Trek 12: Amazonia
Trek 12: Amazonia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Your Equipment
- 1 green die (numbered from 1 to 6)
- 1 yellow die (numbered from 0 to 5)
- 8 Observation cards
- 7 cards numbered from 0 to 6
- 1 scorepad containing 50 Exploration sheets (explained below)
- 2 Adventure envelopes and 1 wooden crate. Reminder: do not open them.
Layout of an Exploration Sheet
- Playing area — made up of circles.
- Circles to be filled during the Exploration — River circle, Jungle circle.
- Score tables — the value of your Observations, the value of your Trails, the value of your Zones.
- Choices table — note which dice results were applied.
- Danger — tick boxes for penalties.
- Subtotals and Final score.
Goal
Get the highest score by cleverly filling up your card in order to trace Trails, map Zones and Observe the local fauna and flora while you explore.
Pack your bag
- Give one Exploration sheet and one pen to each player.
- Shuffle the Observation cards. Take the first three, and without looking at them, place them face down in the centre of the table. Put the rest of the cards into the box without looking at them. Place a numbered card, face up, on each drawn card. Each player writes these numbers down (in the same order, it's easier) at the start of the Observation score table lines.
- Put the not yet opened Adventure envelope with the smallest number (envelope #1 for your first game) by the edge of the table where everyone can see it (see The Adventure Envelopes).
- Place the two dice in the centre of the table.
How to Play
- One player rolls both dice (example roll: 1 and 4).
- Each player chooses their result at the same time.
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To choose a result, each player picks only one of these operations from their Choices table:
- The lower die only (example roll: 1)
- The highest die only (example roll: 4)
- Subtract the lower die from the higher die* (example roll: 3)
- Add the two dice together (example roll: 5)
- Multiply the two dice together (example roll: 4)
*Your result can be 0 but never negative.
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Tick an empty box in the line corresponding to your choice, from left to right. When all boxes are ticked in the same line, that choice is no longer available to you.
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Report the result in a circle of your choice, as follows (example 1):
- Place your first result in the circle of your choice (see Two Types of Circles below);
- All subsequent results have to be adjacent to an already filled circle (Adjacentness rule).
Then, apply the outcomes of your choice: a Trail and/or a Zone.
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MAX. 12 — You can never write a number over 12, no matter what type of circle you choose. If you choose to write a number over 12, or if you have no other choice, draw a spider instead and tick a box in the Danger zone (see below).
Two Types of Circles
- Jungle circles — Jungle circles are regular circles where you can also write results from an operation marked by the lower-die icon.
- River circles — To write a number in a River circle, it is better to use an operation marked by the lower-die icon. In that case, you are safe and incur no penalty. However, you can write a result from an operation devoid of the lower-die icon (either by choice or by mistake). In such a case, color the piranha drawn in the River circle and tick one box in the Danger zone. You can have both a piranha and a spider in the same circle.
The Danger Zone
Each ticked box in the Danger zone is equal to a 5-point penalty at the end of the game. No limit: if you're really unlucky and have to tick more than 8 boxes, add new boxes where you can, and as many as needed!
Trails
A Trail is a sequence of connected circles with unique consecutive numbers (e.g. 4-5-6-7).
When you write a number in a circle, check if there are any consecutive numbers around it that can expand a Trail. If there are, you must draw lines connecting them together.
- Each number in a Trail must be unique. Do not connect a number to a Trail if that number is already somewhere on the sequence. For example, if you have a Trail with the numbers 4-5-6, and you write another 5 next to the 6, do not draw a line connecting them.
- No number may ever be part of more than one Trail. If a number could expand multiple Trails, you must choose one of them to connect it to.
Mapping Zones
A Mapped Zone is a group of connected circles with the same number.
When you write a number in a circle, it creates or expands a Mapped Zone with every circle around it that contains the same number. Draw a unique background pattern in each circle that's part of the Zone. To facilitate the final count, you should use a different pattern for each Zone.
- A single circle can be part of both a Mapped Zone and a Trail.
Observing the Fauna and Flora
The Observation cards enable you to spot rare animals and plants and are worth points at the end of each Exploration!
1 – Discover
The observations start as soon as a player writes down a number corresponding to one of the numbered cards drawn for the first time (see Pack Your Bag).
- The Observation card is then flipped face up at the end of the round, when each player has written down a result on their Exploration sheet.
- All players fill in the Observation line with the indications from the card.
- All the players who wrote down the number from the Observation card circle the first value on the Observation line.
2 – Observe
During the following rounds, each player who writes down the number from an Observation card will circle the next available value on the corresponding Observation line. These numbers can be part of a Trail or a Zone.
Bruno's tip: At the beginning of the game, you can draw a dot, a triangle, and a square in front of each Observation line. When you write down a number in a circle, you can then draw the corresponding symbol to more easily check how many animal Observations you made at the end of the game.
End of the Game
Once all the boxes from the Choices table are filled (which means that 20 circles* are filled on your Playing area), it's time to count your points:
- On your Playing area, each circle that belongs to neither a Zone nor a Trail is a spider-infested Orphan circle. Draw a spider in the circle and tick one box in the Danger zone.
- Each player adds the total of their Trails, Zones and Observations, then subtracts their Danger penalty. See more below.
How to count your points:
- Trails: Each Trail is worth as many points as the highest number it contains, +1 point per additional circle that is part of the Trail.
- Zones: Each mapped Zone is worth as many points as the number it contains, +1 point per additional circle that is part of the Zone.
- Observation: Each Observation line is worth as many points as the last circled box on the right.
- Danger: Each ticked box in the Danger zone is worth a five-point penalty.
*Note: There are more circles on your Exploration sheet than boxes in your Choices Table, which means that at the end of the game, some circles will be empty.
The Adventure Envelopes
Each Adventure envelope contains a new challenge to enrich the game. These numbered envelopes must be opened in ascending order, and you cannot open more than one after an Exploration.
Envelope #1 — To open this one, you must observe at least 12 animals during a single Exploration (in other terms, you need 12 circles in your Observation table).
When to open them?
After each Exploration, once the totals are in, check if any players managed to meet the challenge mentioned on the envelope. In that case, the player with the highest total among those can open the envelope.
What next? Once the envelope is open: surprise! You just have to follow the instructions inside and get ready for a new Exploration (who knows, you might get new instructions afterwards…). Remember: you can only open the envelopes or the wooden crate when you're asked to!
Credits
Trek 12 – Amazonia — A Roll and Write Adventure. A game by Bruno Cathala and Corentin Lebrat, illustrated by Olivier Derouetteau and Maxime Morin. Published by The Lumberjacks, who thank the authors and illustrators for their trust. Proofreading: Xavier Avril & Valérie Florentin. Translation: Valérie Florentin & Emma Wolochatiuk.