Pitagoras

Pitagoras

Rules for Pitagoras by Nicolaas Neuwahl published by eg Spiele

Postal Rules by Chris Green

Synopsis

A simple race game for 2 to 5 players with a vague theme of competing pupils of Greek mathematician Pythagoras.

Components

1 board with a 12 square course

1 red die (1,1,2,2,3,4)

1 blue die (1,1,1,2,2,3)

Each player has:

1 black die (0,0,1,2,3,4)

1 player tokens

11 cards as follows:

3 additive cards +2/+3/+4
3 subtractive cards -2/-3/-4
3 multiplicative cards x2/x3/x4
2 jolly cards

Objective

To be the first player to reach the 12th square of the course.

Set Up

If there are 2 or 3 players use the red die and put the blue one aside.

If there are 4 or 5 players use the blue die and put the red one aside.

Distribute a pack of 11 cards and a black die to each player.

Players place their tokens on square '1' of the course.

Game

One of the players throws the red/blue die to determine the 'stake' (i.e. by how many squares the player who wins the round will move his place marker).

Each player rolls his die and keeps it in front of him for all the players to see.

Each player chooses one of his cards and places it face down on the table. When every player has chosen a card to play, all the cards which have been chosen are shown simultaneously.

The player with the highest unique score, considering the algebraic result of die and card, wins the round and gains the right to move his place marker (if two or more players tie for the highest score they are eliminated and the player with the next highest score wins).

A jolly automatically wins a round, however multiple jollys cancel each other.

Example: The red (or blue) die indicates 2 (i.e. 2 squares):

Player	Die	Card	Result
Player 1	3	+2	5
Player 2	2	x3	6
Player 3	3	+4	7
Player 4	0	x3	0

In the above example the third player wins the round and moves his place marker 2 squares.

If a player lands on a special square (squares: 3, 5, 6, 10, 11) the effect of the square is immediate.

Cards that have been played are kept on the table until all the cards have been played at which point players pick up their deck and start again.

Special Squares

Square	Name	Effect
No 3	the bench	a player landing on the bench will sit down and rest for a turn (they won't play a card in the following round and therefore can't win)
No 5	the prompter	the prompter will assist a player landing on this square by swapping their piece with another player of their choice (this may result in a backwards move)
No 8	the well	a player falling down the well must return to the start
No 10	the riot	a certain confusion arises. at the following turn each player takes the result of the player sitting on their right
No 11	wrong calculation	On this square Pythagoras contests the result of the calculation and the player moves back two squares

The Winner

The first player to complete the 12 square course wins the game (landing on the twelfth square exactly is not required, so, for example, moving three from square 10 will win).

Adjustment for postal play

As the standard game except:

There will be two calculations (rounds) per turn
The GM will pre-roll both the stake die and the players dice in advance for each calculation publishing them in the game turn
Players order which of their remaining hand cards they will play for each calculation, conditional orders are advisable for the second
If a player lands on the prompter (square 5) and has not specified a player to swap with the GM will pick randomly from the players on the highest numbered square
Players with one card remaining at the start of a turn must play that first, for their second their deck will have replenished back to its original 11 cards from which they will have full choice
Should all players be simultaneously reduced to one card each at the end of a turn the GM will perform an extra calculation in that turn (note this is not guaranteed given the effect of the bench (square 3)).
In the event of an NMR the GM will choose randomly for that player.

January 2006