Moon River
Moon River Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 4 Reservation boards, each featuring a Camp side and a Legends of the West side.
- 8 Ranchero meeples: 2 purple, 2 orange, 2 green, 2 white.
- 96 plots to piece together — 48 dominoes.
- 20 Partner tokens, each featuring a Cowboy side and a Specialist side.
- 32 Cow meeples
- 2 Landscape Bonus tiles (for the 2-player game) with a different landscape on each side.
- 1 Saloon board
- 1 Score pad
Goal of the Game
Combine your plots to create each of your dominoes. Optimize their layout to create your own ranch. Expand your herds and make the best use of your land to collect as many points as possible.
Glossary
Reservation Boards
All players have a player board that determines the maximum width of their ranch. This Reservation board has a Camp side (Moon River Variant - Base Game) and a Legends of the West side (Legends of the West Variant - Advanced Game). Each side has a specific storage capacity for plots.
A Plot
Each puzzle piece is called a 'plot'. Each plot has a Landscape side and a numbered side. There are 6 different types of plots: Deserts, Canyons, Meadows, Forests, Corn fields, Farms.
A Domino
A domino is a combination of 2 plots, with their Landscape sides facing up. The orientation of the illustrations on the plots does not matter.
A Ranch
Throughout the course of the game, you will collect plots and create dominoes to construct your own ranch. A ranch can contain at most 12 dominoes (24 plots). A ranch consists of 5 rows of plots, limited by the width of your player board.
A Territory
A territory is a set of plots of the same type, all connected by at least one side.
Example: 1 territory made of 3 meadow plots and 1 territory made of 1 forest plot. You can construct your ranch with as many different types of territories as you like. You can also have several territories of the same type.
Resources
Several plots contain resources. There are 3 different types of resources:
- Gold nuggets are found in deserts, meadows, and canyons.
- Beavers are found in forests.
- Corn cobs are found in corn fields.
Each of these resources is worth 1 victory point at the end of the game.
You are now ready to set up the game!
Moon River offers 2 game variants. We recommend playing them in this order for a more enjoyable experience:
- Moon River variant - base game
- Legends of the West variant - advanced game
These rules are for 3 and 4 players. The 2-player rules can be found at the end of the rulebook.
Moon River Variant - Base Game
Setup
A. Each player picks a color and takes the corresponding items from the game box:
- A Reservation board, placed with its Camp side face up
- A Ranchero meeple
B. Gather all the Cow meeples and place them in a general supply next to the play area.
C. Set the score pad aside, it will only be used at the end of the game.
D. Place the Saloon board next to the box. Shuffle the Partner tokens with their Cowboy side up, and place them in 2 stacks at the Saloon entrance on the board. Flip 5 tokens of 1 of the 2 stacks to their Specialist side, and place them on the 5 Saloon spaces.
E. Shuffle the 96 plots with their numbered side face up, and place them randomly in the game box to create the draw piles. Then arrange the game box as shown in the image.
F. Draw 4 plots at random and place them in a column next to the box, with their numbered side face up. Sort them in ascending order, always placing the lowest number closest to the box. If multiple plots have the same number, sort them in the order you drew them. Finally, flip all the plots to their Landscape sides.
G. One of the players collects all the Ranchero meeples in play, shuffles them in their hand, and then randomly draws them one by one. When your ranchero is drawn, place it on an available plot of your choice in the column you just created (F). A plot is said to be 'available' if there are no Ranchero meeples on it.
- With 3 players, the unselected plot is removed from the game.
- With 4 players, the last player has no choice and must place their ranchero on the last available plot. The plots furthest from the box are usually the most interesting ones. However, selecting them means you will be among the last players to choose during the next turn!
H. Once all the rancheros have been placed, draw 4 new plots and form a new column next to the first one, as in step F.
You are now ready to play!
Turn Overview
The order of play is determined by the positions of the rancheros on the first column of plots. The first player is the one whose ranchero is placed on the plot closest to the box, followed by the next player closest to the box and so on, and ending with the player whose ranchero is placed on the plot furthest from the box.
On your turn, you must perform the following actions in order before moving on to the next player:
- Collect your plot (Mandatory)
- Expand your ranch (Optional)
- Select a new plot (Mandatory)
1. Collect Your Plot (Mandatory)
Collect your Ranchero meeple, as well as the plot it's standing on. Place the plot on an empty storage space of your Reservation board.
If there are no available storage spaces on your Reservation board, you MUST carry out action 2. Expand your ranch by choosing 2 plots among those on your Reservation board and the one you just collected!
