Felinia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Preparations
• Game Play
  • 1. Bidding Phase
  • 2. Trading Phase
  • 3. Exploration Phase
  • 4. Storage Phase
  • 5. Preparation for the Next Round
• Game End
• Prosperity Scoring
• Further Important Things
• Advanced Game
  • Additional Preparation
  • Game Play Changes
  • Game End and Scoring
  • Special Trade Tiles

Components

• 1 double-sided Game Board
• 4 Player Boards
• 4 3D Ships (2 parts each)
• Wooden pawns: 40 Merchants
• 4 Money Markers
• 12 Bid Tokens
• Tiles: 45 Merchandise, 30 Trade, 8 Special, 5 Bonus, 20 Ships
• Cards: 11 Gold, 11 Spice, 11 Food, 18 Mysterious Place, 1 First Player, 2 "Market Closed," 1 Merchandise Setup
• 1 Cotton Bag
• 1 Rulebook
• Starting Merchandise tiles (the exact combination for 2, 3, and 4 players is shown on the box and on the Merchandise Setup card)

Preparations

Felinia can be played with the basic rules (immediately following) or the advanced rules (see the Advanced Game section). The basic game is recommended for 3 to 4 players.

• Each player should take the player board, the Money marker, the Merchants, and the Bid tokens of one color and place these in front of him. With fewer than four players, the extra components and player boards remain in the box.
• Each player should place the Money marker on the "2" space of his player board. This means that each player starts with 2 silver coins.
• Depending on the number of players, each player gets a specific combination of two Merchandise tiles that he places in the middle of his player board. The exact combination is shown in the box to the right, and is also listed on the Merchandise Setup card.
• Put all remaining Merchandise tiles into the bag.
• Choose the side of the game board with the island and place it face-up in the middle of the play area. Felinia's island is composed of 5 countries (each is a different color). Each country is divided into 9 provinces: one province adjacent to a port, two with crossroads, and 6 with Trading Posts.
• For 2 players, place two "Market Closed" cards as shown on the board. For 3 players, place one "Market Closed" card as shown. For 4 players, all markets are open — you will not need "Market Closed" cards.
• Shuffle the 5 blue-backed boat tiles and stack them face-down next to the game board. Shuffle all the other boat tiles (which have grey backs) and place them face-down on the blue-backed tiles.
• Assemble the 3D boats and place them on the 4 spaces in the Port of Katzburg.
• Take the four topmost boat tiles from the pile and place them face-up, one per 3D boat.
• Randomly draw and place two Merchandise tiles on each market without a "Market Closed" card. The last market space at the bottom of the game board is the Merchant's Guild, which never gets Merchandise tiles.
• The 8 Special Trade tiles are not needed for the basic game. Just use the 30 Trade tiles with figures: shuffle the 30 Trade tiles and place one face-down on each province space with a trading post symbol of the corresponding color.
• Stack the five bonus chips face-up on the Bonus space.
• The Food cards and the Mysterious Place cards are not needed for the Basic game.
• Beside the game board, separate spice and gold cards into piles to be used as common stock.
• Choose a starting player. He gets the First Player card and starts the game.

Game Play

The game lasts for several rounds (about 10-12). A round consists of five phases:

1. Bidding
2. Trading
3. Exploration
4. Storage
5. Preparation for the Next Round

Each phase must be completely resolved before the next phase can begin.

1. Bidding Phase

Each player has 3 Bid tokens. Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player will place one of them. After three rounds, all players will have placed all Bid tokens, and the Bidding phase ends.

There are two ways to play a Bid token. Either:

a) The player places the Bid token on his player board. By doing so, he immediately earns silver coins. There are three large circular spaces on each player's board. Depending on which round you are in, you place the Bid token on the first, second, or third space (counting from left to right), and earn 1, 2, or 3 coins. To indicate this, he moves his Money marker 1, 2, or 3 spaces to the right. You can't move the Money marker further than the space with the "6." Excess money is lost.

Example: In the second round of the Bidding Phase, the blue player places a Bid token on his second space and gets 2 coins (he moves his marker from 4 to 6).

Or b) The player places the Bid token on the game board. That player can play the Bid token on any market or on the Merchant Guild, so that, in the Trading Phase, he will be able to buy and/or exchange merchandise. If there is already one or more Bid token(s) where the player wants to place his Bid token, he stacks his Bid token on top.

There are no restrictions for placing Bid tokens: Each player can have one or more Bid tokens on their player board and/or one or more Bid tokens on different market spaces and/or one or more Bid tokens on the same market space.

Example: Red places a Bid token on a Market where a Blue Bid token has already been placed. Red places his token on top.

After the 3 rounds, each player has placed his 3 Bid tokens, and the Bidding Phase ends.

