Observatory

Observatory, a roll and write game for mapping the night sky

In Observatory, each player plays an astronomer charting the constellations they observe over three nights. The game uses a roll and write mechanism: each turn, shared dice are rolled, and every player decides how to use the results to draw stars and build constellations, large or small, on their own pad sheet. The game draws on real astronomy: its 124 cards depict 59 small and 65 large constellations, grounding each session in actual night-sky observation rather than an invented setting.

Setup and how a game unfolds

Each player takes a blank sheet from the pad and a pencil, and the game is played over three consecutive nights, tracked using the three night boards and the current night marker. Each turn, the three standard dice and the shooting star die are rolled; every player can use one of the results to draw a star on their sheet and work toward completing a constellation, while the first player marker determines who starts the following round. This setup lets every player act at the same time from the same dice rolls, without downtime between turns.

End of game and scoring

The game ends after the third night of observation. Each player then tallies the points earned from the constellations they fully charted on their sheet, with small and large constellations carrying different values. The player with the highest total score after the three nights wins, having drawn the most complete map of the sky.