MARETTA
MARETTA Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Escape from Maretta (Side A)
Setup
Place the Game Board in the middle of the table, with Side A facing up and place the Steamship token at the far end. Consider the Steamship token as a route space. Place the 2 Coral Reefs on the sea as in the image below so they don't occupy any sea spaces.
Place 2 Barrel Tokens face down in each marked position along the route, without looking at them (see image below).
Turn some of the barrels over, according to the position of the Coral Reefs:
- Barrels located between the Island of Maretta and the first Coral Reef remain face down;
- For each pair of Barrels located between the two Coral Reefs, one is face up and one face down;
- Barrels located between the second Coral Reef and the Steamship are turned face up.
Return the remaining Barrels to the box without looking at them.
Separate the Steamship Cards from the Resource Cards (♥).
Shuffle the Resource Cards.
For a 3-player game, remove 31 Resource Cards at random.
For a 4-player game, remove 18 Resource Cards at random.
For a 5-player game, remove 5 Resource Cards at random.
Without looking at them, take as many Steamship Cards as there are players and shuffle them with the remaining Resource Cards. Place the shuffled deck of Resource Cards next to the Game Board.
Return the remaining Cards to the box without looking at them.
Each player takes one Raft Card and the Meeple of the same color and places their Meeple on the Island of Maretta.
Decide which player will start and give them the Starting Player – Maretta Barrel Token.
Each player draws 4 cards from the Resource Cards deck.
And so it begins!
Playing the Game
The game is divided into turns. Each turn consists of 3 phases that take place in order.
Phase One
All players place one Resource Card face down in front of them in Position 1 (*). When all players have chosen their cards, they are all turned over at the same time.
Phase Two
Beginning with the Starting Player and continuing clockwise, each player places one Resource Card on an opponent's Raft in Position 2 (**).
Note: There can only be one card in each player's Position 2 (**) per turn. If it is not possible to place a card on an opponent's Raft, the player must place a Resource Card on their own one (**).
When a player receives a Resource Card in (**), they immediately move forward by a number of spaces equal to the difference between the numbers on the cards (Refer to the Example here under).
If this move ends on a section of sea with one or more barrels, the player chooses one of the barrels and resolves it (see "Effects of Barrels" at the end of these rules).
Then, the player who placed the Resource Card moves 2 spaces forward, unless the player has stolen a Resource Card from an opponent or has assigned the Resource Card to himself, in these cases there is no moves by two.
If this move ends on a section of sea with one or more barrels, the player chooses one of the barrels and resolves it (see "Effects of Barrels" at the end of these rules).
Example: Purple Meeple places the card "3 Wood" on the pink Raft in (**). Pink Meeple moves 2 spaces, as this is the difference between the two numbers on the cards at (*) and (**). Purple Meeple has completed their turn and moves 2 spaces forward.
Example: Pink Meeple then places "1 Water" on Yellow Meeple's Raft. Yellow Meeple does not move because the difference between the two numbers on the cards is zero. Pink Meeple has completed their turn and moves 2 spaces forward, ending up on a space with Barrels. They choose one Barrel, look at it and resolve any immediate effects. Yellow Meeple places "1 Food" on Purple Meeple's Raft. Purple Meeple moves 2 spaces forward. Purple Meeple ends up on a space with Barrels. They choose one Barrel, look at it and resolve any immediate effects. Yellow Meeple has completed their turn and moves 2 spaces forward.
Players can steal a Resource Card from an opponent's stock if the card they have placed in their opponent's (**) has the same suit and the same number as a card in that opponent's stock. If this is the case, then the player who plays the card can decide to steal any Resource Card from their opponent's stock and add it to their own. However, this means that the player is not allowed to move on this turn.
When each player has placed a card in (**) and all moves have been made and all Barrel effects resolved, Phase Two ends.
Phase Three
Check whether a Steamship Card has been played in any player's (*) or (**). If there is a Steamship Card, read the section ENDING THE GAME. If not, continue with Phase Three.
Each player moves the Resource Cards from their (*) and (**) into their stock, as shown in the illustration.
The Starting Player – Maretta Barrel Token is passed to the next player in a clockwise direction and each player draws 2 cards. At this point, a new turn begins, divided into Phases One, Two and Three.
Ending the Game
If at the end of a turn, one or more players boards a Steamship Card or one or more players reaches the Steamship Token at the end of the path, they are declared the winner.
This marks the end of the game.
Steamship Cards are special cards that end the game before players have reached the end of the path.
When a Steamship Card is played at (*) or (**), all players can try to win the game. To board a passing Steamship, players need to have a score of 7 – just like the Seven Seas. This score is calculated by adding the value of a player's movement during the turn to 1 point for each suit (wood, rope, fire, water, food) on the Resource Cards in the player's stock.
Example: Purple Meeple has movement of +4 ("4 Wood" minus "0 Steamship") and 3 resource types in their stock. 4+3=7, so they can board the Steamship. Pink Meeple has movement of 0 ("1 Rope" minus "1 Water") and 5 resource types in their stock. 0+5=5, as this is less than 7, they cannot board the Steamship.
If at least one player is able to board a Steamship, the game ends and all players on Steamships are declared the winners. If no player is able to board a Steamship, the Steamship Card is discarded (Steamship Cards are never added to players' Stock) and the game continues.
