DiceAFARI Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Contents
• Game Setup
• Maps
• Game Play
  • Rolling the Dice
  • Claiming Tiles
  • Routes
  • Reclaiming Tiles
  • Earning a Bonus
  • Taking a Photo
  • Ending the Game
• Scoring
• Optional Rules

Overview

Players create a map using the Safari Tiles. Each Safari Tile represents an area of the map and the type of terrain that is found there: Scrubland, Jungle, Desert, Mountain, Savanna, or Marsh.

Between each tile are placed Photo Tokens, which depict the various animals that will be seen on the safari. Players roll the Safari Dice and Bonus Die to select a route to visit, then take a photo of an animal they see. Once all areas have been visited, points are scored for sets of photos taken and the areas most recently visited.

The player with the most points wins!

Contents

• 18 Safari Tiles (3 of each terrain)
• 28 Photo Tokens (7 of each animal)
• 4 Safari Dice and 1 Bonus Die
• 72 Travel Tokens (18 of each color)
• 14 Map Cards (including 2 blank cards)

Game Setup

1. Shuffle the Safari Tiles and Photo Tokens.
2. Create a map at the center of the table (see Maps). Any unused Safari Tiles are discarded.
3. Randomly place Photo Tokens face up on the spaces between tiles until no more spaces remain. Do not place them on the half-spaces surrounding the outer edges of the map. Any remaining Photo Tokens are discarded.
4. Divide up the Travel Tokens, 1 color per player.
5. Each player rolls the Safari Dice once to determine the starting player. The player who rolls the most mountains goes first and play proceeds in a clockwise direction.

Maps

Safari Tiles are used to create animal-shaped maps. To create a map, choose a Map Card and randomly arrange the tiles to match the layout shown on the card. Each card indicates the number of tiles required to create the map and the number of photos available to take. The layout of each map also affects game play by limiting the routes that are available on the safari.

Maps can be chosen deliberately or randomly. Custom maps can be created by arranging the tiles into any animal, shape, or pattern. Use the blank Map Cards to keep your favorites!

Game Play

1. Roll the dice. 2. Claim tiles. 3. Take a photo.

Rolling the Dice

On each turn, the current player rolls all 5 dice. If the player is not satisfied with the current dice roll, he may hold or re-roll any number of Safari Dice up to 2 additional times, for a maximum of 3 total rolls on a single turn. A previously held Safari Die may later be re-rolled. The Bonus Die may not be re-rolled.

Example: These dice would allow a player to claim up to 2 mountain tiles, 1 desert tile, and 1 marsh tile.

Claiming Tiles

Each Safari Die represents a single Safari Tile of the indicated terrain. Once a player has finished rolling, he may claim up to 4 tiles on the map, based on the dice that were rolled. To claim a tile, the player places a Travel Token of his own color on the center of the tile.

Example: In order to claim these tiles, a player must have rolled at least 2 mountains and 1 marsh.

Routes

The routes taken on the safari are limited to patterns of 4 adjacent tiles in a straight line or square, not diagonal or any other pattern. On a single turn, the tiles claimed must form a valid route. It is not necessary to claim a full row or column of the map. If at least 2 tiles cannot be claimed after the 3 allowed dice rolls, the turn ends.

Only tiles that are arranged in one of these patterns may be claimed on a single turn: vertical, horizontal, or square.

Reclaiming Tiles

Tiles that are claimed with Travel Tokens may later be reclaimed. To reclaim a tile that already contains a Travel Token, the old token is replaced with one belonging to the current player.

A player may reclaim his own tiles, if needed, to complete a valid route. When doing so, the original Travel Token remains in place.

Example: If the green player wants to claim these tiles, he must immediately replace the yellow player's Travel Token with his own.

Earning a Bonus

On each turn, a bonus can be earned by the current player if he chooses to claim or reclaim the exact number of tiles indicated on the Bonus Die. After doing so, he must claim the bonus by placing a Travel Token of his own color on any tile on the map that has not been claimed previously.

Example: If the green player rolled a 2 on the Bonus Die, then claimed exactly 2 tiles, he would now claim an additional tile anywhere on the map that has not been claimed previously.

Taking a Photo

A Photo Token belongs to a player if it lies between 2 of his own Travel Tokens. At the end of the turn, the current player may retrieve one Photo Token that belongs to him from anywhere on the map. A player's collection of Photo Tokens may be hidden from other players until points are scored at the end of the game.

Example: In this example, Photo Token A and B belong to the green player, C belongs to the yellow player, and the remaining Photo Tokens don't belong to anyone.

Ending the Game

The game ends when all of the Safari Tiles have been claimed and each player has had at least 3 turns. If all the tiles have been claimed but one or more players has not had 3 turns, play continues without the use of the Bonus Die until the last player has completed his third turn.

Scoring

After the game has ended, players retrieve any remaining Photo Tokens from the map that belong to them. Each player scores points for sets of Photo Tokens he has collected and any Travel Tokens of his own color remaining on the map. Each token can only be scored once.

• Tourist Set (1 of each animal): 10 points
• Researcher Set (3 of the same animal): 5 points. Each additional photo: 3 points.
• Single Photo (of any animal): 1 point
• Travel Token (left on the map): 1 point

After scores are totaled, the player with the highest score wins! If there is a tie, the player whose last turn was the least recent wins the tie.

Optional Rules

Photo Surprise - Face down Photo Tokens

During game setup, all Photo Tokens are placed face down instead of face up and are not revealed until they are retrieved by a player.

Exclusive Coverage - Set collection of Safari Tiles

At the end of the game, players score 5 bonus points for every terrain that they have claimed exclusively, usually 3 Safari Tiles per terrain. For instance, if a player has claimed all of the available mountain and jungle tiles, he would score 10 bonus points.

Wetlands - Additional Photo Token distribution

Animals are most likely to be seen where there is water nearby. At the end of the game, unresolved Photo Tokens are given to the player who has claimed the wetter of the two surrounding terrains. A Photo Token remains unclaimed if it lies between two tiles of the same terrain that are claimed by different players. In order from wettest to driest, the terrains are: Marsh, Jungle, Mountain, Savanna, Scrubland, Desert.

(The terrain order is printed as icons in the source rulebook; it is listed here left to right as shown.)