General
Win by being the first player to empty both your tile pool and your rack.
The objective of Latice Hawai'i is to be the first player to place all tiles from both your tile pool and your rack onto the board. If all players are forced to pass (no legal moves remain for anyone), the player with the fewest remaining tiles (pool + rack combined) wins. If two or more players are tied for fewest tiles in this situation, the result is a tie.
Setup
The youngest player starts the game by placing one tile on the center moon square, then draws one tile from their pool.
The youngest player takes the first turn of the game. They must place one tile from their rack onto the center moon square of the board. After placing that tile, they draw one tile from their personal pool to replenish their rack. Normal turn rules apply from this point forward.
Turn structure
The first move of every turn is always free (no stones required).
Every player's turn begins with one free move that costs no stones. This free move can be: playing a color tile, playing a wind tile, exchanging tiles, or passing. Only moves after this first free move require spending stones.
Turn structure
After the first free move, each additional move costs 1 sunstone or 2 halfstones.
After taking the first free move of a turn, a player may take additional moves by spending stones: 1 sunstone OR 2 halfstones per extra move. A player may buy as many additional moves as they can afford, continuing until they run out of stones or run out of tiles on their rack. Stones may be spent immediately upon earning them.
Turn structure
Play a color tile from your rack onto the board, matching all orthogonally adjacent tiles by color or shape.
To play a color tile, place it from your rack onto any open square on the board that is orthogonally adjacent (up, down, left, or right — not diagonal) to at least one tile already on the board. Every side of the newly placed tile that touches an existing tile must match that existing tile by either color or shape (or both). A tile may be connected on 1, 2, 3, or 4 sides. Each color tile played counts as one move.
General
Adjacent means orthogonally adjacent: up, down, left, or right. Diagonal does not count.
In Latice Hawai'i, 'adjacent' always means orthogonally adjacent — sharing a direct edge in one of the four cardinal directions (up, down, left, right). Diagonal connections (sharing only a corner) are never considered adjacent and do not factor into matching requirements or stone-earning.
Special
Play a wind tile to shift any one tile on the board one square in a cardinal direction; earn one free extra move afterward.
When you play a wind tile from your rack, choose any tile already placed on the board and shift it one square up, down, left, or right to an adjacent open square. The moved tile does not need to match the tiles adjacent to its new position. After playing the wind tile, discard it into the shared wind discard pile and immediately receive one free extra move (no stones required). Each wind tile played counts as one move.
Special
A tile shifted by a wind tile may become detached from all other tiles on the board.
When a wind tile is used to move a tile on the board, the shifted tile may end up completely separated from all other tiles — i.e., it is not required to remain connected to the rest of the tiles on the board after being shifted.
