The Oracle of Delphi - General game info
Oracle of Delphi
2-4 players, 70-100 minutes, 12 years and older
AuthorStefan Feld
IllustratorDennis Lohausen
Published byHall Games
Pegasus
Online since 2019-02-01
Developed by (Stonecrusher)
Boardgamegeek193558
Yucata.de owns a license for the online version of this game. A big "thank you" to the copyright owners (publisher and/or author and illustrator) who make it possible to have this game for free online here!
The Oracle of Delphi - Rules
If you are reading these rules for the first time, ignore the text along the right hand side. These rules serve as a summary to help you quickly familiarize yourself with the game.
The implementation at Yucata is based on the latest version of the game rules (English revised version, 2nd edition Hall Games). This version differs from previous versions especially in the exploration of islands. Videos (also those linked here) explain the game still with the old rule, which is that the image of an island tile needs to be the same as on the Zeus Tile)!

Show → summary only → detailed version only → both summary and detailed version

The Oracle of Delphi

For once, Zeus, Greek god of thunder and sky, is in high spirits. He wishes to offer a generous gift to a worthy mortal and invite him to his realm, Olympus.
To determine a sufficient candidate, Zeus will host a competition. He has issued 12 legendary tasks: to raise graceful statues, to erect awe-inspiring shrines, to make generous offerings, and to slay the most fearsome monsters. The first participant to master all the assignments will win the favor of the father of the gods himself.
Indubitably, you will not pass up this golden opportunity and so you clear your ship and rally your crew to follow the trails of legendary Odysseus through the dangerous waters of the Aegean. But how will you find the righteous path onward? There is but one who can help you: Visit the mysterious Oracle of Delphi and let her answers guide your way.

Table of Contents
Game Components

To win the game, you have to complete all 12 tasks given by Zeus as quickly as possible

The first player to return to Zeus after completing all tasks wins the game.

To win the game, you have to complete all 12 tasks given by Zeus as quickly as possible: build 3 Shrines, collect 3 Offerings and deliver them to their corresponding Temples, raise 3 Statues, and defeat 3 Monsters. The tasks are spread across the islands of the game board; some are even hidden, and will first need to be discovered.

In order to travel and to perform your tasks, you hold 3 Oracle Dice each, which you use for actions on every turn.

The first player to return to Zeus after completing all tasks wins the game.

Below you can see a complete game setup for 3 players (only one player board shown). We have divided the setup into 3 parts:

Variable game board

General supply

Individual play area

Setup: variable game board

1 Create a playing area of water and island spaces out of the 12 Board Tiles, so that all water spaces form a single connected water area . Leaving "holes" in between tiles is allowed. These holes are called shallows and cannot be crossed with Ships during the game.

Note: The front and back of the tiles are functionally identical. Use whichever side you prefer.

2 Place the 6 City Tiles approximately equidistantly around the game board. All water spaces still have to be connected.

3 The central space of the tile showing 6 water spaces marks both the start and destination. Place Zeus on this space. You may only visit this space at the start and the end of the game. Throughout the game, treat it as a shallow.

4 Take as many Offering cubes of each color as players participating in the game. Distribute the Offerings evenly among the 6 respective island spaces, called Offering Islands, so that no color occurs twice on any island.

5 Place the 6 Temples on the 6 Temple Islands.

6 Take as many Monsters of each color as players participating in the game. Place any 2 different Monsters on the 3 marked Monster Islands. Distribute the remaining Monsters evenly among the remaining 6 Monster Islands, so that no color occurs twice on any island.


7 Place the 3 Statues of each color on the respective City Tiles.

8 Shuffle the Island Tiles face down, i.e. with the cloud side up, and place them face down on the island spaces with colored borders.

Setup: Supply

Place the following game material next to the game board:

1 Shuffle the Oracle Cards and place them face down as a draw pile. Leave some space for a face up discard pile.

2 Shuffle the Injury Cards and place them face down as a draw pile. Leave some space for a face up discard pile.

3 Lay out the Companion Cards as a face up stack. Their order is irrelevant, as the cards will be specifically selected during the game.

4 Shuffle the Equipment Cards and display 6 of them. Place the remaining cards next to the display as a face down draw pile. Leave some space for a face up discard pile.

5 Lay out the Favor Tokens.

Setup: Individual play area

Take the individual game pieces in a color of your choice: 1 Ship, 1 Shield, 12 Zeus Tiles, and 1 Player Board. Also take 1 of each God (6 in total), 3 Shrines, 3 Oracle Dice and 1 Action Overview.

1 Place the Player Board in front of you. Leave some space to the left and right for placing cards throughout the game.

2 Randomly determine a starting player. He receives 3 Favor Tokens. In clockwise order, each player receives 1 more Favor Token than the preceding player.

3 Choose 1 of the following variants to distribute the Ship Tiles:

  • Randomly: Take 1 randomly selected Ship Tile each. Place it on your Player Board.
  • Selected: Randomly select 1 more Ship Tile than players participating in the game and place them face up on the table. Starting with the last player of the round and in counterclockwise direction, choose 1 Ship Tile and place it on your Player Board.
Put the remaining, unused tiles back in the box. They are no longer required for this game.

