Cóatl Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Overview
• Goal of the Game
• Setup (Example for 3 Players)
• Types of Cards
  • Prophecy Cards
  • Temple Cards
• Prophecy and Temple Card Symbols
• Scoring Prophecy and Temple Cards
  • Single Requirement
  • Duplicate Requirement
  • Multiple Requirements
• Game Turn
  • 1. Take Cóatl Pieces
    • Replenishing the Supply Board
  • 2. Choose Prophecy Cards
  • 3. Assemble Your Cóatl
  • Cóatl Assembly Rules
  • Completing a Cóatl
• Sacrifice Tokens
• Game End
• Scoring
  • Scoring Example
• Detailed Explanation of Temple and Prophecy Cards
• Special Thanks
  • Credits

Components

• 54 Prophecy cards
• 15 Temple cards
• 1 Supply board / Scoreboard
• 4 Player boards
• 3 Supply bags
• 12 Sacrifice tokens
• 1 First Player marker
• 150 Cóatl pieces (15 tails, 15 heads, and 120 body segments)

Game Overview

During the game, players create Cóatls by connecting head, body, and tail pieces that satisfy the requirements of the Prophecy cards they wish to fulfill. The more Prophecy cards' requirements a Cóatl fulfills, the more prestige points it scores. A Cóatl can also score bonus prestige points by satisfying the requirements of one of the Temple cards. The game end is triggered after a player finishes their 3rd Cóatl, or when the supply of body segments is depleted.

Goal of the Game

The players race to score the most prestige points by creating valuable Cóatl sculptures. At the end of the game, the player with the most prestige points is declared the winner.

Setup (Example for 3 Players)

1. Place the Supply board in the middle of the table.
2. Each player takes the Player board and Sacrifice tokens in their player color. Note: For your first game, it is suggested not to use Sacrifice tokens.
3. Fill the Supply board by drawing random pieces from the corresponding Supply bags. Keep the bags within easy reach, they will be needed throughout the game.
4. Choose a start player and give him the First Player marker.
5. Shuffle the Temple cards and deal 1 to each player to keep in their hand as hidden information. Divide the remaining cards into 2 faceup piles near the Supply board.
6. Shuffle and place the Prophecy deck near the Supply board. Draw and reveal 6 Prophecy cards to form a faceup Prophecy supply.
7. Deal 3/4/5/6 Prophecy cards to the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th player. Each player chooses up to 3 Prophecy cards to keep in their hand, and discards the rest. These cards are hidden information.

Types of Cards

Prophecy Cards

The primary method of scoring points is by fulfilling Prophecy cards. This requires you to assemble your Cóatl to create the best pattern possible in order to win more prestige points.

Some Prophecy cards have requirements that can be satisfied multiple times. If so, a Cóatl scores points based on the number of times it satisfies those requirements, up to the depicted maximum.

Each Cóatl piece can be used only once per Prophecy card. However, the same piece can be used to satisfy more than one Prophecy cards.

Important: the body segments depicted in a card's requirement can be satisfied by any type of piece, including a head or a tail.

A Prophecy card shows, from top to bottom: the point value for each requirement level, the number of times the requirement is satisfied, a requirement reminder, and the sequence of pieces required to fulfill the card. A small icon in the corner shows the representation of the orientation of the Cóatl.

Temple Cards

The Temple cards are goals that you need to fulfill. Players start with 1 Temple card in their hand and there are 2 Temple cards revealed from the common pile. When you complete a Cóatl, you can fulfill one of the personal or common Temple cards, if able.

A Temple card shows the number of requirements satisfied, the point value for each requirement level, and the requirements that must be fulfilled.

Prophecy and Temple Card Symbols

• A Cóatl piece (head, tail, or body segment) of the depicted color.
• One or more pieces of the depicted color. If the symbol is white, the piece(s) can be of any colors.
• The sequence is only valid if the piece depicted in the red 'X' symbol is not present. In other words, the piece in this position is either of a different color or there is no piece in this position.
• The "equals" symbol: The number of pieces to the left of this symbol must be equal to the number of pieces to the right of this symbol (minimum 1 piece).
• A depicted number on a body-segment bar: The Cóatl must consist of exactly as many pieces (including its head and tail) as the depicted number. For example, if the number is 11, this Cóatl must be made of 11 pieces.
• The "no" (circle-slash) symbol: The piece this symbol covers cannot be present.

Scoring Prophecy and Temple Cards

The number of points a card scores is depicted in its top left corner. There are three categories of point calculation:

Single Requirement

Score the indicated number of points if you satisfied the Cóatl card's requirements at least once.

Duplicate Requirement

Score the number of points corresponding to the number of times the Cóatl satisfies the card's requirements, up to the listed maximum.

Note: You can score only one requirement level.

Multiple Requirements

Score points according to how many of the card's requirements the Cóatl satisfies.

