Egizia
Egizia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Contents
- Setup
- Game Overview
- The Playing of a Round
- Stone Market and Grain Market
- Game End
- Final Scoring
- Rule Changes for 2 or 3 Players
- Description of the Round Spaces
- Description of the Nile Cards
- Description of the Sphinx Cards Used During the Final Scoring
- Credits
Contents
- 1 large game board
- 4 player tableaus
- 32 ships in 4 colors
- 96 stones in 4 colors
- 16 construction crew tiles in 4 colors
- 4 quarry start cards
- 4 grain start cards
- 56 Nile cards (22x1/2, 22x3/4, 12x5)
- 29 Sphinx cards
- 20 grave tiles
- 4 player sequence number tiles 1, 2, 3, 4
- 1 water ring
- 4 Scarab tiles
Setup
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Place the game board in the middle of the table.
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The players use 1 player sequence number tile for each player in the game. They shuffle these tiles secretly and each takes one and places it in his play area. With fewer then 4 players, the players return unused tiles back to the box.
Example: a blue tile numbered 1, a green tile numbered 2, a red tile numbered 3, and a yellow tile numbered 4.
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Each player takes 1 player tableau in the color of his choice and places it near him on the table (this is his play area). Each player takes the 4 construction crew tiles in his color and places them on his player tableau. He places the Joker tile on space 2 of the lower row and the other 3 tiles on space 1 of the upper row.
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Each player takes 8 ships in his color and places them in his play area.
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Each player places 24 stones in his color in his play area. From these 24 stones, he uses 4 as follows:
- He places 1 stone on the scoring track. The player with player sequence tile 1 places his on the last place and so on.
- He places 1 stone on the top-most space of the stone market,
- another on the top-most space of the grain market. With both, the sequence does not play a role.
- Each player puts the fourth stone as the stone marker on the stone table of his player tableau as shown below.
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Each player takes 1 quarry start card and 1 grain start card, which he places face-up beside his player tableau. With fewer than 4 players, place the unused start cards back in the box.
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Shuffle the sphinx cards and place them face-down as a supply on the space on the game board. Each player draws one, looks at it, and places it face-down in his play area. Separately shuffle the 3 sets of cards with the numbers of 1/2, 3/4, and 5 on their backs and place them face-down next to the game board.
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Place the water ring on the middle of the 3 irrigation spaces of the game board.
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Shuffle the 20 grave tiles face-down and distribute them on the 12 grave spaces. Return the remaining 8 face-down back into the box. Turn over the first 4 grave tiles.
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Place the 4 Scarab tiles next to the game board. Whenever a player moves his scoring marker past 50, he takes one as a reminder.
Game Overview
Egizia lasts for 5 rounds. In each round, the players can increase the strength of their construction crews, add new quarries or fields, take Nile and sphinx cards, and cooperate in the building of king's graves, obelisks, pyramids, and temples. The goal is to collect points. Players can earn points immediately for building and points at the end of the game from the sphinx cards.
In each round, the players pass through 7 phases, then the next round begins. The details on how the individual phases are played is described in the following.
The Playing of a Round
- lay out Nile cards
- place ships along the Nile
- feed construction crews
- produce stones
- build
- bonus for co-operation in building
- determine player sequence for the next round
1. Lay Out Nile Cards
At the beginning of each round, the players draw 10 Nile cards from the supply and place them face-up on the 10 card spaces on the game board next to the Nile, beginning at the source.
In rounds 1 and 2, players draw from the 1/2 supply, in rounds 3 and 4, they draw from the 3/4 supply, and in round 5, they draw from the 5 supply.
At the end of rounds 2, 4, and 5, players return unused cards from the just-completed supply back into the box.
2. Place Ships Along the Nile
The player with the number 1 begins and places one of his ships on the Nile space of his choice. Next, the player with the number 2, then the player with the number 3, and finally, the player with the number 4. Then, placing continues again with the player with the number 1 placing his second ship, and so on. Only 1 ship may float on each space.
