The Island of El Dorado Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Setup
• Object of the Game
• Game Principles
  • Shrines
  • Explorers
  • Occupying Tiles
  • Trade
  • Maximum Hand Size
  • Gardens
• How to Play
• Taking a Turn
  • Move
  • Buy
  • Attack
• How to Control Shrines
• The Cave
• Explorer Abilities
• Notes

Game Components

See detailed tile artwork on the back of this rulebook.

• 9 Water Tiles
• 13 Gold Tiles
• 10 Food Tiles
• 10 Wood Tiles
• 2 Garden Tiles
• 3 Island Shrine Tiles
• 1 Cave Shrine Tile
• 1 Cave Entrance Tile
• 1 Cave Exit Tile
• 3 Cave Dweller Tiles
• 9 Empty Cave Tiles
• 25 Food Resource Cards
• 30 Gold Resource Cards
• 25 Wood Resource Cards
• 3 Island Shrine Pieces
• 5 Player Boards
• 2 Golden Dice
• 11 Black Battle Dice
• Rulebook
• 5 Linen Bags
• Wooden Pieces (5 Colors):
  • 2 Explorers
  • 2 Farmhouses
  • 3 Offerings
  • 1 Fort
  • 4 or 5 (orange) Villagers

Setup

1. Set aside the 3 island shrine pieces and the black battle dice.
2. Separate the resource cards by type and put them face-up where everyone can reach them.
3. Give one player board to each player randomly. Give each player the wooden pieces of their explorer's color.
4. Separate the El Dorado tiles and the cave tiles.
5. Find the cave exit tile and cave shrine tile and set aside. Shuffle the remaining cave tiles and place in a face-down stack. Shuffle the cave shrine into the bottom half of the stack, place the cave exit tile on top, and set aside.
6. Gather the El Dorado tiles. Select one tile at random to start the game (if it is a shrine or water tile, select another). Place that tile face-up in the middle of the table. Shuffle the remaining El Dorado tiles and place them in a face-down stack.
7. Choose which explorer of the two shown on your player board you'd like to control this game. Place their explorer piece on the first flipped El Dorado tile. Leave the other explorer piece of the same color in the bag. If Nicolas, also leave one villager in the bag.
8. Each player takes 1 wood, 1 gold, and 1 food resource card. If Victoria, take 4 of each resource.
9. See who goes first. Each player rolls a golden die. Highest roll takes their turn first. If two or more players tie for the highest roll, they roll again.

Object of the Game

Control the four shrines of El Dorado before one of your opponents does. The first player to control all four shrines wins the game. See "Shrines" and "How to Control Shrines" below.

Game Principles

Before taking a turn, these concepts will help you understand the game.

Shrines

The four shrines of El Dorado are the key to your conquest. Three of the shrines will be discovered on the surface of the island. You must buy and place one offering on each of these three shrines to control them. When you do, in addition to being one step closer to victory, two very important things happen: Your explorer's strength increases by one, and that shrine serves as a spawn point for your explorer if you are defeated in battle. See "How to Control Shrines" below.

The fourth and most powerful shrine is located in the cave, which is a separate group of tiles apart from the main island. The first player to find it immediately controls it without having to buy and place an offering on it, and their explorer's strength increases by 2 for as long as they control it. Other players can defeat that explorer in battle to steal it away, immediately controlling it themselves.

Explorers

Each explorer has a special ability shown under their name on their player board. Each explorer's starting strength is 1 (if Pedro, your starting strength is 2), and for every island shrine you control, your explorer's strength increases by 1. The cave shrine increases your explorer's strength by 2 for as long as you control it. Only explorers can discover new tiles, build buildings, and place offerings.

Occupying Tiles

Whenever a player has a villager or explorer on a tile, that tile is occupied by that player. Farmhouses do not occupy any tiles. See "Farmhouse Battles" below. Forts occupy their three adjacent tiles. See "Fort" below. Occupying tiles is important in attacking. See "Attack" below. When this rulebook references "unoccupied tiles", it refers to tiles unoccupied by any opponent's villagers, explorers, or forts.

Trade

Players may trade (or give) resources or the cave shrine to one another at any time when your explorers are on adjacent tiles, but if a battle has been initiated anywhere on the island, all trade stops until the battle is over. You can also trade in 5 of any one type of resource for 1 of any other resource at any time. William trades at a 3:1 ratio.

