Namiji
Namiji Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 gameboard
- 5 Boat boards
- 5 Boat pawns
- 5 Score pawns
- 60 Panorama cards
- 3 Panorama Bonus cards
- 20 Dock cards
- 20 Sacred Rock cards
- 20 Offering figurines
- 50 Crustacean tokens (20 crabs and 30 shrimp)
- 48 Fish tokens
- 12 Net tokens
- 5 Finish tokens
- 1 cloth bag
Goal of the Game
The players are fishers in the Japan of yesteryear. They will sail south of the Japanese archipelago, a few kilometers from the famous Tokaido. They must make their sea journey fruitful to win the game.
To do this, they will have the opportunity to contemplate magnificent marine species, to fish with a line and a net to fill their racks with colorful fish, and to haul in their crustacean traps.
They will be able to use ports of call to improve their fishing equipment, and also to set their paper offerings afloat to satisfy the maritime deities.
Setup
- Place the gameboard in the middle of the table.
- Shuffle the Dock cards to form a face-down deck.
- Shuffle the Sacred Rock cards to form a face-down deck.
- Shuffle the Net tokens to form a face-down deck.
- Shuffle the Fish tokens face down to form the School of Fish.
- Put the Crustacean tokens in the bag.
- Sort the Panorama cards by type (Dolphin, Orca, Whale) and value (1 atop 2 atop 3, etc.).
Each player gets a Boat board, 4 Offering figurines, a Boat pawn, and a Score pawn of the same color.
Place 4 Offering figurines on your Boat board.
Place the Score pawn on space 0 of the Score track.
Place the Boat pawns in a random order on the starting Port of the maritime course.
At the beginning of the game, set the course for everyone, and place the boats accordingly on the corresponding starting spaces. The direction you choose defines the Start Port and the Finish Port for the game.
In Namiji, we call all of the cards (Panorama, Dock, Sacred Rock) and tokens (Fish, Net, Crustacean, Finish) that you receive during the game your collection.
Playing the Game
In Namiji, the player whose Boat is farthest behind on the maritime course (with respect to the navigation direction) is the player who takes the next turn.
If your Boat pawn is in last place on the maritime course, you must advance it to any open space of your choice.
You absolutely do not have to stop at the first open space in front of you, and you can "jump" over one or more spaces.
You are not allowed to go backward. You must stop on the Dock spaces.
Once you have moved your Boat, you get the benefit corresponding to the associated space (the spaces are detailed below).
In most cases, after moving your Boat, another Boat will be in last place on the maritime course, and it will be that player's turn.
If, after moving your Boat, your Boat is still in last place along the maritime course, you immediately take another turn. This is the case until you move in front of another player.
Single/Double Spaces
Some of the spaces on the board are doubled. These extra spaces are only used in 4- and 5-player games.
When a Boat lands on a double space, it absolutely must occupy the space that is directly on the maritime course, if it is open.
The Boat that arrives after that one will occupy the second space. This second Boat is always considered to be behind the one that is directly on the maritime course.
For 2- and 3-player games, only use the spaces directly on the maritime course. Ignore the ones off the route: They cannot be used.
The Spaces and Their Effects
Line Fishing/Net Fishing
Line Fishing
Take a face-up or face-down Fish token from the School of Fish, and place it face-up on your rack (see the placement rule below). Then, flip a face-down Fish token in the School of Fish face up. If you use a Dock card to take a Fish token apply the same rule.
Release it: If you wish, you may release the fish back into the water. Put the Fish token face up in the School of Fish.
Net Fishing
Take the first Net token from the deck and place it on your rack, arranged horizontally or vertically (see the placement rule below). Net tokens occupy two spaces, and cannot hang off the rack.
Release it: If you wish, you may release the fish back into the water. Tuck the Net token under the deck of Net tokens.
Placement Rule
You must place the first Fish (or Net) token in the upper-left corner of the rack. You must place subsequent tokens orthogonally adjacent to at least one other token.
Fish and Net tokens do not score points individually; instead, when you fill a row (or column) of your rack with fish of the same color or the same shape, you immediately earn the points corresponding to this row (or column).
Clarification: You do not have to complete a row or column before starting a new one.
Crustacean Trap
Draw a random Crustacean from the bag. You can draw up to 5 tokens consecutively, and you can stop drawing at any time. You can catch any number of shrimp, but only one crab. If you catch 2 crabs, you lose the entire catch from this space, and return all of the tokens you just drew to the bag.
When you keep your crustacean catch, stack the Crustacean tokens on the crustacean trap on your Boat board. Each Crustacean (Shrimp and Crab) token you add to your collection immediately earns you 1 victory point.
