Treasures of Nakbe Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Setting Up the Game
• Team Cards
• Playing the Game
  • Parts of the Game Board
  • On Your Turn
• End of the Round
• End of the Game
• Scoring
• Advanced Rules: An Endless Threat
  • Setting Up the First Game
  • Playing the First Game
  • End of the First Game
  • Setting Up the Second Game
  • Playing the Second Game
  • End of the Second Game
• Variants
  • A. Treasure of the Jungle
  • B. Special Features of the Jungle

Objective

Exploring temples or ancient ruins costs money. You're the one providing it. In Treasures of Nakbe, you and your opponents are wealthy patrons preparing expeditions and equipping explorers to look for treasures. Each player funds a secret team of 3 explorers. Some explorers may be part of more than one team.

As a patron, your goal is to have the explorers of your team escape the temple faster than your opponents' explorers!

Of course, it is advisable to keep secret which explorers are in your team... do not make it too obvious, otherwise your opponents will make sure to prevent them from escaping!

Components

• 1 double-sided Game Board (Temple side and Jungle side)
• 1 Scoring Board
• 1 Additional Scoring Board (for advanced rules)
• 7 Team Cards
• 15 Temple Treasure Tokens (9 x 1 point, 3 x 2 points, 1 x 3 points, 2 x 0 point)
• 15 Jungle Treasure Tokens (for advanced rules; 9 x 1 point, 3 x 2 points, 1 x 3 points, 2 x 0 point)
• 7 Explorers and 1 Guardian, with their plastic stands
• 1 Die (faces 1, 3, 4, 6, and two faces showing 2)
• 1 Snakes Token (for advanced rules; see The Snakes)
• 7 Temple Scoring Tokens (for advanced rules)
• 7 Jungle Scoring Tokens (for advanced rules)

Setting Up the Game

1. Place the Game Board on the table (Temple side up).
2. Place the 7 Explorers in the Treasure Chamber (the starting space in the center of the Game Board).
3. Place the Guardian in the Guardian's Room (the square space next to the Treasure Chamber).
4. Shuffle the Temple Treasure Tokens and place them face down on each of the 13 spaces with the treasure icon. Return the remaining 2 tokens to the box without looking at them.
5. Place the Scoring Board (side A up) next to the Game Board. Keep the die at hand.
6. Shuffle the Team Cards and deal one card to each player. Always keep your Team Card secret! Return the remaining Team Cards to the box without looking at them.
7. Return the following pieces to the box as you won't need them for your first games:
   • The Additional Scoring Board
   • The 15 Jungle Treasure Tokens
   • The 7 Temple Scoring Tokens
   • The 7 Jungle Scoring Tokens
   • The Snakes Token

Team Cards

Your Team Card shows the three Explorers of your expedition. You must make sure that they escape the temple faster than the others. Each player only knows their own team. At the end of the game, each Explorer of your team will give you victory points, depending on their position in the temple when the game ends (the closer to the exit, the better!).

Playing the Game

A game of Treasures of Nakbe plays in several rounds. In each round, players take turns to roll the die, and move one Explorer - usually into dark. The round ends when all Explorers are in the dark. Then, the Guardian moves forward, trying to catch the slowest Explorer.

The oldest player starts the first round, then play progresses clockwise.

Parts of the Game Board

• Treasure Chamber: the starting space of the Explorers, in the center of the Game Board.
• Guardian's Room: the square space next to the Treasure Chamber.
• Exit: (see End of the Game)
• Trap: (see Trap)

On Your Turn

When it is your turn, roll the die:

• If you roll 1, 3, 4 or 6, move one Explorer forward. The Explorer must be either in the Treasure Chamber, or in the light (light side of a space). Move the Explorer by as many spaces as shown on the die.
• If you roll a 2, move one Explorer (even in the dark) forward by 2 spaces.

An Explorer must always move forward by the exact number of spaces shown on the die. However, they must skip any occupied space along the way (a space is occupied when there is another Explorer in it, regardless of the side that they occupy). Once an Explorer has completed their move, they must be placed on the dark side of their space, if any.

• Trap: If the Explorer ends their move on a Trap Space, place the Explorer back on the space occupied by the Guardian, then move the Explorer forward by 3 spaces, but do not count any occupied spaces nor any Trap.
• Treasure: If the Explorer ends their move on a Treasure Space, take the Treasure Token and place it in front of you, even if the Explorer that you moved is not part of your team. This treasure is now yours! You don't need to reveal the value of your treasure to the other players. At the end of the game, the values of your treasures will be added to your victory points.

