How to Play Sagrada (2026): Dice Drafting, Windows and Scoring

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How to play Sagrada (2026): Sagrada turns dice into panes of stained glass. Over ten rounds you draft colored dice and fit them into your window, following strict placement rules, while chasing shared and secret goals. It plays one to four people in about 30 to 45 minutes. This guide walks through setup, a full round, the placement rules, tool cards and scoring, based on Floodgate Games’ current rule book.

What is in the Sagrada box

• 90 dice, 18 in each of five colors (red, yellow, green, blue and purple)
• 4 player boards and 12 double-sided window pattern cards
• 12 tool cards and 15 objective cards (public and private)
• A dice bag, a round track that flips to a score track, score markers and 24 favor tokens

Setting up Sagrada

1. Give each player a player board, a matching score marker, two random window pattern cards and one private objective card. Look at your private objective in secret.
2. Choose one of the four patterns on the fronts and backs of your two cards and slide it into your board. Take the number of favor tokens printed in its corner. Harder windows give more tokens.
3. Place the round track in the middle. Deal three tool cards and three public objective cards face up beside it.
4. Put the right number of dice in the bag: 50 dice (10 per color) for two players, 70 (14 per color) for three, all 90 for four.
5. Give the bag to the start player. The rules suggest the person wearing the most colorful clothes.

How a Sagrada round works

The start player draws dice from the bag at random and rolls them: two per player plus one. That is five dice for two players, seven for three and nine for four.

Each player gets two turns per round. Turns go clockwise from the start player, then back counterclockwise, so the start player takes the last turn. On a turn you may take one die from the pool and place it in your window, and you may also use one tool card. If you take a die you cannot legally place, you return it to the pool and your turn ends.

When everyone has taken two turns, the leftover die goes on the round track to mark the round, and the bag passes left to a new start player. After the tenth round, the game ends.

The dice placement rules

• First die: it must go on an edge or corner space of your window.
• Every later die: it must touch a die already placed, either along a side or diagonally.
• Window spaces: a colored space needs a die of that color. A numbered space needs a die showing that value. White spaces take anything.
• The golden rule: a die may never sit side by side, above or below a die of the same color or the same value. Diagonal neighbors may match.

If you notice a broken rule at any point, you must remove dice of your choice until the window is legal again. Those dice leave the game, and the empty spaces cost you points at the end.

Tool cards and favor tokens

Once per turn you may spend favor tokens to use one of the three tool cards. If nobody has used that tool yet, it costs one token. After that it costs two. Tools let you bend the rules: change a die’s value by one, move a die while ignoring its color requirement, or move two dice at once. Save tokens you do not need, because each one left at the end is worth a point.

Scoring a Sagrada window

• Public objectives: score each of the three cards. Row and column goals only count complete rows and columns.
• Private objective: 3 points for each die in your window of your secret color, whatever its value.
• Favor tokens: 1 point for each unspent token.
• Empty spaces: lose 1 point for each open space in your window.

The highest score wins. Ties go to the player with more private objective points, then more favor tokens left, then the player who went last in the final round.

Older copies: the original 2017 rule book scores the private objective as the total of the pips on dice of your color, rather than 3 points per die. Check the private objective cards in your box and use the matching rule.

Playing Sagrada solo

In the solo game you try to beat the Old Master. Set up as for two players, but choose one to five tool cards depending on how hard you want it. Each round you roll four dice and take two turns. You can pay for a tool with favor tokens or by spending a die of the color shown on the card. At the end, the Old Master scores the total of all dice on the round track, and you lose 3 points for each empty space instead of 1.

Sagrada tips for your first game

• Pick a window with a difficulty you can manage. Extra favor tokens help, but a hard pattern can leave gaps.
• Fill the spaces next to colored and numbered squares carefully. A green die beside a green space blocks that space for good.
• Watch your private color. Each die of that color is worth 3 points, so a full column of it adds up fast.
• Use tools late if you can. They are most helpful when your window is crowded and options are scarce.

Enjoy dice puzzles? See our best dice games and best tile-laying board games.

Sagrada rules questions

How many rounds are in Sagrada?

Ten. Each player places up to two dice per round, so a perfect window holds 20 dice.

Can two dice of the same color touch diagonally in Sagrada?

Yes. The golden rule only forbids matching colors or values side by side, above or below.

What happens if I cannot place a die in Sagrada?

Return it to the pool and your turn ends. Any space left empty at the end costs a point.

Can you play Sagrada with five or six players?

Not with the base box, which supports one to four. Floodgate sells an expansion for more players.