Shards of the Jaguar

About this board game

Shards of the Jaguar is a competitive dungeon-deduction game for 1–4 players, with games lasting about 90 minutes. As tribal initiates, players enter a sacred mountain temple to prove they are worthy of the Jaguar’s legendary power.

Long ago, the Jaguar defended the tribe until a terrible curse shattered it into crystal shards. During this initiation trial, you must search the temple for those shards, mystical amulets, and map pieces that lead to the Heart of the Jaguar while competing against the other initiates.

The game lasts eight rounds. At the start of each round, every player secretly chooses a trap: Poisonous Gas, Darts, Guards, or Earthquake. Players then spend action points moving through the temple and pursuing their objectives, but every space may conceal a trap set by another player.

• Predict opponents’ movements and identify which spaces may be safe.
• Move, collect crystal shards, perform rituals, and heal using action points.
• Activate traps after everyone has spent their action points.
• Gain glory points when your trap successfully hits another player.

Traps can inflict different negative effects, making every movement a calculated risk. Paying close attention to the others’ choices and routes is essential: clever deduction can reveal where danger lies, while a well-timed trap can earn valuable glory.

At the end of Shards of the Jaguar, players score their crystal shards alongside the glory points earned from successful traps. The initiate with the most points becomes the heir of the Jaguar and the defender of the tribe.