Porot

How to play Porot

In Porot, the players are divided in two teams of two. Together with your team mate you try to form patterns of reindeer on the board. Help your friend and they will help you. However, in the end only one player will win!Use five different tiles cleverly to score points by moving your trekker meeple forward. The score track affects on your every turn so make sure to hit the right spots at the right time.The player who returns to their home cabin first, wins!

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Porot - Rules in English

Components

1 game board
24 wooden reindeer meeples (6 in each of 4 colours)
4 wooden hiker pawns (1 in each of 4 colours)
20 lichen tiles (5 different types, 4 of each)
4 turn order tiles (all different)
1 die
1 rulebook

Welcome to the beautiful wilderness of Finnish Lapland!
In this game, you'll explore the stunning northern landscape while spotting reindeer whose coats reflect the magical glow of the Northern Lights.You can learn more about reindeer and the Northern Lights on the back of the game board.

Setup

A. Place the game board in the center of the table.B. Each player chooses a color and takes the matching turn marker and reindeer, placing them in front of themselves.C. Each player places their hiker pawn in the cabin of the matching color.D. Shuffle the lichen tiles face down. Place one tile face down on each snow space.E. Each player takes one lichen tile and places it face up in front of themselves.F. Place the remaining lichen tiles face up beside the game board.
You are now ready to begin the game!TipPlayers should sit around the table so that each player is closest to their own home cabin.This makes it easier to keep track of the turn order.

Gameplay

The game board consists of a 5 × 5 grid, where players collect lichen tiles and place reindeer, surrounded by an outer track on which the hikers move clockwise.
Throughout the game, you may cooperate with another player, but in the end only one player can win.The partnership colours are always:- Wooden + yellow
- Blue + greenThe player holding the Turn Order Tile 1 takes the first turn. Play then continues in numerical order according to the turn order tiles: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 1 → 2, and so on.On your turn, perform the following actions in this exact order:- Roll the die
- Place a reindeer and score it
- Score your hiker's lineAfter completing each of these actions, you may use one or more lichen tiles.

Roll the Die

This is easy: Just roll the die and note the result.You may then use any number of lichen tiles before proceeding to the next action.

Place a Reindeer and Score It

Take one of your reindeer from your personal supply and place it on any snow or forest space that does not already contain a reindeer.Reindeer may not be placed on the outer track, as it is reserved for the hiker pawns.If the space you place your reindeer on contains a lichen tile, immediately collect it and place it face up in front of you.After placing the reindeer, immediately score it by moving your hiker pawn clockwise around the outer track as follows:- Move 1 space if you placed the reindeer in the row or column matching the number shown on the die (or on any forest space if the die shows the forest symbol).- Move 1 additional space if you placed the reindeer on the same line as your hiker (or on any forest space if your hiker is currently in a cabin).In other words, your hiker may move 0, 1, or 2 spaces.After resolving the movement, you may use any number of lichen tiles before proceeding to the next action.No reindeer left?If you need to place a reindeer but have none left in your personal supply (because all of your reindeer are already on the board), permanently remove one of your unused lichen tiles from the game. Then return one of your reindeer from the board to your personal supply. Now take the rest of your turn normally.If you have no unused lichen tiles, permanently remove one of your used lichen tiles instead (if you have one).

Score Your Hiker's Line

After moving your hiker as a result of placing a reindeer, you may choose to score the line where your hiker is now located.If that row or column contains a sequence of 3, 4, or 5 adjacent reindeer, you may score it. The sequence may consist of your own reindeer, your partner's reindeer, or any combination of the two.For each reindeer in the sequence, move the hiker of the matching colour 1 space clockwise along the outer track.Then return all reindeer in the scored sequence to their owners' personal supplies according to their colours.If moving your hiker places it on a new line that also contains a scorable sequence, you may score that line as well. You may also use lichen tiles between scoring sequences.5. Using Lichen Tiles
To use a lichen tile, flip it face down and resolve the effect shown on the tile.
The effects of the lichen tiles are explained on the back cover of this rulebook.
If a game effect allows you to flip a used lichen tile face up again, it may be used again later.You may not use lichen tiles while your hiker is in a cabin.

Using Lichen Tiles

To use a lichen tile, flip it face down and resolve the effect shown on the tile.The effects of the lichen tiles are explained in the end of this rulebook.If a game effect allows you to flip a used lichen tile face up again, it may be used again later.You may not use lichen tiles while your hiker is in a cabin.

Cabin Spaces

Your hiker begins the game in your home cabin. During the game, your hiker moves clockwise around the outer track. The cabins in the four corners are part of the track and are treated as spaces.As explained earlier, if your hiker is in any cabin (your own or another player's) when you place a reindeer, you gain 1 movement point by placing your reindeer on any forest space, regardless of the die result.You may not use lichen tiles while your hiker is in a cabin.
If you begin your turn in another player's cabin, before taking any other actions, choose one of the following:Take 1 face-up lichen tile from beside the game board and place it face up in front of you, or
Flip 1 of your used lichen tiles face up, making it available to use again.