The important rule: a player must always place his new ship further down-river from his already-placed ships.
A player can place his ship on the following 3 types of spaces:
a. A space with a Nile card: the player first takes the Nile card and then places one of his ships on the now-empty space where the card was. Afterwards, he executes the action on the card or places it in his play area (see the Description of the Nile Cards section).
b. Round space: The player places one of his ships on a round space next to the Nile. Then he executes the action designated by the space (see the Description of the Round Spaces section).
c. Building space: the player places one of his ships on an empty building space of his choice. A player may only place 1 ship at each site: the sphinx, the obelisk/graves, and the temples/pyramid. If none of the 3 spaces at a site is empty, the player may place his ship next to one of the spaces and speculate that in phase 5 at least one of the other players there will not or cannot build there.
If no player can or wants to place another ship, the phase ends and the players take back their ships into their play areas, with exception of the ships in building sites. These remain on the game board for now.
3. Feed Construction Crews
Beginning with the player whose stone is in front on the scoring track, each player checks to see if he can feed his construction crews. To do so, he compares the strength of his construction crews with how much grain he has (grain start card + grain spaces + Nile cards). If the player has at least as much grain as the strength of his construction crews, nothing occurs. If the player has less grain, then he must lose points on the scoring track. His score may go below zero. The number of points he must lose depends on where his stone is on the grain market. (Between 1-3 spaces per not nourished construction crew member, see example below).
To better understand feeding, here are some examples which show how the water ring comes into play. Its location determines which grain fields are watered and, thus, how much grain is available to feed the crews:
- Water ring on the left: Only the green fields supply grain.
- Water ring in the center: Only the green and the yellowish green fields supply grain.
- Water ring on the right: All grain fields supply grain.
Example:
The 4 blue construction crews have strengths of 1, 2, 3, 3, for a total strength of 9. Blue's grain fields are a green field showing 6 and a brown field showing 5. The water ring is on the right, so all green and yellowish green fields are watered and supply grain.
Blue has 2 grain fields which are both watered in this round, and from them has enough grain to supply crews with strength up to 11. Thus, blue can feed his construction crews.
The 4 red construction crews have strengths of 2, 2, 2, 4, for a total of 10. Red's grain fields are a green field showing 6 and a brown field showing 2. The water ring is on the left, so only the green fields are watered and able to supply grain.
Red's two grain fields are watered and together can feed construction crews up to strength of 8. Red has an anytime grain surplus card, which he discards adding 4 grain, giving him a total of 12, which is more than enough to feed his crews with a strength of 10. The 2 surplus grain is wasted and cannot be carried over to another round, however. Had red not had or chosen not to use the surplus grain card, the he would have moved backward on the scoring track (see next example).
The 4 green construction crews have strengths of 3, 3, 4, 4, for a total of 14. Green's grain fields are a green field showing 6, a brown field showing 6, and an unwatered field showing 7. The water ring is in the center.
Because of the position of the Water ring, green can only use the upper two grain fields. They feed construction crews up to a total strength of 12, thus he is missing 2 grain.
The green marker stone on the grain market indicates that green must lose 2 points for each grain he is short for feeding his crews.
Thus, green loses 4 points, moving his marker on the scoring track backward 4 spaces, placing his stone behind the red stone on the space he reaches (in this case, space 14).
4. Produce Stones
Beginning with the player with number 1, each player must move his stone marker on his player tableau forward by the number of stones he receives from his quarries. If he would have more than 25 stones, the surplus is wasted.
Example: red has 1 stone at the beginning of the 4th phase. He has 2 quarries, which together supply 5 stones each round. He moves his marking stone forward to space 6.
5. Build
Now the players build at the 3 building sites from top to bottom: first the sphinx, then the obelisk/graves, finally the temple/pyramid.
General rules for building:
- Building means the player places stones of his color on empty spaces of the obelisk, the pyramid, and the temple. It also means that the players draw cards from the sphinx supply or take grave tiles.
