Cuzco (2023) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Historical Background
• Components
• Setup
• Playing the Game
• Layout and Explanation of God Cards
  • Cost (1 offering)
  • Time of usage (phase I, II, III, end of the game)
  • Ability and card number
  • Inti medal (the sun god = supreme god)
• Phase I: Roll the Dice, Select and Perform Actions
  • The fire blessing
• The Action Spaces
  • Action: Movement across stone trails or rope bridges
  • Action: Study or farming
  • Action: Exchange
  • Action: Temple
  • Action: Headdress
  • Action: Victory points
• Phase II: Studies and Farming
• Phase III: Resolve Cuzco Board
  • 1) The status track at the university
  • 2) The priests on the temple steps
  • 3) Buy goods on the market
  • 4) The mission tiles of the Sapa Inca
  • 5) End of the round
• End of the Game
• Cuzco Module 1 – The Pututus
  • Changes in Setup
  • Changes in game play
• Addendum: Game Elements Explained
  • The icons on cards and tiles
• Addendum: The God Cards
  • God Iliapa (god of lightning and thunder)
  • God Mama Quilia (goddess of the moon)
  • God Viracocha (god of creation)
  • God Pacha Mama (goddess of earth)
  • God Mama Sara (goddess of corn)
• Addendum: The People Study and Farm Tiles
• Addendum: The Missions of the Sapa Inca
  • Starting missions (grey back)
  • General missions (golden back)

Historical Background

The Sapa Inca ("the only Inca") or Sapay Inca ("I, the only Inca") was symbolic of the sun. He was believed to be the son of Inti (the Inca Sun god) and often referred to as Intip Churin or "Son of the Sun". He was worshipped as a supernatural God-Emperor.

A Chasqui ("messenger") was a well trained runner. They delivered messages all over the Empire, serving the Inca ruler. They used the stone trails and rope bridges of the Inca road system, which enabled fast delivery of messages, besides troop movement and transport of goods.

Each chasqui ran along a section between two meeting places where other runners were waiting as replacement; they were called "tambo", places for the runners to rest and eat. Distance between such meeting points varied from 9 to 15 miles. With this relay system, the chasquis could deliver messages over thousands of miles within a few days only.

The chasqui were carrying a quipu and a pututu. A quipu was used to store and transport information by using a system of knotted strings. The pututu was a conch shell used as a trumpet, signaling to other chasquis that a runner was close, so that they could prepare to run.

Components

• 1 Tawantinsuyu (the Inca Empire) modular road system — composed of 6 equilateral triangles, a frame of 4 pieces, and an action board with 3 pieces.
• 1 Cuzco overlay with 6 arms
• 1 disc for the Cuzco overlay
• 1 Cuzco game board (capital of the Inca Empire) — composed of 3 parts
• 1 display board for the god cards and study & farm tiles — composed of 3 parts
• 4 mask boards (double layer)
• 61 mission tiles of the Sapa Inca — 6 starting mission tiles, with light grey rare side; 55 mission tiles, with golden rare side
• 4 player order tokens
• 30 offerings
• 10 Inti medals — "Inti" was the sun god, the supreme god of the Inca.
• 36 food tiles (corn and potatoes)
• 48 feathers — 12 each in turquoise, purple, orange, and pink
• 60 god cards, 12 each for the 5 gods of different colors
• 36 farm tiles, showing farm workers
• 36 study tiles, showing students
• 30 goods — 7x soup, 6x clothes, 5x pottery bowl, 5x pottery decanter, 4x tools, 3x jewelry
• 1 game round token
• 1 ring token & Stefan Feld figurine
• 1 fire token for the Cuzco overlay — only used in the CLASSIC version. In the DELUXE version you use the printed disc, showing the fire blessing icon.
• 1 Rules booklet
• 1 Addendum

Player components (in colors red, yellow, green, and blue):

• 10 quipu tiles (information with knotted strings)
• 6 circlet tiles, each set with pips from 1 to 6
• 1 chasqui (relay runner)
• 4 priests
• 1 scoring marker
• 1 status marker
• 3 dice
• 2 colored tiles
• 1 player aid — front side: game play overview; rare side: final scoring overview
• 1 +100/+200 victory point token

Cuzco Module 1: The pututus

• 15 pututu tiles — 12x +1/-1, 3x +2/-2

This chapter shows both the material of the DELUXE-Version as well as the CLASSIC-Version. From here on, only the material of the DELUXE-Version is used in the illustrations.

Setup

1. Assemble the road system of Tawantinsuyu in the center of the playing area. Place the 6 triangles together, alternating ones with feathers with those without, to form a closed hexagon. Then, arrange the 4 frame pieces around this hexagon, again alternating pieces with and without feathers. Each village will now have one feather and one building. Put the wooden disc into the small cutout in the center, impose the Cuzco overlay on it, and the fire token on top. Make sure that each trail of the overlay and the fire of the fire token leads to a village, regardless of its imprinted die. Finally, attach the 3 parts of the action board to the bottom of the board, with sides facing up according to player count (4 players / 3 players / 2 players).

The board shows 6 "outer circle" villages and 6 "inner circle" villages, connected by rope bridges and stone trails.

2. Place the offerings and food tiles in the corresponding storage spaces on the 2 top corners of the road system.

3. Place 3 feathers of each color per player matching color storage spaces, on the 2 bottom corners of the road system. This is the common supply. Remove any leftover feathers from the game.