2. Expand Your Ranch (Optional)
If the storage spaces of your Reservation board contain at least 2 plots, you may choose whether or not to expand your ranch. To expand your ranch, combine 2 of your plots to form a domino, then add this domino to your ranch according to the connection rules.
Connection Rules
You must place each domino above your Reservation board, enclosed in a 5 x 5 grid of plot locations, and without exceeding this grid.
You must connect each domino to either:
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one of the bridges on your Reservation board. You can connect any type of plot to these bridges, or
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a domino you placed previously. At least 1 territory type must match orthogonally.
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You cannot place a single plot by itself in your ranch.
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Once placed, the domino can no longer be moved.
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If you possess 4 plots on your turn, you may create up to 2 dominoes and add them to your ranch one after the other.
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If you need to expand your ranch but cannot place a domino according to the connection rules, you must permanently discard 2 of your plots that you haven't placed in your ranch yet. They will not be worth any points.
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Plot actions: some plots feature special symbols. Each symbol allows you to carry out the corresponding action. There are 3 different symbols: a cow, a skull, and a circle.
After you added a domino to your ranch, immediately carry out the action of each symbol in the following order:
A. First, carry out the action of each cow symbol B. Then, carry out the action of each skull symbol C. Finally, carry out the action of each circle symbol
A. Cows
Some plots indicate 1 or 2 cow symbols. Whenever you add a domino with such a plot to your ranch, for each cow symbol you must:
- take a Cow meeple from the general supply, and
- place it on the corresponding plot.
B. Skulls
Each skull symbol represents an instance of drought. If you expand a territory with a plot that contains a skull symbol, you must:
- remove a Cow meeple from this territory, and
- return it to the general supply.
If the territory contains several Cow meeples, you may choose which one(s) to remove. If there are no Cow meeples on the territory, the skull symbol is ignored.
After you've applied the drought effect, the skull symbol is ignored for the rest of the game.
Example 1: by adding this domino to your ranch, you must remove 1 of the 2 cows on your canyon territory. Nothing happens in the desert territory, because it doesn't contain any cows.
Example 2: By adding this domino to your ranch, you must remove both cows on your canyon territory.
C. Circles
Each circle symbol represents the action of recruiting a partner who will help you manage your ranch. After adding a domino that contains a plot with a circle symbol, carry out these 3 steps in order:
C.1. Choose a Partner token among the 5 available tokens in the Saloon. C.2. Keep this token on its Specialist side or flip it back to its Cowboy side, then place it on the circle symbol of the plot you just added. C.3. Immediately apply the token's effect (see Partners).
IMPORTANT: The tokens will not be replenished until the End of the round.
If both of the plots on your domino have a circle symbol, carry out each recruitment one after the other in the order of your choice. If there are no available Partner tokens left on the 5 spaces of the Saloon board, you cannot carry out a recruitment for this circle symbol.
Examples:
A. COWS: after adding this domino to your ranch, you first place 1 Cow meeple on the farm plot. B. SKULLS: you must then remove 1 Cow meeple from your canyon territory. C. CIRCLES: finally, the circle symbol on the farm plot allows you to recruit 1 of the 5 partners on the Saloon board. You place it on its CATTLE THIEF side, and apply its effect (see "Cattle Thief").
Partners
Each partner you add to your ranch has 2 effects:
1. Effects Common to All Partners: Herder
Each partner - whether placed Cowboy or Specialist side up - is first and foremost a herder within that territory. In other words, this partner protects all the cows in that territory from the Cattle Thief.
Example: this Gold Digger protects all the cows in the meadow territory from the Cattle Thief.
2. Partner-Specific Effects
Partners with an immediate effect: activate the partner's effect as soon as you place them on your plot. The effect of these partners is optional: you may choose whether or not to activate it.
The Cowboy
This partner allows you to carry out up to 3 movements with cows, towards orthogonally adjacent plots. The same cow can be moved several times.
Careful: cows cannot move across or stop on a corn field.
Important: skull symbols (drought) only activate when they're added to your ranch. Later in the game, they are considered normal territories, which means they can contain cows!
Example: after placing a Cowboy on your ranch, you choose to move 1 cow across 1 plot and another cow across 2 plots.
The Desperado
This partner allows you to swap a plot on your Reservation board with a plot on another player's Reservation board. This action is only possible if you and the targeted opponent each have at least 1 plot on your Reservation boards.
The Cattle Thief
This partner allows you to choose and steal 1 unprotected cow from another player's ranch. You must place this cow on your Cattle Thief's plot.
Reminder: any cow in a territory containing at least 1 partner is protected from the Cattle Thief.
Partners with no immediate effect: they will score additional points at the end of the game, depending on the resources you have left in your ranch.
The Gold Digger
Each Gold Digger scores 1 point per nugget symbol found in your entire ranch at the end of the game.
