Karekare Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Tribes
• Contents
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Taking Actions
  • Drawing a Tile
• The End of an Era
• The Last Era and the End of the Game
• The Actions
  • If you place a FOREST tile adjacent to a:
  • If you place a FIELD tile adjacent to a:
  • If you place a WATER tile adjacent to a:
  • If you place a HILL tile adjacent to a:

The Tribes

• Tangariki: This tribe takes its name from one of the most important gods, and its link to the lakes and the sea is clear. They are the best canoe makers. They are generally very large, heavy-set people, proud of their origins and family. Honor is the guide that defines how they behave.
• Kutaroa: The Kutaroa were the first to set foot on the shores of Aotearoa. Their enterprising spirit pushed them to establish their towns early on, ensuring that they had the best hills on which to build their huts. They are quick to adapt to changes and are very curious people.
• Maoipe: This is a tribe who are among the smartest and most cunning. They are adept at taking advantage of situations in order to lay claim to optimal, resource rich territories before their neighbors are able to do so.
• Ronga: The Ronga are expert farmers. Their sweet potato plantations are the most productive and their products the most delicious. They are humble and do not mind sharing resources with their neighbors.

Contents

Common pieces for all tribes:

• 70 land tiles, including: 15 hills, 17 fields, 18 water (which can be access to the sea or lakes), 20 forests
• 30 timber tokens
• 30 sweet potato tokens
• 1 Honor score board
• 24 timber and sweet potato multiplier (x5) tokens
• 1 first player token

Specific pieces for each tribe:

• 1 rules summary card: it shows which tribe you are leading and the color of your pieces
• 1 honor score token (4 in total)
• 6 canoes of your color (24 in total)
• 6 huts of your color (24 in total)
• 4 field markers to mark your sweet potato fields (16 in total)

Setup

• Each player chooses a tribe and takes its rules summary card and all pieces of that tribe's color: the huts, the honor score marker, the field markers and the canoes; as well as three timber tokens and one sweet potato token. Each player places their pieces in front of them to serve as their personal supply.
• Leave the rest of the timber and sweet potato tokens to one side to serve as the common reserve. Keep in mind that these resources are considered unlimited and that, at any time, you can exchange 5 timber or sweet potato from your personal supply for a "x5" token.
• Leave the box and the honor score board to one side. Place the honor tokens on the "0" space of the honor score board.
• Put the land tiles face down on the table and mix them up thoroughly. Then select three tiles at random and place them face up in the shape of a triangle (with all of them adjacent to one another). This is the starting land, where you will begin your exploration.
• Choose a starting player randomly and hand them the first player token.
• Each player now chooses two tiles for their starting hand. To do so, first count out a number of new tiles equal to double the number of players in the game (4, 6, or 8 tiles for games with 2, 3, or 4 players) and place them face up on the table. The starting player chooses one of these tiles, and the other players take turns doing the same, going clockwise around the table. Then, starting with the last player and taking turns in the opposite direction, each of the players chooses a second tile.
• Create three face-down piles with the other tiles and place them to one side where all players can reach them. Depending on the number of players, each of these piles will be made up of 8, 12, or 16 tiles (for games with 2, 3, or 4 players, respectively).
• Return the extra tiles to the box: you will not use them in this game.

Playing the Game

A game of Karekare is divided into three eras (or game rounds), each of which represents about one century. In each of these eras, the tribes settle the land using tiles from one of the three piles. Tiles will be available and visible to the players, as though they are a tile "market."

At the start of each era, take one of the tile piles and place it where all players can reach it. To create the market, flip over the top two tiles and place them face up next to the pile.

Beginning with the starting player, each player will play their turn, then the player to their left will play. On your turn, you must first place one of the two tiles from your hand on the table, so that it is adjacent to one or more of the tiles that have already been placed. After this, you may carry out the actions that are described further below, one action for each tile adjacent to the tile you just placed. To finish your turn, take another tile from the pile or the market, so that you once again have two in your hand. Now it is the next player's turn.

You will continue in this way, placing tiles and taking new ones, until the pile and the market runs out, at which point the current era comes to an end.

