Jade König
Jade König Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set Contents
- 1 game board (the jungle labyrinth)
- 6 game pieces (Spielfiguren)
- 18 question chips (Fragechips)
- 30 danger stones (Gefahrsteine): jaguars and snakes
- 6 marker stones (Markiersteine)
- 16 task cards (Aufgabenkarten)
- 8 symbol cards: glass sword, Inca crown, sun amulet, stone bird
- 8 oracle cards (Orakelkarten)
- 2 note pads (Spielblocks)
- 1 rulebook
Setup
The setup is carried out in the following order:
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Shuffle the symbol cards, the oracle cards and the task cards, each card type separately, and place them face down next to the game board.
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Playing pieces: each player receives, in one colour, 1 game piece, 3 small round question chips and 1 marker stone. In addition, depending on the number of players, each player receives danger stones:
- 2 players: 9 danger stones
- 3 players: 8 danger stones
- 4 players: 7 danger stones
- 5 players: 6 danger stones
- 6 players: 5 danger stones
The danger stones are dealt face down to the players, without regard to their embossing (jaguar head or snake).
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The marker stone is placed on position 10 of a movement scale, and the game piece is placed on any circle space in the jungle labyrinth. The oracles with the code letters A–H may not (yet) be occupied.
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The symbol cards are placed face down on the 8 places of the game board and then turned face up.
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Only now does each player receive 1 oracle card and 1 task card, which only he may look at.
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From the remaining oracle cards, the top 3 are turned face up and placed on the card spaces at the head of the game board. With 6 players, only 2 cards lie on the 3 spaces! These are visible to everyone and are not a target in this game cycle.
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In addition, each player needs a sheet from the note pad and a pencil.
Component notes:
- Each oracle card belongs to one oracle.
- Example of a task card (as illustrated in the rulebook): "Throw the stone bird into the Snake Swamps, then place the sun amulet in the Tikal Steppe, and afterwards carry the glass sword to the Ruins of Chimu."
Object of the Game
In the setup each player has received a task card with 3 tasks. This card contains the tasks of the player to his left. A player's own tasks are therefore unknown to him.
Each task requires that a symbol, shown on the symbol cards, be brought to one of the 8 places. The players try to reach with their game pieces the oracle that is depicted on their oracle cards. Only there do they receive information about their tasks. Speed is essential, because the oracle answers only once per game cycle, and only the player who reaches his oracle first.
Whoever first knows which 3 symbols must be brought to which 3 places has won the game.
Course of Play
The players decide among themselves who begins. Play then proceeds clockwise. When a player is on turn, he may alternatively carry out the following moves or actions:
- move his game piece in any direction;
- move his game piece onto his oracle and consult it;
- exchange one question chip for 10 moves;
- do nothing at all, as there is no compulsion to move.
If the piece is to be moved, this intention is announced. The distance and destination of the move are not named. A move must now be carried out.
The pieces move along the connecting lines 1, 2 or 3 spaces. Whether a move goes over 1, 2 or 3 spaces, each of which may be entered only once within that move, is up to the player.
Oracles count as normal move spaces. One may not move onto another player's oracle, but one may move over it.
Only 1 game piece may stand on each space. Pieces may jump over each other.
The Movement Scale
Regardless of the distance moved, the marker stone is moved down one position on the movement scale after each move. The game begins on position 10. The position of the marker stone thus shows how many moves an expedition still has available. If an expedition has reached 0, question chips must be surrendered (see Inability to Move below).
Danger Stones: Snake and Jaguar
With a danger stone a player can hinder the moves of the other players. A danger stone may be placed only when another player has announced a move, and only one player may do this each time. If several players want to hinder a move, they agree among themselves which of them places the danger stone.
Only 1 danger stone may lie on each space, and the oracles may not be occupied by danger stones.
The danger stone is placed face down on a space that the moving player can reach within the announced move. Now there are two possibilities:
a) The path leads over the danger stone. The player must guess whether the danger is a snake or a jaguar. He names his guess to the others and turns the danger stone over.
- If he guessed correctly, the danger stone is removed from the game entirely, and the player carries out the move as planned. This move costs him nothing; the position of his marker stone remains unchanged.
- If he guessed wrong, he cannot carry out his move. Nevertheless, his marker stone moves down 1 position. The player who placed the danger stone receives it back.
b) The player chooses a path that does not lead over the danger stone. The danger stone remains on the game board. If a player later wants to move over one of these "left-behind" danger stones, he proceeds as described under a). In any case, these danger stones are removed from the game after the guess.
If a game piece is confronted within its move with 2 or 3 danger stones at the same time, the player must guess how many snakes and/or jaguars there are in total. The order in which the danger stones lie in front of the piece is irrelevant.
Even with 2 or 3 danger stones, they are removed from the game or returned as described above. With a wrong guess, however, one loses only 1 position on the movement scale.
If all players have fewer than 2 danger stones, these are dealt out again as at the beginning.
