Sumatra Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Summary and Goal
• Playing
  • Moving Your Pawn
  • Taking a Tile
• End of the Game
• Travel Notebook
  • Inhabitant (12)
  • Crafts (10)
  • Flora (9) and Fauna (9)
  • Reception (10) and GPS (10)
  • Village (5)
  • Volcano (5) and Equipment (5x6)
    • End-of-Game Scoring
    • Lack of Equipment
• Badges
  • Brown Badges
  • Green Badges
• Example of Final Scoring (for Emilia)
• Information Tiles

Components

• 1 Double-Sided Map
• 5 Travel Notebooks
• 5 Player Pawns
• 1 Travel Notebook Token
• 121 Information Tiles: 21 Round Tiles and 100 Square Tiles
• 14 Badges: 10 Brown and 4 Green
• 1 Cloth Bag
• 1 Player Aid
• 1 Rulebook

Setup

1. Place the map on the table face up on the side which corresponds to the number of players participating: 5 players = 3, 4 or 5 players and 2 players = 2 players.

2. Each player takes a Travel Notebook and chooses a Player Pawn. The Player Pawn is placed in the Base Camp. Return the unused Travel Notebooks and Player Pawns to the game box.

3. Shuffle the Round Information Tiles face down:

   • In 2 or 3 player games, turn over 5 of them.
   • In 4 or 5 player games, turn over 18 of them.

   These face up Tiles are now placed next to the bottom of the Map: this is the Available Information Area.

4. Place the remaining Round Information Tiles face up next to the top of the Map: this is the Lost Information Area.

5. Place all the Square Information Tiles into the Cloth Bag and place it next to the Map.

6. Place all the Badges next to the Map.

7. Finally, place the Travel Notebook Token next to the Player Pawns in the Base Camp.

Summary and Goal

In Sumatra, players move around the island to explore its multiple landscapes. In each location players find useful information, represented by Tiles, which should be recorded in their Travel Notebooks, placing them in their corresponding row. The player with the most valuable Travel Notebook and Badges at the end of the game wins.

Playing

The game of Sumatra is played in turns. Each player plays their full turn before passing the turn to the next player clockwise. When all players have reached the Pier and collected all the information available there, the game ends.

The Starting Player is chosen at random and starts the game.

The options available during your turn depend on the position of your Player Pawn in relation to the position of the Travel Notebook Token at the beginning of your turn. With this in mind, you can only perform one of the following actions on your turn:

A. If your Pawn is in the same location as the Travel Notebook Token, this means you have access to the Tiles from the Available Information Area and you must decide between:

• Taking one Tile from the Available Information Area
• OR
• Moving your Pawn, instead of taking a Tile.

B. If your Pawn is one step ahead of the Travel Notebook Token, you must move the Travel Notebook Token to your current location and, then you must carry out the following actions in this order:

1. Move all Tiles remaining in the Available Information Area to the Lost Information Area.
2. Randomly take as many Square Information Tiles from the Cloth Bag as the new location of the Travel Notebook Token indicates and place them in the Available Information Area.
3. Take one of the new Tiles from the Available Information Area.

C. If your Pawn is one step behind the Travel Notebook Token, you do not have access to the Tiles from the Available Information Area and therefore, you must move your Pawn to the next location (where the Travel Notebook Token is).

IMPORTANT REMINDER: The actions that you are allowed to do depend on the position of your Player Pawn at the beginning of your turn (which can be at the location of the Travel Notebook Token or one location behind or one location ahead and never anywhere else). If you move your Player Pawn you cannot take a Tile.

Moving Your Pawn

The Player's Pawn always moves forward to the next location, following the path outlined on the Map. This action is obligatory if, despite being with the Travel Notebook Token, there are no Tiles left in the Available Information Area.

You must respect 2 special rules that affect movement:

• Base Camp: At the start of the game, no Pawn can move from the Base Camp until all the Round Tiles in the Available Information Area have been taken.
• Inhabitant Tiles: No Pawn can leave the location in which the Travel Notebook Token is located whilst any Inhabitant Tiles remain in the Available Information Area. (See Inhabitant Tiles, page 4).

On her turn, Emilia is one step behind the Travel Notebook Token, so she must move her Pawn to that location (A).

Taking a Tile

You take a Tile and put it in its corresponding row of your Travel Notebook, this is the way that you "write" in your Travel Notebook. However, you also have the option of placing the Tile in the Lost Information Area. This option is useful when you cannot or do not want to place a Tile in your Notebook, or simply to prevent an opponent from having easy access to it.

