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The Omphalos is the navel and center of the Earth. According to Greek mythology, Zeus launched two eagles to fly
from opposite
ends of the world. Where these birds crossed paths, Zeus placed the Omphalos stone to mark the center of the
universe. The
Tholos of Delphi, inside the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, was built as a place of worship to mark this sacred
landmark.
May the gods grant you a propitious outcome!
The Tholos of Delphi, built by Theodorus Phoceus between 400 and 375 BC inside the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia,
is one of
the most characteristic temples that form the heritage and ruins of Delphi. In 1979, Vincent Scully, professor
emeritus of History of
Art in Architecture at Yale University, stated that the Omphalos (or navel) that marked the center of the world,
was safeguarded in
the Temple of Apollo. However, the Tholos in the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, just 700 m away, was regarded as a
more suitable
landmark for the navel of the Earth. The development team of this game endorses Prof. Vincent Scully and his
statements that
place the navel or omphalos of the Earth in the Tholos of Delphi
The players will take on the role of builders competing to win the greatest influence in the temple via the
construction of its
characteristic colonnade.
Each column has a maximum height of 5 stones and the game ends when all 7 columns have been completed.
At the end of the game, each player will score points for the columns that have more stones of their color than
their rival’s. The
player with the most points wins the game.
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1 rulebook
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1 double-sided temple board
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16 white stones
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16 black stones
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10 gray stones
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2 workshop tiles
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1 double-sided scoreboard
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7 ornament tiles (for the advanced
mode)
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5 location tokens (for the advanced
mode)
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1 quarry marker
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Place the bottom part of the game box upside
down in the center of the table and place the
circular TEMPLE board on it. To play the basic
mode, make sure the side shown in the illustration
is facing up.
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One player plays white and the other player
plays black.
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Each player picks up their WORKSHOP tile
and places 2 stones of their color in the spaces
reserved for them.
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Place the SCOREBOARD next to the playing area and put a white stone and a black stone in space “0.”
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Leave the remaining stones on one side of the table forming the QUARRY. Place the quarry marker next
to these stones to
mark this area.
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The player who proves to be more knowledgeable about the Olympus of the gods will go first. You may
also decide the starting
player by any other means.
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Set aside the ORNAMENT TILES and the LOCATION TOKENS. You will only use them in the advanced game
mode (see
Advanced Mode).
Beginning with the starting player, the players will alternate playing turns.
In their turn, each player must perform one of the two main actions described below.
1. Deliver stones from the quarry to the workshop:
Example: White player workshop tile
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Free spaces in the workshop
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Different quarry options
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Reminder of the values of the stones
The player takes stones of the same color from the quarry and places them in the
reserved spaces of their
workshop.
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If they choose stones that match their color, they may
take up to 3 stones from the quarry.
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If they choose gray stones (neutral stones), they may
take up to 2 stones from the quarry.
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If they choose stones that match their rival’s color,
they may only take 1 stone from the quarry.
The workshop has three spaces reserved for storing these
stones. To take stones from the quarry, the player must have at
least one free space in their workshop and they can’t take more
stones than they have free spaces.
The black player has 2 free spaces in their workshop and
wants to perform the action of taking stones from the quarry.
Their options are:
- Take 1 white stone
- Take up to a maximum of 2 gray stones
- Take up to a maximum of 2 black stones
2. Place stones in the temple (may trigger a bonus temple action):
The player places one of the stones from their workshop in a valid temple location. If there is a stone already in that location, the
new stone will be placed on top forming a column.
Each column has a maximum height of 5 stones. Once this height is reached, the column
will no longer be considered a valid
location
and the players will no longer be allowed to place stones on it. The column will revert to being a valid location if its height
is reduced as a result of a bonus temple action (see below).
If the player places a stone of their color in the temple, they may perform the bonus temple action that is specific to that location.
Each location in the temple has an associated bonus
temple action that is illustrated on the temple board.
When a player, on their turn, places a stone
of their
color
in a valid location, they may perform the
bonus temple action of that location.
Important:If the player, as a result of a bonus temple
action, adds or moves another stone of their color to
a new valid location, they will not trigger the bonus
temple action of the new location.
