Ubongo! Junior
Ubongo! Junior Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Material
- 50 Puzzle boards with 100 puzzles
- 4 x 9 Tiles with animals
- 72 Gems
- 1 Hourglass
- 1 Cloth bag
Before the First Game
The pieces need to be removed from the card carefully, so that they don't tear! Ask a grown up for help if you need it.
Game Setup
- Pour the gems into the cloth bag.
- Each player takes a set of 9 tiles. Every tile in the set should have a different animal on. Place your tiles on the table in front of you.
- Decide whether you want to play with the easy side (green) or the difficult side (yellow) of the puzzle boards. For the first game, we recommend that you play with the easy side. Each player takes 7 puzzle boards. Put the puzzle boards in a stack in the centre of the table. This is the draw stack. Make sure that the side of the boards that you want to play with is concealed.
- Every puzzle board has a pale placement area outlined on it. You need to use the animal tiles shown on the card to completely cover the pale area. Tiles must not stick out over the outline.
- Place the hourglass in the middle of the table so that everyone can see it.
Game Sequence
The oldest player is the starting player.
1. Place the tiles on the board
- Beginning with the starting player, each player takes a puzzle board from the draw stack. Turn it over, so that the side you want to play with faces up, and place it down in front of you.
- Take the tiles that are depicted on your puzzle board and place them next to your puzzle board.
- The starting player now turns the hourglass over.
- Each player quickly takes their pieces and attempts to completely cover the bright placement area of their own puzzle board as quickly as possible.
- As soon as one of you has exactly placed the animals on their placement area, they shout "Ubongo!". The others continue to play, but only until the hourglass runs out!
2. Take gems from the cloth bag
Whoever is the first to shout "Ubongo!" may immediately take gems from the cloth bag while the others continue to puzzle:
- For 2 players: the first player may take 2 gems, the second player 1 gem.
- For 3 players: the first player may take 3 gems, the second player 2 gems and the third player 1 gem.
- For 4 players: the first player may take 4 gems, the second player 3 gems, the third player 2 gems and the fourth player 1 gem.
You may only shout "Ubongo!" and take gemstones if you have correctly arranged your animals on the puzzle board. You must also take your gems before the hourglass has run out! If the hourglass has finished, you cannot take gems any more, even if you have exactly covered the puzzle board.
End of a Round
- As soon as the hourglass has run out, the round ends. The used puzzle boards are put back in the box.
- The player to the left of the starting player is now the new starting player. The round is played as described in Game Setup.
End of the Game
The game ends after 7 rounds when all puzzles have been played. The winner is the person that has collected the most gems. If several players have the same number of gems, they are all winners.
Additional Rules
- If nobody was able to correctly place the animals on the puzzle board before the hourglass ran out, the hourglass is turned over again. Should you not manage it this time, set the puzzle boards aside and take new ones for the next round.
- Place the gems collected in front of you so they are clearly visible and the others can see how many gems you have.
Solo Play
If you play on your own, take a board with the matching pieces and then turn the hourglass over. If you manage to accurately place the animals on the empty squares within the hourglass time, you can take 1 gem from the cloth bag. After 7 rounds, count your gems: the more gems you have collected, the better.
Play with Ubongo
Families can also play the original Ubongo together with Ubongo Junior.
- For this, you will need the Ubongo Junior game and the following pieces from Ubongo: puzzle boards, tiles, die.
- Adults each take 6 puzzle boards from Ubongo and the set of 12 tiles. Children each take 6 puzzle boards from Ubongo Junior and the set of 9 tiles with animals. Make 2 draw stacks using the puzzle boards, one with the boards from Ubongo Junior and the second with the boards from Ubongo.
- Beginning with the starting player, everyone takes a board from the respective draw stack. The starting player now rolls using the die from Ubongo. The die only applies to the puzzle boards from Ubongo and indicates which tiles must be used. Whoever is playing with the boards from Ubongo Junior helps themselves to the pieces depicted on their board and places them in front of them.
- Now the starting player turns the hourglass over and everyone starts solving the puzzle at the same time. Whoever covers their placement area exactly shouts "Ubongo" and takes gems from the bag — as described above and depending on the number of players.
- The game ends after 6 rounds when all boards have been played. Whoever has the most gems at the end has won!