We All Take from the River
We All Take from the River Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set Up
Lay out the board where every player can access it.
Place fish, tree, and gravel resource tokens on the corresponding slots on each hexagon tile. These slots are where unclaimed resources will be stored throughout the game.
Shuffle the blue weather deck. Next to the board, lay out the first three weather cards face up. Then place the rest of the deck face down below the face up cards. These three cards will be the almanac where players can view the current and upcoming weather. The card furthest to the left represents the current season's weather.
For 3-5 players, shuffle the red role deck. Deal one role card to each player face down. Role cards tell each player their objectives for the game. Players should only see their own role card. They may not reveal their cards until the end of the game but may say whatever they want to about their objectives.
Distribute one fish, one tree, and one gravel to each player.
Each player chooses their color and places their camp on one of the gray rectangles on the hexagon land tiles adjacent to the river.
Whoever has cleaned up the most litter today places their camp first. Proceed clockwise.
Begin the game.
Objectives
There are five possible objectives:
- Conservation - Ensure no pollution is on the map.
- Agriculture - Stockpile fifteen fish.
- Development - Build the city.
- Capital - Have more gold than any other player.
- Charity - Ensure each other player has completed at least one objective.
For 3-5 player games, each player is given a unique combination of two objectives based on their role card. Players must have both objectives complete at the end of the game to win.
There are ten role cards, one for each pair of objectives.
Each game will be unique depending on the set of roles dealt to players. Since players keep their roles hidden, you may want to be attentive to each player's actions to determine their motivations.
In some games one player may have a more challenging task than the others. In this example the Mayor may be at a disadvantage as the only player with the Development objective.
For solo and two player games, do not use the red role cards. Instead, each player has the role of Steward. The Steward must complete all three of the Conservation, Agriculture, and Development objectives.
Beginning the Game
A game is broken into ten rounds called seasons. Seasons are broken into five turns, one for each row of hexagon tiles on the board.
At the start of a season, roll the six-sided die and add or subtract from the result as indicated by the leftmost weather card in the almanac. The total will be the initial water level for that season. Use the twelve-sided die to track the water level. If the water level is higher than twelve, use the six-sided die as well.
The water level represents the height of the river waters, but it can be negative. This signifies that the tributaries flowing into the river have dried up as well as the river itself. Use the six-sided die alone to represent a negative water level, or no die at all if it's zero.
Once the initial water level is determined, begin the first turn at the top row and proceed downriver until the final turn at the estuary.
On each turn, do the following:
- Adjust the water level.
- Populate natural resources.
- Take player actions.
Adjusting the Water Level
Use the twelve-sided die to track the water level and turn. Place the die on the river tile of the current turn with the water level displayed.
If there is a plus on the line between river tiles, add one to the water level as the turn changes. Otherwise it stays the same.
Each land tile has a number representing the tile's elevation. If the water is higher than that elevation, the tile erodes. Remove one tree token from the tile and place it on the river tile in the same row. Then reduce the water level by one.
If the water level is higher than both land tiles in the row, the tile at higher elevation erodes first.
Any tile with a gravel slot is a wetlands tile. If a wetlands tile would erode, first reduce the water level by one and refill all empty gravel slots on the tile. Then, if the water level is still higher than the wetlands tile, that tile erodes normally.
If a tile would erode but there are no tree tokens on it, that tile floods. Move any pollution and gravel on a flooded tile to the river tile in the same row. Place a flood marker on the flooded tile. Do not reduce the water level when a tile floods.
Camps and other structures built by players lose all abilities while on a flooded tile, except to move off of that tile if they can. Nets do not count as being on the flooded tile.
Remove all flood tokens on the board at the end of each season.
Populate Natural Resources
Only populate resources if the water level is greater than zero.
Spawn fish - If there is at least one fish on the river tile of the current row, add another fish to that tile. If there is an empty fish slot the new fish fills that slot. If there are no fish on the river tile no fish spawn.
Grow trees - Place one tree token in an empty tree slot for each land tile. Only one tree may grow on a given tile in a turn. A tile may not have more trees than it has slots available. Do not add a new tree to tiles that eroded or flooded this turn.
Player Actions
Camps and anything they build count as structures. If a player has a structure in the current row, they may take actions using that structure. Players are not required to use all available actions.