4. Assemble the game board showing the capital Cuzco.

5. Assemble the display board for the draw piles of the god cards and the people study and farm tiles (from now on simply called study and farm tiles, respectively). Place it at a corner of the Cuzco board, and then place both these boards next to the Tawantinsuyu board.

6. Sort the 60 god cards by color, shuffle them separately, and stack them face down on the matching spaces of the display board.

7. Shuffle all the orange-red farm tiles and blue study tiles separately, and stack them face down on the appropriate spaces of the display board. Draw the top 6 tiles from each stack and place them face up on the designated spaces of the Cuzco board.

8. Place the ring token on the bridge next to the status track, marked with an arrow and a "1" icon. Note: Instead of the ring token you may use the Stefan Feld figurine.

9. Stack 6 Inti medals on the designated space of the temple on the Cuzco board.

10. Shuffle all goods tiles face down, and randomly deal them out, face up, to the 30 market spaces. In a 2 or 3 player game, remove 1 tile each of soup, clothes, pottery bowl, pottery decanter, tools, and jewelry. Place only 4 goods tiles on each market row, leaving the leftmost space — marked for 4 players — empty.

11. Sort the mission tiles by their back. Put the 6 light grey start tiles aside for now. Mix all other mission tiles (golden back), and stack them face down, in piles of similar height, on the 3 spaces below the palace. Place as many mission tiles face up on the spaces of the palace, as the player count plus 2, taking them from the piles as evenly as possible.

12. Place the game round marker on step I of the stairs to the right of the first market row.

13. Each player takes one random mask board (all 4 masks have a different order of feather colors at the top) and places it in front of them.

14. Each player chooses a color, and takes the following components of their color:

• 6 circlet tiles. Each player takes their set containing 1 tile each with the pips 1-6, placing them on the corresponding spaces of their mask board.
• 2 color tiles, placing them on the priest spaces of their mask board.
• 4 priests, placing them on the color tiles.
• 10 quipu tiles, placing them on the 10 designated spaces of their mask board. These spaces are in 2 rows with 5 spaces each. Leave the 2 spaces above these rows empty.
• 3 dice, keeping them next to their mask board.
• 1 chasqui, placing it on the Cuzco overlay, on the road system of Tawantinsuyu.
• 1 +100/+200 victory point token, setting it aside for now.

15. Distribute the following components to each player as described below:

• 1 feather: Take 1 feather of each color from the common supply, and randomly deal 1 of these to each player. Each player places their feather in one matching color slot, at the top edge of their mask board. Note: Once placed, a feather cannot be reallocated.
• 2 offerings: Take them from the common supply and place them on the designated spaces of their mask board.
• 1 Inti medal: Take it from the 4 leftover Inti medals and place it on the designated space of their mask board (at 2 or 3 players, remove the leftover medals from the game).
• 1 player order token: Randomly deal 1 token to each player (at 3 players use tokens 1-3; at 2 players use tokens 1 and 2); each player places it, with the number visible, in the center slot at the top of their mask board. These tokens determine scoring and status marker placement on the appropriate tracks on the Cuzco board:

Player order token	Space of the victory points track
1	0
2	1
3	2
4	3

Stack all status markers on space 0 of the status track at the university, in player order, from top (player with token "1") to bottom (player with token "4").

• 3 mission tiles: Randomly deal to each player 1 of the mission tiles initially set aside (light grey). Remove unused ones from the game. Then, each player draws 2 golden mission tiles from the face down piles below the palace. Each player places their 3 mission tiles face up on the 3 designated spaces of their mask board, in any order they like (tile order has no effect in game play).
• 2 god cards: Take 2 cards from each of the 5 piles and mix them. Randomly deal to each player 2 of these cards face down, keep the remaining as a reserve pile. If a player receives 2 cards of identical color, they must discard one of these. Then, the player draws a card from the reserve pile, and shuffle the discarded card back on that pile. Repeat this process until each player has 2 cards of different colors. Then, place the reserve pile cards, face up, on the discard pile of the display board. Reveal the top card of each of the 5 god card piles. (In a 2 player game, take only 1 card from each of the 5 piles, mix them and deal out two cards to each player. The last remaining card will be kept as the reserve.)

Playing the Game

The game runs over 6 rounds, and each round consists of the following 3 consecutive phases:

• Phase I: Roll the dice, select and perform actions
• Phase II: Studies and farming
• Phase III: Resolve Cuzco board

Note: Certain god cards used by the players during the course of game, will modify the game rules as explained below. The rules of the god cards always take precedence over the basic game rules.

Layout and Explanation of God Cards

There are 60 god cards, 12 each of 5 different gods. Each god has their own background color and 3 different abilities, each one present in 4 cards. The five gods are Iliapa, Mama Quilia, Viracocha, Pacha Mama and Mama Sara.

Any time a draw pile of a certain god is exhausted, search the discard pile for cards of such god. Mix them well, and place them as the new draw pile.

Cost (1 offering)

To use a god card, you have to spend 1 offering when playing it. Place the card on the face up discard pile, below the draw piles, and return the offering to the common supply on the road system board. If you own no offerings, you cannot play a god card.

Time of usage (phase I, II, III, end of the game)

Each god card can only be played and used during its designated phase, as shown on the upper corners of the card.

Ability and card number

The upper part of each card shows its ability. The cards are numbered so you can easily find the explanation of each ability in the addendum. The lower part shows the card number, the god illustration and symbol.

Inti medal (the sun god = supreme god)

By spending 1 Inti medal, you may use the ability of 1 of the face up god cards. Place the used card on the discard pile, and remove the medal from the game. In this case you do not spend an offering.