Taking Actions

When placing a tile, you may perform one or more actions, depending on the tile that you just placed and the tiles that are adjacent to it. If you do not wish to or cannot complete any of the possible actions activated by your tile placement, you are not required to do so. If you place a tile next to more than one other tile, you choose the order in which to execute the activated actions. See the actions in detail below.

Drawing a Tile

After taking your actions, draw another tile so that you again have two in your hand. You can take the top tile from the pile without looking at it, or you can choose one of the two available market tiles. Every time you take a tile from the market, reveal one from the pile (as long as they have not run out) and leave it face up in the market, so that there are again two tiles available there.

The End of an Era

An era comes to an end when all of the tiles in the pile AND the market run out. At the end of each era there is a scoring phase, in which each player receives the following honor rewards:

• 4 honor points for each of your canoes on tiles.
• 3 honor points for each of your huts on tiles.

Each player keeps the two tiles in their hand to start play in the next era. The tiles that have already been placed on the table remain there. Now you can set up the next era, as described above. The starting player in the next era is the player with the most honor at that moment. Hand that player the first player token (if there is a tie, decide at random between the tied players).

The Last Era and the End of the Game

Once the third era ends, each player takes one final turn, so that at the end there is only one tile in each player's hand. When the last era comes to a close, award honor as you did in the first and second eras.

Finally, you earn additional honor awards for your resources and your lands. These give you:

• 1 honor point for every 4 timber tokens and 1 honor point for every 2 sweet potato tokens left over in your personal supply.
• 4 honor points if you were able to place at least 4 huts on tiles.
• 4 honor points if you were able to place at least 3 field markers on tiles.

The winner of the game is the player that has obtained the most honor. If there is a tie, the winner is the tied player that has the most timber and sweet potato tokens. If there is a still a tie, then the tied players share the victory.

The Actions

If you place a FOREST tile adjacent to a:

• Forest: Take 2 timber tokens from the common reserve and add them to your personal supply.
• Field: Take 1 timber token from the common reserve and add it to your personal supply.
• Water: Pay 1 timber token from your personal supply to the common reserve. Replace 1 canoe on the water tile that belongs to another player with 1 of your own.
• Hill: You earn 2 honor points if there is another player's hut on this hill tile or 3 points if your own hut is on it.

If you place a FIELD tile adjacent to a:

• Forest: Take 2 sweet potato tokens from the common reserve and add them to your personal supply.
• Field: Pay 1 sweet potato from your personal supply to the common reserve. Place one of your field markers on the tile and as many sweet potato tokens from the common reserve as the number of players. You also earn 2 honor points.
• Water: Pay 1 sweet potato from your personal supply to the common reserve. Recover 1 of your canoes (never another player's canoe) from the water tile and return it to your personal supply. You also earn 5 honor points.
• Hill: You earn 2 honor points if there is another player's hut on this hill tile or 3 points if your own hut is on it.

If you place a WATER tile adjacent to a:

• Forest: You may place one of your canoes on the water tile.
• Field: If the field tile is marked with another player's field marker take 1 sweet potato counter from the field and place it in your personal supply. If the field tile is marked with a field marker of your own, take all of the sweet potato counters from the field and place them in your personal supply. Leave the field marker on the tile.
• Water: Pay 1 timber token from your personal pool to the common reserve. You may place 1 of your canoes on either of the two water tiles, so long as it is empty.
• Hill: You earn 2 honor points if there is another player's hut on this hill tile or 3 points if your own hut is on it.

If you place a HILL tile adjacent to a:

• Forest: Pay 4 timber tokens from your personal supply to the common reserve. Place 1 of your huts on the new hill tile.
• Field: Pay 2 sweet potato tokens from your personal supply to the common reserve. Place 1 of your huts on the new hill tile.
• Water: Return 1 canoe from your personal supply (and put it back in the box). Place 1 of your huts on the new hill tile.
• Hill: Return 1 hut from your personal supply (and put it back in the box). Place 1 of your huts on either of the unoccupied hill tiles.

Attention: There can only be 1 hut on each hill tile; likewise there can only be 1 canoe on each water tile. Also, your supply of huts and canoes are limited: if you run out, you cannot place any more! (Though your canoes may be returned to your supply, in which case you may reuse them.)