There are three possible actions:
Harvest
Harvest actions allow players to gather resources from the map. Camps, boats, excavators, and lumber mills all have a unique harvest action.
Any structure with a harvest action may use it to remove one pollution from the tile that structure is on.
Any structure with a harvest action may use it to plant. Place a resource from your stockpile onto a slot on the same tile the structure is on. The resource must match the slot it is placed in, e.g. only trees may go in tree slots.
Build
Build actions allow players to add structures to the map. Camps and excavators can build.
A player must always pay one fish in order to take the build action. Then that player may build any number of structures by paying the resource costs.
New structures cannot take actions on the turn they are built, but passive structures take effect immediately.
Move
Camps and excavators may each move to an adjacent land tile on their turn. A boat may move to any river tile.
A boat may also use its move action to ferry a camp or excavator to the land tile on the same row across the river. This uses the move action of the boat and the structure it ferries.
If a camp would move into the same tile as another camp, instead it jumps over that tile to the next available land tile.
Once a structure has moved it cannot take any other actions. Flip it over or turn it on its side to indicate that it has no more actions that season.
Who Goes First?
Structures on the land tile at higher elevation act first. Structures on the river tile act last.
If a player has two structures on the same tile, they may choose the order in which those structures act.
If two players have a structure on the same land tile and one of them is a camp, the camp acts first. Only one camp may occupy a given land tile.
If a player has a boat in the same row as their camp, they may choose to use that boat as part of the camp's actions. This allows the boat to act sooner. The same is true for any other structures on the same tile as the camp.
If two players' structures are on the same tile and neither is a camp, the player whose camp is at higher elevation goes first.
During the Storm, structures on the river act first. Structures on the land tile at higher elevation act last.
Ending the Turn
At the end of each turn, move any unslotted fish tokens in the river to fill all empty fish slots. Then move all unslotted resource tokens, including any remaining fish, from the current river tile to the river tile below. Fish, trees, gravel, and pollution all count as resource tokens.
If there is a plus between the river tiles, add one to the water level.
At the end of the final turn of the season any remaining unslotted resource tokens flow out to sea. Remove them from the map.
Ending the Season
At the end of all five turns the season is over. Players may exchange resources for gold and then enact policies before the start of the next season. Policies are collective decisions that impact all players.
Players may exchange any combination of two resource tokens, except pollution, for one gold token. Discard the two resource tokens and take one gold from the bank. Do this any number of times in any order.
When all players are ready to proceed to the next season, discard the current season's weather and shift the other two cards left in the almanac. Then draw a new weather card and place it in the rightmost position of the almanac. Remove all flood tokens from the map.
Policies
At the end of a season players may choose to spend one gold token to propose a policy. All players then vote on the proposal by descending order of camp elevation. If more than half of the total votes are in favor, the policy is enacted and takes effect. On a tie vote the policy fails.
At any time during the voting process players may spend gold tokens to gain an equal number of extra votes. Voting only ends when all players have settled on their votes or no one can afford to vote more. Everyone gets to see who votes for what.
There are three policies: pollution subsidy, land protection, and city development. Players may also revoke a policy in the same way they would enact one. Only the city development policy is permanent once enacted.
Players must pay one gold before proposing or attempting to revoke a policy.
Pollution Subsidy
Pollution may be exchanged for gold the same as any other resource. For example, two pollution tokens can be sold for one gold.
Place a pollution token just above the weather deck to show that the pollution subsidy has passed.
The pollution subsidy may be revoked by passing another policy.
Land Protection
Any one tile on the board, land or river, becomes protected. The proposing player chooses which tile. Place a gold token anywhere on the tile, but not in a slot, to show that it is protected.
- Only pollution may be harvested from a protected tile.
- Structures on a protected tile lose all abilities except to harvest pollution, plant a resource, or move to another tile.
- If a player has a structure on a protected tile that cannot move, say a farm or a lumber mill, that player may choose to sell that structure and collect resources equal to its cost from the bank.
For example: If a farm is on a tile that becomes protected, that farm loses all abilities. It can no longer produce fish or pollution. Its owner may remove the farm from the board and regain its cost: two trees and two gravel.
An excavator on the same tile would be able to harvest pollution, plant a resource, or move to another tile. It cannot be sold because it has a move action. It cannot harvest gravel from adjacent tiles.
Any number of tiles may be protected. Players may pass another policy to remove protection for a tile.
