ElemenZ Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview, Objectives & Winning
• Game Components
• Setup (3-4 player game)
• Gameplay (3-4 players)
  • Step 1. Summon Energy
  • Step 2. Completing Combos
  • Step 3. Activate Combos
  • Step 4. Resolve Combos
• Using Totems
  • Pulse Tokens
  • Energy Buff
  • Energy Store
• Shaman Special Abilities
• Using Avatars
• Icon Functions (Shaman Boards)
• Avatar Abilities
• 2 Player Game
  • Icon Functions (2 Player Game)
  • Gameplay (2 Player)
  • Energising the Monolith
  • Using Avatars (2 Player Game)
  • Wild Dice (2 Player Game)
  • Winning (2 Player Game)
• 3/4 Player Game Variant

Overview, Objectives & Winning

In Elemenz, players represent one of four unique alien shamans, summoning their powerful energy totems from the Monolith and battling for supremacy in an energy duel to become the Master Zee. The objective of the 3-4 player game is to use dice (representing a shaman's energy) to drain dice from opposing shamans. The last shaman with energy dice remaining wins and becomes the Master Zee.

The 3-4 player game rules are presented first, then the 2 player game rules on page 16.

Game Components

4 Shaman Boards. The shaman boards are where the energy dice are placed during play to create powerful combo effects. Each board is unique to a single shaman. Each board also shows the special unique race ability of each shaman.

28 Shaman Dice. The dice represent elemental energy that the shamans will use during the game. Each die has a combination of symbols showing the five elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Wild. Each dice set is unique to each shaman. If a shaman loses their last die, they are eliminated from the game.

4 Totem Boards. Each shaman is supported by an energy totem that stores extra energy and aids in the completion of combos. The totem can store a maximum of 4 energy 'Pulse' tokens at any time. The totem is lost from the game if it has no pulse tokens present on the board. See the Using Totems section (page 10).

40 Pulse Tokens. Pulse tokens represent the energy stored in each Totem. They have functions that help the shaman in duels. See the Using Pulse section (page 10) for more on how to use these tokens.

12 Avatar Tiles (mini expansion). Avatars are bursts of energy shed from the Monolith when the shamans use their powers. Avatars can be bought by any shaman for use during battles. See the Using Avatars section (page 14).

For your first few games we recommend not using the Avatars expansion as it adds further complexity to the game.

5 Reference Cards. Reference cards provide an easy reminder of the icons used in the game.

Note: The rules in this booklet take precedence over any rules shown on other components such as the reference cards.

Setup (3-4 player game)

Randomly decide a starting player, or alternatively the player who has visited a wild landscape most recently will be the starting player.

Step 1. Each player chooses an alien shaman board and matching totem board, placing both in front of them. Each player also takes the matching set of dice that belongs to that shaman, placing them all in the shaman's energy pool area.

Step 2. All pulse tokens are placed in the bag. Each player then randomly draws four tokens, placing them in any order they choose face down, on their totem board circle spaces. The player can look at these tokens at any time.

Step 3. During setup only, each player places 2 dice into the SHIELD spaces on their player board, with their element symbol face up on the dice. (Exception - the EARTH player places only 1 die since they get a free die as their Race Ability - see Shaman Abilities on page 6.)

Note: If playing with Avatar tiles, each player randomly draws two, placing them face down (effect hidden) near their play area. Avatars are placed face up in 2 stacks in the Monolith area of the table as a supply for all players. Players can look at their own Avatars at any time but cannot look through the Monolith stacks.

Step 4. During setup only, the 3rd and/or 4th player now places another of their dice into the special 3/4 player starting bonus location on their SHIELD. This bonus is only used during setup and cannot be used during the rest of the game.

Gameplay (3-4 players)

Starting with the first player (the active player) and going clockwise around the table, each player will take their turn. Each turn comprises four steps, taken in the order below.

Note: The Air shaman's special ability applies here (see Shaman Abilities on page 6).

