Tusk!: Surviving the Ice Age Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Aim of the Game
• Components
• Setting Up
  • Set Up the World
  • Set Up Tribes
  • Determine First Player
  • Select Victory Cards
  • Victory Cards
• Turns
• Tribe Phase
  • Step 1: Grow the Tribe
  • Step 2: Send out Hunters
  • Step 3: Send out Gatherers
  • Move Action
  • Gather Action
  • Recover Action
  • Fight Action
• Trade and Negotiation
• Resolving a Fight
  • Commit Resources
  • Roll to Wound
  • Who Won
  • Take Tasty Food
  • Bash Them with Lumpy Stones
  • Discard Resources
  • Fighting Multiple Tribes
• Wounded Tribe Members
• Hunt Phase
  • Step 1: Hunters Attack!
    • Commit Resources
    • Roll to Wound
    • Bash It with Lumpy Stones
  • Step 2: Mammoth Counterattacks!
  • Step 3: Regroup
  • Discard Resources
  • Continue the Hunt
  • Killing the Mammoth
• Season Phase
  • Step 1: New Season
  • Step 2: Mammoth Herd Roams
    • Trample
    • Blocked Tiles
    • Herd Wanders Off
  • Step 3: Discover New Lands
    • The Ice Age Cometh
    • Frozen Over
  • Step 4: End the Turn
• Snow Tiles
• Ending the Game
  • Reveal Victory Cards
  • Score Tasty Food
  • Find the Winner

Aim of the Game

Tusk! is a semi-competitive game of survival in the Stone Age. It's a race against time as the Ice Age approaches. You will need lots of food to survive.

The mammoth offers the tribes food beyond your wildest dreams, but they are powerful beasts. You and your fellow players will need to team up to hunt successfully. But there can only be one hunt leader, and to ensure that's you and your tribe, you'll need to manipulate alliances, hoard supplies, and make use of the land's many resources to become the most powerful tribe and win the game.

Components

• 37x Terrain Tiles
• 4x Tribe Boards
• The Hunt Board
• 120x Resource Tokens (30 of each): Lumpy Stone, Pointy Stick, Clump of Grass, Tasty Food
• 16x Tribe Member Tokens (4 of each colour)
• Mammoth Token
• 4x Dice (Tusk symbol is a 6)
• First Player Token
• 18x Season Cards
• 9x Victory Cards

Setting Up

Set Up the World

1. Place the Mammoth Breeding Ground tile in the centre of the play area.
2. Place the Mammoth token on the Mammoth Breeding Ground.
3. Shuffle the Terrain tiles and put them in a stack face down near the play area.
4. Draw six Terrain tiles and place them face up around the Mammoth Breeding Ground. These seven tiles are the initial play area.
5. Place the Resource tokens near the play area.
6. Put three Resource tokens of the appropriate type on each Terrain tile showing resources.
7. Place the Hunt Board near the play area.
8. Put four Tasty Food tokens on the Mammoth's Wounds on the Hunt Board.
9. Shuffle the Seasons Deck and place it near the play area.

Set Up Tribes

1. Each player chooses a tribe colour and takes their Tribe Board and four Tribe Member tokens.
2. Place your Tribe Member tokens on the Grow the Tribe circles your Tribe Board.
3. Each player puts their left-most Tribe Member on any Terrain tile other than the Mammoth Breeding Ground.

Determine First Player

1. Find the player who has most recently foraged for food and place the First Player token in front of them. This player will take the first turn.

Select Victory Cards

1. The First Player shuffles the Victory Cards Deck and draws 3 cards, secretly chooses one, and returns the others to the deck.
2. Moving clockwise around the table, repeat step 1 for each player until all players have chosen a Victory Card.
3. Place your Victory Card face down beside your Tribe Board.
4. Set aside unused Victory Cards, unseen.

You are now ready to start the game!

Victory Cards

Your Victory card gives you a bonus at the end of the game for collecting resources of a specific type, or with the Pack Leader, Spiteful Spirit, or Warmonger cards, for certain events that happen to your tribe.

You may look at your Victory card at any time, and it is a worth paying attention to the things it will reward you for so that you can collect them during the game.

If you have the Pack Leader, Spiteful Spirit, or Warmonger card, you will need to reveal it when you first place a Tasty Food token on it. Otherwise, keep your Victory card secret from the other players so that they won't attempt to deny you what you need.

Turns

There are three phases in each turn.

• Tribe Phase
• Hunt Phase
• Season Phase

Each turn, the players each take a Tribe Phase, then they all cooperate in the Hunt Phase. Finally, the game moves on to the next season.

Tribe Phase

The Tribe Phase is broken up into three steps. Each player cycles through these steps before moving to the next player.

