Urgency
Urgency Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Definitions
- Trigger: The condition that must be met to enable you to enact an action/effect.
- Action: If the trigger condition is met, you may do this right now (cannot be saved for later).
- Effect: Effects are always active as long as the trigger condition is met. If there is no trigger, the effect is always active.
- Empty: A tile with no tokens on it.
- Occupied: A tile with a token on it.
- Safe: Attacks cannot remove tokens from safe tiles. Tokens can be moved from safe tiles.
- Attack: Target a tile with a basic or special attack and remove the token occupying it.
- Remove: Take a token off the board.
- In-play: A token that is on the board.
- Roll again: Roll your dice again (not a re-roll); it is still the same turn. If you gain multiple "roll agains", ignore all but 1.
Game Components
- 1 game board
- 8 dice (4 black, 4 white)
- 14 tokens (7 black, 7 white)
- 49 rule cards (7 per deck, in 7 animal decks: Rosette, Ibex, Bull, Lion, Tortoise, Eagle, Lizard) plus 5 reference cards
Setup for Each Player
- Take 7 tokens and 4 dice of the same color.
- Select an animal rule card deck of 7 cards.
- Shuffle your rule cards, discard 1 to your discard pile, then make 3 piles of 2 cards each, face-down in front of you.
- Shuffle the Rosette rule cards and draw 2. Select 1 and play it face-up in front of you. Remove the other from the game.
- Randomly determine who goes first.
Game Setup
The pamphlet's game-setup diagram shows, for each player: the Rosette rule card in play (the "Plague Amulet" card in the example), the 1st, 2nd and 3rd piles of two face-down cards, and an empty discard pile. The diagram's second row, "After your opponent scores twice," shows the Rosette card and the next rule cards in play alongside the 3rd pile and the discard pile.
How to Win
Goal: Be the first to score 6 of your 7 tokens.
Scoring
- Score by landing a token exactly 1 space past your last tile. The token is now a score counter and may not be played again. (Diagram: a token moves over the last tile and lands one space beyond it.)
- After you score:
- You may take your Rosette card's action.
- The opponent looks at the cards in their next rule card pile, puts 1 into play, and puts the other into their discard pile.
Rule Cards
- You start the game with 1 Rosette rule card in play and the rest face-down as shown above.
- Each time your opponent scores (up to their 4th), you will look at both cards in your next rule card pile, select one to put face-up in play and discard the other card to your discard pile.
- When your opponent scores the 4th time, choose your final rule card from your discard pile.
- Rule cards are in play for the rest of the game.
- Rule cards take precedence over the rule book.
- Each deck is represented by either white or black pieces (see Rule Card Decks reference card).
Movement
- Roll dice, count the painted pips pointing up, and move either 1 in-play token or new token exactly the amount rolled. (Example: four dice showing 3 pips total.)
- Movement follows the Board Flow below.
- Your tokens cannot occupy the same tile.
- You may move tokens over and past others.
- You must move a token if you are able.
Board Flow
The board flow diagram shows three numbered lanes, each read left to right and returning right to left:
- Home Row (top): tiles 4, 3, 2, 1 on the left and 15, 14, 13 on the right. Tiles 4 and 14 are marked with white Rosettes.
- Center Row: tiles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Tile 8 is marked with a black Rosette.
- Home Row (bottom): tiles 4, 3, 2, 1 on the left and 15, 14, 13 on the right, mirroring the top home row. Tiles 4 and 14 are marked with white Rosettes.
The two colored paths (red and blue) are drawn as a single flow: each player's tokens travel through the tile numbers in order, following the marked path for their color.
Rosette Tiles
- All Rosettes: If you land on any Rosette, White or Black, you may roll again.
- Black Rosette: In addition to enabling you to roll again after landing on it, the Black Rosette is a safe tile.
Attacks
- Basic Attack: If you land a token on an opponent's token in the center row, remove it unless it occupies a safe tile.
- Special Attack: Some rule cards enable you to remove a token in ways other than landing on it. In these cases, remove the token unless it occupies a safe tile.
Reference
- Tile types: Throne, Temple, Eye, Temple Step, Ziggurat, Capitol (tile designs on the board).
- Safe tile: marked with blue corner pieces.
- Unsafe tile: marked with red corner pieces.
- Attack: marked with a red X.
- Movement from rolls: shown by a black arc.
- Movement after rolls: shown by blue (forward) and red (backward) arrows.
Learn More
- FAQs: alexcoburn.com/urgency-faqs
- Game Variants: alexcoburn.com/urgency-variants