Numeracy Legends and The Rainbow Unicorn
Numeracy Legends and The Rainbow Unicorn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Numeracy Kingdom Landmarks
- Secret Forest - Also known as the "Heart of The Kingdom." Within the forest live elfies and unicorns. People claim that they even encounter Rainbow Unicorn sometimes!
- Colorful Desert - The place where the best ice cream of the kingdom is produced. At first sight, the desert may seem barren; with a closer look, there are numerous creatures living inside.
- Castle Gluttony - On the far, far west side of the kingdom is a castle standing on the top of Mt. Gluttony, where legend has it that a mysterious dragon watches from above.
Components
- Adventure Map
- Figures x5 (Caution: Don't pull off after inserting.)
- Modes of Transportation
- Secret Ingredients
- Cupcake
- Timer
Map Setup
The map is laid out as follows:
- a. Routes: Including land routes, sea routes, ladders and so on. See the appendix for further information.
- b. Road Signs: There is a road sign on each route, indicating the transportation modes required to pass through the route.
- c. Magic Circle: The destination of the game.
- d. Game Space: Each game space corresponds to one type of ingredient. In the basic game, the number of each type of ingredient is equal to the number of players.
- e. Transportation Grids and Token Placement: Place the same type of transportation tokens below the map; transportation grids are used for advanced rules.
Basic Rules
Game Object
Players can randomly pick game spaces as their starting points. The first player to collect 5 ingredients and head to the magic circle will become the Hero of Secret Forest.
Starting the Game
- Set up the map according to the map setup section above.
- Pick a hero figure of your choice, then decide the playing order.
- Choose a game space as the starting point, collect its ingredient, and draw 2 modes of transportation at will.
- Place Rainbow Unicorn and a cupcake at the magic circle.
Playing the Game
Each turn, players can choose from one of the following actions:
-
Draw a Mode of Transportation: Each turn, players can stay put and draw 2 transportation tokens. Players can possess at most 7 tokens at the end of their turn, so they must return some tokens if they have more than 7 pieces.
Reminder: If a particular mode is all gone, then you cannot draw it for now.
-
Move: If players choose not to draw transportation tokens, they can move to adjacent game spaces and collect the ingredients on the space they end upon. Upon moving, players are required to pay the amount of transportation tokens shown on the road sign.
Note: For each player, each type of ingredient can only be collected once. Repeated routes are allowed, but the player can only collect at most one piece of each ingredient.
In some cases, players might want to move faster between spaces. A player can move more than one space per turn with the cost of all transportation tokens shown on road signs along the way. Only the ingredients on the end point can be collected.
Ending the Game
In the basic rules, the first player who collects 5 ingredients and moves to the magic circle wins the game. The cupcake is given as a trophy.
Advanced Rules
Already familiar with the basic rules? Add the following advanced rules to experience the full game of Numeracy Legends and the Rainbow Unicorn!
Supersized Cupcakes
Collecting just 5 ingredients to make cupcakes is a piece of cake! Try collecting 7 or 10 ingredients before ending the game. See how challenging the game becomes!
Food Crisis
Even the Secret Forest has days of food crisis. To play this advanced rule, the number of each ingredient is one piece less than the number of players. For instance, in a 3-player game, there are only 2 pieces per ingredient.
Note: For a two-player game, Food Crisis cannot be played with, or there might be no winner.
Traffic Jam
Transportation tokens are in a mess! Put all tokens inside the bag, and randomly draw 5 of them to place on the transportation grid. Players can only choose from the ones on the grid when drawing transportation tokens, and randomly draw tokens from the bag to fill empty grids.
Ancient Timer
Use the timer to record the number of turns played in the game. Players can use the timer to keep track of their performance in each game. Challenge yourself for the best route solution!
How to use: Hold the upper plate and spin the lower plate to change the tens digits. Hold the upper and lower plates and spin the handle to change the unit digit.
Hero Skills
All heroes can add unique skills to assist them in the game. Use the skills wisely, and become the Hero of Secret Forest.
- Teleport (Bean): Within a game, Bean can use the Teleport skill once, moving instantly from one space to another without a cost of any transportation.
- Agility (Julia): In each of her turns, Julia can exchange any 3 of her transportation tokens for any 2 of the transportation tokens on the map. Using the skill doesn't count as an action, so she can still draw transportation tokens or move in her turn.
- Stability (Jack): In each of his turns, Jack can exchange any 2 of his transportation tokens for any 1 of the transportation tokens on the map. Using the skill doesn't count as an action, so he can still draw transportation tokens or move in his turn.
- Summon (Fluffy): Fluffy comes with a permanent unicorn that will never be consumed when used. Also, this unicorn doesn't count for the token limit.
Appendix
Routes & Paths
It is quite easy to get lost in the Secret Forest. Recognizing all the routes and paths will help you find the best way to walk through!
The route types shown in the appendix are:
- Roads
- Bridges
- Piers
- Ladders
- Sea Routes
The appendix also shows the map with all routes revealed.
Check It Out: A Journey of Graph Theory
In the Rainbow Unicorn game, players are challenged to be the first in collecting ingredients. In fact, the process of "being efficient" is an application of a math domain known as "graph theory."
Game Analysis
Route Optimization: If players want to finish first, they should avoid walking on repeated spaces. Also, they should finish collecting ingredients right next to the magic circle to avoid detours.
Route Costs: Players have to pay a certain amount of tokens as they pass through routes. This concept of payment corresponds to real life costs of traveling, such as time, distance, and funding.
Graph Theory Applications
Seemingly profound, graph theory is actually used broadly in our everyday lives. How logistics and post systems are built up and how the Internet is connected from terminal to terminal depend greatly on graph theory.
Caption on the subway map illustration: How to transit efficiently within a complicated subway system is a graph theory problem.