Orion Duel
Orion Duel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 playmat, delimiting 85 spaces
- 3 rulebooks
- 2 printed bags
- 7 Black Hole tokens
- 8 Galaxy tokens
- 14 tiles for the Blue player (Blue color majority tiles)
- 14 tiles for the Orange player (Orange color majority tiles)
Setup
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Unroll the playmat.
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Place the tiles on the playmat. Each player places their 14 tiles on the playmat slots (14 tiles for the Blue player, 14 tiles for the Orange player).
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Place the Black Hole and Galaxy tokens. The 8 Galaxy tokens and the 7 Black Hole tokens are randomly placed on the board. First, one of the players places the 8 Galaxy tokens at least 2 spaces away from one another. Then the other player places the 7 Black Hole tokens at least 2 spaces away from one another and at least 1 space away from the Galaxy tokens.
Each player places the tokens as they wish, respecting the rule above. There are countless original placements and each time the game is new and challenging. Because of this it's NOT possible to use standard openings and there is NO advantage for the first player.
Nevertheless, the player who placed the Galaxy tokens chooses if they start or let their opponent start. When playing multiple games, for example best out of 5 games, the placement of Galaxy tokens and Black Hole tokens alternates, and thus the decision of the starting player.
Random Setup
For a quick start the first times you play, use one of the symmetric setups (Symmetric Setup 1 or Symmetric Setup 2, shown in the rulebook diagrams); after a few games the most challenging/interesting situations are the ones you create randomly.
How to Win
There are 3 ways to win at Orion Duel:
1. Link the Constellations
Link 2 opposite sides of the board with an unbroken chain of hexagons of your color.
Each side represents a direction towards a constellation, and on the grid each side is represented by the 4 spaces close to the zig-zag line: Constellation Eridanus and Constellation Canis Major, Constellation Taurus and Constellation Monoceros, Constellation Lepus and Constellation Gemini. So you have to link one of the 4 spaces composing a side to one of the 4 spaces composing the opposite side.
2. Connect the Galaxies
Get 4 Galaxy tokens on an unbroken chain of hexagons of your color.
Note: 4 Galaxy tokens sitting on hexagons of your color is not a winning condition if the tokens are disconnected from one another — they must form a single unbroken chain.
3. Force Your Opponent to Connect the Black Holes
Get 3 Black Hole tokens on an unbroken chain of hexagons of your opponent's color.
Note: 3 Black Hole tokens sitting on hexagons of your opponent's color is not a winning condition if the tokens are disconnected from one another — they must form a single unbroken chain.
Victory Conditions
The game ends immediately when a player reaches more of the victory conditions above than their opponent.
If both players are tied for the number of victory conditions, the game goes on.
If all the tiles have been placed and players are still tied for victory conditions, the winner is the one with the largest value calculated in this way: the number of all the Galaxy tokens on hexagons of their color, minus the number of all the Black Hole tokens on hexagons of their color. Ties may occur in this instance.
In the unlikely case where a player cannot place any of their tiles, they immediately lose the game.
Tiles Placement
1. During your turn you can place any tile on any free space(s)
A free space is defined as having neither a tile nor a token placed on it. Tiles do not need to be placed adjacent to one another. You can never place a tile on top of another tile.
2. If you want instead to place a tile on spaces occupied by Galaxy tokens / Black Hole tokens, you have to respect the following rules
An orange hexagon on the tile placed on the space of the Black Hole/Galaxy token must be directly connected to an orange hexagon from a previously placed tile by an unbroken chain of orange hexagons.
A blue hexagon on the tile placed on the space of the Black Hole/Galaxy token must be directly connected to a blue hexagon from a previously placed tile by an unbroken chain of blue hexagons.
The ownership of the previously placed tile is irrelevant — what matters is the unbroken chain of matching-color hexagons reaching the token space.