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Twin temples of two forgotten divinities containing ancient relics have been discovered in India. You set off on a treasure hunt, racing to find them before your rival, but your progress is slowed by a constantly shifting maze of paths... And eternal damnation awaits anyone foolish enough to uncover the three cursed relics of Garuda!
MOVE QUICKLY... CHOOSE WISELY! A treasure race packed with tough choices, twists & turns!
In this 2-players game, each player moves around their own temple, which has spaces for room tiles and hiding places for 9 sacred and cursed relics around. These relics are placed randomly, face-down, around the temples and worth victory points once flipped face-up.
The first player to score 25 victory points wins the game. However, a player loses if they reveal all three cursed relics! Each round, the players compete to win a new room tile by using cards allowing them to throw fate sticks. The player with the most fate points showing on their sticks wins the room tile and places it in their temple. Each player attempts to create paths leading to their relics, enabling them to flip them face up and score victory points. Yet, Naga symbols on some sticks let you activate cards with powerful effects, so that you can never take anything for granted.
A GAMEPLAY WITH DUAL-USE CARDS AND STICKS
Players must decide how to use the cards in their hands: for throwing sticks or activating their effects? Card effects can be applied on you or opponent's game and are relating to:
Sticks results
Relic positions
Room positions
Card drawing
Results on Fate sticks can be used to win the room at stake (using their Fate points) or to activate cards (using their Naga symbols). There are 3 types of sticks (number of Fate points or Naga faces are different for each type).
DILEMMAS, TWISTS, LOW BLOWS!
No temple room or Relic is locked in place, they can be moved/removed as you or your opponent activate cards… You could turn everything upside-down! For example:
Make the maze slide
Swap the positions of relics
Place a Trap room in your opponent’s Temple
Change the results of the sticks
Discard action cards from your opponent's hand
Make him throw again his sticks…
IF YOU...
Have ever dreamed of being an Indiana Jones, chasing relics in an Indian modular temple...
Adore putting a spoke in the wheels of your opponent...
Love gameplays balanced between strategy (cruel choices, anticipation) and fun...
then Naga Raja is the perfect game for you!
Naga Raja - How To Play
- Overpriced map purchased at the gas station is useless.
- Eternal damnation awaits if cursed relics are found.
- Treasure hunt for ancient relics
- Temples in India
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bluffing — The host mentions enjoying a good bluffing game.
- Maze — An ever-shifting maze of paths.
- Push Your Luck — A player loses if they reveal all three cursed relics.
- set collection — Finding relics and riches.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it seems there's always another game on the shelf waiting to be discovered
- this episode is made possible in part by oceans from north star games
- You know what's even better than the idea of a lifetime spent exploring space doing so from the comfort of your own home where the potato chips are kept and that's why I joyfully wept gently for several minutes in secret where nobody else could see my shame once I discovered that this month's countdown would be starting with the economic space strategy game Master of Orion the board game
- The winner being granted the coveted title of emperor of the galactic council which is essentially just an honorary title for a glorified administrative desk job
- Now that we've conquered space which took way less time than I was anticipating let's now turn our attention towards conquering the sea because it's just sitting there being all damp and such
- Aquatica with a recent second edition from arcane wonders is a strategic but easy to learn family engine building game about underwater kingdoms
- You know I always enjoy a good bluffing game or do I perhaps I was bluffing just now you can't no I'm unknowable I barely know myself
- Vindication is a wonderful feeling like when you warn someone not to sit on wet paint but they ignore you and then immediately get eaten by a crocodile
- Every year sorcerer city gets built and rebuilt in magically new ways with blocks moving and rotating in crazy directions
- It sounds like a workers compensation insurance nightmare but that's what you get for hiring Howard Howard and Fine as your city planners
- Keith Forge's world was always in a constant state of change but now a vault containing mysterious dark amber is open causing strange and unusual transformations unlike anything seen before
- If you're anything like me then you also have a hilarious crocodile-based anecdote locked and ready to go at a moment's notice but you'd also probably fare pretty well if you ever came time to live underground
- Fallout shelter the board game a post nuclear worker placement board game for two to four players from fantasy flight games based on the hit mobile game from Bethesda softworks
- Three orders nobles civilians and religion unlike today where it's organized around media influence and high fructose corn syrup
- Typically a roll and write game is only a proper roll and right game if it's from the Roland Right region of France
- Otherwise it's a sparkling dice based activity
- And now for some lip smacking cracking action in the upcoming hidden role deduction game from Fun Tales Feed the Kraken featuring three asymmetric factions for feuding friends
- In 1871 with Canada only four years old the prime minister calls for a massive undertaking a transcontinental railway to link eastern and western provinces
- It would be a nation defining project shaping not only the economy of this young fledgling country but also his identity as the well-mannered cousin of the United States who lost a bunch of weight and finished community college
- Brazil Imperial coming from Meepo BR in 2021
- The best monarch receives a title a Brazilian emperor which is essentially just an honorary title for a glorified administrative desk job
- Losers are banished to a ship lost at sea where they inevitably go madam pledge allegiance to a kraken
- That's our list of games we wanted to make sure did not go overlooked this month
References (from this video)
- Clear rule explanation by the host
- Good visual demonstration of setup and steps
- Some rules are dense and may require replay to fully grasp
- Relic collection and temple exploration with curses influencing outcomes.
- Two temples with relics hidden inside; players seek treasure while their archrival pursues the opposite temple.
- Step-by-step hands-on teaching of setup and gameplay with explained rules and card effects.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- end game bonuses — End conditions include 3 cursed relics face up, 25 points, or ninth room tile placed.
- endgame conditions — End conditions include 3 cursed relics face up, 25 points, or ninth room tile placed.
- fate sticks and fate points — Players use fate sticks and track fate points to determine the first player and to gain tokens.
- hand management — During the Call of Fate and Confrontation steps, players play cards with Naga tokens to resolve effects.
- hand management and Naga cards — During the Call of Fate and Confrontation steps, players play cards with Naga tokens to resolve effects.
- relics, amulets, and scoring — Relics grant points; cursed relics are worth more but can cause loss; amulets grant powers and points.
- round structure (four steps) — Each round has four steps: Call of Fate, Confrontation, Exploration, New Deal.
- temple tile placement — Players place temple room tiles to form paths from entrances to relics.
- tile placement — Players place temple room tiles to form paths from entrances to relics.
- tile rotation and movement — Tiles can be rotated or moved to modify paths and connections, influencing relic/entrance links.
- Tile/Map Shifting — Tiles can be rotated or moved to modify paths and connections, influencing relic/entrance links.
- trap tile — A trap tile can be placed to block placement and affect endgame tile counts.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- to set up place a temple in front of each player one has a yellow border and the other is gray
- three of the relics are cursed
- you keep it secret from your opponent but you can examine this at any time
- the game will continue like this until one of three possible things happen
References (from this video)
- great two-player interaction
- beautiful artwork
- complex for new players
- not ideal for solo play
- mythic Indian temple building with competitive play
- temple-building in a head-to-head arena
- tableau-building with direct interaction
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action cards — spend dice-based resources to trigger effects.
- tile placement with dice — connect tiles to a temple and resolve via dice/strength.