• Step 1: Grow the Tribe
• Step 2: Send out Hunters
• Step 3: Send out Gatherers

Step 1: Grow the Tribe

You can expand your tribe by spending Tasty Food tokens. Discard the number of Tasty Food tokens shown to the left of the Tribe Member tokens on your Tribe Board, then place the left-most Tribe Member token in a tile containing one of your Tribe Members.

The blue tribe must spend two Tasty Food tokens to grow their tribe by a third member.

Step 2: Send out Hunters

Next, you decide whether to commit any tribe members to the Hunt. If you do, remove any or all of your Tribe Members from the board and placing them in the Hunting Party space on the Hunt Board.

The first player to commit to the Hunt each turn becomes the Hunt Leader and moves one of their Tribe Members up to the Hunt Leader space on the Hunt Board.

The yellow player commits to the hunt first and places one tribe member in the Hunt Leader space and another in the Hunting Party space.

Step 3: Send out Gatherers

After you have committed Tribe Member to the Hunt, you take two actions with each remaining Tribe Member.

The actions you can take are:

• Move,
• Gather,
• Recover, and
• Fight.

You may choose two different actions for a Tribe Member, or you may repeat the same action twice.

Move Action

Move your Tribe Member up to two tiles. Some tiles are marked as Difficult Terrain and have a rocky border. It takes a whole Move action to move into a Difficult Terrain tile.

Two tribe members take a Move action. One moves two tiles. The other can only move one tile because it is entering difficult terrain.

Gather Action

If the tile contains Resource tokens, take one and place it on your Tribe Board.

If the tile has a special rule, use the special rule to discard Resource tokens to take a Tasty Food token from the Resource token pile and place it on your Tribe Board.

The yellow tribe member uses a Gather action on a River tile. The player discards a Clump of Grass token and a Lumpy Rock token to gain a Tasty Food token.

In their Tribe Phase, the blue tribe member gains a Tasty Food token from the Berry Bush tile.

Recover Action

This is the only action a Tribe Member Wounded in a Hunt or a Fight can take. Stand the Tribe Member up to show that they are no longer wounded.

Fight Action

If another player's Tribe Members are on the same tile as yours, you can fight them. This counts as a Fight action for all of your Tribe Members on the tile.

Trade and Negotiation

Hunting a mammoth is hard work and sometimes lending a helping hand to another tribe will help you too. The same can be true when gathering resources or trading for the types you really need. If you are rich enough, bribing another tribe not to attack you is often better than fighting them.

You can give Resource tokens from your Tribe Board to another player at any time, either as a gift, in trade, or for promises for the future.

Resolving a Fight

Follow the steps below to resolve a Fight action.

Commit Resources

Both players secretly decide how many Pointy Stick, Clump of Grass, and Lumpy Stone tokens from their Tribe Boards they will use in the fight. Reveal your choice and place them at the top of your Tribe Board.

The blue player has tribe members on the same tile as the yellow player and takes a Fight action with their tribe members. They decide to commit a Pointy Stick and a Clump of Grass token.

At the same time, the yellow player commits two Pointy Stick tokens and a Lumpy Rock token.

Roll to Wound

Both players now roll to Wound opposing Tribe Members.

Roll a die for each of your Tribe Members on the tile (except those who are Wounded).

• Add +1 to each die roll for each Pointy Stick you are using.
• Subtract -1 from each die roll for each Clump of Grass that your opponent is using.

Each result of 6 or more Wounds an opposing Tribe Member — lay them on their side to show that they are Wounded.

If you scored more Wounds than there are opposing Tribe Members, keep track of the extra Wounds to see if you won the fight, but they have no further effect.

The blue player rolls two dice, one for each tribe member, scoring 5 and 6. Their Pointy Stick adds +1 to each roll, making their rolls 6 and 7. Both rolls are 6 or more, so cause a wound. The yellow tribe member is wounded and placed on its side.

The yellow player only rolls one die, scoring 5. Their two Pointy Sticks add +2, but the blue player's Clump of Grass subtracts -1, giving a total of 6. This wounds one of the blue tribe members.

Who Won

If you Wounded more opposing Tribe Members than they Wounded of yours (including excess Wounds if you Wounded everyone), you won the fight.

The blue player scored two wounds (even though there was only one yellow tribe member to be wounded) against the one wound of the yellow player, so the blue player wins by one wound. They take one Tasty Food token from the Resource pile.

Take Tasty Food

If you won the fight, you immediately take Tasty Food tokens from the Resource pile equal to the difference between the Wounds you inflicted and the Wounds you suffered (including excess Wounds). If the result is a draw, then neither player collects food.

Bash Them with Lumpy Stones

If you Wounded any Tribe Members belonging to an opposing player, each Lumpy Stone you are using Wounds an additional Tribe Member belonging to that player. This does not change the outcome of the fight, and you can do this whether you won or lost the fight.

