Ubongo! Junior 3-D
Ubongo! Junior 3-D Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's the Goal?
You are trying to cover the base area of your building boards with building pieces, all at the same time and as quickly as possible. No square may be left empty, and nothing may stick out over the edge. Once that is done, you quickly build the tallest Ubongo jungle tower you can with the remaining pieces.
After 90 seconds, time is up. Then you check, one after another, whether each of you has covered the base area correctly, and measure how high your towers are with the giraffe. Players are rewarded with gems. Whoever has collected the most gems after 6 rounds wins this animal building fun!
Game Components
- 4 x 8 building pieces
- 50 building boards (with 100 different puzzles)
- 1 giraffe with 2 feet
- 120 gems
- 1 cloth bag
- 1 hourglass
Illustrations on the sheet label the giraffe, the building pieces, the hourglass, the cloth bag with gems, and the building boards.
Puzzles in 4 difficulty levels: the sheet shows one example board from each of Level 1 to Level 4, with the base area marked on the board.
Game Setup
- Each player takes one set of 8 different building pieces. With fewer than 4 players, return the building pieces you do not need to the box.
- Decide which building boards you want to play with. There are 4 different difficulty levels:
- Level 1
- Level 2
- Level 3
- Level 4
- Take the following number of building boards:
- With 1 player: take 6 building boards of one colour.
- With 2 players: take 12 building boards of one colour.
- With 3 players: take 18 building boards of one colour.
- With 4 players: take 24 building boards of one colour.
- Stack the building boards into a draw pile. Make sure the side of the building board you want to play with is face down. Return the remaining building boards to the box.
- Each building board shows a different light-coloured base area, which must be covered exactly with the building pieces. Which of your 8 building pieces you use for this is up to you.
Tip: try to cover the base area with as few building pieces as possible.
- Place the hourglass on the table where everyone can see it.
Before the first game, carefully punch the giraffe out of the punch sheet and insert the feet into the slots. Pour all the gems into the cloth bag.
Game Flow
The game lasts 6 rounds.
Each round proceeds as follows:
1. Cover the Base Area
- Each player takes the top building board from their own pile and places it in front of them, with the side you are playing on facing up.
- Call out together "Ubongo!" and turn the hourglass over.
- Grab your building pieces and cover the light base area of your own building board as quickly as possible. In the bottom storey, no square may remain empty and nothing may stick out over the edge.
Example: (The sheet shows an example in which a player places a building piece onto the base area of a building board, with an arrow indicating the placement.)
2. Build the Tower
- As soon as you have placed the building pieces exactly on the specified area, begin to build the tallest possible tower on it with the remaining building pieces. From now on you may build freely: the building pieces may stick out over the base area, do not need to sit exactly on top of each other, and you do not have to use all 8 building pieces.
- As soon as the hourglass has run out, call "Stop!" and everyone must stop building immediately.
3. Evaluate the Building Board and Start a New Round
- Check each other's building boards and see whether, on every one, the base area is covered exactly with the building pieces, meaning no square is left empty and no building piece sticks out over the base area.
- Everyone who built correctly takes the giraffe and measures how high their towers are. The higher the tower, the more gems you get. For example, if the tower reaches into the blue field of the measuring scale, you get 5 gems. Take the corresponding number of gems from the bag and place them in front of you as your supply. If a tower ends exactly between 2 fields, you get the higher number of gems.
- Everyone who did not build correctly unfortunately does not receive any gems in this round.
- After scoring, start the next round: take a new building board from the draw pile. Call "Ubongo!" and play as described above.
Game End
The game ends after 6 rounds. The player who has collected the most gems wins. If several of you have the same number of gems, you win together.
Game Variant with Ubongo 3-D Family
This variant uses the building boards of Ubongo 3-D Family together with Ubongo Junior 3-D. The sheet's variant section is reproduced in full below.
Setup
- Each child takes 6 building boards and 1 set of building pieces from Ubongo Junior 3-D.
- Each adult takes 6 building boards from Ubongo 3-D Family and 1 set of building pieces from Ubongo Junior 3-D.
- Using the building boards, form 2 draw piles: one with the building boards from Ubongo 3-D Family, and a second with the building boards from Ubongo Junior 3-D. In addition, set aside the giraffe, the 120 gems with the bag, and the hourglass from Ubongo Junior 3-D.
- Take a building board from the corresponding draw pile.
How to Play
- Turn the hourglass over and begin puzzling at the same time. Play follows the rules of Ubongo Junior 3-D. However, adults must cover the base area not only in the bottom storey but also, additionally, in the second storey correctly. With the remaining of their 8 building pieces, they may then likewise build upward freely.
- As in Ubongo Junior 3-D, you now check whether the base areas have been covered correctly. If this is the case, everyone in turn may measure their towers with the giraffe and collect the corresponding number of gems. This works exactly as in Ubongo Junior 3-D.
The game ends after 6 rounds. Whoever has collected the most gems wins.
Translator and Transcription Notes
- The German variant setup text contains the misspelling "Ubgongo"; this translation reads it as "Ubongo".
- Omitted as non-rules content: the author, design, graphic, editorial and publisher credits; the material and packaging notes; the advertisement for the free Kosmos explanation app and the "play without reading the rules" box.