Example: Frank spends an Inti medal to use the yellow (goddess of corn) god card. He then places it on the discard pile. He doesn't have to spend an offering to use the card from the display.

Phase I: Roll the Dice, Select and Perform Actions

At the start of phase I, all players roll their own 3 dice simultaneously. In given player order (beginning with the player with order token 1), each player takes 1 of their dice, places it on one of the action spaces, and resolves that action immediately. In most cases, the number of pips is related to the strength of the action.

Important: You can place your die on an action space only if the number of its pips is less than the lowest number of pips of any other die on that space, regardless of whom it belongs to.

Example: Two dice are already on the study action space — a 5 and a 3. Patricia (red) could only place there a 1 or a 2 (not a 3, 4, 5, or 6).

The fire blessing

Players take a fire blessing whenever they:

• place a priest on the temple steps (Action: Temple), or
• activate a headdress on their mask board (Action: Headdress), or
• return their chasqui to Cuzco (Action: Movement across stone trails or rope bridges).

They immediately take 1 god card or an offering, and advance 1 space on the status track or take a food tile.

Example: Ulrich (green) places a priest on a temple step. He uses the fire blessing to take 1 god card (not an offering) and to take 1 food tile (instead of advancing on the status track).

The Action Spaces

Action: Movement across stone trails or rope bridges

Your chasqui moves from their current location, across a grey stone trail or brown rope bridge, to an adjacent place, be it a village or Cuzco (the overlay). You may only use trails or bridges with the same or fewer pips than your die.

In a 2 or 3 player game: The rules for placing dice remain unchanged. On a double-action space the player must choose one of the actions.

After your chasqui has reached a village, take the upper leftmost quipu tile from your mask board, and place it on the large building of the village. If no quipu tile is left on the 10 spaces of your board, take one from your reserve space on the bottom edge of your board. Place your tile on top of any tiles that may already be on the building.

Important: Each village may only hold 1 quipu tile of each player color.

Example: Frank (blue) has placed his die with 4 pips on the stone trail action space. He may move his chasqui from Cuzco (his current location) across one of the stone trails showing 4 or 2 pips to an adjacent village on the inner circle. He may not use the stone trail with 6 pips nor any of the rope bridges.

Then, you gain 1 feather of the color depicted at this village, from the common supply. Place it in a matching color slot at the top edge of your mask board. Remember — once placed, a feather cannot be reallocated.

Important: If a player already has 3 feathers of a certain color (which may include their starting feather) they do not get any more feathers of such color. However, they may still place a quipu tile in a village bearing a feather of that color (provided they have not already one of their quipus there).

By placing a quipu tile, you have gained one more empty space on your mask board. You may place a study or farm tile on such an empty space by performing the corresponding action.

If your chasqui returns to Cuzco at any time later during the game, you do not place a quipu there, but instead take a fire blessing (see fire blessing above). The next time your chasqui moves, and before leaving Cuzco, you may rotate the overlay in any way you want, giving you new movement options.

Action: Study or farming

You take a study or farm tile from the Cuzco board, depending on the chosen action, from any space with same or fewer pips than your placed die.

In a 2 player game: The rules for placing dice remain unchanged. On a double-action space the player must choose one of the actions.

Place the chosen study or farm tile on an empty space, out of the 12 spaces on your mask board. Make sure that the status and food icons on the lower part of that space remain visible.

"Empty space" meaning there is neither a quipu tile nor a study or farm tile in there. A player with no empty spaces on their mask, may not choose this action.

Note: Do not replenish the column of study or farm tiles on the Cuzco board at this time. This will be done only in phase III, before the end of the round.

Important: When taking a study or farm tile, you may not use its ability at this time. You may only do it in phase II.

Example: Beate places her die with 4 pips on the farming action space. She can take any 1 of the farm tiles next to 4, 3, 2 or 1 imprinted pips (not 5 or 6). She decides for the tile next to 3 pips. She places her chosen farm tile on an empty space in the upper row of her mask board. The status and food icons are still visible.

Action: Exchange

You exchange the pips of your placed die for a variety of actions. You may use any combination of exchanges, and even the same exchange several times, as long as you have enough pips to pay for them. All possible exchanges are shown on the action space, along with their cost.

These exchanges cost 1 pip each:

• Cuzco university appointment: Slide down 1 of the study tiles on your mask board, covering the status icon of that space. Advance your status marker as many spaces on the status track as shown on that tile, and place it on top of any markers present on the end space. For each single pip of your placed die, you may slide 1 study tile down and move your status marker accordingly. Note: All players will gain victory points in Phase III. During that phase, the order on the status track also determines the new player order. See phase III.
• Gain food: Slide down 1 of the farm tiles on your mask board, covering the food icon of that space. Take as many food tiles from the common supply as shown on that tile. Place the food tiles on the designated space at the bottom of your mask board. For each single pip of your placed die, you may slide 1 farm tile down and take food tiles accordingly.
• Gain victory points: For each single pip of your placed die, you may gain 1 victory point; advance your marker on the victory points track accordingly.