The Trapper
Each Trapper scores 1 point per beaver symbol found in your entire ranch at the end of the game.
The Farmer
Each Farmer scores 1 point per corn cob symbol found in your entire ranch at the end of the game.
3. Select a New Plot (Mandatory)
Place your Ranchero meeple on an available plot in the new column of plots.
End of the Round
Once all players have completed their actions, form a new column of 4 plots as described in step F of Setup.
If any partners were recruited during this turn, replenish the Partner tokens on the Saloon board by drawing as many tokens as needed from the stack until 5 are available again. Remember to flip them to their Specialist sides.
End of the Game
If you have to create a new column of plots but the draw pile inside the box is empty, the players get to carry out 1 final turn. Simply fill the available spaces of the Saloon board with Partner tokens, then proceed to the final turn.
At the end of the final turn, carry out action 2. Expand your ranch as many times as necessary to empty your Reservation board, always respecting the connection rules.
- If you can place a domino according to the connection rules, you must do so even if it doesn't really suit your plans.
- If you can't place any dominoes, simply discard your unused plots.
If you had to discard one or more dominoes, your ranch will be incomplete.
This marks the end of the game. However, before proceeding to final scoring, all players must first apply the overpopulation event: you can only have 1 Cow meeple per plot on your ranch. Remove all extra cows from your plots.
Example: you have 1 extra cow on one of your meadow plots, and must return it to the box.
Scoring
Now it's time to determine the players' scores! Use the score pad to write down the points scored by your ranch as follows:
Points for Territories
Each territory is worth as many victory points as its number of plots multiplied by the number of Cow meeples in that territory.
Careful! Cow symbols on plots do not influence scoring. Only the Cow meeples on your dominoes are taken into account. Territories without cows do not score any points.
Remember: You can have several territories of the same type in your ranch. Count the points scored for each territory. Corn fields do not score any points, because cows cannot enter these plots.
Write down the points scored by all your territory types on the score pad.
Points for Resources
Each nugget, beaver and corn cob symbol in your ranch scores 1 point.
Points for Partners
Each Gold Digger, Trapper and Farmer scores 1 additional point for each symbol associated with them (nugget, beaver, or corn cob).
Add up all your points to determine your final score. The player with the highest score wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the largest territory wins the game, whether that territory contains cows or not. If there's still a tie, the player with the most cows wins the game. If the tie still persists, those players share the victory.
Scoring Example
After applying the overpopulation event, Charlie calculates her final score.
Points for Territories
She has created a desert territory consisting of 5 plots and containing 1 Cow meeple: it scores 5 points (5 x 1). Similarly, she scores 21 points for her canyon territory (7 x 3), 6 points for her meadow territory (3 x 2) and 16 points for her farm territory (4 x 4). She doesn't score any points for her forest territory, because it doesn't contain any Cow meeples.
Points for Resources
Charlie has a total of 4 nugget symbols, 1 beaver symbol and 18 corn symbols on her ranch. These resources score 4 points, 1 point and 18 points, respectively.
Points for Partners
During the game, Charlie was able to place a Farmer on one of her dominoes. This token is worth 18 additional points, thanks to the 18 Corn symbols on her ranch.
Charlie therefore finishes the game with a total of 89 points.
Legends of the West Variant - Advanced Game
In this variant, players will play a shared scenario, and each of them will play as a different legendary character.
Setup
Carry out the same setup as in the base game, but with one exception: all players flip their Reservation boards to the Legends of the West side.
These boards feature different amounts and placements of bridges, and different storage capacities for plots:
- Mary (purple): 1 bridge and 4 slots
- Wesley (white): 2 bridges and 3 slots
- Calamity (orange): 2 bridges and 3 slots
- Big Jo (green): 3 bridges and 2 slots
Choosing the Scenario
You could either:
- Choose which scenario you'd like to play, or
- Determine the scenario at random. In that case: one player receives the plots numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. They shuffle these and draw one at random. The number of this plot determines which scenario you'll be playing:
- Timber Rafting
- Gold Rush
- Outlaws
- Moon River City
Shuffle these 4 plots back into the other plots inside the box.
Each scenario features an additional way to score points at the end of the game. After applying the overpopulation event, all players will be able to write down their points on the bottom row of the score pad.
Turn Overview
The rules for the Legends of the West variant are identical to those of the base game.
1. Timber Rafting
Trading timber is a lucrative pursuit! If you want to partake, you'll need access to a large woodcutting area near the river.
Woodcutting area: a woodcutting area is a group of at least 3 orthogonally adjacent forest plots, at least 1 of which touches the river.
