How to Play

Buy an Orbitz Board

How to Play Orbitz

2–6 Player Rules
8–12 Player Rules

Quick overview:

  1. Each player gets a board, 4 marbles, and a suit of cards.
  2. Connect all boards into a big loop.
  3. Use cards to move your marbles out of Start, around the track, and into Home.
  4. Bump other players back to Start by landing exactly on them.
  5. First player (or team) with all marbles in Home wins.

Game Overview

Orbitz is a modular, marble-style board game. Each player has their own wooden board and 4 marbles in a matching color. The boards snap together to form one connected track. Use special card powers to race your marbles around the board and into Home before everyone else.

ORBITZ – STANDARD MODE (2–6 PLAYERS)

Components (2–6 players)

  1. 2–6 Orbitz boards (one per player)
  2. 2–6 sets of 4 marbles (one color per player)
  3. 1 Orbitz card deck made of:
    • 1 colored suit (total of 13 cards, Ace-King) for each player in the game
    • (Example: 4 players = 4 suits; 7 players = 7 suits of cards)
  4. Each Orbitz board comes with:
  5. 1 Start area (where marbles begin)
  6. 1 Home area (where marbles must end)
  7. 1 orange Safe Start space in front of Start

Setup

  1. Choose players & boards
    • Each player chooses a board and matching color of marbles (4 marbles each).
  2. Connect the boards
    • Connect the boards together so the paths line up in a loop.
  3. Build the deck
    • Collect 1 suit from each player.
    • Combine those suits into a single deck and shuffle.
  4. Place marbles
    • Each player puts all 4 marbles in their Start area. The start area is the 4 colored holes at the bottom of the board, enclosed by a circle around them.
  5. Choose a dealer
    • Pick a dealer. The dealer will handle shuffling and dealing the first round. If you can not decide who deals, black deals first.
    • The player immediately clockwise from the dealer will take the first turn for that shuffle.

Objective

Be the first player to move all 4 of your marbles from Start, all the way around the track, and into your Home.

Dealing the Cards

Orbitz is played in “shuffles” (rounds of the deck).

  1. First hand of a shuffle
    • Dealer shuffles and deals 5 cards to each player, clockwise.
    • Dealer always deals themselves last.
    • Remaining cards stay in a face-down stack in front of the dealer.
  2. Later hands in the same shuffle
    • After everyone has played their first hand, the dealer deals again—now 4 cards to each player.
    • Every hand after the first is 4 cards per player, until the deck runs out.
  3. When players can’t play
    • If you cannot make any legal move with the cards in your hand, you must discard your entire hand and sit out until the next deal.
    • If at any point during your turn you can’t play with the cards you’re holding, you must discard the rest of your hand.
  4. New dealer
    • When the deck is completely played out, that shuffle ends.
    • The deal passes clockwise to the next player, and a new shuffle begins.

Card Meanings

  • Ace – Move 1 space OR move one marble from Start onto your orange Safe Start space.
  • King – Move one marble from Start onto your orange Safe Start space (no other movement).
  • 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 – Move forward that many spaces with one marble.
  • 4 – Move backwards 4 spaces with one marble.
  • 7 – Move 7 spaces total, either:
    • All 7 with one marble, or
    • Split between two marbles (for example 4 + 3). In team games you may split between your marble and a teammate’s marble.
  • Jack – Switch places with another player’s marble:
    • You must switch with a marble of a different color (never your own).
    • You cannot switch with a marble on its own Safe Start space.
  • Queen – Move 12 spaces forward with one marble.

Important:
If any card in your hand can be played legally, you must play something. You can’t “hold back” to avoid a bad move—even if the only legal move hurts you.

Turn Order & Taking a Turn

The player clockwise from the dealer takes the first turn of the shuffle.

Play proceeds clockwise for the whole shuffle.

On your turn:

  • Choose one card from your hand to play.
  • Resolve its effect (move, switch, etc.).
  • Discard the card to the center.

Continue around the table until everyone has played all cards they can from that deal. Then a new hand is dealt (4 cards each) until the deck runs out.

Entering the Board & Safe Spaces

  • You may only move a marble out of Start onto your orange Safe Start space by playing an Ace or King.
  • Your orange Safe Start space is a safe spot for you:
    • Other players cannot move through, land on, or switch with your marble on your Safe Start.
  • For everyone else, your Safe Start space is treated like a normal space:
    • If their marble happens to be there, it’s not safe for them; they can still be bumped by others landing there.

Movement & Bumping

  • Marbles move along the track following the connected boards.
  • You must move the full number shown on the card played, if it’s legally possible.
  • Landing exactly on any marble (even your own) bumps that marble:
    • The bumped marble goes back to its Start.
    • To re-enter the board, that marble must again use an Ace or King to move to its Safe Start space.
  • Start spaces and blocking:
    • If your Start space is occupied by your own marble, other players cannot pass through that space.
    • They may end their move on your Start space or switch onto it with a Jack, as long as they are not switching a marble off its own Safe Start.

Rules for entering Home

Once a marble completes a full loop and reaches your Home entry, you may start moving it into Home with your card moves.

