Feast & Famine Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Feast
  • Game setup
  • Objective
  • Game play
  • Game end
• Famine
  • Game setup
  • Objective
  • Game play
  • Game end
• The House of Israel

Feast

Game setup

• Place the game board and player boards Feast side up (see example A).
• Place the Pharaoh statue on the year 1 marker (see example B).
• Place each player's statue on the labor point box marked six (see example A). (These are the first 6 labor points you will spend.)
• Place all the food tiles in the bag and mix them up.
• Draw 7 food tiles from the bag and place them on the Feast game board in a random order (see example C).

Objective

To earn the most Pharaoh's Medallions.

Game play

Each player has 1 turn per round; game play is clockwise from the first player. Each round represents 1 year of plenty during which Joseph's officers (players) prepare for the impending famine. There are 7 rounds in the Feast game.

When it is their turn, the players may spend their labor points to gather the food on the Feast game board. Players move their statue along the labor point boxes as they spend their labor points. The rates for the food tiles are as follows:

• 1 labor point to gather ALL the oil on the board.
• 2 labor points to gather ALL the water on the board.
• 3 labor points to gather ALL the wheat on the board.
• 4 labor points to gather ALL the corn on the board.
• 5 labor points to gather ALL the fish on the board.
• 6 labor points to gather ALL the cows on the board.

The Pharaoh statue moves one space at the beginning of each round on a tour of Egypt. He offers discounts on the fields he visits. The food item in the same section as the Pharaoh is discounted by 1 labor point. For example, if a fish tile fills the space in the Pharaoh's section, then ALL the fish can be gathered for 4 labor points instead of the traditional rate of 5 labor points. If an oil tile lands in the Pharaoh's section, ALL the oil on the board is free.

Each player gathers food from the game board and stores it on his or her player board in preparation for the famine (see example D).

Every time a player gathers food tiles from the game board, another player must replace them with new food tiles drawn randomly from the bag. The first player may then choose to gather additional food tiles.

A player's turn is over when he or she is no longer able to, or chooses not to, gather food. Players may gather more than one type of food on their turn, or they may save their labor points for the next round.

Return any excess food tiles that cannot be stored on the player board to the bag (for example, if a player gathers 3 fish, but only has room for 2, the remaining fish is returned to the bag).

At the end of the round, advance the Pharaoh statue one space (marking the beginning of the next year and applying the discount to a new field). All players add 6 more labor points to their total; players move their statue to their new point total box. They also receive 1 labor point for every Medallion they have earned. Labor points may never exceed 13.

The Pharaoh awards players for successfully preparing for the upcoming famine by bestowing Medallions. Pharaoh's Medallions are awarded in 2 ways:

1. Players receive 1 Medallion every time they fill a vertical column of food on the player board; this Medallion is placed above the completed column (see example E).
2. Players receive 1 Medallion every time they fill a horizontal row of food on the player board; this Medallion is placed to the right side of the row (see example E).

Game end

If you are only playing the Feast side of the board, the game is over after 7 rounds (representing 7 years). The player who has collected the most Pharaoh's Medallions wins. If there is a tie, the winner is the player with the most cattle. If there is still a tie, the winner is the player with the most fish, and on down the list of supplies until the tie is broken.

If you choose to continue the game and play the Famine side of the board, all players must keep the Pharaoh's Medallions they have earned after 7 rounds of play to use to survive the famine. Return all food tiles to the bag.

Famine

"Jacob said unto his sons . . . Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die" (Genesis 42:1–2).

Game setup

• Place the game board and players' boards Famine side up.
• Shuffle the character cards and deal 7 cards face down around the perimeter of the game board (see example F).
• If you are playing only the Famine side of the board, each player starts with 6 Pharaoh's Medallions; otherwise, each player starts with the number of Pharaoh's Medallions they earned during the Feast game.

Objective

To collect the most points for rescuing the House of Israel from the famine.

Game play

The House of Israel cards are divided into 4 colored groups according to Jacob's wives and their handmaids: Leah (blue), Rachel (red), Bilhah (brown), and Zilpah (green). These cards represent the individuals from Joseph's family that players are trying to rescue.

The first player selects a group of cards to bid for by placing the Pharaoh statue on one of the cards (for example, to bid on all the green cards in play, a player would place the Pharaoh's statue on one of the green cards). This player's statue is then placed on the game board to indicate the number of Pharaoh's Medallions (0–6) he or she would like to bid for the selected group of cards.

The next player can either raise the bid by placing his or her statue on the game board or pass. If a player passes then that player may no longer bid on those cards. This process continues until all players but one have passed on the cards. The player who has won the bid turns in the Pharaoh's Medallions and collects the cards. Do not reveal the point values. Deal additional cards face down around the perimeter of the board to return the total to seven.

The second player then selects a group and starts the bidding. This process continues in a clockwise rotation until there are no remaining cards in the deck and there are no remaining cards around the board.

If a player runs out of Pharaoh's Medallions, he or she can still select groups of cards and bid 0 Pharaoh's Medallions for them.

All 4 card groups contain 1 Pharaoh's Medallion. These Medallions remain hidden in the player's hand until played. This offers an advantage, as players can never know what the top bid will be.

Game end

Once all of the character cards have been awarded, the players reveal their cards and add up their points. Unused Pharaoh's Medallions are worth 1 point each. If there is a tie, the winner is the player with the card with the highest point value.

The House of Israel

Jacob (Israel) (1 point): The father of the House of Israel.

Reuben (1 point): Jacob's first son, born of Leah. He is often symbolized by a mandrake, man, and water.

Simeon (2 points): Jacob's second son, born of Leah. He is often symbolized by a sword.

Levi (3 points): Jacob's thrid son, born of Leah. He is often symbolized by the breastplate known as the Ephod that was worn by Aaron.

Judah (4 points): Jacob's fourth son, born of Leah. He is often symbolized by one or three lions. Jesus Christ was born of Judah's line.

Dan (5 points): Jacob's fifth son, born of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid. Dan is often symbolized by the scales of justice, a serpent, or a horse.

Naphtali (6 points): Jacob's sixth son, born of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid. Naphtali is often symbolized by a gazelle or stag.

Gad (7 points): Jacob's seventh son, born of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid. Gad is often symbolized by a troop or soldier.

Asher (8 points): Jacob's eighth son, born of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid. Asher is often symbolized by an olive tree.

Issachar (9 points): Jacob's ninth son, born of Leah. He is often symbolized by the sun and stars.

Zebulun (10 points): Jacob's tenth son, born of Leah. He is often symbolized by a ship.

Joseph: Jacob's eleventh son, born of Rachel. He is often symbolized by a reed.

Benjamin (12 points): Jacob's twelfth son, born of Rachel. He is often symbolized by a wolf.

Leah (1 point): Jacob's first wife and the mother of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah. Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah after working 7 years to marry Leah's sister, Rachel. Leah spent her life trying to win the love of Jacob by bearing him sons.

Rachel (1 point): Jacob's second, and favorite, wife. She is the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. After marrying Leah, Jacob had to work an additional 7 years in order to marry Rachel.

Bilhah (1 point): Rachel's handmaid. When Rachel thought she could not bear sons for Jacob, she gave him her handmaid. Bilhah is the mother of Dan and Naphtali.

Zilpah (1 point): Leah's handmaid. Leah gave Zilpah to Jacob so he could have more sons. Zilpah is the mother of Gad and Asher.

Dinah (1 point): Daughter of Jacob and Leah. After she was defiled, two of Dinah's older brothers—Simeon and Levi—avenged her by slaying an entire city of men.