How to Play Tick-Tock Tower
Every player is a clockwork hero in an old clock tower, and every hero has a twin on the other side of the board. Each step forward pushes your twin back. This page has all the rules, worked examples and answers to the most common questions.
- 4–8 players (liveliest with 6)
- Ages 10+
- 30–45 minutes
- Free and full edition
The game in 1 minute
- Every player is a clockwork hero in the old tower. Each hero has a twin on the other side of the board.
- On your turn, play 1 card and move. When your pawn steps forward, your twin moves 1 space back.
- You also have a secret goal card. When it is true on your turn, show it and take its points.
- After each round the clock hand moves 1 hour. At 12 o'clock the bell rings and the game ends.
- Score the number of your space, 3 points if you are ahead of your twin, and your goal points. The most points wins.
What is in the game
Full edition: 1 board (on two pages or one big page), 90 cards (53 action cards, 24 secret goals, 9 heroes and 4 quick reference cards), 9 hero pawns, 16 Thank-you tokens and 1 clock hand plus a spare.
Free edition: 1 board on two pages and 72 cards (44 action cards, 16 secret goals, 9 heroes and 3 quick reference cards), 9 hero pawns, 16 Thank-you tokens and 1 clock hand plus a spare. It has five kinds of action cards, eight kinds of goals and no hero powers.
The board has three tracks. The orange top track is for the Clockwise heroes, the blue bottom track for the Counterclockwise heroes, and only the Cuckoo moves on the purple middle track. Each track starts at START and runs from space 1 to space 15. A pawn never goes past 15 and never goes back past START.
| Part of the tower | Spaces |
|---|---|
| The Gears | 1–4 |
| The Pendulum | 5–9 |
| The Belfry | 10–15 |
| Bell spaces | 4, 8 and 12 |
The clock on the board shows how many rounds are left.
Setup
- Put the board in the middle of the table.
- Take the heroes you need (see the table below). Each twin pair is one Clockwise hero and one Counterclockwise hero. Give each player 1 hero card face up and the pawn with the same picture.
- Put every pawn on START of its own track: Clockwise heroes on the top track, Counterclockwise heroes on the bottom track, the Cuckoo on the middle track.
- Put the clock hand on 3 o'clock with 4–5 players, or on 5 o'clock with 6–8 players.
- Shuffle the action cards and deal 3 to each player. The rest is the draw pile, face down.
- Shuffle the secret goals. Each player draws 2, keeps 1 secret and puts the other at the bottom of the goal pile.
- Put the Thank-you tokens next to the board.
| Players | Heroes | Clock hand starts at |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 twin pairs | 3 o'clock |
| 5 | 2 twin pairs + Cuckoo | 3 o'clock |
| 6 | 3 twin pairs | 5 o'clock |
| 7 | 3 twin pairs + Cuckoo | 5 o'clock |
| 8 | 4 twin pairs | 5 o'clock |
Which twin pairs? Shuffle the 4 Clockwise hero cards, draw as many as you need and add their twins. If you prefer to choose, the youngest player picks first and everyone takes a free hero card. Once enough pairs are started, the next players may only pick from those pairs. With 5 or 7 players someone plays the Cuckoo; if nobody picks it, the last player takes it.
Your turn
Who goes first: in round 1 the youngest player starts, then play goes clockwise around the table. In every later round the pawn furthest ahead plays first, then the next one, and the last pawn plays last. Two pawns on the same space play in the same order as in the round before.
- Play 1 card from your hand face up on the discard pile and do what it says.
- Is your secret goal true right now? Show it and put it face up in front of you. Its points are yours. Then draw 2 new goals and keep 1 secret.
- Draw 1 card, so you have 3 cards again.
The twin rule
When a pawn moves forward with a Step card, with Music Box Dance, or because Helping Hand picked it, its twin moves 1 space back. The player of Helping Hand moves 1 space without pushing their own twin. Catch Up and Big Fan never move your twin. The Cuckoo has no twin.
End of the round
When everyone has played once, the round is over: move the clock hand 1 hour forward. When the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile into a new draw pile. The goal pile is never reshuffled: if only 1 goal is left, take it; if none is left, play on without a secret goal.
