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A River in Egypt

2 players 15-30 minutes

Equipment

• 3 trios in five colors
• Bag for random drawing (N.B., three bags are even nicer, if you have them. Bowls work well if players can be trusted not to peek.)
• (Optional, but recommended) 9 playing cards or coasters or beer mats or similar

Setup

• Place all the pyramids in the bag. If using three bags, separate the pyramids by size, one size for each bag.
• Draw 3 large, 3 medium, and 3 small pieces from the bag. Place these in a line between the two players. If using playing cards, lay the playing cards face down in a line first and place the pieces on top of them, one piece per card. These are the nine segments of river you’ll be battling for.
• Each player draws a large, a medium, and a small. This forms their hand.
• Choose a player to go first.

Gameplay

• Players take turns
• On your turn you do the following, in order:
  • You must play a piece from your hand to an unclaimed segment of river, if possible
  • You may claim a segment of river
  • You must draw a replacement piece, if possible

Playing a Piece

• To play a piece from your hand, move one piece from your hand to an available spot on your side of an unclaimed river segment. Each river segment has space for 2 pieces on each player’s side of the river. If you have already played 2 pieces to a river segment, you may not play a third. If your opponent has already claimed a river segment, you may no longer play any pieces to that segment.
• You must play a piece, if able. If you are unable to play a piece, due to all segments either having been claimed or having 2 of your pieces already played to them, then you do not play any piece. You may still claim river segments on your turn, however.

Claim a River Segment

• If you have played two pieces to a river segment, you might be able to claim it.
• You may only claim one river segment per turn, and you may only claim after playing a piece from your hand and before drawing a replacement piece. It does not need to be the river segment you just played a piece to.
• For the purposes of claiming river segments, you are comparing the strength of the set of your three pieces (the two you’ve played + the river piece) against the strength of the set of your opponent’s pieces (the ones they’ve played + the river piece) for that segment.
• If you are able to prove that your opponent would be unable to produce a stronger set than the one you’ve played, you may claim that segment.
• When you claim a segment, move the river piece (and its card) back behind your pieces, as though you are playing it as a third piece. This makes it clear that the segment is no longer in dispute.
• The relative strength of three-piece sets is described in the section Comparing Sets of Pieces

Example of claiming a river segment. Since the player on the bottom already has the strongest possible set of three pieces, they can claim this segment even though the player to the top has not yet played two pieces to this segment. To indicate that this segment has been claimed and can no longer be played to, the bottom player moves the river segment piece and the card it is on down behind their pieces.

Draw Replacement Piece

• Draw a piece to replace the one you played. It must be the same size.
• If there are no more pieces available of that size, you continue playing with a diminished hand size.

Game End

The game ends immediately when one player has either:

• Claimed three adjacent river segments, or
• Claimed 5 out of the 9 available river segments. That player is the winner.

Comparing Sets of Pieces

Sets of three pieces are evaluated based on their strength to establish river segment claims. The set type takes precedence, followed by size, and finally (for monochrome sets only): color. The set types are as follows, in order from best to worst:

• Monochrome triplet: Three identical pieces of the same size and color
• Monochrome run: Three pieces in the same color, all different sizes
• Monochrome pair: Two pieces of the same size and color, with a third piece of any size or color.
• Triplet: Three pieces of the same size, but different colors
• Run: Three pieces of all different sizes and all different colors
• Pair: Two pieces of the same size, and different colors

In the event that the two players both have the same type of set, it is resolved based first on size, then color. So, a monochrome pair of size 3 always beats a monochrome pair of size 2. If the type and size are equivalent, color is used in the order (from best to worst):

1. Black
2. Red
3. Yellow
4. Green
5. Blue

In the case of a non-monochrome set, color does not matter, and it is only a matter of which player can stake their claim first.

Visual key showing the precedence of different sets and colors.

Variants

Three Player Variant: Confluence

Instead of fighting for 9 segments, each player fights for 6 segments, 3 against each other player. Lay out three river segments between each pair of players. Play proceeds identically to the 2 player game, but the win conditions are different. Continue play until all river segments have been claimed.

If one player has won more segments than both their opponents, they are the winner, eg, Anna won 2 segments against Betty and also 2 segments against Constance. In the event of a three-way tie, players form sets from the three river segments the each won. Whichever player has the strongest set of river pieces is the winner. In the unlikely event that there is still a tie, victory is shared.

3 Player “Confluence” Variant Setup

Other colors

The rules are written for the “rainbow treehouse” colors, as they are the ones most players are likely to have, but there is nothing intrinsic to these colors. You can play with any five colors, provided you and the other player can agree upon which colors beat which colors prior to play. For Xeno colors, consider the order Orange, Cyan, Purple, White, Clear.