Kiwara Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Material
• Goal of the Game: to rule Kiwara unchallenged
• Set-up
• How to Play
  • Receive Reinforcement
• Different Animals - Particular Effects
  • The Zebra, value of 6 points
  • The Gazelle, value of 2 points
  • The Lion, value of 1 point
  • The Elephant, value of 5 points
  • The Crocodile, value of 0 points
• End of Game - Scoring
  • Example of scoring
• Examples
  • Crocodile placement example
  • Lion placement example
• Versions
  • Version "Mysterious Reinforcement"
  • Version "A victory without risk..."
  • Version "free board"
• FAQ

Material

• A two-sided board with 30 spaces representing the savanna:
  • One side to play in "classic" mode. On this side of the board, you can distinguish six territories (2 of three spaces, 2 of five spaces, and 2 of seven spaces), separated by rivers. The savanna is surrounded by a round path.
  • One side to play in "free" mode. On this side of the board, there are no defined territories. They will be defined by the wood sticks before each game (see "free game" version at the end of the rules book).
• 30 blue wood sticks for the "free" mode games.
• 30 animal tokens, in 2 colors (one per player). In each color, animals are allocated as follows:
  • 6 Gazelles with a value of 2
  • 5 Zebras with a value of 6
  • 2 Crocodiles with a value of 0
  • 1 Elephant with the value of 5
  • 1 Lion with the value of 1
• 1 totem
• 10 Reinforcement cards
• 1 rule book

Goal of the Game: to rule Kiwara unchallenged

Either by taking control of the most desirable territories: When the board is completely full, control is determined by the player who owns the most animals of his color in the territory. This is the player who will have all the victory points of ALL the animals from this territory.

Or by being the fastest: When the first savanna territory is completely full, a reinforcement joins the player's side who played the last animal on this territory. An advantage not to be underestimated, because the reinforcement can give you bonus points or some mighty powers that could change the outcome of the game!

Set-up

This paragraph describes the set-up of the game in "classic" mode. We recommend that you start this way for the first game. Then, when you become more familiar with the game, check the versions proposed at the end of this book.

1. Place the board "classic" side face up in the center of the table. Place the blue sticks in the box. They are not used in this "classic" mode.
2. Each player takes the 15 animal tokens of his color and places them face-up on the reserved space of the board.
3. Take the OKAPI reinforcement card and place it face up on the side of the board. The other reinforcement cards will not be used during this game.
4. Choose the first player. This player receives the totem.

The game can start!

How to Play

During his first turn, the first player places the totem on the round path in front of the row (line or column) of his choice.

Then, each player, starting with the opponent of the first player, will do two actions during his turn in the order shown:

1. Place an animal on the board: During this phase, the player who is playing MUST place one of his remaining animal tokens on the empty space of his choice among the ones represented in the row facing the totem. The particular effects tied to the Crocodiles and Lions are explained below.
2. Move the totem: During this phase, the player who is playing MUST move the totem 1, 2 or 3 spaces clockwise.

By doing that, he partially chooses which of the open territories his opponent can play during his turn!

Once the totem is moved, we move to the next player and so on until the board is completely full.

Important: We must always offer the possibility of placement to the following player:

• If among the following 3 rows, there is at least one allowing placement by the opponent, then the totem is placed as shown above (if there is only one solution, this one is mandatory).
• In the case where the following 3 rows are already completely occupied, then the totem is moved to the 1st row (line or column) allowing the opponent to place one of his animals.

Note: At the end of the game, it is possible that one player still has some animal tokens. In this case, this player keeps placing all his tokens until the board is completely full.

Receive Reinforcement

Once the first savanna territory is completely full, the OKAPI goes to the player's camp who placed the last animal in this territory. The OKAPI gives 5 bonus points at the end of the game. Be careful, this can make the difference!

Different Animals - Particular Effects

The Zebra, value of 6 points

This is the most influential animal of the savanna. Therefore, you must be very careful to avoid your opponent taking control of it.

Be careful: Zebras are scared of the Lion!

As soon as a Lion appears on an adjacent space (vertically or horizontally, even on the other side of a river), the Zebra hides (its token is flipped to the hidden side). It doesn't score any points.

Likewise, if you are forced to place a Zebra on a space next to a Lion (vertically or horizontally, even on the other side of a river), you must place it on its hidden side.

The Gazelle, value of 2 points

This animal is as friendly as it is agile, even if he is less influential than the Zebra.

Be careful: Gazelles are also scared of the Lion!

As soon as a Lion appears on an adjacent space (vertically or horizontally, even on the other side of a river), the Gazelle flees: the player who placed it takes back the token in front of him to play it later, during one of his next turns.

Likewise, if you are forced to place a Gazelle on a space next to a Lion (vertically or horizontally, even on the other side of a river), you must place it on its hidden side.

The Lion, value of 1 point

This vain animal is convinced he is the King of the animals. He is feared. By all of them... Almost!

When a Lion is placed on the board, we verify that there are no Zebras and/or Gazelles on the 4 adjacent spaces (vertically or horizontally, even on the other side of a river).

• Zebras who are present are flipped on the hidden side.
• Gazelles who are present are returned to their owners.
• The other animals (Crocodiles and Elephants) are not affected by the Lion.

The Elephant, value of 5 points

The Elephant is of guaranteed value. He knows that he is the true King of the animals and doesn't fear the Lion or hide when he is near one.

Use it carefully: you only have one of them!

