My Island

Yes — your first tile must cover at least one beach space on your board (page 3). For the Eternal Game variant the same rule applies (page 6).

In Episode 1 you may place tiles only on beach or heather (heath) spaces; palm and rainforest spaces are not allowed until later episodes (page 3). The chapter overview/example also reiterates that Episode 1 is limited to beach and heather (page 5).

Passing means you place the tile face-down in front of you and immediately move your scoring token back one step (lose 1 point); ending participation is announced and does not cost points (page 3). If your token is at 0 you may not pass and must end participation if you cannot place the tile (page 3).

When you place a tile that creates a group of five or more matching symbols (fields, houses, or walls) you immediately score +3 points and place the corresponding cube to mark it as scored (page 7). If the group is later enlarged or previously scored groups join, you do not score it again and no points are removed (page 7).

A road must be a continuous chain of adjacent path symbols connecting a statue-adjacent path to a path on a beach (the rainforest hex with the statue must remain uncovered), and completing such a road scores +5 points immediately (page 7). Roads need not be straight and a branching road can connect and score more than one statue, but each statue may only be scored once (page 7).

At episode end you lose 1 point for each beach space still visible on your board, and during scoring if your token reaches 55 you immediately color a progress circle and the token remains at 55 (page 4). If your token goes below 0 the negative points carry over and are deducted from your next positive points (page 4); at end of the Eternal Game you also lose 1 point per visible beach and award largest-group bonuses as listed (page 8).