Kamozza (貨モッツァ)
Kamozza (貨モッツァ) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setting
Each player is an exporter. It's your job to load domestic goods onto ships and send them abroad to turn a profit. There is one problem, namely there is a limited number of ships that visit this country. Also there are only 2 ports. You and your fellow exporters constantly try to outwit each other, so you can load a bit of extra cargo on the ships.
Setup
First, each player chooses a color, and takes their Cargo and Port Selection Cards.
The numbers on each card represent the Cargo's weight. At the end of the game they will also be victory points.
Next we prepare Port A and Port B. Lay the Ship Cards in a pile with values between 8-23 next to Port A and likewise lay Ship Cards 30-45 next to Port B. These numbers indicate each ship's capacity. Shuffle each pile facedown, so that the colorful ship drawings cannot be seen.
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Small ships arrive at Port A and large ships dock at Port B.
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In a 3-Player game remove the ships marked 42 and 45. The Port A ships will become 8-21 and Port B's ships will be 23-40.
Finally to complete setup randomly choose a start player. Each player starting with the start player takes a turn in clockwise order.
Play Begins
The start player flips up one ship card from the pile next to Port A and places it face up below the Port A card, and does likewise for Port B, to indicate the arrival of a ship at each port.
After looking at the size of the 2 ships in the ports players decide which cargo they will try loading. First the start player chooses 1 or 2 Cargo Cards to load, and, without showing the other players, places them facedown in front of himself.
Seeing how many Cargo Cards (but not which types) previous players have chosen and thinking about which port they might head for each player, in turn, similarly chooses 1 or 2 Cargo Cards. After all players have chosen their Cargo Cards each player simultaneously chooses one Port Selection Card, keeping it facedown.
Once everyone has chosen a Port Selection Card all players say "3,2,1,FLIP!" and everyone flips up their Port Selection Cards, so everyone knows which port everyone is heading for.
After the ports have been chosen we move on to loading the goods. We'll start with the port chosen by the least number of players. The players who chose that port will simultaneously each give a shout and flip up their (1 or 2) Cargo Cards. At this time we check to see if the ship can hold the total weight of all the Cargo Cards.
If the ship is not over-capacity then it immediately departs without a problem. Each played card becomes victory points for the player who played them. Leave those Cargo Cards face up in front of you. If however the total is more than the ships capacity then the whole ship sinks along with all the cargo. In that case flip your Cargo Cards facedown and leave them in front of you.
(Illustrations: a 45 ship loaded with 15, 3 and 20 cards is captioned "Gain points for cargo!"; the same ship with an extra 20 card added is over capacity and captioned "Too bad, the ship sunk.")
After checking both ports individually one round is completed. The player to the start player's left becomes the next start player and the steps are repeated for the next round. You MUST play at least one Cargo Card each round. Therefore when playing 2-card sets be careful that you don't run out of Cargo Cards before the final round. If there is ever a round that you cannot play a card then you are immediately eliminated from the game. Continue playing until all players have been the start player once (4 rounds in a 4-player game).
- In a 3-player game play 6 rounds, so that each player will have been the start player twice.
Special Cargo Card
The 'GOLD EATING RATS' card is a special Cargo Card. This rare creature is exported as a pet, but he eats gold. Accordingly if he is placed in the same ship with 1 or more 'GOLD' Cargo Cards then he will eat those 'GOLD' Cargo Cards even if the same player placed the rat and the gold. If used well this can help to relieve your opponent of some of their victory points.
When using this card the gold goes away, so it is possible for an overloaded ship to lose weight preventing it from sinking.
In just the right case you can use this rat in a combo to free up some space and use that space to load your own goods. Be careful when loading your own gold.
The Game Ends
The game ends at the end of the round when each player has been the start player once. Each player totals up their face-up cards and the player with the most points is the winner.
- In case of a tie the winner is the player who most recently boarded a ship.
Tips for Winning
Consider these tips to get better at Kamozza.
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Pay attention to the number of cards in your hand as well as the number of rounds remaining.
- You can play 1 or 2 cards per round. Play so you don't have cards left over at the end of the game.
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Keep in mind what cards your opponents still have in their hands.
- It's easier to build a strategy when you know your opponents' choices. Especially the whereabouts of the gold and the rat cards are important. The other cards also influence the boat's weight, so when you get used to the game try remembering more.
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Try announcing your plays.
- When you place your Cargo Cards and/or your Port Selection Card facedown try to make your opponent play conservatively by saying, "I'm playing _____ Cargo Card", or whatever you want. However it is not necessary to tell the truth. Let the comments fly, shake things up, trick your opponents into handing you the victory.
