Carteros Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal
• Setup
• How to Play
• Turn Actions
• Turn Order
• End of the Game
• Card Types
• Other HOUSE Card Situations
• ACTION Cards
• Extra Game Modes
  • Stampy the Furious Dog
  • Stampy the Furious Dog: Rules
• Delivery Missions (Misiones de Reparto)
  • Delivery Missions: Rules
  • Effects of ACTION Cards in Delivery Missions

Components

• 142 cards:
  • 45 Mail cards (Cartas de Correo)
  • 43 House cards (Cartas de Casas)
  • 38 Action cards (Cartas de Acción)
  • 12 Mission cards (Cartas de Misión)
  • 4 Help cards (Cartas de Ayuda)
• 4 mail carrier meeples
• 1 meeple of Stampy the furious dog
• 1 bilingual rulebook (Spanish and Catalan)
• 1 bilingual rulebook to download as PDF (Euskera and Gallego)

Goal

Score the most points and be the first player to deliver all of your correspondence to the neighbourhood (10 deliveries). Doing so earns you the diploma of Employee of the Month at the Post Office.

Setup

1. Separate the three types of cards (MAIL, HOUSES and ACTIONS) and make a deck of each. Shuffle the 3 decks separately.
2. Lay out the HOUSE cards face down in 3 columns and 4 rows to form the NEIGHBOURHOOD (BARRIO). This is the game board on which the meeples will move.
3. Place the remaining HOUSE cards on all the columns and rows of the NEIGHBOURHOOD. These cards are used to fill in the face-down HOUSE cards and the face-up ones that will go to the discard pile.
4. Deal 5 MAIL cards face down to each player. Place the rest of the MAIL cards to one side of the NEIGHBOURHOOD.
5. Deal 2 ACTION cards to each player. Place the rest of the ACTION cards to one side of the NEIGHBOURHOOD and under the MAIL cards.

How to Play

• The game begins with the last player to have received a visit from the mail carrier.
• On each turn, the player may perform up to three different actions, or repeat some of them, in the order they choose.

Turn Actions

Move: You may move your meeple always in a straight line, advancing one space at a time over the HOUSE cards of the whole NEIGHBOURHOOD. That is, moving forward or back, up or down. One movement counts as one action.

Deliver Correspondence: To deliver letters or parcels, place your meeple on the HOUSE card you choose. Turn the card over and reveal the situation shown. If you succeed, decide whether to deliver a letter or a parcel and place it face up in your player area.

Draw an ACTION card: You may draw cards from the ACTION deck as many times as your turn allows, as long as you do not have more than 3 cards in your hand.

Play an ACTION card: Play from your hand as many ACTION cards as your turn allows.

Discard and replace an ACTION card: Each turn you may discard one ACTION card from your hand and draw the first card of the ACTION deck. The discarded card goes to the discard pile.

Turn Order

1. Players place their meeple next to the MAIL card deck.

2. To enter the NEIGHBOURHOOD, a player must use their first action, which is MOVE.

3. The player may enter the NEIGHBOURHOOD by placing their meeple on any corner of the rectangle formed by the HOUSE cards and the NEIGHBOURHOOD.

4. The player must then decide what to do with their two remaining actions. They may repeat Move, deliver a MAIL card, play an ACTION card, or discard and replace an ACTION card.

5. When a player delivers a MAIL card to a HOUSE, that HOUSE card is turned over and revealed.

6. The turned HOUSE card goes to the discard pile and is replaced by a new card from the HOUSE deck, placed face down in the same spot. This new card cannot be turned over by the same player in the same turn. *When turning HOUSE cards we may find different situations that determine our success (or not) in delivering our correspondence.

7. If a player has no MAIL cards left in hand to deliver, they must return to the Post Office. To leave the NEIGHBOURHOOD, it is not necessary to reach an edge. *Going to the Post Office to refill your bag with cards for deliveries counts as an action.

8. To refill your bag, take from the MAIL deck the cards you need to complete 10 deliveries, without having more than 5 cards in your hand. *Example: If you have already made 7 deliveries, you may return to the POST OFFICE when you have no cards left in your hand. In this case you draw 3 cards.

9. If all the HOUSE and ACTION cards have been used, shuffle the cards in the discard pile and use them again.

End of the Game

• The game ends when the first "Carter" or "Carrier" (Cartero or Cartera) delivers their 10 MAIL cards. That player receives 3 extra points for being the first to finish the deliveries.
• If the first player to deliver all their mail was not the last player of the turn, the remaining players must keep playing until that round is over.
• Score the cards using these values:
  • Letter (Carta): 1 point
  • Parcel (Paquete): 2 points
• The player with the highest score at the end of the game is proclaimed the best mail carrier in the city and receives the diploma that confirms it.
• Tie-break: In case of a tie, the tied players select 3 HOUSE cards in a line of the NEIGHBOURHOOD and "get on" a BICYCLE. The player who manages to deliver more cards wins.

Card Types

MAIL cards (CARTAS DE CORREO): The correspondence you must deliver to the HOUSES of the neighbourhood. There are 2 types of MAIL cards:

• Letter (Carta): worth 1 point.
• Parcel (Paquete): worth 2 points.

HOUSE cards (CARTAS DE CASAS): The HOUSE cards make up the streets and the NEIGHBOURHOOD where we deliver our correspondence. When we place our meeple on one, we turn it over and reveal a situation. That situation may be advantageous or not.

• Received Letter (Carta Recibida): The player delivers the letter to its addressee. The player must decide whether to deliver a letter or a parcel.
• Double Received (Carta Recibida Doble): The player achieves a double delivery. This can be 2 letters, 2 parcels, or a combination of both. If you have only one card in your hand, you lose the chance to deliver 2.

Other HOUSE Card Situations

Note: the printed page does not give this group a heading. It is placed here because these three situations appear above the ACTION card section; they are the situations a HOUSE card can reveal when it is turned over.

• Stampy, the Furious Dog (Stampy, el Perro Furioso): The player spends all of the actions they have left to flee, and their turn ends. If they have no actions left, they discard one card from their hand of their choice.
• Lost (Perdido): The player moves their meeple to the POST OFFICE and leaves the NEIGHBOURHOOD. To return to the NEIGHBOURHOOD, they must spend one action.
• Change of Direction (Cambio de Dirección): Select one MAIL card from your hand and place it on the MAIL discard pile.

ACTION Cards

ACTION cards will help you overcome some situations and give you an advantage over the other Carriers. You may only use them while you are within the NEIGHBOURHOOD.

• Bone (Hueso): Use it when you meet the Dog. You may perform all the actions you have left this turn. It does not count as an action.
• Bicycle (Bicicleta): Visit up to 3 consecutive HOUSES from where you are. Ignore Stampy, Lost and Change of Direction. You may not use the BICYCLE to cross flooded areas. Try to keep at least 3 cards for your deliveries.
• Wind (Viento): Throw this card at the other players. It affects all Carriers who are on the same STREET. Choose one MAIL card from that player at random and place it on the MAIL discard pile.
• Rain (Lluvia): Players discard all the cards in their hand, except the player who used the action, anyone who is at the POST OFFICE at that moment, and anyone who uses the UMBRELLA card. On their turn, players must return to the POST OFFICE to look for cards; this counts as an action. In addition, flood an area covering 4 HOUSES of your choice, placing the Rain card on top of it. Nobody may deliver cards in that area.
• Rubber Boots (Botas de Agua): Ignore the effects of Rain in flooded areas. Place this card in front of you on the table. It lasts until the flood ends.
• Umbrella (Paraguas): Activate it by placing it on the table when the rain starts. It keeps your correspondence from getting wet, so you do not have to return to the POST OFFICE; then it goes to the ACTION discard pile. The umbrella does not allow you to deliver in flooded areas.
• Sunny Day (Día Soleado): All the Rain cards are removed from the table.
• GPS: Look at two HOUSE cards adjacent to your position (without showing them to the other players). Put them back in their places and end your turn. It cannot be used as the last action of the turn. Also use it when the Lost card appears, to counteract its effect, but you may not review adjacent cards.

