Relic Rush

About the Game

In this game of skill and luck, you play as an archeologist racing to be the first expedition to excavate and retrieve lost relics. Block your opponents, redirect them, and use special tiles in your mission to be the first to claim your prizes and win! But beware - ancient dangers sometimes lurk in the sand….

This game is designed to be learned as you play. The rules are learned quickly if you follow along during your first few turns.

This game is recommended for ages 8+ and is for 2-4 players.

The Gameboard

The gameboard consists an 8x8 square area (64 squares). Four of these squares are colored, denoting a starting square. The four corner squares are treated as directional tiles (described later in the rules). On a physical board, the remaining 56 squares are indented, allowing for tiles to be placed inside. The color of the board inside the indents should be lighter than the outside, but the same color as the sand tiles (also discussed later in the rules).

The board may also contain the Action Steps (described later) on the side for ease of use, though not required. The image below is a graphical representation of the board without the Action Steps listed.

Components

In addition to the gameboard, this game consists of the following:

4x archeologist pieces (red, blue, yellow, green)
3x dino pieces (a T-Rex, a triceratops, and a raptor)
8x dig site pieces
10x relic cards (two for each relic - crown, helmet, sword, vase, and staff)
4x colored dice (sides are 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3) (red, blue, yellow, and green)
56x tiles
- 3x dino tiles (matching the dino pieces)
- 8x special tiles (explained at the end of the rules)
- 5x relic tiles (crown, helmet, sword, vase, staff)
- 20x sand tiles
- 20x direction tiles

Objectins

The objective of the game is to locate and retrieve the hidden relics that your expedition assigns you to find. Retrieve two to win the game!

Objective

Setup

Face all tiles down, shuffle them, and place them face down into all 56 slots on the board.
Each player picks an archeologist and a matching colored die. They also receive two dig sites. Place your archeologist on its starting square.
Shuffle the relic cards and deal one to each player. Players look at their own cards, but do not show other players.
Roll the dice to determine who goes first. The highest number goes first and then play continues clockwise. If there is a tie for the highest roll, those who rolled the tie perform a reroll against each other until a clear winner is determined.

Action #1 - Use a Special Tile (Optional)

The player may use one special tile if they possess one. If they perform this action, they may not perform Action #5 this turn. A full reference of special tiles is provided at the end of the rules.

Action #2 - Roll the Dice (Required)

The player rolls their die. To prevent disputes, a roll is only valid if all of the following conditions are met:

The roll does not fall from the table or playing surface.
The roll does not disrupt the gameboard or playing pieces in any way.
The die lands so the bottom face is flat on the playing surface.
All players see the dice roll in its entirety.

Action #3 - Move the Archeologist (Required)

Move your archeologist according to the number on the die. It is important to note that the number on the die represents movements and not spaces moved. A movement is equivalent to one space, unless that space is a direction tile (talked about below). Archeologists move up, down, left, or right, and may change to another one of these directions in between each spaced moved. Under no circumstances may an archeologist move into or through a square that already has a piece on it.

You must move the exact amount of movements shown on the die. If for some reason, this is not possible, you must choose to end your turn without moving and no further action (to include Action #7) or bury a directional tile that you are able to reach with that dice roll and then end your turn without movement and no further action (to include Action #7). Burying tiles is discussed in the next action.

Action #4 Excavate or Bury a Tile (Optional)

The player may flip any tile that is immediately up, down, left, or right of them, as long as it does not have any pieces on it. If the tile is being flipped from a face-down position to a face-up position, this is called excavating. If a tile is being flipped from a face-up position to a face down position, this is called burying.

While this is optional, it is advised to excavate tiles while you can. When a tile is excavated, the player follows any necessary action for the flipped tile according to the tile definitions section below.

Action #5 - Use a Special Tile (Optional / Conditional)

The player may use one special tile if they possess one. They may not perform this action if they performed Action #1 on the same turn. A full reference of special tiles is provided at the end of the rules.

Action #6 - Build a Dig Site (Optional)

The player may build one dig site by placing a dig site piece on any empty sand square that is immediately up, down, left, or right of their piece. Dig sites are impassable by all archeologists, including the one that built it. Dig sites may not be built immediately diagonal from another dig site.

