Neolithic
Neolithic Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Give each player a FOUNDER CARD. The player who last went to a Museum takes the first turn; give that player the FIRST PLAYER REFERENCE CARD. Give the other player the SECOND PLAYER REFERENCE CARD.
Separate the remaining cards according to their backs. Shuffle each deck separately, and place them in a single row of 5 face down, side by side decks in the middle of the play area. This forms the TASKS (decks of specific cards). Remove the top 13 cards from the FORAGE Task and move them to the side of the play area, face down (the cards available in the Forage Task are random each game).
Each player draws 1 PROCREATE CARD, 1 GATHER CARD, and 3 INNOVATE CARDS. These cards, along with the FOUNDER CARD, form the players' hands. Each player's hand is kept secret from the other player.
The game begins, with the First Player taking the first turn.
The Task Area should look like this after setup. Each player should have a starting hand of 6 cards.
The Cards & Tasks
Neolithic features multi-use cards; each card has two specific Parts (or uses). Each card has one or more ICONS. Icons show what the card represents within the game, the resource(s) it provides, and may include what is needed to play a card.
Aside from the players' starting hands, cards are acquired from the TASKS. Each Task deck provides specific cards (the fifth Task, Forage, contains a unique mix of cards of various types). Throughout the game, each player will play VILLAGER cards from their hand to the Tasks to acquire additional cards to add their hand and/or Village.
Each Task shows the required TASK ICON(S) needed to perform the Task, as well as how the specific Task provides cards.
CARD PARTS — The way a card is oriented when played dictates what Part of the card is being Used. The Used Part faces the player, while the Unused Part faces the opposing player.
Villager/Culture Cards
The 7 PROCREATE Task deck provides these cards. Each of these cards has a VILLAGER part and a CULTURE part.
Villager cards provide Task Icons and are used to perform Tasks.
Culture cards are played from a player's hand to their Village and grant an Icon, as well as points at the end of the game (based on the Culture's Scoring Icons).
Villager Cards are the only cards that are played to the Tasks.
Ritual/Innovation Cards
The 13 INNOVATE Task deck provides these cards. Each of these cards has a RITUAL part and an INNOVATION part.
Ritual cards are discarded from the player's hand and allow the player to acquire a card without performing a Task, regardless if the Task is occupied or not.
Innovation cards are played from a player's hand to their Village if the player has the card's Required Icons in their Village. Innovation cards provide Icons and points.
Hunted/Domesticated Animal Cards
The 12 HUNT Task deck provides these cards. Each of these cards has a HUNTED ANIMAL part and a DOMESTICATED ANIMAL part.
Hunted Animals provide Icons.
Domesticated Animals are played from a player's hand to their Village and provide Icons as well as a special power to aid in a specific Task.
Gathered/Developed Resource Cards
The 15 GATHER Task deck provides these cards. Each of these cards has a GATHERED RESOURCE part and a DEVELOPED RESOURCE part.
Gathered Resource cards provide Icons.
Developed Resources are played from a player's hand to their Village and provide Icons, and sometimes points.
Playing Neolithic
Neolithic is played over a series of alternating player turns. The game ends when two of the Tasks have no cards remaining.
The TASK AREA is comprised of the five TASKS and is located in the middle of the play area. Each player also has a VILLAGE (personal play area) where the cards they acquire are played.
Players have two options during their turn: take a TASK TURN or a VILLAGE TURN.
Once a player has taken their turn, the other player takes a turn.
Task Turn
The player Performs a Task. To do this, the player selects one Empty Task. The player then selects a Villager card(s) from their hand that has the Task's Icon(s) and plays the selected Villager(s) to their side of the selected Task. The player follows the selected Task's directions to the best of their ability.
An EMPTY TASK is a Task that does not have any Villager(s) played to it.
An OCCUPIED TASK is a Task that does have any Villager(s) played to it.
