
- BGG rank
- BGG #999
- BGG rating
- 7.0
FUSE
- 1–5 players
- 10 min
- Complexity 1.7/5
- 2015

Rules assistance for Menara: Rituals & Ruins
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Menara: Rituals & Ruins is an expansion for Menara released in 2019 for 1–4 players, 45–90 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Oliver Richtberg and its main mechanics are Cooperative Game and Pattern Building.
Rituals & Ruins, an expansion to the co-operative building game Menara, has a lot to offer: spectacular temple floors, golden columns… and then there even are tears of the gods, trying to keep players from their collective success. The crew always takes on a scenario of its choice. As in the basic game of Menara, the temple builders gather information and seek the advice of their fellow players before each game turn. Construction plan cards specify in what way temple floors are to be equipped with columns. The new rituals create new challenges; to meet these, players need well-conceived cooperation, clever statics, and steady hands. —description from the publisher Make your own set of rules. Choose from pre-set scenarios or mix the rules you like from a variety of new rules. 5 new types of construction plan cards present you with new challenges. 8 new temple floors of tricky shape want to be built into the tower. But each floor has its own rules, which can make the planning of your comrades much more difficult. Deal with temple floors of strange names like "The Double Axe", "The Wheel of the Five Winds", "The Wedge Moon", "The Bridge of Dangers", "The Ring of Balance", "The Wheel of Three Truths", "The Thorn Moon" and "The Crescents of the Sun". The tears of the gods, red and blue crystal stones, want to be cleverly built into the tower before the temple is completed. The cards of fate determine the shapes of the temple floors you can expect in the course of the game. But by no means all future floors will be revealed to you immediately... 13 rituals await you: For each game, you draw a ritual card, which changes the rules of the game and sometimes requires a completely different approach to the usual tasks. Play the rituals: "THE ENLIGHTENMENT", "THE DARK", "THE BAN OF THE BLUE COLUMNS", "THE CURSE OF THE GODS' TEARS", "THE GRACE OF THE YELLOW COLUMNS", "THE JINXED YELLOW COLUMNS", "THE UNHOLY WHITE COLUMNS", "THE THIN TIP", "THE SLIGHT EARTHQUAKE", "THE GLOWING RED COLUMNS", "THE BALANCE OF FATE", "THE NARROW BASE", and "THE NARROW BASE". 10 ready-made scenarios let you quickly set up a unique game. Master the scenarios: "Wheels and the Drifting Columns", "Ruins and Tears", "Blockades", "The Blue from the Sky", "Hard Times", "High Up", "In the Heat of Battle", "Bright as the Day of Light", "Who has the Choice Has the Agony" and "The Yellow Danger".
Menara: Rituals & Ruins supports 1–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Menara: Rituals & Ruins is 45–90 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Menara: Rituals & Ruins for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Menara: Rituals & Ruins has a complexity rating of 2.1 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Menara: Rituals & Ruins belongs to these categories: Fantasy, Action / Dexterity, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Cooperative Game and Pattern Building. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Menara: Rituals & Ruins are: Oliver Richtberg. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Menara: Rituals & Ruins as an expansion for Menara. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Menara to use it. Check that your edition of Menara is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.