EXAMPLE 1: YOU ROLL A 4

Black, Brown, Purple, or Red can move by 4 (unoccupied) spaces.

• Move Black to A to collect the treasure.
• Or move Brown to B to collect the treasure.
• Or move Purple to B to collect the treasure.
• Or move Red to C (Trap Space). Red would be placed back on the space occupied by the Guardian (Treasure Chamber) and moved forward by 3 (unoccupied) spaces to end up on D.

In all these cases, the moved Explorer is placed on the dark side of their space.

Note: You cannot move any other Explorers with this result, as they are in the dark.

EXAMPLE 2: YOU ROLL A 2

Any Explorer can move by 2 (unoccupied) spaces.

• Move Brown to A.
• Or move Yellow to B.
• Or move Red or Purple to C (Trap Space). They would be placed back on the space occupied by the Guardian and moved by 3 (unoccupied) spaces forward to end up on B (as any Trap Space would also be skipped).

In all these cases, the moved Explorer is placed on the dark side of their spaces and you will collect a treasure.

End of the Round

If, at the end of a turn, all Explorers on the board are in the dark, then the round ends (this means that players may play several turns during the same round, as long as some Explorers are not in the dark). Perform the following steps:

1. The Guardian moves forward.
   • If the Guardian is still in the Guardian's Room, move it to the Treasure Chamber.
   • If the Guardian is in the Treasure Chamber or any other space, move it forward by 5 spaces.
   • If the Guardian encounters an Explorer along the way, the Guardian immediately stops moving on this space and that Explorer is removed from the Game Board. Place the Explorer on the empty slot with the lowest value on the Scoring Board. The assigned value is the victory points the Explorer earns at the end of the game.
2. All Explorers move over to the light side of their space, if any. Some spaces are lightless (without any light side). Explorers who are on a lightless space remain in the dark (see Yellow in EXAMPLE 3).
3. Once the Guardian has moved, start a new round. The next player begins their turn as normal.

EXAMPLE 3

At the end of your turn, all the Explorers on the Game Board are in the dark. The Guardian should move forward by 5 spaces, but Purple is on the second space, so the Guardian stops there. Remove Purple from the Game Board and place Purple on the empty slot of the Scoring Board with the lowest value (4 in this example). Purple will score 4 victory points at the end of the game.

Then, Red and Brown move to the light side of their spaces. Yellow stays on the dark side because there is no light side on Yellow's space.

End of the Game

The game ends as soon as one of the three following situations occurs:

• A. One Explorer Exits The Temple: If one Explorer moves beyond the last space of the temple, they exit the temple and the game ends immediately. Any remaining movement is ignored. Place the Explorer on the empty slot of the Scoring Board with the highest value ("8"). Then move any remaining Explorers from the Game Board to the Scoring Board, starting with the one who is closest to the exit (move it to the "6"-space), then the next one, and so on until all Explorers have been placed on the Scoring Board.

EXAMPLE 4

You roll a 4 and decide to move Brown. Brown exits the temple. The game immediately ends.

• Brown reaches the highest value ("8").
• Red reaches the second highest value ("6").
• Yellow reaches the third highest value ("5").

All the values on the Scoring Board have now been allocated, one to each Explorer.

• B. Only One Explorer Remains In The Temple: If the Guardian catches the second to last Explorer, leaving only one Explorer in the temple, the game also ends immediately. Place the remaining Explorer on the remaining empty slot, reaching the highest value ("8").
• C. All Remaining Explorers Are On A Lightless Space: This is highly unlikely, but if all remaining Explorers occupy a space without a light side, then the game ends immediately: have the Guardian move to catch them one by one, allocating the Explorers on the empty slots of the Scoring Board in order. The Guardian does not catch the last surviving Explorer: that Explorer automatically obtains the best slot ("8") (see EXAMPLE 5).

EXAMPLE 5

In this example, the remaining Explorers are each on lightless spaces. As a consequence, the game ends. The Guardian catches Green first (place Green on the "5"-slot), then Purple ("6"). Blue is placed on the last empty slot ("8").

Scoring

It is now time to reveal your Team Card!

Check the victory points scored by each of your Explorers (depicted on your Team Card) and add them up to know your score. Add the value of treasures that you collected along the way.

The player with the highest total is the winner.

In case of a tie, the player who earned more victory points from treasures wins. If there is still a tie, all tied players share victory.

