Rules of play
Components
after he has finished next player clockwise starts his turn.
- Game board
- 20 gems (wooden cubes) – 5 in 4 colours
- 4 player pawns
- 4 VP markers (discs)
- 4 trading cards
- 1 round marker
- this rule booklet
Game turn
Setup
Each player chooses pawn and marker of same color and places
them on score track, pawn on “5” and VP marker on “1”. Place
round marker on “I” on round track. Take one gem of each colour
and put them on price tracks (from -3 to 3) on price level “1” - so
each gem has its own track. Place rest of the gems next to the
game board – this forms gem pool.
Starting player is selected randomly. He chooses one gem from
the pool and places it in front of him, then other players clockwise choose one as well. During the game amount and colours
of gems owned by players (and in gem pool) is public information.
Trading cards are shuffled and placed on table, next to the game
board, visible to all players. Starting player starts with his turn,
During his turn player must choose one of the 4 trading cards,
perform one or both actions from the visible (upside) side,
change gem prices accordingly and then flip the card over,
revealing actions from other side. Each trading card has (on both
sides) always one buying action and one selling action – player
can also perform them both, in any order.
Buying (green O on card) – when buying, player takes one gem
from pool and places it on table in front of him. Each player has
storage only for 2 gems – therefore, when having two gems
already, buying action cannot be performed (unless player
chooses to perform both actions and sells 1 gem before buying
one). In case there is no particular colour available in gem pool,
buying action cannot be performed. No payment is needed for
taking gem.
Selling (red X on card) – when selling, player chooses one of his
gems, places it to the game box (out of the game – not to the
pool!) and moves his pawn as many steps according to gem
price. Please note that with negative prices you must move
backwards! Player cannot move lower than “1” on score track.
round winner being last to choose. In case any gems are not
chosen (when playing with less than 4 players) these are
returned to the pool.
Trading cards are shuffled and starting player is the one who
won previous round.
Game end
Game ends after 4th round - and whoever has most victory
points wins the game! Ties are broken in favour of 4th round
finishing order.
After performing action(s) gem prices are changed, accordingly
to trading card instructions, up to 2 steps higher or lower
(changes from buying section - part of the card with green "O"
symbol - represent increase, from selling section - part of the
card with red "X" symbol -decrease of prices). Price movement
higher/lower than maximum/minimum values is ignored. Then
trading card, used by active player, is flipped over (so the actions
he used are not visible anymore but the other side is ) and it's
clockwise next player's turn.
Extra trade
If player is currently on last place with his pawn after performing
his action(s), he gets an opportunity for extra trade - he may
choose any other player and swap one of his gems with other
player's gem. Other player may not refuse of this trade. If player
on last place has no gems left, he offers nothing to get a gem;
also if other player has no gems left, then player on last place
may just give a gem and receive nothing.
This extra trade is available only for player on last place – if last
place is shared, none of the sharing players gets this opportunity.
Round end
Round ends when a player has no actions available he can
perform – in that case all gems, held by players are automatically
sold and victory points are scored: 1st place receives 4 VPs, 2nd
place 3VPs, 3rd place 2VPs and 4th place 1 VP. Victory points are
marked on score track with VP markers.
When players are tied then their highest-valued gems, held at
the end of the round, are compared – higher value wins the tie. If
equal, second-highest gems are compared – with this also being
equal, all tied players receive the VPs for lowest tied position.
(Having no gem is equal to having one with value “-4” - so if
player A has a gem with value “-2” but player B has none, player A
wins the tie.)
If this wasn't the last round, round marker is moved to next
position and new round starts. Gem prices remain to their
positions, all gems are returned from the box to the gem pool
and one of each colour is taken from the pool for selection. First
to select is the player who got least VPs in previous round with