Ten Plagues Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Turn Phase
• The Exodus Card
• End of Game
• Game Terms and Definitions
• Events Reference and Clarification
  • 1. Blood
  • 2. Frogs
  • 3. Lice
  • 4. Wild Beasts
  • 5. Pestilence
  • 6. Boils
  • 7. Hail
  • 8. Locusts
  • 9. Darkness
  • 10. Death of the Firstborn
• Variant Play
• Plague Names
• Historical Background

Game Setup

Shuffle the 100 Plague cards and deal 10 cards face down to each player. Place the remaining Plague cards face-down to form the deck, then flip the top card face up to start the discard pile. Find and place the Tomb card next to the draw deck.

To set up the Pyramid (see the figure opposite):

1. Shuffle the 24 Pyramid cards.
2. Deal 3 cards face-up in a row to form the bottom of the Pyramid, then take 2 cards and lay them face up above the 3 Pyramid cards. These 5 cards will form the bottom two rows of the pyramid.
3. All remaining Pyramid cards should be set aside face down next to the Pyramid.
4. Order the 10 Event cards from 1 to 10, with the 1 on the top of the deck. Place this deck face-down above the two Pyramid cards.
5. Take the Exodus card with the Exodus instruction card and place it underneath the 10th Event card.

Playing the Game

The oldest firstborn player is the starting player, but you may also randomly select a starting player. Each player takes their turn, following the steps from the turn phase, then play passes clockwise.

Turn Phase

1. Draw a card. To start your turn, draw one card from the top of the draw deck or the top card from the discard pile into your hand. You may never take cards from the Tomb.

2. Discard a card. Discard one card from your hand to the top of the discard pile.

3. Optional: Complete one Pyramid card. To complete a Pyramid card, choose a face-up Pyramid card from the Pyramid. Lay the cards required to complete it face-up on the table to show other players. Discard your played cards to the Tomb, then place the completed Pyramid card in front of you face up.

   • Draw cards until at your hand limit. After completing a Pyramid card, draw cards from the draw deck until you have 10 cards in hand.
   • Reveal a new Pyramid card. Draw a new Pyramid card from the Pyramid deck and place it in the same location of the Pyramid card that was just completed.
   • Reveal an Event card. The player who completed the Pyramid card reveals the top Event card and reads it out loud. Follow the instructions on the Event card, then continue play. All cards that are discarded because of the Event are placed in the Tomb.

   Important: some Event cards will require players to discard cards from their hand and then draw cards back to hand limit. Complete this step in turn order, starting with the player who just completed the Pyramid card.

4. End of turn. At this point your turn is over. Play passes to the next player clockwise.

The game continues until all 10 Event cards have been played.

Note: If there are not enough cards in the draw deck and a player needs to draw a card, shuffle the cards in the discard pile and the Tomb, flip face-down to form a new deck, and continue to draw the cards you need for hand limit, then flip one card face-up to start a new discard pile as before.

The Exodus Card

The Exodus card enters play after the 10th Event card has been played. Follow these steps:

1. Remove all the cards from the discard pile and the Tomb from the game. They will not be used for the rest of the game.
2. Take the Exodus card and shuffle it into the remaining draw deck to create a new draw deck. Do not flip the top card to create a discard pile.
3. Play the game as normal (but now with only 9 cards in hand due to the last Event) and continue to complete Pyramid cards as you are able.
4. Players cannot draw cards from the discard pile.
5. The game ends immediately when the Exodus card is drawn.

End of Game

All players count their Pyramid points on the cards they completed. The player with the most points wins the game.

If tied, the player with the most completed Pyramid cards wins. If still tied, the player who holds the least amount of different Plague cards in their hand wins. If still tied, the players share the victory.

Game Terms and Definitions

• Current player - is the active player. When it's your turn to take a card you become the active player. You remain the active player if you complete a Pyramid card, and you will remain the active player until the Event is completed.

• Draw deck - a face-down deck players draw cards from.

• Plague cards - these are the 100 cards with the 10 Plague symbols shaped as a Pyramid on their backs. These cards range from 1-10 in each Plague for a total of 100 cards.

• Exodus card - this card is used after the 10th and final Event is completed. See "The Exodus Card" section for how this is used. (Page 7)

• Current Plague - is the Plague that is in between the time a Pyramid card is completed until the next Pyramid card is completed.

• Hand limit - your hand limit is 10 cards, and you should have 10 cards in your hand at the end of your turn. Note that the 10th and final Plague will specifically tell you to play with 9 cards until the game ends.

  If you are playing the variant version of the game, your hand limit may be 9 cards depending on when the Death of the Firstborn Event is played.

• Pyramid cards - these are the 24 cards that make up the Pyramid. Each Pyramid card is worth 2, 3, or 5 Pyramid points.

• Tomb - players will discard cards that are used to complete Pyramid cards in the Tomb. Players will also discard all cards into the Tomb from the Events. This is separate from the discard pile.

