Pharaoh's Gulo Gulo
Pharaoh's Gulo Gulo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
1 game board, 1 mummy trap (bowl with 20 boulders and 1 Pharaoh's staff), 6 adventurers, 1 mummy, 24 scarabs, 8 burial chamber markers, 16 pyramid markers, 8 desert markers, 1 debris bag, 1 set of instructions.
- Burial chamber markers — placed on the burial chamber spaces.
- Pyramid markers — placed on the pyramid section of the board.
- Desert markers — placed on the desert section of the board.
- Boulders — colored wooden balls held in the mummy trap bowl; some boulders carry mummy symbols.
- Scarabs — collected by adventurers as they explore.
Preparation
Before the first game: Carefully separate all of the parts.
Place the game board flat on the table. Separate the burial chamber, pyramid and desert square cards. Keeping them face down, mix them up and then randomly distribute the cards face down on the corresponding fields on the game board. Place any extra markers back into the box without looking at them.
Place the mummy on the space in front of the burial chamber facing towards the pyramid entrance. Each player selects a colored figure to be their marker and places it in the green starting space on the desert side of the game board. Place any extra figures back into the box.
Place the scarab beetles next to the board.
How to Build the Mummy Trap
Place the wooden bowl in the center of the snake pit on the board. Place the round wooden boulders into the fabric debris bag, shake them up and then pour the boulders randomly into the bowl. Now carefully place the Pharaoh's staff upright, standing inside the bowl, with the wooden part facing upwards. The boulders hold the staff upright; that's all you need to do to build the mummy trap.
Careful of the mummy's curse: Throughout the game, you have to demonstrate your skill at evading the mummy trap! You can only continue ahead towards the mummy's burial chamber when you successfully remove a wooden boulder in the color of the space you want to reach, WITHOUT allowing the Pharaoh's staff or another boulder to fall out. If you can successfully do this then you have deftly escaped the mummy's attention. But woe is he who attracts the wrath of the mummy...
How to Play
Play in a clockwise direction. The player who can best walk like a mummy may begin.
Each move consists of two phases: 1. Explore the tomb / 2. Move adventurer.
Phase 1 – Explore the Tomb
In order to move your character along the game board, you must outwit the mummy trap. On each turn you can choose one of two options to do so:
- Turn over a new desert or pyramid marker. Turn over the next marker. Now you must try to remove a boulder of the same color from the mummy trap.
- Choose one of the colors of any of the desert or pyramid markers that you already have flipped over on the game board. And remove a boulder in the selected color from the mummy trap.
You have to carefully pick up the corresponding boulder with one hand from the boulder bowl, without dropping it and without knocking the staff over onto the game board. After successfully removing the boulder you must then place the boulder inside of the cloth debris bag.
Starting example: Tim starts the game and turns over the first desert tile. It has a red boulder on it. He must remove a red boulder from the mummy trap. If he manages to do so without triggering a landslide (either a boulder or the Pharaoh's staff falls out onto the game board), then he will put the boulder in the debris bag and move his figure to the next field with red boulders. When you start the game, this is the first red space.
Then it's Ida's turn and she has to make a decision. She can either choose to remove a red boulder from the mummy trap, or she can turn over the next desert marker on and remove a boulder in this color from the mummy trap. Over the course of the game, more and more color markers are eventually uncovered, revealing many more color choice possibilities.
Warning: You always have to follow the rules for the mummy trap (see below) when you explore the tomb!
Phase 2 – Move Adventurer
If you were sneaky and did not trigger a landslide, then you may move your character. Go in any direction (forwards or backwards) to the next field in the color of the boulder you removed. During the game, several adventurers may occupy the same space.
Warning landslide: If a boulder or the Pharaoh's staff falls out of the bowl while exploring the tomb, then you trigger a landslide (see Rules for the mummy trap).
Then you have to move your character backwards: If your character is outside the pyramid walls (first half of the game board), then you have to return all the way to the beginning green starting space.
If your character is inside the pyramid, then you have to go back to the space at the pyramid entrance on the second half of the game board.