2. Trading Phase

Now players buy and/or exchange merchandise. The markets are resolved one at a time, starting at the top of the board (marked with an arrow), and proceeding downwards. The Merchant's Guild will be resolved last.

For all of these locations, the turn order is determined by the order of the Bid tokens, starting with the player whose Bid token is on top, and then proceeding down the pile.

Buying at the market. On his turn, each player can only buy the Merchandise that is available at that market. Each Bid token allows a player to buy exactly one Merchandise tile. The price of that tile is equal to the total number of Bid tokens on that market space, regardless of their color. If the player buys the Merchandise, he moves his Money marker back, according to the price paid. He then takes his Merchandise tile and places it on his player board, and places his token next to his player board. If a player does not have enough money or does not want to buy a Merchandise tile, he just takes his Bid token back without buying anything (the same happens if there is no Merchandise tile left). Then continue with the next Bid token in that location.

Example: On the first market space is a pile of 4 Bid tokens. Blue starts, and spends 4 coins for a Merchandise tile from the market space. Blue takes his Bid token back. Now red can buy one Merchandise tile for 3 coins, but he doesn't want to so he just takes his Bid token back. Green buys one of the remaining Merchandise tiles for 2 coins. Red buys the last Merchandise tile for 1 coin.

Exchanging at the Merchant's Guild. As described before, the players take their turn starting with the topmost Bid token (if there is more than one), and the price for exchanging is equal to the number of tokens on that space (regardless of color). Similar to buying, each Bid token allows the player to perform exactly one Exchange. The player can choose not to pay and just take his token back, or he can pay the price and perform one of the following two exchange options:

A) He can exchange one of his Merchandise tiles with one of a different color (if available) of his choice from the bag. If the desired color is not available, he must choose another. Additionally, he gets one Spice from the supply. He places both in front of him.

B) He exchanges one Gold and one Spice of his stock for one Bonus chip of his choice from the game board (you are allowed to look through the pile). If there is no bonus chip, this option is not available. That player places the bonus chip face-down in front of him (he is always allowed to look at it). The Gold and Spice are returned to the supply.

Example: The Blue player is on top of a 2-token pile. He pays 2 coins and exchanges 1 Gold and 1 Spice for a Bonus Tile. The Red player pays 1 coin and exchanges one of his Merchandise tiles for a different type of merchandise from the bag. He also takes 1 Spice.

Board boat after Deal. Immediately after a player buys a Merchandise tile or makes an Exchange ("makes a deal"), he is allowed to board a boat, but only if he can provide the required Merchandise that are pictured on the boat tile, and only if the boat has a free space (circle) left.

Example: The blue player already has 4 Merchandise tiles, and buys a watch. Now he has the right combination, and can board the 9:45 boat bound for "Cheetah's Kingdom" (emerald color) by using 2 Clothes and 1 Glassware. This boat has two spaces. To board with a Merchant, you need 3 Merchandise tiles: 2 pieces of Clothing and 1 piece of Glassware. On the boat bound for "Cheetah's Kingdom," there are two spaces available, so he places his Merchant on the foremost space (next to the prow), leaving the rearmost space (next to the stern) empty. He decides to also board the 5:00 boat bound for "Lion's Kingdom" (orange color), since he also has 2 Watches and 1 coin. This boat has one space. To board with a Merchant, you need 2 Merchandise tiles (2 watches) and 1 coin. Then he places a Merchant on this boat as well, puts all 5 Merchandise tiles back into the bag and moves his Money marker back 1 space.

He then places a merchant from his stock onto a free space of the boat. If there is more than one free space available, he puts the Merchant on the foremost space. The required Merchandise tiles are placed back into the bag and the Money marker is moved back accordingly. If the player has all the required Merchandise (and coins) to place more than one Merchant on the same or different boats, he is allowed to do so at the same time. A player is allowed to have Merchants on multiple boats. A player is allowed to have Merchants on both spaces of a boat.

Important: Taking back a Bid token without Buying or Exchanging does not allow a player to board a boat. If you forgot to board a boat and let the next player start his turn, you will have to wait until after your next "deal" to be able to board a boat.

Example: The Green player takes his Bid token back from the second market space without buying anything. Although he has the required Merchandise tiles for a boat, he is not allowed to board it with a Merchant until he buys or exchanges something.

3. Exploration Phase

Departure. If all spaces on a boat are occupied, then it is ready to sail to its destination, indicated by the color of the Boat tile. Move the boat to its port of destination. If there are several boats sailing during the same phase, they will sail one after another, in order of the departure times pictured on the boat tiles (earliest departure sails first). In the event none of the boats are ready to sail, then the boat with the earliest departure time will sail to its port of destination (even if it is empty, in which case the boat tile is immediately discarded).

