Ramses II
Ramses II Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
The player who finds the most treasures and collects the most valuable cards becomes the winner.
Components
- 1 box in which the treasures are hidden
- 48 tokens (12 with treasures, 36 neutral)
- 47 pyramids
- 48 cards
- 1 game board
Setup
Sort the cards into three stacks by the pictures on their backs ("1", "2" and "3") and shuffle each of them thoroughly. Place them on the table.
The tokens must be laid out in the box anew before each game. To do this, take the pyramids and the game board out of the box and prepare the 48 tokens.
The game board is divided into 12 squares, in each of which four pyramids must stand. When laying out the tokens with treasures (picture side up), you must choose for each token one of the four places of each square. All players should place approximately the same number of tokens on the game board.
So, having put the game board into the box and placed the pyramids on it, you hide the treasures under them. One place (without a token with a treasure) remains open.
Then the box must be turned round in a circle several times, so that nobody knows for certain where the tokens with treasures lie, and you can begin the game!
The Game Begins
Searching for Treasures
At first you play with the search cards of the first stack (with "1" on the back). The boldest player makes the first move, followed by the others clockwise.
The player turns over the topmost search card. The card shows the treasure being sought, and the number on the card shows its value. The first player slides a pyramid onto the empty place.
Now three outcomes are possible:
- No treasure: Then the player slides another pyramid.
- It is not the treasure that is needed: Bad luck! The turn is over. The next player tries to find the treasure not found by his predecessor.
- It is exactly that treasure! The lucky player places the search card face down in front of him (the token with the treasure he leaves in its place). The turn is over. The neighbour turns over the next card and sets off on the search.
In this way, one participant keeps moving pyramids until he stumbles upon some treasure. So the players move about the game board.
Now the Task Is Harder
When the first stack of cards has been played through, you take the second (with "2" on the back). Here, event cards are added to the search cards!
If a player draws an event card, he must immediately carry out the action indicated on it (it is best to lay the instructions alongside, opened to the last page, so that you can always check what the symbols on the card mean).
In addition, after every find the box must be turned around its axis by 90 degrees (that is, a quarter turn)! We shall see who remembers the places where the treasures are kept, and the paths to them.
The Finale
When the search cards of the second stack run out, take the third (with "3" on the back) - the peak of the game.
In this final round the value of each treasure on a search card is 4 points, and perhaps someone who has not been very lucky until now will manage to overtake all the others.
Now the game becomes really tense, because ...
... if a player finds a wrong treasure, he drops out of the game. The remaining participants continue to play.
... the game ends when, instead of a search card, the end card is turned over.
End of the Game
The game ends either when the end card is turned over, or when all players have dropped out because they stumbled upon the wrong treasure.
Now everyone counts the value of the treasures he has found.
Naturally, the winner is the one who has more points!
In Conclusion, a Few More Remarks
- A player who has no search cards at all cannot give anything away (even if an event card requires it).
- A player who turns over a search card that indicates a treasure that has just been uncovered is lucky: he may keep the card without moving a pyramid. Then his neighbour turns over the next search card.
- If you want to search for the pharaoh's treasures with small children, remove the cards of the second and third stacks from the game.
- If desired, you can also remove the end card from the third stack. In that case the game ends either when all players have dropped out, or when the whole stack has been played.
- Professional treasure hunters take the elongated side inserts out of the box and slide the plastic pyramid field to the centre. This makes finding the tokens with treasures even harder.
Event Cards
Sandstorm: A strong hurricane has mixed everything up - turn the box 180 degrees (half a turn) and then turn over the next card.
Gift: Go to one of the twelve treasures. Every participant who has one or more search cards for this treasure must give you one of them.
Risk: Name two treasures (that have not yet been uncovered). Try to find first one, then the other. If you succeed, you draw, without looking, one of the search cards of your left neighbour. If not, you must give one of your cards to one of the players.
Mirage: You draw one of the search cards of your right neighbour. If you manage to find this treasure in one turn, the card stays with you. If not, you give one of your cards to your right neighbour.
Poker in the Desert: Any one of the players must search for the treasure that you name. If he succeeds, he draws, without looking, one of your search cards. If not, you draw one of his cards.
End card: The pharaoh is satisfied, since all the treasures have been found. As soon as this card is turned over, the game ends and all players count the points on their cards.