MAGMA

UNDER PRESSURE

by Drayer ink

Magma is a casual multi-player game about managing the pressure inside a volcano, trying to make it all hit the Main Chamber at once for the most explosive eruption possible. Players take turns rolling and choosing which direction all the Pressure Counters will take, adding or moving Blocks, and trying to ensure that no Pressure Counter enters the Main Chamber alone, venting some of the pressure. Every player plays as all the Pressure Counters. This casual format allows players to drop in and out at will, perfect for a lunchtime office activity!

STORY

You are a stressed out volcano and you just need to let off some steam. Surely a big blow-out will help!

The Pressure Counters represent shifting pressure inside the network of magma-filled chambers under a volcano. Your job is to engineer the biggest eruption, by driving all the Pressure Counters together, then guiding them into the Main Chamber of the volcano.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

• 1 Main Chamber mat
• 1 Pressure Gauge mat
• 1 Pressure Spinner
• 32 Magma Chamber tiles
• 1 D6
• 6 Block tokens
• 4 Pressure Counters
• 1 Eruption marker
• Rulebook

SETUP

Shuffle the hex tiles and deal them out according to the Magma Map below, easy or hard side up.

Connect the Main Chamber mat and place the flame-shaped Eruption marker in the belly of the chamber.

Place the Pressure Gauge mat and spinner where everyone can reach, and place one Block token along each edge, with the D6 nearby.

Place one Pressure Counter in each starting position.

If you are playing on hard mode and the starting tiles don't connect to the network, rotate them until they do.

ON YOUR TURN

Every turn, roll the D6. Adjust the spinner by that many increments, clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Move all the Pressure Counters one Magma Chamber in that direction, if they can.

Pressure Counters can't move out of the play area or through walls or Blocks.

USING BLOCKS

The 6 Block tokens start out at the 6 sides of the Pressure Gauge, and until they are all in play, can only be used to block that side of the chamber currently occupied by a Pressure Counter.

You may place a Block if there is one beside the Gauge mat

or move one in the same orientation if it is already in play.

If only the top Block is in play, you cannot use the bottom Block to block the top of your Magma Chamber tile, even though they have the same orientation.

Once both Blocks are in play, though, you can use either to block the top of the chamber the Pressure Counter currently occupies.

HARD MODE

In Hard Mode, many of the tiles have walls on one or more sides. Instead of rolling the die and moving the Pressure Counters, you may choose to use your turn to rotate one tile as many increments as you like, to open or control a path for that Pressure Counter.

COMPOUND PRESSURE

Once two or more Pressure Counters move into the same Magma Chamber, they are compounded and can no longer be separated. From now on, they move as one.

If there is no Block or wall in the way, Pressure Counters must move into the next chamber, even if that means moving into the Main Chamber too early.

MAIN CHAMBER

If only one Pressure Counter enters the Main Chamber alone, the pressure vents entirely, and the Eruption marker does not move at all.

If 2 or 3 Counters enter at once, the marker moves by 1 or 2 spaces, respectively. A minor eruption occurs, but nothing to write home about.

If all 4 Pressure Counters enter the Main Chamber at once, the Eruption is successful! The volcano blows its top!

MAGMA CHAMBER TILES

Each tile has 2 sides, an easy side with grey magma and 6 tunnels leading from the chamber, and a difficult side with red magma and 1 to 6 tunnels leading from the chamber.

We recommend playing on the easy side first, to get the hang of the game, then moving to the harder side.

END OF THE GAME

Once all the Pressure Counters have reached the Main Chamber, the game is over.