Game Turn

Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses one of the following actions to perform as their turn:

1. Take Cóatl pieces
2. Choose Prophecy cards
3. Assemble your Cóatl

1. Take Cóatl Pieces

Choose one space of the Supply board (1 head, 1 tail, or 2 body segments) and add its contents to your Player board. Each space on a Player board can hold exactly one Cóatl piece; in other words, each Player board can hold up to 8 pieces.

• If you choose a space containing body segments, you must take both of them.
• You must have room on your Player board for the piece(s) you wish to take.

Replenishing the Supply Board

Replenish the Supply board whenever:

• its supply of body segments is emptied, OR
• its supply of heads and tails are emptied.

Fill all empty spaces of the Supply board with randomly drawn pieces of the matching type.

Notes: If there are not enough pieces to fill all supply spaces, fill as many as possible (always 2 body segments per space), and continue playing with the partially replenished supply.

If the supply of body segments is empty and there are no body segments left in the supply bag, proceed to Game End (see Game End, page 9).

2. Choose Prophecy Cards

Choose one or more Prophecy cards from those in the supply and/or from the top of the Prophecy deck, and add those cards to your hand. You can take several cards during this action, but you cannot exceed the 5-card hand limit.

Example: Jordana has 2 cards in hand. She chooses to take 2 of the faceup cards and draws 1 card from the deck. She is now at her hand limit of 5 cards.

Once you have finished your turn, reveal Prophecy cards from the deck to refill the faceup supply to 6 cards.

3. Assemble Your Cóatl

Use your collected pieces to create a new Cóatl and/or add to existing ones. You may then use these Cóatl to fulfill Prophecy cards.

While assembling your Cóatl, you may perform the following Assembly actions in any order, as many times as you wish (make sure you follow to the Cóatl Assembly Rules found below):

a. Begin a new Cóatl Take any piece from your Player board and place it on the table in front of you. Note: You cannot do this Assembly action if you already have 2 incomplete Cóatls.

b. Add to an existing Cóatl Take a piece from your Player board and attach it to one end of one of your incomplete Cóatl. Although a Cóatl can have many body segments, it can have at most 1 head and 1 tail.

c. Fulfill a Prophecy card Place a Prophecy card from your hand next to one of your incomplete Cóatl whose attributes satisfy the card's requirements (see Prophecy and Temple Card Symbols, above). If the Cóatl does not satisfy a card's requirements, that card cannot be played. Some cards have several requirement levels, which can be satisfied as you add more pieces to your Cóatl. While fulfilling a Prophecy card means satisfying its minimum requirement, the card is only scored at the end of the game. This means that you may still add to your Cóatl, thus increasing its value.

Example: Jordana has 3 blue pieces, she satisfies the minimum requirement for this Prophecy card. She can put the Prophecy card next to her Cóatl and she will be able to add more blue pieces in the future.

Cóatl Assembly Rules

• You can have up to 2 incomplete Cóatl.
• To complete a Cóatl, it must have 1 head, 1 tail, and at least 1 body part.
• You need 1 to 4 Prophecy cards to complete a Cóatl.
• A Cóatl cannot be used to fulfill identical Prophecy cards.
• Once placed, Cóatl pieces cannot be moved or removed.
• 2 Cóatl will never be joined together.
• You do not need to use all of the Cóatl pieces on your Player board.
• Your Player board does not need to be full in order to choose the Assemble your Cóatl action.

Completing a Cóatl

Upon completing one of your Cóatl, perform the following steps before continuing your turn:

• Fulfill as many Prophecy cards with your newly completed Cóatl as you want (up to 4 Prophecy cards per Cóatl).
  • If your newly completed Cóatl has not fulfilled any Prophecy cards, it must fulfill at least one during this step.
• Fulfill one of the Temple cards from your hand or the common piles with your newly completed Cóatl, if able.
• Announce the point value of the newly completed Cóatl to the other players.
• Flip facedown all cards fulfilled by the completed Cóatl.

Reminder: the 'Fulfill a Prophecy card' Assembly action only allows cards to be placed next to incomplete Cóatl. Completing a Cóatl is your last opportunity to fulfill Prophecy cards using a completed Cóatl.

If a player completes their 3rd Cóatl, proceed to Game End (see Game End, below).

Sacrifice Tokens

Each player begins the game with 3 Sacrifice tokens. Instead of playing a standard action, you may discard a Sacrifice token to perform its action.

• Perfect Pick: Draw 1 head, 1 tail, or 2 body segments of your choice from the corresponding bag, then refill all empty spaces of the Supply board.
• See the Future: Discard all Prophecy cards in the faceup supply, then refill it. Discard any number of cards from your hand, then perform a 'Choose Prophecy cards' action.
• Priest Commitment: Take one of the faceup Temple card and add it to your hand. When completing a Cóatl, you can fulfill this personal Temple card instead of a common Temple card.

