A Pleasant Journey to Neko Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Game Overview
• Set Up
  • Main Board
  • Player Boards
• Course of the Game
• Play A Round
  • 1. Morning Market Phase
  • 2. Preparation Phase
    • 1) Draft Dice
    • 2) Obtain Income
    • 3) Get Rewards
    • 4) Set Turn Order
  • 3. Action Phase
    • 1. Take Fish
    • 2. Bid a Card
    • On Bidding
    • 3. Activate a Hub or a Card Effect
  • Free Actions
  • What will happen when your ship(s) move to a hub?
  • What will happen if your ship moves to a hub with a die?
  • What will happen if you place a die already occupied by ship(s)?
• End of a Round
  • 1) Resolve Bidding
    • Place a card into your ship lane
  • 2) Prepare for next round
• Mid-Game Scoring
  • 1) Mid-Game Scoring Tiles
  • 2) Ship Travel Scoring
  • Mid-game Scoring Tile Reference Guide
• Game End
• Final Scoring
• Advanced Game
  • 1) Advanced Cards
    • Start a New Bid
  • 2) Advanced Setup
• Card Reference Guide
  • Ocean Bank
  • Fuel Platform
  • Blue Bar
  • Penguin Park
  • Seaside Town
  • Port
  • Special Stops
• Advanced Card Clarification
• Credits

Contents

• 1 Main Board
• 4 Player Boards (Yellow x1, Red x1, Purple x1, Green x1)
• 50 Playing Cards
• 8 Overview Cards (4 of them show turn order)
• 20 Interference Tiles
• 10 Mid-Game Scoring Tiles
• 4 Starting Bonus Tiles
• 50 Coins (1 coin x24, 5 coin x16, 10 coin x10)
• 8 Dice Reward Tiles (+/-1 die x4, reroll x4)
• 4 Point Counters (Yellow x1, Red x1, Blue x1, Green x1)
• 32 Fish Tokens (Yellow x8, Red x8, Blue x8, Green x8)
• 24 Ships
• 40 Fuel Tokens
• 36 Goods Tokens
• 24 Dice
• 20 Harbours

Game Overview

Each game consists 4 rounds, with mid-game scoring occuring at the end of the second and fourth rounds followed by the end game scoring. In the end, the player with the most penguin points (PP) wins the game.

Set Up

Main Board

1. Place the main board in the middle of the table.

2. Sort 1st period cards and 2nd period cards by its back and organize them into two different card decks. Shuffle both decks thoroughly and place them next to main board. Leave the advanced game cards in the box for now (or see page 15 for setup details).

3. Depending on the number of players, reveal and place the required number of 1st period cards on corresponding spaces of the main board:

   • 2 players: 5 cards
   • 3 players: 7 cards
   • 4 players: 9 cards

   Note: If you have played the game a few times and would like a more challenging game, please use the advanced setup on page 15.

4. Place fuel tokens, goods tokens, ships, coins, fish tokens, harbours and interference tiles next to main board as general supply.

5. Shuffle all mid-game scoring tiles thoroughly. Randomly draw 4 scoring tiles face-down and place them on the designated spaces of the main board. Reveal these four tiles. The first 2 are for the end of the 1st Period, second 2 are for the end of the 2nd Period.

Player Boards

Each player chooses a color and receives the following:

• 1 Player Board
• 1 Point Counter
• 2 Overview Cards (each player randomly selects one)
• 2 Fuel Tokens
• 1 Harbour
• 1 Ship
• 6 Dice
• 8 Coins

In a 2- or 3-player game, return the remaining player boards, starting bonus cards, dice, fish tokens and point counters to the box. They won't be used this game.

1. Each player places their player board and dice in front of themselves.

2. Each player puts their point counter at the start of the scoring track (the space that shows 0/50 on the main board).

3. Each player puts 2 fuel in the cabin on their player board and places their coins next to the player board.

   Attention: During the game, you cannot have more than 8 resources (fuel + goods) in your cabin at any time!

4. Randomly give each player two overview cards (one of which indicates the turn order), or use another method to decide on the turn order. The player with the overview card marked "1" is the starting player, followed by "2", "3", then "4."

   In a 2-player game, return the overview cards marked "3" and "4" to the game box.

   In a 3-player game, return the overview card marked "4" to the game box.

5. Display all 4 starting bonus tiles in the middle. In reverse turn order, players take turns choosing a starting bonus tile and take the corresponding items from the general supply. (Choices: goods, 4 coins, 1 fish, or 2 fuel.)

6. Each player puts their harbour and ship in the left corner of the player board to indicate the start of the first ship lane.

Now you are ready to play!

Course of the Game

A game consists two periods. A period consists two rounds. Each round consists three phases (Morning Market, Preparation, and Action Phase). At the end of each period, there is a mid-game scoring. After second period and second mid-scoring ends, there is a final scoring, where the player with most penguin points (PP) wins the game.

Play A Round

Each round has 3 phases: 1. Morning Market, 2. Preparation and 3. Action. Every phase or step that is played sequentially begins with the starting player and follows turn order.