Maximum Hand Size

Players must end their turns with nine or fewer resource cards in their hands. Players may exceed nine resources during their turns, but before the end of their turn any resources over nine must be spent or surrendered to the resource card stacks.

The only exception to this is Victoria the Wealthy, who begins her game with twelve resource cards. She may possess over nine resource cards until she makes her first in-game purchase. Once this happens, she must end that and all subsequent turns with nine or less cards in her hand.

Gardens

Gardens produce all three resources (food, wood and gold) at the same time. If you are farming a garden (see "Gather" below), you have access to a combination of all three resources.

How to Play

Starting from the first player and going clockwise, each player takes a turn until a player controls their fourth shrine, winning the game immediately. See "How to Control Shrines" below.

Taking a Turn

Each turn, the current player must:

1. Roll. Roll both golden dice. After rolling, choose one die to be your explorer's speed, and place it next to your explorer. The other die is your gather die. Dislike luck in games? See "Hardcore Mode" in "The Thieves of El Dorado" expansion rulebook.
2. Gather. Take a variety of resource cards equal to the number on your gather die. You only have access to a type of resource card if you are farming a tile that produces that type (see the tile reference chart on the back of the rulebook). There are two ways to farm tiles:
   1. You are farming the tile your explorer is on.
   2. You are farming a tile if it has your villager on it and your farmhouse adjacent to it.
3. Explore. During your explore phase, you can do any of the following in any order: Move, Buy, Attack.

Move

You can move or discover tiles up to the number shown on your speed die. You can perform Buy or Attack multiple times between movements. You cannot move onto shrines or water.

Example of moving and discovering: Pedro has a speed of 3. He moves from Gold to Food, then from Food to discover Wood, then from Wood to The Garden.

If your explorer is on the edge of the map and would like to discover a new tile, use 1 speed to flip a tile from the El Dorado stack, place it adjacent to your explorer's current tile, and move onto it. Newly discovered tiles must be placed adjacent to two existing tiles (the second tile placed at the very beginning of the game is an exception). If you discover a water or shrine tile, stay on your previous tile (this still uses 1 speed). Place an island shrine piece on each of the three island shrine tiles as they're discovered. Tiles cannot be moved once they are placed and cannot stick out past the edge of the table. When you discover the cave entrance tile, see "The Cave" below.

Buy

Costs listed on player boards.

To buy, return a specific combination of resource cards (costs) to the resource card stacks.

Villager (used for combat and farming): New villagers must be placed on an unoccupied tile adjacent to one of your buildings. Villagers cannot discover new tiles and cannot build buildings or place offerings. Players whose explorers are not on the map may still purchase villagers during their explore phase.

Offering (used to control shrines): These are placed on shrine tiles. Your explorer must be on a tile adjacent to a shrine tile to place an offering on it. Opponent army movements (see below) may be initiated before this is bought. See "How to Control Shrines" below.

Farmhouse (used for farming): Farmhouses are passive economic buildings and are placed on one of the corners of the tile your explorer is currently occupying. They can be built on any unused corner even if adjacent tiles are occupied by an opponent. This includes water, shrines, the cave, or the edge of the map. If your explorer is adjacent to your farmhouse, that farmhouse can be removed during your explore phase for the same cost as building it. Explorers cannot pay to remove opponent's buildings.

Fort (used to defend three tiles): Forts are aggressive buildings and are placed on one of the corners of the tile your explorer is currently occupying. They can be built on any unused corner with unoccupied adjacent tiles. This includes water, shrines, the cave, or the edge of the map. If your explorer is adjacent to your fort, that fort can be removed during your explore phase for the same cost as building it.

Pedro can build a fort when farmhouses don't occupy tiles and all adjacent tiles are unoccupied. Pedro can't build a fort if an adjacent tile is occupied by an opponent's villagers. Pedro can't build a fort if an adjacent tile is occupied by an opponent's fort.

Army Movement (used to move villagers): An army is a group of any number of villagers on a single tile. An army movement is the act of moving an army of any size one space to an adjacent El Dorado or cave tile. Explorers who have been defeated in battle and are not on the map may still purchase army movement following the rules below.

