Cacao Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Materials
• Object of the Game
• Set Up
  • Worker Tiles
  • Jungle Tiles
  • Jungle Tiles for the Two-Player Game
• Course of the Game
  • The Playing Area
  • A Game Turn
    • A) Place 1 worker tile
    • B) Fill jungle spaces
    • C) Carry out jungle tile actions
  • Ending a Turn
• End of the Game
• Scoring
• Overview Sheet for Jungle Tiles
  • Plantation
  • Market
  • Gold Mine
  • Water
  • Sun Worshiping Site
  • Overbuilding a Worker Tile
  • Temple
• Credits

Game Materials

• 44 worker tiles – backs in player colors; 11 each in red, purple, white and yellow
  • 4x 1-1-1-1
  • 5x 2-1-0-1
  • 1x 3-0-0-1
  • 1x 3-1-0-0
• 4 water carriers in wood – 1 each in red, purple, white and yellow
• 4 village boards – backs in player colors; 1 each in red, purple, white and yellow. Each village board shows sun-worshiping places, water fields, and storage spaces for cocoa fruit.
• 28 jungle tiles – gray backs
  • 8x plantation: 6x single plantation, 2x double plantation
  • 7x market: 2x selling price 2, 4x selling price 3, 1x selling price 4
  • 3x gold mine: 2x value 1, 1x value 2
  • 3x water
  • 2x sun-worshiping site
  • 5x temple
• 20 cacao fruits in wood
• 12 sun tokens
• 48 gold coins: 24x value 1, 12x value 5, 12x value 10
• 1 set of instructions
• 1 overview sheet for jungle tiles (The sheet is part of the instructions – please be sure to read it!)

Object of the Game

Cacao takes the players into the exotic world of the "Fruit of the Gods." Each is a tribal chief trying to lead his tribe to fame and wealth by growing and trading in cacao. At the end of the game, the player with the most gold wins.

Set Up

Each player chooses one color. He takes the village board, the water carrier and the worker tiles of that color.

He places the village board in front of him and puts the water carrier on the water field with the value "-10".

Worker Tiles

The worker tiles show a sand-colored area with a hut in the respective player color in the middle. There are always 4 workers of this color depicted at the edges of the tile in various distributions.

Depending on the number of players, each player sorts out the following worker tiles and puts them back in the box:

• 2 players: none
• 3 players: 1x 1-1-1-1
• 4 players: 1x 1-1-1-1 and 1x 2-1-0-1

You mix your worker tiles and put them as a face-down worker draw pile next to your village board. After that, you draw the 3 top worker tiles from your worker draw pile and take them into your hand.

Jungle Tiles

The jungle tiles are predominantly green and show locations with different action possibilities that you can use if there are workers adjacent.

Select the following 2 jungle tiles and place them face up in the middle of the table diagonally to one another; they form the starting tiles of the playing area:

• 1x single plantation
• and 1x market, selling price 2

Mix the remaining jungle tiles and lay them out as a face-down jungle draw pile.

Draw the 2 top jungle tiles from the jungle draw pile and place them next to the pile as a face-up jungle display.

Then lay out the cacao fruits and the sun tokens as separate supply piles. Put the gold coins next to them to serve as the bank.

Example of a starting set-up for 3 players: in the middle of the table are the starting tiles, with the jungle draw pile and the jungle display beside them. The bank, the cacao fruit supply and the sun token supply are laid out at the side of the table. Each player has a village board with water carrier in front of him, his worker draw pile next to it, and a starting hand of 3 worker tiles.

Jungle Tiles for the Two-Player Game

For the two-player game only, sort out the following jungle tiles and put them back in the box:

• 2x single plantation
• 1x market, selling price 3
• 1x gold mine, value 1
• 1x water
• 1x sun-worshiping site
• 1x temple

Course of the Game

The game proceeds over several rounds, played in clockwise order. The oldest player becomes the starting player and begins.

The Playing Area

During the course of the game, the players add worker tiles and jungle tiles to the playing area.

