Pharaoh Code Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Object of the Game
• Setup
  • Treasure Tiles
• Game Play
• End of the Game
• Variant for Experienced Players

Components

• 48 treasure tiles (in 4 colors, of different difficulty levels)
• Game board
• 3 dice (eight-sided, ten-sided, twelve-sided)
• Sand timer (30 seconds)

Object of the Game

Using the numbers on the 3 dice and simple arithmetic operations, obtain as high a number as possible on the Pharaoh's pyramid. The player with the most victory points wins.

Setup

• Place the game board in the center of the table.
• Divide the treasure tiles into 4 groups by color, shuffle each separately and place them next to the game board number side up, as shown in the illustration (from top to bottom: black, red, blue, yellow).
• Lay out 10 treasure tiles on the spaces of the game board according to their colors.
• Place the sand timer next to the game board.
• One of the players is chosen as the first Roller (the leading player).

Treasure Tiles

• The color shows the difficulty level.
• Numbers on black tiles are the hardest to obtain.
• Numbers on yellow tiles are the easiest to obtain.
• The victory points are shown on the reverse side (golden scarabs).

Game Play

1. The Roller rolls all 3 dice at once. The round begins immediately.

2. Using the values on 2 or 3 dice and simple arithmetic operations, players try to obtain the numbers on the Pharaoh's pyramid. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division may be used. Each die value may be used only once.

   All participants play simultaneously. As soon as a player has come up with a suitable equation, he announces the resulting number and takes the corresponding tile from the game board. During one round a player may take only 1 tile (you may agree to play without this limit, as described at the end of the rules).

   Example: The dice show 2, 5 and 11. Misha announces the number "33" and takes the treasure tile with the number "33" from the game board, because he made the equation "(5-2)x11=33". Other possible equations: 2x11=22, 5x(11-2)=45, 2+5+11=18, 5-2=3.

3. After one of the players has taken the first tile, he turns over the sand timer. The other players must try to make another equation and announce a suitable number before the time runs out.

4. The round ends when the time in the sand timer runs out.

5. At the end of the round, the players who took tiles must state the equations they made. If the equation a player names turns out to be correct, he places the tile he took in front of himself face up. At the end of the game each such tile brings the player as many victory points as there are golden scarabs pictured on its reverse side.

6. If a player fails to state the equation he made, or it is incorrect, he still keeps the tile he took, but places it in front of himself face down. This tile will bring penalty points.

7. Before the start of the next round, place new treasure tiles on the empty spaces of the board. Then the player who rolled the dice in the previous round gives them to his neighbor on the left. The game continues as described in step 1.

End of the Game

If before the start of a new round there are not enough tiles in the stacks to fill the empty spaces of the board, the game is considered finished. Each player adds up the golden scarabs on the reverse sides of his victory tiles, and subtracts from this sum the golden scarabs on the reverse sides of his penalty tiles. The player with the most points is declared the winner. If several contenders have an equal number of points, the one who has more treasure tiles (including penalty tiles) wins.

Variant for Experienced Players

Before the game you may agree to abolish the limit on the number of tiles a single player may take per round. In that case, during each round a player may take as many tiles as he manages to make equations for. This variant is worth using if all players have mastered the game well and are ready for more intense competition.