You must land in each Home space by exact count. You cannot overshoot Home.

You cannot jump over marbles inside your Home.

A marble in Home is safe and cannot be bumped or moved.

You can use a 4 to back out of home if you want to, but leaving home will expose that marble to the game play on the board.

Winning the Game

  • In solo play (no teams), the first player to move all 4 marbles into Home wins.
  • Other players may continue to play for 2nd/3rd place if desired.

Team Play (2–6 players)

You can play Orbitz in teams, using the same 2–6 player setup.

  • Teams are formed with players directly across from you (usually across the table).
  • To win as a team, all marbles of that team’s colors must be in their correct Homes.
  • No table talk:
    • Teammates are not allowed to discuss strategy or give instructions during the game.
  • Helping your teammate:
    • You may use your movement (especially 7s and Jacks) to help your teammate only after all of your own marbles are in Home.
  • A 7 can be split between:
    • Your own marbles, or
    • One of your marbles and one of your teammate’s marbles, once ALL your marbles have made it home. For example, you have three marbles in home, and you are 2 spots from getting your last marble in home, you can use a 7 to split 2 and 5, 2 is used to move your marble home and you could then use the 5 to move your team mates marble five spots to finish the 7. Your team mate must be able to have a marble to finish the 7 you started, or it can not be played. No table talk.
  • Once both players on the same team have there marbles in the proper home colors, that team wins. You can play out the rest of the game if you want 2nd and 3rd place finishes.

ORBITZ – MEGA MODE (8–12 PLAYERS, TEAMS OF 2)

Mega Mode is for big nights when you want 8–12 people in a single connected game.

Overview

  • Players: 8–12
  • Teams: Always teams of 2 (4–6 teams total)
  • Goal: As a team, get all 8 of your marbles (4 for each teammate the same color totalling 8 marbles per team) into Home before any other team.

All basic rules from Standard Mode (2–6 players) still apply:

  • Card meanings
  • How to enter the board
  • Bumping, Safe Start, Home movement, exact counts, etc.

Mega Mode just adds special rules for:

  • Teams of 2
  • Seating
  • Two decks in play

Mega Mode Setup

  1. Form teams
    • Make teams of 2. Each team chooses one color.
    • There are 6 colors max, so you can have up to 6 teams = 12 players.
  2. Boards & marbles
    • Each player on a team gets their own board in that team’s color.
    • Each player gets 4 marbles of that color.
    • As a team, you have 8 total marbles to get into your colored Home.
  3. Connect the boards
    • Connect all the boards together into a large loop so everyone travels the same total distance.
    • Teammates should sit directly across from each other so both have the same track distance to travel.
  4. Homes and sharing
    • Teammates share Home:
      • All 8 marbles must end in your color’s Home spaces (split however you like between the two boards).
  5. Cards and decks
    • Each player still “belongs” to one of suit of cards.
    • Build two identical Orbitz decks from the suits of all teams in play:
      • Example for 4 teams: Blue, Red, Green, Yellow are in Deck A and the same four colors are in Deck B.
    • Seat players so that each team has:
      • One player using Deck A
      • One player using Deck B
    In practice:
    • Players in alternating seats around the table draw from Deck A and Deck B, but everyone moves on the same shared board, so all marbles can still bump, switch, and interact.
  6. Dealers
    • Choose one dealer for Deck A and one dealer for Deck B.
    • Each deck is run just like Standard Mode:
      • First hand: 5 cards each
      • Later hands in that shuffle: 4 cards each
      • When the deck runs out, that shuffle ends and the deal passes clockwise within that deck’s group.

Turn Order in Mega Mode

To keep Mega Mode consistent and simple:

  • Players still take turns clockwise around the table, one at a time.
  • On your turn, you play from whichever deck your seat belongs to (Deck A or Deck B).
  • Even though the decks are separate, they share the same board, so:
    • Any marble can land on or bump any other marble, regardless of which deck that player’s cards came from.

All other turn rules (must play if able, discard if you can’t play, etc.) are the same as Standard Mode.

Team Rules (Mega Mode)

  • Shared Objective
    • Your team wins when all 8 marbles of your color (4 from you, 4 from your teammate) are safely in your color’s Home spaces.
  • Playing your teammate’s marbles
    • You may move your teammate’s marbles using your cards at any time, as long as the move is legal.
    • A 7 can be split between:
      • Your own marbles,
      • Your teammate’s marbles, or
      • One of yours + one of your team mates.
  • Table talk
    • For a more competitive feel, you can use the same “no strategy talk” rule as Standard team play:
      • No specific table talk about moves or plans.
    • Or, for a more casual/family version, you can allow table talk. (Your choice; just decide before the game.)
  • Start & Safe Spots
    • If your Start is occupied by your own marble, other players cannot pass through that space.
    • They may end their move or switch there only if they are not moving a marble off its own Safe Start.
    • Safe Start behavior (only safe for the owner) is exactly the same as in Standard Mode.

Winning as a Team

Other teams may continue playing for second/third place if desired.

The first team to get all 8 marbles (both players’ sets) into their correct Home spaces wins Mega Mode.

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