Step 1. Summon Energy

Take all of your dice from your shaman's energy pool and roll them up to three times, deciding which symbols to keep for each roll.

Take care not to roll three or more wild symbols or you will suffer a Wild Surge!!

If three or more symbols are shown together on the dice at any time, a Wild Surge immediately occurs (see below). If your shaman's symbol is shown on all of your dice, you can use the special Heal action immediately (explained below).

Wild Surge. Rolling 3 or more wild symbols is called a wild surge and immediately ends your turn. You cannot use any of your dice this turn and no shaman special abilities can be activated. All dice must be placed in your shaman's energy pool.

Play then passes to the next player.

Note that players with only 1 or 2 dice remaining can still roll a wild surge if all of their dice roll a wild symbol.

Heal action. During play, shamans will often lose their dice to the Monolith area. Dice can be recovered from the Monolith whenever all dice rolled by a shaman in the Summon Energy step show the shaman's energy symbol (e.g. all Fire symbols for the Fire shaman). This is an immediate effect, and the healed die can then be immediately rolled and used in the player's turn. Dice do not need to be placed on a shaman board to resolve this action and other players cannot stop it from happening.

A player can only use this action once in their turn.

Step 2. Completing Combos

After the third roll, you must place your dice onto the spaces on your shaman board to try and complete one or more effects called Combos. A combo is not complete if symbol spaces on it remain empty (except for the STRIKE and SHIELD special combos explained on the next page). Wild symbols (see the Using Zee section below) can be used here to help complete these combos. Any dice that cannot be used are placed back in your shaman's energy pool area until the next round. Combo functions are explained on page 15.

Using Zee. The wild symbol can be used to copy (mimic) another symbol on a die. The wild die must be placed next to this other symbol to copy it in this way and only if a space is available for it to be placed. This is called Anchoring the Zee. A wild die cannot represent a different symbol on its own.

Example 1 [Correct]. Here a wild die has been used to copy an Earth die creating a pair of Earth for the FIRESTORM combo.

Example 2 [Incorrect]. In this case, the wild die has not been anchored to another die and therefore cannot be used to represent an Air symbol on its own.

The Smokescreen combo is incomplete (an Earth symbol is missing). Fire cannot use this combo this turn.

The Fire player has rolled the correct symbols to complete the FIRESTORM combo and can also charge up the SHIELD combo - using the wild die to copy the Fire die next to it.

Step 3. Activate Combos

There are four different types of combos:

1. Normal combos
2. Waiting combos (marked with a ◊ symbol) - Players can use them either in their turn or during another player's turn.
3. STRIKE combos - An attack that can only be used during the active player's turn.
4. SHIELD combo - A defense combo that remains active until the start of the player's next turn.

Strike and Shield combos are explained in more detail below. All the other combos are normal combos and can only be used during the active player's turn.

Once you have assigned your dice, you can now activate all your completed combos and announce which shaman(s) will be the target of each combo where applicable.

Note: Targets of waiting combos only need to be announced when they are used - for example in another player's turn.

Example: The Fire player has completed the FIRESTORM combo and declares that the Earth shaman will be the target.

STRIKE combo. This combo targets a single shaman and does not need to be completely filled to activate (it can have 1, 2 or 3 dice placed in it). The power of this attack equals the number of dice used.

Example: In this example, the Water shaman has placed 2 dice in STRIKE, so the power of the attack is 2.

SHIELD combo. This is a defensive combo that helps to protect a shaman from attacks. It does not need to be completely filled to be activated. The defense value of the SHIELD equals the number of dice placed in it.

Unlike other combos, the SHIELD combo is activated for the whole of the round until the start of the player's next turn. Dice remain here after the combo is activated (instead of being moved to the shaman's energy pool) to show this effect is active.

Note: If dice are removed from a SHIELD, the defensive value of the SHIELD is reduced by the number of dice removed, for the rest of the round.

To resolve normal and STRIKE combo attacks against the SHIELD, simply subtract the defensive value of dice in the SHIELD from the power of the attacking combo. The remainder is the amount of dice the shaman must lose and remove from their shaman board and place back into the Monolith area.

