Formosa Tea Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Game board
  • Player board
  • Merchant card
• Setup
• Round Overview
• Worker Action Phase
  • I. Harvest Tea and advance on the Tea Processing Track
    • 1. Harvest Tea
    • 2. Advance on the Tea Processing Track
  • II. Tea Processing
    • 1.1 Processing Oolong, Black, or Green Tea
    • 1.2 Processing Scented Tea
    • 2. Reward for Tea Processing
  • III. Tea Completion
    • 1. Retrieve your Tea Master
    • 2. Evaluate the quality of the tea
    • 3. Store your tea in the warehouse
  • IV. Sell to Global Market
  • V. Sell to Domestic Market
• Preparation Phase
• Game End
• Scoring
• Historical Event Cards
• Characters
• Credits

Components

• Game board — 1
• Player boards — 4
• Weather tiles — 4
• Tea Technology discs — 16 (4 × 4 types)
• Action discs — 12 (Global Market × 8, Tea Processing × 4)
• Oolong Tea (orange) cubes, Black Tea (red) cubes, Green Tea (green) cubes (Orange: Oolong Tea × 6, Red: Black Tea × 5, Green: Green Tea × 5)
• Player markers — 20 (5 per color)
• Cloth bag — 1
• Flower Bud discs — 16 (1 per color)
• 100/200 VP markers — 4
• Workers — 20 (Tea Farmers × 8, 2 per color; Tea Masters × 12, 3 per color)
• Historical Event cards — 11
• Merchant cards — 28
• Character cards — 7
• Start player marker — 1
• Round markers — 6
• English rulebook — 1

Tea Farmers vs. Tea Masters. Only Tea Masters can take Tea Processing and Tea Completion actions. Either can be used to Harvest Tea or Sell to Global / Domestic Markets.

Game board

The numbers on the Weather tiles indicate how much water the Tea cubes under the corresponding column contain.

Tea Plantation area. Each row of the Tea Plantation corresponds to the Tea Processing Track on the right. From top to bottom, they are: Oolong, Black, Green, and Scented Tea Processing Tracks. Whenever a worker is placed on the Tea Plantation to harvest tea leaves, all the Tea Masters (even those of other players) on the corresponding Tea Processing Track will be advanced.

Resolved at the end of the game.

Raw Tea processing. Players will harvest Tea Leaves (cubes) from the Tea Plantation and process them to produce 3 types of Raw Tea: Oolong (orange), Black (red), and Green Tea (green).

Tea Technology Track / Tea Processing Track.

Scented Tea processing. Players may use Raw Tea as the base ingredients and add Flower Buds (discs) to produce Scented Tea.

Global Market / Domestic Market.

Player board

The player board indicates different steps of tea processing:

• Basket — Tea Leaves collected from the Tea Plantation.
• Warehouse — Tea Leaves sorted by 3 different quality levels.
• Tea Factory — Tea Leaves being processed and dehydrated.
• Evaluation.
• Scented Tea Factory.

Merchant card

The Merchant card shows (front and back): the Tea icon for end game scoring, the Merchant's required Tea, and the VP for different qualities of Tea at each Stage.