Game End

Players continue taking turns in clockwise order until one of the following occurs:

a. A player completes their 3rd Cóatl. b. There are no body segments remaining in the supply (either on the board or in the bag).

After this, the final turns of the game will play differently depending on how the game end was triggered.

a. If Game End was triggered by a player completing their 3rd Cóatl, each other player will take one final turn. Continuing in clockwise order:

• If you are later in turn order (note who has the First Player marker) than the player who triggered the game end, you can perform up to two actions on your final turn.
• If you are earlier in turn order than the player who triggered the game end, you perform only one action on your final turn.

Example: There are 4 players. Player 2 completes their 3rd Cóatl and triggers game end. Players 3 and 4 can each perform two actions on their final turn. Player 1 only performs one action on their final turn. Player 2 does not take another turn. The game ends.

b. If the game end is triggered due to an empty supply of body segments, continue playing until everyone has played the same number of turns (pay attention to the First Player marker). Then each player gets one final turn.

Once all players have taken their final turn, proceed to Scoring.

Scoring

Remove any pieces remaining on the Supply board and flip it over to reveal the scoreboard. Each player uses a Cóatl body segment matching their player color to track their points on the scoreboard. Whenever a player's scoring piece passes 50, place one of their Sacrifice tokens (50-side up) next to the scoreboard, and continue counting their score from 1. A player's score is equal to the position of their piece on the scoreboard plus 50 for each such token they have.

Each player scores prestige points for their completed Cóatl based on how well each Cóatl satisfies its fulfilled Prophecy and Temple cards (see Scoring Prophecy and Temple Cards, above).

The player who has accumulated the most prestige points is given the title of Aztec High Priest, thereby winning the game. In case of a tie, the player who has the most Prophecy and Temple cards placed next to their completed Cóatls wins. If the tie persists, the player who has the single highest scoring Cóatl (most points scored by its corresponding cards) wins.

Scoring Example

This Cóatl has fulfilled 3 Prophecy cards and 1 Temple card:

• The last 4 pieces (8-11) satisfy the first card's requirement: 4 points.
• Although the 3 isolated pairs of blue pieces (1-2, 4-5, 8-9) satisfy the second card's requirements three times, the card only rewards you for the first two: 5 points.
• The blue pieces (pieces 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9) satisfy the third card's requirements 6 times: 5 points.
• The absence of green pieces satisfies the Temple card's first requirement, but there are too many pieces to satisfy its second requirement (exactly 9 pieces): 3 points.

This Cóatl scores a total of 17 points.

Detailed Explanation of Temple and Prophecy Cards

• Requirement: The Cóatl has no blue pieces and/or the Cóatl is exactly 10 pieces long. Point value: 1 requirement fulfilled: 3 points. 2 requirements fulfilled: 7 points.

• Requirement: The Cóatl has an equal number of yellow and red pieces (minimum 1 each) and/or the Cóatl is exactly 12 pieces long. Point value: 1 requirement fulfilled: 3 points. 2 requirements fulfilled: 7 points.

• Requirement: The Cóatl has 3, 4, 5, or 6+ blue pieces. Point value: Score the corresponding points. The pieces do not need to be adjacent.

• Requirement: The Cóatl has 1 or 2+ green-green sequences that are not adjacent to other green pieces. Point value: Score the corresponding points.

• Requirement: The Cóatl has 1 or 2+ yellow-yellow-yellow sequences. Point value: Score the corresponding points.

• Requirement: The Cóatl has 1 or 2+ sequences of any number of yellow pieces preceded and followed by a green piece. Point value: Score the corresponding points.

• Requirement: The Cóatl has 1 green-black sequence and 1 black-green sequence, both separated by any number of pieces, regardless of their color. Point value: Score 4 points.

• Requirement: The Cóatl has 1, 2, or 3+ yellow-green sequences. Point value: Score the corresponding points.

• Requirement: The Cóatl has a red-green-red-green sequence. Point value: Score 5 points.

Special Thanks

Synapses Games would like to emphasize how exciting and fun this adventure was. This collaboration was very special and we feel privileged to have had such a deep connection with the designers. We wish Pascale and Etienne all the best and hope to work with them on future projects.

We'd also like to take the time to highlight the amazing work of illustrator SillyJellie. Her time spent researching Aztec culture is made evident by the fine details of her illustrations.

Finally, Synapses Games would like to offer a special thanks to the whole team. The energy and commitment you have contributed to this project has produced an incredible game. You can be proud of what we have achieved together!

Credits

• Designers: Pascale Brassard, Etienne Dubois-Roy
• Development: Pascale Brassard, Etienne Dubois-Roy, Carl Brière
• Illustrations: SillyJellie
• Art Direction: Igor Davin, Marie-Elaine Bérubé, Carl Brière
• Graphic design: Adrien Barthélemy, Marie-Elaine Bérubé
• Editing and translation: Adam Marostica, Sean Jacquemain, Jean-François Gagné
• Publisher: Jeux Synapses Games Inc.

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