Arribada
Arribada Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 108 Turtle shells (27 per Player)
- 110 Tiles (Numbered 1-8, 15 of 1-6, 10 of 7-8)
- 11 50-Point Seashells
- 4 Refresh tile seashells
- 1 First-player marker
- 1 Double-sided board
- 1 Bag
- 4 Tile racks (1 per Player)
Setup
Center Setup
- Place the board in the center of the table with the correct side for the number of players face up:
- 3-4 players: Green Side (larger grid)
- 2 players: Blue Side (smaller grid)
- Shuffle the numbered tiles in the bag.
- Randomly draw and place a number of tiles face-up on each of the designated nido (nest) spaces for your player count. Also fill the display (the spaces along the shoreline) with face-up tiles drawn from the bag.
- Place the bag near the board.
- Sprinkle the 50-point seashells along the water on both sides of the tile display. These will be collected by players as their score marker rounds the track.
Player Setup
- Each player puts one turtle shell of their chosen color near the 0 space of the score track. This will function as a score marker.
- Each player takes the following in their color: a. A number of turtle shells depending on player count (return extras to the box): i. Two players: all remaining 26 turtle shells ii. Three players: 24 turtle shells (return two each) iii. Four players: 20 turtle shells (return six each) b. A tile rack, put in front of them. c. A refresh tiles seashell
- Each player draws five tiles from the bag and puts them on their tile rack.
- The player who last saw a turtle takes the first-player marker.
Structure of Play
Arribada is played over a series of turns, starting with the first player and going clockwise. The game ends once one player has put all their turtle shells onto the board. Players then perform final scoring, and the player with the most points is the winner.
The Game Board
The board contains mostly playa (beach) spaces, where players will place tiles from their racks. There is also one roca grande (large rock) space in the center, which cannot have tiles placed on it, as well as nido (nest) spaces, which spawn neutral tiles (including during setup). Each space (except the roca grande) is part of one quadrant, denoted by dark pebbles.
Turtles are placed on the nido spaces during setup.
Golden Rule: In Arribada, "adjacent" refers to orthogonal adjacency (up/down/left/right), never diagonal.
Flow of Play
Take One Action
On your turn, perform one of the three actions — place, claim, or capture —, all of which involve putting one of your turtle shells onto the board:
- Place a tile from your rack: Place a tile from your rack onto any empty playa (beach) space, then put one of your turtle shells on it, marking it as your tile. Afterward, draw a tile to replenish your rack back to five tiles.
- Drawing a tile: You can either draw a tile from the bag at random or from the tile display. If you draw from the tile display, refill the display space with a tile randomly drawn from the bag. If you draw from the bag, don't reveal the tile you draw to the other players.
- Nido (nest) spaces: When you place a tile next to an empty nido space, draw a random tile from the bag and put it on that nido space.
Example: Green places a tile onto an empty playa space and adds her turtle shell to it. Because she placed next to an empty nido space, she draws a random tile (in this case a 3) from the bag and places it on that nido space. Then, she replenishes her rack by drawing the 8 from the display and refilling the display with a random tile from the bag.
- Claim a neutral tile: If the total strength of your tiles adjacent to a neutral tile is greater than any other player's, you may claim it by putting one of your turtle shells on it, marking it as your tile.
- The strength of a tile is equal to the number on it for most tiles. Some are different, as described in the note below.
- Your total strength must be greater than zero in order to claim a tile. A strength of zero does not suffice.
Example: For claiming the 7 neutral tile, Blue has 9 strength (6+3) compared to Green's 6 strength (the 5 is not adjacent, so it does not count). Blue decides to claim the neutral 7 on his turn by placing his turtle shell on it.
Suggested Variant for Beginners: Do not teach or play with the following Capture action option until players have played one or more games of Arribada and are comfortable with the other rules.
