Papua Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• The Game
  • A. Initial Phase
  • CATASTROPHE
  • COINS
  • B. Players' Turns
  • FOOD
  • C. Resolution Phase
• Board Zones
  • HUTS
  • LOGISTICS
    • LOGISTICS MARKERS
  • EXPEDITIONS
    • EXPEDITION CARDS
  • FUNDING
  • HUNTING AND FISHING
  • FIELD NOTEBOOK
• End of Game
• Scoring
• Science Cards
• Two-Player Games
• Explorer's Journal

Components

• 1 board
• 4 shields
• 10 dice (with results from 1 to 5, and Catastrophe)
• 60 explorers (15 for each player)
• 12 wooden pieces: prestige, hut, and energy (three for each player)
• 13 logistics markers
• 30 food markers
• 40 cardboard coins
• 5 zone markers (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)
• 1 forbidden zone marker (X)
• 35 expedition cards
• 18 field notebook cards
• 7 science cards

Setup

1. Place the board in the center of the table and the zone markers near it.
2. Each player chooses a color and takes fifteen explorers and three wooden pieces of their color. A shield is placed in front of each player. Each player places three coins and three food markers behind their shield. The rest go into a reserve beside the board.
3. Each player places seven of their fifteen explorers in their personal reserve behind the shield, and the remaining eight stay in the reserve beside the board.
4. Divide the field notebook cards into two decks, according to their back (either I or II). Then shuffle each deck and place deck I, face down, over the notebook illustration (in the upper right corner of the board).
5. Shuffle the expedition cards. Remove five cards without looking and put them back in the box.
6. Mix the thirteen logistics markers and leave them, face down, in the central circle of your area on the board.
7. Shuffle the science cards and deal one card to each player. They place the card face up next to their shield, so everyone can see it. Put the remaining cards back in the box. They will not be used in this game.
8. All players place the prestige piece of their color on the prestige score medal (in the upper left corner of the board) and the hut piece near the huts zone.
9. The player who traveled to the farthest place (or a random player) will be the first to play. They place their energy piece on space 50 of the energy track, and then each of the other players (clockwise) places their energy piece below the previous piece, so that a stack is formed with the first player's energy piece on top and the last player's piece at the bottom.

The Game

A game of Papua consists of several rounds. Each round begins with an initial phase. Next come the individual turns of each player, and then it ends with a resolution phase. After the initial phase, each player takes their turn. Then the round's resolution phase begins.

A. Initial Phase

The initial phase consists of four steps, in this order:

1. Three expedition cards are revealed and placed face up on three destinations in the expedition zone: the first in the jungle, the second in the river, and the third in the volcano.

2. Two logistics markers are revealed in games with two or three players, while three are revealed in games with four players.

   If any of these markers is the replenishment marker (see page 7), leave it visible on top of the discarded markers and keep revealing markers until the required amount is reached.

3. A field notebook card is revealed. At the start of the game, deck I is used.

4. The player who has the least energy at that point (in case of a tie, the one whose energy piece is lowest in the stack) places the forbidden zone marker on one of the board's six zones, of their choice.

   Important: the forbidden zone cannot be the same in two consecutive rounds. A different zone must be chosen each round.

5. The order of the players' individual turns must be determined. Turn order goes from highest energy to lowest (in case of a tie, the player whose piece is highest in the stack always goes first).

After these steps, proceed to the individual turns of each player.

CATASTROPHE

Exploring the island of Papua has its risks. A Catastrophe result on the dice means that a player has been the victim of a disease or an accident. For each Catastrophe result, the player must remove an explorer from their personal reserve and leave it in the general reserve, unless they pay one coin to save the explorer.

Important: in the first round, Catastrophe results that appear on the dice do NOT apply.

COINS

Coins allow you to save your explorers from catastrophes caused by the dice. In addition, you can pay one coin to reroll a die, or to increase or decrease a result by 1.

You may pay several coins to increase or decrease the result of a single die (but you cannot change a 5 into a 1 or vice versa), or reroll a die multiple times. Unfortunately, you can never reroll or modify a die that showed a Catastrophe result.

After that, the player sorts the dice according to the results obtained and decides how many dice they want to use. Keep in mind that each die placed this way represents an explorer sent on a mission, so there will be times when it isn't a good idea to send all your explorers. Each zone on the board has a space used for its own identification with the zone markers (numbered 1 to 5). In the current round, if there are still zone markers to be assigned, the player may choose some of the die results (matching the markers that remain) and assign them to the zones whose spaces are still empty. Once a specific zone has an assigned marker, other players may only place explorers there if they roll the correct result on their own dice.