City Development
Remove all resources from any one land tile and place the city token on it construction side face up, covering the tile's resource slots. That tile no longer can hold resources.
Players may add any number of resources to the construction site at the end of each season after the policy phase. When there are five fish, five wood, and five gravel stacked on the construction site, the city is complete. Remove all resources and flip the token to the city side.
Once a resource token is added to the city token it cannot be removed. Players do not need a structure on the same tile to add resources.
When the city is complete:
- The city produces one pollution during the populate phase on its turn.
- At the end of each season, players may exchange one gold to the bank for one of any resource as many times as they wish.
If the tile the city is on floods, immediately add three pollution to the river. Place a flood token on top of the city. Treat the city as if it is not there until the beginning of the next season. If the city is flooded on the last season of the game, the development objective fails.
When the city token is placed it covers the slots on that tile. If it is on a wetlands tile, that tile loses its gravel slot and no longer counts as wetlands. Do not reduce the water level by one before eroding for that tile.
Once the city token is placed it cannot be moved or removed.
Pollution
Some structures create pollution tokens. When a pollution token is created place it directly onto the river tile in the same row. If there are any empty fish slots on that tile, move the pollution token into one of those slots.
At the end of the turn, as resources move, loose pollution in the river fills any empty slots in the next row:
- Fill land slots first in order of elevation.
- If one tile has two empty slots, fill the slot higher upriver.
- If a fish and a pollution would both move into the same slot, the fish gets there first.
A slot filled by a pollution token cannot be filled by anything else until the pollution is removed.
If a pollution token reaches the bottom of the river and there are no empty fish slots, replace one slotted fish token with the pollution token. The fish token flows out to sea at the end of the last turn instead of the pollution.
At the end of the season, if all three fish slots in the estuary are filled with pollution, the river ecosystem is destroyed. All players lose, regardless of whether they have completed their objectives.
Any structure with a harvest action may use that action to remove one pollution from the tile the structure is on.
Other Rules
Half Tiles
Some tiles are half hexagons with only one resource. Treat those as individual tiles with the following rules:
- Structures cannot occupy half tiles.
- Half tiles cannot erode or flood.
- Pollution cannot enter half tiles.
- Trees on half tiles populate separately to trees on adjacent full tiles. Half tiles populate even if the full tile next to it erodes or floods.
- Gravel slots on half tiles refill at the same time as gravel slots on the adjacent wetlands tile in that row.
The Storm
The storm weather card creates a storm surge that reverses the turn order for one season. Begin the season at the estuary and take turns by elevation from lowest to highest.
At the end of the storm season retain the final water level. Add that number to the initial water level the next season. Leave any resources in the river to flow back down the next season.
If the storm would be the last season of the game, play for one extra season.
Trading
Players may trade with each other at any time, so long as all parties involved agree to the trade. Players may also give tokens to each other for free. Fish, trees, gravel, pollution, and gold are all tokens that may be traded.
Structures
Camp
- Cost - No cost, cannot be built.
- Harvest - Take any one resource from the tile the camp is on or one fish from the river tile in its row.
- Build - Pay one fish before building. Then pay the resource cost for any number of structures and place them on the tile the camp is on.
- Move - Move to an adjacent land tile. If another camp is on that tile, skip to the next available tile. May use a boat to cross the river.
Boat
When building a boat place it in the river tile in the same row as the camp.
- Harvest - Take any one resource from the tile the boat is on OR dredge: gain one gravel and add one pollution to the river. Take the gravel from the resources in the box.
- Move - Move to any river tile OR ferry another moving structure across the river. This uses the other structure's move action too.
Excavator
- Harvest - Take up to two gravel from the current or adjacent tiles and add one pollution to the river.
- Build - Pay one fish before building. Then build a canal by paying its resource cost. Add a pollution to the river.
- Move - Move to an adjacent land tile.
Lumber Mill
- Harvest - Take up to two trees from the current or adjacent tiles and add one pollution to the river.
The red lumber mill may harvest any two trees from the highlighted tree slots.
Net
- Passive - At the end of the turn as resources move past the net to the next river tile, collect one of those resources at random.
To randomize a resource, one player may pick up all the loose tokens and hide them in their hands. The player with the net selects one blindly. Alternatively, assign each token a number and roll the six-sided die.
If two nets would both collect resources at the end of the turn, the net closer to the top of the river collects first, except during the storm when the order is reversed.
