Cultivo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Setup
• General Rules
• Beginning of the Game
• Course of the Game
  • The Actions in Detail
    • 1. Place a worker
    • 2. Move a worker
    • 3. Produce goods
    • 4. Acquire equipment
    • 5. Build a building
• The Equipment
• End of the Game
• Final Scoring

Game Components

1. 10 map tiles
2. 4 player boards
3. 1 market board
4. 36 equipment tiles (6 types in 6 colors, 1 of each type per color)
5. 120 goods (20 each): tomatoes, oranges, grapes, wood, olives, wheat
6. 40 worker figures (10 each in the player colors gray, white, turquoise and pink)
7. 24 buildings (6 each in the player colors)
8. 7 victory point tiles
9. 4 player aids
10. 1 start player crest
11. 1 scoring pad

Setup

The variable game board is assembled from several tiles (villages). The board must be as compact as possible, without gaps, and every village must border at least 2 other villages. In a 4-player game all 10 villages are used, in a 3-player game 8 villages, and in a 2-player game 6 villages.

The market board is placed next to the game board. The 36 square equipment tiles (from now on simply called equipment) are shuffled face down. Then 25 of these tiles are distributed face down and at random onto the 25 spaces of the market and afterwards turned face up.

In a 4-player game, an additional 10 equipment are stacked face down next to the market. In a 3-player game, an additional 5 equipment are stacked face down next to the market. In a 2-player game, no further equipment are stacked.

All unused equipment is put back into the box.

The 120 goods are placed next to the game board. The 7 victory point chips are stacked on top of each other; the highest value (7) is on top, the lowest (1) at the bottom of the stack.

A start player is determined. This player receives the round start player crest and keeps it until the end of the game.

Each player chooses a player color, takes 1 player board, the 10 worker figures (from now on simply called workers) and 6 buildings of the chosen color. Each player places the workers and buildings on the corresponding spaces of his board.

General Rules

Each village consists of 5 fields and is surrounded by canals. On the fields, the players receive goods in a total of 6 different colors. For tomatoes, oranges, grapes, wood and olives, equipment can be bought at the market. Wheat is needed to cross canals, to build buildings and to place certain later workers.

All goods and equipment that a player owns are laid out openly in front of him so that all players can see them. The goods are unlimited. If a certain type should run out, any suitable substitute can be used.

There may be at most 1 worker on each field. However, an occupied field may be passed through. A field on which there is a building of another player, but no worker, may be occupied and also passed through by a worker of another player.

Beginning of the Game

First, the player to the right of the start player places one of his own workers on a yellow field of any village and takes 5 goods, 1 each of the colors of the 5 fields of the village.

Continuing counterclockwise [sic: the rulebook says "gegen den Uhrzeigersinn" here, while turns elsewhere proceed clockwise], one after another the other players each place one of their own workers on an unoccupied yellow field and take the corresponding goods of the village. Then the actual game can begin.

Example: Player White has placed a worker on the yellow field of the adjacent village. He takes 1 good of each of the 5 field colors of that village.

Course of the Game

Beginning with the start player, the game proceeds in turn clockwise. The player whose turn it is carries out 2 actions of his choice in any order in his turn; this can also be the same action twice. Then the next player takes his turn, and so on.

The following 5 actions are available and are also summarized on the player aid:

1. Place a worker
2. Move a worker
3. Produce goods
4. Acquire equipment
5. Build a building

The Actions in Detail

1. Place a worker

• Directly adjacent: The player can place one of his own workers from his board, starting from the left, free of charge on a field of the same village that is orthogonally directly adjacent to one of his own workers and on which there is no other worker, neither his own nor that of another player. There can only ever be 1 worker on each field at any time. It is not possible to place the worker on a diagonally adjacent field. The newly placed worker immediately goes about his work and the player takes one good of the field color from the general supply.

• Not directly adjacent: If the player wants to place a worker on a field that is not directly adjacent to a field with his own worker, he must pay 2 goods of the field color for each field he passes through in doing so, i.e. return them to the general supply.

  If there is another player's worker on the field passed through, he must instead pay 1 good of that field color each to that player and to the general supply.

Whoever places his 5th and 6th worker must first give up 1 wheat. For the 7th and 8th worker, 2 wheat must be given up, for the 9th worker 3 wheat and for the 10th worker 4 wheat. The goods given up are returned to the general supply.

Whoever places his 8th and 9th worker receives a reward each time. He may exchange one good from his own supply for a good of a different color from the general supply. Whoever places his last worker immediately receives, once only, 1 additional action.

• Placing across canals: A field of another village can also be "directly" adjacent to one of the player's own workers if it is separated from the worker only by a canal. In all cases, when the player crosses a canal while placing, he must pay 2 wheat to the ferryman for each canal crossed, i.e. return it to the general supply.

