Gamehelparmadora

Nuggets Winning Moves, 2003 designed by Christwart Conrad translated by Pitt Crandlemire

Whoever digs others a goldmine... For 2 - 4 players from 8 years

Game material - 1 gameboard consisting of a 5x8 grid - 35 blockers - 8 gold mine markers showing the number of goldstrike points for that area - 4x16 chips with different numbers - 1 rules booklet

Idea of the game Nuggets have been found in the Golden Valley! The gold diggers try to sell their claims to the big mining companies for as much as they can get by gathering as many Nuggets as possible. The players take on the role of prospectors and try through skillful placement of blockers to create valuable claims and then to control them with their high value chips. But the other players have not fallen on their heads and will compete for those claims quite lively, too If it all comes to naught, the claims are laid out once again. In the end, the one who walks away with the most money will be the one who bought up the most productive claims.

Set-up The numbered stickers are stuck onto the gold mine markers and these are then placed on the board (see the illustration). Each player chooses a color and takes as many chips of that color in the appropriate value as indicated on the following table. He places these face-down in front of himself. In a 4-player game, players sitting opposite each other form a team.

Chip-distribution total 1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points 2 players, each 16 11 2 1 1 1 3 players, each 11 7 2 1 1 - 4 players, each 8 5 1 1 1 -

The Gold mine markers are placed on the gameboard as follows: (refer to illustration in German rules)

The youngest player begins the first game. In future games, the player that lost the most recent game always starts.

Course of the game Play goes clockwise. On his turn, a player must execute one of the following actions: EITHER build two blockers OR place a chip on an unoccupied space

Build two blockers In each case, the player places a blocker on any one unoccupied line between 2 spaces. The blockers need not be placed adjacent to each other. Restriction: a player may not place a blocker such that an area of less than 4 spaces is completely enclosed. Note: it is possible that there may be several gold mine markers in an area or even none at all.

Place a chip The player places one of his colored chips face-down on any one unoccupied space (not already containing a chip or a gold mine marker). He secretly chooses which of his numbered chips he wishes to place. Players should decide at the beginning of the game whether players will be allowed to look at their own chips after they've been played or whether they'll simply be required to remember the numbers after they've been played..

Partnership game Partners may communicate with each other in the 4-player game but they may not do so privately; the players on the other team must be able to see and hear everything. Also, partners may not show chips to each other.

End of the game If a player has no more chips, he may still play blockers. Also, if there are no more blockers, a player may play his chips. Whenever a player can't or chooses not to play, he may pass but he may not then play again later. Once the last player has passed, the game ends.

Scoring All chips are turned over. For each enclosed area, each player sums the points on his chips. The points of both partners are added together in the team game. The player with most points in an area gets all the gold mine markers in that area which score points equal to their value. Areas without gold mine markers score nothing. In the event of a tie in an area, the number of goldstrike points on the marker is divided among the tied players. (Half points are awarded when appropriate.) Whoever ultimately has acquired the most goldstrike points is able to mine the most gold Nuggets and wins the game.

Variant Once you have become familiar with the game played according to the standard set-up, you can then try placing the gold mine markers differently in later games.