4 The last player of the round takes the Titan’s Die and places it in the center of his oracle.

5 Roll your 3 Oracle Dice and place them on the corresponding symbols on your oracle.

Note: This is called "Consulting the Oracle". You can place more than 1 die on each symbol.

6 Place the Shrines on the corresponding spaces.

7 Draw 1 Injury Card each, and place it face up next to the lower left of your Player Board.

8 Place your 6 Gods on the lowest row of the God Track. Advance the God in the color of the Injury Card you have just drawn to the row showing the number of players participating in the game.

9 Place your Shield on the first space ("0") of the Shield Track.

10 Place your Ship next to Zeus, on the starting space.

11 Sort your Zeus Tiles. 4 Zeus Tiles show colored Offerings on one side and colored Monsters on the other side. Have any player randomly select 2 of these tiles and place them with the Offerings side facing up. Adjust the tiles of each other player accordingly, so everyone has identical starting conditions with equal colors. To keep track of the Zeus Tiles, sort them in groups of three at the top of your Player Boards as shown: Shrines, Statues, Offerings, and Monsters.

12 Place your Action Overview next to your Player Boards.

The Oracle of Delphi is played in rounds, with each player taking 1 turn in clockwise order.

A turn consists of up to 3 phases that must be performed in the following order. All actions are performed in phase 2.

1 Check your Injury Cards.

3 outcomes are possible:

  1. 3 equally colored Injury Cards or 6 Injury Cards in total:
    Recover, discarding 3 Injury Cards of your choice and ending your turn without Consulting the Oracle.
  2. 0 Injury Cards:
    Take 2 Favor Tokens or advance 1 God by 1 step.
  3. Otherwise: Nothing happens.

2 Perform actions in any order:

  • Use your 3 Oracle Dice to perform actions.
  • You may use 1 Oracle Card per turn to perform an action.
  • You may use the Special Action of Gods which are on the topmost row of the God Track.

3 End your turn by Consulting the Oracle. Announce the resulting colors:

All other players may advance 1 of color-matching Gods by 1 step.


Titan

Last player of the round rolls the Titan’s Die together with his Oracle Dice to determine the Titan’s strength. Then, the Titan attacks all players simultaneously:

  • If the Titan’s strength is 6, each player draws 2 Injury Cards.
  • Otherwise, compare your Shield’s strength to the Titan’s strength: If your strength is lower, draw 1 Injury Card.

In the following section, we give a synopsis of the course of play. Don’t worry, the details concerning game materials and actions will be explained later.

The Oracle of Delphi is played in rounds, with each player taking 1 turn in clockwise order.

A turn consists of up to 3 phases that must be performed in the following order. The 1st and 3rd phases are usually very short. All actions are performed in phase 2.

Example: You have 6 Injury Cards at the beginning of your turn. Discard any 3 of them, then end your turn.

1 Check your Injury Cards.

3 outcomes are possible:

  1. You have 3 equally colored Injury Cards or 6 Injury Cards in total:
    Use your turn to Recover, discarding 3 Injury Cards of your choice and ending your turn without Consulting the Oracle.
  2. You have 0 Injury Cards:
    Take 2 Favor Tokens or advance 1 God by 1 step.
  3. Otherwise:
    Nothing happens.
    Note: This is the most common case.

Example: You have already used 2 Oracle Dice and 1 Green Oracle Card for actions. You still have to use your black Oracle Die. The blue Oracle Card can no longer be used this turn.

2 Perform actions.

Perform your actions in any order:

  • Use your 3 Oracle Dice to perform actions. Put used Oracle Dice in the center of your oracle.
  • You may use 1 Oracle Card per turn to perform an action. To indicate that you have used this option, place the Oracle Card next to the upper left of your Player Board, horizontally. Discard the Oracle Card at the end of your turn.
  • Example: This turn, you may use the Special Action of the blue God, Poseidon, in addition to your Oracle Dice and Oracle Card.
  • You may use the Special Action of Gods which are on the topmost row of the God Track.

3 End your turn by Consulting the Oracle. Announce the resulting colors:

All other players check if at least 1 of their Gods which is not on the lowest row of the God Track matches 1 of these colors. They may advance 1 of these Gods by 1 step.

Important: YOU may not advance any Gods, only the other players may do so!

Note: After Consulting the Oracle, you know which colors are available to you next turn. Use the other player’s turns to plan ahead. This saves a lot of time!

In the Yucata implementation the players advance their Gods not until it's their turn again. This prevents additional player turns and thereby makes the the game shorter. However in case only one God may advance then this is done automatically and right after the Oracle has been consulted.


Titan

The last player of the round rolls the Titan’s Die together with his Oracle Dice to determine the Titan’s strength. Then, the Titan attacks all players simultaneously:

  • If the Titan’s strength is 6, each player draws 2 Injury Cards.
  • Otherwise, compare your Shield’s strength to the Titan’s strength: If your strength is lower, draw 1 Injury Card.

Note: The last player rolls the Titan’s Die even if he does not roll his Oracle Dice because he recovers.

Game Components in Detail

The next section describes all Game Components in detail, in order to facilitate the explanation of the actions. This section can also be used to answer specific questions related to a certain component.

In the next section, we describe all Game Components in detail, in order to facilitate the explanation of the actions. This section can also be used to answer specific questions related to a certain component. To this end, we have included cross-references to other sections, which are not required when reading the section for the first time.