1. Morning Market Phase

During this phase, each player in sequence decides if they want to sell their fish to the fishmonger in exchange for 1 good, 2 fuel, or 4 coins.

You may exchange as many fish as you have available in any combination.

fish → 4 coins / 2 fuel / 1 goods

Important! At any point in time, each player can only store up to 8 fish in their freezer. Any excess fish must be discarded to the general supply!

If no one has fish (possible in the first round with 2 or 3 players), skip this phase and move to the next phase.

Example: Amanda wants 2 fuel to move her ship but is also worried she won't have enough money for bidding. So she decides to exchange 3 fish from her player board for 2 fuel and 8 coins from the general supply.

2. Preparation Phase

This phase consists 4 steps: 1) Draft Dice, 2) Obtain Income, 3) Get Rewards and 4) Set Turn Order.

1) Draft Dice

All players roll their 6 dice simultaneously. When ready, on the count of 3, each player selects 1 dice to place on their player board and pass the remaining dice to the left player without any alterations. Players repeat this simultaneous selection process for the next set of dice they receive and continue drafting and passing until each player has 6 dice.

Note:

• Pass the dice following a clockwise direction, not by turn order.
• All dice values are open information accessible to all players.
• Dice drafting occurs simultaneously, so we recommend all players select a dice on the count of 3.

Note: If a player accidentally changes the dice value, and no one remembers the original value, then collectively agree on the value or to reroll the dice for a new value.

2) Obtain Income

In turn order, each player discards a die and receives coins equal to the value of the die. Place the removed die in the discard area (dice area) on the main board, keeping the value the same.

If players have "Obtain Income" type cards in their ship lanes, those cards will activate and players can take the corresponding resources from the general supply. For example, Ocean Bank, will provide additional coins, and Fuel Platform will provide fuel up to the cabin capacity limit (8 max). Excess resources must be discarded to the general supply.

Note: After this step, each player should only have 5 dice on their player board.

Example: Mandel removes a "5" from his player board and puts the "5" on main board. He then takes 5 coins from general supply.

Mandel also has 1 Ocean Bank and 2 Fuel Platforms in his ship lanes, so he can take 4 coins and 4 fuel from the general supply. His cabin only has room for 3 fuel, so he must discard 1 fuel.

3) Get Rewards

Players now rearrange their dice from lowest (left) to highest (right). Following turn order, players obtain one dice reward based on what is available according to their lowest value die. Specifically, this means based on your lowest value die, you may choose any reward shown on the dice reward chart at that level or higher.

For example, if your lowest die is "3", you can choose any reward aligned with the values "3", "4", "5", or "6". On the other hand, if your lowest die is "1", you can pick any option (1-6). At the other extreme, if all your dice show "6", your only available reward is the one associated with "6" (5 coins). Regardless, you can only choose ONE reward.

If you choose to buy a card, draw two cards from current period deck. You may choose to pay for one of them and put it into your ship lane (see page 12 for details). Any cards you do not purchase will go to the bottom of the deck. Note you can only draw cards available in the current period deck, which means this action may be more limited if there is only 1 card or even no cards left.

Dice Reward Chart:

• die value 1+: Take 5 coins
• die value 1+: Take a Good
• die value 3+: Remove an Interference Tile
• die value 3+: Take 2 Fish
• die value 5+: Take 2 Fuel
• die value 6: Buy 1 card

Example: Amanda's lowest dice is "4", so she can choose to take 2 fuel, remove 1 interference tile, or take 5 coins. Since she has too many interference tiles, she decides to remove one of them for free, discarding it from her player board to the general supply.

4) Set Turn Order

In this step, players will determine the new turn order to use for the rest of the round up through the "Set Turn Order" step of the next round. To do so, players first total the numbers on their dice. Then they reset the turn order to go from highest (starting player) to lowest (last player) total dice value by taking the overview card with the corresponding turn order number. Ties are broken in favor of the player who has the earlier turn order in the previous round. The new starting player also receives 1 interference tile as a handicap (interference tiles result in penalties at the end of the game).

Example: The numbers on Amanda's 5 dice totals 17, while both Benno and Mandel have 15. Since Amanda has the highest total dice value, she becomes the new starting player and takes an interference tile. Benno and Mandel are tied, but since Mandel was the starting player last round, he wins the tie and becomes new second player. Benno is still the third player. Amanda takes the overview card marked "1" from Mandel and hands the overview card marked "2" to him.

3. Action Phase

Beginning with the new starting player and in turn order, players will take turns using their dice to perform 1 of 3 main actions (mandatory) along with any number of free actions (optional) before, during or after their main action. This continues until all players have used up their dice, skipping the turns of any players who have exhausted all of their dice earlier in the round. Exhausted players cannot perform any further actions this round, including free actions.

1. Take Fish

Move any number of dice from your player board to the discard area on the main board. Receive 1 fish for each dice discarded with this action. Note your freezer has a max capacity of 8 fish in this game.

