Expedition Sumatra: Dadu Dadu Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Board, Aim of the Game and End of the Game
  • Game board
  • Aim of the game
  • End of the game
• Preparation
• How to Play
• The 4 Possible Actions
  • Possible action 1: Storing (of a maximum of 2 dice)
  • Possible action 2: Moving
  • Possible action 3: Discovering animals
  • Possible action 4: Exploring sites
  • Zero rolls and the end of each round
• End of the Game and Final Scoring
• The 5 Scenarios and Their Special Features
  • I. Scenario Hutan (Indonesian "forest")
  • II. Scenario Air (Indonesian "water")
  • III. Scenario Malam Hari (Indonesian "night(time)")
  • IV. Scenario Pegunungan (Indonesian "mountains")
  • V. Scenario Udara (Indonesian "air(borne)")
• Variation Keluarga (Indonesian "family")
• Summary of the Rules

Components

• Quickfinder rulebook
• 3 boards with 5 scenarios
• 1 transparent game plate to write on
• 6 expedition dice with the following symbols: ship (seen from above), compass, binoculars, truck (seen from above), native, storm
• Additionally needed: 1 wipeable pen in the player's chosen colour (not included)

Game Board, Aim of the Game and End of the Game

Game board

The game board is the scenario board, with a scoring table at its side. Each board shows the jungle islands with starting ports, route sections (land and water), animal fields, traps and sites ("towns"). Along the edges are the logbook rows of the players and the bonus fields. The example board shown in the rulebook is Hutan (1st scenario of 5).

Symbols on the board:

• Logbook (row): one row per player, with entries that record the result of each round.
• Port: starting point.
• Route section, land: moved over by truck.
• Route section, water: moved over by ship.
• Animal field.
• Trap.
• Site "town".
• Requirements: the dice needed to score (example).
• Dock: storing place.
• Bonus for the player with the longest route (shown as the arrow with a number).
• Per player: longest route and total score.

Aim of the game

Using different combinations of dice, the players try to gain the highest amount of points by moving through the jungle, discovering animals and exploring sites.

End of the game

Each player keeps a logbook. The expedition ends with the last entry in the respective logbook. Depending on the number of players, the number of rounds varies:

• 2 players: 14 logbook entries
• 3 players: 9 logbook entries
• 4 players: 7 logbook entries

A player's logbook shows the number of entries depending on the number of players: the 7th entry, the 9th entry and the 14th entry are marked.

The result of each round is noted down in the respective player's logbook. Example: entries of one player at the end of a 3-player game. "/" means only movement; "0" means zero roll.

Preparation

The players decide which scenario to play and place, for example Hutan, upmost into the game box. Then the game plate is placed on top of the scenario.

To note down the results on the plate, the players each choose a wipeable marker in a different colour. (Markers are not included in the game.) Do not write on the game boards!

Each player chooses a logbook row (depending on the number of players).

Who owns the most pets (or plush toys) starts the game. The other players follow clockwise.

How to Play

• All players play on the same scenario.
• The active player rolls all 6 dice.
• After each roll, the player has to perform at least 1 action, so gradually he has less and less dice at his disposal, until a sensible roll is no longer possible. It is also allowed to perform more than one action if the result of the dice roll permits it.

Possible actions (which can be combined in any way) are:

1. Storing
2. Moving
3. Discovering animals
4. Exploring sites

At the beginning (but also later in the game), actions 1. Storing and 2. Moving are important. Actions 3. Discovering animals and 4. Exploring sites are needed for scoring.

• Dice that have been used for actions 2-4 are put aside and cannot be used again that round by the active player.
• As long as he has been able to perform an action, the player continues with the remaining dice.
• As soon as after a dice roll it is no longer possible to perform any action, it is the next player's turn.

The 4 Possible Actions

When the active player has rolled the dice, he MUST perform at least one of the 4 possible actions:

Possible action 1: Storing (of a maximum of 2 dice)

It is allowed to store up to 2 dice in the dock to:

a) collect dice for actions 2-4, or b) perform an action if actions 2-4 are not possible.

If there are 2 dice in the dock, it is full, and new dice can only be stored after some space has been cleared in the dock (by using the dice there to perform an action).

The dock has a storing capacity of 2 dice.

Advice: If possible, refrain from filling the dock completely too soon!

The native and the storm CANNOT be stored.

If, after an action, the dock has been cleared completely or in part, the (once more) empty space can immediately be used again for storing.

Dice that have been stored remain in the dock until they are used for an action (2-4) or until it is the next player's turn.

Possible action 2: Moving

To move means either to continue already existing routes (without omitting any element of the way) or to begin a new route from one of the starting points.

START: The players start at one of the ports (starting points) which can be used by everyone. They are not marked in any colour. Each player, however, may start from each of the starting points only once per turn.

