Oaxaca: Crafts of a Culture
Oaxaca: Crafts of a Culture Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 120 Handicraft Cards:
- 24 Pottery Cards
- 24 Jewelry Cards
- 24 Textile Cards
- 24 Woodcarving Cards
- 24 Tin Art Cards
- 15 Tourist Cards
- 4 Banner Cards
- 4 Reference Cards
- 1 Start Player Card
- 20 dice
- 60 Craft Tokens
- 4 player mats
- 4 meeples
Goal
Over the course of three rounds, players collect Handicraft Cards from the five decks and then work to remove Craft Tokens from them. When all of the Craft Tokens are removed from a Handicraft Card, it's moved to a player's Market Stall for points. The player who has the most valuable collection of crafts in their Market Stall at the end of the third round is the winner!
Setup
Shuffle the 5 Handicraft Decks and set them facedown in a row. The order in which they're laid out does not affect gameplay.
Shuffle the Tourist Deck, draw 6 cards, and lay them faceup in the order they were drawn near the Handicraft Decks in a 2x3 grid. Set the remaining cards facedown and leave room next to them for a discard pile. Place a Craft Token between the two left-most Tourist Cards; this token indicates which of the 2 Tourist Cards are active, and also which of the 3 rounds the game is on.
Place the remaining Craft Tokens near the play area—this is the supply. Give all players a player mat, a meeple, a Banner Card for their Market Stall, and 5 dice. Randomly determine a start player and give them the Start Player Card.
At the Start of Each Round
All players: Roll your dice and set them in your Daylight Box. You may re-roll any number of your dice 1 time if you wish.
Players then take turns in clockwise order, selecting 1 die from their Daylight Box and using it to take an action.
On Your Turn
You must select 1 of the dice from your Daylight Box (or combine a die with any other result to make a result of your choice; see Using Two Results at Once), set it in your Nightfall Box, and take one of the following actions:
- Gather Materials
- Craft Your Wares
Using a Die for a Gather Action
Draw 2 Handicraft Cards from the deck that matches the die you selected, and examine them. Choose 1 of the cards to keep, and then return the other card to either the top or bottom of its deck (your choice), facedown. Lay the card you kept faceup to the left of your player mat—your Workshop. Then place Craft Tokens on the card equal to the number in the top-right corner—the craft value.
The Craft Tokens on a card represent the work you need to do before you can finish the handicraft and move it to the right of your player mat—your Market Stall. Your Workshop can hold a maximum of 3 Handicraft Cards (Note: some Handicraft Card bonuses can add Craft Tokens to Handicraft Cards in your Workshop—there is no limit to the number of Craft Tokens that can be placed on a Handicraft Card in your Workshop).
Not sure where to start? If this is your first time playing, it might be hard to choose which of the 5 handicraft types you should start gathering from. Each deck focuses on a different array of bonuses:
- Pottery focuses on your Workshop
- Jewelry focuses on scoring extra points
- Textiles focus on general bonuses
- Woodcarvings focus on player interaction
- Tin Art focuses on dice manipulation
If you can't decide, let the dice you rolled guide your decision; if you have multiple dice with the same face, focus on gathering and working that handicraft deck to start.
Using a Die for a Craft Action
Remove a Craft Token from each Handicraft Card in your Workshop that matches the die you selected, and return the token(s) to the supply. For example, if you placed a Textile die in your Nightfall Box and you have 2 textile cards and 1 tin art card in your Workshop, you can remove a token from both textile cards.
Because a craft action removes a Craft Token from each Handicraft Card that matches the die you used, you may find it beneficial to "specialize" and focus on filling your Workshop with a single type of Handicraft Cards (e.g., exclusively textile cards).
NOTE: If you have no Handicraft Cards in your Workshop, you cannot take a craft action because there will be nothing to craft—the next die you use must be used for a gather action.
If you remove all the Craft Tokens from a Handicraft Card, immediately move the card to your Market Stall. Then, at the end of the game, you will score points equal to that card's craft value. Additionally, each card in your Market Stall has a bonus that is available immediately (see Appendix I: Card Explanations)!
Using Wilds
Each Wild result you roll can be used to either gather or craft anything you want; however, a wild is not as effective as other results.
- If you gather, you can only draw a single card from any deck.
- If you craft, you can only remove a single Craft Token from 1 Handicraft Card in your Workshop, even if you have multiple cards of the same type.
Optional Actions
In addition to your dice action, you may activate up to 2 cards in your Market Stall each turn. Also, once per round, you may use 1 of the 2 current Tourist Cards.