The explanation of the Game Components follows along the Player Boards, as the components are stored on and around it.

The image shows a Player Board during the blue player’s turn:

1Zeus tiles

The Zeus Tiles represent the 12 tasks required to finish and win the game. The upper half of the tile shows the task, the lower half shows the reward for achieving the task.

There are 4 different types of tasks and you have to complete 3 of each:

Shrine: Build 3 Shrines on the Island Tiles of your player color (blue, in the example on the left; the greek letter is irrelevant in this case). The respective Island Tiles are initially face down and have to be explored during the game.

Reward: Advance any 1 God by 1 Step.

Statue: Raise 3 Statues in different colors. Load Statues from City Tiles on your Ship and deliver them to Statue Islands with building sites of the respective color.

Reward: Take a Companion Card of your choice that matches the color of the raised Statue.

Offering: Load 1 Offering of each depicted color on your Ship and deliver it to a Temple of the respective color.

Reward: Take 3 Favor Tokens.

Monster: Defeat 1 Monster of each depicted color.

Reward: Take 1 Equipment Card from the display.

Important: White component icons, as seen on the Zeus Tiles "Statue", "Offering", and "Monster", indicate "a color of your choice". No color can be chosen twice for a certain task.

A reward is only given when a Zeus Tile is returned to the box. You may not fight Monsters or load Statues or Offerings that you do not need to complete a task.

The Zeus Tiles represent the 12 tasks required to finish and win the game. The upper half of the tile shows the task, the lower half shows the reward for achieving the task. Return completed tasks to the box, so it is always apparent who still has to complete which and how many tasks.

There are 4 different types of tasks and you have to complete 3 of each:

Shrine: Build 3 Shrines on the Island Tiles of your player color (blue, in the example on the left; the greek letter is irrelevant in this case). The respective Island Tiles are initially face down and have to be explored during the game.

Reward: Advance any 1 God by 1 Step.

Statue: Raise 3 Statues in different colors. Load Statues from City Tiles on your Ship and deliver them to Statue Islands with building sites of the respective color.

Reward: Take a Companion Card of your choice from the General Supply that matches the color of the raised Statue.

Offering: Load 1 Offering of each depicted color on your Ship and deliver it to a Temple of the respective color.

Reward: Take 3 Favor Tokens.

Monster: Defeat 1 Monster of each depicted color.

Reward: Take 1 Equipment Card from the display.

Important: White component icons, as seen on the Zeus Tiles "Statue", "Offering", and "Monster", indicate "a color of your choice". No color can be chosen twice for a certain task.

A reward is only given when a Zeus Tile is returned to the box. You may not fight Monsters or load Statues or Offerings that you do not need to complete a task.

The implementation at Yucata enforces this rule by not allowing the player to fight a certain color monster that he has no remaining Zeus Tile for. Yucata also prevents the player from loading Statues or Offerings he has no remaining Zeus Tile for.

Example:
A player has the following Zeus Tiles left: and he also has a red Offerings on his boat:

He now is not allowed to load a blue Offering on his boat. Reason: For the red Offering he has on his ship he is going to discard his white Zeus Tile when he delivers the cube at the Temple. Afterwards he won't have any Zeus Tile left that he could discard for the blue Offering. Therfore the loading of the blue cube is prevented in the first place.

Be aware of this when loading Offerings or Statues on your ship: you are commiting yourself to delivering them ("you promise it to the Gods"). No loading of a second Offering for the white Zeus Tile. And there's also no throwing overboard loaded Statues to make room on your ship for something else ("you don't provoke the wrath of the Gods").

2The Oracle

The most prominent part of your Player Board is the circular oracle. Rolling the dice represents consulting the oracle. The results represent her divinations.

  • After Consulting the Oracle, place the Oracle Dice on the corresponding symbols on your oracle. Use these dice for actions on your next turn.
  • Before using a die for an action, you may "recolor" it, i.e. moving it by 1 or more steps (symbols) along the oracle in a clockwise direction, paying 1 Favor Token per step.

Example: To recolor a green die to a black die, pay 2 Favor Tokens.

The most prominent part of your Player Board is the circular oracle.

Note: Pythia, the priestess at the Oracle of Delphi is shown in the center of the oracle. Rolling the dice represents consulting the oracle. The results represent her divinations.

  • After Consulting the Oracle, place the Oracle Dice on the corresponding symbols on your oracle. Use these dice for actions on your next turn.
  • Before using a die for an action, you may "recolor" it, i.e. moving it by 1 or more steps (symbols) along the oracle in a clockwise direction, paying 1 Favor Token per step.
  • After using a die for an action, move it to Pythia. You cannot use it again this turn.

3Ship tiles

Your Ship Tiles represent the individual properties of your Ship. The lower half of the tile shows your Ship’s storage capacity.

Your Ship Tiles represent the individual properties of your Ship. The lower half of the tile shows your Ship’s storage capacity, i.e. the maximum number of Offerings and/or Statues you can transport at any given time, usually 2.