2. Bid a Card

Place any number of dice from your player board to 1 card you wish to bid for. When the round ends, each card in bidding area will resolve in favor of the player with the highest total dice value on the card, with ties broken by turn order (see Page 11 for End of a Round). The winning player may pay the card cost to place the card into their ship lane, and losing players will be compensated with 1 fish for each of their dice on the card (subject to capacity constraints and other special abilities).

Example: Benno wants to bid on the Fuel Platform card, and Mandel already has two dice with values "2" and "5" there. Benno places a "1" and a "3" to his bidding slot of this card. Though the sum of his two dice ("1+3=4") is currently lower than Mandel's dice ("2+5=7"), he can add more dice in later turns.

On Bidding

During the first round, each player will choose one side of each card as their "bidding slot." We recommend each player chooses the side that faces them. When bidding, put your dice in your bidding slot.

When bidding for a card, follow the rules below:

• Each time you bid, you may only bid on one card.
• If there are no dice on a card, you can place as many dice as desired on it. However, if there are dice, then at the end of your turn, you must have at least as many dice on the card as the bidding slot with the most dice. For example if one player has 2 dice in his bidding slot, then to bid on that card, you must have at least 2 dice in your bidding slot at the end of your turn.
• You may place dice on any one card, including cards you already have dice, or even cards where your bid is lower in value than other bids already there.

Example: Mandel has 1 die ("6") on the Seaside Town card, where Benno just placed 3 dice ("1", "2", "4"). In order for Amanda to bid on this card, she needs to place at least 3 dice to match Benno, who has the most dice on the card. She decides to place "1", "2", and "3", which doesn't put her in winning position, though she can add to her total in later turns. Mandel is currently losing the bid and cannot move his die to other cards. However, he can add to his bid, which requires him to place at least 2 dice, even though he may only need one to regain the lead.

Example: Amanda and Benno are bidding for a Port card. Amanda currently has a "3" and Benno has a "1", but on Benno's turn, he places a "3" in his bidding slot of the card. Amanda is now losing the bid but cannot move her die to other cards, though she can add more dice to this card on later turns.

3. Activate a Hub or a Card Effect

Activate a hub or card effect by placing a die that meets the criteria on the hub or card location and receive its benefits immediately. Only 1 die may be placed on each hub or card location per round.

1) Hub Activation

Hubs are the locations created by putting two cards (each with a half-hub on the left and right side) together in a ship lane. A hub consists of a multiplier and an icon. The icon indicates the type of item that the hub provides, and the multiplier indicates the how many items you will receive as well as the die required to activate the hub. Placing a die that meets the constraints immediately provides you with the hub's rewards.

For example, this hub shows a fuel icon and a "1". You must use a number "1" die to activate this hub, which immediately provides 1 fuel.

In this example, the hub shows a coins icon and "2". Use a number 2 die to activate this hub and immediately receive 2x2 = 4 coins.

Note: Hubs may also be activated by ships entering a hub (see page 10).

2) Card Activation

Certain cards require a die to activate their effects. If you have such cards in your ship lanes, you may place a die that meets the criteria on the card to activate its effect. Some cards give you one-time abilities, while others act like unlimited free actions. For details, please refer to the Card Reference Guide on page 16.

Example: Mandel has 2 hubs in his ship lane. one of the hubs shows a fuel icon and a good icon. He wants a good to cover the last cargo space in his Port. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a "1" die to activate the hub. He decides to spend one fuel and turn his number "2" die to a "1" (please see page 9 on adjusting a die by +/-1). Mandel uses the "1" die to activate the hub and get a good from the general supply.

Example: Amanda has 2 hubs in her ship lane. One of the hubs shows a fuel icon and a coins icon. She needs a good to cover the last cargo space in her Port. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a number 1 die to activate the hub. However, she notices there is a discarded "6" on the main board. She decides to spend 3 fish to pick up the discarded "6" and spend 1 fuel to turn the "6" into a "1". Finally she activates the hub to get a good.

Free Actions

On your turn, you may take as many free actions as desired. Free actions may be taken before, during, or after your main action. They are as follows:

a) Exchange fish for 2 coins or 1 fuel

Spend 1 fish and take either 2 coins or 1 fuel from the general supply.

b) Exchange 3 fish to take a discarded dice from the main board

Spend 3 fish and take a dice from the discard area on main board. Retain the value of the discarded dice. You cannot reroll it or change its value unless you use additional abilities.

Important! Each turn you can only take up to one discarded die even if you have other fish or card effects. You can use your other fish and card effects to take additional discarded die on later turns (if still available).

c) Remove one interference tile

Spend 5 coins to remove one interference tile. At the end of the game, you will lose points based on the number of interference tiles you still have.

d) Buy a new ship

Pay 3 / 5 / 7 ... coins to buy your 2nd / 3rd / 4th ... ship.