• During your explore phase, you may pay to move your army as many spaces as you'd like.
• During an opponent's explore phase, you may pay to move your army one space to ATTACK an on-turn explorer or army on an adjacent tile, even if this interrupts their movement. This can be done multiple times in a row this turn. This cannot be done if another battle has already been initiated.
• Before ANY battle in which you are involved, you may pay to move your armies as many spaces as necessary (if sufficient gold [one gold per tile]) to the battle tile. However, if your armies do not have an unoccupied path of tiles to the battle tile, you may not move them. If you're the one being attacked, you may pay 1 gold to flee your army one tile away from the battle tile. You can only flee onto an unoccupied tile. Your explorer, if involved, may not flee. See "Attack" below.

Attack

Strengths listed on player boards.

Anytime you move an explorer or villager onto a tile occupied by an opponent, you are attacking them, initiating a battle. No battles can be initiated until all players have finished their first turn.

1. A Battle Is Initiated: A battle is initiated when an attacker moves onto a tile occupied by an opponent. This tile becomes the battle tile until the battle is over.
2. The Attacker Moves: The attacker has the opportunity to move their explorer (if on-turn with sufficient speed) or villagers (if sufficient gold) to the battle tile.
3. The Defender Moves: When the attacker has confirmed that they are done moving their pieces, the defender has the opportunity to move their explorer (if on-turn with sufficient speed) or villagers (if sufficient gold) onto the battle tile, or to flee the battle (see "Army Movement" above). Explorers can never flee a battle. If the defender does not flee, the battle occurs.
4. The Battle Occurs: The attacker rolls a number of black battle dice equal to their total strength on that tile. Then, the defender does the same. Whoever rolls a higher result defeats their opponent. In the event of a tie, all explorers and villagers involved in the battle return to their previous tile(s) adjacent to the battle tile (if they have moved this turn) and cannot be moved again this turn. If you are battling a cave dweller, see "The Cave" below.
5. After The Battle: Defeated villagers die and defeated buildings are destroyed. They are removed from the map and can both be re-bought in their player's next explore phase. If an explorer is defeated in battle, the defeated player chooses half (rounded down) of their resource cards to give to the victor. The victor removes the defeated explorer's wooden piece from the map and keeps it until just before the defeated player's next turn begins. Before the defeated player rolls their golden dice to start their next turn, the victor places the explorer piece on an unoccupied tile next to a shrine the defeated player controls. If that's not possible, the victor places the explorer piece on any unoccupied tile. The defeated player then rolls their golden dice and continues their turn as normal.

Forts: Forts occupy their three adjacent tiles. If an opponent moves onto one of those three tiles, they are attacking the fort and any villagers or explorers on that tile. Forts cannot attack or defend other buildings. You cannot attack a fort (or pieces adjacent to a fort) in your off-turn.

Farmhouse Battles: Farmhouses do not occupy any tiles. If your explorer or villagers occupy a tile with an opponent's farmhouse on it, you may choose to initiate an attack on that farmhouse during your explore phase. This is called a farmhouse battle. Farmhouses do not add their 1 strength to any battles other than farmhouse battles.

If your Farmhouse is Attacked: You have the opportunity to move your villagers (if sufficient gold) to the battle tile to interrupt this attack (see "Army Movement" above). This interruption battle takes place first, and the farmhouse does NOT add its strength to the battle. If your army loses this interruption battle, the farmhouse is then attacked in a farmhouse battle and defends itself with a strength of 1.

Example battle with a fort and a farmhouse: White moves 3 villagers onto the wood tile. Orange occupies that tile with a fort and a villager. A battle occurs: White has a strength of 3. Orange has a strength of 2 (1 fort + 1 villager). If White wins, they can then choose to attack the farmhouse in a farmhouse battle.

How to Control Shrines

Island Shrines: To control an island shrine, buy an offering during your explore phase and place it on the shrine tile. Your explorer must be on a tile adjacent to a shrine tile to place an offering on it. Multiple players can control an island shrine at the same time, and offerings cannot be destroyed. A player cannot place more than one offering on a single shrine. When you place an offering on a shrine, your explorer's strength increases by one, and the shrine serves as a spawn point if your explorer is defeated in battle. The strength of villagers and buildings do not increase as shrines are controlled.