The following list shows the function of all Ship Tiles in detail:

At the start of the game, move your Shield 2 steps to the right.
Advance all your Gods on the God Track to the row showing the number of players participating in the game. After using a Special Action of a God, return it to that row instead of the lowest row.
Your Ship’s range is increased by 2.
Whenever you take 1 or more Favor Tokens, take 1 more. This also applies to the starting Favor Tokens.
Return a Zeus Tile of your choice to the box. You do not receive its reward. You require 11 completed tasks to win the game instead of 12.
Your cost for "recoloring" Oracle Dice is reduced by 1.
At the start of the game, take 1 Equipment Card from the display and draw 1 Oracle Card.
You can also "recolor" Oracle Dice in counterclockwise direction. Additionally, your storage capacity is increased by 2.

4Shields

Shield strength: Number above it. Used as a defense against the Titan’s attack and when Fighting a Monster.

Strengthen your Shield by certain Companion Cards, exploring Island Tiles, or a certain Equipment Card.

The number next to your Shield indicates its current strength. The Shield is used as a defense against the Titan’s attack and when Fighting a Monster.

You can strengthen your Shield by collecting certain Companion Cards, i.e. the Heroes, by exploring Island Tiles, and by a certain Equipment Card.

5Injury Cards

Draw one when the Titan’s strength exceeds your Shield’s strength and when you roll "0" while Fighting a Monster.

Get rid of them by discarding them as an action, by using the Special Action of Aphrodite, and by the ability of the Heroes.

Too many Injury Cards at the beginning of your turn: Recover.

You draw Injury Cards when the Titan’s strength exceeds your Shield’s strength during its attack and when you roll "0" while Fighting a Monster.

You can get rid of Injury Cards by discarding them as an action, by using the Special Action of the red Goddess, Aphrodite, and by the ability of certain Companion Cards, the Heroes.

If you have too many Injury Cards at the beginning of your turn, you will have to Recover.

6Oracle Cards

Oracle Cards can be used like Oracle Dice, but are limited to 1 per turn. You may also recolor them.

Oracle Cards can be used like Oracle Dice, but are limited to 1 per turn. You may also recolor them. Indicate its use by horizontally placing the Oracle Card next to the upper left of your Player Board. Discard it at the end of your turn.

7Shrines

Shrines have to be built on the Island Tiles of your player color.

The Greek letters indicate the reward for uncovering an Island Tile of another player’s color.

Shrines have to be built on the Island Tiles of your player color depicted on the corresponding Zeus Tiles.

The Greek letters on your Player Board indicate the reward awarded for uncovering an Island Tile of another player’s color with the respective letter.

8Favor Tokens

The Favor Tokens can be used …

  • … to "recolor" Oracle Dice
  • … to increase the range of your Ship
  • … to Fight a Monster

The Favor Tokens can be used …

  • … to "recolor" Oracle Dice before using them (1 Favor Token per step on the oracle).
  • … to increase the range of your Ship (1 Favor Token per space, see Action "Move your Ship").
  • … to Fight a Monster (1 Favor Token per additional round, see Action "Fighting a Monster")

9Monsters

Place defeated Monsters on your Player Board.

Place defeated Monsters on your Player Board.

10Gods

Advancing a God during your turn

Symbol shown on the left indicates God advancement, number of arrows indicates the amount of steps. Steps may be distributed among 1 or more Gods.

Advancing during another player’s turn

Whenever another player rolls the color of at least 1 of your Gods that is not on the lowest row when Consulting the Oracle, you may advance 1 of them by 1 step.

Special Actions of the Gods

During your turn, Gods on the topmost row of the God Track may use their Special Actions. Return the God back to the lowest row of the God Track afterwards.


Advancing a God during your turn

Whenever you encounter the symbol shown on the left, you may advance a God.

The number of arrows indicates the amount of steps, i.e. rows. When you receive more than 1 step, you may distribute them among 1 or more Gods.

When advancing a God from the lowest row, place it on the row showing the number of players participating in the game. Otherwise advance it by 1 row.


Example: You can either advance the red God or the green God.
Advancing a God during another player’s turn

Whenever another player rolls the color of at least 1 of your Gods that is not on the lowest row when Consulting the Oracle, you may advance 1 of them by 1 step.


Special Actions of the Gods

During your turn, if 1 or more of your Gods are on the topmost row of the God Track, you may use their Special Actions. After using the Special Action, return the God back to the lowest row of the God Track.


Note: You never need an Oracle Die for the Special Action of the Gods!

Poseidon: Place your Ship on a water space of your choice.
Apollon: Draw 1 Oracle Card. This turn, you may use your Oracle Dice and Oracle Card as if they were any color.
Artemis: Uncover a face down Island Tile. Take the corresponding reward.
Aphrodite: Discard all your Injury Cards.
Ares: If your Ship is adjacent to a Monster: Defeat the Monster without rolling the Battle Die. Take the reward of your corresponding Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile.
Hermes: If your Ship is adjacent to a City Tile: Take a Statue from any City Tile and store it in your Ship.

Instead of performing their Special Action, you may return the God back to the lowest row of the God Track and draw 1 Oracle Card.

11Companion Cards

Reward for Raising Statues.

Heroes:
  • On acquiring: increase Shield by 2.
  • Permanent: discard any Injury Cards of the Hero’s color.
Demigods:
  • On Acquiring: draw 1 Oracle Card.
  • Permanent: use any Oracle Die in the Demigod’s color as any color.
Creatures:
  • When Moving your Ship with an Oracle Die of the Creature’s color, your Ship’s range is increased by 3. Movement may end on any color.

