Osiris

Published by Hexagames, 1995
Rules Translated by Chris Mellor
Typed and Edited by Mike Siggins
Distributed from The Rules Bank by Mike Siggins

2-4 Players

Contents

Preparation

Take any one magnet sheet and stick the 13 magnets onto the reverse dies of the gods. Then take the second sheet and stick 12 magnets under the 12 high priests. Stick the 13th magnet under the pyramid.

Setting Up

The 13 gods are shuffled face down.

All 12 high priests and the pyramid are fastened onto the discs, so a god is assigned to each high priest. The disc remain face down so that no player knows the god.

Each player chooses his colour and received the corresponding high priests. Now each player can look at the gods which are attached to his priests.

Each player places a high priest in each of his three home areas (these show the same symbol).

Each player receives 2 power counters per high priest they have in play. These are placed next to the respective high priest markers.

Each player receives five followers - they are put on the temple spaces, placed once at a time, rotating around the table. No more than three followers of the same colour are allowed per god.

The pyramid is placed in the central space.

The player with the beige high priest starts, play proceeding clockwise.

The Game

The player's turn consists of three phases:

  1. Move one of his own high priests.
  2. Distribute power markers.
  3. He then may move his followers, but is not required to do so.

Moving a Priest

High priests always move with their gods beneath them. A priest can be moved if there are power counters in his home town. Priests cannot enter rivals towns. Two priests are allowed on the same space if they are going to fight. You can never move over spaces on which priests are standing.

Power counters make movement possible. A single power counter allows a sideways step. Two power counters allow a priest to change lanes - moving upwards or downwards onto the next lane. If a high priest is moved he must use all the power counters in his home town. Exception: the last power counter can be used as a blockade.

If a high priest is moved onto a space on which a rival priest stands there is a battle.

Choosing and Moving a High Priest

The player chooses on priest to move. Only one priest can be moved per turn. At the beginning a priest has only two power points so cannot enter another player's town. So, until he has more power points later in the game, he must be happy with moving up and across the lanes using power points.

Distributing Power Counters

If a player has moved his chosen priest then he takes the used counters from his home town and distributes them: they are distributed individually, clockwise, onto other towns. The first counter is placed on the town to the left. You may not miss out any town and you can only ever place one counter in a counter in a turn.

Blockades

The last power counter in a town can be used as a blockade but only if the priest has been moved previously. The player places the power counter on any empty space of the pyramid. A blockade can only be removed if a high priest moves onto this space from the side. The moved blockade is placed in the home town of the priest that removed it.

Fights Between High Priests

If a priest enters a space on which a rival priest stands then there is a battle.

Both players look at the gods under the priests. For each of the two gods, you count how many followers are in each temple. The colour of the followers makes no difference. The priest with the weakest god is defeated. If there is a draw, the player whose turn it is wins (ie the priest already on the space loses).

After the Battle

The victor can, if he wishes, exchange the gods beneath two adversaries. The defeated priest is placed back in his home town. The winning priest may continue his turn if he was interrupted by the battle. High priests of the same player may NOT fight each other. They may not even stand on the same place.

Moving Followers

The last thing a player does in his turn is to move one of his followers. The player takes one of his colour and places it on any temple space. There is one restriction: no more than three followers of the same colour can stand on a temple space.

End of the Game

The game ends when:

a) A priest reaches the tip of the pyramid. If a player reaches the middle space he removes the pyramid top and puts his priest there instead. The game ends immediately.

i) The god under the pyramid is revealed.

ii) The player who has the most followers in the temple of this god is the winner.

In the event of a draw, the turn order is the deciding factor.

With 2 players, both colours are added together to get the score.

b) The pyramid is completely blocked. If all the space around the middle space are blocked then the game ends immediately. The player with the most of his followers in the temple of the god wins. In the event of a draw the turn order is the deciding factor.

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell