Amazonas
Amazonas Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 48 Wooden Huts (Research Stations)
- 60 Specimen Tokens
- 4 Native Tokens
- 4 Turn Order Cards
- 8 Secret Mission Cards
- 28 Income Cards
- 18 Event Cards
- 16 Silver Coins (grey)
- 28 Gold Coins (yellow)
- 4 Bonus Tokens
Game Overview
- Before your first game, you must carefully remove all the tokens from their cardboard frames.
- Place the board in the middle of the play area.
- Sort the square specimen tokens by type into five piles and place them beside the game board. Place the four native tokens next to them.
- Place the bonus tokens by the board arranged in order by the value printed on them. If there are only three players, the token with value "5" is not used and should be returned to the box.
- Shuffle the event cards and place them face down in a stack.
- Mix the eight secret mission cards and deal one random card face down to each player. You may check your card at any time, but you should keep it hidden from the other players. Any secret mission cards left over should be returned to the box. Do not reveal the unused cards.
- Place the turn order cards face up by the board. If there are only three players, the card with the number "4" is not used and should be returned to the box.
- Each player chooses a color and takes the matching 12 huts and 7 income cards. Each player also starts with 3 gold coins. The cards form your starting hand. Your gold is placed openly in front of you.
- Place the rest of the gold and silver coins next to the board. This forms a supply for use during the game.
The Game Board
The game board shows a small portion of the Amazon jungle, with a number of villages connected by jungle paths and river routes. Each village has a number of sites where you can build a hut, and each building site shows a number of yellow points. These indicate how many gold coins must be spent to build a hut on that site. The first player to reach a village will be able to build on the least expensive site, while later arrivals will have to pay more.
Secret Mission Card
At the beginning of the game, you receive a secret mission card that shows a map of the jungle villages. Four of the villages are marked on your mission card. You must try to build a hut in each of these four villages during the game. Each of these villages you do not build a hut in will cause you to lose points at the end of the game.
Beginning the Expedition
- The youngest player goes first.
- The first player places one of his huts in any village he chooses, and pays 2 or 3 gold to the supply (as shown on the building site which was chosen).
Tip: When you place your first hut, you should consider your secret mission card. It is best to place your hut in one of your four target villages, or perhaps between two of them so you can connect to both of them faster.
- There is a symbol beside each village, which shows which specimen tokens can be collected there. When you build a hut, take one of the matching tokens and place it face up in front of you.
- Now the next player to the left places his first hut in any village (including the same village as the first player), pays the 2 or 3 gold as indicated, and takes a specimen token.
- Continuing clockwise, the remaining players do the same.
Game Overview
The game is played for 18 rounds. Each round follows this play sequence:
- Draw an Event Card
- Play Income Cards and Determine Order of Play
- Take Income and Build Huts
1. Draw an Event Card
Turn over the top event card, which applies to all players for the whole round. There are positive and negative event cards (see "Event Cards").
2. Play Income Cards and Determine Order of Play
2a. Play Income Cards
Secretly choose one of your income cards and place it face down in front of you. This will determine how much research money you will receive. It will also determine the order of play for the round. All players reveal their income cards at the same time, and each player announces his total income for the turn. Your income is based on the value shown on the card you have chosen.
Important: In addition to the value shown on your card, you will receive funds for all the research tokens you have collected that match the type shown on your card.
Example: A player has played a card with value "2" and a butterfly. She already has 1 butterfly specimen token, so she announces her total income: "3" (2+1 token). Her opponent has played a card with value "5" and an Orchid. Since he has 3 Orchid specimen tokens, he announces his income of "8" (5+3).
The income card with "0" shows all five types of specimens, it refers to the token type you have the most of. So, for example, if you have 3 "fish" tokens and 2 "parrot" tokens, you would announce an income of "3" (0+3).
The income card with "6" which shows a native is a special income card. When you play this card, you are not affected by the negative results of the current event card (positive events are not affected). The Indians know this part of the Amazon very well and they can show you how to avoid the dangers of the jungle. When you play a "6" card, you may add any native tokens you have to the value of "6" (See "Event Cards").
Income cards are left face up in front of each player after they are played. Stack your used income cards so only the last card you played can be seen. After the seventh round, when you have played your last income card, you will take all seven cards and return them to your hand to use again.
Note: Since the game ends after 18 rounds of play, you will go through all of the income cards twice, and four cards a third time. You will have three income cards left at the end of the game. So, you will only be able to use your "native" card to avoid negative events three times during the game. You should use this special card with some care to get the best benefit from it.
2b. Determine Order of Play
The player who announced the highest income takes the turn order card with the number "1," the player with the second highest value takes the "2" card, and so on until each player has a turn order card.
Tie: If two or more players announce the same total income, then the player who played the higher numbered income card (using the white number on the card) takes the lower numbered turn order card.
Note: each income card has a unique white number, so the play sequence can always be determined clearly.
3. Take Income and Build Huts
The player with the turn order card with the number "1" plays first in this phase. Then, the other players play in order of their turn order cards. During your turn, you may take these two actions in this order:
3a. Receive Silver Coins as Income
- Take a number of silver coins from the supply equal to the total income you announced. If you announced an income of "5," for example, you would take 5 silver coins.
- 3 silver coins are equal to 1 gold coin, and they can be changed in at any time. So, your income of 5 silver coins could be taken as 1 gold coin plus 2 silver coins.
- Your income may be affected by the event card in play. For example, if the "Forest Fire" event is in play, you would receive only half of your income for that turn (See "Event Cards").
3b. Build Huts using Gold Coins
- If you have enough gold coins, you can build a new hut.
- You can only build a hut in a village that is connected to a village you already have a hut in, either by a jungle path or a river route.
