Kheops Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Instant Actions
• Other Tile Symbols
• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Step 1: Place a Pawn
  • Step 2: Place a Tile and Draw a Tile
• Endgame
  • A) The Curse
  • B) Ankhs
  • C) Fragments
  • D) Ownership
  • E) Network Scoring

Instant Actions

Many of the pyramid tiles feature these instant actions. (Instant actions are recognizable because their symbols are circular.) When you place a pawn on such a tile, you must perform the action's power.

Pivot Corridor: Select any corridor tile in the pyramid and rotate it to the orientation of your choice.

Pivot Room: Select any room tile in the pyramid and rotate it to the orientation of your choice.

You may not select a tile that has your opponent's Priest or Pharaoh pawn on it. You may select the tile where you just placed a pawn. Any rotation is legitimate; openings are permitted to run into solid walls and do not need to "match up" with openings of adjacent tiles. The tile must end up in a different orientation than it started.

Swap Pawns: Select any one of your own pawns (even the one you just placed, if you want), and one of your opponent's pawns (workers or mummy only), and swap their positions. Any instant actions on the tiles are not triggered.

Move: Move one of your own pawns to any other unoccupied tile. This movement does not trigger an instant action on the new tile, if it has one. You may not move the pawn you just placed.

Other Tile Symbols

Closed: No pawn may be placed on this tile or moved to it by any other action.

Doubler: A pawn placed on this tile counts as two pawns for the calculation of majority in its network. (Note: The Pharaoh counts only as two pawns here, not as four pawns.)

Ankh: At endgame, each player scores points equal to the square (total multiplied by itself) of Ankhs that he or she covers, regardless of which networks they are in. Ankhs in cursed networks are not counted.

Cursed! The network linked to this tile awards no points. Ankhs in this network are not counted.

Sarcophagi: There are three pairs of sarcophagi (orange, green, and purple). At endgame, networks containing sarcophagi will score points as described:

• Exactly one sarcophagus: 5 points.
• Both sarcophagi of the same color (a pair) and no other sarcophagi: 15 points.
• Any mismatched sarcophagi (different colors): 0 points.

Object of the Game

Players take turns placing tiles to build the great pyramid. When construction of the pyramid is complete, scores are tallied. The player with the most points wins!

Components

50 Pyramid Tiles: representing the rooms and corridors of the great pyramid. Tiles with a circular area in the middle are called rooms. Tiles without that circular area are called corridors. Spots where a room or corridor touches the tile edge are called openings.

6 Frame Sections: which you will assemble jigsaw-style to make the border of the pyramid.

18 Red Pawns & 18 White Pawns: which you will place in the pyramid during the game in the effort to control tunnel networks. Certain pawn types have special powers, explained in detail later in the rulebook.

• Red: 16 workers, 1 priest, 1 mummy.
• White: 15 workers, 1 priest, 1 mummy, 1 Pharaoh.

Score Pad: to tally player points at the end of the game. (You will need a pencil.)

Setup

1. Decide who will play Red and who will play White.
   • Red will have the advantage of going last.
   • White will have the advantage of the unique Pharaoh pawn.
2. Each player takes all of the wooden pieces in their color.
3. Shuffle the 50 tiles and create a few face-down stacks. (Stack height and number of stacks doesn't matter; whatever is convenient.)
4. Assemble the pyramid frame by locking the pieces together jigsaw-style. The grey corner is considered the top of the pyramid.
5. Draw 19 random tiles from the stacks and place them face up in the frame, in the locations shown in the example. (Of course the specific tiles will be different from the ones seen in the example.) Do not pay attention to the orientation of each tile; just try to lay them out without noticing that, for now.
6. Each player draws three tiles from the stacks to make up their starting hand. (Players keep their hand of tiles secret from each other.)

Quick Setup (follow the numbers):

1. Decide who is playing which color.
2. Take your pieces.
3. Make tile stacks.
4. Build the frame.
5. Place 19 random tiles in the frame as shown.
6. Draw 3 tiles per player.

Gameplay

White goes first, then the players alternate turns until the game ends. Each player's turn has two steps:

Step 1: Place a Pawn

Place one of your pawns on an unoccupied tile already in the pyramid. A tile is unoccupied if there is no other pawn already on it. You may not place a pawn on any tile that features the closed symbol. If the tile has an Instant Action symbol on it, you must immediately perform the action associated with that symbol. See the list of Instant Actions on the last page.

Example: It is Red's turn. Red places a worker on the tile shown; it has a Pivot Room instant action on it. Red picks a Room tile nearby and rotates it so that it connects to the network... for now at least!

In addition to their many workers, each player has some special pawns that behave a little differently:

Workers: Workers have no special rules or powers.

Mummies: You may play your mummy as if it were a normal worker, or you may replace one of your opponent's workers. Remove the replaced worker from the game. A room's instant action is activated when the mummy replaces an opposing worker.

