Xalapa Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Aim of the Game
• Before You Begin
• Order of Play
  • 1. Lay Oracle Cards and Position Card on the Game Board
  • 2. Place Oracle Stones
  • 3. Double-Check and Move the Shaman Stones Forward
    • Example of Counting Score
  • 4. End of Round
• End of Game
• Increasing the Level of Difficulty
  • Level 1
  • Level 2
  • Level 3
  • Level 4
  • Level 5
• Atlacoya (for 2 to 6 players)
  • Before You Begin
  • Order of Play
  • Checking Player Boards and Receiving Points
  • End of Game

Game Contents

• 1 Two-sided game board showing the challenges of the oracle.
• 6 Player boards with symbols that players cover with oracle stones.
• 27 Oracle cards, of which 13 are novice cards (easy), 7 are intermediate cards (more difficult), 7 are expert cards (very difficult). The cards determine the challenges of the oracle. They're explained in detail in the example sheet.
• 9 Position cards, which show the required position of the oracle stones. These cards are explained in detail in the example sheet.
• 48 Oracle stones, used by players to mark fields on the player boards.
• 30 Tiles of disfavour (5 of each colour) which show players' mistakes.
• 6 Shaman stones to show achieved points.
• 1 Day tile that shows the current round of play.
• 30 Number tiles for the game variation on the reverse side of the game board.
• 1 Hourglass.

Aim of the Game

Players take up the role as shamans, playing simultaneously against one another. Who will be able to master the oracle's challenges over 7 days using the fewest oracle stones? Only the quickest player who doesn't fall into disfavour with the oracle can win the game after seven rounds.

Before You Begin

Place the game board on the table facing up (with the field for the position cards on the left-hand side) well within everyone's reach. Lay the day tile on the grey circle in the box on the left of the game board and have the hourglass ready. Each player receives:

• 8 oracle stones
• 5 tiles of disfavour in the player's colour, and
• 1 shaman stone, also in the player's colour, which each player puts on field 0 of the score track on the game board.

Once placed on the game board, each player chooses a player board.

TIP: In a game with 2 to 4 players, you can create identical playing conditions if you want by selecting 4 player boards showing the same pattern (2 of the boards are a mirror image). Of course, the player boards can also be distributed among the players at random.

Sort the oracle cards according to their back side (see the example sheet for more information on the oracle cards). The basic game requires only the novice cards with the grey bird on the back. Remove the novice cards that have 1 or 2 oracle stones and put them on the 3rd and 4th field in the upper row on the game board. Now shuffle separately the remaining novice cards and position cards, and put them in 2 piles next to the game board.

Order of Play

1. Lay oracle cards and position card on the game board
2. Place oracle stones
3. Double-check and move the shaman stones forward
4. End of round

1. Lay Oracle Cards and Position Card on the Game Board

Move the day tile one field to the right (except for the first round). To start each round, take the top position card and lay it on the left field of the game board with the side with the three oracle stones facing up. This position card is the 1st challenge of the oracle; it shows the formation in which 3 of your oracle stones must be laid on your player board.

Pick up the top 4 novice cards from the pile and put them on the lower row of the game board from left to right (the fields destined for the oracle cards). If there are not enough cards left in the pile, shuffle all the novice cards and from the newly shuffled pile, take 4 cards, laying them on the lower row. The oracle cards and position cards are explained in more detail in the example sheet.

Example for the oracle's challenges: the position card is the 1st challenge; each oracle card in the upper row together with the oracle card below it forms 1 challenge (both cards together form 1 challenge), giving the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th challenges.

The fields on the right side of the game board with the light-coloured birds are empty for the basic game and only come into play in the advanced game variations.

2. Place Oracle Stones

As soon as the oracle challenges are set, someone gives the command to begin. Everyone tries to complete each of the oracle's challenges on his player board with as few oracle stones as possible.

If you think you've completed all the challenges, call out "done" and turn over the hourglass. Once the hourglass has been turned over, all the other players have only as much time as the hourglass permits to complete all the challenges. Be sure before calling out "done", because once you've said "done", you can no longer make any changes to your player board.

