Xalapa Game Rules

Welcome to the exciting world of Xalapa, an exhilarating card game that will captivate you with its fast-paced gameplay and strategic decision-making. In this guide, I will walk you through the rules and mechanics of Xalapa, ensuring that you are fully equipped to play and enjoy this thrilling game.

Setting up the Game

To begin, gather a deck of Xalapa cards and shuffle them thoroughly. Each player will need a set of five cards, which are kept hidden from their opponents. Place the remaining cards facedown in a draw pile.

Gameplay

The objective of Xalapa is to collect sets of cards that score the most points. A set consists of three cards with consecutive numbers in the same color. For example, a set could be 4, 5, and 6 of the blue cards. On your turn, you can take one of the following actions:

• Draw a Card: Take the top card from the draw pile and add it to your hand.
• Play a Set: If you have a valid set in your hand, you can play it on the table in front of you.
• Swap Cards: Exchange one card from your hand with a card from the table.

After you take your action, it’s the next player’s turn, and the game continues in a clockwise direction. The rounds continue until all the cards have been played or no more valid sets can be formed.

Scoring

At the end of the game, each player calculates their score by adding up the points of their played sets. The value of each card in a set is equal to its number. However, there is a twist in Xalapa – if you manage to collect a set of exactly three wild cards, they become worth zero points, but can be used in place of any other card. A wild card adds an element of surprise and strategy to the game, as it can help you complete sets or disrupt your opponents’ plans.

Winning the Game

The player with the highest total score at the end of the game is declared the winner. With each game, you’ll develop new strategies and tactics to outwit your opponents and claim victory in the world of Xalapa.

Conclusion

Now that you understand the rules of Xalapa, it’s time to gather your friends and embark on an exciting journey filled with strategic gameplay and tense decision-making. Explore the world of Xalapa and experience the thrill of this compelling card game – a game that is sure to keep you entertained for hours on end.

Imagine a gathering of shamans from different tribes, coming together for their annual reunion. But this year, something extraordinary happens: on the first night, everyone has the same eerie vision. In their dream, they see an oracle foretelling a long period of drought.

All the tribes are in grave danger, as they are all affected by this imminent drought. The only hope lies in finding the most skilled shaman who can prevent it. To determine the best shaman, the oracle poses a challenge: a contest where they must uncover mystical symbols and cover them with oracle stones, following specific rules.

Now, it’s your turn to step into the shoes of a shaman and face the oracle’s challenges. Will you prove yourself as the most capable shaman? Only the one who conquers all the seven challenges will gain the power to avert the drought and emerge victorious.

What’s Included

• 1 Two-sided game board
• 6 Player boards
• 27 Oracle cards
• 9 Position cards
• 48 Oracle stones
• 30 Tiles Of Disfavor
• 6 Shaman stones
• 1 Day tile
• 30 Number tiles
• 1 Hourglass.
• Instructions

What’s the Game About?

You become a shaman and compete against other shamans at the same time.

The goal is to overcome the oracle’s challenges in 7 days using as few oracle stones as possible.

Only the fastest and most favored by the oracle can win the game after seven rounds.

How to Set Up the Game

Okay, so here’s what you need to do: first, place the game board on the table so that everyone can reach it. Make sure the field for the position cards is on the left-hand side.

Next, take the day tile and put it on the grey circle in the box to the left of the game board. You should also have the hourglass ready to go. Now, each player will get their stuff:

• 8 oracle stones
• 5 tiles of disfavor in your color
• 1 shaman stone, also in your color, which you should put on field 0 of the score track on the game board. Once it’s on the board, you can choose a player board.

Here’s a tip for you: if you’re playing with 2 to 4 players and you want everything to be the same, use 4 player boards that have the same pattern (2 of them should be a mirror image).

Of course, if you want to mix things up, you can also randomly distribute the player boards among the players.

So here’s what you need to do: take a look at the oracle cards and sort them based on their backside. You can refer to the example sheet for more details on how the cards should look. For now, we only need to focus on the novice cards that have a grey bird on the back.

Next, we want to get rid of the novice cards that have either 1 or 2 oracle stones on them. Take those cards and place them on the 3rd and 4th fields in the upper row of the game board. Now, take the remaining novice cards and the position cards, give them a good shuffle, and create two separate piles next to the game board.

How to Play

When playing the game, there are four main steps to follow:

1. Laying oracle cards and positioning the card on the game board
2. Placing oracle stones
3. Double-checking and moving the shaman stones forward
4. Ending the round

1. Laying oracle cards and positioning card

To start each round, I need to move the day tile one field to the right, except for the first round. After that, I take the top position card and lay it on the left field of the game board. Make sure to position the card with the side that has the three oracle stones facing up.

This position card represents the first challenge of the oracle. It shows the formation in which I should lay three of my oracle stones on my player board.