The yellow player committed a Lumpy Rock. Since they scored a wound on a blue tribe member, they cause an additional wound as well. The remaining blue tribe member is placed on its side.

Discard Resources

All Pointy Sticks, Clumps of Grass, and Lumpy Stones used in the fight are now discarded.

Fighting Multiple Tribes

If you take a Fight action in a tile with Tribe Members from more than one opposing player, all the players roll dice.

Players must decide which player to attack with each of their Tribe Members, starting with the player who took the Fight action, and going clockwise.

Add up all the Wounds you inflicted and compare it to the number inflicted by each other player. The player that inflicted the most Wounds wins.

You may elect not to roll dice at the start of a fight if you prefer to stand on the sidelines and hope that the other players keep the fight between themselves.

The green player takes a Fight action on a tile containing both blue and grey tribe members. They decide to have one tribe member attack blue and the other two attack grey.

Blue wants revenge against grey for a previous fight, so attacks them with both of their tribe members. Grey ignores blue and attacks green.

Wounded Tribe Members

When a Tribe Member is wounded, lay the token on its side. Wounded Tribe Members cannot attack during the Hunt Phase and must take the Recover action during the Tribe Phase before they can take any other action.

Hunt Phase

Once all players have resolved their actions, the Tribe Phase is completed and play moves to the Hunt Phase. There are three steps to the Hunt Phase:

• Step 1: Hunters Attack
• Step 2: Mammoth Counterattacks
• Step 3: Regroup

Step 1: Hunters Attack!

Starting with the Hunt Leader and moving clockwise, each player attacks the Mammoth.

Commit Resources

When you attack the Mammoth, you can use Pointy Stick, Clump of Grass, and Lumpy Stone tokens from your Tribe Board to improve your chance of success. Choose how many you want to use and place them at the top of your Tribe Board.

Roll to Wound

Roll a die for each of your Tribe Members on the Hunt Board (except those who are Wounded).

• Add +1 to each die roll for each Pointy Stick you are using.

For each result of 6 or more, take one of the Tasty Food tokens from the Mammoth's Wounds track on the Hunt Board.

Bash It with Lumpy Stones

If you Wounded the Mammoth, each Lumpy Stone you are using takes another Wound from the Mammoth.

The grey player is the hunt leader, so attacks first with their two tribe members. They decide to commit two Pointy Stick tokens, a Lumpy Stone token, and a Clump of Grass token.

The grey player rolls two dice, one for each tribe member, scoring 1 and 3. Their two Pointy Sticks add +2 to their roll, making their rolls 3 and 5. Since neither is 6 or more, they fail to wound the mammoth.

Since they failed to wound the mammoth, they wasted their Lumpy Stones.

Step 2: Mammoth Counterattacks!

If the Mammoth is not killed, it will fight back after all the players have made their attacks. Roll one die for each of your Tribe Members in the hunt (ignoring Wounded Tribe Members).

Each result of 4, 5, or 6 Wounds a Tribe Member — lay them on their side to show that they are Wounded.

If you used Clumps of Grass, subtract -1 from each die roll against your Tribe Members.

Step 3: Regroup

After the Mammoth counterattack is over, you can call off your hunt by placing all of your Tribe Members from the Hunt Board on a tile adjacent to the Mammoth. If all of your Tribe Members on the Hunt Board are Wounded, you must call off your hunt.

The grey player leaves the hunt to the other players and places their tribe members beside the mammoth's tile.

They are still the hunt leader, so if the other players kill the mammoth, they will still share out the four bonus Tasty Food tokens.

Discard Resources

All Pointy Sticks, Clumps of Grass, and Lumpy Stones used so far in the hunt are now discarded.

Continue the Hunt

If any players still have Tribe Members on the Hunt Board, return to Step 1.

Killing the Mammoth

When a player takes the last Tasty Food token from the Mammoth's Wounds track, it dies and the hunt is successful.

The Hunt Leader immediately takes four additional Tasty Food tokens from the pool and may distribute it to any or all players as they see fit. They can keep it all (risking the wrath of those in the hunt), or they can give it all away to others, including tribes not in the hunt.

Place the Mammoth on the Mammoth Breeding Ground tile and put four new Tasty Food tokens on the Mammoth's Wounds on the Hunt Board.

Place the Tribe Members from the Hunt Board on the tile where the Mammoth was killed (if that tile is the Mammoth Breeding Ground, the Hunt Leader chooses an adjacent tile instead).

Season Phase

After the players have completed their Tribe Phase and resolved the Hunt Phase, the turn ends with a Season Phase. This has four steps:

• Step 1: New Season
• Step 2: Mammoth Herd Roams
• Step 3: Discover New Lands
• Step 4: End the Turn

Step 1: New Season

Draw one card from the top of the Seasons Deck and follow its instructions. These remain in effect for the whole next turn.

