How to play The Ark of the Covenant Official Rules

By: Dennis B. B. Taylor

The Ark of the Covenant Game Rules

Hey there, are you ready to embark on an exciting adventure? If you’re curious about the rules of The Ark of the Covenant game, you’ve come to the right place!

Imagine yourself in a mystical world, where ancient artifacts hold incredible power. The Ark of the Covenant is one such artifact, said to possess extraordinary abilities. In this game, you’ll have the chance to explore its mysteries and unlock its secrets. But remember, the power of the Ark is a double-edged sword, so use it wisely!

To begin your quest, you’ll need a group of adventurous comrades. Gather your friends and form a team to take on this thrilling challenge. Each player will have a unique set of skills and abilities that will come in handy during your journey.

Once you have your team ready, it’s time to dive into the game. The objective is simple: find the Ark of the Covenant and bring it back to its rightful place. But be prepared for obstacles and puzzles along the way. The path to the Ark is not an easy one!

You’ll encounter riddles and enigmatic clues that will test your wit and cunning. Pay attention to your surroundings and work together to solve these brain-teasers. Every puzzle you crack will bring you closer to the Ark.

But watch out for traps! The ancient guardians of the Ark have set up challenges to protect it. Stay alert and think carefully before making a move. One wrong step could lead to disaster!

As you progress through the game, you’ll earn artifacts and special abilities that will aid you in your quest. These treasures will elevate your skills and help you overcome even the toughest obstacles. Use them wisely and strategically.

Remember, teamwork is crucial in The Ark of the Covenant game. Communicate with your teammates, share your ideas, and support each other. Together, you can conquer any challenge that comes your way.

So, are you ready to embark on this thrilling adventure? Gather your team, prepare your mind, and let the quest for the Ark of the Covenant begin! Good luck, brave adventurers!

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Hey there! So, here’s the deal: Joshua has basically taken the kids of Israel to this cool place called the Promised Land, and guess what? You’ve been given a special job to help build stuff like roads, cities, temples, and even raise sheep. How awesome is that?

But wait, there’s more! You also get to send out Prophets to the cities to talk to people about turning their lives around. And get this – you’re in charge of moving The Ark of the Covenant to different parts of the Land. It’s like, a super important and sacred duty.

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Components

So, let’s dive right into what you’ll find in this game. To start with, you’ll get 72 Land Tiles, which you’ll be placing on the table. There are also 40 Followers for each player, available in 5 different colors. In addition, there are 5 Prophets and 1 Ark of the Covenant. To keep track of the scores, you’ll have a Scoring Track, and of course, a Rule Booklet to guide you through the game.

Object of the Game

Now that we have everything set up, let me explain how the game works. Each player takes turns placing the land tiles on the table, one by one. As you do this, the roads, cities, fields, and temples start to form and expand. Now, here’s the interesting part – you can place your followers on these tiles to earn points. Remember, the more points you earn, the closer you are to winning!

But wait, there’s more! You can also earn points by moving The Ark of the Covenant across the land, making sure to pass it by your followers. This adds another layer of strategy and excitement to the game. So, keep an eye on that Ark!

Setup

Okay, before we begin, let’s set everything up. Start by placing the starting tile face up in the middle of the table. Then, take the remaining tiles and shuffle them up. Stack them face down, creating multiple stacks so that everyone can easily reach them during the game.

Hey there! Let’s talk about how to set up and play this awesome game! First things first, I like to place the scoring track on one side of the table so that we have enough room in the middle for our land tiles.

Now, each of us will grab our followers and Prophet in our chosen color. We’ll place one follower on the starting space of the scoring track to keep score. The rest of our pieces will go in front of us as our supply. Oh, and whoever read a portion of the Bible most recently gets to go first!

Game Play

Alright, let’s dive into the gameplay! We’ll take turns in a clockwise order, starting with the lucky player who gets to go first. Here’s what we do on our turns:

  • First, we have to draw a new land tile and place it on the table. This is where the game gets really interesting!
  • Next, we can choose to place one of our followers from our supply onto the land tile we just placed. Or, if there’s a city portion on that tile, we can even place our Prophet there instead!

Instead of telling someone where to go, I can move The Ark of the Covenant around the board myself. I can choose to move it 1 to 5 tiles at a time. And here’s an interesting twist – if I place a land tile while moving it, I can score points if I complete roads, cities, or temples. It’s like a game within a game! After I move The Ark and possibly score some points, it’s the next player’s turn.

Now, let’s talk about placing land tiles. It’s pretty straightforward. I just need to choose a spot on the board and put the tile there. Easy peasy!

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When you want to place a land tile in the game, you’ll need to choose one from the face-down stacks.

