Boonlake
Boonlake Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
- 1 gameboard
- 4 double-layer player boards
- 1 action board with 7 action strips
- 165 project cards (kinds: day, sunset, night)
- 42 building tiles (including 10 starting tiles and 7 cattle pastures)
- 16 scoring tiles
- 14 vases
- 62 coins (41x value 1, 15x value 5, 6x value 20)
- 36 levers
- 4 region markers
- 10 solo tiles (solo game only)
- 1 starting player token
- 12 double-sided adhesive stickers (for assembling the boards)
Per player (4 colors):
- 10 inhabitants
- 6 houses
- 4 settlements
- 5 cattle
- 2 boats
- 1 ship
- 3 player markers
- 1 100-/200-marker
- 4 production sites (stone, iron, loam, and wood)
- 4 scoring markers
Before the first game: Assemble the double-layer player boards and the action board using the adhesive stickers (attach them at the spots labeled STICKER). The recesses at the top left of each player board hold 4 production sites that must be kept. The action board's punch-out sheet also contains 100-/200-markers and coins that must be kept.
Set-Up
- Put the gameboard on the table.
- Sort the 42 building tiles by their backs. Stack the 7 building tiles showing a cattle pasture on both sides next to the gameboard. Mix the building tiles with the gray backs and put them out as a face-down mound.
- Place building tiles on the gameboard according to the player count:
- 1 or 2 players: Mix the 6 building tiles showing the matching back symbol and put them face up on the 6 matching gameboard spaces. Remove the 4 other building tiles from the game.
- 3 players: Mix the 8 building tiles showing one of the two matching symbols and put them face up on the 8 matching spaces. Remove the 2 remaining tiles from the game.
- 4 players: Mix the 10 building tiles showing one of the three matching symbols and put them face up on the 10 matching spaces. (You don't have to put a tile on a space showing the same symbol.)
- Add one region marker to each of the 4 regions.
- Keep the vases, coins, and levers next to the gameboard as a supply.
- Shuffle the project cards to form a draw pile next to the gameboard. Each player draws 6 cards into their hand.
- Lay the action board next to the gameboard. Mix the 7 action strips and place them on the action board in random order.
- Each player takes a player board and places it in front of them with the front side up (the back side is used only in the solo game). Each player then takes the wooden pieces of their chosen color:
- a) 6 houses, 4 settlements, and 5 cattle, covering the recesses in the player board.
- b) 10 inhabitants: 3 on the ranch at the bottom left of the player board, 2 in the two recesses next to the houses, and 5 in the supply.
- c) 1 ship, placed on the first river space (1-2 players) or the third river space (3-4 players) of the gameboard.
- d) 2 boats, placed on the canal of your player board in the area of wood production.
- e) 3 player markers: one on the starting space of the victory-point track, one on the coin track (showing 2 coins), one on the card track (showing 2 cards).
- Also take your 4 scoring markers and your 100-/200-marker and keep them beside your board, plus 4 production sites (1 of each type).
- Mix the scoring tiles; each player takes 2, chooses 1, and puts it in the area of their color at the bottom of the gameboard. You may look at your own hand cards before deciding. In the 1-, 2-, or 3-player game, put 1 random scoring tile in each unoccupied area (there are always 4 scoring tiles in play). Return the rest to the box.
- The player who last traveled to a place with fewer than 100 inhabitants gets the starting player token and 6 coins; the next player clockwise gets 7 coins; in the 3- or 4-player game, everybody else gets 8 coins.
- Each player chooses one of their production sites and places it – with the side showing 1 resource facing up – in the appropriate recess at the top left of their player board. (Tip: choose based on your hand cards or your chosen scoring tile.)
- Return the remaining boards, wooden parts, markers, and production sites to the box.
Course of the Game
Boonlake is played over 2 rounds. A round ends once somebody moves their ship onto the last river space. When this happens, as well as after about half of the round, an interim scoring takes place. After the second round, the game ends, followed by the fourth interim scoring and then the final scoring.