You receive Companion Cards as a reward for Raising Statues. There are 3 different Companion Cards in each color, each with an individual, permanent ability:

Heroes:

  • When acquiring a Hero, increase your Shield’s strength by 2.
  • From now on, you may discard any Injury Cards of the Hero’s color.

Demigods:

  • When acquiring a Demigod, draw 1 Oracle Card.
  • You may use any Oracle Die in the Demigod’s color as if it was a color of your choice.

Creatures:

  • When Moving your Ship with an Oracle Die of the Creature’s color, your Ship’s range is increased by 3. You may end your movement on a water space of any color.

12Equipment Cards

You receive Equipment Cards as a reward for defeating a Monster. Equipment Cards grant permanent or one-time actions or abilities. Some of them override basic rules.

One-time actions show a flash symbol and are carried out immediately.

You receive Equipment Cards as a reward for defeating a Monster. Equipment Cards grant permanent or one-time actions or abilities. Some of them override basic rules.

One-time actions show the flash symbol shown to the right and are carried out immediately after receiving the Equipment Card.

Immediately after taking an Equipment Card, refill the display to 6 cards from the draw pile.

One-time: Take 1 of the depicted Statues from the corresponding City Tile and store it in your Ship.
One-time: Take 1 of the depicted Statues from the corresponding City Tile and store it in your Ship.
One-time: Take 1 of the depicted Offerings from any Island Tile and store it in your Ship.
One-time: Take 1 of the depicted Offerings from any Island Tile and store it in your Ship.
One-time: Advance 1 of the depicted Gods to the topmost row of the God Track.
One-time: Take 3 Favor Tokens, draw 1 Oracle Card, and advance 1 or 2 Gods by a total of 2 steps combined.
One-time: Look at 2 face down Island Tiles and put 1 back. Uncover the other and take the corresponding reward. If there are less than 2 face down Island Tiles, this card cannot be used.
When you Consult the Oracle and at least 1 of the dice shows the depicted color, take 2 Favor Tokens.
When you Consult the Oracle and at least 1 of the dice shows the depicted color, take 2 Favor Tokens.
When you Consult the Oracle and at least 1 of the dice shows the depicted color, take 2 Favor Tokens.
Whenever you receive a reward for Making an Offering, Raising a Statue or Fighting a Monster, advance 1 God by 1 step.
You may Fight a Monster, Explore an Island and Build a Shrine from a distance of 1 water space from the respective Island Tiles.
You may Load a Statue and Raise a Statue from a distance of 1 water space from the respective City Tile or Island Tile.
You may Load an Offering and Make an Offering from a distance of 1 water space from the respective Island Tile.
Your Ship may cross shallows. A shallow does not count as a space!
Your Ship’s range is increased by 1.
Your storage capacity is increased by 1. One-time: Increase your Shield’s strength by 1.
When checking your Injury Cards, you have to Recover due to 4 equally colored Injury Cards or 8 Injury Cards, in total instead of 3 and 6, respectively.
Once per turn, you may spend 3 Favor Tokens to perform an additional action of any color.
You may use an Oracle Die of the depicted color as an action to take 1 Favor Token, draw 1 Oracle Card, and advance the God of the respective color by 1 step.
You may use an Oracle Die of the depicted color as an action to take 1 Favor Token, draw 1 Oracle Card, and advance the God of the respective color by 1 step.
You may use an Oracle Die of the depicted color as an action to take 1 Favor Token, draw 1 Oracle Card, and advance the God of the respective color by 1 step.

You have several options how to use your Oracle Dice for actions.

Each action must be completed before starting the next.

a) Color-independent actions

Draw 1 Oracle Card

Draw 1 Oracle Card. You can have any number of Oracle Cards, but you can only play 1 per turn.

Take 2 Favor Tokens

Look at 2 Island Tiles

Look at 2 face down Island Tiles. Return them to their respective island spaces, face down.

b) Color-dependent actions

General rules:

  • You can "recolor" Oracle Dice by paying Favor Tokens, prior to any action.
  • To perform an action referring to an island space, your Ship must be located adjacent to that space.
  • The color of the Oracle Die has to match the chosen action.
  • You may only complete a task of a given color once per type (Statue, Offering, Monster).

Move your Ship

Move your Ship up to 3 water spaces, movement must end on a space matching the color of your used Oracle Die. You may not cross or stop on island spaces or shallows. You can increase your Ship’s range by paying 1 Favor Token per additional space or certain Ship Tiles, Companion Cards and Equipment Cards.

Each water space can be occupied by any number of Ships.

Fight a Monster

Fight the Monster in the color of your Oracle Die. Fight ends when you defeat the Monster or when you surrender.

Monster's starting strength is 9 minus the value of your Shield’s strength.

Course of a round: Roll the Battle Die (numbers 0 to 9). If the roll is

  • equal or higher than the Monster’s current strength: You have defeated the Monster.
  • less than the Monster’s current strength: You have lost the round.

    If you have rolled a 0, draw 1 Injury Card.

    To continue the fight, pay 1 Favor Token and reduce the Monster’s strength by 1, or else surrender the fight without further adverse effects.

Explore an Island

The color of your Oracle Die has to match the hexagon on the island space.