End of the Game

The game ends when a hiker completes a full circuit of the board and returns to their home cabin. Finish the current round so that every player has taken an equal number of turns, ending with the player holding Turn Order Tile 4.If a hiker would move additional spaces after returning to their home cabin, flip 1 used lichen tile face up for each unused movement point.The player whose hiker returned to their home cabin is the winner.If two or more hikers return to their home cabins during the final round, the winner is the tied player with the most face-up lichen tiles. If there is still a tie, all tied players share the victory.

Special Rules for 2- and 3-Player Games

In a 4-player game, players form two teams of two. The members of each team are partners. The same partnership system is used in 2- and 3-player games, except that the missing player(s) are replaced by the AI player Jaakko.In a 3-player game, one player is partnered with Jaakko.In a 2-player game, both players are partnered with their own Jaakko.During setup, give each Jaakko a Turn Order Tile, 1 lichen tile, a supply of reindeer, and a hiker pawn, just as you would for a human player. Jaakko takes turns in the normal turn order.When it is Jaakko's turn, Jaakko's partner rolls the die and places one of Jaakko's reindeer in the row or column indicated by the die (or on a forest space if the die shows the forest symbol).Whenever possible, the reindeer must be placed on a space that is either on Jaakko's hiker's current line or contains a lichen tile. If one or more spaces satisfy both conditions, one of those spaces must be chosen.If more than one space is eligible, Jaakko's partner chooses which space to place the reindeer on. If Jaakko collects a lichen tile, place it beside Jaakko's Turn Order Tile. Jaakko never uses lichen tiles during the game. Note: If Jaakko has no reindeer left to place, or if there are no free spaces matching the die result, Jaakko skips their turn.After placing the reindeer, score it as normal by moving Jaakko's hiker according to the standard rules. Note: If Jaakko collected a lichen tile when placing the reindeer, Jaakko's hiker moves 1 additional space. As a result, Jaakko's hiker may move up to 3 spaces during a single turn.If Jaakko's hiker is then on a line containing a scorable sequence of reindeer, Jaakko scores that sequence only if the sequence contains at least as many of Jaakko's reindeer as their partner's.If Jaakko's hiker returns to their home cabin, the end of the game is triggered in the same way as when a human player's hiker returns home. Jaakko can win the game!In the event of a tie, all lichen tiles collected by Jaakko are counted for him when determining the winner.

Lichen tokens explained

Add 1 reindeerAdd one of your reindeer to an empty space on the line where your hiker is currently located. If that space contains a lichen tile, collect it and place it face up in front of you.

Return 1 reindeer, score 1 pointReturn one of your reindeer from the line where your hiker is currently located to your personal supply. Then move your hiker 1 space clockwise along the outer track.

Move 1 reindeerMove one of your reindeer on the line where your hiker is currently located 1 space left, right, up, or down. If necessary, push other reindeer ahead of it. If a reindeer is pushed off the game board, return it to its owner's personal supply. If a reindeer moves onto a space containing a lichen tile, its owner immediately collects the tile and places it face up in front of them.

Swap reindeerSwap the positions of two reindeer. Both reindeer must be on the line where your hiker is currently located, and at least one of them must be yours.

Reroll the die, refresf 1 tileThen flip one of your used lichen tiles face up. The tile you flip may not be another Reroll lichen tile (orange). The refreshed lichen tile may be used again during the game.

26.07.2026

Porot was played live at Ropecon

Yesterday I attended Ropecon, Finland's biggest convention for RGPs with plenty of focus on board games as well.At this point Porot has been playtested amongst friends in real life as well as with strangers online.Ropecon marked the first time the game gout out in the nature, getting played by convention goers who had never heard about it.After a long day my throat was dry for explaining the rules so many times but I was also extremely happy since the feedback from players was very positive. They seemed to be intrigued by the tactical nature of the game and the way you can manipulate the board with lichen tokens.I was also glad to see that each game took approximately one hour. That seems to be the correct time estimation for this game, rules explanations included.One player suggested that we'd make an alternative version of the board: a hex board for allowing six players to join. If I imagine it correctly, that would mean the player pawns can see reindeer in three lines instead of just one. That would be pleasantly complicated! :)

22.07.2026

Website opened, now it's real

Every journey begins by stepping out of the door. This is that moment for Vuosikymmen: we've just published our website at Vuosikymmen.com (this very page you're reading now).Here we're going to host all information regarding our first game Porot and possible future realeases. Ideally search engines start logging this page and it'll help players like you to find that clever little game of reindeer and northern lights.Right now it feels like this could be a great place for a blog, too. This post works as the first marking of that blog. I'm not sure if people read so much blogs anymore or whether I will have interest to post here often, but let's see.By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Juuso, the founder of Vuosikymmen and the designer of Porot. Later I will add a more thorough introduction of myself but at this point let's just say that I love board games. Playing them, teaching them, reading and watching content about them... and now finally also designing them.The journey has started and if you're reading this, you're one of the first to join it. Welcome! :)

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