Each player starts with 1 ship, which are used to journey through ship lanes to score points and activate hubs. To buy more, spend 3/5/7/... coins to purchase your 2nd/3rd/4th/... ship. Each ship costs 2 more than the the one previously. However, the number of ships you have in each ship lane cannot exceed the number of harbours you have opened. Place purchased ships on the first space of any of your ship lanes (left half-hub of the first card in the lane). If you don't have any card in a ship lane yet, just put the ship on top of the harbour token for that ship lane for now.

e) Open a new harbour

Pay 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 coins to open your 2nd / 3rd / 4th / 5th harbour.

Each players start with 1 harbour, which opens a ship lane for players to place cards into (see page 12) and ships to travel down (see page 10). Each ship lane holds up to 5 cards. To hold more cards, a player needs to open more harbours. You cannot have more ship lanes than harbours.

Pay 5/10/15/20 coins to open a your 2nd/3rd/4th/5th harbour, respectively. You can open a new harbour without having a fully constructed ship lane of 5 cards. Each player can have at the most 5 harbours.

Example: Amanda has 2 harbours with 5 cards in the first ship lane and 4 cards in the second. She wants to open a third harbour just in case she needs more space to put down cards won during bidding resolution. She spends 10 coins, takes a harbour token from the general supply, and puts it below her 2nd harbour to form a new ship lane. Because she now has a third harbour, she decides to spend 5 more coins to buy her 4th ship and puts it in her first ship lane, where her other two ships are located as well.

f) Adjust a die +/-1

Spend 1 fuel to adjust one of your die by +/- 1. Die numbers wrap around so that 1 fuel can change a "1" to a "6" or vice versa.

g) Move your ship

Spend 2 fuel to move one of your ships one step forward (to the right) to the next hub in its path. Ships always move from left to right and can never go backwards (from right to left).

Ships that move hubs immediately activate the hub and provide you with its rewards. Ships only move from a harbour or hub to another hub. If there are gaps in a ship lane, your ship will stop on the half-hub of the last card, and cannot move forward until the next card is added. Ships that move into half-hubs (at the start or end of a ship lane) do not provide any rewards, even if that hub later completes while the ship is still on that location. However, there may still be good reason to move ships into a half-hub, since one mid-game scoring criteria will be based on each ship's current position.

Example: Benno wants to activate a hub that shows a goods icon and a fuel icon. He doesn't have a "1" dice but has a "6." He decides to spend 1 fuel to turn the "6" into a "1", then uses it to activate the hub and receive 1 good from the general supply.

Example: Benno spends 2 fuel and moves his ship from the harbour to next hub with 1x fuel and receives 1 fuel immediately.

What will happen when your ship(s) move to a hub?

When a ship enters a hub, it activates the hub effect immediately just as if a die is placed on the hub. For example, if you move a ship to a hub that shows a coins icon and "2", you immediately receive 2 x 2 coins = 4 coins.

What will happen if your ship moves to a hub with a die?

As always, when you move a ship to a hub, activate the hub to receive its rewards immediately. If there is a dice, place the ship on top of the dice. If it is the only ship there, also take an extra fish as a "Catch a Fish" bonus.

Example: Benno moves his ship to a hub occupied by a die. This hub shows a coins icon and "2" coins, and so he receives 2 coins immediately and also a bonus fish.

What will happen if you place a die already occupied by ship(s)?

As always, when you place a die on a hub, activate the hub to receive its rewards immediately. If there are ship(s) there, move the ships aside to place the die there and then place the ship(s) on top of the die. Regardless of the number of ships there, you will receive an extra fish as a "Catch a Fish" bonus.

In general, whenever a die or ship is placed or moved to a hub, receive the hub's rewards. Any time a die is placed with ship(s) or a ship moves to a hub with a die and no other ships, receive an extra fish as a "Catch the Fish" bonus.

Specifically, there are 4 situations that involve adding a ship or die to a hub already occupied by a die or ship(s):

1. Move a ship to a hub with a die: activate the hub to receive its rewards and receive 1 bonus fish.
2. Move a ship to a hub that with a die and one or more ships: activate the hub but DO NOT get any bonus fish.
3. Put a die on a hub occupied by 1 ship: activate the hub and receive 1 bonus fish.
4. Put a die on a hub occupied by two or more ships: activate the hub and receive ONLY 1 bonus fish.

Example: He decides to spend 2 fuel to move his ship to the next hub, which is also occupied by a die. This hub shows a fuel icon and a fuel icon, and so he receives 1 fuel immediately and also a bonus fish.

Example: Benno uses a die to activate a hub, which is already occupied by two ships. He immediately receives 2 fuel and ONE bonus fish.

h) Move goods from the cabin to a port's cargo space

If you have a Port card in your ship lanes, you can place goods on its cargo spaces. Goods must be placed from left to right, then top to bottom. Once placed, they cannot be moved.

If you cover a space with an icon, receive the corresponding reward immediately. After all the spaces of a port have been covered, you have completed the port's contract. This unlocks the card so that if your ship(s) pass through the port by game end, you earn the port's penguin points. If you do not cover all the cargo spaces, you will not receive points even if your ship(s) completely pass through the card.

Example: Benno has a port in his ship lane. He decides to put 2 goods on the port's two remaining open cargo spaces and receives 1 coin as an immediate reward. He has also completed the contract and unlocked the port's points. When the game ends, if his ship(s) have passed through this port, he will receive 7 PP.

End of a Round

After all the players have exhausted their dice, the round ends and players now 1) Resolve Bidding and 2) Prepare for next round.

1) Resolve Bidding

Starting from left to right and then top to bottom in bidding area, resolve each card in order until there are no more cards left in the bidding area. Cards not bid on will be returned to the bottom of the current period deck.

When resolving a card, add the dice values for each player. Award the card to the player with the highest total (with ties broken by player earliest in turn order). That player may pay the card cost in order to put it in his ship lane immediately. He may also choose to decline to pay and place the card at the bottom of the current period deck. Regardless, all other players will receive 1 fish for each of their dice on that card.

Note: If the winning player declines to buy the card, no one can buy this card. The winning player will not receive fish for his dice even if he declines to purchase the card.

Example: When resolving Penguin Park, Benno has 9 (5+4) in total dice value, while Amanda has 8 (3+5). Hence, Benno wins the card and pays 6 coins to put it into one of his ship lanes immediately. Amanda loses the bid and receives 2 fish (1 fish for each die she used to bid on this card).

Example: When resolving Seaside Town, Amanda has a dice value of 3, while both Mandel and Benno have 4. However, Mandel wins the tie break since he has the earlier turn order. Both Benno and Amanda lose the bid and receive 1 fish for each of their die.

Place a card into your ship lane

After you purchase a card, immediately place it in one of your ship lanes. Since all players start with a harbour, they will also have 1 ship lane. Additional ship lanes may be built by opening more harbours (see page 9).

Each ship lane can hold 5 cards, and when you purchase a card, you can place the card in any open position in any ship lane. However, you will pay coins equal to the number of open gaps between your card and the harbour.

For instance, placing a card in the first (leftmost) space of a ship lane is free because there is no gap between your new card and the harbour. Placing a second card in the second (next leftmost) space is now also free, because there again is no open gaps between that card and the harbour. However, if you placed your first card in the second space, you would have to pay 1 additional coin due to the 1 space gap between that card and the harbour.

For each card you win and purchase during bidding resolution, you must immediately place it in your ship lanes. You cannot wait until the end to place the cards or change the order the cards are placed.

Important! You cannot open a new harbour during this phase in the game. This means you may need to plan ahead and open harbours during the Action Phase to ensure you have enough space to place all your cards.

Note: Once a card is placed into a ship lane, it cannot be moved and will stay there until the game ends.

Hint: How can you arrange your cards strategically? Each card has two half-hubs - the left half has a multiplier and the right half has an item. Based on the resources desired, you may connect cards strategically to create powerful hubs (see page 7).

When you put a card into a ship lane, some card effects immediately become active. In addition, if a card has a lightning icon, it immediately activates its ability once.

Example: Benno wins and buys a Penguin Park card. He has to put this card into one of his ship lanes immediately. There is a card in the second space of his first ship lane already, so he decides to place the card in third space to create the desired hub combination. He pays one coin for the one space gap between second card and harbour. The other option he considered was to place the card in first space of the ship lane, which would have been free since there would be no gaps between it and the harbour.

Example: Benno wins a Blue Bar card and he puts it immediately into his ship lane. Later, he wins another card, Fuel Platform. He pays 2 coins less for this card because of Blue Bar's effect is already active (5 - 2 = 3).

2) Prepare for next round

After resolving all the cards in the bid area, follow the steps below to prepare for next round:

• Each player takes 6 dice.

Note: Any ships on top of the dice on the hubs should be left on the hubs after you take the dice off.

• At the end of the 1st round, reveal the number of cards from the 1st period card deck based on the player count from the 1st period card deck. Otherwise, if it is the end of the 2nd or 3rd round, reveal cards from the 2nd period card deck. Place those cards in the bidding area.

If it's the end of a period (i.e. the end of second round or fourth round), proceed to mid-game scoring.

Example: Amanda wins and buys a variant Ocean Bank card. Because of the lightning icon, she can immediately use the card's ability once after she places the card into one of her ship lanes.

Mid-Game Scoring

1) Mid-Game Scoring Tiles

Resolve the two mid-game scoring tiles for the 1st period when 2nd round ends. Resolve the two mid-game scoring tiles for the 2nd period when 4th round ends.

Mid-game scoring tiles are mini objectives you can complete to score 3 PP. All players who meet the objective will score PP, including those who tie for the "most" of a criteria.

2) Ship Travel Scoring

For each ship, receive 0/0/1/2/4/7 PP if that ship has crossed 0/1/2/3/4/5 cards in its ship lane. PP is only scored for completely crossing cards, and so ships that stop at an intermediate hub on a port have yet to cross that port card.

After the mid-game scoring at the end of the 1st period, start the 3rd round's Morning Market Phase. Otherwise, proceed to end of game scoring.