These exchanges cost 2 pips each:

• Gain offerings: For each 2 pips of your placed die, you may take 1 offering from the common supply, placing it on the designated space at the bottom of your mask board.
• Take 1 god card: For each 2 pips of your placed die, you may take 1 of the open god cards available on the display board. Reveal the next god card from that pile, immediately. You may play the new god card as of now, and use it in the assigned phase by spending 1 offering.
• Take 1 feather: For each 2 pips of your placed die, you may take 1 feather of any color from the common supply, placing it in a matching slot at the top of your mask board. If you already have 3 feathers of a given color, you may not exchange your pips for a feather of that color.
• Reallocate a quipu tile to your reserve space: For each 2 pips of your placed die, you may take 1 quipu tile from its original space on your mask board, placing it on your reserve space at the bottom of the board. This gains you empty spaces for study or farm tiles, without using a movement action. You may store any number of quipu tiles on the reserve space, and later deliver them to eligible villages by using a movement action. You may never reallocate quipu tiles that have been delivered to villages.

Example: Patricia has placed her die with 5 pips on the exchange action space. She spends 2 pips for the university appointment action. She slides down 2 of her study tiles, with a combined status value of 5. She advances her status marker 5 spaces from 1 to 6 points. Next, she spends 1 pip for the action gain food, and slides 1 of her farm tiles down. The food value of that tile is 3, so she takes 3 food tiles from the common supply. She spends the remaining 2 pips for the action gain offerings, and takes 1 offering tile from the supply. She stores the food and offering tiles on the designated spaces at the bottom of her mask board.

Action: Temple

You place one of your priests in a step of the temple stairs. The number of pips of your placed die determines the step leading up to the temple on the Cuzco board on which you place 1 of your 4 priests.

Only 1 priest can be on each of the temple steps. Any existing priest on the chosen step is pushed down one step, regardless of their color. Apply the same rule until there is only 1 priest per step. A priest on the first step, when pushed down, is expelled from the temple and returned to their owner.

Upon placing a new priest, immediately take a fire blessing.

Note: Players gain VP for their priests on the temple steps at the end of each round.

Example: Beate (yellow) placed a die showing 3 pips on the temple action stairs. She places one of her priests from her mask board on the temple stairs no. 3, forcing Patricia (red) and Frank (green) to push down their priests one step. Ulrich's priest (green) gets expelled from the temple and he has to place it on his mask board again.

Action: Headdress

The number of pips of your placed die determines the circlet tile you may activate. You may activate any circlet tile with same or fewer pips than your placed die. You can activate a circlet tile only if there are 2 feathers assigned to that tile. In case you have no eligible tile meeting this requirement, you cannot choose this action.

Activate, means flipping the circlet tile to its decoration side; the die printed on the circlet tile is no longer visible. Once activated, a circlet tile cannot be flipped back.

When activating a headdress, the player gains VP once and immediately, based on the current round:

• Rounds 1 & 2 => 10 VP
• Rounds 3 & 4 => 7 VP
• Rounds 5 & 6 => 4 VP

Additionally, the player gains as many VP as imprinted on the activated tile, plus a fire blessing.

Example: Patricia (red) has placed her die with 4 pips on the headdress space. Her headdress with 3 pips has 2 feathers, so she activates it, gains VP (2 for the tile and 7 for the current 3rd round) and takes a fire blessing.

Action: Victory points

The number of pips of the placed die is not relevant for this action. When placing their die here, the player always earns 2 victory points and advances 2 spaces on the victory points track.

Example: Ulrich (green) places his die on the victory point action space and earns 2 VP.

Phase II: Studies and Farming

In given player order, players may use exactly 1 ability of their study tiles and 1 ability of their farm tiles. The icons on the tiles show the available ability. Each player can use these two abilities in any order they choose. It does not matter where the tiles are on the mask board, whether they have been slid down or not, or whether they have been acquired in this round or not. The used tiles remain unchanged on their location (they are not slid up nor removed).

Important: If you use several farming or study tiles with identical abilities, you may combine these to 1 joint usage. You may not combine farming and study tiles with identical abilities for a joint usage.

The overview and explanation of all study and farming tiles can be found in the addendum.

Example: Patricia uses 2 identical study and 3 identical farm tiles (doesn't matter if they have been slid down or not). For the study tiles (stone trail), she uses the 2 tiles combined as a movement 4 on a stone trail (she cannot use two times the 2, she has to combine it into a 4). She earns 3 food tiles from the farm tiles.

Phase III: Resolve Cuzco Board

In this phase, you follow the river on the Cuzco board, from bridge to bridge, resolving the different buildings marked with printed ornamented arrows. Start from the bridge next to the status track at the university. Then, proceed to the priests on the temple steps, go to the market, and finally to the palace. Use the ring token (or the Stefan Feld figurine) to keep track of which area you are resolving. The ring starts on "bridge 1". Then, move it to "bridge 2" etc. At the end of phase III, place it back on "bridge 1".

1) The status track at the university

Each player gains as many victory points as shown above their status marker, i.e. between 0 and 15 points. Return all markers to the starting space below 0 points, and stack them in descending order, with the least advanced marker at the bottom, and the more advanced marker at the top. Finally, reallocate the player order markers — the player whose marker is on top receives the tile 1, the second from the top the tile 2, etc. Move the ring token / Stefan Feld figurine to bridge 2.

Important: This new player order is effective immediately.

2) The priests on the temple steps

Each player gains victory points for their priests on the temple steps, as follows:

• Rounds 1 & 2 => 1 VP/priest
• Rounds 3 & 4 => 2 VPs/priest
• Rounds 5 & 6 => 3 VPs/priest

The player with the most priests on the temple steps receives 1 Inti medal from the stack on the temple, and places it on their mask board. If several players are tied for the most priests, the tied player whose priest is highest on the steps receives the medal. If there is no priest on the temple steps at this time, take 1 Inti medal from the stack and remove it from the game.