(Dig Site Piece)

Action #7 - Move Your Dinosaur (Required / Conditional)

This action only can happen if the player controls a dinosaur that is not sleeping and the player has completed Action #3 on the same turn. If these conditions are met, this action must be performed. Dinosaurs move in the same manner as an archeologist, but must always move two spaces (not two movements). Dinosaurs can move through and land on Dig Sites and do not obey tile rules.

A dinosaur devours any enemy archeologist or dinosaur that they run into. When this occurs, the dinosaur stops on the square that it found its meal on (even if it only moved one space) and begins napping. The sleeping dinosaur is defenseless and cannot move for two complete turns after this action. Archeologists still cannot move through a sleeping dinosaur.

If an archeologist is devoured, they are placed on their starting square and may not take actions for their next two turns. Any special tiles that they held are discarded. Any relic tile that they held is buried on any empty sand square of the dinosaur owner's choice. If a dinosaur is devoured, it is removed from the game permanently.

The game is played in turns, which consists of seven separate actions. The actions must be done in a certain order; however, only a few of them are required. The action order is below:

Optional - Use a Special Tile
Required - Roll the Dice
Required - Move your Archeologist
Optional - Excavate or Bury One Tile
Optional / Conditional - Use a Special Tile
Optional - Build a Dig Site
Required / Conditional - Move Your Dinosaur

Each action is described below. Remember, the rules are designed to be able to play while you read them.

Action Order

The Tiles

There are a total of five different tile types. They are as follows:

Relic Tiles

There are one of each of these tiles hidden across the board and they each bear the image of one of the hidden relics: a crown, a helmet, a vase, a sword, or a staff. A player who moves through or lands on a relic tile may choose to pick it up by placing it face-up next to them - note that it is not automatically picked up after you excavate it. A player holding a relic may not completion Actions #4 or #6 while they are holding it. A player may only carry one relic at a time, even if it does not belong to them (their card is still not visible to other players).

A player has the option to drop their relic on any empty sand square that is immediately up, down, left, or right of them after completing any action number. These are always dropped in the face-up (excavated) position.

Relic tiles may also be buried if found in an excavated position.

Sand Tiles

These twenty tiles are the same color as a sand square on the board and hold no special properties. It is removed from the game when it is excavated. These removed tiles may still be used later if addressed in the rules.

Special Tiles

There are eight special tiles to be found in the game. Each provides a unique, one-time-use ability to be used in Actions #1 or #5. If a player excavated one of these tiles, they may immediately take it and place it face-up next to them. More than one special tile may be held at a time by the same player. When a special tile is used, it is discarded.

Dino Tiles

There are three dino tiles for players to find. When a player excavated one, the tile is removed from the game and that square becomes a starting square for the dinosaur that matches it (a raptor, triceratops, or T-Rex). It is now controlled by the player who excavated it. A player can only control one dinosaur at a time - if they find another dinosaur tile while controlling one, that tile is buried back in the same location after all players have seen it. The current action then ends.

Direction Tiles

x3 x3 x2 x1 x1 x1 x3 x3 x3

When a player excavates one of the 20 direction tiles, they place the tile in any orientation of their choice in the space they excavated it from. Arrows may point off the board or towards a dig site, archeologist, or dinosaur, but any arrows doing so are ultimately disregarded while the condition exists. If a player moves onto a direction tile, they must immediately move in one of the directions listed on it (even if it is diagonal). If they land on another direction tile, they continue the movement. The movement ends when they land on a tile that is not a direction tile. Because of this, it is possible for a piece to roll a 1 and move across the entire board if conditions are right.

An arrow does not need to be pointing towards the square the player is on for them to enter the tile. Remember, under no circumstances may a player reenter a square that they had previously moved to/from/through in the same turn.

Direction tiles may be buried in Action #4. Re-excavating these tiles on a future turn gives that player the ability to reorient the tile to their liking.

The Squares

In addition to the tiles, there are three types of squares that players should be aware of.

Starting Squares

These are the squares that match the archeologists' color. Only that archeologist may land on that square (not the dinosaur they control), though all pieces may move through it as long as it is empty. It also acts as a safe space from dinosaurs. All four starting squares exist in every game, regardless of the amount of players playing (ex. even if a blue archeologist is not in the game, there will still exist a blue starting square with the same rules as if there were a blue player).

Sand Squares

Any square with no tile is considered a sand square. Dig sites may only be built on these squares.