Example: an attack of two Water dice against a defense of one Air die (as shown), means the Air shaman has to lose one Air die to the Monolith area.

Breaking combos. Other players can now attempt to break your activated combos before they are resolved, by forcing the dice in your combos to change their symbols (for example by forcing you to re-roll dice). If the dice in a combo no longer have the correct symbols shown, the combo is successfully broken and the dice from the failed combo must be placed in your shaman's energy pool. The combo can no longer be resolved. This continues until all other players cannot (or choose not to) break any more combos. The effects of completed combos are now resolved.

Example: The Earth player uses the re-roll ◊ combo, forcing the Fire player to re-roll a dice showing the Earth symbol. (It is the Earth player's choice which dice must be re-rolled!)

Step 4. Resolve Combos

Combo effects are now resolved immediately in any order of your choosing. After being resolved, the dice used in the combo are moved to your shaman's energy pool.

Remember that combos with a ◊ symbol can be resolved later in the round before your next turn. Dice must remain on the combo spaces to remind you of this.

Dice lost as a result of combo effects must be removed from a player's board and placed in the central Monolith area of the table. The player losing the dice can choose which dice are removed (from the shaman's energy pool or in combos on the shaman's board).

Note: if dice must be removed from a ◊ combo that has not been used yet, the combo is automatically broken and can no longer be used.

Example: Fire successfully re-rolls an Earth symbol, completing the combo again which now can be resolved, so the Earth player must now lose 2 dice.

The next player (in clockwise order) moves any remaining dice left on combo spaces on their shaman board (including those in SHIELD) to their energy pool area, then begins their turn at Step 1.

Using Totems

Totems are powerful shamanic energy creations that support and protect the shamans during duels. They have a protective Energy Buff ability as well as providing an Energy Store of pulse tokens.

Pulse Tokens

Pulse tokens are one use effects that can modify or add to dice rolls (for example, to add an element symbol to a combo, heal a die immediately or force a die to be re-rolled). Once placed on a totem board face down, the player can look at the token at any time, but it cannot be moved to a different space on the totem board.

Pulse tokens can be used at any time (a player does not have to allocate any dice to the combo dice spaces next to the pulse token in order to use it). Once used, tokens are removed from the game and go back into the game box.

Example 3. Here is the FIRESTORM combo again but this time using a wild dice symbol that is copying a pulse token showing the Earth symbol. The combo is complete and can be activated.

Pulse token types:

• ELEMENTS - These tokens can be used instead of a die showing the same symbol. Wild dice can be anchored to these tokens.
• RESTORATION - This token allows a shaman to recover a single die from the Monolith immediately (and roll it).
• WINDS OF CHANGE - This token allows 1 die to be re-rolled immediately (either a shaman's own die or an opponent shaman's die).
• WILD PULSE - This token can be used to force a target shaman to re-roll 1 of their dice immediately.
• TOTEM BUFF - This token can cancel out a wild symbol. The die is placed immediately in the shaman's energy pool and cannot be used this turn. This can also be used by a shaman to stop a Wild Surge that they have just rolled.

Energy Buff

Totems can help protect a shaman from having to lose dice. When a shaman must lose one (or more) dice, the player can choose to discard 2 pulse tokens from their totem board instead of losing one (maximum) of those dice.

Energy Store

A shaman can recover pulse tokens on the totem board by using Energise. Other players can remove pulse tokens from a target shaman's totem board by using Burn.

Energise. Pulse tokens can be bought to fill empty totem spaces during a player's turn by placing dice in the corresponding combo spaces. New pulse tokens are drawn from the bag and placed face down as normal.

Burn. Pulse tokens can be removed from a target shaman's totem board during a player's turn by filling the combo spaces on the target shaman's totem board with dice. Pulse tokens removed in this way are removed from the game.

Note: A re-roll pulse token cannot be used on dice being used to burn that same re-roll token. The Burn happens first!

