Noah
Noah Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 board
- 1 Noah token
- 5 score tokens (1 color for each player)
- 55 cards, divided as follows:
- 8 ferries
- 47 animals
Ferry card
- Total maximum weight.
- Animal loading zone.
Animal card
- Weight.
- Gender; blue for males and pink for females.
- Indications of Noah's movement.
- Reminder of effect.
- Penalty points reflecting Noah's sadness at not having been able to save the animal.
Goal of the Game
Be the first to save all of the animals which Noah has placed under your care each round (players who fail at this task get penalty points). A game is played in three rounds. The winner is the player with the fewest penalty points at the end of the game.
Game Setup
- Before the game, choose the animals according to the number of players:
- with 2 or 3 players, remove all animals with the 4+ and 5+ mark;
- with 4 players, remove all animals with the 5+ mark;
- with 5 players, play with all animals.
- Carefully shuffle the animals selected and make a drawing pile with them. The non-selected animals are left in the box.
- Place the board in the middle of the table, and place the score tokens on the 0 space.
- Place 5 ferries around that board and place the Noah token on one of them. The remaining 3 ferries are placed in the center of the board.
- Place an animal, randomly chosen, on the loading zone of each of the 5 starting ferries.
- Then deal 8 animals, randomly drawn, to each player. Any remaining animals will not be used during this round, but will instead be used on later rounds. Place them in a face-down pile next to the board.
The shortest player begins the first round, as they're the most concerned with the rising water — the other players can stand in the water for longer, anyway!
Game Turn
On his or her turn, a player must, in order:
- load a new animal
- move Noah
Load an Animal
The player must choose an animal from their hand and place it on the ferry on which Noah is, while respecting the following two golden rules:
Golden rule number 1: Gender
In a given ferry, there must be:
- EITHER animals from a single gender
- OR a perfect alternating order Male/Female (or Female/Male)
As such, it's always the second card played on a ferry which defines the sequence to be played!
Golden rule number 2: Weight
In a given ferry, the total weight cannot exceed 21 (otherwise, the ferry capsizes).
In the event that it is impossible to follow both rules, the player must take back all animals present on the ferry. Then, the player must start loading animals from scratch on it, starting with the animal of his or her choice (which can be one which has just been added to their hand).
Moving Noah
Once an animal is played, the player must immediately move Noah in order to choose a ferry on which the next animal will have to be loaded (and thus on which the next player will have to play a card):
- on a ferry across to the left or across to the right if a male has just been played,
- on a ferry directly to the left or to the right if a female has just been played.
It's now up to the next player (left-hand player) to place an animal on the ferry on which Noah is, then move Noah, and so on...
Roguish Tips
You've just finished reading the basic rules of the game... but there are also roguish tips to get rid of your animals faster.
Pair = Play Again
If you load an animal of the same race as the last animal played on a ferry, you move Noah THEN play again (it's possible to chain consecutive loadings this way)!
21 = Optimal Loading
If you load an animal and the total sum is exactly 21, the ferry immediately sets off to meet up with the Great Ark (the cards are set aside), and it is replaced by one of the ferries from the center of the board.
Then, give a number of cards to your opponents:
- if it's the 1st departure: one animal,
- if it's the 2nd departure: two animals,
- if it's the 3rd departure: three animals,
- if it's the 4th departure: four animals.
You can split these animals between multiple opponents if you so desire.
Don't forget to move Noah BEFORE removing the ferry!
End of Round & Game
End of Round
A round ends when one of the following two situations occur:
- either a player no longer has any animals in hand,
- or a ferry has just left and there are no longer any to replace it at the center of the board.
Each player who still has animals in their hand will get a score equal to the sum of the penalty points (sad Noah symbols) present on these animals. The token of the player's color is moved on the board's score track a corresponding number of squares.
NOTE: There are generally more penalty point symbols on the animals with a lower weight.
At the end of the round, gather all animals played this round, all animals in players' hands and the remainder of the draw pile. Shuffle these together and go back to Step 4 of Setup. This time, however, the player with the highest score will begin play.
End of Game
A game of Noah is played over three successive rounds. The player with the lowest score after these 3 rounds is declared the winner.
Variant: instead of playing 3 rounds, the players can decide to play until one of them reaches or goes over 26. The player with the lowest score is then declared the winner.
Zoom on Some Animals...
Some animals present some peculiar traits which are good to know and great to exploit.
The Snail: its small mass makes it a highly sought-after animal. Moreover, since the snail is an hermaphrodite, you choose whether it's a male or female when you play it on a ferry. On the example to the left, you can see a male snail, as the blue side is upwards.
The Giraffe: thanks to its long neck, the giraffe is horribly indiscrete. When you play a giraffe, look at the cards of the opponent of your choice (generally you'll choose the opponent to your left).
The Mule: always hard-headed, it refuses to move! When you play a mule, you will not move Noah! The next player will have to play again on this ferry.
The Lion: how can we refuse anything to the king of animals? When you play a lion, draw a card from the hand of the opponent of your choice. Then, give that opponent a card from your hand (you can return the card you have just taken, if you want).
The Woodpecker: this bird has got to be the stupidest animal in all Creation. While its very life is being saved, that idiot cannot help but give in to its vice: drilling holes in the ferry's wooden hull! On that ferry, the total maximum weight goes from 21 to 13! It's thus not possible to load a woodpecker on a ferry whose weight is already over 13. When a woodpecker is present, reaching 13 makes the ferry leave and grants the same advantages as a regular departure.
Credits
- Authors: Bruno Cathala & Ludovic Maublanc
- Artwork: Xavier Collette
- Translation: Eric Harlaux; Revision: Eric Franklin