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table. In 4-player games, place all 16 Flower Bud discs (Orange × 6, Red × 5, Green × 5) randomly on the corresponding spaces. In 2- or 3-player games, do not use the leftmost column and use only 12 discs: Orange × 5, Red × 4, Green × 3).
2. Put all of the Tea cubes into the cloth bag, mix thoroughly, and randomly draw and place 3 cubes on each of the Flower Bud disc.
3. Shuffle all 4 Weather tiles and place one tile on each space of the Weather Track (with either side up).
4. Place the Action discs and Tea Technology discs next to the game board as the supply.
5. Each player chooses a color and places their 5 player markers on the "0" space of the VP track, 3 Technology Tracks, and Domestic Market Track.
6. Each player takes one player board and 5 workers of their color.
7. Sort the Merchant cards by different stages as shown on the card backs. Shuffle each stage of cards and place them face down with Stage 3 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, and 1 on the top, to form a single Merchant deck.
8. Build a tableau of 4 rows × 3 columns by revealing Merchant cards one at a time from the deck and placing them in rows of 4 cards next to the game board, until there are 3 columns (totaling 12 cards).
9. Shuffle all Historical Event cards and draw 6/5/4 cards in a 2/3/4-player game. Place the cards in chronological order on the right of the game board and remove the remaining cards from the game. Place the round markers on the Event cards based on their order with the lowest round number on the lowest/oldest dated card, and the highest round number on the highest/most recent dated card.
10. In a 2-player game, each player places one of their Tea Masters between the second and third Event cards. At the beginning of Round 3, both players retrieve their Tea Master for future use. In a 3 or 4-player game, each player removes one Tea Master from the game (only 4 of the 5 workers are used).
11. The player who most recently drank tea (or is drinking tea NOW) becomes the start player and takes the start player marker. Players will take turns in clockwise order in the game.
12. Each player draws 2 Tea cubes from the bag and places them in their Basket at the 1 Water level.
13. Advanced rules: Beginning with the start player, each player takes 1 Tea cube from 2 different Tea Plantation spaces, and places them in their Basket at the Water level corresponding to the number on the Weather tile in that column.
14. Advanced rules: Randomly draw a number of Character cards equal to the number of players +1 and place them faceup on the table. Beginning with the last player and going counterclockwise, each player chooses one card to keep in front of them. Discard the unselected card.

Round Overview

In a 2/3/4-player game, there will be 6/5/4 rounds. In each round there are two phases: Worker Action phase and Preparation phase.

Worker Action Phase

Beginning with the start player, each player takes turns performing 1 of 5 actions with one of their workers.

I. Harvest Tea and advance on the Tea Processing Track

1. Harvest Tea

Place one worker on an unoccupied Tea Plantation space, and take EITHER all cubes of the same color OR one cube of each color on the space. For example, if there are 2 green and 1 orange cubes, you may choose to take 2 green cubes OR 1 green and 1 orange cube. You may also decline to take any cubes.

After taking the cube(s), you must place them in your Tea Basket space at the same Water Level as the Weather Tile above the column from which you took the cubes. For example, if the Weather Tile above the column shows a Water Level of 2, you must place the cubes in the Tea Basket with Water Level 2.

When you take the last cube(s) on a Tea Plantation space, you will also take the Flower Bud disc on that space and place it next to your player board. Once taken, Flower Bud discs will not be replenished.

Note: Your Tea Baskets can hold at most 6 cubes total. You may not discard cubes already in your tea basket but you may also decline to take any new cubes.

Note: When the rules state "Workers," it includes both Tea Masters and Tea Farmers.

2. Advance on the Tea Processing Track

Add up the total number of workers in the row of the Tea Plantation area you just placed your worker. Starting with the active player and going clockwise, all Tea Masters (including those of other players) currently on the Tea Processing Track of the same row must be advanced. Advancement can occur in one of two ways:

A) Advance the Tea Master as many spaces as the total number of workers in the Tea Plantation row, and execute the effect of each space the Tea Master moves through / to.

B) Move the Tea Master directly to the last space without executing the effects of any of the spaces it passes through. However, only players with Tea Masters in the last space can take the Tea Completion action in a future turn.

Note: No action is taken when the Tea Master arrives on the last space and the Tea Master cannot be advanced any further.

II. Tea Processing

There are 4 Tea Processing Tracks on the right side of the game board. From top to bottom: Oolong Tea, Black Tea, Green Tea, and Scented Tea. The first three are processed with Tea cubes from players' Tea Basket, while the last one is processed with Tea cubes from players' warehouse (processed Oolong, Black, or Green Tea).

1.1 Processing Oolong, Black, or Green Tea

Place one Tea Master on the first space of one of the three Tea Processing Tracks, and move ALL of your Tea cubes of the corresponding type from your Tea Basket to the Tea Factory of the same type on your player board, matching the Water Level of each cube. Then, execute the effect of the Tea Processing space your Tea Master is standing on.

Note: All the cubes in the same Tea Factory on the player board are considered to be the same batch of tea. The water level of all the cubes in that batch will be added together to evaluate its quality when the corresponding Tea Master takes the Tea Completion action.

Note: If cubes are moved to the Flavor area, it means they are "scented" and have 0 Water Level (better quality) regardless of the water level they came from.

