DAS AMULETT

By Alan R. Moon and Aaron Weissblum

For 3-6 players

COMPONENTS

Game Board

33 Spell Cards

112 Metal Cards (18 each Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron)

6 Amuletts

52 Jewels

7 red

7 yellow

7 dark green

7 clear

4 white

4 dark blue

4 light blue

4 gray

4 orange

4 brown

Jewel Bag

60 Energy Stones

6 Round Markers (3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6)

2 Wizard Hats

Player Aid Sheet

Rules

 

PREPARATION

Place the gameboard in the middle of the table. Place the Round Markers near the board.

Give each player an Amulett.

Give each player 10 Energy Stones. Any remaining Energy Stones should be put back in the box.

Separate the Metal Cards by type and place each Metal Card stack face up near the board. Each player should take one of each of the four Metals as his starting hand.

Put all the Jewels in the Jewel Bag and mix them thoroughly. Draw the Jewels out of the bag randomly. Place three Jewels in each City area (the four areas in the middle of the board) and two Jewels in each other area. Put the bag back in the box.

Place Wizards Hat #2 in the City area that has a Pyramid. (Both Wizard Hats are the same. I am just using #1 and #2 to help make the rules clearer.)

Decide who will be the First Player and give him Wizard Hat #1.

 

SPELLS

Shuffle the Spell Cards and deal two to each player. If a player does not like the Spell Cards he is dealt, he may discard one or both and draw replacements. A player can only do this once.

Each player secretly decides how many Energy Stones he will allocate to his two starting Spells by placing a number of Energy Stones on each of the two cards. (This should be done secretly. Hide your cards with your hands.) At least one Energy Stone must be placed on each of the two starting cards. When all players have made their decisions, the Spells are all revealed. (The printed rules state that each player must place exactly two stones on each starting card. The above rule is included as an advanced option.)

The remaining Spell Cards form the deck which is placed near the board. Discarded cards are placed face down on the bottom of the deck.

Spells are always kept face up on the table in front of their owner.

 

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

The game is played in Rounds. Each Round has the following four Phases.

  1. SPELL PHASE — Spell Cards equal to the number of players are auctioned.
  2. METAL PHASE — Each player receives Metal Cards for his Spells.
  3. JEWEL PHASE — The player with Wizard Hat #1 draws one of the Round Markers. The result is the number of areas that will be visited this Round. Players compete for Jewels in each of these areas.
  4. ENERGY PHASE — Each player removes one Energy Stone from each of his Spells. Exception: Some Spells require two Energy Stones to be removed each turn. Any Spell left with no Energy Stones is discarded.

 

SPELL PHASE

Spell Cards equal to the number of players are auctioned. Spells are auctioned one at a time. Each Auction is held within the following rules:

  1. The player with Wizard Hat #1 takes the top card from the Spell deck and turns it face up. He then bids first. He may bid any number equal to or less than the number of Energy Stones he has, or he may PASS.
  2. Bidding then proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player must either raise the last bid or PASS.
  3. Each player has one bid only. After each player has bid or passed, the highest bidder wins the Spell and must place a number of Energy Stones equal to his bid on the Spell Card.
  4. A player may own any number of Spells during the game within the limit of his 10 Energy Stones.
  5. If no player bids for a Spell, it is discarded. No replacement is drawn.
  6. The player who wins a Spell takes Wizard Hat #1. He begins the next auction.

 

METAL PHASE

Beginning with the Player with Wizard Hat #1 and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player collects the Metals shown on all their Spell Cards. A player may collect any of the four Metals for each Wild Symbol on each of his Spells. If there are no Metal Cards left of one type, a player may take any other Metal as a substitute.

 

JEWEL PHASE

The player with Wizard Hat #1 draws one of the Round Markers. The result is the number of areas that will be visited this Round. Players compete for Jewels in each of these areas.

During the first Round of the game, the first area visited is the City with the Pyramid. Thereafter, the player who wins the Jewel in an area takes Wizard Hat #1 and immediately moves Wizard Hat #2 on the board.

Wizard Hat #2 must be moved within the following rules:

  1. Wizard Hat #2 must be moved each time. It may not be left in the same area.
  2. Wizard Hat #2 must be moved to an adjacent area that has one or more Jewels.
  3. If all the adjacent areas have no Jewels, the player moving Wizard Hat #2 may move it to any area with Jewels.
  4. The Great Wall, the Pyramids, and the Wall around the Cities have no effect on movement.

Each time Wizard Hat #2 is moved, there is an auction for one of the Jewels in that area. Each auction is handled within the following rules:

  1. The area dictates what Metals players may use to bid for the Jewels. In a City area, players may use all their Metals. In all non-City areas, players may only use one Metal. In Water Areas they may use Gold. In Forest Areas they may use Silver. In Desert Areas they may use Copper. In Mountain Areas they may use Iron.
  2. The player with Wizard Hat #1 bids first. He may bid any number or he may PASS.
  3. Bidding then proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player must either raise the last bid or PASS.
  4. If a player PASSES, he may not reenter the bidding in this area. Players may bid more than once in this Phase (unlike the auctions for Spells).
  5. When all other players PASS, the last bidder must discard a number of Metals equal to his bid. He then takes any one of the Jewels in the area. Players keep their Jewels on their Amulett in front of them.
  6. If a player does not have enough Metals to pay for his bid, he must discard all his Metal Cards. Another auction is then held in the same area.
  7. The player who wins the Jewel takes Wizard Hat #1. He immediately moves Wizard Hat #2 to the next area.
  8. When Wizard Hat #2 has visited a number of areas equal to the chosen Round Marker, the Jewel Phase is over. Players can keep track of the number of areas visited by any means. One possible method is to flip over one Round Marker as each area is visited.
  9. If no player bids in an area, the Jewel Phase for the Round immediately ends.

 

ENERGY STONE PHASE

Each player removes one Energy Stone from each of his Spells. Exception: Some Spells require two Energy Stones to be removed each turn. Any Spell left with no Energy Stones is discarded and placed face down on the bottom of the deck. Energy Stones that are removed from Spells are available to be used again.

 

SPELL CARDS

Spell Cards always supercede the normal rules of the game.

 

WINNING THE GAME

The game ends when one player gets 7 different colored Jewels on his Amulett or 8 total Jewels in any combination of colors. He is the winner.