In general, the following tile-laying rules apply:

1. A worker tile may never be laterally adjacent to other worker tiles.
2. A jungle tile may never be laterally adjacent to other jungle tiles.

This way, a chessboard pattern of worker and jungle tiles is formed. The starting tiles have already determined whether you have to put a worker tile or a jungle tile on an unoccupied square of this pattern. In the following, the squares that are occupied with jungle tiles are called jungle spaces.

A Game Turn

On your turn, you have to carry out the following steps in the order indicated:

A) Place 1 worker tile

Choose 1 worker tile from your hand and place it laterally adjacent to at least 1 jungle tile already in play.

You may orient the worker tile in any direction you want.

B) Fill jungle spaces

The placement of worker tiles can trigger the filling of jungle spaces. If, due to the newly placed worker tile, there are now 2 worker tiles adjacent to 1 unoccupied jungle space, you have to fill this space. It doesn't matter to whom the adjacent worker tiles belong. It may happen that several jungle spaces need to be filled.

For each jungle space to be filled, you pick 1 jungle tile from the jungle display and place it on the applicable space. If you have to fill 2 jungle spaces, you can decide which jungle tile you put on which of the two spaces.

Attention: The jungle display is refilled only at the end of the game turn.

Note: In the extremely unlikely case that you have to fill more than 2 jungle spaces, you first place the two tiles from the jungle display. In order to fill more jungle spaces, you draw the jungle tiles from the jungle draw pile.

If you don't have to fill a jungle space resulting from the newly placed worker tile, or if there are no jungle tiles left in the jungle display and on the jungle draw pile, the filling action is omitted.

C) Carry out jungle tile actions

Each worker on the newly placed worker tile that is adjacent to a jungle tile is activated. By activating a worker, you may carry out the actions of the adjacent jungle tile.

You find a detailed description of the actions of the different jungle tiles on the overview sheet for jungle tiles. The overview sheet is part of the game instructions and has been separated from them merely for better clarity.

If jungle spaces have been filled during the current turn, now the adjacent workers of the respective other players are activated as well.

Attention: Each worker is activated exactly one time during the game – either by placing the worker tile or by filling adjacent jungle spaces with jungle tiles later on.

The players involved can carry out the actions simultaneously and independently of one another.

Note: Everybody involved may partly or entirely forgo the carrying out of actions.

You may freely determine the order in which you carry out the actions. However, the actions for workers on one edge of the tile have to be completed before the actions for workers on another edge of the tile are carried out.

Note: Players may make change for their gold coins at the bank at any time.

Example: After Yellow has placed 1 worker tile and filled 1 jungle space, all players involved carry out the jungle tile actions: Yellow receives 1 cacao fruit from the plantation and sells it at the market for 3 gold. Red has 1 cacao fruit left in his storage and sells it at this market for 3 gold, too.

Ending a Turn

After steps A) through C) have been carried out, you draw the top worker tile from your worker draw pile and take it into your hand. If your worker draw pile has been depleted, you skip this action.

If there are less than 2 jungle tiles in the jungle display, it is refilled to 2 jungle tiles by drawing tiles from the jungle draw pile, as far as possible. If the jungle draw pile has been depleted, the refilling of the jungle display is skipped.

This ends your turn; now it is your left neighbor's turn.

End of the Game

The game ends after the round in which all players have placed their last worker tile.

Scoring

1. The temples are scored individually, one after another. The players in first and second place obtain gold (see overview sheet for jungle tiles). To keep things clear, scored temple tiles should be flipped over to their back side.
2. For each sun token that you still own at the end of the game, you get 1 gold from the bank.
3. Finally, you add up your gold and add to it the value of the water field on which your water carrier is standing at the end of the game. If the water carrier is still standing on a field with a negative value, you have to deduct the applicable number.

Note: Left-over cacao fruits don't give you any gold.

The player with the most gold wins.

In case of a tie, the player who wins is the one who has the most cacao fruits left. If there is still a tie, the players involved share the win.