Activating cards in your Market Stall: Each card in your Market Stall can only be activated once per round. For example, each player starts the game with a 0-point Banner Card that offers a free wild result. To use the bonus on a card in your Market Stall, rotate it sideways to show that it's been activated, and then follow the instructions on the card. Some cards have a small icon on the left side that indicates when they can be used:
- Cards with a bag icon can only be used in tandem with a gather action.
- Cards with a hammer icon can only be used in tandem with a craft action.
- Cards with a globe icon are Passive and cannot be activated—their bonuses are always active.
Each Handicraft Card is explained in detail in Appendix I: Card Explanations.
Using a Tourist Card: Once per round and at any point during your turn, you may use 1 of the 2 available Tourist Cards for the current round (indicated by the Craft Token between them). To use a Tourist Card, set your meeple near it to show you've used it, and then follow the instructions on the card. Each Tourist Card is explained in detail in Appendix I: Card Explanations.
If you have no dice in your Daylight Box at the start of your turn, then you must pass for the remainder of the round. You may not activate any Handicraft Cards or use a Tourist Card.
Scrapping a Project: If you decide you no longer want to finish a Handicraft Card in your Workshop, you may return the card to the bottom of its deck as a free action. Any Craft Tokens on the card are returned to the supply.
Saving a Die — Early Riser: Sometimes, you may discover that your last available die in a round is either unusable or not beneficial. For example, your last remaining die can't be used for a craft action because it matches no Handicraft Cards in your Workshop, and using it for a gather action would force you to first scrap a project because your Workshop is full. If this happens, set it to any result you wish and place it in your Early Morning Box for the next round.
Using Two Results at Once
If you want to gather or craft a specific type of Handicraft Card but don't have the right dice to do it, you can combine a die with any other result to make a result of your choice! For example, Sarah has a Jewelry, Textile, and Woodcarving die remaining in her Daylight Box. She also has a free Jewelry result from a Handicraft Card and a free Tin Art result from a Tourist Card. She would like to craft the 3 pieces of pottery in her Workshop, but that requires a Pottery result she doesn't have. Instead, she can combine 2 of her remaining dice, or 1 of her dice and 1 of her cards, to act as a Pottery result to remove a Craft Token from each of her pieces of pottery.
You may only pair a Handicraft Card or Tourist Card with a die; you cannot combine Handicraft Cards and/or Tourist Cards together. Any cards utilized for a combo are considered "activated" for the duration of the round.
At the End of Each Round
Play continues until all players have used all their dice, which may result in some players taking more turns than others. Once all dice have been used, the round is over. Turn any sideways cards in your Market Stall upright and move the Craft Token to the next column of Tourist Cards to indicate the next bonuses. The Start Player Card moves clockwise to the next player. Take the dice from your Nightfall Box and prepare to roll them for the next round. If you had a die in your Early Morning Box, move it to your Daylight Box.
End Game and Scoring
At the end of the third round, flip your player mat over to the score track and use your meeple to tally your score:
- Each Handicraft Card in your Workshop is worth 2 points.
- Each Handicraft Card in your Market Stall is worth points equal to the card's craft value.
- Include any bonus points from jewelry Handicraft Cards in your Market Stall.
- Score an additional point if you have a die in your Early Morning Box.
If you surpass the highest number on your score track, simply start again at 1 again and continue counting.
The player with the highest score is the winner. If there is a tie, the player with the fewest cards in their Workshop is the winner. If there is still a tie, the player with the fewest cards in their Market Stall is the winner. If that fails to break the tie, the players share the victory.
Credits
© Undine Studios, 2017. Designed by Sarah and Will Reed. Developed by Ben Haskett. Illustrations by Derek Bacon. Dice icons by Mark Major. Hammer, bag, globe, sun, and moon icons provided by game-icons.net. Play-testers: Greg Amaral, John Brieger, David Bruglia, Angel Elkins, Cassie Elle, Jareth Elkins, Sarah Graybill, Noreen Gwilliam, Owen Gwilliam, Ashley Hershey, Vincent Hirtzel, Jon Knight, Jacob Knoester, Ashley Leaphart, David Leaphart, Marty Lewis, Walter Jay Little V, Johnson Luong, Jason Newman, Connor O'Hare, Cody Parcell, Jenni Parcell, David Reeser, Robert Salls, John Shulters, Roland Strebe, Jason Taylor, and John Vang. Thank you to Philip Saviano for your knowledge and input.
