Artifact Stack Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Game Setup
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Take a card from the Temple and place it in your tableau
  • Triggering Bonuses
  • 2. Hire an Assistant
• Round 2
• End Game Scoring
• Artifact Cards Scoring & Explanation
  • Statues
  • Coins
  • Weapons
  • Manuscript
  • Jewelry
  • Relics
  • Curse & Blessing
  • China Set
  • Vampire & Mummy
  • Treasure

Overview

You're an explorer trying to find the most valuable artifacts hidden inside ancient temple ruins and sell them to museums.

Components

• 90 Artifact Cards (10 decks of 9 cards per type)
• 12 Assistant Cards
• 4 Star Cards (worth 3 Victory Points)
• 40 Silver Cards

Game Setup

Choose 6 of the 10 decks of Artifact Cards and place the remaining four back in the box. The cards that have the face-down symbol (a green arrow icon on the card) must be flipped over while the remaining cards are left face-up. Shuffle the decks together.

Build the first layer of the temple by creating a 5 x 3 layer of cards at the bottom (grey cards). The second 4 x 2 layer of cards forms the middle level (green cards) and a 3 x 1 layer forms the top level (orange cards). This gives 26 cards in total, with some face up and others face down.

Display the 12 Assistant cards beside the temple face up. (Return any assistants from decks not in use to the box.)

Give each player 2 Silver. Place the remaining Silver cards in a bank pile next to the temple.

Choose a random player to be the starting player. Play proceeds in clockwise order.

Playing the Game

On your turn you may do 1 of the 2 following actions.

1. Take a card from the Temple and place it in your tableau

You may take any uncovered card from the temple for free. If any portion of a card is under another card(s), you must dig it out to reveal it. When you dig out a card, pay 1 Silver for every card that covers it. If you are unsure whether you want to take a face-down card you may peek under it first in exchange for 1 Silver.

Once you have excavated a card from the temple, place it face up in front of you in your "tableau."

Triggering Bonuses

If you have 2 or 3 of some card types, you may trigger the Bonuses shown on them.

Example: If you take your second Manuscript card you may trigger the Bonus to take another action, or you may wait for a third Manuscript to take 2 actions in a row.

If you triggered a Bonus, flip the cards face-down in your tableau to show the Bonus has been used. Once a card has been flipped, it cannot be counted in future sets NOR can it be stolen. (Note all cards in your tableau score at the end.)

2. Hire an Assistant

Instead of taking a card from the Temple Stack you may choose to pay 1 Silver to take one of the Assistant cards that are on the side of the temple.

Play proceeds until all the cards in the 1st Temple are gone. The first round is then over and players move onto round 2.

Round 2

Build a second Temple with the remaining Artifact cards. (There will be 2 cards remaining which are discarded from the game.) The play will proceed in counter-clockwise order now with the player who was last in the first round becoming the first player. Thus the first player from the previous round becomes the last in round 2.

After the cards in the second temple are depleted, the game ends and players count their score.

End Game Scoring

At the end of the game each player counts the points that are on all the cards they took, points earned from assistants and 1 point per Silver they still have in their possession.

The player (or players if tied) with the most cards that have a star symbol on them scores an extra 3 VP. (Take one 3 VP Star Card.)

The player with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most artifact cards is the winner. If there's still a tie, the player with the most Silver is the winner.

All cards in your tableau (face-up or flipped) score ONLY at the end of the game.

Artifact Cards Scoring & Explanation

All cards in your tableau (face-up or flipped) score ONLY at the end of the game.

Statues

Score each set by the number of Statues in it. (1 Statue = 1 VP, 2 Statues = 3 VP, 3 Statues = 6 VP, etc.)

Coins

Worth 2 VP. Bonus: Collect 2 of this type and trigger bonus to get 1 Silver from the bank or wait to collect 3 and trigger bonus to collect 2 Silver from the bank.

Weapons

Worth 1 VP. Bonus: Collect 2 of this type and trigger bonus to steal any 1 face up card from another player or wait to collect 3 and trigger bonus to steal 2 face-up cards from player(s). (You may take 1 card from one player and 1 card from a different player if you wish.)

Manuscript

Worth 1 VP. Bonus: Collect 2 of this type and trigger a bonus to take one more turn or wait to collect 3 and trigger the bonus to take 2 more turns.

Jewelry

Worth 1 VP. Bonus: Collect 2 of this type and trigger a bonus to take 1 Assistant card or wait to collect 3 and trigger the bonus to take 2 Assistant cards.

Relics

Worth 1 VP. The person with the most Relics gets an additional 3 VP for their final score. The person with the fewest Relics gets -3 VP off their final score. The people in between don't get any bonuses or punishments. (If two or more are tied for the most or the fewest relics, all receive the bonus or punishment E.g. If two people are tied for the most relics they both get +3 VP.)

Curse & Blessing

Worth no points. Immediately take the good or bad action that is written on the card.

China Set

Worth 1 VP alone. Bonus: Anytime during your turn you may lock a set of 2 or 3 cards of the same letter (A, B or C). A set of 2 is worth 4 VP, and a set of 3 is worth 8 VP. You may also collect one of each type A, B and C and lock them to get a set worth 10 VP.

Examples: the printed examples are pictures of card sets with their totals. One shows sets totalling 8 + 1 = 9. The other shows a 10-VP A, B, C set, a 4-VP set of two A cards and a 1-VP B card, totalling 15.

Vampire & Mummy

Monsters are worth -1 VP if they are not contained. Silver Crosses are worth -1 VP and Coffins are worth +2 VP. A Vampire + Silver Cross combo is worth 5 VP. A Mummy + Coffin combo = 5 VP. A Vampire Mummy + Coffin or Silver Cross = 4 VP.

Treasure

Treasures give either the immediate bonuses or the end game points written on them.

Note: Once a card has been flipped over it can no longer be counted in future sets. E.g. You may not trigger and flip 3 Statues for 6 points, then add an additional Statue to the set in order to score 10 points. The additional card can only be scored in a new set.