Publisher field guide / Bridge to Lanka

A road is only ready when the provisions can cross.

Six spans, five public days, and a finite supply of stone and timber. Work together under Nala’s direction to bring the convoy from the starting shore to Lanka.

2–4 players
Cooperative / all information public
Rules 0.3.0 · illustrated presentation 0.4.1
Playable prototype in development

Painted shore, material depot and turquoise sea at the bridge worksite — The game’s existing worksite painting: a place for crews, material and a growing passage.

The promise

Build, check, then move.

Your shared objective is to build and check all six numbered spans, then get the provision convoy from space 0 to space 6 within five days. The convoy must reach at least space 2 by the end of day 2 and space 4 by the end of day 4. Reaching 6 wins immediately.

Construction alone is not enough. A span needs a separate check before the convoy can enter it, and every Supply action spends timber from the front. A beautifully built road can still miss its delivery promise.

Lay out the worksite

Seat two to four players clockwise and choose a first seat. Leave six span sites empty; put the convoy at 0 and day marker at 1.
Put 3 stone and 3 timber in the depot, with the remaining 13 of each in reserve. The front, installed-material and provision-used areas begin empty.
Shuffle the five work windows and lay all five face up in day order. For a teaching attempt, use Quarry → Grove → Carrying → Measuring → Open road.
Deal all five action counters clockwise from the first seat, circling again as needed. These five counters are the entire team’s allowance for the day.

The actual board, windows and method pieces below are development components. Artwork and component design do not establish manufacturing approval.

Actual Bridge to Lanka worksite board with numbered span sites and material areas — The actual worksite board separates reserve, depot, front, installed material and used provisions.

One counter. One action. Your decision.

On your turn, propose an action before the others suggest a plan. Discuss it, then choose the action and exact quantities yourself. Spend one of your counters after resolving a legal action; continue clockwise to the next seat that still has a counter. Illegal actions change nothing and spend nothing.

Collect & deliver

Collect: take 1–3 stone or 1–3 timber from reserve to depot. Depot capacity is eight materials total.

Deliver: move 1–4 materials in any mixture from depot to front. Front capacity is six. Choose a smaller legal load when space is tight.

Build & check

Build: pay from the front to construct the next empty site. Stone-led costs 2 stone + 1 timber; timber-led costs 1 stone + 2 timber. Both are equally safe. The method cannot be changed later.

Check: mark the next 1–2 consecutive built, unchecked sites. No material is spent, but checking still takes an action.

Supply & pass

Supply: spend 1 timber from the front and move the convoy 1–2 spaces. Every entered space must already be checked. The timber cost is per action, not per space.

Pass: spend one counter without changing anything. It is always legal while play continues.

Close the day

After every action, check whether the convoy has reached 6. Otherwise, after the fifth action check the day’s delivery commitment. A missed commitment ends the attempt; day 5 is the final deadline.

If play continues, rotate first seat clockwise, advance the day and redeal the same five counters. Counters cannot be traded or saved.

The whole horizon is already on the table

Each day’s visible window changes one normal limit. Quarry permits Collect up to 4 stone or 2 timber. Grove permits up to 2 stone or 4 timber. Carrying permits Deliver up to 5 mixed materials. Measuring permits Check up to 3 sites. Open road permits Supply up to 3 checked spaces for the same single timber.

A bonus is useful only if the earlier steps are ready. A large inspection needs built spans; a longer convoy move needs a checked route; a generous delivery needs room at the front.

Actual public work-window card — A public work window changes an action limit for one whole day.

Actual numbered bridge-span method component — One numbered span, one chosen construction method. Building and checking remain separate actions.

A decision to try

Before delivering the next load, count the timber needed for both the build and the convoy. Filling the front with six stone leaves no room for timber and no legal build. Spending extra timber on a timber-led span may help now, yet delay the provisions later.

Keep all 16 stone and 16 timber accounted for across the material areas. Installed materials and used provisions never return to reserve.

Vanara crews hauling stone and timber beside the growing crossing — Existing crew painting · the labor behind the crossing

The story & the game

Nala, the crews and the supporting ocean

The selected narrative is the bridge-construction passage of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa 22, using K. M. K. Murthy’s online English witness. Nala, cooperating vanara crews, trees, rocks, measuring lines, five days and the supporting ocean come from that passage.

The six sites, material quantities, capacities, work windows, provision convoy and deadlines are original game abstractions. The source bridge is completed and the army crosses; your attempt tests a tabletop work plan.

This publisher field guide introduces the current prototype; it is not the complete rulebook or a public game download. Sources were checked against committed Game Night Labs rules on 29 October 2026. Human play, balance, cultural review, accessibility and physical print acceptance remain separate development work. No measured playing time or tested age range is claimed.