Appendix I: Card Explanations
There are two categories of cards in Oaxaca: Crafts of a Culture: Handicraft Cards and Tourist Cards. Handicraft Cards are what you gather, work, and score at the end of the game. Tourist Cards offer little bonuses to help you along the way.
Handicraft Cards
Below is an explanation of all the handicraft bonuses in the game. Note: Handicraft Cards typically can be activated once per round, except for Passive cards (cards with a globe icon), which are always active.
Each of the five Handicraft Decks focuses on a different array of bonuses:
- Pottery focuses on your Workshop
- Jewelry focuses on scoring extra points
- Textiles focus on general bonuses
- Woodcarvings focus on player interaction
- Tin Art focuses on dice manipulation
Free Actions in Each Deck: In addition to the bonuses below, each Handicraft Deck also contains 8 cards that grant free gather and craft actions (this means that they can be used in addition to the dice action you take and do not require the use of a die!):
- +1 result - single choice (4 copies in each deck): Gain a free gather or craft action for the type depicted on the card (for example, a free Jewelry result for a gather or craft action).
- +1 result - multiple choices (4 copies in each deck): Gain a free gather or craft action of your choice for any 1 of the 4 types depicted on the card (for example, Pottery/Textile/Woodcarving/Tin Art).
- Remove 1 Craft Token from any card (4 copies): Choose a card in any Workshop and remove a Craft Token from it.
- Redistribute up to 2 Craft Tokens in your Workshop (4 copies): Redistribute 1 or 2 Craft Tokens between cards in your Workshop.
- Passive • +1 space in your Workshop (4 copies): For the rest of the game, you have 1 additional space for a Handicraft Card in your Workshop.
- If you spend a wild to craft, remove an additional 3 Craft Tokens from any cards in your Workshop (2 copies): When you spend a Wild result to take a craft action, activate this card to remove 3 more Craft Tokens from any card(s) in your Workshop.
- Move a card from your Workshop to the bottom of its deck and remove 3 Craft Tokens from another card (2 copies): Return 1 of the cards in your Workshop to the bottom of its deck (return any Craft Tokens it had to the supply), and then activate this card to remove up to 3 Craft Tokens from any other card in your Workshop.
- Passive • +1 point (4 copies): At the end of the game, gain 1 extra point.
- Passive • +1 point per different type of card in your Market Stall (4 copies): At the end of the game, look at the card types (textile, tin art, jewelry, pottery, and woodcarvings) that you have in your Market Stall. Score an extra point for each different type you have (max. 5 bonus points).
- Passive • +1 point per card in your Workshop (4 copies): At the end of the game, score an extra point for each card in your Workshop.
- Passive • +3 points (2 copies): At the end of the game, gain 3 extra points.
- Passive • +1 point per globe icon in your Market Stall (2 copies): At the end of the game, score an extra point for each Handicraft Card in your Market Stall with a globe icon.
- Change any result to a wild (4 copies): Change a die result to a wild.
- Refresh a used card in your Market Stall (4 copies): Rotate a sideways card in your Market Stall to its upright position.
- Wild (4 copies): a wild to use for a free craft or gather action.
- Passive • Whenever you take a craft action with a textile result, remove an extra Craft Token from every card in your workshop (2 copies): You may use this bonus even if you have no textiles in your Workshop.
Tourist Cards
Sometimes, you've got to leave the confines of your shop and venture out into the public to see what information you can glean from passing tourists. Perhaps someone will inspire a flourish in your artwork, or give you an opportunity to show off your skills.
Once per round, at any point during your turn, you may place your meeple on 1 of the current round's Tourist Cards to use its bonus. Simply follow the card's instructions.
- Free action cards: Gain an extra result that matches the Tourist Card to use for a free gather or craft action.
- Reclaim 1 of your used dice: Reclaim a die from your Nightfall Box, roll it, and put it in your Daylight Box.
- Re-roll any number of your unused dice
- During a gather action, draw +2 cards: You still only choose 1 to keep; the rest are returned to the deck.
- During a craft action, 1 die counts twice: For example, when you use a die to remove 1 Craft Token from 2 cards, use this Tourist Card to remove an additional token from both cards.
- Flip 1 of your dice to its opposite face: It must be one of your unused dice (you cannot flip an opponent's die).
- Draw a new Tourist Card. It must be used before the end of this round: Draw the top card from the Tourist Deck—you may use it 1 time at any point during your turn this round. Discard it at the end of the round if you did not use it.
- Use a Tourist Card from a different round: Choose any one of the faceup Tourist Cards in play from a different round and use its bonus.
