MOVE38 BLINKS GAME SYSTEM User manual

A NOTE FROM THE CREATORS
Blinks is a new kind of game system. Our goal is to bring what we love about digital
games to the social, hands-on experiences of tabletop gaming. This is a new space, barely
explored, and we’re excited that you’ve got your hands in the game.
We’ve imbued Blinks with the ability to learn from each other and learn new games.
We believe that play shapes the way we think and that each of us could learn something
from each other. Blinks wouldn’t have been possible without the help of more than a
thousand Kickstarter backers, a team of talented open-minded thinkers, and the support
of friends and family from the very beginning. We hope that Blinks are an excuse to put
away your devices and connect with family, friends and strangers – have fun, and discover
new ways of thinking.
Sincerely,
Jonathan + the Move38 team

1
WELCOME
Congrats! You have in your hands Blinks, the world’s rst smart tabletop game system.
Here’s what’s included in the box:
INSTRUCTION BOOKLET
You are here! This book will teach how to use your Blinks, and how to play the games they come with!
9 x BLINKS
The smartest game pieces you’ve ever held. Each Blink has its game labeled on the back and will teach all other
Blinks to play together.
2 x SUSHI ROLLS
These magnetic cases allow you to take Blinks with you wherever you go. It’s a snap!
STICKERS
Show o your love of Blinks in the world. Want more stickers? Send us a message on your favorite social media
channel.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Quick Start Guide .......................................................................................................................................................
Blinks Basics ..............................................................................................................................................................
Game Instructions
Astro ...........................................................................................................................................................................
Darkball ......................................................................................................................................................................
Group Therapy ...........................................................................................................................................................
Heist ...........................................................................................................................................................................
Paintbrush ..................................................................................................................................................................
Puzzle101 ...................................................................................................................................................................
WHAM! .......................................................................................................................................................................
Widgets (Takeaway Dice, Flip Bet, Topple Stones, Spinomino) ...........................................................................
Zen Flow ....................................................................................................................................................................
Developer Info ...........................................................................................................................................................
Notes/Records/Ideas/Score ......................................................................................................................................
Credits .......................................................................................................................................................................
Safety Information .....................................................................................................................................................
4
6
8
10
12
14
18
20
22
24-31
32
35
36
39
40

4
QUICK START GUIDE
1 -WAKE
Press the Blink to turn it on
Waking one Blink will wake an entire cluster,
if the cluster of Blinks recently went to sleep.
2 - FIND A GAME
Select a game you want to play
Game labels are located on the back of each Blink.
Each Blink can teach its game to all others.
3 - LOAD GAME
Hold the Blink for 3 seconds
Making sure the Blink is alone, press and hold the Blink
until a dancing blue pattern animates on the surface,
then let go. It’s ready to teach.
4 - TEACH GAME
Attach the single Blink to the cluster
You have 3 seconds to introduce this Blink.
It begins teaching its neighbors. The dancing blue
pattern will cover the cluster as it shares the game.

5
5 - WAIT
Wait for game transfer to complete
Don’t touch the Blinks while they are learning a
game. Blinks will transition from blue “learning” to
green“ready” state. Blinks will play their startup
animation once they have all learned the game.
6 - PLAY
Play Blinks!
All programmed Blinks will now
be playing the new game!
7 - SLEEP
Saving battery life
Blinks go to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity. To save
battery life, you can press and hold a Blink until it falls
asleep, at least 6 seconds. If it is attached to a cluster,
all connected Blinks will sleep as well.
8 - CHANGE BATTERY
Remove the back panel to change batteries
Blinks use a CR2032 battery, a common watch battery.
To insert a new battery, simply remove the back panel
and swap it out.

6
BLINKS BASICS
Every Blinks game is dierent, from thoughtful games
like Berry, to action-packed games like WHAM.
But what they all have in common is a few basic
techniques. Here’s what you’ll need to know to play
games with the Blinks game system.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Blinks are magnetic. They connect with a satisfying
“clack” when pushed together. When physically
connected like this, they communicate with each other.
This ability allows complex game play and emergent
behavior.
PLAYER INPUT
You can also interact with Blinks by pressing the button
on top. Remember, Blinks are not touch screens –
they have physical buttons. Blinks recognize several
dierent types of presses.
SINGLE-CLICK
Press and release the button quickly to perform a
single-click.
DOUBLE-CLICK
Like a mouse button, Blinks can also be double-
clicked. Make sure you do this quickly, or it might
register as two single-clicks!

