The short version

Three rounds. Each round you place five Dice Tokens across the two piano cards, fight for contested keys, and score what you still hold when the round ends. Highest total after three rounds wins.

What is on the table

• Two piano cards, each a full octave. The colored keys are the chord tones of that card's chord, and they are the only keys worth extra points.
• Five Dice Tokens each. The number on a token is its power, from 1 to 6.
• A shared deck of 42 Compose cards. Thirty five carry a note letter and a movement, 1, 2, 3, up or down. The other seven are Wilds.
• A Wild counts as any note when you place. Two D cards and a Wild make a power 3 token on D, and a hand of Wilds lets you name the note outright. In a duel a Wild adds 1.
• The corner of every card does two jobs. It is the card's movement on the board, and it is what the card does in a duel. Nothing extra is printed and nothing extra to learn.

Your turn

Take at least one action. You may take both, in either order, then your hand refills to five.

• Place a token. Select any number of cards showing the same note letter and place a new token on that note's key, on whichever piano card you choose. The token's power equals the number of cards you played, up to six. Jam cards count as whatever note you need, so two D cards plus a Jam card is a power 3 token on D. Place with nothing but Jam cards and you choose the note outright, which is how you reach a key you were never dealt.
• Move a token. Play one card for the movement in its corner. A number moves one of your tokens that many keys in either direction. An arrow shifts every token you have on one piano card by a single key. Black keys count as keys, and movement wraps from the last key of the right card round to the first key of the left card.

Playing the computer

Pick your opponent when the game opens, or press New game to switch. You play White and move first. The computer weighs every placement and movement it could make, works out its real odds in a duel from the number of dice each side would roll, and spends cards in a duel in proportion to what the key is worth. Casual makes loose choices and lets some duels go. Sharp plays the best line it can see and picks between adding to its total and rerolling a die by whichever swings further.

Your five tokens

The row of squares in your seat is your five Dice Tokens for the round, and each one shows where that token went.

• A solid square in your color is a token on the keys, still scoring.
• A teal square with a plus was merged into another token when you amplified. You chose to spend it, and its power went into the token that stayed, so nothing was wasted.
• A crossed out square was beaten in a duel. Your opponent took it, and its power is simply gone.
• A dashed outline is a token you have not placed yet.

The difference matters. Merged tokens are an investment you made on purpose, so a tray full of plus signs usually means a few tall, hard to beat tokens on the keys. Crosses mean you are losing fights, and that is the signal to stop attacking and start defending. The round ends once a player has placed all five and finished their turn, and their opponent then gets one last turn, so watch your opponent's dashed squares as closely as your own. All five come back at the start of the next round.

Amplify

When two of your own tokens end up on the same key, they merge into one token with their powers added together, to a maximum of six. The other token is out for the rest of the round. Stacking is how you build the heavy tokens that survive a duel.

Duels

Landing on a key your opponent holds starts a duel. The player who moved or placed is the attacker.

• Roll. Each side rolls half its power rounded up, so power 1 or 2 rolls one die, 3 or 4 rolls two, 5 or 6 rolls three. The white pips on a token show this.
• Play a run. Every card you play in a duel must show the same letter. Wilds have no letter of their own, so they join any run. Beyond that there is no limit, so play as many matching cards as you are holding.
• What the cards do. The number or arrow in the corner. A 1, 2 or 3 adds that much to your total. An up arrow rerolls your own worst die. A down arrow rerolls your opponent's best die. A Wild adds 1.
• Result. The attacker chooses and locks in first, then the defender, who can see what the attacker did. Everything takes effect as it is played. Higher total wins and the attacker takes ties. The loser's token is out for the rest of the round.

This is the same rule you already use to place a token. Matching letters is how you build a token on the board and how you fight for a key, so there is really only one idea to learn. A hand of scattered letters places weak tokens and fights weak duels. A hand with three of a letter is a heavy placement or a heavy duel, and you cannot have both.

What a duel costs you

Cards spent in a duel are gone from your turn. A 3 card you burn to win a key is a placement or a three key move you no longer have, and a Wild you burn is a note you can no longer reach. That is the real decision in the game, not which card, but how much of your turn a key is worth. A plain key rarely deserves more than one card. A key marked fff often deserves everything you can carry.

Scoring a round

A token scores its power multiplied by the number of f marks on the key it sits on. Count the f marks and that is your multiplier.

• No marks is a multiplier of one, so the token scores its power. A power 3 token scores 3.
• ff is two f marks, so a multiplier of two. A power 3 token scores 6.
• fff is three f marks, so a multiplier of three. A power 3 token scores 9.
• Hold every colored key on a single piano card and take one bonus point on top.

The gold number on a token's chip is that sum worked out for you, updating as the token moves and as its power changes. The running figure under each player's score is what they would bank if the round ended right now.

A round ends once a player has placed their fifth token and finished their turn. Their opponent then takes one final turn. Two fresh piano cards come out for the next round, and whoever lost the round plays first.

Winning

Highest total after three rounds. A tie sends you to another round until it breaks.