NOTE: Copying others is not allowed! Each field may be occupied by a single oracle stone only. If you need to, you can put all your oracle stones on your player board, but the fewer stones you use, the better.

TIP: You might find it helpful to rotate your player board in different positions.

3. Double-Check and Move the Shaman Stones Forward

Once the sand has passed through the hourglass, no one can lay down stones or move them around on the player board.

Player for player, each player board is examined to see how many challenges each player completed and how many oracle stones were needed.

Begin with the first challenge from left to right: whoever didn't manage to complete the challenge has to lay one of his tiles of disfavour in the corresponding points box above the challenge. Repeat for each challenge, moving from left to right.

Once each player board has been checked for each challenge, all tiles of disfavour placed in the points boxes are counted for each player. Then the number of oracle stones used on the player boards are added to the point total for each player, and the player's corresponding shaman stone is moved along the track of disfavour according to the point total.

Once moved, players retrieve all their tiles of disfavour from the game board.

NOTE: Always first add up all the disfavour points (errors + number of used oracle stones), and then move your shaman stones along the track of disfavour. You will always fall into disfavour in each round. The player in the least amount of disfavour at the end of the game wins.

Example of Counting Score

Jasmine didn't place her oracle stones on her player board in the same formation as shown on the position card. She therefore puts one of her tiles of disfavour in the points box above the card (A). She successfully completed the 2nd and 3rd challenges: exactly 1 oracle stone is on a field with a cactus, and exactly 2 oracle stones are on fields with red stripes. For these challenges she doesn't have to put any tiles of disfavour in the corresponding points boxes. For the 4th challenge, Jasmine has more than one stone in the corner fields of the player board and has to put another tile of disfavour in the corresponding points box (B). Jasmine was able to complete the 5th challenge (2 oracle stones on fields with a gecko). She counts up all her disfavour: She has 6 points of disfavour for the tiles of disfavour and another 5 points for the number of oracle stones on her player board. Jasmine then moves her shaman stone 11 spaces forward along the track of disfavour.

4. End of Round

Once everyone has moved his shaman stone forward, the round is over.

Pick up the position card from the game board and put it back into the box. Remove the 4 oracle cards from the lower row of the game board.

Players remove their oracle stones from their player boards and have them ready for the next round. The next round can begin following the order of play as described above.

NOTE: Both oracle cards with the one and two oracle stones in the upper row stay on the game board.

End of Game

The game is over after the 7th day (7 rounds) when the day tile comes to rest on the last field. The player in the least amount of disfavour wins.

TIP: To even the playing field for beginners when playing with more advanced players, you can lay oracle cards on the right side of the game board on the corresponding fields for the advanced players. The beginners have to complete only the first 5 challenges, while the advanced players have to complete all 7.

TIP: You can also play Xalapa by yourself. Simply keep track of all your points of disfavour for each game on a piece of paper and compare your score from game to game to see if you can top your previous high score.

Increasing the Level of Difficulty

Here's how you can add multiple levels of difficulty for the challenges:

Level 1

The game proceeds as described above with the following changes: Remove the oracle cards that have either 1 or 2 oracle stones from the game. Shuffle the novice cards and randomly lay 6 of them on the fields of the game board destined for the oracle cards. Leave the first two fields in the upper row with the 1 and 2 printed oracle stones empty. This increases the complexity of the challenges, as some challenges no longer have oracle stones.

Level 2

The game proceeds as described above in the basic game and in level 1, and includes the following changes: Now the intermediate cards with the light-coloured birds on the back also come into play. Shuffle the intermediate cards and randomly lay 4 of them on the challenge fields with the light-coloured birds. Now there are 7 challenges to complete. You can also turn over the position card so that 4 oracle stones are showing.