7
MULTI-CLICK
Rapidly click the button 3 or more times to perform a
multi-click.
LONG PRESS
If you press and hold the button for 1½ seconds then
release, you’ve performed a long press. Be careful,
though: if you continue to hold the button for longer,
you may accidentally reset the Blink or put it to sleep.
GAME INSTRUCTIONS
No two games are alike, and they all use these
techniques dierently. This booklet contains the basic
rules of all of your games, but you can also follow
the QR code below to access detailed rules, helpful
gameplay videos, and more!
SCAN HERE FOR ONLINE
RULES AND GAMEPLAY VIDEOS.
VISIT BLINKS.GAMES!

8
ASTRO
by Daniel King, Diamond & Colby Gutierrez-Kraybill
2–4 Players | 8+ Blinks | 10-15 Min.
An asteroid eld rich with rare space ore awaits you.
Can you collect enough to ll your cargo hold before
your competition does? This action-packed space
adventure will get your jets going.
SETUP:
To begin, separate all Blinks individually, and distribute
them around the play surface to create an “Asteroid
eld.” Each player then grabs an Asteroid and long
presses it. Those Blinks will become “Ships,” ashing
brightly with their rst mission color. All players hold
their Blinks at the edge of the asteroid eld and count
down from 5. When they reach 0, the game begins.
GAMEPLAY:
There are no “turns” in Astro - all players are free
to move and mine as quickly as possible. To move,
slide your Ship around the play surface and attach to
Asteroids containing ore that matches your mission
color. When you attach, you will automatically begin
mining. Ore will disappear from the asteroid and
appear on your ship. Then you are free to disconnect
and continue movin
Ore collection example

9
Your goal is to complete 6 missions by mining the
asteroid eld for colored ore. The ore color you’re
collecting is indicated by the color on your ship, and
the number of ore needed to complete the mission is
indicated by the number of ashing lights.
Example set of missions
As you collect ore, your cargo bay will ll, then
celebrate when the mission is complete. After
completing each mission, make sure you are separated
from any Asteroids, then double-click your Ship to be
given a new mission.
Mission success and reset
Asteroids will periodically update to display new ore,
but only if they are alone. You are allowed to grab
onto Asteroids that have connected to each other and
separate them.
Disconnecting attached Asteroids
WIN CONDITION:
The rst player to complete their nal mission is the
winner, and their ship will display a spinning rainbow
celebration. To reset your ship, long press to turn it
back into an Asteroid, then long press again to return
to Ship mode with a new set of missions.

10
DARKBALL
by Che-Wei Wang
1+ Players | 6+ Blinks | 5-15 Min.
Darkball is a game about timing.
SETUP:
Place Blinks in any arrangement. Any Blink that is
connected to two or more tiles becomes a pathway,
and any Blink that is connected to only one tile
becomes an endpoint. One player plays at each
endpoint.
A simple, 2-player Darkball setup
GAMEPLAY:
Any endpoint Blink displaying green has a Darkball.
Play begins when one player presses their endpoint
Blink to release the Darkball. The ball moves along the
pathway. At a forks, it chooses randomly. Clustered
pathways are treated as forks, and can produce very
chaotic behavior.
The rst Darkball being released in a 3 player game.
When the Darkball reaches your endpoint, you must
press the button to bounce it back. If you click too
early, your endpoint will go dark for a moment, and you
cannot press again until it brightens. If you press too
late, you will take damage, as indicated by red lights on
your endpoint.

11
You can then release the Darkball by pressing.
The better your timing, the faster the Darkball will be
bounced back. Try to launch the ball with maximum
speed to surprise and defeat your opponents.
Darkballs being bounced back at slow, medium, and fast speeds.
WIN CONDITION:
Once a player has missed the Darkball 6 times, their
endpoint will explode, and they are out. The last player
remaining is the winner.
The player on the left has taken 6 damage,
making the player on the right the winner.
To reset, swap your endpoint Blink for another Blink in
the cluster, giving yourself full health.
SOLO VARIANT:
Because the Darkball can travel in loops, you can
easily create setups with single endpoints. You can use
this to test your reexes or practice your Darkball skills.
An example solo Darkball setup.

12
GROUP
THERAPY
by Brett Taylor
1+ Players | 6+ Blinks | 5-15 Min.
Congrats! You’re responsible for hosting a Blinks
Dinner Party. We’ve taken care of the catering-- we
just need you to handle the Blinks. Can you keep
the extroverts clustered together, and the introverts
separate from the group?
PRE-SETUP:
Take a deep breath. Everything is OK.
SETUP:
Group Therapy has no setup - all pieces are always
actively playing the game. You simply need to decide
when to start participating.
GAMEPLAY:
Each round starts when the Blinks display a shimmery
white, purple, and pink pattern - when they do, cluster
‘em together and get ready.
A cluster of Blinks getting ready to begin the game
Then all of a sudden… boom! They’ll reveal their
personalities, and you have around 4 seconds to
rearrange them.