Corner Squares

The corner squares act as a direction tile but may not be buried.

Retrieving a Relic

A player wins if they retrieve two relics. If they are carrying a relic tile that matches their relic card, they are eligible to retrieve that relic. To do so, they simply move to their starting square. The following actions must then occur:

The player stops their movement on the square (even if they have not completed their full move). Action #3 ends at that moment.
The player shows both the matching relic card and relic tile to all players to confirm the retrieval (note that the relic tile must have always been visible to the other players, the relic card was never visible)
The player shuffles the relic tile and all discarded special tiles and then places them face-down on any sand square that is not within two spaces from any players (shown below). If there are less than four tiles being shuffled, add in discarded sand tiles until there are four. If less than four tiles are able to be shuffled, shuffle only those that can be. Shuffled tiles can be placed on any empty sand square or a sand square that a dinosaur is on.

If the green spot is an archeologist, this image shows where a relic tile cannot be reburied.

In the unlikely case that there are not enough eligible squares to bury these tiles, players can decide together
The player shuffles the turned-in relic card into the relic card deck and draws a new one.
The player continues their turn with Action #4.

Special Tiles

Sandstorm

When this tile is used, the player chooses any 3x3 square section on the board. All excavated tiles in that section are removed, shuffled, and placed in a face-down position in that area. Discarded sand tiles are added to the mix prior to shuffling so that every sand square in that area will have a tile in it, unless a dig site, archeologist, or dinosaur rests on it. Any archeologist caught in that sandstorm may not perform any actions during their next turn. Dinosaurs are unphased if their archeologist was not caught.

Quicksand

When this tile is used, the player chooses a 3x3 square section on the board. That player may reorient as many direction tiles in that section as they want to their liking, even if a dinosaur is on that tile. They player may also move those direction tiles to any empty sand square in that 3x3 area. Corner squares are not affected by this.

Mirage

When this tile is used, the player chooses any empty sand square on the board and places it face-up in the square. That square becomes a mirage and it affects all other players until it is removed. Affected players may not perform actions #1, #4, #5, or #6 while the mirage exists. To remove the mirage, a player must move through or land on it. The tile is then discarded and the effect is cancelled for all players.

Oasis

This tile may only be used during Action #1. The player is refreshed due to finding an oasis and is granted their choice of one or two additional dice rolls during Action #3. A player must complete the movements from each roll before making another roll. For this turn only, a '1' counts as a '3' and a '3' counts as a '1' for this player.

Giant Bone

Here, kitty kitty. The player that uses this tile can pick any active dinosaur on the board that is within three spaces from them to thrown the giant bone to. That dinosaur becomes elated and now obeys them instead of their previous owner. This cannot be thrown to a sleeping dinosaur. A player may not control more than one dinosaur in this way.

New Orders

When this tile is used, the player chooses one of the following options:

The player draws an additional relic card and may hunt for either relic. They may now have an additional relic card in hand for the remainder of the game. Retrieving a relic results in only the retrieved relic's card being shuffled and a new card drawn.
All players shuffle their current Relic Card(s) into the deck and draw a new one for each one they shuffled (the user of this card may choose to not reshuffle, but it is mandatory for all other players).
All other players must turn their relic cards face-up for everyone to see. This card remains face up until they receive a new relic card.

Restructuring

When this tile is used, the player may move any dig site(s) on the board to any other sand squares of their choosing, as long as no dig site is immediately diagonal from another when they are finished.

Tapped Resources

When this tile is used, the player may choose one of the following actions to perform:

Pick one discarded tile and take it.
If there are three or more special tiles in the discard tile (not including this one), they may shuffle all discarded special tiles and take two at random.

Copyright

The text of these rules is subject to applicable copyright laws. This does not protect against the usage of game mechanics or trademark the game name.

Please feel free to publish these rules and to program Relic Rush for online or offline play. No licensing fee or royalties will be asked for. My only request is that you don't change the game name or rules, and attribute the game to me, Nicholas Wolff

Contact

With games this size, it is inevitible that rule ambiguities exist. While I have done my best to clear these up, all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes to find where rules can contradict each other or something is not explained correctly. If you come across something that needs clarified, please reach out to me at nicholasjaywolff@gmail.com. I will take a look at it and clarify the rules.