Uncover the Island Tile and receive the corresponding reward:

  • Color matches your player color and you have a Shrine Zeus tile left: place 1 of your Shrines on the Island Tile. Take the reward of the Zeus Tile and discard it.
  • If the color of the Island Tile doesn’t match your player color or you don't have a Shrine Zeus tile left: take a reward based on the depicted Greek letter:
    • Take 4 Favor Tokens.
    • Draw 2 Oracle Cards.
    • Advance 1 or more Gods by a total of 3 steps.
    • Discard all your Injury Cards of a color of your choice and increase your Shield’s strength by 1.

Build a Shrine

Color of your Oracle Die has to match the hexagon on the island space.

If the Island Tile has your player color and you have a Shrine Zeus Tile left, place a Shrine on the Island Tile, take the reward of your corresponding Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile.

Load an Offering

Take an Offering of the color of your Oracle Die from the adjacent Offering Island and store it in your Ship. Not possible if storage is full.

Make an Offering

Place an Offering of the color of your Oracle Die from your ship onto a matching adjacent Temple Island. Take the reward of your corresponding Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile.

Load a Statue

Take a Statue of the color of your Oracle Die from an adjacent City Tile and store it in your Ship. Not possible if storage is full.

Raise a Statue

Place a Statue of the color of your Oracle Die on a matching site on an adjacent Statue Island. Take the reward of your corresponding Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile.

Note: 3 Statues of different colors can be built on each Statue Island.

Discard Injury Cards

Discard all your Injury Cards matching the color of your Oracle Die.

Advance a God

Advance the God of the matching color by 1 step.

You have several options how to use your Oracle Dice for actions. Most actions depend on the color of the dice. We have grouped the actions according to their color dependence or independence.

Each action must be completed before starting the next.

Example: It is not allowed to "Take 2 Favor Tokens" while "Fighting a Monster" to prolong the fight.

a) Color-independent actions - can be performed with any Oracle Die

Draw 1 Oracle Card

Draw 1 Oracle Card and place it face up next to the lower left of your Player Board, vertically.

You can have any number of Oracle Cards, but you can only play 1 per turn.

Take 2 Favor Tokens



Look at 2 Island Tiles

Look at 2 face down Island Tiles. Return them to their respective island spaces, face down.

There are two indicators for this on Yucata:

An eye symbol in the color of your opponent shows that the respective opponent had looked at this island.

If you have looked at the island yourself, but not yet explored it, this is indicated by a white dotted line and the symbol and colour of the island stay visible for you.

In the example on the right, both you and your green opponent have looked at the depicted island.

b) Color-dependent actions - hinge on the color of the Oracle Die

General rules:

  • You can "recolor" Oracle Dice by paying Favor Tokens, prior to any action.
  • To perform an action referring to an island space, your Ship must be located adjacent to that space.
  • The color of the Oracle Die has to match the chosen action, e.g. a red die can be used for a red Offering, the red God, red Injury Cards, or red Island Tiles.
  • You may only complete a task of a given color once per type (Statue, Offering, Monster).

Move your Ship

Move your Ship up to 3 water spaces. End your movement on a space matching the color of your used Oracle Die. You may not cross or stop on island spaces or shallows. You can increase your Ship’s range, i.e. move additional spaces, by paying 1 Favor Token per additional space.

The color of your destination space must still correspond to the used Oracle Die. Certain Ship Tiles, Companion Cards and Equipment Cards can also increase your Ship’s range.

Each water space can be occupied by any number of Ships.

Fight a Monster

Fight the Monster in the color of your Oracle Die. It does not have to be on top. Each fight consists of 1 or more rounds and ends when you defeat the Monster or when you surrender.

Each Monster starts the fight with a strength of 9. Decrease that value by your Shield’s strength.

Example: As your Shield’s strength is "2", you need to roll a "7" to defeat the red Monster, but you only roll a "5". You pay 1 Favor Token to start a new round, in which you need to roll at least a "6". You roll a "7", defeating the Monster.
Course of a round: Roll the Battle Die (numbers 0 to 9):

  • You have rolled a number equal or higher than the Monster’s current strength: You have defeated the Monster. Take the reward of your corresponding Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile. Place the Monster on the bottom right of your Player Board.
  • You have rolled less than the Monster’s current strength: You have lost the round.

    If you have rolled a 0, draw 1 Injury Card.

    To continue the fight, pay 1 Favor Token. Reduce the Monster’s strength by 1 and continue with another round of fighting.

    If you cannot or do not want to pay 1 Favor Token, you surrender the fight without further adverse effects.

    In the next fight, the Monster’s full strength is restored.

Explore an Island

Example: You have used a yellow action to Explore a yellow bordered Island.
The color of the Island Tile (brigde over blue water → blue Island Tile) matches your player color (blue bottom half of your Zeus tile). Thus, you may build a Shrine as a reward.
To perform the action, the color of your Oracle Die has to match the hexagon on the island space.

Uncover the Island Tile, place it face up on the island space and receive the corresponding reward:

  • If the color of the Island Tile matches your player color and you have a Shrine Zeus tile left, place 1 of your Shrines on the Island Tile. Take the reward of the Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile.
  • If the color of the Island Tile doesn’t match your player color or you don't have a Shrine Zeus tile left, take a reward based on the depicted Greek letter:
    • Take 4 Favor Tokens.
    • Draw 2 Oracle Cards.
    • Advance 1 or more Gods by a total of 3 steps.
    • Discard all your Injury Cards of a color of your choice and increase your Shield’s strength by 1.

