Omphala: a Game for the People
Setup
1) Decide who will go first.
2) Remove Jokers from deck.
3) Deal 7 cards, look at them.
4) All players place any two cards from their hand face down [FD] in front of themselves to create their Front Row.
5) All players place their remaining 5 cards face up [FU] to create their Back Row. (Final setup depicted below).
Front Row --->
[FD] [FD]
Back Row --->
[FU] [FU] [FU] [FU] [FU]
(player)
Play
1) On their turn, a player may perform 2 actions using cards from their Back Row (Front Row cards are your victory points and cannot be used). A player can also use an action to draw a card from the deck to place in their Back Row.
2) Each suit performs a different action:
Club: Attack Front Row card (destroys opponent’s card if attacker has equal or greater power).
Spade: Attack Front Row card (destroys opponent’s card if attacker has equal or greater power) OR steals Back Row card (steals opponent's card if equal or greater power)
Diamond: Shield Front Row card (turns face down, adds to the power of the card it’s placed on).
Heart: Enhance Back Row card (stays face up, adds to the power of the card it’s placed on).
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EXAMPLE: On my turn, I enhance my King of Clubs in my Back Row with a 5 of Hearts in my Back Row (one action), which turns my King of Clubs into an 18 of Clubs (13 + 5). Then I attack a facedown card in someone’s Front Row with my 18 of Clubs (second action).
EXAMPLE: I use my Queen of Spades to steal a Jack of Diamonds from another player's Back Row and add it to my Back Row (one action), then I use the Jack of Diamonds to shield one of my Front Row cards (second action).
3) If you successfully attack/steal a card during your turn, the card that you attacked with (and any Heart enhancing it) is immediately flipped over and added to your Front Row (like saying that card(s) completed its mission and is now retired).
4) Draw two cards from the deck to end your turn.
5) The player to the left goes next.
End of Game
1) The game ends when there are no more moves possible for any player to make.
2) Count how many cards remain in each players’ Front Row (including shielded / enhanced cards). The person with the most cards wins.
3) If there is a tie, the player with the highest total power (actual point value of cards) wins. Or if tied players have the same number of [FD] entities in their Front Rows, tied players should line up their Front Rows, reveal entities one at a time, and battle them. Higher power cards destroy lower power cards, tied cards both survive. The player with the most entities surviving wins.
Other Rules
1) Only one Heart or Diamond can be placed on a card. You cannot place a Heart on a Diamond.
2) Shielded / enhanced cards are considered a single card (until the end game when they will count as 2 victory points). Both cards will be destroyed if successfully attacked, both cards can be stolen if paired in your Back Row. You cannot reverse a pairing.
3) When adding victorious cards to your Front Row, always place them to the right of the most recent card you placed in your Front Row.
4) Only 7 cards are allowed in the Back Row (paired cards are treated as single cards). You may discard cards when drawing new cards with actions if they have seven cards in their Back Row.
5) If a player has 7 red suit cards in their Back Row (and no black suit cards), they may shuffle their Back Row into the deck and draw 5 new cards. This can happen the moment a player receives their 7th red suit card.