How to Play

The Oracle of Delphi

2-4 players 70-100 min 7.3 Board Game Geek Rating

In this strategic sailing game, players navigate variable island boards completing Zeus's twelve legendary tasks. Roll three colored oracle dice each turn to determine available actions like collecting temple offerings and slaying monsters. First player to accomplish all divine assignments wins Zeus's favor and victory in this mythological competition.

Published 2016

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Build the game board

Assemble 12 Board Tiles (either side) so all water spaces form a single connected water area; leaving holes between tiles creates "shallows"

Place City Tiles

Put 6 City Tiles equidistant around the edge of the game board

Position Zeus

Place Zeus in the middle of the tile with 6 water hexes

Distribute Offering Cubes

Take as many Offering Cubes of each color as the number of players and distribute among 6 Island Spaces so no color occurs twice on any island

Place Temples

Put the 6 Temples on the 6 Temple Islands

Distribute Monsters

Take as many Monsters of each color as number of players; put 2 different monsters on the 3 marked islands; distribute remaining monsters evenly on remaining 6 monster islands so no color appears twice on any island

Place Statues

Put 3 Statues of each color on the matching City Tiles

Prepare Island Tiles

Shuffle Island Tiles (cloud side up) and put face-down on island spaces with colored borders

Set up card decks

Shuffle and stack Oracle Cards and Injury Cards face-down by the board; put Companion Cards in face-up stack; shuffle Equipment Cards, display 6 face-up with remaining as face-down stack

Take player components

Each player takes 1 Ship, 1 Shield, 12 Zeus Tiles, Player board, 1 of each God (6 total), 3 Shrines, 3 Oracle Dice, and 1 Action Overview card in their chosen color

Distribute Favor Tokens

Start player gets 3 Favor Tokens; others get 1 more than the preceding player, going clockwise

Deal Ship Tiles

Randomly deal 1 Ship Tile to each player, or randomly pick number of players +1 tiles and draft in reverse turn order

Consult the Oracle initially

Players roll Oracle Dice and place dice on symbols; last player puts Titan Dice in center of oracle

Place Shrines

Put Shrines on marked spaces on player board

Draw starting Injury Card

Draw 1 Injury Card and put face-up on lower left of player board

Set up God Track

Put 6 Gods on lowest row of God Track; advance the God matching your Injury Card color to the row corresponding to number of players

Position Shield and Ship

Put Shield on 1st space ("0") of Shield Track; put Ship next to Zeus on starting space

Prepare Zeus Tiles

Sort your Zeus Tiles; have 1 player randomly select 2 tiles with Offerings on one side and Monsters on the other, place with Offering side up so all players start with identical tiles/colors

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Follow turn order

Play proceeds clockwise from start player

Check Injury Cards first

If you have 3 of same color or 6 total Injury Cards, discard 3 Injury Cards of your choice and end your turn immediately

Benefit from zero injuries

If you have 0 Injury Cards, take 2 Favor Tokens OR advance 1 God by 1 step

Perform Actions

Use Oracle Dice to perform actions in any order; can use 1 Oracle Card per turn (place horizontal, discard at end of turn); can also use Special Actions of Gods on top row

Consult the Oracle

Roll your dice and announce colors; all other players may advance 1 God (not on bottom row) by 1 step if it matches announced colors

Roll the Titan Die

Last player of the round rolls the Titan's Die which attacks all players simultaneously

Draw an Oracle Card

Take 1 Oracle Card and place face-up on left of board; limit 1 played per turn

Take Favor Tokens

Gain 2 Favor Tokens

Scout Island Tiles

Look at 2 Island Tiles, then return them face-down

Re-color a die

Pay 1 Favor Token to move a die by 1 step along the oracle path and change its face

Move your Ship

Travel up to 3 water spaces, ending on a space matching the die color used; cannot cross or stop on islands or shallows; pay 1 Favor Token per additional space of range; ships may share water spaces

Fight a Monster

Ship must be adjacent to monster; monster strength equals 9 minus your shield strength

Explore an Island

Ship must be adjacent; use die matching island hex color to flip tile

Build a Shrine

Place Shrine on island matching one of your Zeus tiles; take tile reward and discard

Load an Offering

Take cube from adjacent island matching die color and store on ship (if room available)

Make an Offering

Place cube from ship to adjacent island matching die color and one of your Zeus tiles; take tile reward and discard

Load a Statue

Take statue matching die color from adjacent city and store on ship (if room available)