The player with the starting player token begins; play then proceeds clockwise. On each of your turns, execute these 3 phases in order:
- Phase A: Choose 1 action and carry it out
- Phase B: Advance your ship along the river
- Phase C: Push the action strips together
Phase A: Choose 1 action and carry it out
Choose one of the action strips from the action board and place it in the area at the very bottom of the action board. If you choose one of the two bottom strips, first move your victory-point marker back as many spaces as indicated for that row. Then you may carry out all the effects on the strip:
- First, you may play 1 card of the kind shown (day, sunset, or night) after paying its cost, OR put it on the discard pile to get 2 coins. You may forgo both options. (Exception: with the "Builder" action, you receive 3 coins instead.)
- Then carry out all effects shown in the middle of the strip, left of the arrow, from left to right. You may omit some effects.
- After that, all players (yourself included) may carry out the effect to the right of the arrow. Unless stated otherwise, others may execute this even while the active player is still resolving the effects to the left of the arrow. (Exception: with the "Pioneer" action, only the other players may carry out the right-side effect.)
Phase B: Advance your ship along the river
After the action, you may move your ship along the river. The space you took the action strip from indicates the maximum number of steps you may move. You obtain the bonus of the space where your ship ends its movement.
- You may move up to as many steps as the number on the just-uncovered action-board space shows. Steps may go to waste, but you must advance at least 1 step.
- Harbors can berth any number of ships and you don't have to stop in one. All other spaces hold only 1 ship at a time.
- Spaces occupied by other ships are skipped over and not counted – unless it is a harbor (harbor spaces are always counted).
- You may move only from the top down, never turning around. You cannot move beyond the final space.
- Once your ship moves onto the final river space, the current round ends (you still complete this phase), then an interim scoring takes place.
- At the river's fork, take the upper arm in the first round and the lower arm in the second round.
- If, during a round, you are the first player to move your ship across a lock, an interim scoring immediately follows your turn (all players take part). If another player has already crossed that lock this round, you do not trigger a scoring. Locks are not considered spaces.
Rewards along the river, depending on where your ship ends:
- Take X coins.
- Draw X cards.
- Take X inhabitants in your color from the supply onto your ranch.
- Take 1 vase.
- Gain X victory points.
- Choose either to take 1 vase or to build 1 production site on your player board (place a level-1 site or turn an already-placed one to its back; the level cannot exceed 2).
Phase C: Push the action strips together
Push the action strips up to close the gap, so there is again one action strip in each row.
General Rules for Effects
- You always take coins and inhabitants from the supply; when you pay or give them up, they return to the supply.
- Inhabitants in the recesses of your player board can be taken only through the tier bonus – they are not part of the supply.
- Collect inhabitants on your ranch (bottom left of your board). If forced to give up inhabitants, take them from your ranch.
- You can only get inhabitants in your own color from the supply.
- Draw cards from the draw pile. If it is depleted, shuffle the discard pile into a new draw pile. Discarded cards go on the discard pile.
- When you gain or lose victory points, move your marker forward or backward accordingly; it can go below 0. Each time your marker completes the whole track, use your 100-marker; on completing it a second time, flip it to the 200-side.
- Building a production site means placing a level-1 site (1 resource) in the appropriate recess, or turning an already-placed site to show 2 resources.
- Players normally act in parallel during an action (exceptions: "Settle" and "Cattle-breeding" are one after another). To act in order during a partial action, a player must announce it; then players resolve that partial action clockwise, starting with the player who chose the strip.
- If the supply lacks something you're supposed to get, make do with something else. Only the wooden pieces are limited – then you go empty-handed. If you must place a house but have none on your board, use one already removed from the game; if all 6 houses are on the gameboard, you cannot use that effect.