1.2 Processing Scented Tea

Place one Tea Master on the first space of the 4th Tea Processing Track, choose one type of Tea in your warehouse (not tea factory), and move 1-6 Tea cubes of the chosen type (of any quality) to the Scented Tea Factory on your player board. Then execute the effect of the first space on the Scented Tea Processing Track.

Note: Tea Masters from different players may occupy the same space on the Tea Processing Track. But each player may have only one Tea Master on each of the Tea Processing Tracks at the same time.

The effects on the Tea Processing Tracks. The following are the different effects on the Tea Processing Track applicable to the cubes that correspond to that track:

• Withering — Reduce the Water Level of one batch of tea by 1 (move any 1 cube down 1 water level).
• Oxidation — Move 1 cube with Water Level 2 to the Flavor area.
• Fixation (Heat Treatment) — Reduce the Water Level of one batch of tea by up to 2 (move any 1 cube from water level 2 to 0, or any 1-2 cube(s) down 1 water level).
• Drying — Move 2 cubes with Water Level 0 to the Flavor area.
• Rolling — Move 1 cube with Water Level 1 to the Flavor area.
• Scenting — Place 1 Flower Bud disc onto the Scented Tea Factory area on the player board.

2. Reward for Tea Processing

If you use at least 3 / 5 Tea cubes to make tea, you may immediately advance your Technology of the corresponding tea type by 1 / 2 space(s). For example, if you use 4 Tea cubes to make Black Tea, you may move your player marker on the Black Tea Technology Track 1 space, and gain the reward indicated on the track.

Note: if you decline to advance, you lose this benefit immediately. You may not save advances for the future.

Rewards on the Tea Technology Tracks:

• Advance any Tea Technology by one space.
• Gain the indicated Action disc.
• Gain the indicated Tea Technology disc.
• Earn VP for the corresponding Merchant cards at the end of the game.

Action discs. During your turn, you may use any number of Action discs and/or Tea Technology discs.

Action discs: After you use the Action disc, return it to the supply. You may immediately use any Action disc as soon as you acquire it.

• Immediately perform one Sell to Global Market action, and you may fulfill ANY one Merchant card in the display. This won't trigger the Bonus Actions associated with the Global Market.
• Advance one of your Tea Masters one space on any Tea Processing Track, and execute the effect on the space. You may repeat this bonus action twice on the same or different Tea Master(s).

Tea Technology discs:

• Reduce the Water Level of the Tea cubes by 2.
• Move 1 Tea cube with a Water Level of 1 to the Flavor area.
• Move 1 Tea cube with a Water Level of 2 to the Flavor area.
• Move at most 2 Tea cubes with a Water Level of 0 to the Flavor area.

Tea Technology discs. Each Tea Technology Track has different Tea Technology discs. When your player marker is moved across the space labeled with a disc, you can immediately take the disc from the supply and use it right away.

You may use your Tea Technology disc on your turn by placing it on your Tea Factory. Each Tea Factory can hold at most 2 Technology discs. After executing the effect of the disc, it will be kept on the player board until the specific Tea Processing is completed. You may then take back the disc and use it on another Tea Processing in the future turns.

III. Tea Completion

The Tea Completion action can only be taken after your Tea Master arrives at the last space of the Tea Processing Track. This is the only action that does not require placing a Worker on the board.

When you take this action, you may:

1. Retrieve your Tea Master

Retrieve the Tea Master standing in the last space of the Tea Processing Track. The retrieved Tea Master can be used to perform another action in a later turn this round.

2. Evaluate the quality of the tea

Evaluate the tea that was processed by the retrieved Tea Master following the guidelines shown on the player board:

• Poor — If the total Water Level added across all cubes is 3 or higher, the batch is considered "Poor Tea."
• Good — If the total Water Level added across all cubes is 0, and there are at least 2 cubes in the Flavor area, the batch is considered "Good Tea." If the number of cubes in the Flavor area is 3/4/5/6, you will earn 3/6/10/15 VP immediately as a bonus.
• Normal — For those that don't fall in either of the previous categories, the batch is considered "Normal Tea."

3. Store your tea in the warehouse

After the evaluation, move all Tea cubes of the batch into your warehouse and store them in the corresponding quality level. They can be used to Sell to Global or Domestic Market, or further processed into Scented Tea.

