Maldivia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• This is What you Want to Achieve
• Setup
• Welcome to the Fishing Grounds of Maldivia
• How You Play
  • Phase 1: Set up Indicators
  • Phase 2: Carry out Game Turns
  • Next game round
• The Game Turns
  • Direction indicator: Move your boat in the direction of the arrow!
  • Currents: Changing course allowed!
• Have you moved your boat? Then carry out an action!
  • Fish space: You may fish!
  • Next to other boats: You may steal!
  • Octopus: You may rotate an indicator!
  • Shark: You may swap one of your own market ships!
  • At the edge of the game-cloth: You may deliver fish to a market ship!
  • Multiple Actions
• Delivering Fish to a Market Ship
• 7 fish on board? The boat is full!
• Fog Indicator: Fold the Game-cloth at the Chosen Edge!
• After the Folding: Putting the Boats Back
• After the Folding: Your Left Neighbor Exchanges a Market Ship!
• How the Game Ends
• The Winner is …

This is What you Want to Achieve

Catch fish! Collect them at the mast of your boat! Deliver them to the market ships. In return, you receive the cards of the ships you have supplied with your fish. If the fog becomes too dense to be able to catch more fish, the game ends. The player who has delivered the most fish to the market ships by then wins the game of MALDIVIA.

Setup

1. Spread the game-cloth out in the middle, with this side facing up. Sit down on the long edges (not on the corners) of the cloth.
2. On each edge of the game-cloth, form a face-down card pile with the 10 market ships that have the name of the same island. Beginning on any side of the cloth, arrange them clockwise in the order Efo / Solys / Wipi / Nanga.
3. Reveal two cards from each pile and put them visibly next to one another.
4. Each player takes the boat of his choice and gets 3 direction indicators and 1 fog indicator. Keep the arrows and letters on these indicators hidden from the other players.
5. Put all fish, sorted by colors, within reach as a supply.
6. The player who last touched a real fish gets the starting player card. Beginning with this player, one after the other places his own boat on any unoccupied space on the cloth.

Welcome to the Fishing Grounds of Maldivia

Maldivia is an archipelago consisting of the 4 islands of Efo, Solys, Wipi, and Nanga. The islands are not on the game-cloth, but faraway, concealed in the fog. Wherever you don't see the sea – that is, everywhere at the edges of the game-cloth – dense fog has come up. This is where the market ships are waiting for your catch in order to bring the desired kinds of fish – as shown on the face-up cards of the market ships – to the inhabitants of their island.

How You Play

The game proceeds over several rounds. Each round consists of these 2 phases:

1. Set up indicators
2. Carry out game turns

Phase 1: Set up Indicators

This is what all players do simultaneously … and they do it top secret! Don't let anybody see in which order you place the indicators and how you orient the arrows and letters on them.

Everybody sets up his 4 indicators next to one another in front of him – from left to right – in the order in which he wants to carry them out later.

• The arrangement of your 4 indicators from left to right determines the order in which you will carry them out (in phase 2).
• The orientation of the letters and arrows on your 4 indicators determines where or in which direction you will carry out your individual game turns.

You have 3 direction indicators: they show arrows. You use them to move your boat! Let your arrow point in the direction you want to move your boat.

You have 1 fog indicator: it shows the first letters of the 4 islands: E/S/W/N. You use it to make fog roll in by folding the game-cloth! Point the letter upward in the direction from where the fog is supposed to roll in.

Once all players have finished planning their 4 game turns, they may no longer change the set-up of their indicators!

Phase 2: Carry out Game Turns

The player with the starting player card begins by carrying out his FIRST indicator. After that, the other players, one after another, have their turns. Once all players have carried out their first indicator, you take turns carrying out the next indicator.

On your turn, you first make the indicator standing on the very left in front of you visible to everybody. To do so, you tilt it forward (towards the game-cloth) … so that the orientation of the arrow or the letter remains unchanged.

Then you carry out the game turn as shown on the indicator. In the section "The Game Turns" (from p. 11 on), you read how to do this.

After your first game turn, the left indicator is lying in front of you, tipped over. On your next game turn, you tip over the next indicator to the right and carry it out. In this way, you play all your 4 indicators within 4 game turns, from left to right.

Next game round

Once you have carried out all indicators, the game round ends. The player with the starting player card passes it on to the left. Now the next game round begins – again, with phase 1: Set up indicators.

The Game Turns

Direction indicator: Move your boat in the direction of the arrow!

Every time you have made a direction indicator visible, you move your boat:

• straight in the indicated direction of the arrow,
• any number of spaces (as long as they are all unoccupied),
• onto an unoccupied space of your choice.

Your boat may never move over other boats and never off the game-cloth.

If you are not able or willing to move your boat in the direction of the arrow, your game turn ends immediately.

