How to Play

Project L

1-4 players 20-40 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

Project L challenges players to solve three-dimensional puzzles using polyomino pieces. Begin with basic shapes and spend three actions per turn acquiring new pieces or completing puzzles. Successfully finished puzzles reward points and additional pieces, creating an efficient engine for tackling harder challenges. Victory goes to whoever accumulates the most points through strategic puzzle-solving.

Published 2020

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Shuffle White puzzle deck

Shuffle all 32 White puzzles to form a face-down deck in the center of the play area

Prepare Black puzzle deck

Shuffle all Black puzzles, then select a number based on player count (2 players: 12, 3 players: 14, 4 players: 16, 5 players: 20, 6 players: 24) and place face-down beside the White deck

Reveal puzzle rows

Draw the top 4 puzzles from each deck and place them face up in rows to the right of their respective decks

Create piece reserve

Place all 135 colored pieces (15 of each of the 9 shapes) in a reserve nearby

Distribute player mats

Shuffle player mats (including the first player marker mat) and deal one randomly to each player

Take starting pieces

Each player takes one level-1 piece (single square) and one level-2 piece (domino) and places them in their personal supply to the right of their player mat

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Perform three actions

On your turn, you must perform exactly 3 actions, which may be done in any order and repeated unless otherwise noted

Take action

Take any one puzzle from a row and place it above your player mat, then replace it from the corresponding deck

Recycle action

Remove all puzzles from one row, place them on the bottom of that deck, then refill the row with 4 new puzzles

Upgrade action

Either take a new level-1 piece from the reserve, OR return a piece from your supply and take a replacement of the same level, any lower level, or one level higher

Place action

Place one piece from your supply into one of your puzzles, laying it flat in the recessed area without overlapping other pieces

Master action (once per turn)

Place up to 1 piece from your supply into each of your puzzles above your player mat

Complete puzzles

When a puzzle's recessed area is completely filled, return all pieces to your supply, take the bonus piece shown on the puzzle, and place the puzzle face-down in your Victory Point pile

Handle depleted pieces

If a required piece type is unavailable, take any piece of the same level; if none exist, take one level higher or any level lower

Winning

How to claim victory.

Trigger game end

The game end is triggered when the Black puzzle deck is empty

Complete final rounds

Finish the current round, then play one additional final round so all players have equal turns

Apply end-game restrictions

During final rounds, Black puzzles taken are not replaced, and each player may only take a maximum of 1 Black puzzle per turn

Perform Finishing Touches

After the final round, place any number of pieces from your supply into your puzzles following normal placement rules, but deduct 1 point per piece placed

Calculate final score

Total all points from completed puzzles in your Victory Point pile

Determine winner

The player with the most points wins