I’m gonna show you how to set up the game board. First, grab the top 4 novice cards from the pile and place them in the lower row, starting from the left. Those cards are for the oracle.

If there aren’t enough cards in the pile, don’t worry. Just shuffle all the novice cards and take 4 from the newly shuffled pile. Put them in the lower row.

Now, let’s talk about the oracle and position cards. I’ll explain them in more detail later.

The right side of the game board has empty fields with light-colored birds. Those fields are for the advanced game variations, so we won’t use them in the basic game.

That’s pretty much it for setting up the game board. Now, let’s move on to an example of the oracle’s challenges.

2. Place Oracle Stones

Alright, folks, once the oracle gives us the challenges, we’re ready to go. Let’s get those oracle stones into action! The goal here is to complete each challenge on our player board using as few stones as possible. Easy enough, right?

Once you think you’ve conquered all the challenges, just call out “done” and flip that hourglass over. Keep in mind, once that sand starts flowing, everyone else has the same amount of time as the hourglass permits to finish up their challenges.

Now, don’t be too hasty with that “done” call. Once you’ve said it, there’s no turning back. You can’t make any more changes to your player board. So, make sure you’re certain!

Listen up: There’s a rule we have to stick to: no copying others, okay? Each field on the player board can only have one oracle stone. We’re all in this to show off our own skills!

If you need to, you can totally pack your player board with all your oracle stones. But hey, remember, the fewer stones you use, the better. So, choose wisely!

Hey there! I’ve got a helpful tip for you: try rotating your player board in different positions. It might give you a fresh perspective and help you make better decisions.

Step 3: Check Your Moves and Shuffle the Shaman Stones

After the sand runs out, it’s time to stop placing or moving stones on the player board. Take a moment to examine each player’s board and see how many challenges they completed and how many oracle stones they needed.

Start with the first challenge on the left and work your way to the right. If you couldn’t complete a challenge, you’ll need to place one of your disfavor tiles in the corresponding points box above that challenge. Repeat this process for each challenge, moving from left to right.

Once all the player boards have been checked for each challenge, count up the total number of disfavor tiles in the points boxes for each player.

So, here’s what happens: I look at my player board and count how many oracle stones I’ve used. I add that number to my point total. Then, I move my shaman stone along the track of disfavor based on my total points. It’s important to remember that my goal is to have the least amount of disfavor at the end of the game, so the lower my score, the better!

Once I’ve moved my shaman stone, it’s time to retrieve all my tiles of disfavor from the game board. This gives me a chance to start fresh and try to avoid accumulating too much disfavor in the next round.

Remember: When calculating my score, I need to add up all my disfavor points, which includes any errors I made plus the number of oracle stones I used. Once I have my total, I can move my shaman stone accordingly.

Each round, I’ll inevitably fall into disfavor, but that’s okay. The player with the least amount of disfavor at the end of the game wins, so I need to keep my score as low as possible throughout the game.

Let me show you an example of how to count the score:

So, here’s what happened: I didn’t put my oracle stones on my player board the way they were supposed to be according to the position card. Oops! But no worries, I just have to deal with a little consequence. I’ll go ahead and put one of my disfavor tiles in the points box above card A.

I actually did pretty well on the 2nd and 3rd challenges, though! I managed to have exactly 1 oracle stone on a field with a cactus, and exactly 2 oracle stones on fields with red stripes. That’s pretty cool, I must say. And the best part? I don’t have to put any disfavor tiles in the corresponding points boxes for these challenges. Nice!

But now we come to the 4th challenge. Uh-oh. I messed up again. I have more than one stone in the corner fields of my player board. That means I have to put another disfavor tile in the points box B. Bummer!

During the fifth challenge, I managed to place two oracle stones on fields that had a gecko. Upon tallying up my disfavor, I realized that I had accumulated a total of 6 points of disfavor for the disfavor tiles and another 5 points for the number of oracle stones on my player board.

To address this, I moved my shaman stone forward along the track of disfavor by 11 spaces.

Now, let’s move on to the end of the round. Once everyone has moved their shaman stone forward, the round comes to a close. We should remove the position card from the game board and return it to the box. Additionally, the four oracle cards in the lower row of the game board need to be removed.

As players, we must take our oracle stones off our player boards and have them ready for the next round. The next round will follow the order of play we discussed earlier.

Please note that the oracle cards with one and two oracle stones in the upper row should remain on the game board.

How to Make Challenges Harder

Let me show you how to make challenges more difficult:

First Level

– Add a Timer: Give yourself a time limit to complete the challenge. This will increase the pressure and make it more challenging.

– Increase the Complexity: Make the challenge harder by adding more steps or elements to it. This will test your problem-solving skills even further.

– Limit Resources: Try completing the challenge with limited resources. This will force you to think creatively and come up with new solutions.

