Guanga: Tejidos Andinos Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Modes
• Components
• Objective
• How to Play
• Beginner Mode
  • Setup
  • Turn and Actions
  • Claiming Market Items
  • Workshop
  • Incomplete Guanga
  • End of Game and Scoring
• Apprentice Mode
  • Setup
  • Orders
  • Mullu Shells and Exchanges
  • Turn and Actions
  • Placement Rule
  • Bag and Shell Pile
  • End of Game and Scoring
  • Variations
• Master Mode
  • Gaining Mullu Shells
  • Exchanges
  • Blankets (Cobijas)
• Artisan Mode
• Solo Version

Game Modes

Guanga: Tejidos Andinos includes several game modes that adapt to your style and experience level. After your first game you will only begin to discover the depth and versatility of the game. The variations are listed below. It is recommended that you progress gradually in difficulty to get the most out of everything this title has to offer.

• Beginner Mode (Modo Principiante): low difficulty. Recommended for the first game.
• Apprentice Mode (Modo Aprendiz): medium difficulty.
• Master Mode (Modo Maestra): high difficulty.
• Artisan Mode (Modo Artesana): very high difficulty.

Components

• Guangas: 4 individual boards (side A / side B).
• Fabric patches (parches de tela): 120 tiles.
• Orders (pedidos): 10 cards.
• Help tile (loseta de ayuda): 1.
• Market (mercado): 40 cards (10 of each level).
• Workshop (taller): 20 markers.
• Bag for patches (bolsa para parches): 1.
• Stoppers (topes): 8 tiles.
• Mullu shells (conchas de Mullu): 12 tiles.
• Complete guanga tile (loseta de guanga completa): 1.

Objective

Place fabric patches of the same colour or the same symbol on your guanga to form specific configurations that allow you to claim items from the market and earn victory points (VP). Score the most points to win the game.

(Illustrated in the manual: a configuration made with the same colour, and a configuration made with the same symbol.)

How to Play

You must prepare the cloth to make the different garments and items your community needs. You begin as an Apprentice weaver, but with practice you can become a full Artisan. The modes below are presented in order of increasing difficulty.

Beginner Mode

Difficulty: low. Recommended for the first game.

Setup

1. Place the workshop in the centre of the table with the colour and symbol markers face up.
   • 4 players: use all the markers (including the 2 grey ones).
   • 3 players: use 1 grey marker.
   • 2 players: no grey markers.
2. Shuffle and draw all the fabric patches. Place them face down in several piles.
3. Draw 8 patches at random and place them face up (symbol and colour) to form the basket (canasta), the common area where the visible fabric patches are placed.
4. Prepare the market: shuffle each deck and place 3 cards of the Apprentice level, 3 Guardian level and 3 Master level face up. Leave their decks face down (with the illustration side facing up, as shown in the manual) to one side.
5. Each player receives their guanga board and places their mother pattern (the starting patch in the colour of their guanga) in the centre. Patches are taken from the basket and refilled immediately. If there is no patch of your colour in the basket, draw from the pile until you find one.
6. The eldest matron begins. Play proceeds clockwise.

Turn and Actions

On your turn, perform the following actions in order:

1. Take two fabric patches of your choice from the basket.
2. Place them in any space of your guanga. You may place a patch on top of another.
3. If possible, claim a market item (see below).

To finish your turn, refill the basket with new patches from the pile until it has 8.

Claiming Market Items

To claim a card, you must have in your guanga the exact configuration of fabric patches that matches the colour or symbol shown on the market card. The configuration may be completed in any orientation, including mirrored.

Market card layout: name, flag (country of origin), typology, score (VP), configuration, and description.

Steps to claim a market item:

1. Take the corresponding card and place it in your play area.
2. Replace the card with another card of the same level.
3. Return two of the patches used for the previous item to the bag.
4. Turn over the workshop marker of the colour or symbol used (see the Workshop section).

You may claim only one market item per turn, and to claim a market item you must first perform your action (take and place the two fabric patches from the basket).

• The marker must be available in order to claim a market item.
• When removing the two patches, you may choose any patches that are part of the configuration, even if a patch is placed on top of another (only the uppermost patch is removed).

Workshop

The workshop controls the number of symbols and colours available during the game. When you claim a market card, turn over the marker of the corresponding symbol or colour. To claim a market item, a marker of the required type must be available. The workshop also signals the end of the game: when 4 markers remain visible (for 4 players), 6 (for 3 players), or 6 (for 2 players), the round ends and points are counted.

There are two grey spaces that may be used as any colour, but only when all the other colours have been turned over. For 4-player games, two grey markers are used; for 3 players, one; and for 2 players, none.

Incomplete Guanga

For each empty space in your guanga at the end of the game, you lose 2 victory points. Conversely, if you are the first to complete your guanga, you receive the complete guanga tile, which is worth 10 points.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when 4 markers remain visible (for 4 players), 6 (for 3 players), or 6 (for 2 players). The round is completed and all points obtained (positive and negative) are counted. The player with the most victory points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with fewer negative points wins. Additionally, if the basket cannot be refilled to 8 patches, the game ends.

Example (4 players): Player A scores 55 points from market cards (16 + 19 + 10 + 10) and loses 18 points for an incomplete guanga. Player A's total score is 37 victory points.

Apprentice Mode

Difficulty: medium.

This mode uses the original placement rules, adds some extra elements and increases the variability of the game. The changes from Beginner Mode are as follows.