Overview Sheet for Jungle Tiles

Plantation

(Single plantation, double plantation)

For each of your activated workers on the adjacent edge of the tile, you may take 1 cacao fruit (for a single plantation) or 2 cacao fruits (for a double plantation) from the supply. You put them individually on 1 unoccupied storage space on your village board. Each player has 5 storage spaces and may never store more than 5 cacao fruits; any additional fruits that you acquire go to waste.

Market

(Selling price 2, selling price 3, selling price 4)

For each of your activated workers on the adjacent edge of the tile, you may sell 1 cacao fruit from your storage at the price indicated on the market. You put the cacao fruit back in the supply and then take the corresponding 2, 3 or 4 gold from the bank.

Gold Mine

(Value 1, value 2)

For each of your activated workers on the adjacent edge of the tile, you may take the value indicated – that is, either 1 or 2 gold – from the bank.

Water

For each of your activated workers on the adjacent edge of the tile, you may move the water carrier on your village board 1 water field ahead in a clockwise direction. If the water carrier reaches the water field with the value "16," he stops there; any possible further steps go to waste.

At the end of the game, you add to your gold coins the value of the water field on which your water carrier is standing. If the water carrier is still standing on a field with a negative value, you have to deduct the applicable number.

Sun Worshiping Site

For each of your activated workers on the adjacent edge of the tile, you may take 1 sun token from the supply. You put it on an unoccupied sun-worshiping place on your village board. Each player has 3 sun-worshiping places and may never own more than 3 sun tokens. Sun tokens that you might get beyond that go to waste.

Towards the end of the game, you can use sun tokens to "overbuild" one of your own worker tiles. At the end of the game, you get 1 gold from the bank for each sun token you have not used.

Overbuilding a Worker Tile

When the jungle draw pile has been depleted towards the end of the game and there are no jungle tiles left in the jungle display, you may, from now on, overbuild one of your own worker tiles, instead of adding it to the playing area in the usual way; for this, you have to put 1 sun token back in the supply. Choose 1 worker tile from your hand and put it on top of one of your own worker tiles that you placed earlier. After that, you carry out the actions of the adjacent jungle tiles for the activated workers. If you don't own any sun token, you cannot overbuild and have to place the new worker tile as usual.

Important: Each worker tile may be overbuilt only once.

Example: It is Red's turn. The jungle draw pile has been depleted and the jungle display is empty. Therefore, he is allowed to overbuild: He puts 1 sun token from one of his sun-worshiping places back in the supply; after that, he overbuilds 1 of his own worker tiles. He puts the new worker tile on top of the tile placed on an earlier turn and carries out the actions of the adjacent jungle tiles. First, he takes 2 cacao fruits for the worker at the double plantation and places them on two of his storage spaces. After that, he sells the two cacao fruits at the market for 2x4 = 8 gold. Finally, he moves his water carrier 1 space ahead.

Temple

The temples have no direct effect during the game. Only at the end of the game are the temples scored, individually, one after another. The player who has the most workers adjacent to the respective temple receives 6 gold from the bank. The player with the second most adjacent workers obtains 3 gold.

If there is a tie for first place, 6 gold are evenly distributed among the players involved (and rounded down, if necessary). In this case, there is no gold awarded for second place.

In case first place is clear but there is a tie for second place, 3 gold are evenly distributed among the players involved (and rounded down, if necessary).

Attention: If any worker tiles adjacent to the temple have been overbuilt, only the worker tiles on top count for the scoring.

Note: If there is only 1 player with workers adjacent to the temple, he gets 6 gold from the bank, as usual; no gold is awarded for second place. You need to have at least 1 worker adjacent to the temple in order to score for it.

Example: Yellow and Red both have 2 workers at this temple. Consequently, they share 6 gold for first place; each of them gets 3 gold from the bank. Purple has 1 worker at this temple. However, he goes away empty-handed, since second place is not awarded in this case.

Credits

We thank the Hans im Glück Verlag for kindly allowing us to use the figures from the Carcassonne game.

• Author: Phil Walker-Harding
• Illustrator: Claus Stephan
• English translation: Sybille & Bruce Whitehill, "Word for Wort"

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