Now it is Francisco's turn, whose pawn is at the same location as the Travel Notebook Token. He decides not to take a Tile and to move his Pawn to the next location (B). It is now Antonio's turn, whose pawn is also at the same location as the Travel Notebook Token. He decides to take an Equipment Tile to place in his Travel Notebook (C). Now it's Emilia's turn, whose pawn is now at the same location as the Travel Notebook Token. She decides to take a GPS Tile to place in her Travel Notebook (D).

It's Francisco's turn again, whose pawn is now one step ahead of the Travel Notebook Token and he must therefore: move the Travel Notebook Token to the location of his Pawn (E), then move all the remaining Tiles in the Available Information Area to the Lost Information Area (F), take 5 Square Information Tiles from the Cloth Bag, as the new location indicates, and place them in the Available Information Area (G), and finally he must choose one of the new Tiles from the Available Information Area (H).

End of the Game

The game ends after all the players have reached the Pier and have taken all the Tiles from the Available Information Area at this location.

Once the game is over, each player calculates their score by adding up the points from their Travel Notebook and Badges they have collected, as explained in the Travel Notebook and Badges sections. The player with the highest score is declared the winner and appointed Expedition Leader. In the event of a tie, the player, of those tied, with the highest valued Green Badge wins the tie.

Travel Notebook

Your Travel Notebook is divided into 9 rows and 5 columns. Each of those rows is reserved for one type of Information Tile that you come across during the expedition. As a general rule, you should always place the Tiles you get from left to right in their row and each box only holds 1 Tile unless otherwise stated. Once placed the Tiles can not be moved.

The different Information Tiles and the score for each row is explained below (the number in brackets indicates the number of Square Tiles that there are in the game).

Inhabitant (12)

It is essential to interact with the local people on the island and learn about the different cultures that coexist on Sumatra.

At the end of the game, the player or players with the most Inhabitant Tiles get 5 points and the player or players with the least, lose 5 points. If all players have the same number of Inhabitant Tiles, no one gets the 5 points.

Additionally, you earn 5 extra points for each Inhabitant Tile you have placed in the fifth column: this box allows you to place up to 3 Tiles.

Remember: No Pawn can leave the location in which the Travel Notebook Token is located whilst any Inhabitant Tiles remain in the Available Information Area.

Crafts (10)

These Tiles represent jewellery, sculptures, clothing and other elements typical to the culture of Sumatra.

At the end of the game, you get 0, 2, 5, 10 or 20 points depending on whether you have obtained 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 Craft Tiles.

Flora (9) and Fauna (9)

Sumatra is home to some of the most exotic species of flora and fauna on the planet, such as the largest flowers in the world, the famous Sumatran tiger or the red-haired orangutan known to be the most intelligent non-human primate on Earth.

The flora and fauna form a double row: the upper row is for plants and the lower row is for animals. As soon as one of the 2 boxes in a column is occupied by a plant or an animal, you can place another plant or animal in the next column. Therefore, it is not necessary to complete a pair to be able to place another Tile in the following column: it is enough that one of the 2 boxes of the column is occupied.

At the end of the game, you earn points only for each completed pair of plant and animal in a column. Each pair provides you with the points indicated on the Tile with the higher value of the two. If the two Tiles in a pair are of equal value, you earn the points from one of them.

Emilia has taken a Tiger Tile with a value of "5", the maximum value. She could place it in the first column, pairing it with the Corpse Flower Tile with a value of "4", but considering that only the higher value Tile of each pair scores, she decides to take a risk and place the Tiger Tile in the second column, hoping to get other tiles and thus also take advantage of the 4 points of the Corpse Flower (A). On a subsequent turn, Emilia takes a Great Hornbill Tile with a value of "2", so it is now in her interest to pair it with the Corpse Flower Tile and thus earn the 4 points from it at the end of the game (B).

Reception (10) and GPS (10)

Getting these Tiles will allow you to find Lost Information and locate Villages.

Reception and GPS form a double row: the top row is for reception and the bottom row is for GPS. The rules for placing these Tiles are exactly the same as those described above for the Flora and Fauna Tiles.

The objective here is also to complete pairs, but unlike Flora and Fauna, these pairs do not earn points at the end of the game but have an immediate benefit: as soon as you complete a Reception and GPS pair in a column, you can take a Tile from the Lost Information Area and place it in your Travel Notebook. You cannot choose another Reception or GPS Tile from the Lost Information Area.