- The player needs 1 construction crew and 1 or more stones for each building site.
- The player must reduce exactly the same number of stones on his tableau as he draws sphinx cards. With adding stones to building and taking grave tiles, it is the value of the space or the tile that determines the number of stones used.
- The player can use each construction crew in each round only once.
- After using a construction crew he turns over the tile and turns it back at the beginning of the next round (thus, construction crews are used, but not consumed).
- The player can never use the Joker construction crew alone. He can use it once per round with another construction crew and then must, likewise, turn it over.
- If a player does not build, he takes his ship back from the building site (into his play area), thereby freeing up the space in the building site for a player who has his ship at this building site "on speculation".
A. Sphinx - Take Cards: Keep 1 Card and Score Points for Cards Returned
- The player whose ship is closest to the Nile begins:
- He selects 1 construction crew plus, possibly, his Joker construction crew.
- He draws a number of sphinx cards up to the strength of his construction crew, but, at most, 5 cards.
- He selects 1 card and places it face-down in his play area. He places the remaining cards face-down under the sphinx card supply. He may also choose to keep no card.
- For each card he returns, he immediately scores one point, recording it on the scoring track.
- He reduces the number of stones on his tableau by the number of cards he drew and turns over the used crew(s).
- All sphinx cards count only during the final scoring.
- Then, the next player (next closest to the Nile) takes his turn.
Example: Blue uses his construction crew with strength 2. He draws the two top-most sphinx cards, selects 1 and places it face-down in his play area. He places the other one face-down under the sphinx and scores 1 point, recording it on the scoring track. Then he turns over the used construction crew and reduces his stones by 2.
B. Obelisk and Graves - Score Points and Improve Grain or Stone Markets
- The player whose ship is closest to the Nile begins:
- He selects 1 construction crew plus, possibly, his Joker construction crew with sufficient total strength for his building project. The strength of the construction crew must be at least as large as the value of the spaces which he wants to build.
- He places 1 or more stones on the obelisk and/or takes 1 or more grave tiles (and places stone(s) on the empty spaces left by the tiles he took).
- He turns over the used crew(s) and reduces the number of stones on his tableau by those he used.
- He records his points on the scoring track and moves one of his marking stones on either the stone market or the grain market 1 field downward.
- Then, the next player (next closest to the Nile) takes his turn.
Example: The two obelisk spaces have the values 1 and 2, the grave tile has the value 4, giving a total value of 7. Red uses his strength 5 construction crew and his strength 2 Joker construction crew. He records 7 points on the scoring track, reduces his stones by 7 on his tableau, and turns over the two construction crews. (Red places 2 stones on the obelisk and takes the value 4 grave tile.)
General rules:
When building the Obelisk, the players must build stones from bottom to top (all lower numbers must be filled, before a next higher space can be built).
At the Graves, a player must take the first face-up tile, then the second, etc. He may not skip a tile. When a player takes a grave tile, he turns over the next face-down tile so that there are always 4 face-up grave tiles (until all 12 are turned up).
C. Pyramid and Temple - Score Points
- The player whose ship is closest to the Nile begins:
- He selects 1 construction crew plus, possibly, his Joker construction crew with sufficient total strength for his building project.
- He places 1 or more stones on the pyramid and/or the temple.
- He turns over the used crew(s) and reduces the number of stones on his tableau by those he used.
- He records his points on the scoring track.
- When a player completes a row of the pyramid, the player who built the most scores bonus points (see example below).
- Then, the next player (next closest to the Nile) takes his turn.
Example: Yellow uses his strength 3 construction crew. He builds a value 2 space of the pyramid, as he has only 2 stones available. He scores 2 points and records them on the scoring track, reduces his stones to 0 on his tableau, and turns over the construction crew he used.
General rules:
When building the temple, the players must build stones from bottom to top. The two columns on the left and on the right are built separately (all lower numbers must be filled, before a next higher space can be built). When the columns on both the left and right are built, then the two middle columns are built, each requires a single stone, and, finally, the stones can be built on the top.
