Ubongo

1.Setup

• The game is for 1 to 4 players; the one-player game is a variant against the clock.
• Each player gets a set of 12 puzzle pieces.
• The 54 puzzle boards form a stack, with the chosen side hidden: side A needs 3 pieces, the harder side B needs 4.
• Place the round track in the middle and put 9 blue sapphires and 9 brown ambers on it: it also counts the rounds.
• All the other gems go in the bag. The die and the sand timer are ready.

2.How to play

• The game lasts nine rounds.
• Each player takes a puzzle board and turns it over in front of them; the youngest player rolls the die, which shows the line to play on every board, then the sand timer is turned over.
• All at once, each player looks for the pieces shown on their line and must cover the light area of their board exactly, with nothing sticking out. Pieces may be rotated and flipped.
• Whoever finishes calls out "Ubongo!"; the others carry on until the sand timer runs out.
• If nobody has succeeded, turn the sand timer over a second time; if still nobody succeeds, the round is lost for everyone.
• First to finish: a sapphire from the round track and a gem drawn at random from the bag.
• Second: an amber from the round track and a gem from the bag.
• Third and fourth: a gem from the bag.
• At the end of the round, the round track must have lost exactly one sapphire and one amber: whatever was not won goes back into the bag.
• The die then passes to the next player clockwise.

3.Scoring

• Red ruby: 4 points. Blue sapphire: 3 points. Green emerald: 2 points. Brown amber: 1 point.
• In Marquoir, enter the number of gems of each colour; the counter does the multiplying.

4.End of the game

• The game ends after the ninth round, when the round track is empty.
• The highest total wins.
• On a tie, the tied players each take a puzzle board and play it off without the sand timer: the first to solve it wins.

House rules and pitfalls

• Variant without luck: the first player gets a ruby, the second a sapphire, the third an emerald, the fourth an amber.
• Solo: solve as many puzzle boards as you can in 5, 10 or 20 minutes, or time yourself solving a set number.

Frequently asked questions

The box

Released

2003

Age

Ages 8+

Designer

Grzegorz Rejchtman

Mechanics

PuzzleReal-TimeSet Collection

Contents

• 4 sets of 12 puzzle pieces
• 54 double-sided puzzle boards
• 1 die
• 1 sand timer
• 1 round track
• 1 bag and 58 gems in four colours

score sheets for this game →

• Blokus
• Cluedo
• Kingdomino
• Lotto
• Mastermind
• Monopoly