Pyramido
Pyramido Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 90 unique Dominoes
- 12 Resurfacing cards
- 24 Jewel markers (6 types, 4 of each)
- 1 Scoring tablet
The Goal of the Game
Use Dominoes to build your own pyramid. Group jewel icons of the same type together to please the Pharaoh and score the most Prestige points over the course of 4 stages.
Setup
Each player takes 6 Jewel markers (1 of each color) and 3 Resurfacing cards (1 of each color combination).
Shuffle the Dominoes, set 3 of them aside, and divide the rest of them into 4 roughly equal face-up piles. Place these piles side by side, lengthwise.
Take the 3 Dominoes you set aside and place them side by side, so that each of them is in front of 2 piles. This area is referred to as the quarry.
Set the Scoring tablet aside for now. It is only used at the end of each stage.
Whoever last made a sand castle is the starting player.
The Domino
In the Pyramido universe, the Domino, named after the late Pharaoh Mino, is the word used to describe stones used to 'Do the will of Mino'.
Each Domino consists of 2 blocks (a block is exactly one half of a Domino). Each Domino also houses 2 jewel icons.
How to Play
Each player must build their own pyramid. The pyramids, once complete, will be 4 stages high. Build each stage, Domino by Domino, marking colored blocks whenever you can. Upon the completion of each stage, Prestige points will be awarded for each jewel icon in a marked area.
Stage 1
The 1st stage must be 5 x 4 blocks (or 4 x 5 blocks). Building this stage requires exactly 10 Dominoes.
Beginning with the starting player, take turns in clockwise order. On your turn, complete the following 4 steps in the below order:
- Choose and place a Domino (must)
- Mark the Domino (must, if you can)
- Resurface the Domino (can)
- Replenish the quarry (must)
1. Choose and Place a Domino (Must)
Choose 1 of the 3 Dominoes in the quarry and add it to your pyramid.
Domino Placement Rules
If it is your first Domino, simply place it face up in front of you to begin your pyramid.
Dominoes can be freely rotated.
If it is not your first Domino, you must connect it to another Domino. You can connect blocks that are not the same color to each other.
Block sides must fully connect. Half connections are not allowed.
IMPORTANT: From the 2nd stage onwards, all Dominoes are considered connected.
Once a Domino is placed, it cannot be moved. Make sure you always leave room for future Dominoes to be placed.
You must build complete stages and place all your Dominoes in the 4X5 square. At the end of a stage, if a Domino doesn't fit, then you must play 2 of your Resurfacing cards in the empty spaces and you can't place a Jewel marker on them.
Important: If you don't have enough Resurfacing cards to fill the empty spaces, you automatically lose the game, so be careful!
2. Mark the Domino (Must, If You Can)
Place 1 Jewel marker on the new Domino. Take 1 of your unplaced Jewel markers and place it on a block of the new Domino with a jewel icon matching its color. Once placed, a Jewel marker cannot be moved until the scoring phase at the end of the stage.
If you do not have an unplaced Jewel marker matching the color(s) of your newly placed Domino, simply skip this step.
Example: You cannot add your turquoise Jewel marker to the newly placed double-turquoise Domino, as you did so on a previous turn and it cannot be moved.
3. Resurface a Block (Can)
You can play 1 of your Resurfacing cards and place it, either side up, on a block of the Domino you have just placed. That block must not already contain a Jewel marker. If you can, you must then mark the Resurfacing card with a Jewel marker.
The sequence is: start of turn — place and mark a Domino — resurface a block — mark it.
This is the only way 2 Jewel markers can be added to the same Domino and can played on the same turn.
Once placed, a Resurfacing card cannot be moved for the rest of the game.
4. Replenish the Quarry (Must)
Replenish the empty quarry space with 1 of the 2 Dominoes directly above it.
Example: The player chooses the middle Domino in the quarry. He needs to choose either the blue-turquoise Domino or the brown-red Domino to replace it. The player chooses the brown-red Domino and puts it in the quarry.
Example 2: The player chooses the rightmost Domino in the quarry. He needs to choose either the brown-red Domino or the green-yellow Domino to replace it. The player chooses the green-yellow Domino and puts it in the quarry.
The next player clockwise now begins their turn.
Note: there must always be 4 Domino piles. If a pile is emptied, take the bottom half of another pile to replenish it with new Dominoes.
Stage End Scoring
Upon the completion of each stage, Prestige points are scored for jewel icons in marked areas. Each group of connected blocks of the same color is an area.
Any area containing a Jewel marker is a marked area.
- Score 1 Prestige point for each jewel icon in a marked area.
- No Prestige points are scored for jewel icons in unmarked areas.
Mino's Bonus
Score 1 Prestige point for each jewel icon in the marked area that has the fewest jewel icons. If several areas are tied, simply choose one.