Example: At the end of 1st period, Benno has completed two mid-game scoring tiles, receiving 6 PP (3 PP for each tile). In addition, he has two ships in his ship lanes. One has crossed 2 cards, and the other has crossed 3 cards. He receives 3 PP from his ships (1+2). Hence, after 1st period scoring, he received a total of 6+3=9 PP!

Mid-game Scoring Tile Reference Guide

• max fuel → 3 PP: The player who has the most fuel.
• max coins → 3 PP: The player who has the most coins.
• max card cost → 3 PP: The player who has the highest card cost in his ship lanes
• max cards → 3 PP: The player who has the most cards in his ship lanes.
• max ships crossed cards → 3 PP: The player who moved his ships across the most cards in his ship lanes. Note: Add together all the cards that each ship moved across.
• max ships → 3 PP: The player who has the most ships in his ship lanes.
• 5 goods = 3 PP: The player who has at least 5 goods.
• max goods → 3 PP: The player who has the most goods.
• 5 fish = 3 PP: The player who has at least 5 fish.
• min interference tiles → 3 PP: The player who has the least interference tiles.

Game End

After the 2nd mid-game scoring and before moving to final scoring, players may, in turn order, spend their remaining fuel and goods to move ships and place goods. Players will still receive any rewards from card effects or hubs as a result of these actions. Players may also choose to keep some or all of their resources on their player board for final scoring purpose instead.

Final Scoring

During final scoring, players receive penguin points (PP) for the following:

1. According to the table below, receive PP based on the number of harbours opened:

Harbours	1	2	3	4	5
PP	1	3	6	11	19

2. Receive the PP (shown in the lower right corner of each card) for each card that has seen at least one ship pass through. Ports must be unlocked (all cargo spaces covered) to score. Cards that have not had any ships pass through will not score.

3. Score each card with an "end-game scoring" icon based on its specific criteria. Refer to the Card Reference Guide for further information.

Note: Players always score the criteria on the cards with end-game scoring icons even if a ship has not passed through. If that is the case, the PP shown in the lower right corner will not score, though the end-game scoring criteria will still score.

4. Receive 1 PP per good in the cabin (not on port cards).

5. Count the number of interference tiles and subtract PP based on the table shown in the overview card. Note: Each interference tile beyond the 5th will reduce your score by 3 PP.

Interference tiles	1	2	3	4	5	6+
PP	-1	-2	-4	-8	-12	-3 each

The player with the most penguin points wins the game! If there is a tie among the players, then the player with the most coins remaining is the winner. If there is still a tie, then the player who has the earlier turn order in the last round is the winner. Even though both of you have seen the same number of penguins, you happen to be the first person to see the penguins in Neko Harbour!

Advanced Game

There are two advanced variants that can be added in separately or combined. Most of the rules are the same with a few the following changes:

1) Advanced Cards

During setup, add in the advanced cards. Shuffle the advanced cards together and draw 3 randomly to place on the designated spaces in the main board. Return the other advanced cards to the box as they will not be used for the game.

The advanced cards placed on the main board can be bid on just like any other cards. During bidding, resolve these cards first (from left to right) before all other cards. If no one bids on these cards, they still remain out on the game board.

Note: In the advanced game, any time players buy cards directly without bidding (due to dice rewards or card abilities), they can choose a card from any of the ones currently displayed.

When a round ends, the rules for resolving the cards in bidding area is remain unchanged.

Start a New Bid

During the action phase, if the bidding area on the main board still has a free space, players may choose a new card to start a new bid. The number of available bidding spaces depends on the number of players in the game and is the same as what is shown on the game board. Players must place the new card in the next available space in the bidding area (from left to right, top to bottom) along with any number of dice in their bidding slot.

Example: In this 2 player game, there is only one available space remaining.

If the bidding area is full, no player can start a new bid on a new card and can only bid on cards already in bidding area. At the end of the action phase, resolve bids just like in the standard game.

Example: In this 2 player game, no player can start a new bid because the board is full.

2) Advanced Setup

During setup and when preparing for the 2nd period, reveal all the cards in the respective deck (1st or 2nd period). Separate the cards into categories, sorting the cards in each pile from lowest (on top) to highest (bottom). Keep the cards in piles but spread them cards out slightly so that the cost and points shown at the bottom are visible. During the advanced game, all cards in these piles are available for bidding.

Card Reference Guide

Cards represent the stops on your journey. When linked together, their left and right sides (half-hubs) form spaces (hubs) you can use to gather resources. In addition, each card provides an ability or effect that can be used during a specified phase or step.

There are 7 types of stops (cards) in this game:

• Ocean Bank — Coin income
• Fuel Platform — Fuel income
• Blue Bar — Card Discount
• Penguin Park — Dice Enhancement
• Seaside Town — Resource Exchange
• Port — Objectives
• Special Stops — Special Abilities

Card Anatomy: each card shows an interference icon, illustration, hub, half-hub, activate space, effect or ability, cargo space (Port cards), phase/step to be used, card name, cost, and Penguin Points.