The Oracle
A player has reached his oracle. At that same moment all other oracles fall silent. This last move costs him nothing; on the contrary, his marker stone is moved 2 positions up the movement scale (toward 10).
The player may now exchange up to 6 of the symbol cards lying on the places among one another. After the exchange, each place must again have exactly 1 symbol card lying on it.
He then chooses 3 places and places one of his question chips on each of these 3 places. These 3 places, together with the 3 symbol cards lying on them, form a question to the oracle. The role of the oracle is taken over by the fellow player to his right, since that player holds the task card of the questioner.
The oracle compares the 3 places and the symbols lying on them with its task card, and tells the questioner how many places and how many symbols of the question occur on that task card. In addition, the oracle tells him how many symbols of the question are already on the correct place (matches, Übereinstimmungen).
Which places, symbols and matches are meant is not revealed in the oracle's answer.
If, in a question combination, one symbol lies twice on the marked places, the oracle counts that symbol only once. See also question 1 of the table below.
Answer Table
In a table on the note pad, the players can record their questions and the oracle's answers. The order of the three individual questions is arbitrary.
The example in the table below shows a complete solution path. Already after question 4, clever combining yields the solution, which is stated in question 5 (3 matches).
Translator's note: the example is the handwritten table as printed in the rulebook. Each question column lists three place-and-symbol pairs; the answer row gives places (Orte), symbols (Symbole) and matches (Übereinstimmungen), with "keine" meaning none.
| Pair | Question 1 | Question 2 | Question 3 | Question 4 | Question 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arruak Wälder and stone bird | Flammenlabyrinth and sun amulet | Insel im Wind and sun amulet | Insel im Wind and sun amulet | Eispalast and stone bird |
| 2 | Ruinen von Chimu and Inca crown | Wüste Tiuhan and Inca crown | Eispalast and stone bird | Tikal Steppe and Inca crown | Ruinen von Chimu and sun amulet |
| 3 | Schlangensümpfe and stone bird | Tikal Steppe and stone bird | Arruak Wälder and Inca crown | Ruinen von Chimu and stone bird | Wüste Tiuhan and Inca crown |
| The answers: places | 1 |
Thinking Time (4–6 Players Only)
After the consultation, the player takes back his 3 question chips and his game piece and sits out for thinking time. Without him a new game cycle begins, in which again each player tries to reach his oracle first. The player who sits out tries during this thinking time to interpret his oracle's answer and to decide which combinations of places and symbols he wants to test the next time.
With only 2 or 3 players, the sitting out of a player after the oracle consultation is omitted. Now all players receive a new oracle card. Before that, the player who has ended the cycle must place his piece on a circle space of his choice. The rest of the course of play stays unchanged.
New Game Cycle
All 8 oracle cards are reshuffled, and, except for the player who is sitting out, each player receives a new oracle card. From the remaining oracle cards, the top 3 are turned face up and placed on the spaces between the movement scales.
The game continues with the player who took on the role of the oracle.
When the next game cycle ends, the player who had been sitting out places his piece on any circle space and then, just like the other players, receives a new oracle card. Now the player who last consulted the oracle sits out.
Inability to Move (Zugunfähigkeit)
If a player has reached 0 on the movement scale, he can no longer move his piece with it. He must surrender one of his question chips and may then place his marker stone back on position 10 of his movement scale.
At his next oracle consultation he can now check only 2 place/symbol combinations.
If a player becomes unable to move a second time, he must surrender his second chip as well in order to keep playing. His marker stone again goes to position 10.
If a player is forced to surrender his last chip, he is eliminated from the game.
Hints on Consulting the Oracle
Place/symbol combinations should not be queried at random, but planned and tested purposefully. Exchanging symbol cards helps with this. The game contains only 4 different kinds of symbols in total.
Each task card contains 3 different places and 3 different symbols.
Tips on Moving the Game Piece
Even when, in the current game cycle, it seems hopeless to reach the assigned oracle first, it can make sense to move the game piece. For the next cycle one tries to reach a space from which several oracles can be reached in a few moves.
A player who places a danger stone should look at it first. If the stone remains on the game board and the player has memorized its embossing, this can help him later. If he moves over the danger stone himself, he will guess correctly and therefore lose no position on the movement scale.
End of Game
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When a player has worked out his tasks, at his next oracle consultation he places the combination of places and symbols he suspects. The oracle will answer: "I see 3 places, 3 symbols and 3 matches." As handed down in the legend, the oracle statue transforms into the lost JADE KING. The player has wrested the jungle's secret from it and has thereby won the game.
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A player knows his tasks but has not yet been able to lay the cards correctly. If he sees that, through a fellow player laying the cards in a certain way, his own tasks are fulfilled, he immediately interrupts the game and announces his claim. The oracle checks whether his assertion is correct. If the claim is right, he wins the game. If he has made even one mistake, he is eliminated.