Note: If another player uncovers an Island Tile matching 1 of your Zeus Tiles, place a Shrine on the respective Zeus Tile to remember.

To improve the clarity of the color of an Island Tile, the island images for the Yucata implementation have a rectangle in the color of the owning player around the greek letter:

Original: At Yucata:

In the shorter play variants a player may have only 2 Shrine Zeus Tiles while on the map there are always 3 island tiles in his player color. In this case:

  • for the first two islands the player explores and that are in his player color, he places 1 of his Shrines on the Island Tile and takes the reward of the Zeus Tile.
  • For the third Island he explores and that is in his player color, he takes a reward based on the depicted Greek letter.

In the implementation at Yucata a is displayed below the Zeus Tile if another player uncovers a matching Island Tile.

A is displayed if you've found the matching Island Tile yourself, e.g. via the action Look at 2 Island Tiles.

When you hover your mouse over one of these Shrines, the corresponding field on the map will be highlighted.

Build a Shrine

To perform the action, the color of your Oracle Die has to match the hexagon on the island space.

If the Island Tile has your player color and you have a Shrine Zeus Tile left, place a Shrine on the Island Tile, take the reward of your corresponding Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile.

Example: Using a red action you Load a red Offering into your ship. As you are adjacent to a red Temple, you use another red action to Make an Offering.

Load an Offering

Take an Offering of the color of your Oracle Die from the adjacent Offering Island and store it in your Ship. If your storage is full, you cannot perform this action.

Make an Offering

Place an Offering of the color of your Oracle Die from your ship onto a matching adjacent Temple Island. Take the reward of your corresponding Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile.

Example: Using a red action, you Load a Statue into your Ship. Then, you Move your Ship to a yellow water space using a yellow action. Finally, you use another red action to Raise a Statue on an island.

Load a Statue

Take a Statue of the color of your Oracle Die from an adjacent City Tile and store it in your Ship. If your storage is full, you cannot perform this action.

Raise a Statue

Place a Statue of the color of your Oracle Die on a matching site on an adjacent Statue Island. Take the reward of your corresponding Zeus Tile and discard the Zeus Tile.

Note: 3 Statues of different colors can be built on each Statue Island.

Discard Injury Cards

Discard all your Injury Cards matching the color of your Oracle Die.

Advance a God

Advance the God of the matching color by 1 step. As long as a God is on the topmost row, its Special Action is available. You may use it during any of your turns, now or later. After using a Special Action, return the God to the lowest row.

After completing all of Zeus’ tasks, i.e. discarding all Zeus Tiles, you have to return to Zeus using normal movement rules. Use an Oracle Die of any color or the Special Action of the blue God, Poseidon, to move onto his space.

The first player to do so triggers the End of the Game. The current round is finished, then the game ends.
If only 1 player successfully returns to Zeus, he wins the game.

If more than 1 player successfully returns, the player with the most remaining Oracle Cards among them wins.
If these players are still tied, the player with the most remaining Favor Tokens among them wins.
If these players are still tied, they share the victory.

Notes:
  • After reaching Zeus, unused Oracle Dice and Special Actions of Gods should be used to "Draw 1 Oracle Card" as Oracle Cards break the tie for first place.
  • Gods reaching the topmost row after your last turn cannot be used anymore.
The ranking in the online implementation is as follows:
  1. Players who completed all tasks and returned to Zeus get the higher rank. In case of several, the ranking is:
    1. Number of Oracle Cards
    2. Number of Favor Tokens
  2. Players who did not return to Zeus get the lower rank. In case of several, the ranking is:
    1. Number of completed tasks
    2. Number of Oracle Cards
    3. Number of Favor Tokens
Game Variant: Shorter Game

At the start of the game, you can decide to return up to 4 of the depicted Zeus Tiles each to the box to reduce playing time. The more tiles you return, the shorter the game. If you discard less than 4 tiles, return them to the box in the following order:

1
1 Tile "Statue"
2
1 Shrine and 1 Tile "Shrine"
3
1 colored Tile "Monster" (same tile for all players)
4
1 colored Tile "Offering" (same tile for all players)

Chrome browser on Android - Or if you can't click the buttons on the popup windows

This issue occurs for example on an android mobile phone with the Chrome browser. Here it might help to disable the draggability of the popup windows via the in-game options.

Zoom

The area of the map can be made bigger or smaller horizontally as well as vertically. For that, hover your mouse over the border of the map area and drag it into the desired direction. If you do this with the right bottom corner of the map then you can change the size of the map horizontally and vertically at the same time.

If you change the size of the map horizontally then this also always affects the size of your playerinfo area: you are changing the horizontal distribution of the space of map and playerinfo.

If you change the size of the map vertically you affect the available space for the map in bottom direction (the aspect ratio of map width and height always stays the same - no skewing of the map). In games with more that 2 players you, at the same time, also move the playerinfo areas of the other players up or down respectively.

Sounds complicated? My tip: just try and play around with it! It's worth the investment of some time because your adjusted layout is saved and will be exactly how you have set it in your next turn (given you have activated your browser cookies). Because the respective layout differs, your settings will be saved separately for games with two and for games with more than two players.

