On the mythical archaeological zone of Palenque, located in the Chiapas State, Mexico, there is a pyramid known as "The Temple of inscriptions", built by the Mayans to shelter king Pakal's tomb. The tomb was discovered on June 1952 and it represents one of the most important archaeological discoveries of history.

In this game the players collaborate with the pyramid construction and each player tries to accumulate the biggest treasure in order to win the game. The treasure is formed by the treasure tiles that are obtained during the construction stages, and the jewel cards that can be accumulated till the end of the game.

The rounds are composed by 3 phases. Each phase concludes when all the players have performed their play for that phase.

PHASE 1: CARDS DRAW
Each player draws 2 cards from the top of the pile. If a player draws a card of a level that has been already constructed, this card is sent to the discard pile and the player can draw a new card.

PHASE 2: CARDS SWAP
Each player can swap one of their cards with one card at the swap zone; players must leave the cards face up. Cards of already constructed levels cannot be used.

PHASE 3: CONSTRUCTION
Each player decides if he summons to the construction of the pyramid's level, if he chooses not to, then the player must mention that he passes the opportunity to the next player.
If no player summons to the construction, then is the end of the phase 3 and the round concludes.
When a player summons to the construction he must pay 1 point (with his treasure tiles) and place the tile over the gameboard, this gives him the right to be the first to set cards for construction.

CONSTRUCTION RULES
-Pyramid levels must be constructed in ascending order.
-Each pyramid level is completed with 5 construction cards of the corresponding level.
-Jewel cards can be used as wild cards. Two jewel cards will be considered as one construction card, so they must be used in pairs for this purpose.
-A player can set a máximum of 3 construction cards.

If a player summons to the construction but the 5 necessary consturction cards (required for the corresponding level) are not completed, then players take back the set cards and the player that has summoned to the construction loses the point that he has paid. In this case is also the end of phase 3 and the round concludes.

In case that the construction of the corresponding level is completed:
-The corresponding pyramid tile is placed over the gameboard.
-The players that have collaborated in the construction take the corresponding points from the treasure tiles at the gameboard (see the scoring rules).
-Cards used for the construction are sent to the discard pile.
-If any player has cards left of the consturcted level, then he must place them on the discard pile (players have no right to recover these cards).
-If there are cards of the constructed level at the swap zone, they are placed on the discard pile as well and replaced with cards from the pile.

END OF GAME
When the construction of level 9 of the pyramid (temple) is completed, the game ends.
The jewel cards that players have accumulated have a value of 1 point each and are added to the value of thier treasure tiles. The winner is the player with the most treasure points.

Games