Saqqara
Saqqara Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
84 cards, separated as follows:
- 60 artifacts (6 identical sets, each with a value of 0-9)
- 24 rewards
- 1 rulebook
Goal of the Game
Use tactics and the right timing to have the most points by the end of the game! Add your artifacts to the communal collection, in order to reach a value of 15 and to earn as many of your own rewards as possible.
Game Setup
- Place the rewards in a pile in the center of the table.
- Depending on the number of players, prepare a certain number of excavation piles:
- 2 players: 4 piles
- 3 players: 5 piles
- 4 players: 6 piles
An excavation pile is always made up of a set of artifacts with values of 0-9 and must be arranged in ascending numerical order. The artifact on top has a value of 0 and the artifact on the bottom has a value of 9. Place the piles face up and next to each other in the center of the table.
- Take the topmost artifact (with a value of 0) from 3 random piles and place these face up in a vertical line in the center on the table. These form the beginning of 3 rows. This will be your communal collection.
- Choose a player to go first. Take the top artifact from any excavation pile and add it to your hand. Then, in clockwise order, the next player takes the top artifact from any excavation pile, and so on, until you each hold 3 artifacts.
(The rulebook illustrates the 2-player setup with a diagram showing the three rows of the communal collection, each starting with a 0-value artifact.)
How to Play
Play in clockwise order. On your turn, you must take 1 of the 2 following actions:
- A. Excavate an artifact, or
- B. Place an artifact in the collection
A. Excavate an Artifact
Choose any number of artifacts from any excavation piles and hold them.
Important: there is a hand limit of 5 cards! You may not hold more than 5 artifacts at any one time.
(The rulebook illustrates this action with a diagram.)
B. Place an Artifact in the Collection
Place exactly 2 artifacts from your hand in the collection. Pay attention to the following:
- You may place the 2 artifacts in 1 row or in 2 different rows of the collection.
- The artifacts must be arranged in each row in ascending numerical order. Equal values and gaps in the value sequence are allowed.
- You may only place artifacts to the left or right of artifacts already in the collection.
- You may not place an artifact in between 2 artifacts that have already been placed!
- If you place an artifact next to an artifact of the same value, you immediately get 1 reward from the pile. Place the reward in front of you as a points pile.
Tip: arrange cards of equal value in a row so that they overlap each other; this way the card value is only seen once.
Now check the value of the row(s) in which you placed the artifacts:
If a row has a total value of at least 15, you take all the artifacts in this row and place them face down in your points pile.
Example: Bianca placed 2 artifacts (with the values of 4 and 6) in the second row of the collection. This row now has a total value of 15 (0+2+3+4+6). She takes all 5 artifacts and places them face down in her points pile in front of her.
Important: artifacts of equal value are counted only once!
Example: This row has a total value of 16 (0+2+3+4+7). The cards with the value of 3 are only counted once. Nevertheless, Bianca takes all 6 artifacts from this row and places them face down in front of her.
Now take an artifact from the excavation pile displaying the lowest value and place it on the table as the start of a new row. (If there are multiple rows with the lowest value, you may choose one at random.)
(The rulebook illustrates this with a diagram.)
Important: if, after taking this action, you have no more artifacts in your hand, you immediately take 5 new artifacts from any excavation pile!
Blocking a Row
It can happen that a row can no longer reach a total value of 15.
A few examples: the rulebook shows three illustrated examples of rows that can no longer reach 15.
In this case, immediately place all the artifacts in this row into a general discard pile. Now take an artifact from the excavation pile with the lowest value and place it on the table as the start of a new row.
Special Case
If you have 5 artifacts in your hand and cannot perform action B in full according to the rules, you must instead place 2 artifacts from your hand into the general discard pile. Then it is the next player's turn.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately, when either
- all 24 rewards have been taken
or
- all excavation piles are empty.
Counting Up Your Points
- Each artifact and each reward in your points pile is worth 1 point.
- Remember: if you collected more rewards than artifacts, your rewards are worth 2 points!
Whichever player has the most points, wins. In case of a tie, the players share the victory.
Example: Bianca scored in total 14 points (5x2 + 4).