Example: Player Gray has placed his starting worker on the yellow field. If he places another worker, he can place it on an unoccupied adjacent field (A, B or C). If he places the new worker on field A, he immediately receives a good of that field's color.

Continuation of the example above: If player Gray wants to place a new worker on field E, he must first pay 2 wheat into the general supply. If player Gray wants to place a new worker on field F, he must pay either 2 goods of the color of field C for passing through field C and 2 yellow goods (wheat) for crossing the canal, or 2 wheat for the canal and 2 goods of the color of field D for passing through field D.

2. Move a worker

The player can move one of his own workers that is already on a field of the game board to another free field, i.e. there may be no other worker on the target field, not even one of his own. A building does not hinder movement, no matter whose it is.

Here too, he must give up 2 wheat for each canal crossed and 2 goods of the field color for each field passed through, see "Place a worker" above. The moved worker immediately goes about his work on the new field and the player receives 1 good of the field color, regardless of whether there is a building there or not.

Tip for first-time players: Since wheat is still needed often later in the game, the yellow starting field should not be left at first.

3. Produce goods

The workers already on the game board can continue to do their work and produce further goods. The player chooses a field color. Then the player receives as many goods of this color as he has own workers on fields of this color.

Example: A player has 2 workers on 2 red fields, so he receives 2 red goods.

If a worker is on a field on which the player has erected one of his own buildings, this worker receives 1 additional good with the action "Produce goods".

4. Acquire equipment

There are 36 pieces of equipment. Of these, 25 are available on the market at the start of the game. Each piece of equipment costs 2 - 6 goods.

On each tile, the number of goods it costs is shown at the top left, and the number of victory points (VP) it is worth at the top right. At the bottom, the function of the equipment is shown symbolically.

Which goods must be paid is determined by the market, namely by the color of the row (left side) and the column (upper edge) in which the equipment lies. If a piece of equipment lies, for example, in the brown column and the blue row, brown and blue goods must be paid. The player decides for himself how many goods of each type he pays, but must pay at least 1 good of each required type.

A barrel, for example, always costs 6 goods (a color) and a cart costs 3 goods.

Example: A player wants to acquire the red barge, which lies in the red row and the green column. 4 goods must be paid for the barge. The player can therefore pay 3 red + 1 green good, or 2 red + 2 green, or 1 red + 3 green.

Refilling the market in a 3- or 4-player game: As soon as the last equipment of a row or column has been bought, that row or column is refilled. 5 tiles from the stack are laid face down on the 5 spaces and then turned face up.

With 4 players this happens twice in the whole game, with 3 players once. If buying a piece of equipment empties a column and a row at the same time, the player who bought this equipment decides whether he refills the row or the column, not both.

5. Build a building

Each building can only be built on a field of the color shown on each player board. Thus a monastery can only be built on a blue field, a workshop only on a brown field, etc. A maximum of 1 building can be built on each field.

To build a building, the player must fulfil 3 conditions:

• He must own equipment worth at least 4 in the color of the field on which he builds the building. The value of a piece of equipment corresponds to the number of victory points in the upper right corner.
• Building a building always costs 4 goods: 2 wheat and 2 goods of the color of the field on which the building is erected.
• In addition, one of his own workers must be on the field on which the player builds a building. This worker does not have to stay on the field; he can be moved later like any other worker.

Example: If a player wants to build a monastery, he needs blue equipment worth at least 4 VP, e.g. a blue barrel (5) or a blue cart (1) and a blue tool (3). He must have one of his workers on a blue field on which there is not yet a building.

The first player to build a building takes the top victory point tile (7 VP). The next player to build a building takes the next victory point tile (6 VP), and so on. A VP tile is only available for the first 7 buildings built during the game.

Do not forget - if a worker is on a field on which the player has erected one of his own buildings, this worker receives 1 additional good with the action "Produce goods".

Each building has a special meaning; these are all explained later under "Final Scoring".

The Equipment

Equipment is bought at the market with the action "Acquire equipment". At the top left, the number of goods that must be paid into the supply at the market for the equipment is given as a red number.

Each piece of equipment offers its owner three advantages:

• At the end of the game he receives the indicated number of VP for it.
• With it he acquires the entitlement to build a building (see "Build a building" above).
• Each piece of equipment gives its owner a certain ability (shown at the bottom of the tile).

These abilities are explained in detail below for each type of equipment.

Cart: If a player owns a cart, he can use it with the actions "Place a worker" and "Move a worker". If the player passes through a field in such an action, he must pay only 1 good of the cart's color into the supply instead of 2 goods of the field color. If there is another player's worker on the field passed through, that player receives no good in this case.