Special Effects: Play a Card, Explore, Develop, Upgrade
Play a Card
You may lay out a project card from your hand in front of you, provided you can settle its cost. Keep played cards as a display next to your board. With some effects you may instead discard a card from your hand to get 2 coins (put it on the discard pile).
A card's cost is a combination of vases, coins, and resources:
- Pay the coins shown into the supply.
- Put the vase(s) shown back into the supply.
- "Pay" the resource costs by showing proof that those resources are available to you on your production sites and boats. Resources are virtual – you must have them available, but you don't give them up.
Each project card belongs to one kind: day, sunset, or night. Some effects let you play (or discard) only cards of a specific kind.
Production sites produce 1 resource of their type whenever you need it. You start with one level-1 site placed during set-up. Various effects let you build more (place a new level-1 site, or turn an existing one to show 2 resources – a level-2 site always produces 2 resources of that type).
Boats: Your 2 boats also make resources available – each gives 1 resource of the type next to its current canal space. You may move boats any number of steps downstream (right) for free at any time; moving a boat upstream (left) any number of steps costs 2 coins. At game start you have 3 resources available: 1 of your production-site type plus 2 wood (though you can reposition boats).
A few effects let you lower a card's resource cost: the cost decreases by 1 resource of a type of your choice (e.g., 2 iron instead of 3, or 0 wood instead of 1).
Card Effects
Project cards show effects that occur at certain times:
- Immediate (lightning): execute when playing the card.
- Game-end: execute at the end of the game.
- Permanent: apply to you throughout the game.
After playing cards showing only game-end/permanent effects, you can pile them up (used again at the final scoring). Fan out the other cards you have played next to your board. You may allow partial effects to go to waste.
Special Projects on Scoring Tiles
The upper area of each of the 4 scoring tiles on the gameboard depicts a special project. Instead of playing a card from your hand, you may settle the costs shown (coins + resources) for one of these projects. Each project counts as all 3 kinds (day, sunset, night), and card-related effects (such as cost reductions) apply to them.
After settling the costs, you take 2 inhabitants from the supply (to your board's bottom-left area), earn the victory points indicated, and advance your marker 1 space on the corresponding income track (coin or card). Then place 1 of the 2 inhabitants on the color-matching space above the project to mark it realized. Each project may be realized only once per game (multiple players' inhabitants may sit above a space). If you realize the project on the scoring tile you chose during set-up, you gain twice as many victory points (your space shows a "x2" symbol). The lower half of the scoring tile matters only at interim scorings.
Explore
Add new building tiles to the gameboard:
- Reveal a gray building tile from the mound.
- Place it on an unoccupied gameboard space that is adjacent to another building tile or connected via a bridge to an already-placed tile. Cattle pastures count as building tiles. It doesn't matter whether the adjacent tile holds any presences. (Spaces connected by a ford are also considered adjacent.)
- Receive the reward indicated on the space chosen: take X coins, draw X cards, take 1 inhabitant, or build 1 production site next to the resource shown (if that site is already level 2, the effect is wasted).
If all gameboard spaces are already occupied, you get 2 coins instead for each unplaced tile.
Develop
Place 1 inhabitant from your ranch on an unoccupied building site. Each building tile (except cattle pastures) contains 1 or 2 sites. One site holds no more than 1 inhabitant/house/settlement; a tile with 2 sites may hold pieces of different players. Cattle pastures may never contain inhabitants.
- Choose an unoccupied building site.
- Place 1 inhabitant from your ranch there. Pay any costs the site indicates, or take any rewards it shows immediately.
Upgrade
You may either upgrade 1 inhabitant to a house, or upgrade 1 house to a settlement.
Upgrading an inhabitant to a house:
- Choose one of your inhabitants on a building site.
- Give up 1 inhabitant from your ranch.