Scented Tea. When you complete the Tea Processing of Scented Tea, you will score VP based on the number of Tea cubes multiplied by the total Scented Value of your Flower Bud discs. You will also advance the Tea Technology Track of the type you processed by 1 space.

The Scented Value is determined as follows:

• If the Flower Bud discs and Tea cubes you used are the same color, each disc's Scented Value is 2.
• If the colors are different, each disc's Scented Value is 1.

Select any number of Tea cubes from your warehouse to be Scented. Each Tea cube you used in this batch of Tea Processing will score a number of VP equal to the total Scented Value of your Flower Bud discs. For example, if the total Scented Value from all the Flower Bud discs is 5, then you will score 5 VP for each Tea cube in this batch of Scented Tea.

After scoring, return the Tea cubes back to the draw bag, and remove the Flower Bud discs from the game.

IV. Sell to Global Market

Place one worker onto one of the Global Market spaces without your own worker (it may contain other players' workers). You may then choose one of the Merchant cards in the rightmost column, pay the required Tea cube(s) from your warehouse to fulfill the order and put the cube(s) back to the cloth bag, and score the VPs shown on the card. Finally, take the Bonus Action associated with the Global Market space.

Note: You may mix Tea cubes of different quality to fulfill the order, but the reward will be determined by the Tea cubes of the lowest quality.

Rewards of the Merchant card:

• Good/Normal Tea — If you fulfill the order with all of your cubes at Good or Normal quality, you score the respective VP immediately and keep the Merchant card face down in front of you. You may score extra VP based on your Tea Technology level at the end of the game.
• Bad Tea — If you fulfill the order with at least one Tea cube at Bad quality, you score the respective VP and return the Merchant card to the bottom of the deck.

Bonus Actions. After fulfilling the order, you may perform the Bonus Action shown on the space your Worker is standing on. Possible bonus actions are:

• Advance one of your Tea Masters one space on any Tea Processing Track, and execute the effect on the space. You may repeat this bonus action twice on the same or different Tea Master(s).
• Advancing any one of your Tea Technology tracks by one space.
• Harvesting Tea cubes from one of the Tea Plantation spaces without a worker on it.

Refilling the Merchant cards. At the end of your turn, draw one Merchant card from the deck to refill the row back to 3 cards by pushing the previous 2 cards to the right. If the deck is exhausted, no more Merchant cards will be refilled.

V. Sell to Domestic Market

Place one worker onto the Domestic Market space, then spend 2 Tea cubes of the same type to advance your player marker 2 spaces, or 3 different cubes to advance your player marker 3 spaces on the Domestic Market Track. Put the cubes back to the cloth bag.

There is no limit on the number of workers on the Domestic Market space.

When your player marker arrives at or passes through the space marked with any Bonus Action or Action disc, you may immediately perform the action or take the corresponding Action disc.

The VP shown on the top of the Domestic Market Track will be added to your final scoring at the end of the game.

Pass. If you have no more workers in your supply or at the last space on a Tea Processing Track to retrieve, you must pass and end your Worker Action phase. The Worker Action phase ends when all players pass.

Preparation Phase

Note: Due to player decisions, players may differ in the number of turns taken in the same round.

Resolve the Preparation phase in the following order.

1. Advance the Tea Processing Track. Advance each of the Tea Masters a number of spaces equal to the total number of Workers standing on the Tea Plantation area of the same row. Tea Masters will only execute the effect of the space they end up standing on, skipping the effects of all the spaces they move through. For example, there are 2 Workers standing on the third row of the Tea Plantation area. Each Tea Master on that row must be advanced by 2 spaces and executes the effect of the final space they are standing on, respectively.
2. Resolve the Historical Event card. Beginning with the starting player and going clockwise, each player resolves the effect of the Historical Event card. Any Tea cubes spent due to the event are put back to the cloth bag. Once all players have done so, remove the Round marker on the card.
3. Retrieve your workers. All players retrieve their workers on the game board except for the Tea Masters standing on the Tea Processing Tracks (including the ones on the last space of the track).
4. Adjust the Weather tiles. Slide all the Weather tiles one space to the left. Then pick up the leftmost tile, flip it over, and place it on the rightmost space.
5. Growth of new Tea. Starting from the rightmost column of the Tea Plantation and going from top to bottom, randomly draw Tea cubes to refill each space. If the Weather tile above column has a Water Level of 0 / 1 / 2, refill each space in that column with 1 / 1 / 2 Tea cubes, respectively, up to 3 cubes in each space. If there are no Tea cubes left in the draw bag, the remaining spaces won't get new cubes.
6. Pass the start player marker. Pass the start player marker to the left.

