Overview

Lucky Numbers is a light tile-placement game where each player tries to fill their 4x4 garden grid with numbered clovers. The catch: numbers in each row must be in ascending order left to right, and in each column ascending order top to bottom. The first player to completely fill their board wins.

Components

• 4 sets of 20 Clover tiles in 4 colours, numbered 1-20 each (80 tiles total)
• 4 Game boards (4x4 grids)

Setup

1. Use one complete set of Clover tiles (1 colour, numbered 1-20) per player. With fewer than 4 players, return unused sets to the box.
2. Shuffle all clovers and place them face-down in the middle of the table. (Colours have no significance during play — they are only for setup counting.)
3. Each player takes a game board, oriented with the ladybug in the lower-right corner.
4. Each player draws 4 clovers and places them face-up on the four diagonal spaces (marked with golden edges).

Variant (Michael’s Setup): Players draw clovers one at a time, placing each on any remaining diagonal space, without relocating previously placed tiles.

Turn Structure

The oldest player begins; play proceeds clockwise.

On your turn, choose one of two options:

Option A: Take a Face-Down Clover

• Draw a face-down clover from the centre.
• Place it face-up on your board following the Placement Rules.
• If you cannot or do not want to place it, leave it face-up in the centre.

Option B: Take a Face-Up Clover

• Take one face-up clover from the centre.
• Place it on your board following the Placement Rules.
• This option is only available if there is at least one face-up clover in the centre.
• Do not draw an additional clover.

Actions

Placement Rules

• You may place the clover on any empty space on your board, OR
• Exchange it with a previously placed clover (return the exchanged clover face-up to the centre).
• The number must fit in ascending order with all other numbers in its row (left to right) and column (top to bottom).
• Numbers in a row/column do not need to be consecutive (e.g., 3, 7, 15 is valid).
• Identical numbers in the same row or column are not allowed.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The first player to fill every space on their 4x4 board in accordance with the Placement Rules wins.

Rare edge case: If the last face-down clover is drawn and no player has completed their board, the player with the fewest empty spaces wins. Ties result in multiple winners.

Tournament Mode (Variant)

Play as many games as there are players (so each player is start player once).

• Winner scores 2 points.
• Other players lose 1 point per empty space on their board.
• Player with the most points (or fewest negative) after all games wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Once placed during setup, diagonal clovers cannot be relocated.
• During gameplay, exchanging a tile is optional — you may always place on an empty space instead.
• If you draw a face-down tile and cannot legally place it anywhere, you must leave it face-up in the centre.
• Low numbers should generally go upper-left; high numbers lower-right.

Player Reference

Board Layout (4x4 grid):

• Rows: ascending left to right
• Columns: ascending top to bottom
• Numbers range: 1-20

Turn Options: | Option | Action | |——–|——–| | A | Draw face-down clover; place or discard face-up | | B | Take face-up clover; must place it |

Win Condition: Fill all 16 spaces with valid ascending order in every row and column.