Setup

Keep the Beginner Mode setup with the following changes:

• Prepare the market with 4 Apprentice-level cards, 3 Guardian-level cards and 2 Master-level cards. Place the remaining cards in their corresponding piles face down.
• Deal 2 order cards (pedidos) to each player. Each player chooses one and removes the other.
• Deal 3 Mullu shells to each player.

Orders

Orders are objective cards dealt at the start of the game. Each player receives 2 orders at random and must choose one. Each order has two parts:

• Upper part: flag order. The country of origin of the market items.
• Lower part: typology order. The type of item.

The manual's reference table gives the following values for the totals in the market cards:

• Flags in the market cards (Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile): x6 each.
• Typologies in the market cards: Torso x8, Ritual x7, Waist (Cintura) x6, Head (Cabeza) x5, Legs (Piernas) x4.
• Flags and typologies of the blankets (see page 8): marked x2 in the manual's table.

You may complete both parts of an order, even if they share items in common. If you meet them at the end of the game, you score the indicated points. Each order is scored only once.

Mullu Shells and Exchanges

Mullu shells, known as "red gold", are a valuable exchange resource. At the start of the game you receive 3 shells, which you may use at any moment during your turn to perform the following actions:

• Claim an available fabric patch from the basket. You may place it in any space of your guanga.
• Spend 1 shell to replace all the fabric patches in the basket with new ones from the pile.

You may use several shells in the same turn, as long as you pay 1 for each action. Used shells leave the game and are placed in the box. Each shell left unused at the end of the game is worth 1 victory point.

Turn and Actions

In this mode the placement rule changes significantly. On your turn:

1. Take two fabric patches from the basket. They may not share the same colour or the same symbol.
2. Place them orthogonally connected (horizontally or vertically) in your guanga.

To finish your turn, refill the basket with new patches from the pile until it has 8.

Placement Rule

You may not take two patches with the same colour or the same symbol. Patches must be placed connected orthogonally to the previous patch (not diagonally). It is possible to place a patch on top of another patch already in the guanga, as long as the orthogonal connection is maintained.

(The manual shows a correct and an incorrect example of placement.)

Bag and Shell Pile

In this and the following modes, if the pile of shells runs out, the game does NOT end. Simply return the shells in the bag to the pile and continue.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends as in Beginner Mode, but applying the variation mentioned above. At the end, add the points obtained from market items, orders and Mullu shells, remembering to subtract the points for incomplete guangas.

Variations

In Guanga: Tejidos Andinos you are free to create your own version of the game, combining the rules as you prefer. Below is a variant you can incorporate into both Beginner Mode and Apprentice Mode.

Stoppers (Topes):

• Pieces that you may place on another player's board at any moment during your turn (they do not count as an action).
• They block a space in the guanga, even if a patch is already placed there.
• Each guanga may have a maximum of 2 stoppers at a time.
• Nothing may be placed on top of a stopper.
• You may also place stoppers on your own guanga.

The manual suggests that players who are ready should "dare to make the leap to Master Mode, where the mechanics reach their full potential... the most complete challenge... and the designer's favourite!"

Master Mode

Difficulty: high.

This mode is played with side B of the board, following the rules of Apprentice Mode, with the following changes.

Gaining Mullu Shells

• You do not start with shells.
• You receive as many shells as there are matches of colour or symbol formed by looking along the rows and columns of the guanga from one edge of the border to the other.
• Only shells of one single type (colour or symbol) used to complete the card are obtained, even if the card shares both characteristics.
• Shells are taken from the fabric patches available in the basket (they are turned over) during that turn.

Example: Player A claims the chullo with the blue colour and obtains 4 Mullu shells corresponding to the two rows with the blue symbol.

Exchanges

• It now costs 3 shells to claim a patch from the basket.
• Replacing all the patches in the basket still costs 1 shell.
• Every 2 shells left at the end of the game are worth 1 victory point.

Blankets (Cobijas)

• Blankets are enabled in the market (place 2 in the market). Blankets are the most difficult items to complete in the market.
• If a player completes this card, they may take an additional patch from the basket and place it immediately in their guanga.

Artisan Mode

Difficulty: very high.

Played the same as Master Mode with the following changes:

• The mother pattern (the starting patch in the centre of the guanga) may not be removed from the guanga, but it may be covered.
• All fabric patches must be connected orthogonally to each other, back to the centre of the guanga.
• When completing a market item and removing two fabric patches from the guanga, if any patch becomes disconnected from the centre, it must also be removed.

Solo Version

This version may be played in any mode, with the same rules but with the following modifications:

• Beginner Mode: play with 30 fabric patches (2 of each colour/symbol combination).
• Apprentice, Master and Artisan Modes: play with 60 patches (3 of each colour/symbol combination).

Note: in the printed manual the parenthesis after "3 de cada combinación" is not closed; the sense is preserved as given here.

• The market is set up normally, but when a card is claimed, it is not replaced.
• Order cards are not used.
• Place 9 workshop markers (one for each symbol and colour). The grey markers are not used.

End of game: the game ends when, at the start of a new turn, you can no longer place the two patches from the basket in your guanga.

Scoring: evaluate your skill with the guangas by adding the points from your market cards and the unused Mullu shells, and subtracting 2 points for each empty space in your guanga.

Ranks:

Rank	Points
Apprentice (Aprendiz)	0 to 39
Aspirant (Aspirante)	40 to 59
Guardian (Guardiana)	60 to 79
Instructor (Instructora)	80 to 108
Master (Maestra)	109 to 119
Artisan (Artesana)	More than 120

Note: in Master Mode the solo version keeps the gaining of Mullu shells. The manual advises: "Think twice before obtaining many."