Opale
Opale Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 100 cards
- 1 board
- 1 Stone Dragon pawn
- 10 Seashell tokens
Each card shows the victory points of the card and the number of copies (of that card) needed.
Setup
Place the board in front of the players and place the petrified dragon pawn near his spot.
Each player takes the cards corresponding to their color, shuffles them and draws 5.
Each player then places their pile face down.
Choose the first player.
The seashell tokens are only used for the variant rules.
Game Turn
During their turn, a player must play one card or multiple identical cards, on the designated area of the board. If the number of cards reaches the requirements of the spot, the effect is triggered. The player then draws enough cards to complete their hand of 5 cards. It is now the next player's turn.
The board has two kinds of card spots: spots with one card silhouette and spots with several card silhouettes.
On the spot with one silhouette, players can place as many cards as wanted (one by one) until the effect is triggered. The cards are piled until they are picked up; players are not allowed to look at the covered cards.
On the spots with many silhouettes, players set one card on each silhouette. They can place as many cards as the number of silhouettes (or fewer). The player who sets the last card will trigger the effect.
Example: Floriane places 2 Hunter cards, Thomas can only place one Hunter card and triggers the effect.
Triggering the Effect
When a player triggers an effect, they follow one of the arrows from the last played card spot to the next. The player takes all the cards from that designated spot and adds them to their score pile face down. (Be careful not to mix your scoring pile with your draw pile). If no cards are present, the player takes nothing.
Some spots do not use an arrow. Those are detailed below.
Details of the Spots
1 - Octopus Hunter
The player who places the third Octopus Hunter card takes all the Coral Dragon cards on the board.
The three cards are then placed face up under the game board, near the Undersea City.
2 - Coral Dragon
Placing one or more Coral Dragon cards allows the player to take all the Mother of Pearl cards on the board.
3 - Mother of Pearl
Placing the Mother of Pearl cards do not trigger effects.
4 - Sorcerer of the Abyss
Placing one or more Sorcerer of the Abyss cards allows the player to pick up all the Mother of Pearl cards or all the Petrified Dragon cards on the board.
If the player picks up at least one Petrified Dragon card, they also take the Dragon pawn. The player holding it can play with 6 cards in hand. If another player takes the Dragon pawn, they randomly choose one card from the hand of the previous holder and place it on top of that player's draw pile (The previous holder of the Dragon pawn is back to 5 cards).
5 - Petrified Dragon
Placing Petrified Dragon cards do not trigger effects.
6 - Lava Golem
Placing one or more Lava Golem cards allows the player to take all the Sorcerer of the Abyss cards on the board.
7 - Guardian of Darkness
The player who places the 4th Guardian of Darkness card takes all 4 Guardian of Darkness cards.
8 - Turtle Rider
The player who places the second Turtle rider card can take all the Lava Golem cards or all the Sorcerer of the Abyss cards on the board.
The two cards are then placed face up by the board, next to the Undersea City (see the Octopus Hunter description).
9 - Undersea City
The player who places the third Undersea City card takes all the cards placed face up under the board (Octopus Hunter and Turtle Rider).
Place the three Undersea City cards in one pile next to the board. The game ends when the third pile is made.
End of Game
The game ends when the effect of the Undersea city are activated for the third time, or when a player can not complete their hand. In both scenarios, the other player plays one last turn before the game is ended.
Count the points from the cards placed in your scoring pile. The player who has the Dragon pawn gets 3 extra points.
Alternative Rule 1: Foreshadowing
At the beginning of the game, draw 8 cards. Place 3 of those cards face down next to your draw pile. When you replenish your hand at the end of your turn, you may pick cards from the draw pile and/or choose from these reserved cards.
Alternative Rule 2: Magic Seashells
At the beginning of the game, each player takes 5 Magic Shells of their color. During a turn, the player can play one Magic Shell in addition to playing cards. Each token can be used only once. Flip the tokens over when they have been used.
The Magic Shell tokens are:
- (End of a turn) play a new turn.
- (Start of a turn) Play cards on two different spots.
- (Start of a turn) Discard X cards and draw X new cards.
- (Start of a turn) Draw 3 cards and discard 3.
- (End of a turn) Place this seashell on one spot: Your adversary can not play on that spot until the following turn. Remove it at the start of your next turn.
Credits
- Designer: Rüdiger Dorn
- Illustrations: Ashline
- Graphics: Thomas Dutertre
- English translation: Lora et Marc-Grégor Campredon
- Production and editing: Rémi Gruber