Example: A player has a hut in Rosaria. From here, she could build a new hut in Santo Caño, Moreña, Piedras, Xibu or Tucu.
Hint: To show how your new village is connected to an old one, it is recommended that you place your new hut in the old village, and then move it along the path to your new site. This is particularly useful when tracing a river route.
- You may never build more than one hut in any village.
- When you build a hut, you must pay 2, 3, 4, or 5 gold coins to the supply, as shown on the building site. Then you may place your hut on the village site, and take a specimen token that matches the village from the supply.
- Your specimen tokens are placed face up in front of you so everyone can see what research you have done. It is best if you place matching specimen tiles together to make it easier to see what you have collected.
- You may build more than one hut per turn, if you have enough gold on hand.
Note: Because building huts is so expensive, it is rare that you will be able to build more than one hut per turn. Sometimes you will have to save money for a number of turns before you will be able to build even a single hut.
After the first player has finished taking income and building huts, the player with the "2" card begins his turn. Silver coin income is taken, and may be used to build new huts, etc.
After all players have taken their turns, the turn order cards are returned to the side of the board for use in the next round.
Event Cards
At the beginning of each round, you will turn over one event card, which will affect all players for the entire round. These are the event cards in the deck:
Jaguar (2 in deck): A dangerous jaguar roams the jungle paths. You may not use any jungle paths to reach a new village to build a new hut. You can only follow the river routes this round.
Crocodile (2 in deck): Crocodiles lurk in the waters of the Amazon. You may not use any river routes to reach a new village to build a new hut. You can only use the jungle paths this round.
Forest Fire: The researchers' supplies are limited. You only take half (rounded down) of your income for the turn.
Theft (2 in deck): A clever monkey steals from the researchers. On your turn, after you take your income, you must lose some silver coins. The number of coins you return to the supply is equal to the number of specimen tokens you have in the single category you have the most of. If you don't have enough money, then you only lose the money you have on hand.
Example: A player has 2 fish, 2 orchids, and 1 iguana. He must give up 2 silver coins.
Bonus (5 in deck): Additional research money. Each type of research token is shown on one of these cards. On your turn, after taking your income, you receive an additional silver coin for each token you have that matches the event card in play.
Example: The "fish" bonus card is drawn. A player has 2 fish research tokens, so she receives 2 silver coins.
Important: This extra income is not counted when determining the sequence of play.
Natives (4 in deck): A knowledgeable local native offers to help. When this card is drawn, a native token is placed on the card. You may take this token during your turn. But, you must pay the native for his help: in order to take the token you must forfeit your income for the turn. For example, if you announced a total income of "7," you can either take the 7 silver coins, or you can take the native token. If the first player takes his income instead of the native token, then the second player will have the option, and so on. If no one is willing to give up their income for the turn, the native returns to the jungle and the token is placed back in the box.
If you take the native token, you must immediately assign it to one type of specimen tokens. The native token is treated like a specimen token of that type, both for determining your total income when a matching income card is played, and for event cards like "Bonus" or "Theft."
Example: A player has played a "fish" income card (1). He has 2 fish tokens with 1 native token, so his income for the turn will be four silver coins instead of three (3+1=4).
Also, when you play a "6" income card with the native, you receive extra income for each native token you have.
Example: A player who has 2 native tokens plays an income card with the native on it. She announces her total income as "8" (6+2=8), even if the two natives are assigned to different specimen categories.
Bonus Points for Specimen Tokens
It is not enough to collect all the tokens of one type during the game. You also need to try to collect as many different kinds of specimens as you can. The first player who collects at least one token of each of the five types receives the bonus token worth 5 victory points, which is placed face up in front of him. The next player to collect all five types takes the bonus token worth 4 points. The third player receives a bonus of 3 points, and the fourth player receives the 2-point bonus token when he completes his set.
Note: In a three-player game, the first player to collect all five types of specimen tokens takes 4 bonus points, the second player takes 3, and the third player 2.
The End of the Game and Final Scoring
The game ends after the end of the 18th round (i.e., after all 18 event cards have been drawn and the last round is played completely). Now the final points are awarded and the winner is revealed.
- If you have collected at least three specimen tokens of the same kind, you get a number of victory points equal to the number of specimen tokens of that type.
- If you have less than three specimen tokens of a type, then you receive no victory points for those specimens.
- You also receive victory points for your bonus token if you earned one.
- Finally, reveal your secret mission card. Each village on your card that you do not have a hut built in costs you 3 victory points.
Scoring example: A player has 2 orchids (0 points), 3 butterflies with 1 native token (4 points), 1 iguana (0 points), 4 parrots (4 points), and 1 fish with 1 native token (0 points). He was the second player to collect one token of each type (4 points). He was only able to build huts in three of his secret mission villages, so he loses 3 points. So, his total score is 9 victory points (4+4+4-3=9).
The player with the most victory points is the winner! If there is a tie for the most points, then the tied player who has the most research tokens is the winner. If there is still a tie, then the tied player with the most money left is the winner.
Credits
The Designer: Stefan Dorra (www.dorraspiele.de) was born in 1958, and has developed a whole set of games. In addition to the jungle adventure Amazonas, he offers you the turbulent game Alles im Eimer.
Editing and Rules Development: TM-Spiele
Graphics: Claus Stephan, Mirko Suzuki
The author would like to thank all of the playtesters and rules readers who helped make this project a success. In particular, he would like to thank Tatjana und Oliver Heine, Silke Bansemer, Dirk Rösch, Sabine Kaula, Frank Lippmann und Bernd Argesheimer for their valuable input.
Mayfair Games, Inc. Skokie, IL, USA
English Translation: William Niebling
English Language Rules Development: S. Coleman Charlton, Pete Fenlon, Will Niebling, and Guido Teuber.