Mare Polare
Mare Polare Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 14 ice floes, one of which bears a mirror
- 1 igloo
- 1 iceberg
- 4 Inuit pawns, each fitted with a harpoon
- 10 recipe cards
- 1 die
- 1 bag containing 64 fish
Setup
Place the printed ice floes, with both sides showing, at random in 4 rows (for example as in illustration 1). Two spaces in the rows remain free.
Before the game, look carefully at the ice floes. Some show a water hole, ideal for fishing; others have no hole. There must be 5 visible water holes.
Place the iceberg on the mirror floe to form the Oracle Mountain, and place the igloo on the igloo floe.
Each player chooses one Inuit and one recipe card. Memorise the fish you will need: from now on you must remember your recipe without looking at it, and fish for the fish of your delicious Gamka. Try to remember the shapes of the fish, because you will have to recognise them by touch in the bag.
Attach your recipe card face down to the button on the front of your Inuit (see illustration 2). The recipe card stays there until the end of the game.
Place your Inuit on an ice floe without a water hole of your choice. You may not place your Inuit on the Oracle Mountain or on the igloo.
Prepare the die and the bag filled with fish. In the base game you do not need the four raw-wood fish.
Object of the Game
The Inuit try to catch, as quickly as possible, the fish they need for their recipe. The first player to reach the ice floe with the igloo, having the correct quantity and combination of fish, wins the game.
Sequence of Play
The player who spent their holidays in the country furthest north begins. Then play passes clockwise. On your turn, roll the die and carry out the corresponding action:
The die shows 1 to 4 points
If the die shows 1 to 4 points, the player moves their Inuit in the direction of their choice. The Inuit must move either vertically or horizontally. You are not obliged to use all the points (when the die shows 4, you may move 1, 2, 3 or 4 spaces).
If an ice floe is already occupied by another Inuit, you may not stop on it or jump over it. This rule also applies to the igloo and the iceberg.
If the Inuit arrives on an ice floe showing a hole, it may try its luck and attempt to fish for one of the fish it needs for its Gamka.
All fish of the same colour have the same shape. It is therefore possible to guess the colour of a fish by touching it without seeing it in the bag. That is exactly how you must find your fish: plunge your hand into the bag, feel around, and take out a fish!
If a player believes they have found one of the fish they need for their recipe, they attach it to the harpoon of their Inuit. If they do not need it, they put the fish back into the bag. The order in which the fish sit on the harpoon does not matter; only the quantity and colour of the fish count.
If the player draws a fish they do not need, they put it back into the bag. Once a player has caught a fish, their turn is over and it is the next player's turn to try their luck.
If the Inuit arrives on an ice floe without a hole, it unfortunately has no chance to fish, and the turn passes to the next player.
The special symbols on the die
If the player rolls the symbol of the jumping Inuit, they may place their pawn on an ice floe of their choice, provided it is unoccupied. If it is an ice floe with a hole, they try their luck and fish.
If the player rolls the symbol of the water spout, their pawn falls into the ocean. When it tries to climb back to the surface, it loses the fish at the very end of its harpoon.
In other words, the player must place their Inuit on one of the two free spaces. If there are already fish on its harpoon, they must remove the one at the very end. They put it back into the bag, and it is the next player's turn.
If both free spaces are already occupied by fellow players who are "swimming" in the ocean, no other player can fall into the water. In that case, the player who rolled this symbol was lucky and simply passes their turn. They stay on their ice floe and lose no fish.
If a player who is already on one of the free spaces rolls the water spout symbol again, they stay where they are and do not lose any further fish. On the following turn, they do not move an ice floe.
Forgotten recipe?
If a player forgets the details of their recipe during the game, it is not a serious problem. The Oracle Mountain on the iceberg will help them remember their recipe.
In this case, the player must try to reach the iceberg on which the Oracle Mountain stands.
Once the player has arrived at the Oracle Mountain, they press the upper part of their recipe card so that they can see the recipe in the mirror (see illustration 3).
When the player realises they have got the wrong fish, they remove the wrong fish from their harpoon and simply put them back into the bag.
After their turn, the player does not move the Oracle Mountain. Then it is the next player's turn.
End of the Game
If a player believes they have caught all the fish of their Gamka, they must go home, that is to the ice floe with the igloo. The first player to reach the igloo shows their recipe card to the others. Then everyone checks that the player has brought back the right fish. If the quantity and colour of the fish match their recipe, they have won Mare Polare. Now they can prepare the Gamka for their family!
If the player was mistaken, they must put three fish back into the bag and try their luck again. In this case, they do not move the igloo's ice floe.
Good sailing! Have fun playing Mare Polare!
Variants
You play by the rules described above, but you add the four raw-wood fish to the bag.
All the Inuit want to meet in the igloo for a family celebration. They intend to prepare a Gamka together, but first they all go fishing.
Each player takes a recipe card. Together they try to catch the fish they need, and so they look at their own recipe card as well as those of their fellow players.
This variant follows the same rules as the base game: when a player catches a fish they need, they attach it to the harpoon of their Inuit. But in this variant, the players help each other. If a player catches a fish they do not need for their recipe, they may offer it to the other players. They ask whether anyone needs their fish and give it to the player who needs it.
If a player's Inuit already has all the fish it needs on its harpoon, it keeps playing to help the other players.
If a player catches a raw-wood fish, they place it next to the ice floes so that everyone can see it.
The game ends at the moment a player catches the fourth raw-wood fish. If the Inuit have caught all the fish they need and have already reached the family igloo before that, they have won the game together and hold a great family celebration.
But if they catch the fourth raw-wood fish before they have caught all the fish they need, they must release all the fish they have already caught once more, and the fishing begins again!