Naja is a genus of venomous snakes known as cobras, and in ancient Egypt they indicated sovereignty, royalty, and even divinity. The gods themselves are depicted crowned with a naja.

The scarab rolls the sun around to rise each day, and thus ensures renewal and prosperity. As royalty, veritable deities, you send your najas to lay claim to scarabs, ensuring new life for your lineage.

In the game Naja, players take turns placing cobras on the board trying to surround as many scarabs as possible. But try not to claim bonfires, lest they harm your najas and weaken your reign!

EQUIPMENT

This is what you need to play Naja:

9x9 board with a scarab on each cell
20 white najas (snakes)
20 black najas (snakes)
7 bonfires
40 black baskets
40 white baskets

You can also get the expansion for 3–4 players:

15 gray najas
15 purple najas
30 gray baskets
30 purple baskets

SETUP

Place the board in the middle of the playing surface. Each player takes all najas and counters of her colour.

Randomly place 5 or 7 bonfires (not 6) on different spaces of the board, except for the middle space (to avoid symmetric play) and the border spaces (where they pose almost no risk).

HOW TO PLAY

White starts. Players take turns in clockwise order legally placing a naja of their colour until no legal placement remains, at which point the game ends.

Najas have 4 segments. Each naja must be placed so that:

All four segments lie on 4 segments of the board.
They don’t overlap.

GAME END

The game ends when no more placements are possible.

Players then claim areas as follows: The player with more naja segments surrounding an enclosed area must claim it by placing a basket of her colour on each space in the area (except for areas with bonfires on them). If two (or more) players tie in claiming an area, it remains unclaimed. The edge of the board is not a wall, so some areas around the edge might remain unclaimed.

Each claimed scarab is worth +1 point, but each claimed bonfire is worth −3 points (najas don’t like fire!). Ties are possible and are OK: Just play again!

—description from the publisher

Naja

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