Task Turn example: Jeb takes a TASK turn. He can perform the PROCREATE or HUNT Task (since the other Tasks already have Villagers). The HUNT task requires a Villager with the Hunt Task Icon. The PROCREATE task requires 2 Villagers: 1 with a Male Task Icon and 1 with a Female Task Icon. He chooses to Perform the PROCREATE Task, so he places 1 Villager card with a Female Task Icon and 1 Villager card with a Male Task Icon to his side of the Procreate Task. He Performs the Task by following the text on the Task. When he finishes the Task, his turn ends. Will takes his turn.
A player cannot choose to take a Task turn if there are no Empty Tasks!
The individual Tasks each list how the specific Task works, as well as the Task Icon(s) required to perform the Task (Villager cards provide Task Icons). Each card played to a Task provides one Task Icon. Any cards that are revealed but not chosen by the player when performing a Task are moved to the bottom of their respective Task deck.
The Forage Task is special, in that a player may perform the Forage Task even if it is Occupied by an opposing Villager.
There is no maximum hand size.
In the event that a Task does not have enough cards remaining in it to meet the Task's instructions, the player uses all cards that remain in the Task to perform the Task to the best of their ability.
Village Turn
The player returns all of their Villagers from the Task area to their hand. For each Villager returned, the player gains 1 VILLAGE ACTION. For each Village Action, the player may:
- Play up to one Animal card from their hand to their Village either as a Domesticated Animal or a Hunted Animal
- Play up to one Resource card from their hand to their Village either as a Developed Resource or a Gathered Resource
- Play up to one Innovation card from their hand to their Village if they have the Innovation's Requirement Icons in their Village
- Play up to one Culture card from their hand to their Village
- Discard up to one Ritual card from their hand to use its ability
When using the above Village Actions, the player is limited only by the cards in their hand available to be played and the number of Village Actions they receive. The player is not required to use all of their Village Actions. Any unused actions are lost.
A player cannot take a Village turn if they have no Villagers Occupying Tasks!
Once a card is played to a player's Village, it stays there for the remainder of the game and cannot be moved or otherwise altered.
The Used Part of a card that is added to a player's Village is the only Part that is used. The Unused Part is ignored for the remainder of the game, and does not add to the Icons in a player's Village or add to their score at the end of the game in any way.
The Scoring Icons on Culture cards do not count towards the player's total Icons at the end of the game.
The Requirement Icons on Innovation cards do not count towards the player's total Icons at the end of the game.
Domesticated Animal Abilities are not optional. Identical Animal Abilities do not stack.
Discarded Rituals are moved to the side of the play area.
After the player has taken a turn, the other player takes their turn.
Village Turn example: Will takes a Village Turn. He returns his 3 Villager Cards from the Tasks. Since he returned 3 Villagers, he receives 3 Village Actions. For his first Village Action he plays a Domesticated Goat card from his hand to his Village, with the Domesticated Goat Part of the card facing himself. For his second Village Action he discards a Ritual card from his hand and uses its Ability. For his third Village Action he plays a Developed Resource Hut card from his hand to his Village, with the Developed Resource Hut Part of the card facing himself. Will finishes his turn and Jeb takes a turn.
Ending the Game and Scoring
At the beginning of the second player's turn, if 2 or more of the Tasks have no cards remaining, that will be the last turn of the game. After the player takes the last turn, the game ends and scoring begins.
Each player returns all of their Villagers from the Tasks to their hand. Each player then plays their Culture-Special card to their Village and each player counts the number of Icons in their Village. The player with the most Icons receives 5 points. If there is a tie, neither player receives the points. All remaining cards in the players' hands are discarded to the side of the play area.
Next, each player, one at a time beginning with the second player, calculates their points from Culture cards, then from Innovations, and finally from any other source.
The player with the highest score wins. If a tie exists, the player with the most cards in their Village wins. If a tie still exists, play again.
Culture Scoring example: Dan has Culture - Agrarian as one of his Village cards at the end of the game. This grants him 2 Points for each FIELD ICON in his Village. He would gain a total of 2 Points since he only has 1 FIELD ICON in his Village. Scoring Icons and Requirement Icons do not count towards Icons. The Unused Part of the Wheat card is not counted.