With the pyramid, the players build as follows: the 1st stone in each row must be built on the left, then without gaps players build the row to the right. As soon as a row is completed, the player who has most stones in the row scores 1 point for each stone he has in the row. If there is a tie, the tied player who has a stone furthest left in the row scores the point(s).
Note: a player can build a space supported from directly below, even though there are empty spaces in the row below.
Example: In one row, yellow scores 2 points and green scores 2 points for the bonus points of a completed row.
6. Bonus for Co-operation in Building
Each player scores bonus points for participating in the building. A player is considered to have participated if he used at least one stone from his tableau in order to take cards or tiles or build the buildings. Each player counts how many ships he has on the 3 building sites (not still speculating). Beginning with the player whose scoring stone is in front, the players score points according to the following table by moving their scoring stones on the scoring track.
| Ships | Points |
|---|---|
| 1 ship | 1 point |
| 2 ships | 3 points |
| 3 ships | 6 points |
Afterwards the players take back their ships into their play areas.
General rules for scoring points:
When scoring bonus points and for the final scoring, scoring always begins with the player who is the furthest along the scoring track. Then follows the next player along the track and so on.
When scoring points for building, the player scores the points as he builds.
Example: Red builds and gets 5 points. He moves 5 spaces on the scoring track. Then blue builds and gets 3 points. She moves 3 spaces to the same space where red is. She places her stone behind red. The order on the scoring track determines the player sequence for the next round.
7. Determine the Player Sequence for the Next Round
The player who has the fewest points on the scoring track takes the player sequence tile 1, the player with the next lowest points takes the player sequence tile 2 and so on. If several players are on the same space, then the player furthest back in the space takes the smaller numbered player sequence tile, as he arrived at the space later.
Afterwards, the next round begins with the laying out of the Nile cards.
Stone Market and Grain Market
Stone market: on the upper spaces of the stone market nothing occurs.
When a player moves his marker, in the course of the game, to the lowest space, he adds 3 stones to his tableau. Each time that a marker is already on the lowest space and would be moved further downward, the marker remains there and the player adds 3 stones to his tableau. A player whose stone is on the last space pays 1 victory point per unfed crew member in phase 3.
Example: Red's marker is on the lowest space. Red plays the card shown which would normally have red move the marker down 2 spaces. As there are no spaces to move to, he leaves it there and adds 6 stones (2x3) to his tableau, moving his stone marker forward 6 spaces on his stone table. The same is true on the grain market.
At game end, any player with his marker on the bottom or second to the bottom space of the stone market may convert his remaining stones into points at the rate of 2 stones for 1 point.
Grain market: here is where the players see how many points they lose when they cannot completely feed their construction crews. The points lost is reduced as the players move their marking stones downward. When a player arrives at the lowest space, he immediately scores 2 points.
Each time that a marker is already on the lowest space and would be moved further downward, the marker remains there and the player scores 2 points.
Game End
The game ends after the 5th round. The final scoring follows including defining the player sequence.
Final Scoring
Player 4 begins and executes the following 3 steps. Then player 3 does the same, and so on.
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If the player's marker is on one of the bottom two spaces of the stone market, he may sell his remaining stones. For each 2 stones he sells, he scores 1 point (rounded down).
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The player sums the values of his grave tiles and scores points according to the following table:
Value of the grave tiles Points 1-10 2 11-20 5 21 or more 9 -
The player checks his sphinx cards to see which have conditions he has fulfilled and scores those points accordingly. For complete descriptions of the sphinx cards, see the Description of the Sphinx Cards Used During the Final Scoring section.
The player with the most points is the winner. If players are tied, the player whose stone is in front on that space of the scoring track is the winner.
Rule Changes for 2 or 3 Players
With 2 or 3 players only use 2 spaces at each building site. To make this clear, cover the 3rd building space with a stone of an unused color.