Move the ring token / Stefan Feld figurine to bridge 3.

3) Buy goods on the market

In given player order (as determined when resolving the status track), each player may buy 1 good from the market row corresponding to the current round. Goods are paid with the amount of food shown on each goods tile. Each player who buys 1 good, immediately gains as many victory points as shown on the tile, and then stores this tile on the designated space of their mask board. Return the paid food tiles to the common supply. Skip any player who does not want to buy a good, or cannot do so. Move the ring token / Stefan Feld figurine to bridge 4.

Example: Ulrich (green) has the first opportunity to buy 1 good. He chooses the soup and spends 1 food tile. Therefore he gains 1 VP immediately. After that Patricia (red), Beate (yellow), and Frank (blue) can also choose to buy 1 good.

4) The mission tiles of the Sapa Inca

In given player order, each player must complete exactly 1 of the 3 mission tiles on their mask board. If they manage to do so, they gain 6 victory points and advance their scoring marker accordingly.

As a general rule, each mission tile depicts the minimum requirement, not a fixed quantity. This means the player may have more than required, but never less.

Important: In order to complete a mission tile you never spend something. You only have to prove that you meet the requirement.

Place your completed mission tile face down on the designated space of your mask board, where it remains until the end of the game. In case a player cannot complete one of their 3 tiles, they must return 1 mission tile of their choice to the game box, not gaining any victory points.

After completing or not a mission tile, the player chooses 1 new mission tile from those on display in the palace, and places it on the now empty space of their mask board. Do not replenish the display of mission tiles at this time. The remaining players will have a more restricted choice.

Important: You always take 1 new mission tile, even in the sixth round.

Move the ring token / Stefan Feld figurine to bridge 5.

5) End of the round

Prepare for the next round. First, remove any leftover study and farm tiles from the Cuzco board, and place them next to the board on separate discard piles. Refill the rows of study and farm tiles with new tiles from the stacks on the display board. Then, remove from the game the leftover mission tiles on the palace, and refill the palace spaces with new tiles from the piles below the palace — always as many as player count plus 2.

Left over goods of the current round are removed from the game and returned to the box.

Move the game round marker one space down to the next market row. If this was not the sixth round, the next round starts.

Finally, all players retrieve their 3 dice from the action spaces and place them in front of them.

Move the ring token / Stefan Feld figurine back to bridge 1.

In the sixth round, skip this phase.

End of the Game

The game ends upon completing the mission tiles of the Sapa Inca during the sixth round. All players must now complete their 3 remaining mission tiles, gaining 3 x 6 victory points, at the most. Place any completed tiles on the stack of previously completed ones, on your mask board. Return any uncompleted tiles to the game box.

Now proceed to final scoring. Players gain victory points (VP) as follows:

• 2 VP for each unused Inti medal they own. (Example: 2 unused Inti medals = 4 VP.)
• The number of imprinted VP in each village, for the owner of the top quipu tile in that village. (Example: 8 VP for red.)

Remaining food tiles, offerings, and god cards do not award any VP.

Furthermore, players can gain VP for the following achievements on their mask board:

• 6 VP if they have adorned their headdress with 12 feathers.
• 9 VP if they have activated all 6 of their circlet tiles.
• 9 VP if they have completed 9 mission tiles: 1 from each round plus the last 3 ones.
• 10 VP if they have delivered all their 10 quipu tiles to the villages.
• 12 VP if they have 12 farming and/or study tiles on the spaces of their mask board.
• 6 VP if they have bought 6 goods.

Important: No points are awarded for partially meeting an achievement.

The player with the most victory points is the winner. In case of a tie for most points, the tied player who is further ahead in player order is the winner.

Cuzco Module 1 – The Pututus

Changes in Setup

Place the 15 pututu tiles next to the Cuzco board as common supply (12x light pink +1/-1 & 3x dark pink +2/-2).

Changes in game play

If a player rolls a double at the start of phase I, they take 1 pututu tile +1/-1 from the common supply. If they roll a triple, they take 1 pututu tile +2/-2. In case there is no such tile in the common supply, they don't take anything. If there are fewer tiles left than the number of players qualified to take them, they take them in reverse player order.

Players may use these tiles during their turn, when placing a die on an action space. For each pututu tile they return to the common supply, the player may change the number of pips of their die by +1/-1 or +2/-2, depending on the tile. Rotate the die accordingly, as this is not just a virtual change.

A die can never have less than 1 pip nor more than 6 (you do not change a 1 to a 6 and vice-versa). Any unused pututu tiles are worthless at the end of the game.

Example: Ulrich (green) and Beate (yellow) both rolled a double. Since there is only 1 pututu tile +1/-1 left, Beate will take it (since she is further behind Ulrich in player order). Ulrich gets no pututu tile. Frank (blue) rolled a triple and gets to take a pututu tile +2/-2.

Example: Beate (yellow) has two pututu tiles +1/-1 (collected from two rounds). She decides to use them both (returning them to the general supply) to change the 6 into a 4, to be able to use the action farming (with her 6 or a 5 she couldn't use the action, since there is already a die with 5 on this action). Now, she can take the farm tile on die space 4, what she wanted for this round.

Addendum: Game Elements Explained

Stone trails and rope bridges: You move your chasqui (runner) across stone trails and rope bridges to the next village. Both are marked with a die icon showing the minimum number of pips you need in order to use this road.