The bonus temple actions are:
Location C:
The player who places a stone
of their color in this location may return
the top stone (of any color) of the column
at a different temple location back
to the
quarry
.
Location D:
The player who places a
stone of their color in this location may
move a stone (of any color) from
the
quarry to their workshop
; the player
must have room for it in their workshop.
Location E:
The player who places
a stone of their color in this location
may move a stone (of any color)
from
their rival’s workshop to their own
workshop
; the player must have room for
it in their workshop.
Location F:
The player who places a stone
of their color in this location may place a
stone (of any color) from their workshop
in another valid temple location.
Example:
The white player places a white stone in
location F. This location, as a bonus temple
action, gives them the chance to place
another stone from their workshop in another
location in the temple.
Therefore, the white
player places a second white stone, this time
in location D. Since bonus temple actions
can’t be stacked, the white player will not
trigger the bonus temple action at location D
and their turn will have come to an end
The game ends when all columns have reached their maximum height (5 stones). The scoring will then take place.
Scoring:
Each player’s workshop tile provides a reminder of
the values of the stones
Each player will only score the columns in which they have achieved
more influence than their rival. That is, columns that have
more
stones of their color than the color of their rival.
Each column is
scored separately and their total victory points (VP) are added to each
player on the scoreboard. If there is a tie in a column (same number
of black and white stones) neither one of the players will score points
for it.
Ignore gray (neutral) stones when determining who has the
greatest influence in a column.
The points each column is worth is determined by the type of stones
it is composed of:
- 1 VP for each stone of their own color
- 3 VP for each rival stone
- -2 VP for each neutral (gray) stone
The player who scored the highest will be the winner. If there is a tie, the player who won the most columns wins. If the tie persists,
the game will end in a draw. How about a rematch?
Scoring examples:
No player has a majority of stones in column G.
This column is not scored.
The white player has the most stones in column
A. They get 1 VP for each stone of their color, 3
VP for the stone of their rival’s color, and -2 VP
for each of the gray stones. 1+1 -2 +3 -2 = 1 VP
for the white player on the scoreboard.
The white player has the most stones in the
column B. They get 1+3+3+1+1 = 9 VP on the
scoreboard.
The white player has the most stones in column C.
They get -2+1+1-2+1= -1 VP on the scoreboard.
It’s time to decorate the temple!
Firstly, place the temple board with the advanced mode side (shown in the illustration) facing up.
For this mode, the starting player will first separate the ornament tiles and mix them face down on the table. Next, they will repeat
the same process with the location tokens.
Each player will randomly draw
1 ornament tile and 1 location
token
.
The location token will determine the location on the temple
board where their ornament tile is to be placed.
Note: You may agree to start the game with more ornament
tiles. For each new ornament tile you draw, make sure to draw
a new location token with it.
Ornament tiles have a unique effect that applies only to the
column where they are placed.
Ornament 1
During the scoring, the player with
the greatest influence in this column
will score an additional +3 VP.
Ornament 2
In this column, the gray stones are worth -3 VP instead of -2 VP in the score count.
Ornament 3
Unlike the rest of the columns, this column will be won by the player
with the minority of stones of their color.
Therefore, if there are 0 white stones and at least 1 black stone,
the column will be claimed by the white player.
Ornament 4
This location’s bonus temple action can also be activated with gray stones.
Ornament 5
In this column, the gray stones are worth +2 VP instead of -2 VP in the score count.
Ornament 6
This column holds up to 7 stones
instead of the usual 5
Ornament 7
Choose between this location’s bonus
temple action and the following: move
a gray stone from the QUARRY to the
TEMPLE (to a different location)
Can I act on a column that already has 5 stones?
You won’t be allowed to place any more stones on it, but you can still move or remove stones from it with bonus temple actions
from other locations.
What happens if, while determining influence on a column during the score count, a column has more gray stones than of any
other color?
Gray (neutral) stones are disregarded when calculating the influence on columns. Therefore, the column will be scored by the
player whose stones are more abundant in the column compared to their rival.
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