This may add or remove Resource tokens, make certain types of Difficult Terrain easy to move through, send the Mammoth back to the breeding grounds, or wound or remove hapless Tribe Members.

Tribe members removed from play are placed on the right-most empty Grow Your Tribe space on their owner's Tribe Board.

The Season card drawn is Autumn. The Forest tile gains a Pointy Stick token and the tribe member on the Jungle tile is removed from play.

For the next turn, the Mountain tile is not difficult going, so is easy to cross.

Step 2: Mammoth Herd Roams

Roll a die and look at the Mammoth Breeding Ground tile to see which direction the Mammoth moves. Consult the Mammoth icon on the Season card to see how far it moves:

• If there are two arrows, move the Mammoth two tiles in that direction.
• If there is one arrow, move the Mammoth one tile in that direction.
• If there isn't an arrow, the Mammoth stays where it is.

This Autumn card has two arrows on the Mammoth icon, so the Mammoth moves two tiles. A roll of 4 moves it straight up two tiles.

Trample

If the Mammoth moves into or through a tile containing your Tribe Members, all of them are Wounded (unless they were already Wounded). You must immediately move them one tile so that they are out of the Mammoth's path.

The mammoth tramples and wounds the two tribe members on the Mountain tile. They move into the Berry Bush tile to get out of the way.

Blocked Tiles

Some Season cards prevent the Mammoth from entering specific tiles. If the Mammoth would move onto such a tile, it stops moving instead.

Herd Wanders Off

If the Mammoth would move off the play area, place it on the Mammoth Breeding Ground instead.

Step 3: Discover New Lands

Add a ring of Terrain tiles to the play area, expanding it by one tile in each direction. Put three Resource tokens of the appropriate type on each Terrain tile showing resources.

When there are no more tiles to place, the Ice Age Cometh instead.

At the end of the first turn, add the second ring of tiles.

At the end of the second turn, add the third ring of tiles.

The Ice Age Cometh

On the third turn, when there are no Terrain tiles to play, roll a die and look at the Mammoth Breeding Ground tile to see which direction the snow is coming from. Flip the Terrain tile at the indicated corner, and the three tiles clockwise, over to their Snow sides.

When you flip a tile to its Snow side, remove any Resource tokens from the tile.

On a roll of 4, the snow comes from the top of the play area. Flip the top corner tile and the three tiles clockwise to their Snow side. Remove all the Resource tokens on them.

In the Discover New Lands step of every subsequent Season Phase, the Ice Age number shown on the Season card shows how many rows of tiles to flip:

• If it shows 1, then flip all tiles adjacent to a Snow tile.
• If it shows 2, then flip all tiles adjacent to a Snow tile and the ones adjacent to them as well.

The next turn, the Season card is Eruption. This has an Ice Age number of 2, so flip the next two rows of adjacent tiles.

Frozen Over

When you run out of Terrain tiles to flip, the world has frozen over and the Ice Age has arrived, ending the game.

Step 4: End the Turn

If the world has not frozen over, then the First Player gives the First Player token to the player on their left (who becomes the First Player for the next turn), and a new turn begins.

Snow Tiles

Snow tiles are simply empty. They have no resources and no hazards. As the world becomes covered in snow, fighting other tribes and hunting the Mammoth become more important as a way to gain food.

Ending the Game

Once snow has covered the entire playing area, it is time to see which tribe is best prepared to survive the Ice Age.

Reveal Victory Cards

If your Victory card is face down, reveal it to the other players.

Score Tasty Food

Your Victory card will tell you how many Tasty Food tokens to add to your Tribe Board depending on what other tokens you have on your Tribe Board or Victory card.

Spiteful Spirit: Each time you participate in a successful hunt but receive no food, place a Tasty Food token here. Score three Tasty Food tokens for each token here at the end of the game.

The blue player has one Tasty Food on their Spiteful Spirit Victory card from being skipped by the hunt leader when they allocated the food from killing a mammoth. This adds three Tasty Food tokens to their Tribe Board.

Trappers: Score three Tasty Food tokens for each pair of Pointy Stick and Lumpy Stone tokens on your Tribe Board at the end of the game.

The yellow player has the Trappers Victory card. They have three Pointy Sticks and two Lumpy Stone on their Tribe Board. This adds six Tasty Food tokens to their Tribe Board (three each for two sets of Pointy Stick and Lumpy Stone tokens).

Find the Winner

Count your Tasty Food tokens. If you have more Tasty Food than your opponents, you win the game as the tribe best prepared to survive the Ice Age.

The blue player now has nine Tasty Food tokens, while the yellow player has ten. The yellow tribe wins!