For each die the player decides to use with a result matching a zone that has already been identified with a marker, the player must take an explorer from their personal reserve and place it in that zone.

B. Players' Turns

In this phase, players send their teams of explorers to different zones of the board, depending on their interests. Players take their turns in the order established during the initial phase.

During each player's turn, they roll the number of dice indicated for that turn. At the start of the game, players always roll five dice. However, as you will see below, the position of each player's hut piece in the huts zone will determine how many dice are available. If any die shows a Catastrophe result, the effect must be resolved immediately (see above).

Remember that the zone with the forbidden zone marker cannot be used in the current round.

Once a player finishes placing their explorers, they need to update their energy level, losing one energy point on the track for each explorer used. Spending energy can be avoided by eating one unit of food for each point the player wishes to avoid losing.

Consuming food can never result in a player's energy increasing above the level they had at the start of the turn.

FOOD

Food units allow you to avoid losing energy. Players must also resupply their explorers as the game progresses. So, when a player's energy piece initially passes through energy spaces 40, 30, 20, or 10, the player must resupply their explorers. To do this, they must eat the number of food units (returning the markers to the reserve) shown on the track, or, if they don't have enough food, they must return one of their explorers to the general reserve for each unit of food that is missing.

A logistics marker or a field notebook card may allow you to recover energy, which will make the energy marker move back up. If this happens, when you lose energy again and pass through that space a second time, you are not required to resupply again.

Next comes the next player's turn. After all players have finished their turns, proceed to the resolution phase.

Example: it is red player's turn, the last player this round. She rolls the dice and gets 4, 3, 3, 2, and a Catastrophe. The Catastrophe causes her to lose an explorer from her personal reserve, but she decides to pay one coin to avoid the loss.

In previous turns this round, the other players assigned marker "4" to the funding zone and marker "2" to the field notebook zone. The player wants to earn money, so she places an explorer in the funding zone (which she can do, having rolled a 4). In addition, she notices there are already enough explorers in the field notebook zone and nothing to be gained there, so she chooses not to send her explorer there. Zone marker "3" has not yet been assigned to a zone, so the player places the marker on the expeditions zone, along with two explorers. A die result of "3" would normally only allow using one explorer, but since she rolled two results of "3", she decides to place two explorers to try to obtain two expedition cards.

In the end, she placed three of her five possible explorers, so she must pay three energy points. However, she decides to eat two units of food to reduce the cost to just one energy point. This puts her on space 41 of the energy track. This way, she avoids resupplying her explorers for now with two units of food (as required at space 40 of the track) and ensures she will be the first player next round, since she will have the highest energy.

C. Resolution Phase

After all players have finished placing their explorers on the board, you must apply the actions in the different zones, starting with the zone with the "1" marker and then continuing in ascending order.

After applying the different actions, remove the zone markers and return the explorers to their respective personal reserves. Discard the logistics markers, along with any unused expedition and field notebook cards. Leave the forbidden zone marker on the board until the start of the next round, to remind you which zone cannot become forbidden again.

If all players still have positive energy values, begin a new round. If that is not the case, end the game (see the "End of Game" section on page 10).

Board Zones

The board is divided into six zones, and each one allows players to perform a specific action (if they send explorers there). In each round, there is always a "forbidden" zone, chosen by the player with the lowest energy at the start of that round.

HUTS

"Without the help of the natives, it would have been extremely difficult to find the best routes or discover aspects of the island that would otherwise have been lost."

This zone has several functions. First, it allows players to increase the number of dice they can roll each round. Second, it allows them to recruit more explorers for their missions, while at the same time granting greater control over the dice results.

Each player's hut piece indicates which hut their expedition is currently at. To move the piece to the next hut, the player must be able to place explorers in the zone as indicated by the desired hut. Players can only advance one hut per round.

During the resolution phase, each player who has explorers in this zone follows these steps:

• The player moves their hut piece to the next hut.
• The player takes from the general reserve a number of explorers of their color, as indicated on the hut they moved to, and places them in their personal reserve.
• Starting the following round, the player may roll the number of dice indicated on the hut where their piece is. In addition, before rolling their dice, the player may choose the result of a number of dice equal to the number of explorers indicated on the hut (where their piece is), placing those dice on the table with the result showing (they don't need to be rolled).