- Replace the chosen inhabitant with a house from the topmost non-vacated tier of your player board (put the replaced inhabitant back in the supply). If this empties the first or second tier, you gain the tier bonus. If you have no house left on your board, use a house removed from the game; if all 6 houses are on the gameboard, you cannot use this effect. Removing houses from your board unlocks income at each interim scoring.
Upgrading a house to a settlement:
- Choose one of your houses on a building site. It must be adjacent to at least 3 presences (inhabitants, houses, settlements, or cattle – any owner). Presences on the same tile and on neighboring tiles (including across bridges) count as adjacent.
- Give up 2 inhabitants from your ranch.
- If this is your third settlement, also give up 1 additional inhabitant or 4 victory points. If it is your fourth, give up 2 additional inhabitants, or substitute either/both with 4 victory points each. You may always give up victory points voluntarily instead of inhabitants.
- Replace the chosen house with the topmost settlement of your board (put the removed house next to the gameboard, not back on your board). If this empties the second tier, you gain the tier bonus.
- If you already built another settlement in the same region (Boonlake, Southern, New Hope, or Unknown – the 4 areas connected by bridges), give up 5 victory points.
Settlements can increase your income at interim scorings. You cannot build more than 4 settlements.
Tier Bonus
If you remove all wooden pieces from the top tier of your player board (2 houses and 1 cattle), immediately place the inhabitant to the left of that tier onto your ranch (usable at once). Do the same with the second inhabitant once you empty the second tier (4 houses, 1 settlement, and 2 cattle removed). These removals also give victory points at each interim scoring's income phase.
The Actions
Pioneer
First, you may play a card (of the shown kind) or discard one to get 2 coins. Then you may explore twice, then either develop once or upgrade once. Afterward, all the others (not you) may draw 2 cards, then play 1 card of any kind (or discard it for 2 coins).
Settle
First, play a card or discard one for 2 coins. Then you may develop once or upgrade once. Afterward, all players – beginning with you, then clockwise – may develop once, or upgrade once, or play 1 card of any kind (or discard it for 2 coins).
Cattle-breeding
First, play a card or discard one for 2 coins. Then you may place 1 cattle pasture on an unoccupied gameboard space adjacent to a building tile (also across bridges), taking the reward there (as with Explore). If no cattle pasture remains, or all spaces are occupied, this effect is wasted and you get 2 coins instead. Afterward, all players – beginning with you, then clockwise – may either place 1 cattle, or play 1 card of any kind (or discard it for 2 coins).
To place 1 cattle:
- Choose any cattle pasture with no more than 3 cattle.
- Give up 1/2/3/4 inhabitants from your ranch if the pasture holds 0/1/2/3 cattle.
- If this is your fourth cattle overall, also give up 1 additional inhabitant or 4 victory points; if it is your fifth, give up 2 additional inhabitants, or substitute either/both with 4 victory points each. Voluntary VP substitution is always allowed.
- Place the topmost cattle from your player board on the pasture (if this empties the first or second tier, gain the tier bonus).
- Take 2 coins for each house (any owner) on a building tile adjacent to the chosen pasture.
Removing cattle from your board increases your income at each interim scoring.
Region scoring
First, play a card or discard one for 2 coins. Then choose one of the 4 regions (Boonlake, Unknown, New Hope, or Southern) whose region-label reward is not yet covered by a region marker. Put a region marker on that reward and gain it (coins, cards, or victory points). Afterward, the other 3 regions are scored for all players (yourself included): everybody gets 1 coin for each of their presences (inhabitant, house, settlement, or cattle) in those 3 regions. (Whether other region labels were covered previously is irrelevant here.)
Hire
First, play a card or discard one for 2 coins. Then you may take 1 inhabitant and explore once. Afterward, all players, as often as they want, may pay 3 coins or discard 3 cards to take 1 inhabitant onto their ranch. You may not mix payment for a single inhabitant, but may pay differently for each of several.