The Crocodile, value of 0 points

This animal is as voracious as he is despised by his counterparts. He is irresistibly attracted to Gazelles, which he will turn into a nice snack:

When you place it on the board, if a Gazelle is present on the other side of a river, along the side of the Crocodile's space, you CAN CHOOSE to exchange the position of the Gazelle and Crocodile tokens (the Crocodile lunges voraciously towards the Gazelle but, being agile, the Gazelle jumps to escape).

If several Gazelles are present, the player placing the Crocodile can choose which Gazelle to attack.

If the Gazelle on the other side of the river is on the hidden side, nothing happens, because the Crocodile can't see her.

End of Game - Scoring

The game ends when all the spaces on the board are occupied.

In each of all 6 territories:

1. We look who has the most tokens of his color (tokens on the hidden side are counted to see who has the majority).
2. The dominant player scores the TOTALITY of the territory points (animals of his color + opponent animals - hidden side tokens who score no points).

Each player totals all the scores from the territories under his control. The player who has the OKAPI scores 5 bonus points.

The player who has the highest score wins the game!

Example of scoring

On the territory shown, the yellow player has the majority (4 tokens of his color against 3 red tokens). He scores all the points from this territory, that is 20 points (6+1+5+0+2+6).

Examples

Crocodile placement example

Starting situation: The red player must place a token. He chooses to place a Crocodile on the space shown with an arrow.

Then, he has two choices: either leave his Crocodile where it is, or change places with one of the two Gazelles present in the spaces along the river. This exchange is not possible with the Gazelle located just above him because they are not separated by a river.

Final situation: The red player chooses to exchange places with the yellow Gazelle on his left, to definitively assure the majority of this 5-space territory.

Lion placement example

Starting situation: The red player must place a token. In the row in front of the Totem, only one space is available: he must then place one of his tokens. He chooses his Lion.

Final situation: On the vertical and horizontal spaces adjacent to the Lion's space:

• The Elephant was not affected.
• Both Gazelles fled: the players took back their tokens.
• The Zebra is hidden (the token is on the hidden side). It doesn't score any points but it also counts as a yellow animal for the final count.

If, until the end of the game, a player wishes to place a Gazelle or a Zebra on one of those two spaces marked with a star, he must place them on the hidden side.

Versions

Version "Mysterious Reinforcement"

At the beginning of the game, instead of placing the OKAPI card at the edge of the board face-up, mix the 10 reinforcement cards and create a draw-pile face-down. When the first savanna territory is completely full, the player who placed the last animal in this territory draws the first card from this reinforcement draw-pile and places it face up in front of him. Now he has a special power that he can use at the proper time.

The different reinforcements are:

• OKAPI: No effect - gives 5 bonus points at the end of the game.

The effects of the following animals are applicable ONLY ONCE during the game. It is your choice to decide the best time to use it. Once used, place the card face-down in front of you.

• BOA CONSTRICTOR: After moving the totem, force your opponent into the space to play in the row shown by the totem. He can choose which animal to play.
• BABOON: During your turn, you can choose to play on a space in the previous row or the next row ahead of the totem.
• VULTURE: During your turn, you can send a hidden animal (on its hidden side) back to his owner. This animal can be replayed by his owner during a following turn.
• RHINOCEROS: During your turn, you can send an animal on a surrounding space (face-up) back to his owner. This animal can be replayed by his owner during a following turn.
• PORCUPINE: After moving the totem, show your opponent the space on the row facing the totem where he can't play during this turn. Be careful: this effect is not applicable for a row where only one space is available.
• WILDEBEEST: When it is your turn to move the totem, use the Wildebeest to move it counterclockwise.
• HYENA: During your turn, you can move two of your animals in the row indicated by the totem (you can laugh when doing this action).
• WARTHOG: After moving the totem, your opponent can not place any animals this turn!! During his turn, he only does the 2nd phase, moving the totem 1 to 3 spaces.
• GIRAFFE: Discard the Giraffe and draw 3 reinforcement cards. Keep one and discard the other ones.

Note: When you use this version, it is possible that some games end with the same total points for each player. In this case, the player who obtains the Reinforcement wins!

Version "A victory without risk..."

Kiwara is a game of comprehensive knowledge. A tactical game, in which an experienced player will have a big advantage over a beginner, such as parent vs. child.

In this case, it is possible to level the odds: the weakest/less experienced player starts the game with a reinforcement card drawn randomly (if the level difference between players is big, he can draw two cards).

Note: this doesn't prevent the player finishing the first territory from receiving another reinforcement card!

Version "free board"

Thanks to this version, you can create your own starting board, for endless replay options.

When you set up the game:

1. Place the board in the center of the table with the "free" side up. You can see there is no visible river.
2. Use the wooden sticks to create 6 territories with the size of 3, 5, 7 or 9 spaces. The extra sticks are placed back in the box.

This way you can create an infinite number of different boards. To guide you, two examples are proposed in the rulebook (illustrations).

To finish: it is completely possible to combine these different versions, for example by playing on a free board with hidden reinforcements...

FAQ

Can I make several successive Crocodile-Gazelle exchanges? YES! After your first Crocodile-Gazelle exchange, you can make the same kind of exchange, with the same Crocodile, if a new Gazelle is there on the other side of the river, etc...

Who wins the reinforcement card when the last animal on a territory is a Lion who scares a Gazelle from this territory? NOBODY! When you place a Lion, Gazelles flee. The reinforcement card is then not granted to anyone since the territory is not full.

Who wins the reinforcement card when the player who places the last token in a zone, places a Crocodile and exchanges it with an opponent's Gazelle? In this case, the player who places the Crocodile wins the reinforcement card because it is really him who started to fill the territory.