- Change 1 of your dice results to any other result: Your choice!
- Activate a bonus from a card in your Workshop: Remember that Passive cards (cards with a globe icon) cannot be activated. The card is considered not activated if it moves into your Market Stall in the same round.
Appendix II: Solo Variant
In the solo variant, Customer Satisfaction, you have 5 customers crowding your market stall each round clamoring for the best handicrafts you can produce.
Changes to the Rules
The gameplay is very similar to multiplayer, but has a few twists:
New Goal - Customers: After setting up the game normally (see Setup), roll 5 extra dice and place them in a row near the Handicraft Decks and Tourist Cards. These dice are the customers who will be ready to buy crafts at the end of the round. Now roll your own dice and place them in your Daylight Box. Leave extra space for a discard pile, and use the backside of a player mat to track your score.
Pay close attention to these 5 dice, because they indicate the handicrafts your customers want to buy!
After completing the round (as described in On Your Turn through At the End of Each Round), you must choose whether or not you will sell crafts to customers (you don't have to sell a handicraft, even if a Customer die wants it):
- A wild Customer die will buy any 1 Handicraft Card in your Market Stall of your choice for the card's craft value (3-5).
- Any other Customer die will buy 1 matching Handicraft Card from your Market Stall for double the card's craft value (6-10).
When you sell a craft, it is removed from your Market Stall and scored immediately. Place the sold Handicraft Card in a discard pile, and set the Customer die aside (see Scoring a Craft).
New Rule - Bonus Points: In this variant, you'll sometimes have an opportunity to place a Craft Token next to a Handicraft Deck. Each token next to a deck will increase the value of those crafts. For example, if the tin art deck has 3 tokens next to it, every tin art craft you sell to customers will be worth an additional 3 points. These extra points are not included in the doubling bonus when selling to a matching customer (see Scoring a Craft).
Changes to Woodcarving Cards
- Place 1 token on a card in an opponent's Workshop: Instead, place a Craft Token next to a Handicraft Deck of your choice (see Bonus Points, above).
- Choose an opponent and add 1 cube to each card in their Workshop: Instead, place 3 Craft Tokens next to a Handicraft Deck(s) of your choice (see Bonus Points, above).
- Copy a bonus from a card in an opponent's Market Stall: Instead, copy a bonus from a card in your Workshop.
Changes to the Early Morning Box
At the end of the round, if you have an unused die in your Early Morning Box, you may use it to add a Craft Token next to a deck instead of saving it for the next round (see Bonus Points, above).
A Craft Token added to a deck remains there for the whole game.
Scoring a Craft
- Pair a Customer die with a Handicraft Card in your Market Stall.
- Score the card's listed craft value if you sell to a wild Customer die, and double the card's listed craft value if the Handicraft Card matches the Customer die. For example, a pottery card with a craft value of 3 will sell to a pottery Customer die for 6 points.
- If you sell a Handicraft Card that matches a deck with at least 1 Craft Token next to it, score 1 additional point for every token next to that deck. Using the above example, if the pottery deck has 2 Craft Tokens next to it, the craft will sell for 8 points (3x2+2).
- Jewelry card bonuses are scored when sold. For example, if you have 3 cards in your Workshop and you sell the bracelet (which gives you a bonus point for each card in your Workshop) to a jewelry Customer die, you would score 9 points (4x2+3).
- Adjust your score, discard the Handicraft Card, and set the used Customer die aside.
Starting the Next Round
Any Customer dice you sold a Handicraft Card to must be rolled at the beginning of the round. You may also re-roll any Customer dice you did not sell to in the previous round, or you may leave them as they are.
End of Game
At the end of three rounds, check your final score on the score track and refer to the chart below to see how your customers review you. Note: you do not score points like you do in the multiplayer game; do not include the value of any crafts in your Market Stall or points for Handicraft Cards in your Workshop. You only get points for crafts sold to customers.
Customer Reviews (Scoring)
- Under 30: "I found the crafts to be uninspired and of poor quality. These are not worth your money."
- 30-34: "I don't think there's anything special about these crafts. They were only average in quality."
- 35-39: "I liked what I saw. This artist has big potential. Keep an eye out on this person's work."
- 40-44: "I'm amazed at all the exquisite pieces. This artist is one of Oaxaca's hidden gems!"
- 45 or more: "These are the most authentic pieces that money can buy. If you come to Oaxaca, you have to visit this artist."
Questions? Comments? Feel free to visit undinestudios.com, or e-mail Ben at [email protected].