EXAMPLE 6

Yellow, Blue, and Purple were in your Team. You also collected 3 Treasure Tokens with total values of 3 (0 + 1 + 2). You score 21 (4 + 6 + 8 + 3) victory points.

Advanced Rules: An Endless Threat

This mode allows you to play two games, one after the other: the first one on the Temple side of the Game Board, and the second one on the Jungle side of the Game Board.

Setting Up the First Game

Place the Scoring Board with side B up and assemble it with the Additional Scoring Board. Place the 7 Temple Scoring Tokens on the left side of the assembled boards.

Playing the First Game

Every time that an Explorer should be placed on an empty slot of the Scoring Board, place them on the matching icon instead. Then, allocate a Temple Scoring Token to the empty slot on the left side of the Explorer, depending on their rank. The first Explorer to be caught will receive the 1-value token. The second to be caught will receive the 2-value token, etc. The Explorer who escapes the temple will receive the 8-value token.

End of the First Game

As soon as one of the three end game conditions is met, remove the Guardian and the remaining Temple Treasures Tokens from the Game Board. Leave the Temple Scoring Tokens in place next to the Explorer's icons.

Do not reveal your Team Card!

Setting Up the Second Game

Flip the Game Board over and place the Guardian on the Stone Stairs and place 7 Explorers on the Jungle Entrance (the space next to the Stone Stairs). Place one Jungle Treasure Token on each of the 10 spaces with the treasure icon. Each player keeps their Team Card and the Treasure Tokens that they collected until now. Place the 7 Jungle Scoring Tokens on the right side of the assembled boards.

For this second game, allocate the Jungle Scoring Tokens instead of the Temple Scoring Tokens (see PLAYING THE FIRST GAME). Place them on the empty slot on the right side of the Explorer when allocating.

Playing the Second Game

Play the second game on the Jungle side of the Game Board. It introduces new spaces with special features. You can collectively decide which spaces you are going to use (see VARIANTS).

End of the Second Game

The second game ends in the same way as in the first game (see END OF THE FIRST GAME). Once you have completed the second game, reveal your Team Card and check your final score: the victory points scored by each of your Explorers and the values of Treasure Tokens you earned in the first and the second game.

The player with the highest total is the winner.

In case of a tie, the player earned more victory points from treasures wins. If there is still a tie, all tied players share victory.

EXAMPLE 7

Red, Brown, and Black were in your team. You collected 3 Temple Treasure Tokens with total values of 3 (0+1+2) and 2 Jungle Treasure Tokens with total values of 2 (1+1). You score (2+8)+(5+2)+(6+3)=26 victory points for your team. Your final score is 31 victory points.

Variants

A. Treasure of the Jungle

For a shorter yet advanced game, you can skip the game on the Temple side and play on the Jungle side of the Game Board instead.

B. Special Features of the Jungle

There are some special spaces on the Jungle side of the Game Board. At the game start, decide if you want to play with none, some or all of these special spaces.

The River

There are two spaces with a river on the Jungle side of the Game Board. The Explorer who ends their move on one of the two spaces is placed into the river.

The river also counts as the dark side, so the Explorer on the river will not be allowed to move this round (except with a 2). When all other Explorers are returned to the light side of their spaces, any Explorer in a river is moved to the normal dark side of their space. At the start of the following round, the Explorer finally returns to the light side.

The Secret Passage

The secret passage allows for a shortcut (or a fallback!). The Explorer who ends their move on a space with the secret passage is immediately moved to the opposite space of the secret passage and placed on dark side of the space. If the opposite space is occupied by another Explorer, the two Explorers swap places (and both are placed on the dark side of their respective spaces).

Note: If the secret passage brings an Explorer on a space occupied by the Guardian, or on any space that the Guardian already passed, then that Explorer is removed from the Game Board, as if the Guardian had caught them.

The Snakes

When setting up the game, place the Snakes Token at the bottom left of the Game Board. The first Explorer to end their move on the space with the Snakes Token releases the snakes! That Explorer is removed from the Game Board. The snakes then move towards the exit, using the left column of the Game Board. Any Explorer in this column is removed from the Game Board. Resolve the column from bottom to top.

Then, return the Snakes Token to the box. The snakes are released only once in a game.

EXAMPLE 8

Yellow ends their move on the space with the Snakes Token and is immediately removed from the Game Board. After that, the snakes catch Red, then Green. Yellow receives the lowest available Jungle Scoring Token ("1"). Red receives the next one ("2"), and Green the next one ("3"). Then, the Snakes Token is returned to the box. Other Explorers are not affected.