Description of the Round Spaces
Edfu: the player who places his ship here must move his marker on both the stone market and the grain market down 1 space.
Thebae: the player who places his ship here must move both shown construction crews 1 space each to the right on his tableau.
Passalon: the player who places his ship here must move his Joker construction crew to the right 1 space on his tableau. Additionally, he may move the water ring 1 space to the left or the right. However, the water ring must always be on one of the 3 round fields on the board.
Selinon: the player who places his ship here must move both construction crew tiles shown 1 space to the right on his tableau.
Beni Hasan: the player who places his ship here must move both construction crew tiles shown 1 space to the right on his tableau.
Alyi: the player who places his ship here must move one of his 4 construction crews (of his choice) 1 space to the right on his tableau. Then he adds 2 stones to his stone marker on his player tableau.
Heliopolis: this works exactly as with Passalon. This Nile card may not be used here: "Permanent - Once per round - You can place a ship on an occupied round space."
Description of the Nile Cards
There are 3 different types of Nile cards. Depending upon type, they are used in different phases:
- anytime: The player may use this card at any time on one of his turns. Afterwards, he returns it to the box.
- permanent: These cards are valid for the entire game and are placed face-up in the player's play area. Grain fields and quarries are also permanent cards.
- immediately: The player must use this card immediately and completely. Afterwards, he returns it to the box.
Green grain field: is always watered and will always feed the player's construction crews.
Yellow-green grain field: will feed the player's construction crews only if the water ring is in the center or on the right.
Brown grain field: will feed the player's construction crews only if the water ring is completely on the right.
- 6+7: additionally, immediately, and only once: the player moves his marker on the stone or grain market 1 space downward.
- 8: additionally, immediately, and only once: the player scores 3 points.
- 9: additionally, immediately, and only once: player adds 4 stones to the stone marker on his player tableau.
Quarry: this gives the player extra stones in each round. With this quarry, there are 2 more.
The following are anytime, permanent, and immediately Nile cards and their effects:
- "Any time - You can place two ships at one time in one turn." Before the next player takes his turn, the player may place a second ship.
- "Any time - Build once using an additional construction crew that was not yet used." The player may use 2 yet unused construction crews plus possibly his Joker construction crew.
- "Any time" (3 stones icon): The player adds 6 stones to his stone marker on the player tableau.
- "Any time - You can keep up to 2 cards" (from the sphinx): The player may keep 2 cards from the sphinx.
- "Any time" (4 grain sheaves): The player can use the card as 4 grain when feeding his crews.
- "Any time - You can double the benefit of one round space" (marked X2): Example: the player must move both construction crews shown to the right 2 spaces (Thebae); or the player must move his Joker construction crew to the right 2 spaces and he can move the water ring up to 2 spaces (Passalon).
- "Any time" (marked with a "3" and construction crew figures): The player can add 3 strength to a construction crew, which he uses.
- "Any time - You can place a ship on a full building site": Red can build when speculating.
- "Permanent - Draw +2 cards": The player may draw 2 additional sphinx cards (maximum still 5). He pays no stones for the additional cards. He may draw just 2 cards and use 0 stones. This can only be used if the player has a ship on a building space of the sphinx.
- "Permanent - At the end of each round take one of the remaining cards": The player may take one of the cards remaining on the Nile at the end of each round.
- "Permanent - Whenever needed for feeding a crew" (stone to grain): Each round, the player can spend 2 stones from his tableau to move one of his construction crew to the right 1 space on his tableau. He can even do this after the feeding phase.
- "Permanent - Once per round - You can place a ship upstream": Once per round, a player may place a ship upstream (closer to the Nile source), than his last ship. Afterwards, the normal rules apply.
- "Permanent" (stone to grain arrow): The player may exchange stones for grain at the rate of 1:1 in order to feed his construction crews (he reduces stones accordingly).
- "Any time - You can build first wherever you have a ship": On each building site where the player has a ship, he builds first. If he has a speculative ship, all players may build. Keep the card in play area until all builds are done.
