A 5x5 grid of squares. Each of the four edges of the board is colored: yellow=north, red=east, blue=south, and green=west.

Pieces

The pieces on the board consist of four geometric shapes, each of which is stamped with an Arabic numeral on one side and a Roman numeral on the other. The triangle has a 1/I; the square a 2/II, the pentagon a 3/III, and the circle a 4/IV.

In addition to the pieces on the board, each player is given four geometric icons (triangle, square, pentagon, and circle) and four colored Mancala stones (yellow, red, blue, and green). These icons will enable players to reveal their move instructions simultaneously.

Setup

At the start of the game, pieces are arranged on the board as follows (where the origin is the green/blue intersection in the southwest corner):

• triangle-1 on (2,4)
• square-II on (4,4)
• pentagon-III on (2,2)
• circle-4 on (4,2)

Players

Numa is a game for two players: "Arabic" and "Roman." The Arabic player scores when adjacent pieces on the board show Arabic numerals; the Roman player scores when adjacent pieces on the board show Roman numerals.

Sequence of Play

Each player, in secret, puts one geometric shape and one colored stone in one hand and a second geometric shape and a second colored stone in the other hand.

When both players are ready, they reveal the contents of both of their hands.

A geometric shape indicates which piece on the board is moved. The color indicates the direction of movement.

Each time a piece on the board is moved, flip the piece over. So if the piece initially showed an Arabic numeral, it will show a Roman numeral once moved.

If both players reveal their desire to move the same piece, simply move the piece twice. (The order in which it moves makes no difference.) Since it flips twice, it will end the turn with the same numeral with which it started the turn.

More than one piece may occupy the same square on the board.

The board is a torus. If pieces move off of the board edge, they reappear on the opposite side.

Scoring

At the end of the turn, examine the board for adjacent geometric shapes (adjacency may be orthogonal or diagonal). If two adjacent shapes bear the same numbering system, award the Arabic or Roman player points equal to the sum of the two numerals. Award points for all of the possible pairs of adjacent numerals (a maximum of 30 points could be awarded to the Roman player, for example, if all four Roman numerals formed a 2x2 square. No points are awarded for numerals that are stacked with other numerals in the same square.

Winning

The first player to accumulate at least 30 points wins. (If both players pass 30 points on the same turn, the player with the higher score wins. If they have the same 30+ score, continue to play sudden death rounds until one player gains more points.)

Example of Play

On turn one, the Arabic player plays pentagon-red and square-blue, but the Roman player plays pentagon-yellow and circle-green. The two adjacent Roman pieces (pentagon at 33 and circle at 32) score the Roman player seven points.

On turn two, the Arabic player plays circle-red and square-blue, while the Roman player plays square-yellow and pentagon-red. No points are awarded, since two pieces are stacked together on (4,3).

On turn three, the Arabic player plays circle-yellow and pentagon-red, and the Roman player plays square-yellow and triangle-red. Adding up all of the adjacent pairs, the Roman player receives 26 points and wins.

This game © copyright 2003 Don Green.