Scoring & Contests

Score each Show, use each contest once, then calculate the Final Show.

Each Show

Score the exhibitor printed on your player mat, then score 2 VP if you have the first-player token. Choose one of the four regular contest cards that does not already have one of your tickets and score it; mark it with a ticket. Each player must score a different contest on each of the three days.

Stamp traits

Each ordinary stamp has a printed value, one color, one theme and a size/shape. A canceled stamp still has color, theme and shape but no printed point value. Rare gold stamps have a value but no color or theme. Forever stamps are 1x1 and have no value, color or theme. Long tiles showing two small-square stamp images are one tile but two stamps for matching contest counts.

Contest terms

A group is one or more stamps connected along any part of an edge. For a contest about a chosen color/theme/shape, ignore other stamps when finding qualifying groups. A “set” is five stamps covering all five colors or themes; a stamp can count in one set of each kind. A second-most-abundant contest ignores one of the tied or largest counts and scores the next largest.

“Surrounded” means a stamp has no empty space along exposed edges; the album boundary counts as surrounding. A perfect corner is where four stamps meet at a corner. An edge is complete when all twelve spaces along a side are covered. An empty region is a connected group of uncovered cells bounded by stamps or album edges; count a region once, not once per cell. A 1x1/1x2 hole has exactly one/two spaces.

Final Show

Rank forever stamps: 10 VP, 6 VP, 3 VP for the first three ranks. You need at least one to score. In a two-player game, include the imaginary collector with three; ties share the points for that rank and skip the next rank. Add the printed values of all stamps, including negative values; 2 VP per specialist; and the Finale contest card. The Finale does not need a show ticket.

Empty regions and holes

An empty region is a connected group of uncovered album spaces completely bounded by stamps and/or album edges. Score the region as one region regardless of its area. A 1x1 or 1x2 hole is a region of exactly one or two spaces.

Tie-break

The most valuable total of rare stamps breaks a tie for the game win. If still tied, share victory.