Karnak Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Set-Up
• Taking Your Turn
  • Main Actions
• Revealing + Favor
  • Example
• Favor Cards
• Bonus Actions
• Scoring

Overview

Karnak is a building game where players compete to impress Pharaoh by placing pieces together on a shared mat. If you complete design cards as written, you will be rewarded points, but be careful that your work is not undone by game's end.

Use earned Favor to gain extra actions and Priests to 'freeze' your buildings in place. Anything not complete at the finish will not count, and Pharaoh will be displeased.

Count up complete Designs and unused Favor cards for your score. The player with the highest score wins!

Components

1. 46 Design cards
2. 30 Favor cards
3. 4 Rules cards
4. 60 Temple pieces (7 yellow + 5 white per shape)
5. 15 Priest tokens
6. 1 Playmat

The playmat has a Design card area and a Favor card area (numbered areas on the mat diagram).

When reading the mat, water counts as the game logo, fish, and zig-zag markings. The ends of the horizontal mat line counts as part of the horizontal mat line. There are also mat circles and a dotted mat line. The boat and reeds are (at this time) decorative.

Set-Up

1. Place the game mat in the center of the play area within easy reach.
2. Shuffle the Design cards and place them face-down near the mat.
3. Shuffle and create a deck of twenty-five random Favor cards to place near the mat face-down. Return the rest to the box.
4. Give each player two Priest tokens and a Rules card. If playing with younger players, consider giving them an extra Priest token to give a bit more help.
5. Determine the first player as you desire.
6. The first player draws five Design cards as a private hand they can see. The next player draws four, and so on.
7. Place all remaining tokens within easy reach as a general supply.

Taking Your Turn

On your turn, you will complete one main action, take any number of bonus actions, and then decide if you will reveal complete designs (if you did not draw).

Main Actions

PLACE :: You may select any two yellow pieces from the general supply and place them anywhere on the mat, including on top of or touching other pieces. If a Priest is touching a group of pieces (a structure), you cannot place a piece touching those pieces - the structure cannot be changed. Priests are not pieces.

Structures are two or more pieces touching each other continuously. A single piece cannot be a structure. Priests do not count as part of a structure.

MOVE :: You may remove a yellow piece from the mat and place a white piece of the same shape on the mat instead, even in the same location. The yellow piece returns to the general supply.

Note that a frozen piece cannot be moved. A piece is frozen if it is white, has a piece placed on top of it, or if it is touching a Priest or part of a structure touching a Priest.

Examples (illustrated):

• A yellow piece can be moved and placed.
• A white piece can't be moved or placed.
• A structure: a statue can be moved, but a cube is frozen because it is under something and cannot be moved until uncovered.
• A frozen structure: the Priest freezes all pieces, and no further pieces can be added.

DRAW :: You may draw three new Design cards to your hand. This immediately ends your turn (you may not reveal or do more bonus actions after drawing; this does not apply to the 'Draw 1 Design' Favor card).

If you have more than five Design cards in your hand at the end of your turn, you must discard them until you have five or less. There is no limit on Favor cards. You may discard new or old designs.

Any piece placed by any player counts towards your Designs. You can take advantage of and add to other structures, as long as there is no Priest freezing them in place!

Designs are flexible. Completing them means following what is written, but you don't have to exactly match the picture.

Revealing + Favor

If you placed or moved as your action, and you have finished playing any bonus actions, you may show any complete Design cards from your hand face-up (reveal). Then draw a Favor card for each one revealed and your turn immediately ends. Revealed cards no longer count as part of your hand, and are public information. You can have unlimited revealed cards.

Example

Rune uses a Favor card (bonus action) to gain an extra Design, which does not end their turn. They choose to place two yellow pieces (main action), a rod on a structure to make it touch the water, and a cube on top of two already-placed cubes. They place a Priest (bonus action) on the structure by the water, protecting it. They then reveal one of their Design cards that requires structures touching water, and draw a favor card. They have four Design cards left, so they don't discard any.

Discarded design cards return to the bottom of the Design deck. Used Favor cards are removed from play.

Favor Cards

Each Favor card is one of the following:

• Place a Triangle (yellow or white)

• Place a Statue (yellow or white)

• Place a Disk (yellow or white)

• Place a Rod (yellow or white)

• Place a Cube (yellow or white)

  Place a yellow or white piece (if available) according to normal placement rules. This is the only way to directly place white pieces.

• Gain a Design (you may discard it): Draw a Design card to your hand (this does not end your turn).

• Move a Piece (turning yellow to white): Move an unfrozen piece (it is replaced with a white piece).

• Gain a Priest: Gain a Priest token for yourself (it doesn't have to be used immediately).

If a piece type runs out in the supply, the action or bonus action cannot be chosen if that piece is needed.

Bonus Actions

There are two possible bonus actions: You may place Priests you have, and/or use Favor cards. You may do either of these actions multiple times if you have multiple Priests/cards to play, and do so before your main action (or after, if you didn't take the draw action).

PRIEST :: Place a Priest token you have so that it is touching exactly one piece on the mat. That structure (or individual piece) is frozen and cannot be moved. It also cannot be modified; new pieces/priests cannot touch that structure.

FAVOR :: Discard the Favor card you have from play and complete its effect immediately.

You can have any number of Favor cards, and they are kept secret until used. Note that unused Favor cards are worth one point each!

Scoring

Once a player has picked up the last Favor card, the game immediately ends.

Players then check all their cards (in hand and revealed). They score points for complete cards only. Unused Favor cards are worth one point each. Break ties with the most complete Designs, then leftover Favor.

Points are only scored at the end of the game. This means that, even if you completed a card, it may no longer be complete later on. Note that unless a card says exact/same/only, the pieces can touch other pieces and be part of other structures, or there can be extra in play.

Example Design card (Kiosk, 5 points): A structure includes exactly three cubes.