Scoring for the "Timber Rafting" scenario: at the end of the game, each woodcutting area scores 10 points + 10 points per additional forest plot in the area.
Example: a woodcutting area of 6 forest plots scores 40 points. Two woodcutting areas of 3 forest plots score 20 points.
2. Gold Rush
Rumor has it your ranches are not just hiding nuggets, but veritable gold veins! Will you be able to exploit them?
Gold vein: a gold vein is a group of at least 3 orthogonally adjacent plots containing nuggets.
Scoring for the "Gold Rush" scenario: at the end of the game, each gold vein scores 10 points + 10 points per additional nugget in the vein.
Example: a vein of 6 nuggets scores 40 points. Two veins of 3 nuggets score 20 points.
3. Outlaws
Gold mines have been discovered on your ranches, and this has attracted several outlaw gangs!
Outlaw gang: a gang is a group of at least 3 orthogonally adjacent partners. It doesn't matter which types of territories they are on, but at least one of the partners has to be a bandit character (a Desperado or a Cattle Thief).
Scoring for the "Outlaw" scenario: at the end of the game, each outlaw gang scores 10 points + 10 points per additional partner in the gang.
Example: a gang of 6 partners scores 40 points. Two gangs of 3 partners score 20 points.
4. Moon River City
Your ranches are becoming more prosperous by the day, which means you must develop towns to accommodate new residents.
Towns: a town is a group of at least 3 orthogonally adjacent farms.
Scoring for the "Moon River town" scenario: at the end of the game, each town scores 10 points + 10 points per additional farm in the town.
Example: a town of 6 farms scores 40 points. Two towns of 3 farms score 20 points.
Special Rules for a 2-Player Game
Both the base game and the Legends of the West variant offer the possibility of playing with two players. The rules remain the same as described above, with the following changes:
Ranch Area
In a 2-player game, the rancheros compete to build the largest ranch, using all 96 plots. You will each build your ranch on an area enclosed within a 5 x 10 grid of plots, including the center of your board.
Setup
Either carry out the setup of the Moon River variant or of the Legends of the West variant, with the 3 following changes:
- In step A: each player receives 2 Ranchero meeples of the same color and the corresponding Reservation board.
- In step G: the player whose Ranchero meeple is drawn first chooses 1 of the 4 available plots in the column and places their ranchero on it. The second player immediately takes their 2 Ranchero meeples, chooses 2 available plots in the column and places their rancheros on them. Finally, the first player places their second Ranchero meeple on the last available plot in the column.
- Place the 2 Landscape Bonus tiles near the play area.
Turn Overview
For each column of plots, players carry out 2 turns each, 1 turn for each Ranchero meeple.
Landscape Bonus Tiles
Each player will place at most 24 dominoes, i.e. 48 plots. However, each ranch has 49 available spaces. The final space is reserved for a Landscape Bonus tile.
Conquest of the West: gaining a Landscape Bonus tile
The first player to reach the 10th and final row of their ranch must (after applying any effects of their domino):
- Claim 1 of the 2 available Landscape Bonus tiles.
- Choose one of its sides.
- Immediately place this tile in their ranch according to the connection rules and apply its recruitment effect.
If they cannot place this tile, they must remove it from the game.
When the second player reaches the 10th and final row of their ranch, they claim and use the remaining Landscape Bonus tile in the same way.
©2023 Blue Orange Edition. Moon River and Blue Orange are trademarks of Blue Orange Edition, France. Game published and distributed under license by Blue Orange, 97 impasse Jean Lamour, 54700 Pont-à-Mousson, France. www.blueorangegames.eu. English Translation and Proofreading: Shona Carceles Stuart-Smith and Jo Lefebure for The Geeky Pen.
Component Breakdown
The rulebook's back page lists the exact composition of the 96 plots and the 20 Partner tokens:
Deserts (21 plots): skull symbol x7, no symbol x6, nugget x4, cow symbol x2, cow symbol + nugget x2.
Canyons (19 plots): skull symbol x6, no symbol x5, nugget x4, cow symbol x2, cow symbol + nugget x1, circle symbol x1.
Meadows (17 plots): skull symbol x3, no symbol x4, nugget x4, cow symbol x2, circle symbol x2, 2 cow symbols x2.
Forests (15 plots): no symbol x1, beaver x4, circle symbol x4, cow symbol + beaver x6.
Farms (13 plots): cow symbol x4, cow symbol + circle symbol x9.
Corn fields (11 plots): 6 of one artwork, 5 of another; all corn fields carry corn cobs.
Total: 96 plots.
Partner tokens (20 total): Trapper x5, Gold Digger x5, Farmer x3, Cattle Thief x5, Desperado x2.