Then you must rebuild the mummy trap (see How to build the mummy trap) to get it ready for the next player's turn.
Then the next player takes their turn and explores the tomb.
Rules for the Mummy Trap
- You are only allowed to use only one hand when removing a boulder from the bowl.
- You may incidentally touch or move another boulder, as you rummage a bit in the bowl, but you cannot grab the other boulder or clear it out of the way.
- You may touch the Pharaoh's staff with your fingers. It can move around and touch the edges of the bowl. But you cannot pick it up, you cannot hold it still and you cannot move it with your fingers.
- A landslide will be triggered when the Pharaoh's staff touches the game board or the table, or if a boulder falls out of the bowl.
- If the Pharaoh's staff lands between two moves without falling out of the bowl, then there is no landslide. Simply replace the staff back into the bowl.
- If you remove the last boulder in one color from the bowl without triggering a landslide, then you have to rebuild the mummy trap (see How to build the mummy trap). Then you can explore the tomb again and move your adventurer!
Important Adventure Rules
Scarab Space
If an adventurer lands on a scarab space, then that player receives a scarab card from the stockpile. Warning: You cannot have more than 4 scarabs at a time!
Mummy Symbols
If an adventurer or the mummy lands on a space with one or more mummy heads, then move the mummy as many spaces along in the direction they are facing, as the number of mummy heads that are shown on the space. If they land on a mummy space again, then continue until they land on a space without any mummy heads. If they reach the entrance of the pyramid or the burial, turn around immediately and run in the opposite direction. They can neither enter the burial chamber nor leave the pyramid! The mummy has also blocked any face down pyramid markers that he is standing on.
The Mummy's Curse!
- You are allowed to move your character forwards or backwards. Players can move safely past the mummy.
- If your adventurer is on their way to the burial chamber and is on a space where the mummy is too, then you have to give up a scarab. If you land on a scarab space, then you will receive a scarab but you have to give it away immediately to appease the mummy.
- If the mummy passes any adventurers on their way, or if the mummy lands on a space with one or more adventurers, then the corresponding players have to give up a scarab each.
- If you do not have a scarab to give to the mummy, then you have to go back to the pit at the pyramid entrance.
The Burial Chamber
You must have at least two scarabs in order to enter the mummy's burial chamber.
If you are the first adventurer to enter the burial chamber, turn over the first burial chamber marker and remove a boulder in the same color from the mummy trap. If you can do this without triggering a landslide, then you can turn over the second burial chamber marker straight away, and remove the corresponding boulder from the mummy trap. If you manage to do it, then you have freed the mummy of his curse.
If you trigger a landslide when removing the first or second boulder, your turn ends immediately. You must return to the pit at the pyramid entrance and the game will continue with the next player.
End of the Game
The first player to remove both boulders from the mummy trap in the burial chamber, frees the mummy of their curse and wins the game.
Adventurous Landslide Variation
The basic rules of the game apply, but with the following changes:
- Each player may have a maximum of 3 scarabs at any time.
- Before you explore the tomb, you have to say out loud the color of the boulder that you want to remove from the trap.
- If there is a landslide, there are 2 options:
- If the Pharaoh's staff falls out of the bowl: You have to move backwards to the space that is in the same color as the boulder that you wanted to take out of the bowl.
- If a boulder falls out of the bowl: You have to move backwards to the space that is in the same color as the boulder that fell out.
- If you have to go backwards to a space that doesn't trigger another action, i.e. you do not receive a scarab, then you don't have to give up a scarab, and the mummy stays still.
Race to the Burial Chamber Variation
For younger players from 5 years and up
The basic rules of the game apply, but with the following changes:
- You can play without both the mummy and the scarabs!
- Adventurers can only travel forwards and can enter the burial chamber without needing to have two scarabs.
About the Eye Markers
Did you know that the Eye of Horus and the Eye of Ra (see the reverse side of the marker) were together initially considered eyes of the sky god Horus? The sun god Re was added as a rival later on in the mythology. The (left) eye was associated with Horus, and referred to as the moon eye. The other (right) eye was associated with the sun god Re. The eyes represent the stars and reflect the rivalry of the two gods.