At first, the players have to move by truck or ship to reach the animal fields and the sites (see below). The players are free to decide from which of the starting points they wish to begin their route and in which direction to move. During the game, it is possible to start from different starting points or several times from one starting point. It is allowed (and advisable) to form more than one route from these starting points.

• 1 x moving over land = 1 truck.
• 1 x moving over water = 1 ship.
• Moving (by truck and/or ship) between 2 destinations is only possible by using a compass.

For each section of the route between 2 destinations (port, town, animal field or trap), the corresponding means of transport (over land: truck, over water: ship) are needed. It is possible to move the whole way between 2 destinations or just part of it, but for each movement one always also needs 1 compass.

Example GREEN: truck + ship + compass. Example RED: truck + compass. Example BLUE: ship + compass.

So, if the result of the dice roll allows it, it is more economical to drive the whole way between 2 destinations at once, as it saves the player a die.

The parts of a route which a player has covered are marked in his colour.

Route sections and destinations (except for starting fields) may only be used by one player. So during the game, the players cut each other off and therefore have to plan their routes carefully.

If 2 or more storms have been rolled, it is not allowed to perform the action "Moving".

It is not allowed to omit any element of the route. Example CORRECT: no elements of the route have been omitted. Example WRONG: an element of the route (a town) has been omitted.

Alignment of the water fields: The alignment of the water fields does NOT prescribe the direction into which the players have to move. It may, however, be seen as a hint how the different routes might develop.

Possible action 3: Discovering animals

As soon as a player has reached an animal field or a trap, he may try to discover animals according to the requirements. On an animal field, it is not possible to get more than one of the 2 animals shown. The second vanishes into the jungle. For the trap, there is a bigger choice, as one can get one out of 4 animals here.

Example: On this animal field it is possible to get either 1 orang-utan for 1x truck + 1x binoculars or 1 elephant for 2x truck + 2x binoculars. (Compare the scoring table with requirements.)

When a player reaches a trap, he may get one of the upper 4 animals shown on the scoring table. The bottom one on each scenario (for example muntjac) never walks into a trap.

If a player has the right combination of dice, he can cross off the respective animal on the animal field (or the trap) and mark the corresponding points for that animal on the scoring table in his colour (from left to right; first upper row, then lower row, as the animals vary in value). The player receives the number of points for the animal he has discovered.

Example: Player Green discovers a tiger and receives 4 points.

If 2 or more natives have been rolled, it is not allowed to perform the action "Discovering animals".

If the last animal of one kind has been crossed off, no more specimen of this kind can be discovered.

Possible action 4: Exploring sites

When a player has reached a site, he can explore it by rolling the required symbols (truck, ship and compass).

Each of the 5 scenarios has a special kind of site with special functions. The first scenario features towns. When a site has been explored, the player marks the respective site on the game board as well as on the scoring table (lower part of the symbol and in reading direction) and receives the corresponding points.

Example: Player Blue explores a town and receives 4 points.

Special function of the town: For each town he has explored, the player may at any point during the game repeat a dice roll once. Having used the special function, the roof of the respective town is crossed off on the scoring table.

The procedure is the same in the other scenarios with the difference that the sites there have other special functions (explanations on page 6).

Zero rolls and the end of each round

At the end of each round, the result is noted down in the logbook: "/" if the player only moved; the respective points if animals have been discovered or sites explored; otherwise "0" for a zero roll.

A zero roll means that a player has neither been able to move nor to discover animals nor to explore sites, in other words he has not been able to perform any of the actions 2-4. A zero roll is noted down in the logbook as "0". For each second zero roll, the player immediately gets an extra turn; the first zero in the logbook is crossed off and the result of the extra turn is noted down (instead of the second zero roll).

Example, logbook entries for Blue: Round 1: Blue just moves ("/"). Round 2: Blue discovers an orang-utan for 2 points and explores a town for 4 points ("6"). Round 3: zero roll. Round 4: Blue moves and discovers a tiger for 4 points ("4"). Round 5: zero roll: Blue crosses off the first zero, starts an extra turn and moves ("/") ...

Special case: If a player can no longer perform actions 2-4, because all his routes have been cut off, the other players will finish the game without him. This case, however, should be avoided by cleverly planning one's routes.

End of the Game and Final Scoring

The game ends after each player has noted down his final logbook entry.

After that, each player counts his longest continuous route and notes down the number of the individual parts of this route (see example player Green).

The player who at the end of the game possesses the longest continuous route receives 6 bonus points. In case of a draw, the bonus points are divided.

The following elements count as parts of the longest route: route sections (land and water), towns, traps, animal fields and ports (starting points). Subsidiary ways do not count. Circuits are possible, but each part of the route may only be counted once.

Example longest route (compare page 3): Red = 15, Blue = 13, Green = 12. Red gets the bonus (6 points).

