Neolithibum
Neolithibum Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
- Place the game board in the middle and put the wooden disc on the board.
- Place the three sizes of stones on their designated spaces on the board.
- The handicap cards (numbered 1 to 3) are also placed face down on the board.
- The Stone Age meal tokens and the puzzle pieces of the cave bear skull are put in separate bags.
- Each player receives one Stone Age portrait and a set of 6 Stone Age cards, and takes 5 meal tokens from the bag, which he places face down in front of him on the table.
Course of Play
Each player chooses the desired action from his set of 6 cards. Once every player has chosen a card, these are laid blind on the table. The players then determine in which direction their card points. The players then carry out their action cards one after another.
Stone Carriers (three cards)
There are three Stone Carrier cards, ranging from a small, through a medium, to a large stone. You can only place a stone if you have eaten enough. Depending on the size of the chosen stone you must hand in 1, 2 or 3 meals. If you are unable to hand in the appropriate number of meals, the surplus of the card is lost.
| Stone size | Food | Puzzle pieces |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 1 | 1 |
| Medium | 2 | 2 |
| Large | 3 | 3 |
If you succeed in placing the stone you took in the middle, on the wooden disc (the temple), without another stone falling off (moving is allowed) or an opponent doubting the correctness of the stone's position (see "Law of the Hardest Club"), you receive one or more pieces of the cave bear skull from the bag of pieces or from the bone pit (see below). If only your own stone falls, you may try again to place it.
Know-it-all (one card)
- If a Know-it-all card points at a player who has played a Stone Carrier card, the latter must take a handicap card. With this handicap he must then place his stone on the wooden disc. In exchange, the Know-it-all receives one piece of the cave bear skull.
- If a Know-it-all does not point at a Stone Carrier, this card has no effect.
- If more than one Know-it-all points at a Stone Carrier at the same time, the latter must take 2 handicap cards (one of the 1st category and one of the 2nd) and carry them out simultaneously.
The maximum number of handicap cards to be taken is 3.
Glutton (one card)
If a player plays this card, it entitles him to take 5 meal tokens from the bag, except if the Clubman was also played.
Clubman (one card)
- If this card is played by one player, he receives all the meal tokens of the players who have just played a Glutton card.
- If, however, there is more than one Clubman, they quarrel among themselves and have no influence on the game.
A Few Questions
What if the temple collapses?
The player responsible for the fall of at least one stone must throw two cave bear skull pieces of his choice into the bone pit.
As soon as the temple has collapsed, a new round begins: all stones are removed from the wooden disc and put back on their respective piles, and all players take a new action card. The players who had not yet had their turn are out of luck.
What if no stone is placed in a round?
Since this shows cowardice, all players are punished. They must each hand in one puzzle piece. To escape this, the players may still try to place a stone of their choice (plus the corresponding meal token), but then they no longer receive a puzzle piece for it.
Receiving and Giving Puzzle Pieces
When you may take a puzzle piece, you may choose whether you take it from the bag (unseen) or from the bone pit (visible). The player is obliged to place the piece he receives on his puzzle immediately. If this piece is already there, it is simply put in the bone pit.
Law of the Hardest Club
When a player has placed a stone, an opponent can object because he thinks the stone is not lying properly. The player can then either:
- accept this protest and try to place the stone again, possibly with the applicable handicap(s), or
- say that the stone does lie properly.
A duel follows in which each player secretly takes an amount of food in his hand. The one who has the most food in his hand wins the duel. All food used is set aside.
- If the doubter wins, the player must place his stone again.
- If the Stone Carrier wins, the stone simply stays where it is.
- The winner of such a duel receives one piece of the cave bear puzzle, chosen by the opponent.
- In case of a tie nothing happens and the stone stays in place.
Other players may join in this duel by siding with one of the two parties and contributing a number of meal tokens. In this case the tokens of those on the same side are added together. Regardless of the outcome of the duel, only one of those who initiated the duel can afterwards receive a puzzle piece, not the followers.
End of the Game
The first player to complete his cave bear puzzle wins the game.