When building a net, place it on one of the two net slots on the same side of the river as the camp. Only one net may occupy a given net slot.
These camps may build nets on the slots highlighted in their color.
Farm
- Passive - If the water level is greater than zero, gain one fish and add one pollution to the river during the populate phase of the turn.
Canal
- Passive - After adjusting the water level, but before the populate phase, reduce the water level by one. If there is a farm on the same tile as the canal, that farm produces one fish for each water level reduced. The canal cannot reduce the water level below zero. If there are multiple canals on a tile, each reduces the water level separately.
Levee
- Passive - When calculating erosion, treat the tile as if it were at one higher elevation for each levee on it. Levees do not affect turn order.
Bridge
- Passive - Treat the two land tiles connected by the bridge as if they were adjacent. Land structures may move between those tiles. Structures that may harvest from adjacent tiles may harvest across the bridge.
When building a bridge, place it in the river on the same row as the camp.
Tutorial Mode
For a simpler game experience, try playing without the water level. Make the following adjustments:
- Ignore the blue weather deck completely. Do not play with an almanac.
- Use the twelve-sided die to track the turn as normal by moving it along the river. Instead of displaying the water level, display the number of seasons that have passed.
- Refill all gravel slots during the populate phase of each turn.
- Always populate natural resources as if there was water in the river. Regrow one tree per land tile and spawn a fish if there is at least one fish in the river.
- Assume there is always water for canals to drain. Canals now exclusively make farms produce more fish.
In tutorial mode, land tiles cannot erode or flood, and the river can never dry out. This changes some strategic dynamics of the game:
- Pollution that enters a land tile can only be removed by a player harvesting it.
- Nets will have many fewer resources to catch, since only fish and pollution will enter the river.
- Levees are useless.
Example Map
The following are the captions printed beside the example-map artwork.
- The City is under construction, but no one has added any resources to it. Red built a levee to protect the city from flooding when it is complete. They needed to have their camp on the tile when they did so.
- Orange's lumber mill has harvested wood from the half tile above and its own tile. Orange's camp was forced to cross the bridge when the wetlands flooded.
- Last turn the water level was 6. The wetland tile reduced it to 5, but then flooded because it had no tree. This turn, tributaries increased the water level back to 6. After the right wetland drained the water and eroded, the water level was 4. Then the left wetland drained it to 3.
- There is a pollution in the estuary. That pollution will stay there until it is removed by a player. If the other two fish slots are filled by pollution, everyone will lose.
- Yellow's farm produces 3 fish on its turn: 1 normally plus 2 from the canals. Pollution is subsidized.
- It's the 4th turn of the season. Purple went first because they are at elevation 4 compared to Red at 3. Purple's excavator has harvested two gravel from adjacent tiles below. Red's boat will go last this season. It is at the bottom of the river. If Red harvests the last fish in the estuary, no more will spawn unless new fish make it down the river.
The example-map artwork also labels the almanac columns "Current Season", "Next Season" and "Season After", and a discard pile, for the Yellow farm and Purple excavator illustrations.
Quick Reference
Set Up
- Give each player a role card and one fish, tree, and gravel token. Do not reveal role cards.
- For one or two players, do not distribute role cards. Each player must complete the Conservation, Agriculture, and Development objectives.
- Fill in all resource slots on the map with the marked resource. Lay out three weather cards face up and put the deck face down below.
- Take turns placing camps. Camps must be on the gray rectangle and only one camp may be on any given tile.
Gameplay
- Determine the starting water level by rolling D6 + weather card modifier.
- Play proceeds beginning at the top row of tiles and proceeding downriver. For each row, do the following in order:
- Adjust the water level. Add one if there is a plus above the tile. Check for wetlands, erosion, and flooding.
- Populate natural resources. Only populate if the water is at least 1. If there are fish in the river, add one more fish. Fill one tree slot in each land tile that has not eroded or flooded.
- Take player actions by order of elevation.
- Move unslotted resources downriver.
- At the end of each season, trade for gold, then propose policies. If it is the end of the final season reveal goals and determine who has succeeded.
Objectives
- Conservation - Ensure no pollution is on the map.
- Agriculture - Stockpile fifteen fish.
- Development - Build the city.
- Capital - Stockpile more gold than any other player.
- Charity - Ensure each other player has completed at least one objective.