A trick-taking game… with dice!
Guess how many tricks you’ll win (or not!) at the start of each round. Guess right, and you’ll become the labyrinth champion!
The game includes seven types of dice: minotaurs, griffins, mermaids, and four types of number dice. The game lasts 6-8 hands depending on the number of players, and in each round each player draws a number of dice from the bag equal to the current hand, e.g., five dice for the fifth hand, then places them behind their screen, keeping these dice a secret from all. After getting their dice, each player simultaneously bids the number of tricks they think they'll claim during the round by putting out fingers on their hand. Record these bids on the scoresheet.
The first player in a hand chooses a die from behind their screen, then rolls it in public. If they roll a number die, each other player must roll a number die of this color, if possible; otherwise they roll a die of their choice. Alternatively, a player can always roll a minotaur, griffin, or mermaid die. After each player has rolled, see who has the highest die and claims this trick. A rolled flag is a 0 and cannot win the trick. The minotaur beats the griffin, which beats the mermaid, which beats the minotaur — and all of these special characters beat numbers. If no one rolls a special character, the highest number rolled wins the trick, with a tie being broken in favor of whoever rolled later. The player who wins the trick collects the dice in front of their screen, then chooses a die from their collection to start the next trick.
After all the tricks have been claimed, players score points. If you made your bid exactly, score 20 points per trick bid; if you missed your bid, lose 10 points for each trick your bid was off, whether higher or lower. If you bid zero tricks and make it, score 10 points for each trick in the hand; if you miss a 0 bid, lose 10 points for each trick in the hand regardless of how many tricks you made. If you made your bid and captured a minotaur with a mermaid without also capturing a flag, score 50 bonus points; similarly, if you capture a griffin with a minotaur without capturing a flag, score 30 bonus points.
