Tonga Island Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Preparation
• Object of the Game
• Set Sail!
  • 1. The Royal Task
• Finish Them Off! (Quicker Game)
• Sea Laws
• Entering Port and Loading Treasures
• Variants

Contents

• 24 cards that make up the playing field
• 5 wooden boats
• 8 puzzle frame pieces of the playing field
• 4 player cards
• 1 task board
• 8 flags (4 spare)
• 50 wooden crates
• 4 flag stands

Preparation

• Carefully punch out all the squares from the surface of the playing field, as well as all the small circles from the player cards.
• Assemble the puzzle frame. The numbers on the back will help you.
• Stack all the field cards so that only the sea surface is visible. Shuffle them and lay them out in the frame. Cards with special edges are placed along the borders of the frame; the rest in any order.
• Each player chooses a boat and a flag, which is set in a special stand.
• Now everything is ready to begin the game. Place the task board next to the playing field so that all players can see it.

Object of the Game

Find and deliver treasures to the King as quickly as possible. The one who delivers the cargo first wins.

Set Sail!

1. The Royal Task

Before setting off for the treasures, you need to talk to the King and get a task from him. The task is the same for everyone; this is the goal of the game.

There are 4 types of treasure on the island:

• Rare animals
• Exotic fruits
• Huge pearls
• Rich treasures

Agree which treasures you will chase. Depending on the players' wishes, choose from 5 to 10 treasures. The more treasures you choose, the longer your game will last. Place all the chosen treasures on the task board.

Now you need to decide on the last destination and mark it with the white flagship ship. By the end of the game all the treasures must be found.

Finish Them Off! (Quicker Game)

A faster variant of the game:

1. move your boat;
2. open island cards and reach a harbour;
3. transfer the cargo;
4. close the island cards.

Open any card on the border of the sea. You will see anchor symbols on them. They mark a harbour. Place your wooden boat on this square; from here you can set sail. You will not look for treasure on this island.

Take turns clockwise. The youngest player starts. Turn the cards over. Choose a safe path and lead your ship along it to the edge of the card. When you have reached the edge of a card, open any adjacent one and continue your way. Keep sailing until you reach yet another harbour. Be careful - you may reach the island from which you started.

Sea Laws

In the southern seas you are obliged, on pain of death, to follow these rules.

1. Steer your ship only along known sea routes. Begin and end the voyage only in harbours.
2. You must open all the island's cards before you begin opening a new island.
3. At a fork you may choose only one path. You may not turn back.
4. At intersections you may not turn onto other paths.
5. Your ship ends its voyage as soon as it reaches a harbour. Several ships may be moored in a harbour.
6. If you arrive in a harbour that has a permanent court, you may:
   • take crates, if that island has a treasure that you are looking for. Return to the harbour and continue your way.
   • if you do not need this treasure, simply continue your way, leaving the treasure in place. The same rule applies to a group of islands with a permanent court.
7. All the rules listed above also apply on the King's islands.

Entering Port and Loading Treasures

When your ship has arrived at the harbour of an island on which there are pearls, treasures, exotic animals or tasty fruits, take crates to load the treasures. But you must act according to the rules:

1. You may load only those treasures for which the King sent you - they are marked on the task board.
2. You may take treasures from an island only once. For example, if by the task you must find 4 crates with fruit, this means you must visit 4 islands that have fruit.
3. You may take as many treasures as the King asked you to obtain, but no more.

Keep the treasures you receive on your player card - there is room on it for all the treasures! Each treasure can be found on different islands.

When you have found a treasure, place the loaded crate on your player card under the symbol of the corresponding treasure, on the colour that corresponds to the island.

Tip: keep track of which treasures are on the islands that other players have opened. And do not forget - the way home must be open.

At the end of the game all the treasures must be found. After that, raise your flag to the very top of the mast - this signal means "Job done!". And now you need to get to the Royal Islands as quickly as possible. The one who does this first will be the winner.

You can start a new game by rearranging all the cards of the playing field differently.

Variants

1. Play as usual, but with the condition that only one ship may be moored in one harbour. If you saw another sailor sail into the harbour you were heading for, right under your nose, greet him in a friendly way and continue your voyage in another direction. Remember that you may not turn back.
2. On the task board mark only the islands on which treasure must be found. Which exact treasure to look for, each player decides for himself - but each must have 5 treasures. Agree on this before the game begins. Otherwise the game goes as usual.