• There is a boat in the way! In the direction of the arrow on your indicator, your boat enters one of these spaces. It can't get past the boat that is standing in the way there.
• No way through! Your boat is not able to move, since there is already a boat sitting on a neighboring space in the direction of the arrow of your indicator.
• That's as far as you can get! Where your arrow points, there is no more space, but only the edge of the game-cloth. Your boat can't move there.
• The path is clear! You move your boat straight in the direction of the arrow on your indicator onto an unoccupied space of your choice.

Currents: Changing course allowed!

If your boat crosses a current, you may change course in the direction of the arrow, provided you completely follow the given course of the sweep of the current.

This is how you may change course: You reach the current at the point where the sweep of the current begins, follow its course completely, and leave it in the direction of the arrow.

You don't have to change course: You are allowed to ignore currents! In this case, just move straight across the current (or stop there).

You may not change course if your route deviates from the given course of the current. You may also not change course in the opposite direction of the current.

If your boat begins its move on a current, you have to move it in the direction of the arrow on your indicator. In this case, you may not change course.

Have you moved your boat? Then carry out an action!

Every time your boat's move ends on a space that allows you one or more actions, you may immediately carry these out (or forgo them).

If you are not able or willing to move your boat, you may not carry out any action – regardless of the space on which your boat is standing. This ends your game turn.

These are the possible actions:

Fish space: You may fish!

If your move ends on a fish space, you take the depicted fish from the supply – if there are any of these left – and stick them in the order you want on the top of your boat mast.

Next to other boats: You may steal!

If your boat ends up next to another boat (not diagonally), you take the topmost fish from this boat and stick it on your boat mast. If the boat is empty, there is nothing to get there.

If the space you have reached is surrounded by several boats, you may steal the topmost fish from each of these.

Fish that are already stacked on your mast may not be rearranged – neither when you catch fish nor when you steal.

Octopus: You may rotate an indicator!

If your move ends on an octopus space, you rotate an indicator that is still standing (90, 180 or 270 degrees). To do so, you choose one of your own indicators or another player's indicator; in this case, its front has to remain hidden.

Shark: You may swap one of your own market ships!

If your boat ends up on a shark space, you may exchange a market-ship card you have already collected for a market-ship card that belongs to any of the other players: Give him one of your cards, face down, and draw one of his cards, also face down. He has to show you the backs (provenance) of his cards.

If you don't yet have any market-ship card, you may not carry out the action of the shark space.

At the edge of the game-cloth: You may deliver fish to a market ship!

If your move ends on a space at the edge of the game-cloth, you may deliver fish to a market ship that is lying face up next to this edge of the game-cloth. You may never deliver fish to both market ships on the same edge of the game-cloth on the same game turn. If your move ends on a corner space, you may deliver fish to one market ship on each of the adjoining edges of the game-cloth.

How to deliver fish to the market ships is described under "Delivering Fish to a Market Ship" below.

Multiple Actions

• If you carry out the action of a fish space, octopus space or shark space, you may – at the same time – also steal from every adjacent boat. You may stick all new fish you get this way on your mast in any order.
• If you carry out the action of an octopus space or shark space at the edge of the game-cloth, you may – at the same time – also deliver fish to a market ship – even fish you steal from neighboring boats on the same game turn. On a shark space, you may also swap a market-ship card that you have obtained only on the same game turn.

Delivering Fish to a Market Ship

Put the fish indicated on your market ship from your boat mast back into the supply. In return, take the card of the market ship you have delivered fish to and lay it in front of you, face down. The mast of your boat needs to contain all the fish that are shown on this market ship. It doesn't matter in which positions these fish or others are on your mast. After delivering fish to market ships, you may rearrange the fish that are still stacked on your mast in any way you like.

On a fish space at the edge of the game-cloth, you have to choose one of these two actions: fishing or delivery. You may never do both on the same turn.

Example: You have moved to the edge of the game-cloth – to the market ships of Solys. There, you may deliver fish to one of the laid-out ships. You choose ship A, take one red, one green, and one purple fish off your mast, and receive market-ship card A. You may not deliver the other green fish on the mast to ship B on the same game turn.

Example: On this corner space, you may deliver fish to one market ship from Solys and another one from Efo. To do so, you lack one purple fish, but you can steal it from the top of the neighboring boat. With this, you can now deliver fish to a market ship from Solys as well as to one from Efo, and receive their cards.

After taking a market ship you have delivered fish to, you lay out a new card from the respective pile, face up. If the card pile is depleted, this step is omitted. Wherever there is no market-ship card left, you can no longer deliver fish to any market ship there.

7 fish on board? The boat is full!

You may never have more than 7 fish on your mast.

If – through the Fishing or Stealing action – you come into the possession of surplus fish, you may put any number of them back into the supply, or put fish from your mast back into the supply, so that you can stick just-received fish on the mast, in any order.