Game End

The game ends after the last Historical Event card is resolved.

Scoring

At the end of the game, add up the VP from the following categories and the player with most VP wins.

• VP from the Domestic Market.
• VP from the Merchant card rewards on Tea Technology Tracks. (In this example, gain 4 VP for each Green Tea icon on the Merchant cards.)
• VP from Historical Event cards.

Historical Event Cards

1865 Export of Formosa Tea. Discard one Oolong Tea cube from your warehouse, and then advance one space on the Oolong Tea Technology Track.

Historical records indicate that Taiwanese Tea was first shipped in the 4th year of Qing Dynasty Emperor Tongzhi's reign.

1867 Export of Oolong Tea to Macau by John Dodd. Discard one Oolong Tea cube from your warehouse, and then gain 2 VP and advance one space on the Oolong Tea Technology Track.

John Dodd first acquired and started selling Taiwanese Oolong Tea to Macau.

1868 Establishment of the Oolong Tea Refinery. Advance one space on either the Oolong Tea Processing Track or the Oolong Tea Technology Track.

John Dodd opened a Oolong Tea refinery in Monga (modern day Wanhua District), Taipei.

1869 Export of Oolong Tea to the US. Discard one Oolong Tea cube from your warehouse, then gain 6 VP and advance one space on the Oolong Tea Technology Track.

John Dodd started to export Taiwanese Oolong Tea (labeled as "Formosa Tea") to the US, thus opening the international tea market to Taiwan.

1874 Development of Scented Tea Processing Technique. Advance one space on the Scented Tea Processing Track and execute the effect TWICE.

Taiwan's first Scented Tea refinery was opened, producing Scented Tea using Fuzhou's Scented Tea processing technology.

1889 Establishment of Tea Association "Yong Ho Hsin." Game end: The player(s) with the most fulfilled Merchant cards scores 10 VP, the second most scores 5 VP.

The "Yong Ho Hsin" Tea Association was established to govern tea quality and maintain market stability. It is the predecessor to the Taipei Tea Business Association.

1903 Establishment of Tea Research Center. Advance one space on the Tea Technology Track you are furthest behind. Game end: Score 1 VP for every 2 spaces advanced across all of your Tea Technology Tracks combined.

The Governor's Office of Taiwan established the Tea Research Center in Taoyuan to manage tea testing and cultivation.

1916 Establishment of Pouchong Tea Research Center. Advance one space on any one Tea Technology Track. Game end: The player(s) with the most advanced Oolong Tea Technology scores 6 VP, the second most advanced scores 3 VP. If tied, all tied players still get the full VP of their rankings (multiple players can tie for first and multiple players can tie for second).

Pouchong Tea Research Center was established in Nangang, Taiwan. Wei Jingshi led the Center to further reform and improve Taiwanese Tea.

1925 Introduction and localization of Assam Black Tea. Game end: The player(s) with the most advanced Black Tea Technology scores 6 VP, the second best scores 3 VP. If tied, all tied players still get the full VP of their rankings.

The Japanese government imported Assam Black Tea from India to Yuchih township in Taiwan. The Black Tea was then exported to the London auction, where its value was appraised as high quality.

1936 Establishment of Yuchih Black Tea Research Center. End of round: The player(s) with the most fulfilled Merchant cards that demand Black Tea scores 5 VP.

Arai Kokichiro helped establish the Black Tea Research Center in Yuchih township as a strategic base for the development of Taiwanese Black Tea.

1964 Introduction and localization of Yabukita Green Tea. End of round: The player(s) with the most fulfilled Merchant cards that demand Green Tea scores 5 VP.

Tea researcher Xu Yingxiang introduced the highly regarded Yabukita Green Tea variety from Japan to Taiwan. Exports of Taiwanese Green Tea began to surpass Black Tea.