Game log coordinates

The game log displays coordinates for example like this: 4 | 2
If you hover with your mouse over such a coordinate, the corresponding field on the map will be highlighted.

Making the pathfinding easier by highlighing the fields on the map

Hover your mouse over Zeus tiles, Statues, Offerings and Temples on your ship or the map respectively to highlight the relevant and corresponding fields on the map. This shall help you to faster find the fields you are looking for.

Example: Mouse over the green Temple shows all fields with green Offerings.

Example: Mouse over your Zeus tile with the white Offering shows all fields with Offerings that are valid for fulfilling this Zeus tile. If you already have the Offering for this Zeus tile on your ship then, instead, the target Temple for this Offering will be displayed on the map.

Display of sea hexagons

Via the "Settings" tab you may choose whether the hex fields on the map have a color symbol in the middle (default) or instead have a colored border . Choose the one you like better.
In the mode with the color symbol in the center an additional colored border will be displayed in case a ship is on the water hex. This way the color is still visible without the need of hovering the mouse over the ship (which will make the ship transparent so that the color symbol can be seen again).

With Internet Explorer 9 the game seems to "freeze"

This is due to the animations which Internet Explorer 9 doesn't support. Switching off the animations in the game options should solve the issue.

Additionally find here the hints embeded in the rules above as a summary:

Used version of the official rules

The implementation at Yucata is based on the latest version of the game rules (English revised version, 2nd edition Hall Games). This version differs from previous versions especially in the exploration of islands. Videos (also those linked here) explain the game still with the old rule, which is that the image of an island tile needs to be the same as on the Zeus Tile)!

The Gods advance delayed

In the Yucata implementation the players advance their Gods not until it's their turn again. This prevents additional player turns and thereby makes the the game shorter. However in case only one God may advance then this is done automatically and right after the Oracle has been consulted.

Actions must lead to fulfilling zeus tiles

The implementation at Yucata enforces this rule by not allowing the player to fight a certain color monster that he has no remaining Zeus Tile for. Yucata also prevents the player from loading Statues or Offerings he has no remaining Zeus Tile for.

Peek indicators

There are two indicators on Yucata to show that someone has peeked at an island:

An eye symbol in the color of your opponent shows that the respective opponent had looked at this island.

If you have looked at the island yourself, but not yet explored it, this is indicated by a white dotted line and the symbol and colour of the island stay visible for you.

In the example on the right, both you and your green opponent have looked at the depicted island.

Display of island ownership

To improve the clarity of the color of an Island Tile, the island images for the Yucata implementation have a rectangle in the color of the owning player around the greek letter:

Original: At Yucata:

Shrine zeus tiles in the shorter game variant

In the shorter play variants a player may have only 2 Shrine Zeus Tiles while on the map there are always 3 island tiles in his player color. In this case:

  • for the first two islands the player explores and that are in his player color, he places 1 of his Shrines on the Island Tile and takes the reward of the Zeus Tile.
  • For the third Island he explores and that is in his player color, he takes a reward based on the depicted Greek letter.

Shrine zeus tiles and exploring islands

In the implementation at Yucata a is displayed below the Zeus Tile if another player uncovers a matching Island Tile.

A is displayed if you've found the matching Island Tile yourself, e.g. via the action Look at 2 Island Tiles.

When you hover your mouse over one of these Shrines, the corresponding field on the map will be highlighted.

The ranking in the online implementation

  1. Players who completed all tasks and returned to Zeus get the higher rank. In case of several, the ranking is:
    1. Number of Oracle Cards
    2. Number of Favor Tokens
  2. Players who did not return to Zeus get the lower rank. In case of several, the ranking is:
    1. Number of completed tasks
    2. Number of Oracle Cards
    3. Number of Favor Tokens
Q1: Why can't I load the Statue? My ship is adjacent, I have cargo space available and a remaining Statue Zeus tile.
A: No color can be chosen twice for a certain task. If you have already delivered a Statue of this color, then you are not allowed to load another Statue of this color onto your ship. You can derive the colors of the Statues you've already delivered from the colors of your companions (you've selected one companion of this color as a reward for having delivered the Statue).

Q2: If I have may I use Ares ' special action from a distance of 1 water space ?

Q3: If I have may I use Hermes' special action from a distance of 1 water space ?

Q4: If I win a fight using Ares and take as the reward, may I then advance 1 Ares again from bottom up?
Same question for Artemis discovering an Island with the Sigma reward that lets me advance 1 or more Gods by a total of 3 steps.
A: No. The special action of the God is not completed yet. Only after it is completed does the God move down to the bottom row from where it may advance up again (See official answer of publisher at BGG).

Q5: May I also use an Oracle Card instead of an Oracle Die to use ?
A: Yes, because the rules say "Oracle Cards can be used like Oracle Dice, but are limited to 1 per turn".

Q6: In step 8 in individual setup, you are supposed to put all your gods on the lowest level and one god on the "first" level according to the starting injury card. How does this affect the "Advance all Gods" ship : Does the god with the color of the injury card get an additional advancement or do all the gods token start on the "first" level ?
A: All Gods start on the first level (See official answer of publisher at BGG).

Q7: If I own may I move my ship around the board from one water space to another ?

Q8: May I increase the shield value to six and higher ?
A: No, 5 is the highest possible value (See official answer of publisher at BGG).
 
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