Two examples
Tick pushes his twin back
- Tick is on space 3 and his twin Tock is on space 5.
- Tick plays Big Step: he moves 2 spaces forward to space 5, and Tock moves 1 space back to space 4.
- Tick's secret goal is By the Pendulum: “your pawn is on space 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9”. It is true now, so he shows it and keeps it face up: 3 points.
- He draws 2 new goals and keeps 1, then draws 1 card so he has 3 cards again.
Ben lends a Helping Hand
- Ben and Daniel are both on START. Daniel is not Ben's twin, so Ben can pick him.
- Ben plays Helping Hand on Daniel: Daniel moves to space 2, and Daniel's twin Anna moves 1 space back, from space 2 to space 1.
- Ben moves to space 1 without pushing his own twin and takes 1 Thank-you token.
- Ben's goal Face to Face is now true (Ben on 1, his twin Clara on START): 3 points.
The action cards
Tiny Step, Big Step and Spring Jump are the Step cards. You may always play a card, even if it helps you only a little. “Behind you” means a space with a smaller number than yours.
Tiny Step BOTH EDITIONS
Move your pawn 1 space forward. Your twin moves 1 space back. 10 cards.
Big Step BOTH EDITIONS
Move your pawn 2 spaces forward. Your twin moves 1 space back. 12 cards.
Spring Jump BOTH EDITIONS
Move your pawn 3 spaces forward. Your twin moves 1 space back. 6 cards.
Pendulum Push BOTH EDITIONS
Move your twin 2 spaces back, or move the Cuckoo 2 spaces back if it is no more than 5 spaces from your pawn. When the Cuckoo plays it, any pawn goes 2 spaces back. 8 cards.
Helping Hand BOTH EDITIONS
Pick a pawn on your space or behind you, but not your twin. It moves 2 spaces forward and its twin moves 1 space back. You move 1 space forward, your twin does not move, and you take 1 Thank-you token. Nobody to pick? Just move 1 space forward. 8 cards.
Music Box Dance FULL EDITION
Pick a pawn on your space or behind you, but not your twin. You both move 2 spaces forward and both twins move 1 space back. Take 1 Thank-you token. Nobody to pick? Only you move. 4 cards.
Catch Up FULL EDITION
If your twin is ahead of you, move 3 spaces forward, but stop on its space if you reach it. If not, move 1 space forward. Your twin does not move. 2 cards.
Big Fan FULL EDITION
Every pawn on the other side moves 1 space back, then you move 1 space forward. When the Cuckoo plays it, every other pawn goes 1 space back. 3 cards.
Secret goals
Your goal stays secret until it is true. You check it only on your own turn, right after you play your card, and you can show at most 1 goal per turn. Shown goals stay face up in front of you until the end. You always hold exactly 1 secret goal while the goal pile lasts. Some goals have a purple line for the Cuckoo, and the Cuckoo uses that line.
| Goal | True when… | Points | Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the Gears | Your pawn is on space 1, 2, 3 or 4. | 3 | both |
| By the Pendulum | Your pawn is on space 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9. | 3 | both |
| Up in the Belfry | Your pawn is on space 10 or higher. | 6 | both |
| Face to Face | Your pawn and your twin are no more than 1 space apart. Cuckoo: another pawn is no more than 1 space from you. | 3 | both |
| Three Ahead | Your pawn is at least 3 spaces ahead of your twin. Cuckoo: no pawn is ahead of you. | 4 | both |
| Kind Heart | You have at least 2 Thank-you tokens. | 5 | both |
| On the Chime | Your pawn is on a bell space: 4, 8 or 12. | 3 | both |
| In the Middle | At least one pawn is ahead of you and at least one pawn is behind you. | 3 | both |
| No One Ahead | No pawn is ahead of yours. Others may be on your space. | 5 | full |
| Meeting | A pawn from the other side is on your space (not your twin, not on START). Cuckoo: any other pawn is on your space. | 3 | full |
| One Step Behind | Your pawn is 1, 2 or 3 spaces behind your twin. Cuckoo: no pawn is behind you. | 5 | full |
| Even Tower | Add up the spaces of each side. The two totals are no more than 2 apart. | 3 | full |
Thank-you tokens
When you play Helping Hand (or Music Box Dance in the full edition) on another pawn, take 1 Thank-you token. Keep your tokens all game. They count for the Kind Heart goal and are worth no points on their own.
