Ra: The Dice Game
Ra: The Dice Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Content
- 1 game board
- 92 wooden cubes
- 5 dice
- rules
- 1 Ra figure
- 4 summary cards
Preparation
Lay out the board. Place the Ra figure on the space on the orange Sun track that shows the correct number of players. Keep the five dice next to the board.
Each player takes a crib sheet and the corresponding color markers. All players place one marker at the start of the green Pharaoh track and one marker at the start of the blue Nile track. Select a start player, who places one of his markers on space 10 of the score track. The next player places one marker on space 11, the next player places one marker on space 12, and so on…
Play
The game is played over three epochs. The start player begins, then play progresses clockwise. On a player's turn, he rolls all five dice. He places all the dice showing Suns on the spaces immediately in front of the Ra figure, one die per space. If he runs out of spaces on the Ra track, he places them at the end. He may then reroll any of the remaining dice. After rerolling, he again places all the dice showing Suns on the orange Sun track. Finally, he may reroll any of the remaining dice once more. As before, after rerolling, he places all the dice showing Suns on the orange Sun track.
Now, he applies his dice in any order he wishes. The crib sheet summarizes the options:
Pharaoh: For every die showing a Pharaoh, the player advances his marker on the green Pharaoh track by one space – not beyond 12. If he uses at least one die showing a Pharaoh, any die showing an Ankh may also be used to advance the Pharaoh marker.
(Example: red cube, Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Pharaoh → Advance the marker 3 spaces; Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Ankh, red cube → Advance the marker 2 spaces)
Nile: For every die showing the Nile, the player may advance his marker(s) on the blue Nile track by one space – not beyond 12. If he uses at least one die showing the Nile to advance his marker, any die showing an Ankh may also be used to advance his Nile marker.
(Example: red cube, Nile, Nile, Nile → Advance the marker 2 spaces; Nile, Ankh, red cube → Advance the marker 2 spaces)
If the player has three dice showing the Nile, possibly substituted by one or two Ankhs, he may flood the Nile instead of advancing his marker. He indicates that he has flooded the Nile by placing one additional marker on top of his original marker. He may flood the Nile more than once.
(Example: Nile, Nile, Nile, Nile, red cube → Flood the Nile and advance 1 space)
Civilization: If he has three dice showing Civilization, he may place one marker on one space in the multi-colored Civilization area. If he has four or five dice showing Civilization, he may place two or three markers respectively. Any die showing an Ankh may be used as a Civilization, as long as at least one die has an actual civilization. To place a marker on a color space, the die of that color must show a Civilization (not an Ankh!). Each player can only place one marker per color space, and the total number of markers placed on each space is limited to one fewer than the number of players.
Example: This can represent 5 Civilization dice - but the red player can only place one marker on the yellow space. The blue space is filled; the purple space already contains a red marker; the colors of the Ankhs cannot be used. The player applies only the 3 Civilization dice here and saves the two Ankhs.
Monuments: If a player has one die showing a Monument, he may place one marker on any one empty space of the corresponding color in the multi-colored Monument area.
If he has two further dice, either showing two Monuments or showing one Monument and one Ankh, he may place a second marker on an empty space in a column which does not contain any of his markers. He may only place a second marker on a color space that equals the color of one of the two dice, and that die must show a Monument (not an Ankh!). If he has two further dice satisfying the condition, he may place a third marker in the same way.
Example: The red player places a marker on the yellow space in the first column where he has 2 markers. Then he places a marker on the purple space in the third column and a marker on the green space in the fourth column where he has no markers.
Remember: To place a first Monument marker, the player only needs one die showing a Monument; and he may then place his first marker on any empty space of that color. It is more difficult to place more than one Monument marker per turn: Any further marker he wants to place requires two more dice; and even then the marker must not be placed in a column where he already has a marker.
An Ankh can represent a Pharaoh, Nile, Civilization or Monument, as described above. But each die showing an Ankh can only be applied once.
Two Ankhs can be used as above, each assigned as a Pharaoh, Nile, Civilization or Monument. A player may instead choose to use the pair of Ankhs to score an immediate 2 points. He advances his marker on the score track accordingly, but cannot use these Ankhs as other symbols.
Ra: If a player has one or two dice showing Suns on the orange Sun track, he advances the Ra figure accordingly.
(Example: blue Ra piece, Nile symbol, Sun, Sun, Ankh, Sun → Advance the Ra figure 2 spaces)
If the player has three dice showing Suns, he scores 3 points by advancing his marker on the score track, but does not advance the Ra figure. If he has four or five dice showing Suns, he does not advance the Ra figure, but he may declare a…
Disaster: he chooses one of the following:
- Pharaoh: All other players must retreat two spaces on the Pharaoh track – not below 0.
- Nile: All other players must retrieve one of their flood markers from the Nile track. Players with only one marker do not retrieve their marker but retreat two spaces instead – not below 0.
- Civilization: All other players must retrieve two of their own markers of their choice from the Civilization area – or 1 if a player only has one marker.
- Monuments: All other players must retrieve two of their own markers of their choice from the Monument area – or 1 if a player only has one marker.
Scoring an Epoch
An epoch ends when the Ra figure reaches or exceeds the last space on the orange Sun track. The current player still finishes his turn, then the epoch is scored. All scores are recorded by advancing the markers on the score track. Your crib sheet summarizes the different scores:
Pharaoh: The player with the furthest advanced marker on the track scores 5 points. The player with the least advanced marker loses 2 points. If there is a tie, all involved players score 5 or lose 2 points. If all players tie, there is no score. Players who score 5 points move their markers 2 spaces backward on the track; players who lose 2 points advance their markers 1 space.
Nile: All players with more than one marker on the track score the space where their markers stand. Then they retrieve all but one of their markers. Players with only one marker do not score, but leave their marker where it is on the track.
Civilization: Players score according to the number of markers they have in the area, then all Civilization markers are retrieved:
| 0 markers | 1 marker | 2 markers | 3 markers | 4 markers | 5 markers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -5 points | 0 points | 0 points | 5 points | 10 points | 15 points |
Monuments are only scored at the end of the third epoch.
Players score for the number of different columns in which they have at least one marker:
| 0 columns | 1 column | 2 column | ... | 6 column | 7 column | 8 column |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 points | 1 point | 2 points | ... | 6 points | 10 points | 15 points |
Players score bonus points for each column that contains at least three of their markers:
| 3 markers | 4 markers | 5 markers |
|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 10 points | 15 points |
After an epoch has been scored, return the Ra figure to its starting space, then the player who caused the end of the epoch passes the dice to the next player who starts the new epoch.
Remember: After scoring, all markers remain on the board, except all additional Flood markers and all Civilization markers. The markers for each player are considered unlimited.
Game End
The game ends after the third epoch has been scored.
The player with the most points wins.
Credits
Reiner Knizia would like to express his gratitude to Jonty Blackwell, Chris Dearlove and Lee Edwards for their significant contributions to the development of this game. Many thanks to all playtesters, in particular Kevin Jacklin, Paul Smith, Graeme Tate and the Chelmsford Games Club.
© 2009 Reiner Knizia © 2009 Rio Grande Games
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