Progress
First, play a card or discard one for 2 coins. Then you may modernize once. Afterward, all players may modernize once, but must give up 1 inhabitant to do so; whoever can't or won't may draw 1 card instead. (So the active player can modernize once or twice; others only once.)
Modernize: Choose an unoccupied space in the modernization area of your player board, pay the coins indicated, take 1 lever tile from the supply, and place it in the recess so the reward at the bottom stays visible. Every modernization shows an effect or reward you may execute at any time (also during an action or effect), sometimes requiring a condition. To use it, move the lever down. At every interim scoring, move used levers back up so they can be used again.
Builder
Instead of playing/discarding a card, you get 3 coins at the start of this action. Then you may either play 1 card of any kind, or draw 2 cards. Afterward, all players may play 1 card of any kind (or discard it for 2 coins).
Interim Scoring & Final Scoring
There are 3 locks along the river. Each time in a round when a player is the first to move a ship across one, they take the river reward and an interim scoring immediately takes place. Over the game there are 4 interim scorings (2 per round), plus a final scoring after the fourth. The player with the most victory points then wins.
If your ship crosses a lock already passed by another ship this round, you do not trigger a scoring.
The first 3 interim scorings are conducted immediately. The last (end of the second round) is triggered when someone moves onto the last river space, but the round continues until all players have had the same number of turns (until the player to the right of the starting player has played); only then do you conduct the last interim scoring and the final scoring.
Interim Scoring
All players take part (not just the one who crossed the lock). It has 5 steps, each resolved by all players simultaneously:
- Once or, better, twice, each player may either play 1 card of any kind (discarding for 2 coins is not allowed) or upgrade (developing is not allowed). You may also play 1 card and upgrade once.
- All players must score for one of the 4 scoring tiles:
- a. Take the scoring marker of your color showing 1/2/3/4 victory points at the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th interim scoring.
- b. Choose one of the 4 scoring tiles below which none of your scoring markers is yet placed.
- c. Put the marker on the space of your color and earn the points indicated if you meet the condition; otherwise, subtract those points. On your set-up-chosen tile (marked "x2"), the plus or minus points are doubled.
- Each scoring tile shows a condition and 4 values referring to the 4 interim scorings (fulfill the first value at the first scoring, and so on – it gets harder over the game). You must score for one tile even if you cannot fulfill its condition.
- All players receive income (the wagon), in 3 parts:
- a. Income from the positions of your markers on the two income tracks (coins and cards, plus victory points).
- b. Coins and victory points for all vacated spaces on your player board (tier-bonus inhabitants, houses, settlements, cattle).
- c. Cattle scoring: for each of your cattle on the gameboard, earn 1 victory point per settlement on the adjacent building tiles (also across bridges).
- At the last interim scoring, players get only the victory points; cards and coins are wasted.
- Move all levers you used back up. For every lever you did not use, earn 1 victory point.
- Remove all region markers placed on region-label rewards (so they can be chosen again at region scoring).
After the second interim scoring, the first round ends: all ships are moved back along the ford to their starting space for the second round (in the 4-player game, ships start further ahead than with 2 or 3 players). After the fourth interim scoring, the final scoring takes place.
Final Scoring
At the end of the second round, after the last interim scoring, execute in this order:
- Levers: if you have 4–6 levers on your board, earn 2 VP per lever; with 7 or more, earn 3 VP per lever (e.g., 21 VP for 7 levers).
- Earn victory points for each card you have played (per the number on its symbol).
- For each recess in the third tier from which you removed a piece: 2 VP.
- For each recess in the fourth tier from which you removed a piece: 4 VP.
- For each recess in the fifth tier from which you removed a piece: 6 VP.
Leftover coins and cards give no victory points. The player with the most victory points wins; ties are shared.
Overview of Symbols
If a number is shown next to an effect, its color matters: white numbers are rewards; black numbers are costs.