- "During final scoring, this card counts as" (an 8-value grave tile): The player adds this card during the final scoring to his collected grave tiles.
- "Any time - You can sell up to 10 stones": The player can sell stones for 1 point per stone up to 10. He does not have to fulfill the usual stone sales condition.
- "Immediately" (marked with a "2" and downward arrow): The player moves his stone or grain market marker 2 spaces downward.
- Grain field improvement card (allocated to a green, yellow-green, or brown field): The player allocates this card to one of his grain fields and thereby improves its ability to produce by 1 level in all cases for the entire game.
- "Immediately" (two construction crew figures marked "2"): The player moves 2 of his construction crews (his choice) on his tableau 1 space to the right or one of his crews 2 spaces to the right.
- Once per round, place a ship on an occupied round space: Once per round, the player may place one of his ships on a round space that already has a ship (even his own). He may not place a ship on the last gray bordered space.
- "Immediately" (two figures with weapons): The player must move the two shown construction crews on his tableau 1 space each to the right.
- Take a construction crew (once per round): Each round, the player may move one of his construction crews (his choice) one space to the right (even after the feeding phase).
- "Immediately - For each of your stones there" (pyramid/temple icon): The player receives 1 point for each stone in the shown buildings.
Description of the Sphinx Cards Used During the Final Scoring
The players collect the sphinx cards face-down and try to fulfill as much as possible before game end.
With these cards, the condition on the card must be fulfilled, so that the player can score the points indicated.
...is built (obelisk levels): If the 7th, 8th, 9th level of the obelisk is filled in the obelisk, the player receives the points indicated (7, 9, or 11 points respectively). It is not important whether and how many of the player's own stones are in the obelisk.
...is built (1 column is built / both columns are built / the graves are finished / the pyramid is built completely): If the given conditions are fulfilled, the player receives the points indicated (6, 10, 9, and 8 points respectively). It is unimportant whether and how many of the player's own stones are in the indicated building.
...last level achieved (number of players who reach the last level of the stone market or grain market): The player receives points according to the table on the card.
Example: if at least 3 players reach the bottom space of the stone market, the player receives 7 points.
With these cards the player must fulfill the condition on the card so that he can score the points indicated.
You have at least...:
- The player has at least 4 of his stones in the temple. (worth 6 points)
- The player has at least 6 or 7 of his stones in the pyramid. (worth 6 or 8 points respectively)
- The player has at least 4 or 5 of his stones in the obelisk. (worth 7 or 9 points respectively)
- The player has at least 2 of his stones in each building. (worth 10 points)
- The player receives 1 point for each of his stones on the graves.
You receive for... construction crews:
The player receives points equal to the value shown for each strength level of a chosen construction crew.
Example: the player receives 4 points if this construction crew has a strength 4 at the end of the game.
You receive for most productive quarries and fields...:
- You have the most productive quarries. (worth 7 points)
- You have the most productive fields. (worth 6, 7, or 8 points, depending on the card)
Example: the player has this sphinx card and the two yellowish green fields, which show a total of 11. No other player has more. The player receives 7 points.
You reach the last level...:
- You reach the last level (stone market). (worth 4 points)
- You reach the last level (grain market). (worth 4 points)
- You reach the last level in both. (worth 7 points)
The player must in each case reach the last level. It is unimportant how many other players reach the last level.
Other final-scoring cards:
- "For each permanent card the player has, he scores 2 points" (does not count grain fields or quarries).
- "After the player scores all other points, he scores an additional point for each 10 points he has on the scoring table" (rounded down).
Credits
© 2009 Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
Thanks for playing our game. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions, please write us at [email protected] or at Rio Grande Games, PO Box 1033, Placitas, NM 87043, USA, www.riograndegames.com
For many test rounds and other help, the publisher and author thank Gregor Abraham, Dieter Hornung, Karl-Heinz Schmiel, Hannes Wildner and studiogiochi.
Rule editing: Hanna & Alex Weiß & Jay Tummelson