Official Camel Up Rules
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Welcome to the wildest camel race you'll ever witness! In this game, you’ll place bets on the most promising camels to win big. But these camels have a peculiar habit of stacking on each other’s backs, making it tricky to predict the outcome. Winning isn’t as straightforward as it seems, as timing and understanding the race dynamics are crucial. Here's how to play Camel Up:
Components
1 game board with a 3D palm tree
20 betting tickets (4 per color)
15 pyramid tickets
80 Egyptian Pound coins (50 x 1-value, 30 x 5-value)
40 finish cards (5 per character)
8 spectator tiles (1 per character, with cheering and booing sides)
8 partnership cards (1 per character, with available and partnership sides)
5 racing camels
5 racing dice (one per camel color, numbered 1, 2, 3 twice)
2 crazy camels
1 grey die (numbers 1, 2, 3 in white and black)
1 starting player marker
1 dice pyramid
Setup
Game Board: Place the game board at the center of the table.
Pyramid: Assemble the pyramid and place it near the board.
Desert Tiles: Each player receives one desert tile.
Leg Betting Tiles: Place the leg betting tiles in their corresponding spaces on the board.
Money: Distribute starting money to all players.
Camels: Stack the camels randomly at the starting line.
Gameplay
Turn Options: On their turn, players can:
Take a Leg Betting Tile to bet on which camel will lead by the end of the leg.
Example: Alice takes a green Leg Betting Tile, hoping the green camel will lead this leg.
Place their Desert Tile on the track to influence the race, either pushing camels forward or backward.
Example: Bob places his desert tile on space 5, which will move any camel landing on it back one space.
Draw a Pyramid Tile to move a camel by rolling a die from the pyramid and moving the corresponding camel.
Example: Carol draws a Pyramid Tile, rolls a blue die, and moves the blue camel forward 3 spaces.
Make a Final Bet on the overall winning or losing camel of the race.
Example: Dave places a final bet that the yellow camel will win the race.
Camel Movement: When a die is drawn, the camel of that color moves the number of spaces shown on the die. Camels can stack on top of each other, and if a camel moves, it carries any camels on top with it.
Example: If the yellow camel, with the green and blue camels stacked on top, moves 2 spaces, all three camels move together.
Scoring
Leg Betting: At the end of each leg, players who correctly bet on the leading camel gain money, while incorrect bets lose money.
Example: At the end of the leg, the blue camel is leading. Alice gains coins for her correct bet, while Bob loses coins for betting on the red camel.
Desert Tiles: Players earn money if their desert tile affects a camel during movement.
Example: Carol earns coins when the green camel lands on her desert tile and moves back one space.
Final Bets: Correct bets on the overall winning or losing camel provide a significant payout, while incorrect final bets result in a loss of money.
Example: Dave earns a large payout for correctly betting on the yellow camel as the overall winner. Additional Rules for Games with 6 or More Players
In games with 6 or more players, each player also has a partnership card. On their turn, players can choose to perform a new action: "Enter into a Betting Partnership."
Enter into a Betting Partnership:
You can only perform this action if you have your partnership card with the "available" side up in front of you.
Choose another player who also has their partnership card with the "available" side up.
Swap your partnership card with theirs, placing the cards in front of each respective player with the "partnership" side up.
For the remainder of the leg, both players are now betting partners.
At the end of each leg, during the leg scoring round:
Each player in a betting partnership can choose one ticket from their partner (either a betting ticket or a pyramid ticket) to add to their own rewards.
Both partners gain the rewards from all their tickets, plus one reward copied from their partner.
However, a player is not required to add a reward from their partner if it would be detrimental (e.g., if the partner only has negative tickets).
Once the leg scoring round concludes, return all partnership cards to their owners with the "available" side facing up.
End of the Game
The game ends when a camel crosses the finish line.
Players calculate their total money based on leg bets, desert tile placements, and final bets.
The player with the most money at the end wins the game.
Note: In the rare case that a crazy camel carries any racing camels across the finish line in a counter-clockwise direction, those camels count as the least advanced camels
This rewording condenses the "Camel Up" rules while keeping the key points clear and easy to understand. For a more detailed explantation, click on the PDF file located at the top of the page!
