ORC
ORC Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
30 Cards.
There are 6 Colors/Territories in the game. Each card has 2 Territories, with 2 Orcs in 1 Territory and 2 in the other.
3 Cards will be used to establish the "Battle line" of 6 Territories.
The remaining Cards will be used as Orcs to fight in battles and will be played using one end of the card, or the other.
Setup
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Choose a dealer to perform the remaining setup steps.
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Search the deck and randomly pull out 3 cards that contain ALL 6 "Territories" (colors). Create the "Battle line" by randomly placing the 3 cards in a line between both players, leaving space between the cards.
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Shuffle the remaining cards (face down) and deal out "Stockpiles" of 4 cards (face down) to each space on either side of each of the Territories in the Battle line. There should be 6 stacks of 4 cards each, with 3 cards leftover.
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The Non-Dealer player chooses 1 of the 2 following options:
- A. Draw 1 of the 3 remaining cards and take the first turn.
- B. Draw 2 of the 3 remaining cards and take the second turn.
Whatever his choice, the Dealer must choose the remaining option.
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Place the ORC Game Box to one side of the game setup.
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Finally, the player that drew 1 card in Step 4, takes the first turn.
Sample Setup
Six Territories with Stockpiles (of 4 cards each), a Battle line in the middle, and the ORC Box at one end, with Player A seated across from Player B.
In this game, Red, Yellow and Blue Territories will reward 1 point to the victor of each battle, respectively. White, Green and Purple will each reward 2 points.
Playing the Game
ORC is a short game consisting of 6 battles. A Territory battle occurs immediately after the Stockpile next to a Territory is exhausted. Then, players total their deployed Orcs at that Territory, and a victor will be declared. Orcs that fight in battle will not score points, they only help conquer Territories. Scoring occurs at the end of the game, when all Stockpiles have been exhausted. The player who conquers the most valuable Territories and holds native Orcs in their hand (matching those lands), is the winner!
Game Turn
On your turn, you must perform the following actions in order:
1. Deploy Orcs
Play 1 card from your hand to a Territory that has not yet been conquered, according to the "Deployment Laws." You may discard a card out of the game instead of deploying, but you must "Draw Weapons" accordingly.
2. Draw Weapons
Choose ANY Stockpile(s). Draw card(s) as follows:
- A. Draw 1 card into your hand if you deployed 2 Orcs.
- B. Draw 2 cards into your hand if you deployed 1 Orc.
You MUST draw cards on your turn (from ANY remaining Stockpiles). You may not be able to draw your second card if all Stockpiles become exhausted at Game End.
Deployment Laws
- A. You must play a card at the Battle line with either end facing you (the orientation shows 1 Orc or 2 Orcs at the top of the card.)
- B. Once you play an Orc race at a Territory, only that race may be played there on later turns, covering the race on the other end of the card.
- C. Orcs must be a different race (color) than the Territory to which you deploy.
- D. Orcs must be different than your opponent's Orcs in the Territory to which you deploy.
- E. You may deploy the same Orc race (color) to more than one Territory.
- F. You may choose to discard (or have no legal deployment choices.) Remove the card from the game, then draw 1 or 2 Cards from any of the remaining Stockpiles.
Example: Player A deployed 1 Blue Orc to the Green Territory. Now, she may ONLY play Blue Orcs at this Territory. On a later turn, she deployed 2 Blue Orcs. The Purple Orc (and covered Green Orcs) are not used.
Example: Player B cannot play Green or Blue Orcs at the Green Territory. He plays 2 Yellow Orcs instead. The Red Orc is not used.
Territory Battle
After the turn in which a Stockpile has been exhausted, a Battle occurs at the Territory next to the empty Stockpile. Both players add up their deployed Orcs at the Territory and the player with the highest total is the conqueror. Next, the conqueror removes all but 1 of the Orc Cards from both sides of the fought Territory and places them out of the game. Use 1 of the cards as a "Conqueror Marker" and place it "Spear-side up" on the side of the conqueror, with the spear pointing to the conqueror. (See Example A below.) It is possible for 2 Battles to occur at the end of a turn. In this case, first resolve the Battle closest to the ORC Game Box. Remember: Deployed Orcs NEVER earn points, they only add to your total during a Battle. Native Orcs (to your conquered Territories) remaining in your hand at the end of the game, will reward points.
Example A: Player A has conquered the White Territory worth 2 points. Player B has conquered the Red Territory worth 1 point.
Tied Battles
When a Battle is fought, and the total Orcs at a Territory are equal (which could be '0' vs. '0'), the tie is broken based on the conqueror of the adjacent Territory towards the ORC Game Box. The Territory next to the ORC Game Box is tie-broken by the Territory at the other end of the Battle line. Battles that cannot yet be broken by the conqueror of the adjacent Territory are frozen (no Orcs may be played at the tied Territory) and the conqueror is determined at the same time as the adjacent Territory.
Example B: Player A plays 2 Green Orcs at the White Territory and draws the last card at the Green Territory, which initiates a Battle. Player A has 2 Red Orcs and Player B has 2 Blue Orcs. The tie is broken by Player A, who has already conquered the adjacent, closer-to-the-ORC-box Yellow Territory.
Example C: Player B plays 2 Yellow Orcs at the Red Territory then draws the last card at the Blue Territory which initiates a Battle. Player A has 1 Yellow Orc and Player B has 3 Purple Orcs. Player B has conquered the Blue Territory.
Game End
The game ends after the turn in which all Stockpiles are exhausted. Players expose the cards in their hand and total their scores.
Scoring
Players earn a cumulative score as follows:
- 2 Points for a conquered Territory containing 2 Orcs.
- 1 Point for a conquered Territory containing 1 Orc.
- 1 Point for each Orc in your hand that is native (matching in color) to your conquered Territories.
For a richer experience, play "Best 2 out of 3" games.
Sample Scoring
Player A conquered White, Green and Yellow Territories, for a total of 5 Points (based on the amount of Orcs in each.) He also has 4 Cards left in his hand with 6 Native Orcs, for 6 more Points.
Player B conquered Red, Purple and Blue Territories, for a total of 4 Points (based on the amount of Orcs in each.) She also has 6 Cards left in her hand with 11 Native Orcs, for 11 more Points.
Score for Player A: 11 Points Score for Player B: 15 Points Player B is the Winner!
Credits
Game Design: Chris Handy
Images and Graphic Design: Joshua Flores and Chris Handy
Thanks to Playtesters: Jenn Handy, Ryan Cowler, The Sartains, The Widmans, Matt and Grace Paradis, Andrew Postma, John McCloud, Paul Butler, The Montagues
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