If it is no longer possible to draw cards from the Resource Deck, the game ends and the most advanced player (or players) on the sea board wins.
Escape from Vulcano (Side B)
Setup
Remove the Steamship Cards and the Barrel Tokens with Cuttlefish and return them to the box – these cards are not used to Escape from Vulcano.
Place the Game Board in the middle of the table, with Side B facing up. Place the Lava Token at the mouth of the volcano (3 spaces behind the Starting Village) and place the two Crevasses as shown in the illustration, so they don't occupy any land spaces.
Place 2 Barrel Tokens face down in each marked position along the route, without looking at them (see image below).
Turn some of the barrels over, according to the position of the Crevasses, as follows:
- Barrels located between the Starting Village and the first Crevasse are turned face up;
- For each pair of Barrels located between the two Crevasses, one is face up and one face down;
- Barrels located after the second Crevasse remain face down to add some heat to your final steps!
Shuffle the Resource Cards. Place the shuffled deck of Resource Cards next to the Game Board.
Each player chooses their Meeple and places it in the Starting Village. They then take the Minecart Card corresponding to their Meeple's color.
Decide which player will start and give them the Starting Player – Maretta Barrel Token.
Each player draws 4 cards from the Resource Cards deck.
And so it begins!
Playing the Game
The game is divided into turns. Each turn consists of 4 phases that take place in order.
Phase One
Beginning with the Starting Player and continuing clockwise, each player places one Resource Card on an opponent's Minecart in Position 2 (**).
Note: There can only be one card in each player's Position 2 (**) per turn. If it is not possible to place a card on an opponent's Minecart the player must place a Resource Card on their own one (**).
Example: The card "1 Food" is played on Yellow Meeple's Minecart at (**). Therefore, Yellow Meeple cannot place any Food cards or any cards with a value of 1 at (*). The card "5 Wood" is a valid choice.
Phase Two
Beginning with the Starting Player, each player places one Resource Card on their own Minecart in Position 1 (*). This card must not have the same suit or same number as the card in Position 2 (**).
Note: It is possible not to be able to play any card in this phase.
Phase Three
When Phase Two is complete, each player takes the Resource Cards from their Minecart and places them in their stock, sorting them into suits in a maximum of 5 stacks. If the total value of a stack is greater than 5, the whole stack is discarded. The discarded cards are placed in a discard pile next to the draw pile.
Beginning with the Starting Player, each player moves forward along the track, moving the same number of spaces as the number of stacks of different suits they have in their stock.
If this move ends on a section of land with one or more barrels, the player chooses one of the barrels and resolves it (see "Effects of Barrels" at the end of these rules).
Example: Yellow Meeple moves the two Resource Cards ("1 Food" and "5 Wood") from their Minecart into their stock. None of Yellow Meeple's piles has a value of more than 5, and as they have 3 different resource stacks, they will move 3 spaces on their turn. Purple Meeple moves the two Resource Cards ("3 Fire" and "4 Water") from their Minecart into their stock. The total value of Water Cards is more than 5. The Water Cards are discarded. Purple Meeple only keeps the Fire Card. Therefore, Purple Meeple moves forward by 1 space.
Phase Four
The Lava Token moves forward by 3 spaces. Refer to the Example (M) on the left-hand page. [Editor's note: Example (M) is a board illustration on the printed page 14 showing the lava's position; it is not reproduced in text.] If a player's Meeple is caught by the lava, the game ends immediately for that player.
If there are still 2 or more players in the game, the Starting Player – Maretta Barrel Token is passed to the next player in a clockwise direction, and each player draws cards until they have 4 in their hand.
At this point, a new turn begins, divided into Phases One, Two, Three and Four.
Ending the Game
If at the end of a turn, one or more players reaches the sea, or one player is the only surviving castaway after all other players have been killed by the lava, they are declared the winner.
Effects of Barrels
After activation, discard the barrel.
- MONKEY (x3): Take one Resource Card from an opponent's stock and add it to your own.
- TROOP OF MONKEY (x2): Each player takes one Resource Card from your stock and adds it to their own.
- CUTTLEFISH (x1): On the next turn, play your first card face down. Do not turn it over until after the second card has been placed on your Raft.
- SCHOOL OF CUTTLEFISH (x2): On the next turn, all players must play their first card face down. Do not turn them over until after the second card has been placed on your Raft.
- SHARK (x2): Discard one Resource Card from your stock.
- SHARKS (x2): Each player discards one Resource Card from their stock.
- FISHING SPEAR (x4): Swap places with the Meeple in front of you. This action will not trigger any barrels. We just remind you that the Steamship token is a route space.
- ANCHOR (x1): Discard two Resource Cards from your stock.
- PELICAN (x2): Look at an opponent's hand.
Customization Options
Maretta can be customized by changing the position of the game elements on the board.
The numbers and positions given in this Rulebook have been designed to create a balanced game, where strategy, chance, time and tension all play a part.
If you want to increase the element of chance or the need for strategy, you can move the Coral Reefs/Crevasses along the board or remove them, you can start the game with the Lava closer to the Village and change how far it moves each time the Lava crosses a Crevasse, or you can move the Steamship closer for a more thrilling game. We are always happy to hear about your changes to our game – please share your merciless plans for these poor castaways with us and our community!