Cave Shrine: When you discover and move onto the cave shrine tile, you immediately control it and your explorer's strength increases by 2 without needing to purchase and place an offering on it. As you leave that tile, take it off the board and into your possession. An opponent can take the cave shrine (and its +2 strength bonus) from you by defeating your explorer in battle. If you possess the cave shrine and your explorer is defeated by a cave dweller, the dweller takes the cave shrine from you and benefits from its +2 strength. Set the cave shrine tile aside and shuffle the victorious dweller back into the cave stack. When that dweller is rediscovered in the cave, you must defeat it to claim the cave shrine.

Pro Tip: You don't necessarily have to control all of the island shrines before searching for the cave shrine. An explorer with a full army has a higher strength than any cave dweller even before controlling a single island shrine.

The Cave

The cave is built separately from the El Dorado map. When first entering the cave, place the cave exit tile about 2 feet away from the main island. If there is not enough space on your table, find a different surface in the room. You may move from the cave entrance tile to the cave exit tile (or vice versa) for 1 speed. Newly discovered cave tiles must be placed adjacent to two existing cave tiles (the first tile placed adjacent to the cave exit tile is an exception). You cannot place cave tiles adjacent to and on the cave exit tile.

Cave Dwellers: If you discover a cave dweller, you must attack it. The player to your left plays as the cave dweller until the battle is over. If you defeat the cave dweller, flip the dweller tile over and use it as an empty cave tile. If the cave dweller defeats you, you lose your choice of half of your resources (rounded down) to the resource card stacks. The player who was playing as the cave dweller places the defeated explorer on an unoccupied tile before their next turn following standard battle rules (see "After the Battle" above). Shuffle the victorious cave dweller back into the cave stack. In the event of a tie, the attacker and their army return to their previous tile(s) adjacent to the battle tile and cannot be moved again this turn. Shuffle the cave dweller back into the cave stack.

Thieves: The Thieves have a treasure of 2 wood, 2 food, and 2 gold. If you defeat the Thieves, you claim their treasure. If they defeat you, your choice of half of your resources (rounded down) is added to their treasure. Place their treasure to the side of the cave.

Explorer Abilities

Stella The Adventurer: Stella's nimble stallion allows her to traverse the landscape with ease. Begin her turn as normal, rolling the two golden dice. Then, add 1 speed to her speed die.

Bellona The Commander: Bellona is a strong leader, beloved by the soldiers in her command. Each turn, during her explore phase, she may choose to move an army of any size one space at no cost.

Hector The Corporal: Hector is a cunning leader and knew that sailing for El Dorado with a larger group would aid his chances for conquest. While other explorers are limited to four villager pieces, Hector has a fifth villager piece.

Nicolas The Fortuitous: Nicolas has an interesting relationship with luck, allowing him to retry his entire golden dice roll (both dice) once per turn before entering his gather phase. Be wise, however, as his second roll cannot be changed.

Tizoc The Gatherer: Tizoc has an unparalleled relationship with the land. Each turn, before his gather phase, take one food even if he's not farming it.

Emma The Cartographer: A skilled mapmaker and strategist, Emma has great influence in determining the lay of the land. Each turn, before entering her explore phase, look at the top three El Dorado tiles and rearrange them however you like. She may not do this with the cave tiles.

Victoria The Wealthy: Coming from an aristocratic British family allowed Victoria to set sail for El Dorado with enough supplies to give her a tremendous advantage early in her campaign. Begin the game with 4 food, 4 wood, and 4 gold.

Pedro The Conquistador: Many successful conquests have made Pedro as violent as he is pitiless. His starting explorer strength is 2.

William The Merchant: Having extensively studied economics and politics, William is a gifted tradesman. Instead of the usual five, he may trade three of any one type of resource for one of any other type of resource at any time.

Laffite The Pirate: With a zeal for anarchy and a penchant for thievery, Laffite has little concern for the law of any land. Any time he rolls a 3 or a 5, steal one resource from the player of his choosing. Rolling 3&5, 3&3, or 5&5 means he steals two resources from his choice of one or two players.

Notes

• This rulebook reflects the Second Edition of The Island of El Dorado. Owners of a first edition should use these rules instead of the rulebook included with their original game; the second-edition rulebook printed with newer copies is identical to what is transcribed here.
• The publisher's combined rulebook also includes rules for The Thieves of El Dorado, a standalone expansion (with its own explorers, a fifth "Guardian" hardcore mode, team play, and a solo mode), which is not part of the base game covered here.