Events Reference and Clarification

1. Blood

• No Blood cards may be drawn until the next Plague.
• All players must reveal the card they draw from the draw deck. If a Blood card is drawn, discard it, and their turn is over.

Note: If a player draws a Blood card, they cannot complete a Pyramid card this turn.

2. Frogs

• The current player draws cards from the deck equal to the number of players, and displays the cards for all players.
• In turn order, each player swaps a card from your hand with one from the display.
• Place all remaining cards in the Tomb.

Note: All players should have the same number of cards to choose from. Example: in a 4-player game, the last player would still have four cards displayed as the other players selected and discarded into the display.

3. Lice

• Each player gives one card from their hand to the player to their right, and one card to the player on their left.
• Reshuffle event: Shuffle all cards from the discard pile, Tomb and the draw deck. Create a new draw deck, then reveal the top card of the new deck to start a new discard pile.

Note: In a 2-player game, pass two cards to the other player. This is the first of two reshuffle events.

4. Wild Beasts

• In turn order, player names a Plague or number.
• Flip up to three cards from the deck, one at a time. If matched, keep the card and discard one card from your hand to the Tomb.
• All cards revealed are placed in the Tomb.

Note: Once a card matches a player's guess, they no longer need to flip cards. Only one card can be taken per player during this event.

5. Pestilence

• All players must discard any three Plague cards containing an animal (Frog, Lice, Wild Beast, Locust) from their hand to the Tomb.
• All players in turn order draw back to hand limit.

Note: If a player has fewer than three animal cards in their hand, they must show their hand to all other players, then discard all the animal cards that they have.

6. Boils

• All players reveal all their Boils cards.
• The player(s) with the highest sum of Boils cards is safe. All other players discard two cards with matching numbers or matching Plagues in the Tomb.
• All players in turn order draw back to hand limit.

Note: If a player does not have a pair of matching cards, they must show their hand to all other players, and they do not need to discard any cards. If all players don't have Boils cards, they are all affected.

7. Hail

• In turn order, each player must remove a Pyramid card.
• Shuffle the removed cards back into the remaining Pyramid cards and refill the Pyramid.
• Reshuffle event: Shuffle all cards from the discard pile, Tomb and the draw deck. Create a new draw deck, then reveal the top card of the new deck to start a new discard pile.

Note: This is the second of two reshuffle events.

8. Locusts

• The current player reveals the top card from the draw deck.
• The Plague on the card must be discarded from everyone's hands to the Tomb.
• All players in turn order draw back to hand limit.

Note: If a player does not have the Plague revealed in their hand, they must show their hand of cards to all other players to prove it. They do not need to discard a card.

9. Darkness

• In turn order, close your eyes and shuffle your cards.
• Randomly discard one card from your hand to the Tomb.
• All players in turn order draw back to hand limit.

Note: Closing your eyes is not mandatory, but we feel it adds to the theme of the Plague.

10. Death of the Firstborn

• All players discard their highest number card to the Tomb.
• Do not draw cards afterwards.
• For the rest of the game, your hand limit is 9 cards.

Note: If you have two or more of the highest number, you may choose either one of them to discard. In standard play, follow instructions on the Exodus instruction card.

Variant Play

If you wish to play the game where the Plague events are unpredictable, follow these rules.

Set up the game and Pyramid as normal with one simple change. Shuffle the Event cards instead of placing them in numerical order, and place the Exodus card with the Exodus instruction card underneath the bottom Event card.

Event cards:

• If the Death of the Firstborn event is not the last Plague event, remember to play the rest of the game with 9 cards and your hand limit.
• If the Blood event is played as the 10th Plague, play the event as normal but note that there is no next event, therefore continue showing the card you draw and end your turn should a Blood card be drawn.

Play this way until the Exodus card is drawn.

Pyramid cards:

• If "Three cards of the current Plague" is selected as part of set up for the Pyramid, leave it as is. It cannot be completed until the first Event card is first played, as there is no current Plague at the moment.
• "One card from each Plague" cannot be completed after the Death of the Firstborn event has occurred.

Plague Names

Plague (English)	Transliteration
Blood	Dam
Frogs	Tzfardeyah
Lice	Kinim
Wild Beasts	Arov
Pestilence	Dever
Boils	Sh'chin
Hail	Barad
Locusts	Arbeh
Darkness	Choshech
Death of the Firstborn	Makat Bechorot

Hebrew script on the printed reference is omitted; the transliterations are as printed.

Historical Background

The Ten Plagues took place in the year 1314 BCE. The story is found in chapters 7-12 in the book of Exodus. The Ten Plagues were inflicted on biblical Egypt by God in order to free the Israelites from slavery.

God instructed Moses to go to the Pharaoh, and ask that the Israelites be freed, and to lead them out of Egypt and into the land of the Canaanites.

When the Pharaoh continued in his refusal to free the children of Israel from many years of slavery and hard labor, Moses and Aaron warned the Pharaoh that God would punish him and his nation.

And, indeed, God sent the ten plagues, one after the next, until Pharaoh conceded.

After the 10th plague the nation of Israel left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, which is now known as the Exodus.