Whirlpool
At the beginning of the game, you each start with 4 Offering figurines, representing a total penalty of 15 points. The only way to get rid of this penalty, or at least reduce it, is to give these offerings to the sea. To do this, take the rightmost Offering figurine from your Boat board and place it on the big Whirlpool area of the gameboard. If you manage to donate all of your Offerings, you no longer have a penalty at the end of the game.
Example: At the end of the game, Tami still has 2 Offering tokens on her board. She subtracts 6 victory points from her final score.
Panorama
Panoramas are made of 3, 4, or 5 sections, depending on the type (Dolphin, Orca, Whale).
When you stop on a Panorama space, if you do not yet have any sections of that panorama, take section number 1. If you already have one or more sections of that panorama, take the next section in increasing order.
Immediately score a number of points equal to the number of the panorama section (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) you just got.
Clarification: Each player can compose only one panorama of each type (Dolphin, Orca, or Whale). If you have already completed a panorama, you can no longer stop on spaces for that panorama.
Bonus: If you are the first player to finish a panorama of a particular type, take the Bonus card corresponding to that panorama (Dolphin, Orca, or Whale) and add it to your collection. Immediately score 3 points (in addition to the points you gained from the final section of the panorama).
Sacred Rock
Each Sacred Rock card depicts a unique objective. At the end of the game, if you have achieved the objective, you score the points indicated.
Draw 2 Sacred Rock cards and look at them, without showing anyone else. Choose one and add it face down to your collection. Then tuck the other under the deck. There is no limit to the number of Sacred Rock cards you can have.
Docks
Docks are special spaces. These are mandatory stops for all Boats. They are opportunities for the fishers to get a little rest, and to improve their equipment.
Arriving at a Dock
Everyone must make a stop at each Dock. There are enough Dock spaces to accommodate all the Boats simultaneously.
Note: Use only as many Dock spaces as there are players. In a 5-player game, use them all. In a 4-player game, only the 4 closest to the maritime course are available. In a 3-player game, only the 3 closest to the maritime course are available.
The order in which you reach the Dock is important. When you reach the Dock, place your Boat in any of the available and empty spaces there.
Once all the Boats have reached the Dock, the player whose Boat is in the space closest to the maritime course draws as many cards as the number of players plus 1. For example, in a 3-player game, they draw 4 cards.
This player looks at them without showing anyone else, then chooses 1 and adds it to their collection. Then the player whose Boat is in the next space chooses from the remaining cards, and so on until each player has taken a Dock card. Tuck the remaining Dock card under the deck.
You can only use each Dock card once per space; however, you may use more than one of your Dock cards if they become applicable.
Continuing the Voyage
After everyone has gotten their Dock card, their voyages can continue. The player whose boat is farthest from the maritime course goes first, as usual for Boats in the same location.
Note: Although the Boat in the first space gets the most options for Dock cards, the last Boat has the most movement options, because it will be the first one to move.
End of the Voyage
The game ends after all Boats have reached the Finish Port. Each player earns a Finish token corresponding to their rank: The first player to arrive gains 7 points; second, 5 points; third, 3 points; etc.
For each of your Sacred Rock cards, score its points if you've achieved its objective. Then, subtract penalty points according to the Offerings still on your Boat board.
The player with the most points wins, and is named the best fisher of the season. If there is a tie for most, the tied players share the victory.
Note: In Namiji, you score victory points throughout the game; however, if you think you made an accounting error, you can review your collection and retally your score at the end of the game.
Special Rules for 2-Player Games
Two-player games are subject to a few special rules.
Place a third Boat, called the Neutral Boat, on the Start Port (randomize the starting positions of the three boats).
As with players' Boats, the Neutral Boat must move when it is last along the maritime course.
The player who is farthest ahead on the maritime course chooses how far to move it.
Note: Moving the Neutral Boat is an important aspect of two-player games, and it is a key to victory.
The Neutral Boat's moves have no effect on the Dock and Finish Port spaces. The Neutral Boat does not take cards or tokens. Do not count its points.
Once everyone has stopped on a Dock space, there will be 4 Dock cards in the initial selection. When it is the Neutral Boat's turn to choose a Dock card, select a random card for it, without anyone seeing it.
When the Neutral Boat reaches the Finish Port, the player who moved it discards the corresponding Finish token.
Other than these exceptions, the game plays according to the usual rules.
Credits
A game by Antoine Bauza
Illustrated by Naïade
Graphic design: Funforge Studio
French revisions: Gersende Cheylan
English translation: Nathan Morse
Antoine Bauza thanks: Mikaël Bach, Michaël Bertrand, Ludovic Maublanc, Françoise Sengissen, Corentin Lebrat, Yannick Deplaedt.
© Funforge s.a.r.l — All rights reserved.