Priests: Play your priest like a normal worker, but only after your mummy has been put into play. Your opponent may not move or displace your priest by any means, and may not pivot the tile your priest occupies. You are permitted to use instant actions to move or displace your own priest, or to pivot your own priest's tile.

Pharaoh: You only have a Pharaoh token if you are the White player. Treat the Pharaoh exactly like a priest, with the added advantage that your Pharaoh counts as two pawns when determining control of a network during Endgame.

Step 2: Place a Tile and Draw a Tile

Choose one of the three tiles in your hand and place it face up in the frame to construct the pyramid.

• The tile must be placed so that at least one long side adjoins a tile that is already in the pyramid; any location in the pyramid is legitimate as long as that rule is followed.
• You may orient the new tile however you like. Any rotation is legitimate; openings are permitted to run into solid walls and you do not need to "match up" the openings to those on adjacent tiles.

Then, draw another tile from any draw stack to end your turn. Play passes to your opponent.

Example: It is still Red's turn. Red holds the three tiles shown. Any of the spots highlighted in green here are legitimate places where he could place his tile.

Example: He decides to play the tile with the orange sarcophagus into the spot shown... and he makes sure to orient it so that it connects to the network his worker occupies... Maybe later he will be able to rotate the other orange sarcophagus tile to join the network!

Endgame

When all the tiles in the draw piles have run out, players continue to play using the tiles in their hands. (Obviously they will skip the Draw a Tile portion of their turns.) The game ends once the final tile has been placed in the pyramid frame, filling the last available empty space. (This will be placed by Red; White will still have a tile in hand.) The final tally then takes place!

Points are earned in two ways; Ankh symbols and networks. A network exists when at least two tiles are connected by openings. An isolated tile unconnected by openings to any other tile is called a fragment and does not count as a network, even if it is occupied.

A) The Curse

Remove all pawns from any network or fragment that includes the Curse symbol.

Example: These pawns are all in a Cursed network; they are removed.

B) Ankhs

Each player earns points equal to the number of Ankhs their own pawns cover, multiplied by itself. For example a player covering 3 Ankhs would earn (3 × 3) 9 points. Record these points on the score pad.

Example: The bright blue outlines show pawns on Ankh tiles. Red has two, so earns (2 x 2) 4 points. White has three, so earns (3 x 3) 9 points.

C) Fragments

Remove any pawn that is on a fragment. (Note that this happens after Ankh scoring.)

Example: The bright yellow outlines show pawns on fragments; they are removed.

D) Ownership

Determine ownership for each network. This is the player who has more pawns occupying the tiles of that network. Remember to count pawns on doubler tiles as two pawns, and the Pharaoh as two pawns. As ownership is determined for each, remove all pawns from the network except one pawn of the owner, which you should lay flat—this will help you remember which networks have been checked. (If there is a tie for ownership of a network, remove all pawns there; it will score nothing.)

Example: For this sample network, Red has two pawns (one worker and one priest), and so does White... but one of White's workers is on a doubler so counts as two! White is the owner! All pawns are removed except for one White one, which is laid flat.

E) Network Scoring

Score each network independently. Use the score pad to record each network's score as you go. To score a network, use the following process in this order:

1. Count the room tiles in the network. (Corridor tiles don't count.) This is the base score.
2. Add 5 points if there is exactly one sarcophagus in the network.
3. Add 15 points if there is a matching pair of sarcophagi in the network and no other sarcophagi.
4. Add 5 points if the network includes the top tile of the pyramid.
5. Add 5 points if the network is the biggest (comprised of the greatest number of tiles, including corridors) in the pyramid, or is tied for biggest in the pyramid.
6. If the network is closed (that is, if it has no openings that lead to the frame of the pyramid), then double its score.

Remove the owner's pawn from the network once you have scored it—this will help you remember which networks have been scored.

Example: After all is said and done, we are left with five occupied networks to score.

• Base score: (1 room) 1 pt. Top tile in the pyramid: +5 pts. Closed network: score x2. Final network value: 12 pts! Note that it gets no points for sarcophagi since it contains more than one color.
• Base score: (3 rooms) 3 pts. One sarcophagus: +5 pts. Final network value: 8 pts! Note that it has openings leading to the frame, so it's not a closed network.
• Base score: (2 rooms) 2 pts. Final network value: 2 pts!
• Base score: (6 rooms) 6 pts. Biggest network: +5 pts. Closed network: score x2. Final network value: 22 pts!
• Base score: (4 rooms) 4 pts. Pair of sarcophagi: +15 pts. Closed network: score x2. Final network value: 38 pts!

So all things considered, Red's final score is 4 (from Ankhs) + 38 + 2 (from networks) for a total of 44 points! White's final score is 9 (from Ankhs) +12 + 8 +22 (from networks) for a total of 51 points! White wins!

When all networks have been scored, the player with the highest total score is declared the winner and becomes the Pharaoh's Grand Architect. His rival is fed to the crocodiles.