Totem
Totem Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
Be the first player to move all your pawns across the game board to the opposite side!
Setup
Place the game board on the table. Shuffle the symbol tiles picture side down and turn one tile over next to the game board. The players choose a set of four Totem pieces and place them in the start spaces marked with the same color outlines as their own Totem pieces, along an edge of the game board not used by another player, and according to the following instructions:
- 2 Players: 4 Totem pieces per person.
- 3 Players: Two opposite players take 3 Totem pieces each, and the 3rd player takes 4 Totem pieces.
- 4 Players: 2 Totem pieces per person.
Note! When you're playing with less than 4 Totem pieces per player, you can place your Totem pieces in any of your four starting spaces.
How to Play
The youngest player starts.
On your turn, move one of your Totem pieces in a straight line in whichever direction you want (but not diagonally) as many steps as you want, until the Totem piece comes across a space with the same symbol as the open symbol tile or another Totem piece. The Totem piece will have to stop in the space before that space. You cannot move your Totem piece into a space with the same symbol as the open symbol tile.
The turn then passes clockwise to the next player.
Changing the Symbol Tile
On your turn, you can also choose to move your Totem pieces into a special space. If you stop your Totem piece in a special space, you have to choose a new symbol title [sic] at the end of your turn. Turn over the three face-down tiles and choose one of them to be the new active symbol tile. The new symbol tile replaces the old one as the active tile, and the rest of the tiles are turned face down again.
You cannot use a Totem piece that is already in a special space to change the symbol tile.
Finish Line
Once you've moved your Totem piece across the game board to the last row on the opposite side from you, that piece has reached the finish line [sic: sheet reads "that pieces has reached"]. You cannot move this Totem piece again.
Who Wins?
The player who first moves all their Totem pieces to the finish line wins the game!