Scoring Stage 1
Jewel icons in marked areas
- Yellow (ankh): 4 jewel icons = 4 Prestige points
- Blue (cat): 4 jewel icons = 4 Prestige points
- Turquoise (winged scarab): 3 jewel icons = 3 Prestige points
- Green (lotus): 4 jewel icons = 4 Prestige points
- Red (Eye of Horus): 3 jewel icons = 3 Prestige points
- Brown (pharaoh mask): 3 jewel icons = 3 Prestige points
Mino's bonus
- Red (Eye of Horus) / brown (pharaoh mask) / turquoise (winged scarab): 3 jewel icons = 3 Prestige points
Total: 24 Prestige points
Note your scores on the Scoring tablet, then take your Jewel markers off your pyramids to prepare for the next stage.
The player with the lowest number of Prestige points for this stage begins the next stage. In case of a tie, the tied player next in the current turn order begins the next stage. Play continues clockwise.
Example: The 4th player will begin the second stage because he has the lowest number of Prestige points (18) for this round.
Stages 2-4
Later stages are built on top of previous ones, as depicted in the following examples.
- Stage 2 (4x3 / 6 Dominoes)
- Stage 3 (3x2 / 3 Dominoes)
- Stage 4 (2x1 / 1 Domino)
Corners on Centers
When building a new stage, one important rule must be followed:
The corner of each Domino must sit in the center of the block below it.
To assist your Pyramid building, the center of each block is marked by the two lines that run through it.
Each block is connected to the blocks supporting it. This means that areas can span multiple stages.
Scoring Stages 2-4
Scoring remains the same. However, because areas can span multiple stages, jewel icons from previous stages connected by the same color can be scored again.
Scoring Points for Multiple Stages
Scoring Stage 2
Jewel icons in marked areas
- Green (lotus): 6 jewel icons = 6 Prestige points
- Brown (pharaoh mask): 5 jewel icons = 5 Prestige points
- Yellow (ankh): 4 jewel icons = 4 Prestige points
- Red (Eye of Horus): 4 jewel icons = 4 Prestige points
Mino's bonus
- Yellow (ankh) / red (Eye of Horus): 4 jewel icons = 4 Prestige points
Total: 23 Prestige points
Reminder: You don't count the unmarked areas. The blue (cat) and turquoise (winged scarab) jewel icons don't count because they don't have a Jewel marker on their Dominoes.
Scoring Stage 3
Jewel icons in marked areas
- Green (lotus): 7 jewel icons = 7 Prestige points
- Yellow (ankh): 6 jewel icons = 6 Prestige points
- Brown (pharaoh mask): 6 jewel icons = 6 Prestige points
- Red (Eye of Horus): 5 jewel icons = 5 Prestige points
Mino's bonus
- Red (Eye of Horus): 5 jewel icons = 5 Prestige points
Total: 29 Prestige points
Scoring Stage 4
Example without a Resurfacing card:
Jewel icons in marked areas
- Yellow (ankh): 7 jewel icons = 7 Prestige points
Mino's bonus
- Yellow (ankh): 7 jewel icons = 7 Prestige points
Total: 14 Prestige points
Note: When there is only one marked area, it is automatically your smallest area; you still apply Mino's bonus.
Scoring Stage 4
Example with a Resurfacing card:
Jewel icons in marked areas
- Green (lotus): 8 jewel icons = 8 Prestige points
- Yellow (ankh): 7 jewel icons = 7 Prestige points
Mino's bonus
- Yellow (ankh): 7 jewel icons = 7 Prestige points
Total: 22 Prestige points
End of the Game
After scoring stage 4, the game ends. Whoever scored the highest total of Prestige points wins the game and the title of Vizier.
In case of a tie, the player with the most remaining Resurfacing cards wins. If the tie persists, the tied player who scored the most Prestige points during a single stage wins.
Icons and Colors Distribution
Jewel icons:
- Ankh (yellow): x29
- Cat (blue): x28
- Eye of Horus (red): x32
- Winged scarab (turquoise): x31
- Pharaoh mask (brown): x24
- Lotus (green): x36
Block colors:
- Yellow: x31
- Blue: x34
- Red: x26
- Turquoise: x29
- Brown: x37
- Green: x23
Credits
- Designer: Ikhwan Kwon
- Developer: Carl Brière
- Illustrator: The Creation Studio
- Art director: Marie-Elaine Bérubé
- Graphic designer: Marie-Elaine Bérubé
- Editor and translator: Adam Marostica
- Publisher: Jeux Synapses Games Inc.
© 2023 Jeux Synapses Games Inc. No part of this product may be reproduced without the written consent of: Jeux Synapses Games Inc., 37 rue Claude, Pointe-des-Cascades, QC J0P 1M0, Canada — www.jeuxsynapsesgames.com