- Capture an opponent's tile and flip it: If the total strength of your tiles adjacent to an opponent's tile is greater than the total strength of that tile and all their tiles adjacent to it, you may capture it: return their turtle shell to them, flip the tile face down, and put one of your turtle shells on the tile.
- Tiles that are flipped face down are wild and have no strength. They cannot be captured by opponents.
Example: Green wishes to capture Blue's 4 tile. Blue has a strength of 6 (the tile itself, 4, plus the adjacent 2) compared to Green's strength of 7 (3 plus 4). On her turn, Green decides to capture the blue 4 tile — the blue shell is replaced with a green shell and the tile is flipped face down (becoming a wild).
Example: Pink wishes to capture Blue's 8 tile. Blue has a strength of 5 (because the 8 and 7 have a strength of zero) compared to Pink's strength of 10 (from the adjacent 1 tile). On his turn, Pink decides to capture the blue 8 tile — the blue shell is replaced with a pink shell and the tile is flipped face down (becoming a wild).
Note: The "1" tiles have a strength of 10 for claiming and capturing. While they display a large "1" in the center, the small "10"s on the edges remind you of this. Similarly, the "8" and "7" tiles have a strength of zero for claiming and capturing, and the small "0"s on the edges remind you of this.
Placing/Claiming a "2": Extra Action
If you place or claim a "2," immediately take another action. You cannot trigger this effect multiple times in the same turn; if you place or claim a second "2," you do not gain another action. If you place for your first action, do not refill your tile rack before your second action. After the second action, draw two tiles; refill the display only after you have drawn back to five tiles.
Scoring
When a player places or claims a tile, they score that tile if it is part of a group. Only score that tile, not any other tiles in the group. Each time a player's score marker rounds the entire score track (going from 49 back to 0), they take a seashell (worth 50 points) from the shoreline.
Groups
A group is three or more adjacent tiles all belonging to the same player. Groups can either be a sequence or a set.
Sequence: A sequence is a group of tiles in numerical order. When putting your turtle shell on a tile in a sequence, score points equal to its value. A tile may be part of multiple sequences, but it only scores its value once.
Example: Green creates a new sequence (4-5-6) by placing a 4 tile. Green scores 4 points for adding a 4 to her sequence (note that the 5 and 6 do not score themselves, they merely help create the sequence).
Example: Pink creates a new sequence (1-2-3-4) by claiming a neutral 3 tile. Pink scores 3 points for adding a 3 to his sequence.
Example: Blue places a 7 tile. Blue scores 7 points for extending a sequence (4, 5, 6, …) with a 7 tile. On a later turn, Blue earns another 7 points for branching the sequence in another direction by placing another 7 tile.
Set: A set is a group of tiles of the same value. When putting your turtle shell on a tile in a set, score one point per tile in the set, including that tile.
Example: Pink extends his set of tiles (originally three tiles with a value of 1) by placing a 1 tile. This also connects the set to another Pink 1 tile. Pink scores 5 points for placing his turtle shell on the fifth tile in a set (note that the Blue 1 tile does not count as part of the set because it belongs to another player).
Remember: A set or sequence of only two tiles is not considered a group, so it does not score. A group consists of three or more tiles, so the third tile and beyond will score points.
Note: If a tile is part of at least one sequence and one set, it scores twice: its value for the sequence and then the number of tiles in the set.
Example: Green has the most strength around the neutral 2 and decides to claim it. This creates a new sequence for green (2-3-wild) so Green scores 2 points for having just claimed the 2. Claiming a 2 also grants Green an extra action, so she immediately places a 3 tile. This creates a new sequence (3-4-wild) and extends a set (3-3-3-wild) so Green scores her newly placed tile both ways earning 7 points (3 points for placing a 3 in a sequence, 4 points for placing the fourth tile in a set).
Scoring wilds: When capturing, do not score the wild tile. In later turns, it acts as whatever number (1-8) is needed in a group when placing or claiming a tile, even as different numbers for different groups.
