Onix Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Turn Sequence
  • 1. Choose and Retrieve
  • 2. Collect the Retrieved Gems
  • 3. Apply the Effect
    • Watch Out for These Rules
  • 4. Validate Your Collections
• End of Game and Victory
• Advanced Mode
• Summary

Components

• 104 cards (80 single-Gem cards and 24 double-Gem cards)
• 6 player aid cards
• 1 rulebook

In Onix, there are three types of Gem card stacks:

• The Draw Piles: there are 5 piles placed face-up in the center of the table.
• The Collections: these are placed in front of the player to whom they belong, and their number varies throughout the game.
• The Hoards: there is one Hoard per player. At the end of each player's turn, the cards from their completed Collections are placed face-down in the Hoard.

On the cards you'll find 4 Gems, recognizable by their color and shape. Each has its own effect, as explained on page 8:

Circle	Square	Diamond	Cross
Draw	Hoard	Steal	Destroy

Setup

1. Each player places 4 face-up Single-Gem cards in front of them, each with a different Gem on it, forming 4 stacks of one card each.
2. Leave a space next to each player's Collections for their Hoard. Shuffle the remaining Gem cards and create 5 Draw Piles of roughly equal size. Then arrange the Piles, face-up, in a circle in the center of the table. The space in the middle will serve as the discard area (A).
3. Rocky or Jade starts. Otherwise, pick anyone as the first player.
4. Hand out player-aid cards if necessary.

Turn Sequence

Beginning with the starting player, you will play in turn, following these steps in order:

1. Choose a visible Gem on the Piles, then collect one or more cards bearing that Gem.
2. Collect these Gems to form or expand your Collections.
3. Apply the effect associated with the chosen Gem.
4. Validate completed Collections to accumulate cards in your Hoard.

When you've completed all these steps, the person to your left starts their turn. Turns follow clockwise until a certain number of Piles are empty (see End of Game). The player with the most cards in their Hoard is the winner.

1. Choose and Retrieve

At the beginning of your turn, choose a Gem from those visible on the cards at the top of the Draw Piles and announce it aloud (e.g., "I'll take the Cross!"). Then, you must retrieve a card with at least that Gem from the top of a Draw Pile.

Important: If other cards with at least that Gem are linked to the card that was taken, you must also take them. Cards are linked when they are adjacent to one another and show the same Gem.

Example: Jade has 3 options (the diagram on the source page shows the five-pile layout with the cards labelled A, B and C):

• A. Choose the Diamond Gem, announce it, and take the Diamond/Circle double-Gem card.
• B. Choose the Circle Gem, announce it, and either take the Circle/Cross double-Gem card alone, as it is not linked to any other Circle card, OR take both the Circle single-Gem card and the Diamond/Circle double-Gem card that are linked.
• C. Choose the Cross Gem, announce it, and take the 2 Cross single-Gem cards and the Circle/Cross card that are linked.

Note: In this configuration, Jade cannot choose the Square Gem as it is not visible.

2. Collect the Retrieved Gems

The cards retrieved in step 1 must be placed, face up, in your Collections. Place the retrieved cards according to the following rules:

• There cannot be 2 identical Gems in the same Collection.
• Each retrieved card must be placed on an existing Collection or next to existing Collections to create a new Collection.
• All Gems in a Collection must remain visible.

There is no limit to the number of Collections in front of you. Once placed in your Collections, cards cannot be moved or rearranged.

Example: During step 1, Jade picked Option C: "Choose the Cross." Jade has a few cards in her Hoard and 4 Collections. Two of them (1 and 2) already have a Cross, so Jade cannot place any card containing a Cross. Moreover, her 4th Collection has a Circle, so she cannot place the double-Gem card she retrieved. Jade chooses to place the double-Gem card on her 3rd Collection, one of the single-Gem cards on the 4th Collection, and to create a new 5th Collection with the remaining single-Gem card.

3. Apply the Effect

Apply only once the effect of the Gem chosen during step 1.

• DRAW: Take a single card from the top of a Draw Pile and place it on one of your Collections, or create a new Collection.
• HOARD: Take a single card from the top of a Draw Pile and place it face down in your Hoard.
• STEAL: Take a single top card from an opponent's Collection and place it on one of your Collections, or create a new Collection.
• DESTROY: Take a single top card from an opponent's Collection and discard it by placing it face down in the middle of the circle formed by the Draw Piles.

Watch Out for These Rules

• Even if you retrieve double-Gem cards, only apply the effect of the chosen Gem in step 1.
• The effect of a Gem is applied only once, regardless of the number of Gems retrieved during step 1.
• Taking a card through an effect does not allow you to take the cards linked to it.
• Taking a card through an effect does not trigger the effect of its Gem(s).

Example: During Step 1, Jade picked Option C "Choose the Cross." She then retrieved 3 cards and now applies only once the Destroy effect. Jade has a choice between 3 of Rocky's cards. She decides to destroy the single-Gem Cross card. She then discards this card face down in the middle of the Draw Pile circle.

4. Validate Your Collections

If one or more of your Collections has the 4 Gems (Circle, Square, Diamond and Cross), these Collections are now completed. Place the cards from each completed Collection face down in your Hoard.

Note: Depending on the number of single-Gem and double-Gem cards in it, a completed Collection can contain 2 to 4 cards.

Example: Jade has completed her 3rd and 4th Collections in the previous steps. She must take all the cards of these 2 Collections and place them, face down, in her Hoard. Jade has now 3 incomplete Collections left and 6 more cards in her Hoard!

End of Game and Victory

In a 2- to 4-player game, the game immediately ends when one Draw Pile is empty at the end of a turn. In a 5- and 6-player game, the game immediately ends when two Draw Piles are empty.

Note: In a 5- to 6-player game, when the first Draw Pile is empty, reform the circle with the remaining 4 Draw Piles.

Each player counts the number of cards placed in their Hoard. The person with the most cards in their Hoard wins the game. In case of a tie, the person with the least Gems in their incomplete Collections wins.

Advanced Mode

In the Advanced Mode, there are 2 ways to win the game:

• At the end of a turn, if a person has no more Gems in their Collections, they immediately win the game.
• However, if one Draw Pile (in a 2- to 4-player game) or 2 Draw Piles (in a 5- to 6-player game) are empty at the end of a turn, then the game ends and the player with the most cards in their Hoard wins the game.

What will be your strategy?

Summary

During your turn:

1. Choose a visible Gem from the Piles and take a card containing that Gem, along with all the cards linked to it and having that Gem.
2. Place the retrieved card(s) in front of you in your Collections. Note: Never have the same Gem twice in a Collection.
3. Apply the chosen Gem's effect only once:
   • DRAW: Take a card from a Draw Pile and add it to your Collections.
   • HOARD: Take a card from a Draw Pile and place it in your Hoard.
   • STEAL: Take a top card from an opponent's Collection and add it to your Collections.
   • DESTROY: Take a top card from an opponent's Collection and discard it.
4. Put your completed Collections in your Hoard.

End of the game: 2-4 players: one empty Pile. 5-6 players: two empty Piles. The person with the most cards in their Hoard wins the game.

Transcriber's notes: The printed components line reads "et" between the two card counts; it is read here as "and". The printed Advanced Mode line reads "cartes"; it is rendered as "cards". The printed heading "Exemple" is rendered as "Example". The Gem icons are graphics in the source and are given here as the Gem names.