Income Tracks
The gameboard has two income tracks: the coin track and the card track. Advancing your marker moves it 1 space on the respective track; when it crosses a reward, you get it immediately. At each interim scoring you get the coins/cards and victory points next to your two markers. If a marker is on the last track space and would advance further, that step is wasted but you earn 2 victory points per forfeited step. One reward on the track lets you immediately build 1 production site (level 1 or 2).
Card Effects
Every time you play a card you may carry out its top effect (partial effects may be wasted):
- Lightning: immediate.
- Game-end: additional victory points at the end of the game.
- Permanent: apply throughout the game.
Immediate effects include: advance 1 space on the coin or card track (1 per symbol); take a number of coins; take 2 inhabitants; take 1 vase; discard 3 cards for 2 inhabitants; exchange 2 cards for 4 coins or 4 coins for 2 cards; discard 3 cards for 1 vase and 2 coins, or give up 1 vase and 2 coins to draw 3 cards; discard 5 cards for 4 VP, or give up 4 VP to draw 5 cards; discard 2 cards for the number of VP indicated; give up 1 inhabitant for 8 coins; give up 2 vases for 4 VP; move 1 lever back up; upgrade 1 inhabitant to a house without giving up an inhabitant; upgrade 1 house to a settlement giving up 1 fewer inhabitant and requiring 1 fewer adjacent presence (these are cumulative with similar effects).
Game-end effects include: 1 VP per presence in the region shown; 1 VP per production site built (level-2 sites give 2); 1 VP per house removed from your board; 1 VP per cattle removed; 2 VP per settlement removed. Some game-end effects have thresholds: reaching the top number gives the lower VP, reaching the bottom number gives the higher VP, and not reaching the top gives none (conditions can reference income-track advancement, levers owned, or cattle/houses/settlements removed).
Permanent effects include: modernizing lever costs reduced by the coins shown (cumulative, never below 0); card coin costs reduced by 1 (also for special projects; cumulative, never below 0); +1 coin when you discard a card of a given kind (cumulative, always applies when discarding such a card); +1 additional coin when your ship ends on a coin space; 2 coins or 2 cards when your ship ends in a harbor; give up 1 fewer inhabitant per cattle placed (cumulative); +2 coins per cattle placed (cumulative); +1 additional vase when your ship ends on a vase space and you take a vase.
Lever Effects
During "Progress" you may add 1 or 2 lever tiles to recesses on your player board (paying their coins). You may use lever effects at any suitable moment, including during other actions and interim scorings (but not after moving levers up at the fourth interim scoring). Move the lever down to use it; move it up at the next interim scoring to reuse it.
Special condition for the 3 levers in the top row: you may use one only if you forgo the all-players part of an action (the right side of the strip). (At region scoring, forgo the coins you'd get. With "Pioneer," the right side applies only to others, so you cannot use these levers but the others' right-side part still happens.) If you have more than one of these 3 top-row levers and forgo that part, you may use only 1 of them.
Top-row levers (require forgoing the all-players part):
- Take 1 vase, or give up a vase to get 6 coins.
- Modernize once.
- Upgrade once (not develop).
Other levers include:
- When you forgo playing/discarding a card, get 1 coin per production site built (level-2 sites count double). Usable also when forgoing at "Builder" or an interim scoring.
- When you forgo playing/discarding a card, get 3 coins. Usable also at "Builder" or an interim scoring.
- At a region scoring, get 1 victory point in addition to 1 coin per presence.
- Move 1 boat upstream (left) any number of steps for free.
- When upgrading a house to a settlement, give up 1 fewer inhabitant and require 1 fewer adjacent presence (cumulative with other such effects).
- When you place a building tile (including a cattle pasture), move this lever down to get 1 inhabitant.
- When playing a card, reduce its resource cost by 1 (a joker), or take 2 coins, or draw 2 cards (discount also usable for special projects).
- When playing a card, reduce its resource cost by 1 (a joker) and take 5 coins, or just take the 5 coins and forgo the joker (also usable for special projects).
