Rebirth rules: on the Scotland map, play one hidden-drawn tile into a legal empty hex, resolve its scoring and control effects, then draw your next tile. Farms reward connected clusters, settlements reward influence when completed, and castles and private missions matter at the finish.
Official Rebirth rulebook
Mighty Boards publishes the official English Rebirth rulebook from its current game page. This guide teaches the Scotland map in table order and highlights the rules that most often cause scoring or control mistakes. The box also includes an Ireland map with different setup, missions, towers and end-game details; use the Scotland vs Ireland rules comparison for those changes.
Researched rules guide. Checked September 15, 2026. Publisher English rules version 1.2b, second edition; Scotland map. Ireland has separate setup and bonuses. No hands-on testing is claimed. Editorial standards.
On this page: Set up Scotland for your player count · Place one tile, resolve effects, draw one · Score the whole connected farm cluster · Completed settlements rank combined influence · Castle control uses adjacency, not influence · Cathedral visits grant private missions · Finish all available tiles and calculate the result
Set up Scotland for your player count
Give each player all 36 tiles in one color, a score marker and cathedral tokens. Place the score markers at zero and castles and cathedrals on their matching spaces. Prepare the private mission deck and achievement reminders.
For four players, each player returns nine tiles to the box: three energy, three food, and one settlement each of influence two, three and four. For two or three players, keep the full 36-tile set. The reduction applies to four players, not three.
In a two-player game, cover the 32 yellow-marked hexes with an unused color’s tiles facedown. These blocked hexes are not available for placement.
Shuffle your available tiles facedown. Randomly set two aside privately, without using them during the game, then draw one tile to hold for your first turn. This leaves 34 playable tiles per player at two or three players, and 25 at four. The player who last visited Scotland starts; play clockwise.
Place one tile, resolve effects, draw one
Place your held tile in an empty legal hex. Energy tiles match energy or unmarked spaces, and food tiles match food or unmarked spaces. Settlement tiles require settlement hexes, regardless of the influence printed on the tile. Castle, cathedral and water spaces are unavailable.
Your tile need not connect to your previous tiles. If the map has no remaining legal empty unmarked or matching farm spaces for your held farm type, the rulebook’s fallback allows the other farm’s printed spaces. This is a shortage exception, not permission to ignore printed types whenever convenient.
Resolve farm or completed-settlement points, port bonuses, cathedral missions and any castle-control changes caused by your placement. Draw your next tile after resolving the turn. Keep it private until your next placement.
Score the whole connected farm cluster
An energy or food tile scores the size of its connected cluster of your own color and that same farm type, including the tile just placed. Adjacent matching tiles join; other players’ tiles and your other farm type do not.
Example: You place one food tile between your own food clusters of sizes two and three. The new connected cluster has six tiles, so that placement scores six. You do not score only the new tile, nor add the separate old sizes again as an extra bonus.
Open hexes can connect future farm groups, so check the entire merged area before moving the score marker. There is no separate automatic final award for every farm tile: their ordinary cluster points were recorded when placed.
Completed settlements rank combined influence
A one-hex small settlement scores its tile’s printed influence immediately. Larger settlements wait until all their hexes are filled, then rank each player’s combined influence in that settlement. Count printed values, not just the number of pieces.
| Completed settlement | Influence awards |
|---|---|
| Medium: two hexes | 5 to the leader, 3 to the other; sole owner scores 8 |
| Large: three hexes | 8 to the leader, 5 to second; sole owner scores 13 |
For a tie in a completed settlement, the active player who completed it loses that tied comparison; remaining ties proceed clockwise from the active player. A two-tile presence is not automatically stronger than an opponent’s one high-influence tile.
If a settlement remains incomplete at the finish, each player scores the printed influence of their own tiles there. Do not give its full-completion ranking prizes. Settlement placement on a Scotland port also gives the immediate one-point port bonus.
Castle control uses adjacency, not influence
The player with the most occupied adjacent hexes controls a castle. Settlement influence does not multiply a tile’s adjacency vote. If counts tie, compare adjacent farm tiles; if still tied, the active player loses the tie.
Control can change after later placements. Move the castle to its current controller as required, but do not score five immediately. Each controlled castle is worth five points at final scoring.
Edinburgh and Stirling also matter for Scotland’s final score tiebreak. Keep their control clear rather than relying on remembered earlier ownership.
Cathedral visits grant private missions
The first time you place one of your tiles adjacent to a particular cathedral, take a private mission and mark that cathedral with your token. You can trigger each cathedral once for yourself. Another player’s earlier visit does not stop you from claiming your own mission there.
Further placements by you beside that same cathedral do not grant more missions. Their adjacency may still help farms, settlements or castles. Keep each mission private and check its exact end condition, especially wording about connectivity or having the most of a feature.
Finish all available tiles and calculate the result
The Scotland game ends after players have placed their available tiles. Add points from your own tiles in incomplete settlements, five per controlled castle and achieved private missions to the running score.
Highest score wins. If leaders tie, controlling Edinburgh breaks that tie in favor of a tied leader. If none of the tied leaders controls Edinburgh, the current rules name the controller of Stirling as winner, even if that player was not one of the original tied leaders.
The unusual castle tiebreak is a reason to consult the current rules instead of importing another game’s shared-victory rule. For Ireland’s public missions, towers and different castle tiebreak, use the map comparison.
Rebirth rules FAQ
Where can I find the official Rebirth rulebook?
Mighty Boards provides the official English rulebook from the Rebirth product/resources page. The publisher currently lists Rebirth for 2–4 players, about 60 minutes and age 10+.
Does this guide cover both Scotland and Ireland?
This page teaches Scotland in full. Ireland shares the core tile-placement system but changes setup, missions, towers and some scoring/tiebreak details, so those differences are kept in a separate map comparison rather than mixed into the Scotland teach.
Do farm tiles have to connect to an existing farm?
No. A legal farm placement does not need to connect to one of your existing farms. Connection matters for how much the placement scores, not whether it is legal.
Do castles score immediately?
No. Control can change during play; controlled castles score at the end.
Common Rebirth rules mistakes
- Requiring a new farm to connect to an existing farm: ordinary placement does not require connection; matching terrain legality still applies.
- Scoring only the newly placed farm tile: a farm placement scores the size of the entire connected cluster of your own matching farm type.
- Using settlement influence to control a castle: castle control counts adjacent occupied hexes first; a high-influence settlement tile is still one adjacent occupied space.
- Scoring castles immediately: castle control can change during play; controlled castles score at the end.
- Giving a completed settlement’s full award to every participant: rank combined influence and apply the settlement’s stated awards and tie procedure.
- Drawing repeated missions from the same cathedral: on Scotland, each player can trigger each cathedral once for themselves.
- Importing Ireland rules into Scotland: public missions, round towers and sprawling settlements belong to the Ireland map.
Continue learning
Sources and scope
Checked September 15, 2026. Examples are original illustrations; use the rulebook for card-specific wording and edition differences.
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