Villages: Next to each village you see a feather and victory points. Your chasqui has to deliver the quipu tiles from your mask board to the villages. When you deliver a quipu to a village, you immediately gain the depicted feather. You gain the victory points as shown if your quipu is on top of the pile at the end of the game.

Cuzco overlay with fire blessing: This overlay is not a village, it represents the capital Cuzco. When your chasqui enters Cuzco, you take the fire blessing. The reward is twofold: 1 god card or 1 offering, and 1 status or 1 food.

Feathers: The feathers have 4 different colors. You gain a feather by delivering a quipu to a village, and from people tiles. You need feathers on the top of your mask board to activate your circlet tiles. You also gain 6 VP if you have all 12 feathers at the end of the game.

Quipu tiles: These tiles, simply called quipu, start on the 10 designated spaces of your mask board. You deliver the quipus to villages or place them on your reserve space. You can only place a people tile on an empty space. You also gain 10 VP if you have delivered all your 10 quipu to the villages by the end of the game.

Action spaces: You roll your 3 dice and place them on the action spaces during phase I, 1 die in each turn. Depending on the chosen action space, you may move your chasqui, gain people tiles, exchange the pips for various benefits, place a priest on a temple step, activate a circlet tile, or gain 2 victory points.

Inti medal (the sun god "Inti"): Inti is the supreme god of the Incas. You play an Inti medal like a god card. The medal works as a wild card, enabling to use the ability of 1 of the 5 open god cards. You do not have to spend an offering to play an Inti medal. Discard the chosen god card and the medal, subsequently. Place the god card on the discard pile and remove the medal from the game. Each unused medal is worth 2 VP at the end of the game.

Offerings: You have to spend 1 offering to play and use a god card. Return the offering to the common supply and place the god card on the discard pile. You gain offerings from people tiles, the action "exchange", and from the fire blessing.

Food tiles: You need food tiles (simply food) to buy goods from the market. You gain food from people tiles, and from the fire blessing.

God cards: You gain god cards with the action "exchange" (2 pips for 1 card), from people tiles, and from the fire blessing. There are 5 different Inca gods, each having 3 different abilities. Each ability is featured in 4 tiles. In order to play a god in certain phases, you always need to spend 1 offering.

Mission tiles of the Sapa Inca: You always have 3 mission tiles on your mask board. In phase III of each round, you must complete exactly 1 of these missions, and you gain 6 VP if you succeed. The tiles show the minimum requirement, not a certain amount of something. You may own more than the minimum amount (certain cards, people tiles, feathers etc.), but never less. When completing a mission, you only have to prove that you own the required minimum amount — you do not spend or discard anything. Even if you cannot complete a mission, you must always choose 1 of your 3 mission tiles; if you complete it, keep it face down on the designated space of your mask board, otherwise remove it from the game.

People tiles: The people tiles have 12 different abilities. Each ability is featured 3 times both among the "study" and the "farming" tiles. You gain people tiles by playing god cards or certain action spaces, and place them on empty spaces of your mask board. Later on, you may slide them down to gain food or increase your status. During phase II, you may use the ability of 1 study tile and 1 farming tile (see rules for details of combining abilities of identical tiles). You also gain 12 VP if you have 12 people tiles at the end of the game.

Status track (university): The player order depends on the status. The player farthest ahead on the status track in phase III, will immediately become the new first player. You advance on the status track by playing certain god cards, by using a certain action space, or with the fire blessing. Each round you gain VP according to your position on the status track. At the end of phase III, return every status marker back to space 0.

Priests on temple steps: Whenever you place a priest on a temple step, you take the fire blessing. Only 1 priest can be on each step of the temple. A priest placed on a step with another priest pushes him down one step, possibly causing a chain reaction. A priest pushed down from the lowest step is expelled from the temple and returned to the owner. Each priest on the temple steps is worth VP at the end of the round. The owner of the most priests on the temple steps takes an Inti medal. In case of a tie for the most priests the tied player whose priest is on the highest step takes the medal.

Market: During each round you may buy 1 good (tile) from the market, paying different amounts of food. There are 6 different types of goods, each one bought with food. You immediately obtain VP for each goods you buy. You also gain 6 VP if you have 6 goods at the end of the game.

Palace of the Sapa Inca: In phase III of each round, you have to complete 1 mission of the Sapa Inca. Regardless if you succeed or not, you have to take 1 new mission tile from the palace, placing it on your mask board. You also gain 9 VP if you have completed 9 missions by the end of the game.

Victory points (VP): You gain VP from different actions during the 3 phases of each round and at the end of the game. Move your scoring marker on the scoring track accordingly. The player with the most victory points is the winner of the game.

Game round token: Place this token to the right of the market, and move it down one step from round to round.

Phase III ring token: Place this ring during setup on "bridge 1", next to the status track of the university. During phase III, move it from bridge to bridge to track the areas you are resolving. Instead of the ring token, you can also use the Stefan Feld figurine.