At the end of a player's turn, all dice on totem boards must return to the shaman player's energy pool area.

Recycle. When a Wild Surge occurs, all remaining pulse tokens on a totem board must immediately be recycled back into the bag. The player then randomly draws an equal number of new tokens, placing them back into the same locations as the previous tokens, face down.

Shaman Special Abilities

Water shaman. When the Water shaman uses the Heal action to get back a lost die, this recovered die is immediately re-rolled. If the die rolls the same symbol again, the Water shaman can claim back a second Water die from the Monolith immediately if available. The player can then use these dice as normal during their turn.

Fire shaman. The Fire shaman's ability is to have free energy already present in two combos (red coloured dice spaces). No dice or tokens need to be placed in these spaces. The HEAT SHEER combo (shown here) therefore only requires an Air symbol shown on a die or token to complete the combo.

Earth shaman. The Earth shaman gets free energy (green coloured space) in their SHIELD combo, as long as the player places a single die on the other SHIELD space (shown here). Placing 1 die therefore provides a defense of 2. If this die is lost or removed however, the SHIELD defense value drops to zero.

Air shaman. The Air shaman is allowed to re-roll one Air die an extra time for free during the shaman's turn. This re-roll can be at any time!

Using Avatars

We recommend playing a few games of Elemenz before adding in the Avatar tiles.

Setup. To set them up, shuffle all the tiles, then each player randomly draws two, placing them face down (effect hidden) near their play area. Any spare Avatars are then placed face up in 2 stacks in the Monolith area as a supply for all players. Players can look at their tiles at any time but cannot look through the Monolith stacks.

Avatar tiles work in a similar way to pulse tokens. They have single use effects that can aid a shaman to defeat their rivals.

Avatars cost a single die (showing the shaman's symbol) to purchase. The icons explaining each Avatar's function are on reference cards and also explained on page 16. A shaman can never have more than 3 Avatar tiles at once.

The reverse side shows the cost for another shaman to destroy a target shaman's Avatar. This requires a pair of matching dice showing the target shaman's symbol.

Avatar effects can be played at any time (even in another player's turn). When used, the Avatar tile is revealed and its effect immediately resolved.

Once an Avatar has been resolved (or destroyed by another shaman), the tile is placed face up in the central Monolith area of the table (not back onto a stack), so that an increasing number of Avatars will become available to all shamans as the game progresses.

Icon Functions (Shaman Boards)

• STRIKE one target shaman with 1, 2 or 3 attack dice.
• Recover 1 of your dice from the Monolith immediately and roll it.
• SHIELD provides a defense value of 1 or 2 against some shaman attacks.
• Re-roll 1 die of your choice (even another shaman's die).
• Remove 1 die from a target's SHIELD. The die goes to the shaman's energy pool.
• Target all shamans with an attack of power 2. This attack must overcome the target's SHIELD defense value.
• Adjacent shamans each lose 1 die. This combo ignores the defense value of any dice in the target's SHIELD and causes dice loss immediately.
• One target shaman loses 2 dice. This combo ignores the defense value of any dice in the target's SHIELD and causes dice loss immediately.
• WILD SURGE. Your turn immediately ends. You cannot use any combos this turn. All your dice go to your energy pool.
• Target all shamans with an attack of power 1. This attack must overcome the target's SHIELD defense value.

Avatar Abilities

• You choose which shaman adjacent to you becomes the new target of a combo (instead of you).
• Use this avatar to stop your shaman losing a single die.
• Flip one of your dice to another side of your choice.
• Flip a target shaman's die to a different side of your choice (not wild) during that shaman's turn.
• Recycle as many of your current pulse tokens as you like back into the bag, then draw and place an equal number of replacements.
• Temporarily take 1 die (of any colour) from the Monolith area at the start of your turn. Use it this turn, then give it back to the Monolith.
• After your 3rd roll, re-roll any dice showing your opposing symbol, for example Earth with Air, or Water with Fire.
• Mirror a combo effect that targets your shaman onto another shaman (you are also still affected by the result).