Example: Blue decides to capture Green's 2 tile (Blue has 6 strength, Green has 4 strength). Blue replaces the green turtle shell with a blue turtle shell and flips the tile face down (it becomes wild). Although the wild tile extends Blue's sequence (4-5-6-wild), it does not score points because capturing does not score points. Blue does not gain an extra action for capturing a 2 tile because it becomes a wild.
On a future turn, Blue places a 4 tile creating a sequence (4-wild-6-7) and a set (wild-4-4). Blue scores 4 points for adding a 4 to his sequence and 3 points for adding the third tile to his set.
On a future turn, Blue places an 8 tile creating three sequences (4-5-6-wild-8, 4-wild-6-7-8, and 4-5-6-7-8). Despite being part of multiple sequences, Blue only scores the tile once for 8 points.
Refresh Tiles Seashell
Before or after your main action, you may spend your refresh tiles seashell. After your seashell is spent, it is returned to the box. Spending this seashell allows you to set aside any tiles on your rack and in the display, replace those tiles with tiles drawn from the bag, then return the replaced tiles to the bag.
Game End & Final Scoring
When one player puts their last turtle shell onto the board, the game ends at the end of the current round; all players will have the same number of turns. Even if that player gets one of their turtle shells back (from a capture), the game still ends after the current round. Once the last player in turn order finishes their turn, proceed to final scoring:
Final Scoring
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Remove any stranded tiles from the board and put them in front of their players. Tiles are stranded if they are not part of a group. a. All players lose points equal to the value of each of their stranded tiles.
Note: Stranded "1" tiles lose one point, not 10. Stranded "7" and "8" tiles lose seven and eight points, respectively. Stranded wild tiles do not lose points since they have no value.
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Score majorities in each quadrant:
Note: Majorities are scored after stranded tiles are removed from the board!
Three or Four Players
Players score based on who has the majority of tiles in that quadrant:
- First place: 20 points
- Second place: 16 points
- Third place: 10 points
- Fourth place: 8 points
A player must have at least one tile in a quadrant to qualify for scoring. In case of a tie, points for the tied positions are added up and split as evenly as possible (rounded down).
Two Players
Players score based on who has the majority of tiles and how many tiles the second place player has in that quadrant:
First place: 10 points
Second Place:
- -10 (0 tiles in the quadrant)
- -5 points (1-2 tiles in the quadrant)
- -2 points (3 tiles in the quadrant)
- 0 points (4+ tiles in the quadrant)
If negative points cause a player to go backward from the 0 space (or higher) to the 49 space (or lower) on the score track, then they must return a seashell to the shoreline.
A player's total points includes all of their seashells (worth 50 points each) plus their current position on the track. The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the players share the victory. If that doesn't seem fair, the player who has seen the most turtles in their lifetime breaks the tie (even if they're not among the tied players). If the players are not satisfied with that, then the player who has been to the most beaches in their lifetime breaks the tie (especially if they're not among the tied players). If the players are still not satisfied, the game ends in a true tie, rendering it a pointless endeavor. Maybe you'll be okay tying with your niece next time.
Example (Note: this example only shows how the top half of the board would be scored, but the bottom half is scored in a similar manner.): First, the stranded tiles (highlighted in red) are removed from the board and placed in front of the respective players. Green will lose 4 points (2+2), Blue will lose 2 points (2), and Pink will lose 10 points (1+2+7). After the stranded tiles are removed, majorities are scored for each quadrant.
In the upper left quadrant: Blue scores 20 points for 1st place with 9 tiles. Pink scores 16 points for 2nd place with 3 tiles. Green does not score because she has no tiles there after her stranded tiles were removed.
In the upper right quadrant: Pink and Green tie for first place with 6 tiles each, so they split 1st and 2nd place points (36 points) for 18 points each. Blue scores 10 points for 3rd place with 3 tiles.