The icons on cards and tiles

The icons used on the cards and tiles denote: Phase I, Phase II, Phase III, end of the game; on the left => requirement, precondition; on the right => consequence / result / gain; any number of pips is virtually changed to "6"; additionally; use the ability twice; obtain something thrice; you may place a die on an action space, if it has the same number of pips or more than any of the dice present; either or; use / place / activate; different people tiles or goods; gain status, victory points, cards, food, feathers, offerings, or people tiles; move across stone trails or rope bridges to the next village; slide up people tile (study or farming); reallocate/place something (die/priest); slid down people tile (study or farming); spend or give something; complete a mission with 1 requirement less; 1 additional people tile; completed mission; study tile; farming tile; study or farming tile; offering; victory points (2); Inti medal; any die; any good; one space on the status track (university); a player's own chasqui or priest; any player's priest; any quipu tile (information with knotted strings); any god card; god card Iliapa (green blue / turquoise); god card Mama Quilia (pink); god card Viracocha (blue); god card Pacha Mama (light green); god card Mama Sara (golden yellow); uncompleted circlet tile; completed circlet tile (adorned side); any village; villages of the inner circle; villages of the outer circle; good soup; good clothes; good tool; good pottery decanter; good pottery bowl; good jewelry; pink feather; turquoise feather; orange feather; purple feather.

Addendum: The God Cards

God Iliapa (god of lightning and thunder)

01 — Usage phase II: You may use the abilities of 1 study and 1 farming tile twice. Example 1: Study tile 01: You get 2x 1 offering. If you have another Study-tile-01, you get 3 offerings, since you can only double the ability of one single study tile. Example 2: Farming tile 04: If you have one tile, you can use the stone trail with 1-4 pips (instead of 1-2), if you have two tiles you can use any stone trail.

02 — Usage phase I: Before using the exchange action, you may slide up any 2 people tiles (study and/or farming) on your mask board. You do not have to use these 2 tiles during your action.

03 — Usage phase III: When buying a good from the market, you gain its victory points a second time. Example: You buy the jewelry good and gain immediately 9 victory points + another 9 victory points because of this card, 18 VP in total.

God Mama Quilia (goddess of the moon)

04 — Usage phase III or end of the game: You may complete 1 mission tile with 1 less requirement. You gain 4 VP instead of 6. Keep this mission tile on your mask board as usual. You may also use these cards at the end of the game, with each card affecting a single mission tile. Example: Mission tile S-01: You only got 2 of the required 3 orange feathers, but with this card you can fulfill the mission tile (ignoring 1 cost), gaining only 4 (instead of 6) victory points.

05 — Usage phase I: After your turn, immediately play another turn, as if you would place a die with 1 pip (do not place a die). You may use any action space that does not contain any die, with the exception of "Action Victory Points".

06 — Usage phase I: Reallocate any 1 die, regardless of its color, to another action space before you perform your turn. Important: You can ignore the placement rules to reallocate the die. For example you can place a 6 on a space with a 3.

God Viracocha (god of creation)

07 — Usage phase I: You may place your die on an action space even if the number of its pips is equal or higher than those of any present dice.

08 — Usage phase I/II: When taking a fire blessing, you take 3 food and advance 3 spaces on the status track, instead of the usual benefits. Note: You only gain 3 food and advance 3 spaces on the status track, no other benefits from the regular fire blessing.

09 — Usage phase I: When taking a people tile, you may search the discard pile for any people tile and place it on your mask board. (The tiles may have a different color and different ability.) Note: You can look through the discard pile of all people tiles, and may take it in addition to the tile you get from the Cuzco board. If there is no tile at the discard pile, you cannot play this card.

God Pacha Mama (goddess of earth)

10 — Usage phase I: When delivering a quipu to a village, gain the imprinted VP immediately.

11 — Usage phase II: Use 1 additional and different study tile of yours. It must have a different ability. Note: If you have multiple study tiles of the additional one, you can use all of them as 1 joint usage, as per the normal rules.

12 — Usage phase I: When placing a priest on an occupied temple step, return the priest to its owner instead of pushing him 1 step down.

God Mama Sara (goddess of corn)

13 — Usage phase I: When placing your die on an action space, you may use it as if it had 6 pips, virtually. Do not rotate the die. Note: You first have to place the die according to the placement rules. Example: You can place the dice-2 only on action spaces where there are dice 3-6. Then, you can use it as if it was a 6.

14 — Usage phase I: When using one of the movement action spaces, your chasqui may "jump" to any village of your choice, regardless of the number of pips and whether it is a stone trail or rope bridge.

15 — Usage phase II: Use 1 additional and different farming tile of yours. It must have a different ability. Note: If you have multiple farm tiles of the additional one, you can use all of them as 1 joint usage, as per the normal rules.

Addendum: The People Study and Farm Tiles

01) Offering: When using this tile, take 1 offering from the common supply and place it on your mask board. If you have 2 or 3 identical tiles (farming or study) you take 2 or 3 offerings, respectively.

02) Victory Points (VP): When using this tile, advance your scoring marker on the VP track 2 spaces. If you have 2 or 3 identical tiles (farming or study) advance 4 or 6 spaces respectively.

03) Feather: When using this tile, take 1 feather of your choice from the common supply and place it in a matching slot of your mask board. If you have 2 or 3 identical tiles (farming or study) you take 2 or 3 feathers, respectively; these may be of the same or different colors. Important: Do not forget that you may never have more than 3 feathers of the same color!

04) Stone trail: When using this tile, move your chasqui along a stone trail as if you had placed a die with 2 pips on the stone trail action space. You may use a stone trail with 1 or 2 pips. If you have 2 identical tiles (farming or study), you may use a stone trail with 1 to 4 pips. If you have 3 identical tiles (farming or study), you may use any stone trail.

05) Status: When using this tile, you advance your marker on the status track 1 space. If you have 2 or 3 identical tiles (farming or study), you may advance 2 or 3 spaces, respectively.

06) Rope bridge: Similar rules apply to this tile as described above for "04 stone trail", but considering a rope bridge.