– Change the Conditions: Modify the conditions of the challenge to make it more difficult. For example, complete the challenge blindfolded or with one hand tied behind your back. This will require you to think outside the box and find alternative approaches.

– Introduce Distractions: Add distractions to the environment while you’re completing the challenge. This will test your ability to focus and stay on task.

Level 2

– Give Less Guidance: Instead of providing clear instructions, give vague or minimal guidance for the challenge. This will require you to figure out the best approach on your own.

– Set a Higher Standard: Increase the expectations for the challenge. For example, require a higher level of accuracy or speed in completing the task. This will push you to excel and surpass your previous achievements.

– Combine Challenges: Take two or more challenges and combine them into one. This will require you to multitask and find ways to efficiently tackle multiple problems at once.

– Introduce Time Pressure: Set a strict time limit for completing the challenge. This will add an extra layer of difficulty and test your ability to work under pressure.

Level 3

– Remove Instructions: Completely remove any instructions or guidelines for the challenge. You’ll have to figure out what needs to be done and how to do it all by yourself.

– Decrease Resources: Reduce the resources available for completing the challenge. This will force you to be more resourceful and find alternative ways to accomplish the task.

– Randomize Elements: Make the challenge unpredictable by introducing random elements. For example, use a random number generator to determine the order of tasks or the conditions you have to work with. This will test your adaptability and ability to think on your feet.

Remember, the goal is to challenge yourself and push your limits. By increasing the level of difficulty, you’ll develop new skills, improve your problem-solving abilities, and grow as an individual. So, embrace the challenge and push yourself to new heights!

So here’s what happens next: We’re gonna mix things up a bit. We’re gonna get rid of those oracle cards that only have 1 or 2 oracle stones. Bye bye! Then, we’re gonna shuffle the novice cards and put 6 of them on the fields where the oracle cards are gonna go. But wait, there’s a twist! We’re gonna leave the first two fields in the top row empty. No 1 or 2 printed oracle stones there. This means the challenges are gonna get a little trickier. Some challenges won’t have any oracle stones at all. So get ready for some brain-busting fun!

Level 2

So, here’s how the game goes in the basic version and level 1. But get ready, because things are about to get more interesting! In level 2, we introduce some new changes. There are additional cards with light-colored birds on the back, and now they come into play. Shuffle these cards and randomly place 4 of them on the challenge fields with the light-colored birds. Now, we have a total of 7 challenges to complete. And that’s not all – you can also turn over the position card to reveal 4 oracle stones.

Tip: Want to play Xalapa by yourself? No problem! Just keep track of your points on a piece of paper and try to beat your previous high score.

Level 3

The game goes like I described earlier in the basic game and in level 2. But in level 3, there are some changes. On the right-hand side of the game board, there are two challenge fields with light-colored birds in the upper row. In these challenge fields, you place the expert cards with 1 or 2 oracle stones. These expert cards will stay on the board for the whole game. The intermediate cards are replaced with the expert cards and placed on the two fields in the lower row. If you want to make it even harder, you can mix in the cards with oracle stones in the pile of expert cards. This means that challenges may come up that don’t have any oracle stones.

Level 4 brings more challenges, and in level 5, things get even tougher. In fact, you might get challenges that have two oracle cards with oracle stones. It’s like a double-whammy!

So here’s the deal: I gotta lay at least 3 stones on the player board. That’s the minimum. But hey, if I’m feelin’ extra ambitious, I can lay down more. It’s totally up to me! The more stones I put down, the more challenges I can tackle. Gotta keep that in mind.

Oh, and here’s a cool discovery: I can actually solve challenges without using any oracle stones. Yeah, you heard that right. Zero stones. It’s like a loophole or somethin’. So if I’ve run out of oracle stones or just feel like showin’ off my skills, I can totally go for it.

You can lay down the same number of stones on red fields as you do on the fields with a gecko. This means that it’s possible to have 0 stones on red fields and 0 stones on gecko fields as well!

Note: Sometimes, the challenges can be really simple. In fact, you might be able to solve some of them without using any stones at all.

On the other hand, there are rounds that can be quite tough. This is especially true when you mix novice, intermediate, and expert cards together. It can be quite the challenge!

Game Over

Oh, how time flies when you’re having fun! The game reaches its end after 7 days, which means 7 exciting rounds of play. But here’s the catch: when the day tile finally settles on the very last field, it’s game over, my friend. The player who managed to rake in the least disfavor wins the game.

A Little Secret: If you want to level the playing field a bit, especially when newbies go up against seasoned pros, you can spice things up. Just place those mystical oracle cards on the right side of the game board, right on those special fields meant for the advanced players. Trust me, it’ll make things more interesting!

Now, let me break it down for you. If you’re a newbie, you only need to conquer the first 5 challenges. Take a bow, pat yourself on the back, because you’ve done your part. But hey, if you’re a seasoned pro, get ready for the big league. You’ve got to tackle all 7 challenges with all your might.