Orcs Up! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Playing the Game
• Using a Siege Piece
• Using the Boulder
• End of the Game

Components

• 1 Castle board
• 30 Siege cards
• 5 Boulder cards
• 20 Hero tokens
• 1 First Player token
• 5 Infirmary cards (1 per color)
• 30 Siege pieces (5 pieces in each of 6 shapes)
• 1 Boulder (special piece)
• 50 Orc pawns (10 per color)

Setup

Fold the lower part of the Castle board onto itself and slot it into the matching slits. From now on you can leave this part of the board slotted together when you put the game away.

1. Place the bottom of the box in the center of the table, and slot the Castle board's rear tabs through the corresponding cuts into one long side of the box bottom. Slot the horizontal part in as well to fix the tabs together. The Castle board must be easily reachable by all players.
2. Place the Boulder and the reserve of shaped Siege pieces next to the board.
3. Put the Hero tokens together to form a shared reserve.
4. Each player chooses a color and receives 1 Infirmary card, which they place in front of themselves, and 1 Boulder card, which they keep in hand; they also receive the Orc pawns of that color. The number of Orc pawns used depends on the number of players: 10 pawns with 2 players, 9 with 3, 8 with 4, 7 with 5. Put all unused components back in the box.
5. Give the First Player token to whoever most recently scaled the walls of a castle.
6. Shuffle all the Siege cards and form a shared deck in the center of the table. Then each player draws 2 cards from the deck. At the start of the game, each player will therefore have 3 cards in hand: the 2 Siege cards drawn plus 1 Boulder card.

Playing the Game

Players alternate clockwise starting with whoever received the First Player token.

On their turn, the active player must play a card from their hand and use the piece it indicates. A card lets you choose whether to use a Siege piece or use the Boulder (see below).

At the end of the turn, draw a new card from the deck. If the deck is exhausted, shuffle the discards to form a new deck.

Using a Siege Piece

If you use a Siege piece, resolve the following steps:

1. Take from the reserve the Siege piece whose shape matches the one shown on the card you played. In the rare case where that piece is not available in the reserve, take any other piece of your choice.
2. Place it on the Castle board, resting it on the base or on other pieces (Siege pieces or Orc pawns) placed previously.
3. After placing the piece, place one of your Orc pawns touching it (on top, underneath, or to the side). You cannot place the Orc pawn apart from the piece you just placed.
4. Discard the card you played next to the deck.

While you are placing pieces, or after you have placed them, something on the Castle board may get knocked loose and fall off the board. In that case:

• If the Siege piece you are placing falls, you are not allowed to place the Orc pawn this turn.
• Return any fallen Siege pieces to the reserve.
• Return your own fallen Orc pawns to your reserve.
• Place other players' fallen Orc pawns on top of your Infirmary card. In this case, the other players each receive a Hero token for every one of their Orc pawns that you caused to fall.

If components shift but remain on the board, leave them where they are.

Caution: place all components (Siege pieces and Orc pawns) onto the Castle board gently, taking care not to bump the board itself, the box, or the table it rests on, and without applying force with the deliberate intent of knocking other pieces down on purpose.

Example: Davide (green) plays the illustrated card and chooses to use the matching Siege piece, placing it on the board. Then he places one of his Orc pawns adjacent to the piece he placed. After placing his Orc, it falls off the board along with the Siege piece and one of Giulia's (light blue) Orc pawns. Giulia's pawn is placed on Davide's Infirmary card, and Giulia receives a Hero token. Davide's Orc, on the other hand, returns to his own reserve.

Using the Boulder

If you use the Boulder (with your Boulder card, or with a card that lets you choose the Boulder), resolve the following steps:

1. Take the Boulder from the shared reserve.
2. Drop it from the top of the Castle board. You may choose the drop position, further right or further left, but the Boulder must start from the top of the Castle board.

Caution: let the Boulder drop from your fingers, without applying force!

• Keep all of the other players' fallen Orc pawns on the card you played. At the end of the game you will gain 1 point for each of these pawns.
• Return your own fallen Orc pawns to your reserve.
• Return fallen Siege pieces to the reserve.

Caution: on the turn you use the Boulder, you do not place Orc pawns or Siege pieces.

Example: Giuliano (red) decides to play his Boulder card, so he places neither Orc pawns nor Siege pieces, but instead takes the Boulder from the reserve and chooses the drop position from the top of the Castle board. Following the drop, several components fell. Giuliano returns to the shared reserve the Siege pieces that fell, and to his own reserve his fallen Orc. He places on his Boulder card the fallen Orc pawns of Giulia (light blue) and Davide (green).

End of the Game

When a player places the last Orc pawn from their reserve, complete the current round (every player up to and including the one seated to the right of the first player plays one last turn) and end the game.

In the rare case that the reserve of Siege pieces runs out, the game ends immediately.

Then calculate your final score as follows:

• Each of your Orc pawns still present on the Castle board earns you points based on the height at which it is found (1 point if it is in the lowest band, up to a maximum of 5 points if it is in the highest band). If a pawn is between two zones (even for a small part), the higher score counts.
• Each Hero token you obtained is worth 2 points.
• Each opposing Orc pawn on top of a card you played to "Use the Boulder" is worth 1 point.
• Each opposing Orc pawn on top of your Infirmary card is worth –1 point.

The player with the highest total score wins the game! In case of a tie, the tied player with the highest Orc on the Castle wins.

Example: At the end of the game, Giuliano (red) totals 13 points: 2 points because he has 2 orcs in the 1-point band; 4 points because he has 2 orcs in the 2-point band; 3 points because he has 1 orc in the 3-point band; 4 points because he has 2 Hero tokens; 3 points because he kept 3 opposing orcs with the boulders; –3 points because he has 3 opposing orcs on his Infirmary.