Finally each player notes down his total score (see example player Green: 39 points).

Victory: The player with the highest amount of points wins the game. In case of a draw, the player with the most valuable animal wins.

The 5 Scenarios and Their Special Features

The rules have been explained on the basis of the first scenario. They are also valid for the other scenarios, with some exceptions mentioned below.

I. Scenario Hutan (Indonesian "forest")

Animals, habitat jungle: Sumatran orang-utan, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran rhinoceros, Sumatran elephant, Sumatran muntjac.

The rules have been explained on the basis of this scenario.

II. Scenario Air (Indonesian "water")

Animals, habitat water areas: Malayan tapir, Flat-headed cat, Otter civet, Hairy-nosed otter, Sumatran water shrew.

Special features:

1. Different requirements for the animals (see specifications on the game board).
2. Village (instead of the town): When activating its special ability, natives may once be used as jokers. However, they have to be used immediately (natives still CANNOT be stored in the dock). When activating the village, the natives do not prevent the discovery of animals.

III. Scenario Malam Hari (Indonesian "night(time)")

Nocturnal animals: Sumatran large flying fox, Greater mouse deer, Sumatran hog badger, Sun bear, Horsfield's tarsier.

Special features:

1. Different requirements for the animals (see specifications on the game board).
2. Campfire (instead of town): When activating its special ability, the dock may once be used with double capacity; that means once it is possible to store 1 or 2 additional dice (so the dock can take up to 4 dice).
3. Perilous area: The double route sections have to be crossed in one go. It counts as two parts of the route.

IV. Scenario Pegunungan (Indonesian "mountains")

Animals, habitat mountain area: Sumatran dhole, Sumatran serow, Sumatran clouded leopard, Malayan sambar deer, Sumatran rabbit.

Special features:

1. Different requirements for the animals (see specifications on the game board).
2. Fogbank (instead of town): When activating its special ability, the player can choose to use it as a town (2x), a campfire (1x) or a village (2x), as long as the options are still available. If a fogbank is for example used as a campfire, the campfire is crossed off; after that no other fogbank can be used as a campfire.
3. Airship: In this scenario one can also move by air. Airship fields are used like water sections (with the symbol of the ship).
4. Starting point native: If a player wants to start a route from such a starting point, he additionally has to hand in a native. (This rule does not apply when a player arrives from another starting point and simply passes the native field.)

V. Scenario Udara (Indonesian "air(borne)")

Animals, habitat trees: Sunda flying lemur, Sunda slow loris, Helmeted hornbill, Siamang, Sumatran flying squirrel.

Special features:

1. Different requirements for the animals (see specifications on the game board).
2. Plants (instead of town): When activating the special ability, the second animal may be discovered in a field that has already been marked by another player.
3. Perilous area: Like in scenario III Malam Hari.
4. Airship and starting point native: Like in scenario IV Pegunungan.

Variation Keluarga (Indonesian "family")

The scoring fields of each species are either round or square. Round ones symbolize female, square ones male animals. If a player discovers a pair of one species, he receives the points of the less valuable animal as bonus (= offspring). Each animal, however, pairs only 1x.

Example: Player Red had already discovered an orang-utan for 2 points (round). Now he discovers one for 3 points (square). He receives 5 points: 3 (for the discovered animal) + 2 (for the less valuable animal) = 5. Player Blue receives 4 points: 2 (discovered animal) + 2 (less valuable animal) = 4.

Summary of the Rules

Aim of the game: Using different combinations of dice to gain the most points by moving through the jungle, discovering animals and exploring sites.

Game duration: Each player has a logbook in which he notes down the result of each round. 2 players play 14 rounds (= 14 entries), 3 players 9 rounds (= 9 entries) and 4 players 7 rounds (= 7 entries). The result of a round is noted down like this:

1. Points: if points have been received, the sum of them is noted down, for example "7".
2. "/": if one has only extended one's route (= moved) but has not received any points.
3. "0": for a zero roll, if the player has neither received points nor been able to move.

Preparation: A scenario (game board) is chosen and the game plate placed on top of it. Each player has a wipeable marker in his colour and chooses a logbook. The players write on the plate.

How to play: The active player rolls the dice as long as he can perform at least 1 of the 4 possible actions per roll. The 4 possible actions are: 1. Storing (a maximum of 2 dice), 2. Moving, 3. Discovering animals, 4. Exploring sites. Performed actions (2-4) are immediately noted down on the plate.

• With 2 or more storms, a player cannot move.
• With 2 or more natives, a player cannot discover animals.

Explored sites have a special function each (depending on the scenario).

End of the game: When each player has made his final logbook entry. The longest continuous route scores 6 bonus points. The player with the highest amount of points wins the game. In a draw, the most valuable animal functions as tie-breaker.