Bad Archeology -- Rules

Aim

The aim of the game is to search the board and be the player who collects the most valuable treasures.

Equipment

You will need,

70 Printed Tiles (Print the cards sheet twice)
4 Corner pieces
1 Centre Piece
6 Meeples (1 per player)

Setup

Shuffle the tiles, and lay them all out face down in a 9x9 grid with the corner pieces at the corners and the centre piece in the centre. There will be a few tiles left over.

Place all of the players counters in the middle of the centre piece.

Randomly choose a player to go first.

Playing the Game

Players take turns clockwise around the table to move their piece up to 3 spaces in a straight orthagonal(N,S,E,W) line.

They may step onto an already revealed tile (except a wall)
They may not step onto a face down tile
They may step past an already revealed item tile
They may not step past walls, ice, portals or snakes
They may pass other players, or stop on the same space

Once they have moved, reveal all of the tiles they stepped next to, and turn them face up.

If they stop on a tile, players will then normally do something with that tile. If it is an item, they will normally pick it up, but they do not have to.

Players may also choose to pass, or to return their piece to the centre of the board, this takes 1 turn.

Treasures And Items

If a tile has a value in the bottom corner it is a treasure, and if you land on it, you may pick it up. Most treasures have other features.

All items you are holding are public knowledge and you are not to hide them from the other players.

Gem -- Value 3

No Special rules. Pick it up and it's worth 3 points at the end of the game.

Jade Statue -- Value 5

Jade statues are heavy. Each jade statue you are holding reduces your speed by 1, allowing you to move 1 fewer spaces per turn. (To a minimum speed of 1)

Before you move, if you are on an empty space, you may drop an item on the space you are standing. So if you find the statue is slowing you down, you may leave it behind.

Dynamite -- Value 1

Before you move; if you are holding a dynamite, you may set off this dynamite. This blows up all four spaces immediately around you.

Discard the dynamite card from your hand and remove all four tiles around you, and discard them too. These cards are out of the game and will not be used again.

If any player is standing in 1 of those four squares. They are returned to the centre of the board, and you may steal one of their items.

If any of those tiles are Dynamite, they also blow up the spaces around them, you are safe from this explosion.

You may not use Dynamite while on either the Start or Corner tiles, and these spaces are safe from explosions.

Treasure Chests -- Value 5, and Keys

Keys by themselves have no value but are considered an Item. You may not pick up a treasure chest without one.

To pick up treasure chest, you must discard a key.

Snakes, and Snakes Charmers -- Value 2

Players cannot step over a snake, instead, they must stop on it.

If they have a snake charmer, they either immediately discard the snake or place it in any completely empty space.

If they do not have a snake charmer, they must wait on it until next turn.

If a player begins their turn on a snake, they must miss a go to remove that snake and discard it.

Potions -- Value 0

Every potion you are holding increases your speed by 1, and can be used to counteract the cost of carrying heavy jade statues.

If your speed is 4 or greater, you may also step onto an unrevealed tile.

If your speed is 5 or greater, bash through any tiles between you and your destination, even walls. Discard them.

Any dynamites in the way are exploded.

Terrain

Walls

Cannot be stepped on.

Ice

If you step onto ice, continue moving in the direction you stepped onto it, revealing the tiles around you as you do.

If this reaches a wall or outside the boundaries of the 4 corner pieces. Stop on the last ice tile. The following turn the player can move off it as usual.

Portals

If a player steps on a portal, they may warp to any space on the board, except unrevealed tiles, walls and portals.

If they step onto ice, they continue moving in the same direction as they stepped onto the portal.

Ending the Game

Once all tiles have been revealed and there are no more tiles left of value on the board, or if all players pass on the same turn, the game ends immediately.

Players count up the values of the tiles they have collected and the player with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, the win is tied.

Variations

Escape

As soon as any player has reached 10 Points they may choose to escape by getting to one of the corners and leaving the board. The game ends when there is only one player left on the board. That player is trapped and scores 0 points.

Fog of Archeology

At the end of each turn, turn all tiles not next to a meeple face down. This means that you can only see the tiles immediately adjacent to the players.

Players may always step or teleport onto unrevealed tiles. Any player that hits a wall is returned to the centre of the board.

Escape the Fog

Apply rules from both "Escape" and "Fog of Archeology"