Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Easier to teach
High replayability
Low interaction
Scales well
Light strategy
More strategic control
How it plays
How does it play?
Move basin pawns to draft tiles, stack a flowing fountain, and time rewards for pools, lily pads, fish, coins, and height.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Fountains is a take-and-make tile game about building a beautiful, functional water feature in Florimelle. On each turn, a player moves one of three Basin pawns one to three available spaces clockwise and drafts the adjacent tile or bonus token. Tiles can spread outward or stack upward, but new levels must be fully supported and dark-brick edges must connect. More importantly, water flows from jets across channels on the same level or downward—never upward—so careless construction creates dead pools that cannot score. Landing a pawn on its matching color triggers a table-wide reward for lily pads, pools, or a chosen fish color, making the timing of a draft as important as the tile itself. Coins score immediately, while final rewards value flowing features, visible jets, height, sets, and optional public design cards. A solo machine and variable tile supply preserve the puzzle across player counts.