Wazabi
Wazabi Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Be the first player to have no more dice.
Setup
All players receive 4 dice and 3 cards. The undealt cards are placed face down in the center of the table and form the draw pile.
Each player rolls their dice. Whoever rolls the most Wazabi symbols starts the game.
Playing the Game
On their turn, a player rolls their dice, then:
- Draws as many cards as the number of Draw symbols obtained on the dice.
- Gives each die showing the Give symbol to a player of their choice.
- Plays 1 card, following these rules:
- Only one card may be played per turn.
- To play a card, the player must have obtained with their dice at least as many Wazabi symbols as shown in the top left corner of the card (the minimum symbol requirement).
- The effect of a played card applies immediately.
- Playing a card is not compulsory.
During the game, players place cards that have been played or discarded face up next to the draw pile. When the draw pile is empty, the cards that have already been played and placed face up are shuffled and turned over to form a new draw pile.
If there are no more cards in the draw pile, the player who needs to draw does so from the hand of an opponent of their choice, who presents their cards to them fanned out, face down.
Card Description
Each card shows:
- Minimum symbols: indicates the minimum number of Wazabi symbols a player needs to have obtained with their dice in order to play this card. When this shows "none," the card may be played even if the player has no Wazabi symbols at all.
- Card effect: occurs as soon as the card is played.
- Effect explanation: describes any special cases relating to the card's effect.
Action Cards
Discard 1 of your dice Minimum symbols: 1 Wazabi symbol. Effect: Discard 1 of your dice. The die is removed from the game. This card cannot be played if a player obtains 2 or more Give symbols with their dice on the same turn.
All players give their dice to their neighbor on the left or right Minimum symbols: 2 Wazabi symbols. Effect: All players give their dice to their neighbor on the left or right, according to the choice of the player who plays the card. (That player must also give away their own dice.)
Discard 2 of your dice Minimum symbols: 3 Wazabi symbols. Effect: Discard 2 of your dice. The dice are removed from the game.
Give 1 of your dice to the player of your choice Minimum symbols: 3 Wazabi symbols. Effect: Give 1 of your dice to the player of your choice. This effect is independent of any dice you may have already given away because of the Give symbol(s) you rolled.
Take 1 card from the player of your choice Minimum symbols: 1 Wazabi symbol. Effect: Take 1 card from the player of your choice. That player presents their cards to you fanned out, face down; take the one of your choice. If no player has any cards, take one from the draw pile instead.
The player of your choice is reduced to 1 card Minimum symbols: 1 Wazabi symbol. Effect: The player of your choice is reduced to only 1 card. The chosen player must have at least 2 cards in hand. They then choose which card they wish to keep and discard the others.
Draw 3 extra cards Minimum symbols: 1 Wazabi symbol. Effect: Draw 3 cards from the draw pile. This effect is independent of any cards you may have already obtained because of the Draw symbol(s) you rolled.
All players except you are reduced to 2 cards Minimum symbols: 2 Wazabi symbols. Effect: All players except you are reduced to only 2 cards. Players who have more than 2 cards choose which ones they wish to keep and discard the others.
The player of your choice skips their turn Minimum symbols: none. Effect: The player of your choice skips their turn. Play the card face up in front of the chosen player, who keeps it until they have skipped their turn, then discards it. Several of these cards can stack up in front of the same player.
Play again and reverse the direction of play Minimum symbols: none. Effect: Play again and reverse the direction of play. The player takes another turn and play continues in the opposite direction.
Example
John has 5 dice and it is his turn to play. He rolls all his dice and obtains the following symbols: two Draw symbols, one Give symbol, and two Wazabi symbols.
He therefore draws 2 cards, gives his die showing the Give symbol to the opponent of his choice, and plays a card from his hand that requires at most 2 Wazabi symbols. The card's effect is resolved, and the card is then placed face up next to the draw pile, or in front of the player it targets (for a "skip your turn" card).
End of the Game
As soon as a player has no more dice, they win the game. You may continue playing until only one player is left as the loser.
Variants
"Team" variant for 4 or 6 players: you may play in teams. In this case, form teams of 2. The first player to have no more dice wins the game for their team.
Game length: you may increase or decrease the length of the game by increasing or decreasing the number of dice dealt at the start.
Tournaments: fix a number of games to be played. When a player or team wins, count the number of dice remaining among all of their opponents; they receive 1 point per die. When the planned games have all been played, the player or team with the most points wins.