Partner has no time invested in them by Players, that Partner is put back into the discard pile
If a player chooses to reduce their time in a Parter to 0, then they are said to Break Up with that Partner
Breaking Up with a Partner qualifies as playing a Partner card on your turn. You cannot Break Up with a Partner, and start a relationship with a new Partner on the same turn.

A player may choose to de-escalate a relationship by reducing the time invested in a Partner without dropping dropping it to 0 and this does not qualify as Breaking Up

You cannot start a new relationship with more than 1 Partner per turn.
A Self cannot be broken up with
A Partner’s available time is always filled sequentially. If a Partner is in multiple Polycules and a player chooses to de-escalate or Break Up with them, then other Players’ invested time shifts so that the open time is always that of the greatest value. The Players invested in that Partner now have access to different qualities.

Play 1 Goal (green) Card:

Goal cards are played face up
Playing a Goal requires:

A total polycule Capacity equal to or greater than the Goal’s Capacity
An amount of Free Time in your hand (uninvested in Parters or Changes) that matches or exceeds the number indicated on the card
Qualities in your Polycule that overlap with your Goal. Different Goals require different amounts of qualities (eg, 1-Point Goals require 1 of the Qualities listed on the card, 2-Point Goals require 2 of the Qualities, etc.)

Once a Goal is accomplished, it is never removed, even if the members of a Polycule shift over the course of play

Play 1 Change (orange or purple) Card:

There are Positive and Negative Changes
Changes modify Partners by increasing/decreasing Capacity and adding/subtracting Qualities
Changes are played on specific Partners already in play, either in your own Polycule or another player’s. The effects on the card apply only to this Partner, unless otherwise indicated on the card.
You may play a Change on any Partner currently in a Polycule; your own, or another player’s
Changes either:

Expire at the end of the next turn of the Player who the card was played on, or
Stay in play until a player invests the Free Time necessary to clear the effect (as indicated on the bottom of the card)

Some Changes have additional rules or effects that explained on the card
No Partner can have more than 3 Qualities. A Change that adds a Quality cannot be played on a Partner who already has 3 Qualities
Negative Changes can by played on any Partner, even if the Partner does not have the Quality listed on the change card, and prevents that Partner from gaining that Quality until the Change is removed

Invest/Divest 2 Free Time:

Players start with 9 Free Time tokens
Players may move a maximum of 2 Free Time tokens per turn across Partners and Changes

Drawing and Discarding:

At the end of your turn, you may discard any number of the cards remaining in your hand and draw from the Dating Pool up to 6 cards
Discarded cards go into the discard pile
Players start each turn with 6 cards
When necessary, the discard pile can be reshuffled and added back into the Dating Pool

Winning the Game

The first player to have achieved Goals totaling six Points wins the game!

Special Thanks

This game would not have been possible without help from a bunch of other people. Thanks to Sydney, Colin and Slater, my tireless play testers, who have tolerated all 10 iterations of this game, and given tons of input. Thank you for having faith in this project and in me to make it. Thanks to Aiden Elliot for the invaluable input and direct assistance with the design of the cards and getting them sized for printing. The reason this game looks and feels as good as it does is because of Aiden. Thanks Chuck and Sophie for always making cool stuff that makes me want to make cool stuff, and also for that tip about using Figma. Thanks to the 2 or 3 dozen people who have play tested over the past year, giving critical feedback