Kamozza has 2 ways to play! The other side has rules for a game variant.
Game Variant Instructions
Number of Players: 3-5 (recommended with 4-5). For ages 8+. Playtime: 15 min.
Contents: 2 Port Cards, 14 Ship Cards, 3 Bonus Ship Cards, 7x5 Cargo Cards, 2x5 Port Selection Cards.
In this game variant the game is played over 5 rounds (regardless of the number of players). You can play one Cargo Card per round. If you play the same card as another player then those cards cancel each other out. The idea being that the Administration Bureau has set limits on exports to each country, so if those limits are exceeded then those goods are all confiscated. If, however, they're on different ships then they have different destinations, so that's ok. Try to not double up on goods with other players.
Variant: Setup
First, each player chooses a color, and takes their Cargo and Port Selection Cards.
The numbers on each card represent the Cargo's weight. At the end of the game they will also be victory points.
Next we prepare Port A and Port B. Lay the Ship Cards in a pile with values between 8-23 next to Port A and likewise Ship Cards 30-45 next to Port B. These numbers indicate each ships capacity. Shuffle each pile facedown, so that the colorful ship drawings cannot be seen.
-
Small ships arrive at Port A and large ships dock at Port B.
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In a 3-Player game only use Port A, but shuffle all of the Ship Cards (8-45) together.
Variant: Play Begins
The start player flips up one ship card from the pile next to Port A and places it face up below the Port A card, and does likewise for Port B, to indicate the arrival of a ship at each port.
After looking at the size of the 2 ships in the ports players decide which cargo they will try loading. Each player simultaneously places their chosen Cargo Card facedown in front of themselves. Then similarly each player chooses a Port Selection Card and places it facedown. After all players have chosen their Cargo Card each player simultaneously chooses one Port Selection Card, keeping it facedown.
Once everyone has chosen a Port Selection Card all players say "3,2,1,FLIP!" and everyone flips up their Port Selection Cards, so everyone knows which port everyone is heading for.
After the ports have been chosen we move on to loading the goods. We'll start with the port chosen by the least number of players. The players who chose that port will simultaneously each give a shout and flip up their Cargo Card.
If the same Cargo Card is loaded on the same ship then those cards are all confiscated. Immediately flip confiscated cards facedown and place them in front of you.
(Illustration: two 5 Cargo Cards of the same type loaded on one ship are both confiscated, captioned "Too bad... no score.")
After that if there is one 'GOLD EATING RATS' and one 'GOLD' on the same ship the rats eat the gold. Example below.
(Example: The red player plays the 'GOLD EATING RATS' card and his rats swallow up the 'GOLD', so now when calculating the weight the Red player has one card worth 21. This cannot be loaded on a 20 ship.)
However the above mentioned same-goods rule has priority, so any doubled-up goods are first removed and have no effect. For example if there are 2 'GOLD EATING RATS' and 1 'GOLD' then the rats cancel each other out and the 'GOLD' can be loaded on the ship. (If loaded it's worth 20 points). If there is 1 rat and 2 gold then the gold cancels each other out and the rat can board the ship. (If loaded he's worth 1 point)
After the previous rules are evaluated it's time to load the face-up cards on the ship. In this variation the ship is loaded giving priority to the heaviest goods. The ship cannot be loaded beyond capacity. If a card would push the ship over capacity this Cargo Card is flipped facedown and not loaded. Only the goods successfully loaded earn points. It is possible that after one Cargo Card is not loaded on a ship that there is space for a smaller Cargo Card. It is possible to load this smaller Cargo Card.
Cargo Cards successfully loaded earn points equal to their weight, so keep loaded Cargo Cards face up in front of you.
That completes one round. Repeat this using the remaining Cargo Cards in your hand until 5 rounds have been played.
Variant: The Game Ends
The game ends at the end of the fifth round (each player should have 2 Cargo Cards left in their hand). Each player totals up their face-up cards and the player with the most points is the winner.
- In case of a tie the winner is the player who most recently boarded a ship.
Additional Bonus Cards
For this version of the game we've prepared 3 special Ship Cards. The Typhoon Cards are not ships, but typhoons, so no goods can be loaded here. Feel free to put one of these in each Port Deck if you like.
The Cat Ship Card cannot have 'GOLD EATING RATS' loaded on it. It's a nice chance to load your gold, but maybe other players are thinking the same thing.
After you've gotten used to playing the basic game try adding these game-changing cards.