Extra Game Modes

In Carteros Edición España we have included two new game modes: Stampy the Furious Dog (Stampy el Perro Furioso) and the Delivery Missions (Misiones de Reparto). These mechanics are an expansion of the normal Carteros rules, and you can play with or without them.

We recommend starting with the normal mode (especially with the youngest players) and adding the expansions once you know the basic mechanics better.

Stampy the Furious Dog

Stampy, the furious dog of the neighbourhood, has found a way to escape from home. Now you will have to be more alert, because he may come after you.

Stampy the Furious Dog: Rules

1. Once all players have completed their first turn, the starting player places Stampy's meeple on one of the corners of the NEIGHBOURHOOD.
2. At the end of each turn, following the turn order set at the start of the game, the next player moves the dog in any direction they choose, advancing one HOUSE space at a time in any direction.
3. If, during its movement, the dog lands on the same location as a player, that player loses a card from their hand that has not been delivered. If they have no MAIL card, they lose an ACTION card instead. If they have no cards at all, the next time they return to the NEIGHBOURHOOD they lose a MAIL card.
4. If the dog reaches several players who share a location, each of them loses one MAIL card. *The player reached by the dog shares its location until their next turn. *(The printed rules go from item 4 to item 6; no item 5 is printed.)
5. When a dog card is revealed in a delivery, the dog's meeple automatically moves to that HOUSE, blocking that HOUSE until it changes position. The player must use the rest of their actions to flee from the dog. If they do not have actions left, they lose a MAIL card.
6. If a player is reached by the dog, they may use the BONE ACTION card to avoid it, at any moment and in any turn.
7. If a player uses the BICYCLE ACTION card, they may pass through the dog's meeple location without being affected. If furious dog cards are revealed, the dog's meeple does not move to that location.
8. Flooded areas do not affect the dog's meeple, which may move freely through them.

Delivery Missions (Misiones de Reparto)

Our sponsoring shops need copies of CARTEROS sent to the neighbours of the neighbourhood. Will you be able to deliver the orders on time?

Delivery Missions: Rules

1. Shuffle the 12 mission cards and make 2 decks of 6, placed face up. Place them to the right of the NEIGHBOURHOOD.
2. To take a mission card, you must visit the shops, leaving from any area of the NEIGHBOURHOOD. Once there, select one of the two visible cards. *Going to the shops counts as one action; returning to the NEIGHBOURHOOD counts as another.
3. You may take a mission card until you complete its delivery or lose it, and then go back for another, with a maximum of 3 deliveries per game.
4. The delivery is successful if you manage to fulfil exactly what the card indicates. You must reach the HOUSE marked on your mission card (example: B3) and make the delivery. Once done, place the mission card face down in your play area.
5. Successful delivery: When you reveal the HOUSE card, a RECEIVED LETTER (CARTA RECIBIDA) or DOUBLE RECEIVED LETTER (CARTA RECIBIDA DOBLE) appears. If a double is revealed, you complete your mission and may also make a delivery of a letter or parcel.
6. Failed deliveries: When you reveal the HOUSE card, one of the following may appear:
   • Lost (Perdido): Return to the Post Office.
   • Change of Direction (Cambio de Dirección): Return one MAIL delivery card to the Post Office. If you do not have one, return your mission card to the mission discard deck.
   • Stampy the Furious Dog (Stampy el Perro Furioso): If you cannot escape from him, he takes one MAIL delivery card from you. If you do not have one, you lose your mission card, which goes to the discard.
7. Mission cards delivered (maximum 3) do not count toward the final goal of making 10 deliveries; they are only extra points in the final count.

IT IS NOT MANDATORY TO MAKE MISSION CARD DELIVERIES.

Effects of ACTION Cards in Delivery Missions

• The BICYCLE ACTION card is not valid for making a mission card delivery.
• ACTION cards such as "Wind" (Viento) and "Micomicon el Travieso" can make you lose your mission card from your hand.