07) God card: When using this tile, take 1 god card from any of the 5 piles. If you have 2 or 3 identical tiles (farming or study), take 2 or 3 god cards, respectively, from any piles.

08) Quipu tile: When using this tile, move 1 of your quipus on your mask board to the reserve space. If you have 2 or 3 identical tiles (farming or study), move 2 or 3 quipus, respectively.

09) Circlet tile: When using this tile, activate 1 of your circlet tiles on your mask board as if you had placed a die with 3 pips on the headdress action space. If you have 2 identical tiles (farming or study), you activate a circlet tile as if you had placed a die with 6 pips. A third identical tile (farming or study) is useless in this case.

10) Food tile: When using this tile, take 1 food from the common supply and place it on your mask board. If you have 2 or 3 identical tiles (farming or study), take 2 or 3 food, respectively.

11) Farming: When using this tile, take 1 farming tile from the Cuzco board as if you had placed a die with 3 pips on the action space farming. If you have 2 identical tiles (farming or study), you take a farming tile as if you had placed a die with 6 pips. A third identical tile (farming or study) is useless in this case.

12) Study: Similar rules apply to this tile as described above for "11 farming", but considering a study tile.

Addendum: The Missions of the Sapa Inca

Starting missions (grey back)

• S-01: You must have at least 1 of your priests on a temple step and have at least 1 farming tile on your mask board.
• S-02: You must have at least 1 of your priests on a temple step and have at least 1 study tile on your mask board.
• S-03: You must have at least 1 study tile and at least 1 farming tile on your mask board.
• S-04: You must have at least 1 study tile on your mask board and player order tile 1.
• S-05: You must have at least 1 farming tile and at least 1 goods tile on your mask board.
• S-06: You must have delivered a quipu to at least 2 villages.

General missions (golden back)

• 01: You must have 3 orange feathers attached to your mask board.
• 02: You must have 3 purple feathers attached to your mask board.
• 03: You must have 3 pink feathers attached to your mask board.
• 04: You must have 3 turquoise feathers attached to your mask board.
• 05: You must have at least 1 feather each of the 4 different colors attached to your mask board.
• 06: You must have at least 7 feathers attached to your mask board, regardless of their color.
• 07: You must have delivered a quipu to at least 9 villages.
• 08: You must have delivered a quipu to each of the 3 villages with a turquoise feather.
• 09: You must have delivered a quipu to each of the 3 villages with a pink feather.
• 10: You must have delivered a quipu to each of the 3 villages with a purple feather.
• 11: You must have delivered a quipu to each of the 3 villages with an orange feather.
• 12: You must have delivered a quipu to each of the 3 villages with 3 VP.
• 13: You must have delivered a quipu each to 3 of the 4 villages with 2 VP.
• 14: You must have delivered a quipu each to 5 villages with different VP (e.g. 1-2-4-5-7).
• 15: You must have at least 3 study tiles with different abilities on your mask board.
• 16: You must have at least 3 farm tiles with different abilities on your mask board.
• 17: You must have slid down at least 3 study tiles on your mask board.
• 18: You must have slid down at least 3 farm tiles on your mask board.
• 19: You must have slid down at least 5 people tiles on your mask board.
• 20: You must have at least 4 study tiles on your mask board.
• 21: You must have at least 4 farm tiles on your mask board.
• 22: You must have at least 4 god cards of different colors in your hand.
• 23: You must have at least 3 god cards of the same color in your hand.
• 24: You must have at least 2 goods soup on your mask board.
• 25: You must have at least 2 goods clothes on your mask board.
• 26: You must have at least 2 goods bowl on your mask board.
• 27: You must have at least 2 goods decanter on your mask board.
• 28: You must have at least 2 goods tool on your mask board.
• 29: You must have at least 2 goods jewelry on your mask board.
• 30: You must have at least 3 different goods on your mask board.
• 31: You must have at least any 4 goods on your mask board.
• 32: You must have at least 2 Iliapa god cards in your hand.
• 33: You must have at least 2 Mama Quilia god cards in your hand.
• 34: You must have at least 2 Viracocha god cards in your hand.
• 35: You must have at least 2 Pacha Mama god cards in your hand.
• 36: You must have at least 2 Mama Sara god cards in your hand.
• 37: You must have at least 3 of your priests on temple steps.
• 38: You must have at least 5 food tiles on your mask board.
• 39: You must have activated at least 4 circlet tiles (adorned side visible).
• 40: You must have at least 2 Inti medals on your mask board.
• 41: You must have at least 4 offerings on your mask board.
• 42: You must have delivered a quipu each to at least 4 villages on the inner circle.
• 43: You must have delivered a quipu each to at least 4 villages on the outer circle.
• 44: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "1 offering" on your mask board.
• 45: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "2 VP" on your mask board.
• 46: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "1 space on status track" on your mask board.
• 47: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "rope bridge 2" on your mask board.
• 48: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "stone trail 2" on your mask board.
• 49: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "any 1 feather" on your mask board.
• 50: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "1 god card" on your mask board.
• 51: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "move 1 quipu to reserve space" on your mask board.
• 52: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "activate circlet 3" on your mask board.
• 53: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "1 food" on your mask board.
• 54: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "study tile 3" on your mask board.
• 55: You must have at least any 2 people tiles (farming and/or study) with "farming tile 3" on your mask board.

Please note: Inti medals cannot be substitutes for the following required god cards (mission tiles 32 - 36)!

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