Palette Swap
2-5(?) Players
20-40(?) Minutes
The goal of the game is to be the first player to complete all the schemes in their hand by creating them
within your palette and the palette of the artist to your left.
SETUP:
STEP ONE: To begin, separate the colors into separate draw piles with the primary colors (Red, Yellow,
and Blue) forming three points of a triangle like so:
STEP TWO: Put the secondary colors (Orange, Green, and Purple) in between these and place Black in
the center of the triangle, like so:
STEP THREE: Divide the scheme cards by the number on the top left and give each player one set of
cards that have an identical number. The remaining cards are not used in the game and should be set
aside. Each player will have five scheme cards in total to start with.
STEP FOUR: Starting with Red, draw a primary color from each pile until you have five times as many
cubes as the number of players. (This will be 4/3/3 Red/Yellow/Blu0e for a two player game, 5/5/5 for a
three player game, 7/7/6 for a four player game, 9/8/8 for a five player game.)
STEP FIVE: Shuffle these together and deal five out randomly to each player.
COMPLETING SCHEMES:
In order to complete a scheme a player must have the color(s) in their own palette matching the area of
their scheme card labeled “Your Palette” and the colors listed as “Their Palette” in the palette of the
player to their left. To complete the scheme the correct player must have one cube of the color listed
for every time it appears on the list. Any colors in either palette beyond those are not relevant to
completing the scheme.
Any player may claim a valid scheme at any time, including between steps on any player’s turn. To claim
a scheme, a player places their correctly completed card face up on the table in front of them. A player
wins when they have completed every scheme in their hand. Schemes may be completed in any order,
and it may be possible to claim more than one scheme in one turn or throughout the turns of other
players.
GAMEPLAY:
Play starts to the left of the dealer and goes clockwise. On each player's turn they play two cubes at the
same time, returning those cubes to their draw pile(s) before applying each of their effects in the order
of the player’s choice. If the colors are two separate primary cubes the player first adds the
corresponding secondary cube to their palette before continuing. For example, a player who chooses to
play Red and Yellow would receive an Orange cube immediately upon playing those cubes. If they
played Yellow and Blue they would receive Green, and they would get Purple for playing Blue and Red.
If a player chooses to play any two secondary colors on the same turn then that player adds BLACK to
their palette before continuing.
Primary colors (Red, Yellow, Blue) have single action effects, however secondary colors (Orange, Green,
Purple) have two action effects which come from secondary colors being combinations of two primary
colors. The two actions held within a secondary color cube must be played in the order described on the
action sheet.
Example: Player A has chosen to play a red and an orange for their turn. Player A may choose to use the
red cube first, followed by the orange, or vice versa. However, when Player A decides to use the orange
cube they have selected to play for their turn, they must enact the effects in the order specified on the
action reminder.
In a multiplayer game each player may only apply a color's effect(s) to the players on their left and their
right, and may choose separately for each half of the effect when applying secondary colors.
If at the end of their own turn a player has more than five cubes in their palette, the player must return
any colors of their choice to the draw pile, except for black. If a player ends the turn with less than five
colors in their palette they may add any primary color(s) of their choice to their palette. The effects of
each color are as follows:
PRIMARY COLORS:
RED- Match. Select a color in another player's palette
and add a cube of the same color to your palette from
the draw pile.
YELLOW- Mix. Choose a primary color in your palette and
a primary color in another player's palette. If they are
different colors replace each of them with the
corresponding secondary color from the draw pile. If
they are the same color there is no effect.
BLUE- Swap. Trade a color in your palette for a color in
another player's palette.
SECONDARY COLORS:
ORANGE- Match, then Mix.
GREEN- Mix, then Swap.
PURPLE- Match, then Swap.
BLACK:
BLACK- Refresh. Discard all secondary colors in your
palette and add the primary colors that create it to your
palette from the draw pile. If black is in your palette it
must be played on your turn. Black cannot be swapped,
mixed, or matched.