The Cuckoo
The Cuckoo plays only with 5 or 7 players. It moves on the middle track and has no twin. When a card moves the Cuckoo forward, it moves 1 space less, but always at least 1 space. It never gets the 3 twin points; instead it gets 2 points at the end for every twin pair whose pawns are no more than 3 spaces apart.
End of the game and scoring
When the clock hand reaches 12, the bell rings and the game is over. You do not need to write anything down during the game: shown goals stay face up in front of you. At the end everyone adds up:
- the number of the space your pawn is on (START counts as 0),
- 3 points if your pawn is ahead of your twin (not on the same space),
- the points of all goals face up in front of you.
The most points wins. If tied, the pawn further ahead wins. Still tied? The player with more goals face up wins. Still tied? You share the win.
| Example | Space | Twin | Goals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna (Key Keeper) | 10 | +3 | 10 | 23 |
| Ben (Brass Owl) | 10 | +3 | 23 | 36 |
| Clara (Silver Bat) | 8 | 0 | 19 | 27 |
| Daniel (Lock Keeper) | 9 | 0 | 16 | 25 |
Ben wins with 36 points. He is not the furthest ahead, but he showed 6 goals during the game.
Heroes and their powers FULL EDITION
Twins have the same power. “Always” powers work every time. A “once per game” power is used once, then you turn your hero card sideways. In the free edition the hero cards only show who is who, but the Cuckoo rules above still apply.
| Twins | When | Power |
|---|---|---|
| Tick + Tock | always | If your pawn is 4 or more spaces behind your twin, it does not move back when your twin moves forward. |
| Wind-up Ballerina + Rusty Ballerina | always | When you play Helping Hand, you move 2 spaces forward instead of 1. |
| Brass Owl + Silver Bat | once per game | When you play Tiny Step, Big Step or Spring Jump, move 1 more space. |
| Key Keeper + Lock Keeper | always | When you take new secret goals, draw 3 and keep 1. Your first goal gives 1 extra point. |
| Cuckoo | once per game | On your turn, before your card, move any other pawn 3 spaces back. |
Variants
- First game (full edition): play without hero powers and use the hero cards only to show who is who.
- Short game: put the clock hand 1 hour later than normal.
- Kids game (with 4, 6 or 8 players): take out all Pendulum Push cards and play without the Cuckoo and without hero powers.
Frequently asked questions
My twin is on START. Can it move back?
No. A pawn never goes back past START and never goes past 15. Nothing happens to it.
Can two pawns stand on the same space?
Yes, as many as you like.
Do we write the points down during the game?
No. Shown goals stay face up in front of you. Everything is added up once, when the bell rings: your space, the 3 twin points and your goals.
My goal was already true before my turn. Can I still show it?
Yes, if it is still true on your turn, after you play your card.
Can I show 2 goals in one turn?
No. You show at most 1 goal per turn.
Can I swap a goal I do not like?
No. You always keep exactly 1 goal and can only change it by making it true.
Can I play Helping Hand on a pawn ahead of me?
No. Only on a pawn on your space or behind you, and never on your twin.
Can we play with 3 players?
The game is made for 4 to 8 players, because every hero needs a twin on the other side. It is liveliest with 6.
What do I need to print the game?
A printer, thick paper or card and scissors. The board prints on two pages; the full edition also has a one-page large board. Small printed parts are not suitable for children under 3.
The goal pile ran out. What now?
The goal pile is never reshuffled. If only 1 goal is left, take that one. If none is left, play on without a secret goal – the goals you have already shown stay in front of you and still count. (Rules clarification, 15 October 2026)
Ready to climb the tower?
The free edition is enough for your first game night. The full edition adds three new kinds of action cards, four new kinds of goals and a power for every hero.