Characters

Wang Shui Jing. You begin the game with your Oolong Tea Technology advanced by one space. When you fulfill a Merchant card that demands Oolong Tea, you gain a number of VP equal to the level of your Oolong Tea Technology.

One of the key proponents of Pouchong (Baozhong) Tea production who refined the Wenshan style tea, which has twisted tea leaves, resulting in a stronger fragrance, flavor, and color. Along with his colleague Wei Jingshi, he was invited to teach at Pouchong Tea Institute, but declined due to his old age and fading eyesight.

Wei Jing Shi. You begin the game with your Oolong Tea Technology advanced by one space. When you produce Scented Tea, each Flower Bud disc's Scented Value is increased by 1.

The other proponent of Pouchong Tea production who created the Nangang style tea, a more lightly oxidized tea with a greener, lighter, sweeter fragrance. In 1921, the Japanese government (then administering Taiwan) promoted this production method through the Pouchong Tea Institute, thus laying a cornerstone for tea production throughout Taiwan.

John Dodd. When you perform the Sell to Global Market action, you may fulfill any Merchant card in the display, and advance one space on any one Tea Processing Track.

Scottish businessman who founded his trading company in 1867 and started the first Oolong Tea refinery in Taiwan. His tea was widely acclaimed in the US, thus opening the international market for Taiwan. Hence, he is recognized as one of the two fathers of Taiwanese Oolong Tea.

Li Chun Sheng. Your Tea Basket limit is increased by 2. When you perform the Sell to Global Market action, you may score 1 VP for each previously fulfilled Merchant cards by you.

A merchant from Taipei's Dadaocheng area who partnered with John Dodd to start large scale tea production in Taiwan. He introduced tea seedlings from Anxi, a famous tea production county in Fujian, and invited tea masters from Xiamen and Fujian to come join him in Taiwan. He is also recognized as one of the two fathers of Taiwanese Oolong Tea.

Arai Kokichiro. You begin the game with your Black Tea Technology advanced by one space. During the Worker Action phase, whenever your Tea Master is advanced on the Black Tea Processing Track, you may advance it one more space.

A native of Gunma prefecture in Japan who came to Taiwan in 1926 during the Japanese occupation. Black tea was imported from India to Yuchih, Taiwan by the Japanese government. In 1936, he opened the first Ceylon-styled Black Tea refinery and research center in Taiwan. He is honored as the father of Taiwanese black tea.

Wu Zhen Duo. When you harvest Tea cubes, you may take one additional Tea cube from any of the other Tea Plantation spaces.

A native of Fu'an, Fujian who came to Taiwan in 1947 to become the first director of the Taiwan Tea Reform Project. A lifelong promoter of Taiwanese Tea. He helped improve everything from tea production processes to tea tree selection. His contributions laid a strong foundation for the development of the modern Taiwanese Tea industry.

Hsu Ying Xiang. You begin the game with your Green Tea Technology advanced by one space. When evaluating your tea, the bonus VP for Flavor area is doubled.

A native of Yangmei township in Taoyuan, Taiwan who devoted himself wholeheartedly to researching tea and working in the field to reform Taiwanese Tea. He has written many influential books on Taiwanese tea research and has played a leading role in tea culture exchange between Taiwan and Japan.

Credits

Playtesters: Eros, 老頭, Smoox, 周老大, 柚子, Combo Kang, 洪三益, 桌遊菜鳥, 獨孤威, 蔡麥麥, Sky, 汪汪, Romain Caterdjian, BGD 中部桌遊設計交流測試, 王柏舟, 白詩淵, 蘇怡梅, 陳柏勲, 詹哲宇, 黃怡凱, 楊明容, 亦華, 小刺, Brice, Syd Cheng

Author: Kao Chu Lan | Editors: Tsai Huei Chiang, Hsu Wun Hao

Illustrator: Sammixyz | Inscription: Hong, Jhen-Wei | Graphic Design: Yuwen Huang

English Translation: Smoox Chen | Proofreading: Jerry Chiang, Andy Van Zandt

Advisor: Tsun-Giau Kueh

SOSO STUDIO COMPANY LIMITED — www.sosostudio.com | [email protected] — Rm. 3, 4F No.50, Sec.2, Chang'an E. Rd. Taipei, Taiwan 10456

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