Note: This is the only way to gain Tiles from the Lost Information Area.

Village (5)

Visiting the Villages of the different tribes of Sumatra is very interesting, but to be useful you must write down the GPS coordinates of your location.

At the end of the game, you get 5 points for each Village Tile as long as you have more completed Reception and GPS pairs than Village Tiles. If this is not the case, none of your Village Tiles earn you points.

Volcano (5) and Equipment (5x6)

Climbing some of the numerous volcanoes on the island allows you to enjoy the magnificent views, but you will need good equipment or you risk an accident.

Volcanoes and equipment form a double row: the top row is for Volcanoes and the bottom row is for Equipment. The Volcano and Equipment Tiles are related: each Volcano has its own colour and name, and each Equipment Tile indicates which Volcano it is associated with by its colour and name.

Only Volcano and Equipment Tiles of the same colour can be placed in each column, and each colour can only be represented in a single column. As soon as you place a Volcano or Equipment Tile of a certain colour in a column, you can only place the Volcano Tile or the Equipment Tile of that same colour in that column. Each Equipment box allows you to place up to 3 Equipment Tiles of the same colour there.

End-of-Game Scoring

At the end of the game:

• Each Volcano Tile that you have earns you 5 points if you have 3 Equipment Tiles that correspond to that Volcano (i.e. in the column of that volcano), otherwise subtract 5 points if you have fewer than 3 Equipment Tiles for that volcano.

  AND

• You get 5 points for every 3 Equipment Tiles you have of the same colour regardless of whether you have the corresponding Volcano Tile or not.

Lack of Equipment

Equipment not only helps you to ascend Volcanoes, it is also essential at every stage of your expedition. Therefore, any information obtained without the necessary equipment that you needed in order to collect it, will be invalid. This means that at the end of the game, you must remove all the Information Tiles placed in the columns of your Travel Notebook where there is no Equipment Tile before calculating your final score.

Badges

Badges are rewards that you get during the game that you can display on your backpack. At the end of the game, each of them provides you with the points as shown on the badge. These points added to the points you get in your Travel Notebook give you your final score.

Note: Once earned, badges can not be lost, even if you lose any of the Tiles (due to lack of equipment) which you used to get them.

Brown Badges

You can claim one or more Badges of this type on your turn if you meet the requirements. Each of these Badges awards 3 points at the end of the game. Place the Badges you have claimed next to your Travel Notebook: once obtained they are no longer available to other players.

• Anthropologist: Obtained by the first player to collect 3 Inhabitant Tiles.
• Historian: Obtained by the first player to collect 2 Inhabitant and 2 Craft Tiles.
• Photographer: Obtained by the first player to collect 2 Craft and 2 Fauna tiles.
• Botanist: Obtained by the first player to collect 3 Flora Tiles.
• Zoologist: Obtained by the first player to collect 3 Fauna Tiles.
• Technician: Obtained by the first player to collect 4 Reception Tiles.
• Explorer: Obtained by the first player to collect 4 GPS Tiles.
• Cartographer: Obtained by the first player to collect 2 Village Tiles.
• Volcanologist: Obtained by the first player to collect 2 Volcano Tiles.
• Supervisor: Obtained by the first player to collect 5 Equipment Tiles of different colours and names.

Green Badges

This type of Badge rewards diversity, i.e. for obtaining information in a certain number of rows in your Travel Notebook.

You can only claim one of these Badges during the game and you may only claim the Badge during your own turn. Place the Badge you have claimed next to your Travel Notebook - it will no longer be available to other players. If the Badge has already been claimed by another player, take the first one with the next lower value among those available.

• You get 3 points for having at least one Information Tile in 6 different rows.
• You get 5 points for having at least one Information Tile in 7 different rows.
• You get 7 points for having at least one Information Tile in 8 different rows.
• You get 9 points for having at least one Information Tile in all 9 rows.

Example of Final Scoring (for Emilia)

A. Emilia has not placed any Equipment Tiles in the fifth column (she lacks the green colour), so before calculating the points in her Travel Notebook she must remove, due to lack of equipment, all the Information Tiles that she has placed in that column: one Inhabitant Tile and one Craft Tile. Having done this, she can now calculate the score for her Travel Notebook.

B. She has 4 Inhabitant Tiles, Francisco has 4 and Antonio none, so that along with Francisco she gets 5 points and Antonio loses 5 points. (If she had not had to void her fifth column, she would have earned 5 additional points and Francisco would have earned none.)