- Discard 2 cards to get 1 inhabitant and 3 victory points.
Scoring Tiles
The upper half shows a special building project you can carry out via a "Play a card" effect: pay the costs, get 2 inhabitants, advance 1 step on an income track, earn VP, and place 1 inhabitant above the tile. The bottom half shows a category and 4 values – the minimum conditions to score at the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th interim scoring (doubled if it is your set-up-chosen tile). Categories include:
- Two regions: need the top number of presences in one region and the bottom number in the other.
- Marker advanced at least the given spaces on the respective income track.
- The lower of your two income-track markers advanced at least the given spaces.
- The indicated number of production sites built.
- At least 1 presence on the depicted number of adjacent building tiles (cattle pastures count).
- The depicted number of levers on your board.
- The depicted number of cattle removed from your board.
- The depicted number of settlements removed.
- The depicted number of presences on building tiles next to bridges (spaces interconnecting regions).
- Give up 1 inhabitant or 5 coins (or 1 vase or 5 coins) the indicated number of times, getting 2 VP each time (mixing allowed; only while scoring this tile).
- Give up 2 coins the indicated number of times, getting 1 VP each time (only while scoring this tile).
- Played enough sunset and day cards: top number for one kind, bottom number for the other (special projects count as a played card of a kind of your choice, decided per project).
Building Tiles
When you Develop, you place 1 inhabitant on an unoccupied building site, paying the site's cost or taking its reward:
- Pay the coins indicated or discard the cards indicated.
- Take the coins indicated or draw the cards indicated.
- Some sites are free of charge.
Some building tiles show effects, immediate or conditional: advance 1 space on the applicable income track; advance 3 spaces on the coin or card track (not split); immediately receive your coin-track income (without advancing); immediately receive your card-track income (without advancing); gain the indicated VP; lose the indicated VP; get 1 vase; gain the indicated VP the moment you upgrade a house to a settlement on this site; lose 5 VP the moment you upgrade a house to a settlement on this site.
Solo Mode
You play alone against the legend of Boonlake: the Wise Eminence.
Solo Set-Up
Set up as for the two-player game, with these differences for the Wise Eminence:
- Use the back of a player board for them. Choose a color and place their cattle, houses, and settlements on the appropriate spaces.
- Put a marker of their color on the first space of the cactus track and another on space "0" of the victory-point track. They have no markers on the income tracks. Put their 100-/200-marker beside their board.
- Put their ship next to yours on the two-player starting space. They get the starting player token (so you start with 7 coins).
- The Wise Eminence never gets cards or coins. Their inhabitants, boats, scoring markers, and production sites are not used. Reveal a random scoring tile for them during set-up.
- Choose a difficulty and randomly remove that number/type of solo tiles from the 10:
- Easy: remove 4 B-tiles
- Medium: remove 1 A-tile and 3 B-tiles
- Challenge: remove 2 A-tiles and 2 B-tiles
- Difficult: remove 3 A-tiles and 1 B-tile
- Very difficult: remove 4 A-tiles
- Mix the remaining 6 solo tiles in random orientation and put them face down as a stack next to the Wise Eminence's board.
Solo Course of the Game
The Wise Eminence and you alternate turns; the Wise Eminence begins. On each of their turns, reveal the top solo tile, orient it upright, then carry out 2 effects: first the upper half, then the lower half (choosing an action strip and carrying out the action). Then advance their ship as many steps as the chosen action strip's space shows. If the solo stack is depleted, remix the 6 tiles in random orientation as a new stack.
Choosing a location: For various effects the Wise Eminence chooses a location randomly, using the number in the corner of the solo tile that matches their position on the top tile of the stack. If the stack is depleted, they always use the number in the upper-left corner. Each number is a specific gameboard space. If the effect cannot be done at that space, take the next higher space, and so on; from space 33 skip to space 1. If no location works at all, the effect is wasted.