Level 3

The game proceeds as described above in the basic game and in level 2, and includes the following changes: Lay the expert cards with 1 or 2 oracle stones on the two challenge fields with the light-coloured birds in the upper row on the right-hand side of the game board. They stay on the board throughout the entire game. Replace the intermediate cards with the expert cards, placing them on the two fields in the lower row. To make it even more difficult, you can also include the cards with 1 or 2 oracle stones in the pile of expert cards, shuffling them together. Now challenges can arise that don't have any oracle stones.

Level 4

The game follows the same rules as in the basic game with the following changes: Remove the cards with oracle stones and put them back into the game box. Shuffle the expert and novice cards together. Now randomly lay 6 of these cards on the game board (for challenges 2 to 5). Leave the fields with the printed 1 and 2 oracle stones empty. For the last two challenges, use intermediate cards as in level 2. Agree on which side of the position card to use.

Level 5

The game follows the same rules as in the basic game with the following changes: All oracle cards can be combined to form new challenges! So simply play without oracle cards with 1 or 2 oracle stones being first laid on the game board. Instead, shuffle these cards into the card pile. You can also shuffle all oracle cards together and create the challenges from these cards; you can even cover up the printed oracle cards with new cards.

You may even end up with challenges that consist of two oracle cards with oracle stones. Challenges can also be solved with zero oracle stones.

Examples: "At least 3 stones must be laid on the player board." "The same number of stones must be laid on red fields as on fields with a gecko. That can also be 0 stones on red and 0 on gecko fields!"

NOTE: Some rounds can be rather easy, since some challenges can also be solved with 0 stones. But some rounds can also be quite difficult; especially if you mix novice, intermediate, and expert cards together.

Atlacoya (for 2 to 6 players)

To appease Atlacoya, the goddess of drought, the oracle demands his shamans to give an account of their powers even before completing the oracle's challenges. The shamans will find disfavour only if they do not complete the number of challenges that they attested to.

Before You Begin

For this game, turn over the game board onto its reverse side. In his own colour, each player receives:

• 3 tiles of disfavour
• 6 number tiles (2 – 7)
• 1 shaman stone (to be placed on field 15 of the score track)

Each player also receives 8 oracle stones.

Order of Play

Estimate how many of the 7 challenges you think you'll be able to complete. Challenges must always be completed one after the other, e.g. the first 3, the first 4, etc. In secret, each player selects one of his number tiles.

If you think you'll be able to solve the first 4 challenges, for example, select the number tile 4. You have to complete at least 2 challenges, or else you will invoke the wrath of the oracle (for this reason, 2 is the lowest number you can select). Players turn over their number tiles simultaneously, and then place them in the corresponding points box. Play then continues as described above for the basic game. Also, place intermediate cards on the light-coloured bird fields, so that there are always 7 challenges.

The game can now begin as described in "Order of Play" above.

Checking Player Boards and Receiving Points

Begin with the first challenge and see who was able to complete it. Check each player's board for each challenge.

You only have to complete as many challenges as you indicated in advance (also the same number as indicated by your number tile). Challenges to the right of your number tile have no importance or bearing on your points. If you complete them anyhow, you don't receive any additional points for them!

If you've made a mistake, you have two options:

1. You can place one of your tiles of disfavour on the corresponding points box, OR
2. You accept the disfavour points in red next to the number tile and remove your number tile. The moment you remove your number tile, you can't collect any more points in this round.

Once you've checked all challenges, players with number tiles still remaining on points boxes have two options:

1. You receive positive points which are indicated in green next to your number tile. Remove all of your coloured tiles of disfavour that you placed in points boxes from the game. These will no longer be at your disposal for the rest of the game.
2. You receive negative points which are indicated in red next to your number tile and you get back all your tiles of disfavour that you laid in this round.

Once all players have received their points, take back your number tiles and discard the used cards onto a discard pile. Now gather your oracle stones from your player boards and move the day tile one field further to the right. Continue play as described above.

End of Game

The game is over after 7 days (rounds). The player who was able to gain the most favour of Atlacoya, the goddess of drought, by collecting the most points wins. In the event of a tie, these players count their remaining tiles of disfavour, and the one with the most remaining tiles wins.