Ocean Bank

During the Obtain Income, receive 4/7/10 coins if you have 1/2/3 Ocean Banks. Additional Ocean Banks will start a 2nd set of 1/2/3 cards for another 4/7/10 coins.

Variant Ocean Bank (from 2nd period): Immediately (lightning icon) receive coins based on the number of Ocean Banks you have (including this card). Once per round during the Action Phase, you may place a "1", "2", or "3" die to activate this effect again. Note this card still counts as an Ocean Bank and has its standard Ocean Bank effect during Obtain Income.

Important! Ocean Banks are collected in sets of 3. If you have four or more Ocean Banks, put the extra cards in a second set and gain its effects as well. The Fuel Platform, Blue Bar and Penguin Park cards work the same way.

Example: Benno has 4 Ocean Banks and obtains 10+4=14 coins during Obtain Income.

Fuel Platform

During the Obtain Income, receive 2/4/6 fuel if you have 1/2/3 Fuel Platforms. Additional Fuel Platforms will start a 2nd set of 1/2/3 cards for another 2/4/6 fuel.

Variant Fuel Platform (from 2nd period): Immediately (lightning icon) receive fuel based on the number of Fuel Platforms you have (including this card). Once per round during the Action Phase, you may place a "4", "5", or "6" die to activate this effect again. Note this card still counts as a Fuel Platform and has its standard Fuel Platform effect during Obtain Income.

Blue Bar

During bidding resolution, if you have 1/2/3 Blue Bars, pay 2/3/5 fewer coins to pay for each card that you won. However, you must pay at least 1 coin for each card. This effect goes into play as soon as this card is purchased and placed in your ship lanes. Additional Blue Bars will start a 2nd set of 1/2/3 cards for another 2/3/5 discount.

Example: The round ends and players now resolve the bidding. Amanda has 1 Blue Bar already and has won a second Blue Bar. She pays 2 coins less for the card and places it into one of her ship lanes. The next card to resolve is the Ocean Bank, which she also wins. Due to the effect of her 2 Blue Bars, instead of paying 4 coins, she only pays 4-3=1 coins.

Penguin Park

Upon purchase of your 1st Penguin Park, receive 2 dice reward tiles (+/-1 and reroll). During the Action Phase of each round, you may use each dice reward tiles once on an unused dice.

The +/-1 dice reward tile will allow you to adjust the number on one dice up or down by 1 (note "1" can be changed to a "6" and vice versa), and the reroll allows you to reroll one dice. Flip each tile to its backside when used, and refresh it to the frontside when the next round starts. Additional Penguin Parks will start a 2nd set of 1/2/3 cards for 2 dice rewards / 2 dice rewards + 1 discarded dice / 2 dice rewards + 2 discarded dice.

Your 2nd and 3rd Penguin Parks will each allow you to take one discarded dice from the main board during your turn on the Action Phase. Each turn you can only take one discarded dice from the main board. This means you must use the 2nd and 3rd Penguin Park effects (and free actions such as exchang-ing 3 fish for 1 dice) on different turns. Additional Penguin Parks will start a 2nd set of 1/2/3 cards for 2 dice rewards / 2 dice rewards + 1 discarded dice / 2 dice rewards + 2 discarded dice.

Variant Penguin Park (from 2nd period): Immediately take a discarded dice from the main board and place it as an additional bidding dice on any available card. In future rounds, before bidding resolution, each player with this card (in player order) must decide where (if at all) to place a discarded dice. If there are no cards in the bidding area or no remaining discarded dice, no actions can be taken. Note this card still counts as an Penguin Park and has its standard Penguin Park effect during the Action Phase.

Seaside Town

Each Seaside Town card has a different effect. Some allow you to exchange resources or get penguin points, while others modify the exchange rate.

• During the Action Phase, place a "1", "2", or "3" die on the card. This allows you to exchange 3 coins for 1 fuel or 3 fuel for 1 good as free actions as many times as desired for the rest of the round.
• During the Action Phase, you may exchange 2 fish (instead of 3 fish) for 1 discarded die in the main board. You can only take one discarded die per turn, including those from Penguin Park.
• At the end of the game, receive 1 PP for each card in your ship lanes.
• During the Action Phase, place a die on the card. Choose a reward from the chart that is associated with any number less than or equal to the number of your die. For example, a "5" allows you to choose any reward from "1" to "5", while a "3" allows you to choose any reward from "1" to "3". You can use this effect only once per round.
• During the Action Phase, place a "4", "5", or "6" die on the card. This allows you to exchange 1 fuel for 4 coins or 1 good for 2 PP as free actions as many times as desired for the rest of the round.

Port

Ports are locations that provide lots of PP, but must be unlocked by filling all the cargo spaces on the card. Each cargo space holds one good, and must be filled from left to right, top to bottom. Some cargo spaces provide additional rewards, which are immediately obtained when the space is filled. In addition, ports have additional hubs located on the ship's path, which will slow down your ship's movement. Note you must move your ship completely through this card (to the right side of the card) as well as fill all cargo spaces in order to unlock the PP on the card.