The Wise Eminence's Turn: They ignore your turns (except region scoring, below); you conduct interim scorings together. On their turn:
- A) They first look at the bottommost of the 7 action strips:
- "Settle": build 1 structure (2 structures on a B-tile).
- "Cattle-breeding": place 1 cattle (and, on a B-tile, advance 1 on the cactus track).
- Any other action: advance 1 on the cactus track (2 on a B-tile).
- B) Then they choose one of the 3 actions depicted on the solo tile, always taking the action whose strip is furthest up on the action board. Move that strip to the bottom, as usual. Carry out the solo-tile effect, then you may carry out the strip's right-side part (you benefit from their actions).
Overview of solo effects:
- "Builder" or "Progress": advance 1 on the cactus track (2 on a B-tile).
- "Hire": draw a building tile, choose a location (adjacent to ≥1 tile), then advance 1 on the cactus track (2 on a B-tile).
- "Pioneer": draw and place a building tile twice (adjacent to ≥1 tile) if possible, then place their top house on the second tile placed (upper site if 2). On a B-tile, +1 on the cactus track.
- "Cattle-breeding": choose a location (adjacent to ≥1 tile) and lay a cattle pasture there if possible, then place one cattle on a pasture. On a B-tile, +1 on the cactus track.
- "Settle": build 1 structure (twice on a B-tile).
- "Region Scoring": for each region, subtract the Wise Eminence's presences from yours (skip regions whose rewards are already covered). They choose the region with the highest difference (ties: the most northern). Cover its reward with a region marker and earn VP (4 for Boonlake, otherwise 3). Score the other 3 regions as usual (you get 1 coin per presence; they get 1 VP per presence, or 2 on a B-tile). Region scoring is the only action where the Wise Eminence also benefits if you choose that strip (they earn 1 VP per presence in the three scored regions).
Building a structure (solo): If the Wise Eminence has no more than 1 house on the gameboard, they place a house from their board on an unoccupied building site (no inhabitants given up; upper site if 2), ignoring all building-tile effects. If they already have 2+ houses on the board, they replace one of their houses with a settlement (removing the house from the game, ignoring the 3-presence rule). Houses, settlements, and cattle are always removed from the solo board top to bottom. If no structure remains on their board, they earn 10 VP instead.
Placing cattle (solo): For each cattle pasture, count adjacent structures (houses and settlements, any owner) and subtract the cattle already on it. Place their cattle on the pasture with the single highest difference; ties are broken by fewest cattle, then by the solo-tile corner number. If all 5 of their cattle are on the board, they earn 10 VP instead.
Ship movement (solo): After both solo-tile effects, the Wise Eminence moves their ship by the normal rules but never wastes steps (unless moving onto the last river space). They do not receive the reward of the space where their ship ends (not even victory points). If they cross a lock before you, they trigger an interim scoring as usual; if it ends the first round, put both ships back on the first river space, then it's your turn.
Solo interim scoring: Triggered as usual when a ship first crosses a lock. Conduct yours as normal. The Wise Eminence only does the income phase, scoring VP for houses, settlements, cattle, and the cactus track (the VP shown on each last-vacated space), plus 1 VP per adjacent settlement for each of their cattle.
Solo final scoring: As usual at the end of the second round. Since the Wise Eminence begins the game, you take the last action. During the final scoring the Wise Eminence gets their income one more time (alternatively you may double their income during the fourth interim scoring). Then look through the face-down solo stack: for every yet-unrevealed B-tile, they score 10 VP. If you have the same or more victory points as the Wise Eminence, you win; otherwise the Wise Eminence has proven worthy of their name.
Credits
Author: Alexander Pfister. Illustration: Klemens Franz. Graphic design and layout: atelier198. Editing: Markus Müller. English translation: Sybille & Bruce Whitehill, "Word for Wort". © 2021 dlp games Verlag GmbH / Capstone Games.