
- BGG rank
- BGG #6,238
- BGG rating
- 6.6
Icehouse
- 3–5 players
- 20 min
- Complexity 2.6/5
- 1989

Rules assistance for 3House
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
3House is an expansion for Treehouse released in 2007 for 2–4 players and 60 minutes per game. It was designed by Andrew Looney and John Cooper and its main mechanics are Set Collection, Area Majority / Influence, and Secret Unit Deployment.
From the makers of Icehouse comes a new collection of games designed for their hit game Treehouse! 3House contains three games that can be played using three copies of Treehouse. Black Ice: You need a three-digit password to hack into the computer system, but the Intrusion Countermeasure System (ICE) is waiting to get you if you have the wrong code! Martian Chess: Using your pieces in a corner of the board, position your pieces to attack and capture pieces from other players. Lose all your pieces and it's game over! Binary Homeworlds: In this two-player adaptation of the popular Homeworlds game, your pieces become a space fleet trying to control your sector of space. Build new ships, explore the galaxy, and attack your opponents! Protect your home world at all costs or it's game over!
3House supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for 3House is 60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
3House has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
3House belongs to these categories: Abstract Strategy and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Set Collection, Area Majority / Influence, and Secret Unit Deployment. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of 3House are: Andrew Looney and John Cooper. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists 3House as an expansion for Treehouse. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Treehouse to use it. Check that your edition of Treehouse is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.