13
Pink Blinks, the Extroverts, must connect to at least
one neighbor
Happy and unhappy Extroverts
Purple Blinks, the Introverts, must have no neighbors
Happy and unhappy Introverts
And that’s how you host a good dinner party! Keep
those extroverts clustered together, and introverts
separated.
At the end of each dinner party, happy Blinks will spiral
white, and unhappy Blinks will ash red. Keep those
Blinks happy! You’re a party-planning natural.
A completed dinner party with results
WIN CONDITION:
There’s no end game. Play until you feel your worries
have melted away.
MULTIPLAYER:
Add more Blinks and play cooperatively with a friend!
We HIGHLY recommend playing this game with others!

14
HEIST
by Keir Williams
2-4 Players | 8+ Blinks | 10-20 Min.
It’s Cronkinole for crooks! Fling your Blinks at the vault
in an attempt to take the gold!The player who cracks
the wall down gets the gold piece, be careful not to
make the job too easy for the next person… as we
know there’s no honor among thieves. Be the rst to
break the bank and take home the loot.
SETUP:
Blinks begin the game as gold Blinks, which display a
glittering pattern. To begin, give each player a single
gold Blink. Each player then double-clicks their gold
Blink to change it into a Thief. Players can double click
their thief blink to switch between the four team colors
and long press it to change it back to gold
Double-click a Blink to create a thief and choose a color
Alternatively, players can share a single thief Blink,
passing it and changing its color between turns.
Lump together the remaining Blinks and set them in the
center of the table to be the vault. The shimmering gold
in the middle will appear surrounded by dark walls. The
player who most recently visited a bank goes rst.
A cluster of Blinks creating the vault

15
GAMEPLAY:
On each player’s turn, they slide their thief Blink across
the table, and attempt to connect it to the Vault. You
may move around the table to attack the vault from any
angle during your turn.
If your thief successfully connects, the wall will ash
your team color. Disconnect your thief from the vault
and take it back. If you did not connect, simply retrieve
your thief. If you accidentally connect to the vault when
trying to retrieve your thief, you must skip your next
turn. Once you’ve retrieved your thief, your turn ends.
A thief connects to the vault, causing damage to the vault
Each vault Blink has 4 health, and takes 1 damage
each time it is attacked by a thief. When a part of the
vault is at half health or lower, it will begin to crumble
and pulse. When it reaches 0 health, the vault will spin
your team color in celebration. Disconnect the gold
Blink from the vault and hold on to it. If this causes
the vault to break into multiple pieces, attach the
disconnected vault pieces back together.
A thief connects to a weakened wall, causing it to break.
The player then collects that Blink

16
WIN CONDITION:
When the last vault Blink is claimed, the game ends.
The player with the most gold Blinks wins!
A triple-click will reset the game.
VARIANT RULES
Heist can be played with a variety of dierent rulesets.
Multiple players can play on a team by sharing a team
color. In addition, depending on the size and shape of
the play surface, you may choose to restrict the places
from which a player can make their attack.
For more experienced players try this alternate rule:
On a player’s turn, they may keep attempting throws
until they miss OR choose to end their turn. If they
miss a throw, their turn is over and they must skip their
next turn.

17

18
PAINTBRUSH
by Carol Mertz and Mary McKenzie
2-4 Players | 6+ Blinks | 15-30 Min.
Use your Paintbrush to spread your color as much
as possible. Turn the most blank canvases into
Paintbrushes to win!
SETUP:
Each player starts with a Blink—this is your rst
Paintbrush. Then selects a unique Paintbrush color
by single-clicking their Blink. Connect the remaining
Blinks in the center of the play area into a single cluster
- these blinks are now the canvas.
Example arrangement for 2 players
For 2 players, use 6+ Blinks. For 3-4 players use 12+ blinks.
Taking turns, each player places their Paintbrush
anywhere against the shape.
Example paintbrush placement for 2 players
GAMEPLAY:
After the initial paintbrushes have been placed,
players continue taking turns, moving one Blink at
a time to anywhere else on the board, aiming to
create Paintbrushes in their color. A Blink becomes a
Paintbrush when it’s been lled entirely with a single
color.
From left to right: A blue paintbrush, a blank canvas,
and a partially painted canvas.