C. The 4 Craft Tiles give her 10 points. (If she had not had to void her fifth column, she would have earned 20 points instead of 10.)

D. The 2 completed pairs of plants and animals give her 9 points (4 + 5 for the two plants, which are the higher value Tiles of each pair).

E. She only has 2 completed pairs of Reception and GPS Tiles but also 2 Village Tiles. Therefore, she does not get any points for the Villages as she needed to have more completed Reception and GPS pairs than Village Tiles. (If she had completed one more pair, she would have obtained 10 points, 5 + 5.)

F. The Maripi Volcano (red) gives her 5 points as she has the 3 Equipment Tiles of that colour.

G. The 3 red Equipment Tiles (Maripi) and 3 brown (Karinci) give her 10 points, 5 + 5.

H. During the game, she earned the Anthropologist, Historian, and Zoologist Brown Badges, which give her 9 points (3 + 3 + 3), and the 9 points Green Badge for having at least one Tile in each row of her Travel Notebook.

Emilia's final score is 57 points: 39 for the Travel Notebook and 18 for the Badges.

Information Tiles

Each type of Tile is represented by different illustrations, except Reception, GPS and Equipment Tiles, in order to offer a greater visual variety. Thus, you will find 12 different illustrations of Inhabitants, 10 Crafts, 5 Flora and 5 Fauna, 5 Villages and 5 Volcanoes. The following is a brief overview of the Tiles which we feel are most representative of the game with the idea of expanding players' knowledge of Sumatra and making the gaming experience even more interesting.

INHABITANT: Although it is not densely populated, there are a large variety of tribes in Sumatra, all of them of Malay origin. Up to 52 different languages are spoken, although they are closely related to one other.

CRAFTS: Wood carvings, colourful fabrics and clothing, gold and silver metalwork, leather work, basketry and a variety of other ornaments are some of the many objects that are characteristic to the island.

FLORA AND FAUNA: Despite preservation efforts, practically all of the species described below are in serious danger of extinction. Deforestation, poaching, and the illegal fur and animal trade are their biggest threats.

• Corpse Lily (Rafflesia arnoldii): This mainly inhabits the humid forests of Sumatra and Borneo. It can reach 1 metre in diameter and up to 11 kg in weight, making it the largest flower in the world. It is a parasitic plant that grows on the roots of trees.
• Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum): This flower inhabits the Sumatra rainforest. It can reach 2.50 metres high and 75 kg. Its common name comes from the foul odour it gives off, which in contrast is a powerful attraction for pollinating insects.
• Carnivorous Plant (Nepenthes sumatrana): This is an endemic species of Sumatra. It is also known as a pitcher plant because of its cup shape. That cup or jug is what the plant uses to capture its prey. It usually measures about 30 cm high.
• Orchid (Vanda sumatrana): This is an endemic orchid of Sumatra that lives in very diverse places on the island. It usually measures about 30 cm high.
• Sumatran Pine (Pinus merkusii): This species of pine grows in Sumatra and the Philippines. In Sumatra it is the only native pine species that grows south of the equator. It can reach 45 metres high and 1 metre in diameter.
• Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae): This is a subspecies of the tiger and is native to Sumatra, being also the smallest of all existing tigers. It can be 2.30 metres long and weigh 120 kg.
• Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii): This is the smallest of the three existing species. It can measure 1.40 metres high and weigh 90 kg.
• Dwarf Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis): This is the only Asian rhino that has two horns instead of one, similar to African rhinos. It can measure 1.40 metres high and weigh 700 kg.
• Bicorn Hornbill (Buceros bicornis): Its large beak, its peculiar protuberance and its colour make this bird unmistakable. It preferably lives in jungle forests. It can be 1 metre tall and weigh 2.8 kg.
• Clown Loach (Chromobotia macracanthus): This is a small freshwater fish (about 30 cm), with striking colours, originating from the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. It is popular with aquarium lovers, this being a danger to their survival since they cannot be bred in captivity.

VILLAGE: The illustrations represent traditional houses on the island, typically characterized by their large triangular thatched roofs and a substructure of large wooden pillars that rests on flat stones to protect the building from moisture.

VOLCANO: Sumatra has 67 volcanoes, the most active being the Maripi and the Karinci. The Toba Volcano produced the largest volcanic eruption in the last 2 million years, which led to the formation of one of the largest calderas (volcanic craters) in the world, with a dimension of 100 km x 30 km.