The Arabian Pots
The Arabian Pots Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Use the sounds of the pots to align pots of the same sound into a row.
A row is any column, row, or diagonal line that has 3 pots that share the same sound. You can hear the sounds of the pots by shaking them. There are a total of 9 pots, with 3 groups of 3 pots each that sound the same. There is also a soundless pot, used in the advanced rules.
The key to win this game is having good memory and strategy skills.
Set Up
Remove the soundless pot from the game. Place the remaining 9 pots on each of the 9 spaces on the board.
Decide the first player in any suitable fashion. During their turn, players can replace pots three times. This is done while the players turn their back to the board.
After the first player finishes his turn, the turn passes clockwise to the next player. When all players finish replacing the pots, the game starts.
How to Play
During their turn, players choose one of the following actions:
A) RING A POT
Select a pot and shake it. All the players listen to this sound.
-- or --
B) REPLACE TWO POTS
Replace two pots that are adjacent to each other in a vertical or horizontal line. Players cannot replace diagonal pots.
Move the pots carefully so that the pots make no sound.
After any of these two actions, if the player thinks that a row of pots are pots of same sound, the player, in his turn, can declare "COMPLETE!".
Shake the three pots to confirm all pots are same kind of the sound.
If the three pots do have the same sound, then the player wins and the game ends. However, if they are not of the same sound, it counts as a failure, and the player skips their next turn.
Advanced Rule
You play the advanced rule with the soundless pot.
At the start of the set up phase, the first player removes one regular pot from the board, and adds the soundless pot on the board in its place, while the rest of the players turn their back at the board. Shuffle the pots as explained in the set up phase.
If you shake the soundless pot, two things happen.
The player must replace it with an adjacent pot, in accordance with the "REPLACE TWO POTS" action.
The other players turn their back to the board during this action.
Blind People
The blind can play this game, and it is why there are numbers in the spaces where the pots are. State the number clearly enough before shaking or replacing a pot. For example, "I am going to ring pot number 1" or "I am replacing pots 3 and 6". The numbers start from "1" in the upper left part of the board, and end at the bottom right. A cut on the board designates the bottom part of the board.
The best thing about board games is their ability to connect people beyond countries and any handicaps. We are happy that our game can create opportunities of communication and fun with all kinds of people.