Ominoes
Ominoes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Set-Up
- The Gods
- Aim
- Playing Ominoes
- Ominoe Movement That Is Not Allowed
- Scoring Groups of Ominoes
- The Last Ominoe
- Winning at Ominoes
- Playing Ominoes with 3 Players
- Scoring in a 3-Player Game
- Winning in a 3-Player Game of Ominoes
- The 'Expert' Version
- Playing Ominoes with 2 Players
- Scoring Groups in a 2-Player Game
- Winning in a 2-Player Game of Ominoes
Set-Up
Place the board between the players. Choose which side to play. The board with 3 camels is for 3-4 players, the 2 camel side is for 2 players - but you can choose your favourite.
Place the Ominoes where everyone can reach them.
Put the score tokens on the start of the score track.
The corner symbol nearest each player is the favoured God they will be collecting.
The player who most looks like an Egyptian God starts.
Each player takes 2 Ominoes and places them on the board - face up with their own colour showing - anywhere they wish. Then, in turn, each player takes another Ominoe and rolls it. Place that Ominoe anywhere on the board keeping the rolled face showing - it could be any of the six faces.
You are now ready to begin playing Ominoes.
The Gods
- Horus - the green falcon
- Apep - the red snake
- Yay-Ra - the mover
- Ra - the yellow sun
- Khepri - the blue scarab
- Ominotep - the black serpent
Aim
Players collect their favoured gods - Horus, Ra, Apep or Khepri - in groups to earn points. They can call upon Yay-Ra and Ominotep for assistance.
But beware, others will stand in your way and block your every move.
Can you be the first to reach the Sacred Number and win?
Example - The start of a 4-player game
Each player has three Ominoes on the board. Alan is playing yellow, Becky is playing red, Charlie is playing blue and Dave is playing green.
(1) Alan rolls an Ominoe. Alan rolls a red snake.
(2) Alan moves an Ominoe. He moves Becky's red snake 3 spaces.
(3) Alan adds the rolled Ominoe. Now he places the Ominoe (1) red snake face up on the board.
Playing Ominoes
In turn each player will take three actions in this order.
- Roll an Ominoe
- Move an Ominoe
- Add an Ominoe
1) Roll an Ominoe
Take one Ominoe that is not on the board and roll it. The face it shows uppermost tells you what to move next. There are 4 choices.
2) Move an Ominoe
a) If the newly rolled Ominoe shows a colour, then move any one matching this colour. Move the chosen Ominoe EXACTLY 3 spaces in any direction. Movement cannot be diagonal, over another Ominoe, or forward and back using the same space twice.
b) If the newly rolled Ominoe shows Yay-Ra the mover, move ANY Ominoe already on the board 3 spaces as above.
c) If the newly rolled Ominoe shows Ominotep the black serpent choose an Ominoe on the board, reroll it and return it to the space it came from.
d) If the newly rolled Ominoe shows a colour that is not on the board skip to step 3) Add an Ominoe.
3) Add an Ominoe
Put the newly rolled Ominoe on the board into an empty space. Play moves to the next player.
Ominoe Movement That Is Not Allowed
Movement cannot be diagonal. An Ominoe cannot jump over another Ominoe, and it cannot move forward and back using the same space twice.
Scoring Groups of Ominoes
Once you have made a group of 4 OR MORE of your own Ominoes in your turn you can earn points.
a) Grouped Ominoes must be touching face to face - corner to corner (diagonal) does not count. Diagonal Ominoes do not count as part of a group.
b) Groups can contain 'wild cards'. Yay-Ra and Ominotep can be counted as ANY COLOUR and may form part of a group.
To score a group of your Ominoes, remove the group you are scoring from the board. Move that player's token up the score track the number of Ominoes moved. A Group of 5 Ominoes gives 5 points. A Group of 6 gives 6 points etc. Place these Ominoes where everyone can reach them in their turn.
NB If there is a group of your colour on the board, you can only score it on your turn. If it lasts that long...
Example
Alan scores 4 points. The diagonal yellow does not count.
Example
Dave (green) scores 6 for this by taking the black 'wild' Ominoes too.
The Last Ominoe
Sometimes a player rolls the last Ominoe. Don't panic, the game isn't over. The last Ominoe is simply not added to the board unless this allows the active player to score by adding the last Ominoe. Otherwise players roll and move until a group of Ominoes is scored and come off the board. Play now returns to normal.
Winning at Ominoes
In a 4 or 3 player game the first player to score 13 points wins.
In a 2-player game the winner needs to get 21 points to win.
Playing Ominoes with 3 Players
In a 3-player game all the normal rules apply but there is one major change. Each player is now collecting 2 colours - their own as well as a common shared colour.
Example
In this 3-player game any player making a group of 4 OR MORE green falcons in their turn can score them as their own points.
Alan is collecting yellow and green.
Becky is collecting red and green.
Charlie is collecting blue and green.
Scoring in a 3-Player Game
In their turn a player can score their own colour OR the shared colour (green). Colours cannot be mixed.
The 'wild' Ominoes - Yay-Ra and Ominotep can be used as any colour. So, for example, Becky can score groups of red or green.
Example
Becky couldn't score from this group. But rerolling the falcon using Ominotep could give a red snake, or any of the 'wild' cards to score.
Winning in a 3-Player Game of Ominoes
The winner is the first player to score 13 points.
The 'Expert' Version
To add a little more strategy and to block other players a little more the 'Expert' level does not use the central 'snake pit'. This works with 2, 3 and 4 players. All other rules are as normal.
Do not enter the snake pit in the 'Expert' level.
Playing Ominoes with 2 Players
For 2 players all the normal rules apply but with one major change. Each player is now collecting 3 colours - their own as well as 2 shared common colours.
Example
In this 2-player game any player making a group of 4 OR MORE green falcons OR red snakes can score them as their own points.
Alan is now collecting yellow, green and red.
Charlie is collecting blue, green and red.
Scoring Groups in a 2-Player Game
In their turn a player can score their own colour OR either of the shared colours (green and blue). Colours cannot be mixed.
The 'wild' Ominoes - Yay-Ra and Ominotep can be used as any colour.
Winning in a 2-Player Game of Ominoes
The winner is the first player to score 21 points.