In Hercules, players represent an Apprentice of Hercules and will roll the dice to perform mathematical operations in order to complete the legendary Twelve Labours of the almighty warrior. It’s a race, but being the first to complete these challenges won’t be enough to claim victory! Ultimately, the winner will be the player who has earned the most points from their cards, cubes and bonuses they gained by cleverly doing maths.
Hercules is played over several rounds. Each round consists of 3 phases:
1. Consult the Oracle (All players simultaneously roll their dice)
2. Perform an Action (each player takes their turn and decides which action they wish to take: Perform a Labour or Rest)
3. Move Pegasus (the Pegasus card moves to the next player on the left. That player will start the next round)
During the action phase, players may use the abilities of the Demigod and Gods of Olympus cards they previously won to adjust the dice results as permitted by spending cubes or flipping cards face down.
The game ends as soon as any Apprentice reaches Column 12 (that Apprentice immediately wins the Zeus card). Any player(s) who have not yet taken their turn do so, so that all players have the same number of turns. The player with the most VP wins the game.