Megaport (from 2nd period): Same as a port but with more cargo spaces, hubs, and points.

Special Stops

These are unique cards that each have their own special effects / abilities.

Light House: During the Action Phase, choose a hub. For the rest of the round, whenever you activate that hub via a ship or die, you get 2 more resources (e.g., 2 fuel, 2 cargo, 4 coins, 2 fish, etc.) of that type. You can use this effect once per round. Note if placing a die to activate the hub, the required die value does not change.

Example: You use a "1" and receive 3 fuel.

Church: During bidding resolution, for up to 2 dies per round, you can choose to place the losing dies on your vacant hubs instead of receiving fish when you lose bids. When doing so, you may select the number on the dies before placing them for activation. Note the phase / step of the hub, as nothing happens when dies are placed during the wrong phase.

Southernmost City: During Obtain Income, receive 5 coins or 2 fuel.

South Pole: At the end of the game, receive 2 PP for each interference tile you have. You still lose PP from interference tiles, but going to the South Pole reduces that pain.

Fishing Spot: During bidding resolution, for each dice you used in a losing bid, receive 2 fish instead of 1.

Research Station: Immediately (lightning icon) receive coins and fuel based on the number of Ocean Banks and Fuel Platforms you have. Once per round during the Action Phase, you may place a "4", "5", or "6" die to activate this effect again.

Hospital: Immediately (lightning icon) remove up to 2 interference tiles. Once per round during the Action Phase, you may remove another interference tile for free.

Neko Harbour: Count how many complete hubs you have in your ship lanes and immediately (lightning icon) receive either 1 coin for each hub, 1 fuel for every 3 hubs, or any combination in-between. Once per round during the Action Phase, you may place a "5" or "6" die to activate this effect again.

Example: There are 3 hubs in this ship lane. You exchange 1 fuel.

Ice Wall: At the end of the game, receive 1 PP for every 3 coins.

Small Islands: At the end of the game, receive 1 PP for each fish you have in your freezer.

Post Office: Immediately (lightning icon) draw 2 cards from the current period card deck. You may choose to buy 1 of them and pay 2 fewer coins (though each card is still costs 1 coin at minimum). Place any remaining cards at the bottom of the draw deck. If there are no cards left, there is no effect. You may also use this ability once at the start of each Set Turn Order step. If using the advanced setup, buy a card directly from the display area.

Harbour City: During the Action Phase, you can place a "1", "2" or "3" die to decrease the harbour cost. The new harbour cost equals to the normal harbour cost divided by the die value. For example, if you place the "3" die in the activation space and you plan to buy the third harbour, the price will be 10/3 = 4 (rounded up). You can use this effect once per round.

Example: Mandel would like to purchase his fourth Harbour, which costs 15 coins. He uses a "2" to activate the card and pay 8 coins to open a new harbour.

Advanced Card Clarification

Ocean Bank: At the game ends, receive 2 PP for each Ocean Bank in your ship lanes (including this card).

Fuel Platform: At the game ends, receive 2 PP for each Fuel Platform you have (including this card).

Blue Bar: At the game ends, receive 3 PP for each Blue Bar you have (including this card).

Penguin Park: At the game ends, receive 4 PP for each Penguin Park you have (including this card).

Port: At the end of the game, receive 4 PP for each Port or Megaport you have (including this card). Note you need to move your ship through this card (to the right side of the card) and fill the two cargo spaces shown to unlock the PP in the bottom right corner.

Seaside Town: At the game ends, receive 3 PP for each Seaside Town you have (including this card).

Note: Advanced cards still count as a card of their respective type and retain their standard card effect (e.g., an advanced Ocean Bank still counts as an Ocean Bank and has its standard Ocean Bank effect during Income Phase).

Credits

Thank you for supporting my first game. I would like to thank the numerous play testers for their enthusiasm and many suggestions, especially: Chi-Fu Chou, Mini-eye and Pop Chen, as well as Abhinav Bhorjava, Adi, Alexander Ramin, Allen Liu, Andre Richter, Andrew (Yaj) Carey, Begüm merue Parla Cajias, Carlo Bortolini, Casey Hindmarsh, Dylan Cromwell, Efraim Orland, Fabio Lopiano, Georg Höruer, Jerry Chiang, Janna Ullrich, Joda Nadais, Jonas Trodler, Kilian Schumann, Olivia Politz, Ore Leontas, Paul Blair, Pepijn (Pepe) van Abbe, Robin Kay, Roman Rybiczka, Ruan Bo-Ming, Schari Grabow, Shami Tsai, Sophia Wagner, Tsai-Hui Chiang, Li-Chuang Wang, William Attia, Yvonne Dittrich and more.

Game Design: Citie Lo Illustrations: Citie Lo Proofreading: Jerry Chiang Edit and Publish: The Wood Games

© 2018 The Wood Games