Marram
Come play in the dunes, where the Marram grass grows. Remodel the landscape; collect flowers and coins; step on snakes, worms and freak beasts; and fight flipping wars. All this in one game!
The “Classic” version of Marram is a skilful strategic tile placement game for 2-4 players that is easy to learn, but difficult to master. Take turns laying 2 tiles that show body lengths of snakes and worms, and patches of grass and sand, laying them to fit with those already laid. Rather than laying a tile, you can remodel the landscape with a spade, flipping a tile that’s already been laid. You lay welly boots to claim control of features, such as snakes, worms, grass and sand patches and score points when the features are complete. Score more points than your opponents and you win! Learn how to play with the short game, which takes 15-25 minutes, and use these new skills in the long game (25-40 minutes) which is significantly more strategic
Or pit your wits playing the more complex “Pitchfork” variant – a game of two halves. Capture and remove snakes and worms in the first part of the game, and fight for control over wide expanses of grass and sand in the remainder. You need to think deeply and strategically in the long version of the game which takes about an hour. The short game takes 25 to 35 minutes.
Finally, a slightly nutty variant “Animals” expands on “Pitchfork” where you have a chance to bet on whether a fly and a frog get eaten by a snake to win bonus points.
Number of players: 2 - 4
Game duration: 45 mn
Complexity: 2 / 5
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Play Marram and 959 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
For tips on how to play marram, see Tips_marram
How to play
Marram Classic
- Each turn, a player must do the following twice:
- place a tile; or
- flip a tile.
Place a tile
- When placing a tile, all the features of adjacent tiles must match: grass tufts, sand, orange snakes, blue snakes and worms.
- If there are any remaining in their supply, a player may optionally place a welly boot on a feature of the placed tile.
- If the tile placement completes a feature, that feature scores for the player with the most welly boots on it.
- All welly boots from completed features are returned to their respective players.
Flip a tile
- A player may only flip a tile if they have at least one remaining shovel in their supply.
- Flipping a tile expends a shovel from the player's supply.
- The player selects a tile with a shovel symbol on it and turns it over in place.
- If there are any welly boots on the flipped tile itself, they are removed from the game.
- The tile is then realigned, if necessary, so that its features match with the adjacent tiles.
- If more than one rotation is possible, the player may choose.
- The player may then optionally place a welly boot on a feature on the tile.
- Any features completed as a result of the flipping are scored, including those from welly boots just placed.
- Welly boots from completed features are returned to their owners.
Marram Pitchfork
- Same as classic, except with using pitchforks for claiming the creatures.
- A completed creature will disappear from the board, making it much easier to complete grass tufts and sand mounds.
- Pitchforks will be returned to their owners for each completed creature.
Scoring
Marram Classic
| Type of feature | Conditions | Scoring |
|---|---|---|
| Orange snake | Must have two ends. | 1 point for each end, plus 1 point for each middle segment. |
| Worm | Must have two ends and one saddle. | 2 points for each end, 2 points for the saddle, plus 2 point for each middle segment. |
| Blue snake | Must have one head, one tail and at least one middle segment. | 3 points for the head, 3 points for the tail, plus 3 points for each middle segment. |
| Freak beasts | Any worm or snake that fails to meet its species criteria | 3 points. |
| Grass tufts | (Must be completely surrounded by sand) | 5 points per bulge, plus 5 points for each gold coin and 3 points for each silver coin. |
| Sand mounds | (Must be completely surrounded by grass) | 5 points per bulge, plus 4 points for each flower. |
Marram Pitchfork
| Type of feature | Conditions | Scoring |
|---|---|---|
| Orange snake | Must have two ends. | 1 point for each end, plus 1 point for each middle segment. |
| Worm | Must have two ends and one saddle. | 2 points for each end, 2 points for the saddle, plus 2 point for each middle segment. |
| Blue snake | Must have one head, one tail and at least one middle segment. | 3 points for the head, 3 points for the tail, plus 3 points for each middle segment. |
| Freak beasts | Any worm or snake that fails to meet its species criteria | 3 points. |
| Grass tufts | (Must be completely surrounded by sand) | 3 points per bulge, plus 4 points for each gold coin and 2 points for each silver coin. |
| Sand mounds | (Must be completely surrounded by grass) | 3 points per bulge, plus 3 points for each flower. |