Arrival. When a boat arrives at its port of destination, any Merchants on board move up to 3 steps away from the boat.

• The first step must always be to the province directly adjacent to the port.
• Then the player is allowed to reveal up to two Trade tiles in that country (Trade tiles remain face up).
• Afterwards, the two remaining steps should be used to reach one of the face-up Trade tiles in that country. For that, you must move along the pictured routes to adjacent provinces, step by step.

Whenever a Merchant enters a province with a pictured symbol, he immediately receives the corresponding reward: take 1 Spice, take 1 Gold, take 1 coin, or draw 1 Merchandise tile randomly from the bag.

Example: Green merchant arrives at the port of Tiger's Kingdom (violet color). First step: Green merchant enters the province adjacent to the port. He then reveals 2 Trade tiles in the country. Second step: He enters the adjacent province with a coin symbol, and he earns 1 coin. Third step: He enters the adjacent province with the Tiger's Trade tile. The Green player takes this tile and the merchant remains in the province until the end of the game.

When a Merchant enters a province with a face-up Trade tile, his movement ends in any case and he must remain there until the end of the game. The player takes that Trade tile and places it face-down in front of him (he is always allowed to look at it). A Merchant is not allowed to return to a province he visited earlier in the move, and cannot enter a province where another Merchant is already present. A Merchant is not allowed to enter a province with a face-down Trade tile. If there are two Merchants on a boat, the foremost Merchant completes his full movement, and then the other does the same. Once all Merchants on a boat have made their movement, the Boat tile is discarded and the empty 3D boat gets moved back to the port of Katzburg.

Return home: if the movement of a Merchant is completed and he failed to reach a province with a face-up Trade tile, he has to return to the stock of his player (he couldn't find a good place to establish a trading post). In the basic game, it's usually better to reach a Trade tile.

Cards — How to use Spice and Gold cards with different values? Spice and Gold cards (and Food cards in the advanced game) have two different sides. Use the side with Value 1 if you have one of the appropriate item. If you have a lot, you may reduce the number of cards by using the side with the value of 3.

How to handle cards? All cards (except the Mysterious Place cards in the Advanced game) must be kept face-up on the table so that other players can see them.

4. Storage Phase

Now each player is allowed to keep up to 3 of his Merchandise tiles for the next turn for free. He may pay 2 coins to keep a 4th, but no more. Surplus Merchandise tiles must be sold (put back into the bag) for 1 coin each. Until this phase, a player is — of course — allowed to have more than 3 Merchandise tiles.

5. Preparation for the Next Round

Remove Bid tokens from the Player board (and place next to it).

Boats: Refill each empty 3D boat with a face-up Boat tile from the pile. If there are not enough Boat tiles to refill all of the empty 3D boats, there is an immediate last (complete) Exploration Phase in which all boats with Merchants (even if not completely filled) will sail as described above (see Game End).

Variant for very experienced players: After refilling the empty 3D boats, turn the topmost Boat tile (if any) on the pile face-up. This way, you will be able to see what comes next.

Refill Merchandise: Replenish each market (except, of course, the closed markets) to 3 Merchandise tiles each, drawn randomly from the bag.

No more spice/gold/Merchandises? Spice and Gold should be available in sufficient quantity for the game. Players must optimize the two faces of the Gold and Spices cards so as to free up as many cards as possible. Nevertheless, if there are not enough in the common stock, you cannot get any.

Pass the First Player card to the left.

Sell Merchandise, Gold, and/or Spice. A player can sell at any (!) time as much gold, spice, and/or Merchandise as he likes. He receives 2 coins per Gold, 1 coin per Spice, and 1 coin per Merchandise tile. Tip: The prices are printed on the upper right of the game board. Gold and Spice cards are returned to the Supply. Merchandise tiles are returned to the bag.

Game End

There are two ways the game can end:

1) If a player places his last Merchant on a boat during the Trading Phase. All players finish the Trading Phase as normal. During the Exploration Phase, ALL of the boats leave the port of Katzburg (even if not completely full). Complete the Exploration phase as usual. The "Storage Phase" and "Preparation for the Next Round" are skipped. Move directly to Game End and Scoring.

2) If there were not enough Boat tiles to refill all boats during the Preparation for Next Round. All boats immediately leave the port of Katzburg. If they contain Merchants, play a normal Exploration phase. Continue with the scoring (there will be no "Storage Phase" and, of course, no "Preparation for Next Round").

Prosperity Scoring

Each player now counts his Prosperity Points. Hint: A summary of the points distribution is printed at the bottom right of the game board.

Each type of Trade tiles is scored separately. The number range printed on the Trade tiles shows the possible value of the chip:

• If a player has just one Trade tile of the same type, it scores 1 point.
• If a player has two Trade tiles of the same type, each scores 2 points.
• If a player has three or more Trade tiles of the same type, each scores 3 points.