2 Player Game

The 2 player game uses many similar concepts to the 3-4 player game but is very different in gameplay. We highly recommend reading through the 3-4 player rules before starting these 2 player rules. In 2 player Elemenz, each shaman will attempt to control two complimentary elements in an energy tug-of-war to control the Monolith. The winner is the first player to completely energise the Monolith on their matching boards using energy dice.

Setup. Both players place two matching play boards (Air with Water, Fire with Earth) side by side in front of them so that the two halves of the Monolith image fit together. Each player draws 3 dice of each of their matching colours (e.g. 3 white and 3 blue for the Air/Water player) making 6 dice in total each. All other dice are placed in the centre of the table to form a central dice pool between the players.

The player who most recently visited a wild landscape becomes the first player.

Icon Functions (2 Player Game)

• Draw one die of the colour indicated from the central pool.
• All dice rolled showing a wild symbol must be placed here and cannot be used this turn.
• Either take a die of any colour from the pool, or place one of your opponent's dice back into the pool.
• Choose 1 die from your opponent's hand. Put this die aside - they cannot use it next turn.
• Steal 1 die of your choice from your opponent into your hand.
• Re-roll 1 of your dice (including wild) immediately.
• Remove 1 die locked in to your opponent's Monolith. The die goes back into their hand.
• You can re-roll up to 2 of your dice immediately.
• Unlock and re-roll up to 3 of your wild dice rolled this turn.
• Take 1 die of any colour from the central pool, use it during this turn, then return it to the pool.

Gameplay (2 Player)

The two player boards have two sections:

1. The combos that control the flow of energy dice during the game (boxed area).
2. The combos that allow the Monolith to be energised.

In your turn, roll all of your dice (up to 3 times) using them to complete as many useful combos as you can by placing them into the combo spaces. The colour of a die is not important except for when it is used in the special Monolith combos (see the Energising the Monolith section below).

Combos are immediately activated and resolved as soon as you have completed the combo. Combo effect icons and their meanings are explained on page 17. There is no limit to the number of completed combos a player can activate in a turn (for example a mixture of Monolith combos and combos from the box area).

Combos can only be used once each in your turn. Dice used to complete the combo must remain on the dice spaces of your shaman board until the end of your turn (to remind players that the combo has been used).

Example: A combo that gives a new Water dice has been completed on the 1st dice roll. The player takes a new Water dice from the pool and now can use it immediately this turn.

It is now the next player's turn to roll all their dice, except for those being used to energise the Monolith.

Energising the Monolith

The Monolith combos work just like other combos, except that the die used to cover the special Monolith space must remain there after the combo is completed. This is termed energising the Monolith.

A shaman player must be able to complete the combo, using the correct symbol and coloured die (e.g. the Water dice with the Water symbols shown here) to lock that die into the Monolith. The other dice are removed from the shaman boards at the end of the player's turn - ready to be re-used next turn.

Using Avatars (2 Player Game)

If you wish to use the Avatars in the 2 player game, all Avatar tiles without an (*) symbol are removed back to the box and will not be used in the game. The remaining 8 tiles are shuffled and 4 are dealt to each player face down, to hide their effects. Avatars function in the same way as they do in the multiplayer game (explained on page 14).

Wild Dice (2 Player Game)

The wild dice act differently in the two player game.

When rolled, any dice that show a wild symbol are temporarily removed from play (for this turn only)! They cannot be included in re-rolls unless the combo is used.

These dice come back to the player's hand for next turn unless they are lost to the pool.

Winning (2 Player Game)

The winner of the 2 player game is either the first shaman to energise the Monolith completely - by locking in all eight dice on their player board, or if an opponent shaman does not have enough energy dice to complete further combos on their Monolith.

3/4 Player Game Variant

For a more difficult multiplayer game, rolling the opposing symbols on all of a shaman's dice, also triggers a Wild Surge (in this example the Fire shaman rolling all Water symbols causes a Water Surge) ending the shaman's turn.