To do so:

• you have to take fish off the top of your mast. (You can remove fish below that only if you also put the ones above that into the supply.)
• you decide whether to accept all or just part of the newly received fish or to leave them to the supply.
• you may remove more fish than you newly stick on the mast.
• you may not rearrange any fish you leave on the mast.

Example: The fish space you have reached with your boat allows you to catch 3 fish (A). In addition, you can steal from 2 neighboring boats (B). But your mast has only space left for one fish. Therefore, you put 2 fish from the top of your mast back into the supply (C). Then you stick 2 (of the 3) freshly caught fish and 1 stolen fish, in any order, on your mast (D). Now your boat is full (E). You put the remaining caught and stolen fish into the supply.

Fog Indicator: Fold the Game-cloth at the Chosen Edge!

Every time you make your fog indicator visible, the letter at the top of your indicator determines where the fog will roll in: Fold the edge of the game-cloth where the market ships with this letter are lying, so that the outermost row of spaces is folded onto the row next to it. With this, the back of the cloth turns up and now forms the new edge of the playing area.

Example: If the W is at the top of your indicator, you make the fog roll in at the market ships on Wipi by folding the game-cloth there. A part of the sea disappears in the fog.

Fog may roll in only once per round on each side of the game-cloth!

If your chosen letter has already caused fog to roll in during the current game round, you don't fold. After you have revealed your indicator, your turn ends without any actions. But consider that you must fold if your chosen letter has not yet been selected by any other player. To check whether the fog on your chosen edge of the game-cloth will still roll in, you consider all the indicators that all the players have already revealed over all game turns – just as the illustrations show.

Example (1st and 2nd game turn): All players reveal their 1st (left) indicator. Player White and player Orange start the game round with a direction indicator, i.e., they move their boat. Player Brown and player Black immediately generate fog: Player Brown chooses E and makes fog roll in at the Efo edge. Player Black's N makes fog roll in at the Nanga edge. If player Black had also chosen an E, then the game-cloth would not have been folded a second time on that side.

The indicators for the 2nd game turn also show 2 fog indicators. Player White's fog indicator shows an E at the top. But there has already been fog at the Efo edge in this game round – as can be seen on the already-laid-out fog indicator of player Brown's 1st game turn. Therefore, the fog that player White was aiming for at the Efo edge is forfeited: He does not carry out the fog indicator he has played. Player Orange's fog indicator shows an S at the top. There hasn't yet been any fog at the Solys edge in this entire game round. Therefore, fog rolls in there: Player Orange folds the Solys edge of the game-cloth.

After the Folding: Putting the Boats Back

After the folding … you put the boats concerned back on the game-cloth, observing the following rules. If this causes any boats to enter new game spaces, this never triggers any actions.

Any boats affected by the fog have to put their topmost fish on the mast back into the supply.

Edge boats (these are boats standing on the folded edge space; they are always affected by the fog): Every boat standing on the very outer (folded) edge of the game-cloth stays in its edge position: After the folding, you put it on the "new edge space" in the same spot.

Covered boats (these are boats that the game-cloth is folded onto; they are always affected by the fog): Any boats "covered" by the cloth as a result of the folding stay "above water" on their space. That means: After the folding, they are standing at the edge of the game-cloth, just as edge boats are. In this case, any boats "seawards" next to them are not affected by the fog and remain in place (and, consequently, don't have to give up any fish).

This rule for covered boats does NOT apply if edge boats come upon covered boats (see the following rule).

Edge boats come upon covered boats: If, as a result of the folding, an edge boat ends up on the same space as an adjacent covered boat, the covered boat is moved one space "seawards."

Edge boats and covered boats come upon additional adjacent boats: If a covered boat is moved "seawards" (because of an edge boat) so that it comes upon additional boats there, each of these boats is also moved 1 space "seawards." Consequently, these boats are also affected by the fog.

Special Case: If the fog reaches a row of spaces that – in the direction of the fog – is completely filled with boats, the fog lifts and is omitted (and no boat loses a fish). The game turn ends immediately. The affected edge of the game-cloth may not be folded any more in the current game round.

After the Folding: Your Left Neighbor Exchanges a Market Ship!

On the edge of the game-cloth that you have folded, your left neighbor now puts one of the laid-out market ships of his choice back under the card pile (1). Instead, he reveals a new market-ship card (2), before he has his turn.

How the Game Ends

If there are only 16 or fewer visible spaces left, the game ends as soon as all players have played the same number of indicators in this game round.

Example: If you end the game with the fog of your third indicator, (only) those players will still have a final turn who haven't yet played their third indicator.

The Winner is …

… the player who has the most fish on the market-ship cards he has collected. In case of a tie, the player who has more fish at his boat mast wins. There can be several winners.