Example: If a player who owns a red cart wants to move his worker 4 fields, he pays 3 red goods to the bank for the 3 fields passed through instead of 2 goods of the field color per field. If he has, for example, only 2 red goods, he must pay 2 goods of the field color for the third field as usual.

If a canal is crossed on the way, he must pay 2 wheat for the crossing as usual.

If a player owns a red and a blue cart, he can choose whether in his turn he pays with red and/or blue goods.

If a player owns no cart, or does not want or is unable to use his own, he may borrow the cart of another player. Then he pays 1 good of the cart's color to the owner of the cart (instead of into the supply) for each field passed through.

Barge: If a player owns a barge, he can use it with the actions "Place a worker" and "Move a worker". If the player crosses one or more canals in such an action, he must pay only 1 good of the barge's color into the supply for each canal instead of 2 wheat.

Example: If a player who owns an orange barge wants to cross 2 canals, he pays a total of 2 orange goods to the bank for it.

If a player owns, for example, an orange and a yellow barge, he can choose for each canal whether he pays 1 orange or 1 yellow good. Even with a barge one can only cross over to the directly adjacent field and not sail along the whole canal.

If the player owns no barge, or does not want or is unable to use his own, he may borrow the barge of another player. Then he pays 1 good of the barge's color to the owner of the barge (instead of into the supply) for crossing a canal.

Tool: If a player owns a tool, he can use it with the action "Produce goods". He then receives one additional good for 1 field of the same color as the tool on which he produces goods.

Example: A player has 2 workers on 2 blue fields and the blue tool. He produces goods on the blue fields and receives 3 blue goods.

With the action "Produce goods" one cannot choose a field color on which one has no worker of one's own.

Market stall: If a player owns a market stall, then with every action he can use 1 good of the market stall's color as a substitute for any good of another color.

Examples: If a player owns the green market stall, he can pay 1 wheat and 1 green good instead of 2 wheat when crossing a canal. Or, if he wants to buy a piece of equipment that costs two colors, he can replace 1 good of one color by 1 green good.

If a player owns several market stalls, he can use each of these market stalls with his action.

Example: A player owns a green and a blue market stall. When crossing a canal he could pay 1 green and 1 blue good instead of 2 wheat.

Barrel: Whenever a player buys a barrel, he may immediately and once only carry out 1 additional action of his choice (so a total of 3 actions in this turn).

Scales: If a player has scales, this permanently gives him an advantage when "weighing". Whenever he must pay more than 1 good of the scales' color into the supply, he pays 1 good less.

Example: Whoever owns yellow scales must pay only 1 yellow good instead of 2 when crossing a canal.

Further example, yellow scales: When building a building, 2 goods of the field color and only 1 wheat must be paid.

And one more example: The scales also work in combination with a cart of the same color. If a player owns a red scales and a red cart and wants to move a worker 3 fields, he must pay only 1 red good instead of 2.

End of the Game

As soon as only 4 pieces of equipment remain on the market, or after a player has built his fifth building, the end of the game is triggered.

The current round is played to the end, so that all players have had the same number of turns. Then the last round is played, in which each player takes one more turn. The player to the right of the start player always takes the last turn. Then the final scoring follows.

Final Scoring

After the last round, the players determine their victory points and note them on the enclosed pad. If the pad runs low, one should secure an unused sheet in time in order to be able to copy it.

Each player receives victory points (VP) in the following ways:

• Goods: 1 VP per 3 different goods. These are returned to the general supply. Note: The market stall cannot be used to exchange one good for another here.
• Victory point tiles: Each tile is worth as many VP as printed.
• Equipment: Each piece of equipment owned by a player is worth as many VP as printed at the top right (1 - 6).
• Buildings: All buildings are scored individually by type as follows:
  • Monastery: Whoever has built a monastery receives 1 VP per own worker on the game board (maximum 10).
  • Workshop: Whoever has built a workshop receives 2 VP per different equipment type (maximum 12). Example: A player owns 2 carts, 2 barges and 4 barrels; he receives 6 VP.
  • Tower: Whoever has built a tower receives 2 VP per own building built (maximum 12).
  • Castle: Whoever has built a castle receives 3 VP per village (map tile) in which there is at least 1 own worker.
  • Manor: Whoever has built a manor receives 3 VP per own worker that is on fields directly adjacent to the manor and/or on the field of the manor itself. In this case, adjacent fields may also be separated from the manor by a canal without this mattering.
  • Mill: Whoever has built a mill receives 4 VP per own worker that is on a yellow field.

The player with the most VP has won CULTIVO.

A tie for most VP is decided in favor of the tied player who owns more goods. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.