  • The new tile, which has red borders in the examples, must be placed so that it’s touching at least one edge of a previously placed tile. Remember, no diagonal placement is allowed.
  • You need to make sure that all field, city, and road segments on the new tile align with the field, city, and road segments on the existing tiles it touches.
How to play The Ark of the Covenant Official Rules UltraFoodMess
The road and field segments should continue on the new tile
How to play The Ark of the Covenant Official Rules UltraFoodMess
The city segment should continue

In the rare situation where the tile you draw cannot be legally placed on the board (and everyone agrees), you’ll need to discard it.

When I play the game of Carcassonne, I place one tile from the game into the box and then draw another tile to play. It’s a simple rule, but it’s important to keep in mind. Now, let’s talk about what to do with the followers.

Where to Put Your Followers

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So, let’s talk about what happens when I put down a land tile in the game. I have this thing called a follower, and I can decide to place it on that tile. But there are a few rules I need to follow:

  • First, I can only place one follower on each turn.
  • I have to take the follower from my supply and use it.
  • I can only put the follower on the tile that I just played.
  • And lastly, I get to choose where exactly on the tile I want to put my follower. It’s up to me!
  • But here’s something cool: instead of a follower, I can also choose to put down my Prophet. I’ll explain more about that in the next section.
  • Oh, and one more thing – I can’t put my follower on a field, city, or road if it connects to another tile that already has a follower on it, no matter how far away the connection is. That wouldn’t be fair!

I want to talk about an interesting game called “The Ark of the Covenant”. It’s a game that involves placing followers in different areas and strategically playing land tiles. The goal is to score points by connecting cities, roads, and temples. Each player starts with a certain number of followers that they can place on the board. These followers can be placed in cities, roads, or smaller fields, but not in the large field area.

However, there are some rules to keep in mind. For example, a follower can only be placed in the field if the connected city is not occupied by another follower. This means that if a city is already occupied, you can’t place your follower in the field connected to it. Also, a follower cannot be placed in the large field area if it connects to an occupied field. The game continues with players taking turns to play land tiles even after all followers have been deployed.

Once temples, roads, and cities are scored, followers are returned to the players. This means that followers can’t be taken off the tiles once they are placed, but they can be used again in future turns.

Now, let’s talk about placing Prophets. In the game, there are times when the people in the cities become wicked and need to repent. In these situations, God calls Prophets to preach repentance to His people. It adds an interesting twist to the game and requires players to think strategically about when and where to place their Prophets.

“The Ark of the Covenant” is a game that combines strategy and a bit of luck. By placing followers in the right areas and making smart moves with land tiles, players can score points and have a great time. So if you’re a fan of strategy games, this game is definitely worth checking out.

When playing the game, you have the option to use your Prophet once in a city. Instead of placing a follower in a city segment, you can choose to place your Prophet. If the city is completed, you will earn double the amount of points for that city. Afterward, your Prophet is taken out of the game and placed in the box.

Moving The Ark of the Covenant

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Instead of placing a follower, Red decides to move The Ark of the Covenant. Since The Ark passes both a red follower and a blue follower, Red and Blue players each receive 1 point.

When the first city is completed, I place The Ark of the Covenant on the board right away. As the one who completed the city, I get to choose which tile of the city I want to place The Ark on. Once I’ve made my decision, my turn is finished.

Now that The Ark is on the playing surface, you have some options. After playing a tile, you can choose to place a follower, move The Ark, or take no action. If you decide to move The Ark, you can move it from 1 to 5 tile spaces.

However, there are some limitations. You can’t move The Ark onto a tile that you have already crossed on your turn. In other words, you can’t go back the way you came. And here’s an interesting twist: for each follower that you pass with The Ark, that player gets 1 point!

Just so you know: When The Ark starts on a tile with a follower, that follower doesn’t score 1 point when The Ark begins its journey. If The Ark ends on a tile with a follower, then that follower scores 1 point.

How to Score Completed Roads, Cities, and Temples

If a road, city, or temple is “completed” by placing a land tile, it’s time to score points.

Completed Road

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Green scores 4 points for completing the road.

A road is considered complete when the road segments on both ends connect to a crossing, a city segment, or a temple, or when the road forms a complete loop. There can be multiple road segments between the ends.

When I have a follower on a completed road, I earn 1 point for each tile in the road. And not only that, but I also get 1 point for each oasis that’s connected to it. It’s like getting double the points!

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This road I completed is worth three points. And because there are three oases connected to it, I get three additional points. So, in total, I score a nice six points!

Now, here’s the cool part. I get to move my scoring marker forward on the scoring track! I move it the same number of spaces as the points I earned. If I pass 50 on the track, something special happens. I lay my scoring marker face down to show that my score is greater than 50, and I keep going along the track. It’s a great feeling to see my score piling up!

Check out This Completed City!