Each group of Merchants is scored separately. A group contains all of the Merchants which are located in provinces directly adjacent to one another (in the same country or in different countries).

• In a group of 3 or more, each Merchant scores 3 points.
• In a group of 2 Merchants, each Merchant scores 2 points.
• A group of just one Merchant scores 1 point.

For each gold, a player scores 1 point. For every two spices, a player scores 1 point. For each Merchandise tile, a player scores 1 point.

This bonus tile is scored as an additional tile of its kind. For a +1 bonus tile, each Trade tile of the corresponding type is worth an additional point. The bonus tile itself is worth no points.

Scoring Example: Blue player has this bonus tile, and scores 5x3 + 2x2 + 1 = 20 Points because of it. He scores an additional 2x1 points for his two Panthers Trade tiles. For his group of 4 Merchants and two groups each of 2 Merchants, he scores 4x3 + 2x2 + 2x2 = 20 points. For 2 Merchandise tiles, 2 Gold and 3 Spices, he scores 2+2+1 = 5 Points.

The player with the highest score wins. If more than one player ties for the highest score, then the tied player with the most coins wins. If there is still a tie, then there can be multiple winners.

Further Important Things

Important: On the game board is pictured for each country a little distribution summary of its Trade tiles.

Hint: For a Boat tile, you always need a minimum of one Merchandise tile of its color. You can prepare by collecting Merchandise of that color.

Hint: The last 5 Boat tiles include one for each of the 5 Destinations.

You are not allowed to look at the back of the Trade tiles belonging to other players during the game.

Advanced Game

The Advanced game is recommended for 2 to 4 players. Experienced players should use the rules of the Basic game with the following additions.

Additional Preparation

• Use the advanced side of the game board.
• Build stock piles as in the basic game, but create a pile of Food cards as well.
• Shuffle the Mysterious Place cards and build a face-down draw pile. Place it next to the other piles.
• Use all 38 Trade tiles. Shuffle them and place one face-down on each province space with a trading post symbol of the corresponding color. Then turn all Trade tiles face-up.

Game Play Changes

2. Trading Phase. A third kind of exchange is available: one Merchandise tile for one Merchandise tile of a different kind and one Food.

3. Exploration Phase. Merchant Movement: Basic movement is still 3 Steps. As the Trade tiles are already face-up, revealing is not applicable.

For each food you spend, Merchants can move one additional step. The food must be returned to the stock pile immediately upon usage.

Return Home: Remember, if movement is complete and the Merchant didn't reach a province with a Trade tile, he is returned to the stock of his player.

Remember! Merchants cannot go back to a province they already visited. Merchants cannot enter a province where another Merchant is already present. When a Merchant enters a province with a Trade tile, his movement ends in any case. That player takes the Trade tile, and the Merchant remains on this province until the end of the game.

Collecting on provinces with symbols. Whenever a Merchant enters a province with a pictured symbol, he will immediately receive the corresponding reward: as described in the basic rules; take 1 food; or draw the topmost two Mysterious Place cards and choose one to keep. But be aware: a player cannot select a Mysterious Place card of a type he already owns.

To keep a card with a Books or Fine Wine symbol on the bottom of the card, the player needs the matching Merchandise. He must place the merchandise back into the bag (reveal the card if proof is necessary). Place remaining cards back underneath the pile.

You are allowed to keep your Mysterious Place cards secret from the others. Comment: It can often happen that you can't keep a card.

All collected rewards (food, merchandise, etc.) can be used immediately.

Game End and Scoring

Scoring. If a player has just one Mysterious Place card, it scores 1 point. If a player has two or more Mysterious Place cards, each scores 2 points.

About Food. Food can't be sold. Food usually doesn't score anything (except with a Special Trade tile).

Special Trade Tiles

Some of these tiles have effects during the game, and some provide additional points at the end.

• Each of your food now scores 2 points at the end of the game.
• Each of your spices is worth 1 point at the end of the game (instead of 1 point for two spices).
• Merchants that are alone score 2 points instead of 1 at the end of the game.
• For each Mysterious Place card, score 1 Additional point at the end of the game.
• Each time you enter a province with 1 or 2 food symbols, you gain one additional food. You also get a food immediately when you receive this tile. Important: does not apply when getting food due to Exchanging.
• Immediately take a food and a gold from the supply. Earn 1 coin and draw a Merchandise tile randomly from the bag. Remove this special Trade tile from the game afterwards.
• Every time you enter a province with 1 or 2 coin symbols, you gain an additional coin. You also receive 1 coin immediately when you receive this tile.
• Every time you enter a province with 1 or 2 gold symbols, you gain one additional gold. You also receive a gold immediately when you receive this tile. Remember: you can't have more than 6 coins.