ULUS: Legends of the Nomads

ULUS is a game aimed at preserving knowledge about Mongolian culture. It is published by the Endangered Alphabets Project, which strives to preserve the many writing systems of the world that are under threat of extinction, including the Mongolian alphabet. The game is set at the time after Genghis Khan's death, when his successors wondered what form the huge Mongolian empire should have in the future. Should the nomadic culture be preserved? Should Mongols adapt to an urban culture? Each player adheres to one such idea, asks the support of a deity and a totemic animal and begins to gather the assets that will help their idea to prevail. The game is divided into two phases. The first phase is mostly to gather assets and to attack other players to thwart their plans. Players can choose to play an attack card which the attacked player can defend against. The player of the weaker card will lose strength points which will make it harder to fulfill their tasks in phase two. Alternatively, players can pass or try to force a trade on another player. If they know about a card another player holds, they can ask for it in exchange for any other asset card. In phase two of the game, players arrive at the great summer festival of Naadam. Here, they compete in three traditional Mongolian sports: archery, horse racing and wrestling. Winners are decided by adding asset modifiers to a player's strength. After a final round of trading or attacking, players reveal their collected assets and add their strength to determine the winner. Rules will be included in English and Mongolian.