When a city is enclosed by a wall and has no open gaps, it is considered complete. A completed city may consist of multiple segments.

Take a look at the image below to see an example of a completed city. This city is worth six points, and an extra two points are awarded for the scroll, bringing the total to eight points.

[![Completed City](/images/how-to-play-the-ark-of-the-covenant-official-rules_7.jpg)](image link)

If you have a follower in a completed city, you earn two points for each tile in that city. Count each tile once, even if there are separate segments on the same tile.

Additionally, each scroll within a completed city earns you an extra two points.

Now, what happens when a completed city or road has more than one follower? let’s find out.

If you strategically place your land tiles, you can have more than one follower on a road or city. And if the road or city is completed, the player with the most followers in it gets all the points. However, when multiple players have the same number of followers, they each receive the total points.

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Blue and Yellow both have one follower,
so they both score 14 points for
the completed city.

It’s important to note that Prophets only count as one follower when determining who controls a city for scoring. So, if red has one follower and blue has one Prophet in a city, both players would score, but blue would get double the points for having the Prophet.

A Complete Temple

A temple is considered complete when it has tiles surrounding it on all four sides, forming a cross shape.

First, I need to check if any roads have been completed as a result of placing the last tile around the temple. I’ll score those roads first and remove any followers that are on them. Once that’s done, I can move on to scoring the temple itself.

The player who has the most followers on the cross-shaped tiles adjacent to the temple, as well as on the Temple tile itself, will score 7 points. If there is a tie between two or more players for the most followers, all of them will receive the full 7 points.

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Green player has the highest number

of followers and will score

the maximum 7 points for completing the temple.

Remember: Sometimes, it’s a good strategy to finish your opponent’s roads around temples to remove their followers from the temple tile!

Getting Your Followers Back

Once a road or city is scored (only then), your followers are returned to your supplies. You can use these followers again in later turns.

How to play The Ark of the Covenant Official Rules UltraFoodMess
Blue finishes a road and places a follower on the same turn. Blue gets 4 points for the
completed road and oasis, and right away gets the follower back for future use.
  1. Finish a road or city by placing a new tile.
  2. Put a follower on it.
  3. Score the completed road or city.

Returning Followers to Your Stock

When I have a follower in play, I have the option to return them to my stock. This means they will no longer be on the game board and will be available for me to use again later. It’s like calling them back to headquarters.

  1. I can choose to return a follower by taking the tile they are on and placing it in a completed city, road, or monastery.
  2. Another option is to return a follower by completing the feature they are on. For example, if my follower is on a road, I can complete the road by adding tiles on both ends.
  3. If I’m unable to complete the feature or return the follower to my stock, they will remain on the game board until the end of the game.

The Fields

Fields are special areas in the game where my followers can herd sheep. When I place a follower in a field, they stay there for the entire game and can’t be returned to my stock.

Fields are surrounded by roads, cities, and the edges of the game board. They can also be connected to other fields if tiles are placed adjacent to each other.

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In this example, there are two fields. The blue player places a tile that connects the fields, so now the red and green followers share a field. The blue player can’t place another follower on the shared field, but they can place one on the unoccupied field.

End of the Game

When I finish my turn and all the land tiles are placed, the game comes to an end. Then, we move on to the final scoring.

First, let’s talk about the temples. If a temple is not complete, the player or players who have the most followers on the temple tile and the four tiles surrounding it (right, left, up, and down) get 3 points each. Remember to leave your followers on the temples because they can still score points for incomplete roads, cities, and fields.

Now, let’s move on to the incomplete roads and cities. Each incomplete road and city earns you one point for each road or city segment that has your follower on it. You also get one point for each scroll in a city and each oasis on a road. Keep in mind that if there are multiple followers on a road or in a city, we use the rules for completed roads and cities to determine who scores the points.

Note: Keep in mind that after you score an incomplete road or city, remove the corresponding follower from the board.

Scoring Fields

Let’s talk about scoring the followers in the fields.

  • I count how many sheep and wolves are in the field. Wolves eat sheep!
  • You get 2 points for each sheep left in your field.
  • If multiple players have followers in the same field, only the one with the most followers scores.
  • If there’s a tie for control of a field, both players get the points.

The winner is the player with the most points at the end of the final scoring!

Tips

  • When you place followers in the fields, put them down so everyone can see which fields they’re in.

I’ve got some valuable tips for playing the game! If you’re struggling to place your followers or have too few of them, don’t forget about the power of moving The Ark. It might not be super exciting, but it can still earn you some points. Give it a shot!

One trick to keep the game moving swiftly is to grab a new tile as soon as your turn ends. This way, you’ll already be planning your next move while everyone else takes their turns. It’s a clever way to speed up the game and keep the momentum going. Give it a try and see how it improves the overall experience!

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