Example: to move from hut 7 to hut 8, the player must place two explorers in this zone. When resolving this zone during the resolution phase, they move their hut piece to hut 8 and take two explorers of their color from the general reserve, adding them to their personal reserve.

From the next round on, they can roll eight dice and choose the result of two of those dice. So, on their following turns, they will place two dice on the table with the chosen result and then roll the other six dice.

LOGISTICS

"During the expedition, some team members are working hard studying the various discoveries or trying to make our camp a more comfortable place."

In this zone, benefits are distributed to players in the form of food, prestige, money, etc. Each round, two or three markers are made available (depending on the number of players). During the resolution phase, the player who assigned the most explorers to this zone chooses the desired marker and uses it immediately to obtain the benefit. Next, it is the turn of the player with the second-most explorers, and so on. In case of a tie, the player with more energy goes first. If the tie persists, it is the turn of the player who is higher in the energy piece stack.

Used logistics markers are discarded face up, creating a discard pile next to the board. This continues until the replenishment marker is revealed.

LOGISTICS MARKERS

• Adds 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 prestige points to the prestige counter.
• Receive the number of food markers, prestige points, or coins indicated on the zone marker assigned to the logistics zone.
• Recover 3 or 5 energy points.
• Obtain an explorer from the general reserve.
• Obtain one coin, one food marker, and 1 prestige point.
• REPLENISHMENT MARKER. When this marker is revealed, set it aside and fill the logistics zone as usual. When the round ends, mix this marker with the other revealed and discarded markers, creating a new pile.

EXPEDITIONS

"The main reason we are here is knowledge. We are pushing our team and our resources to the limit to find new species."

At the start of each round, place three expedition cards in the three spaces located below this zone. One card at each destination: jungle, river, and volcano. Each explorer placed at these locations represents a chance to explore one of the destinations in order to obtain one of the cards (if a player places two explorers, they can try to obtain two cards). When placing explorers, the player cannot say which destinations they want to explore.

Each player has a shield with each of the destinations marked on it: river, jungle, and volcano. In the resolution phase, each player who has at least one explorer in the expeditions zone may secretly bet on the destination they believe is best. The number of destinations available for a bet depends on the number of explorers sent to the expedition zone.

To bet, the player takes coins and explorers from their personal reserve (the ones behind the shield, not in other zones of the board) and secretly places the coins and explorers behind the shield, next to the destinations they want to explore (any not used stay hidden in their hand). When all players have placed their bets, the shields are tilted forward, revealing the bets associated with each destination. Then it is checked who assigned the most explorers to each destination, and the player with the highest number receives the corresponding card. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most coins on that destination wins. If the tie persists, the one with the most energy wins.

After that, all players, starting with the one with the most energy, lose energy according to the number of explorers used in their bets (it doesn't matter whether they won or lost their bets). The explorers are returned to their respective personal reserves. Finally, the players who won any of the zones using coins must hand over the coins they invested to the general reserve, but the others may recover their coins and return them to their personal reserves.

Example: (1) the red player placed 2 explorers in the expeditions zone and can explore 2 different destinations. (2) they secretly place 2 explorers and 2 coins in the jungle, and 1 explorer and 1 coin in the river. (3) the player tilts the shield to compare their bets with those of the other players and finds out they won the jungle card. They lose the two coins they invested in the destination they just won, but can get back the coin from the river. Now they must lose three energy points for the three explorers that returned to their reserve.

EXPEDITION CARDS

There are seven different types: spider, bird of paradise, butterfly, reptile, plant, beetle, and tribe. They grant prestige at the end of the game according to the number of cards obtained by the player.

In addition, tribe cards have different benefits and may be discarded during the game in order to apply them. You cannot use more than one tribe card per round. If a player decides to play a tribe card, they must discard the card at the start of the round (it will not be counted in the final score) and only one of the benefits will be applied, namely one of the following: 5 prestige points, 5 coins, 5 units of food, 2 explorers, or roll 10 dice this round instead of the stipulated number of dice.

FUNDING

"For expeditions to progress, sponsors' capital is essential, and these expeditions must show attractive results."

Coins are obtained in this zone. During the resolution, roll three dice and sort them by result, from highest to lowest (a Catastrophe symbol has a value of 0). This same roll is used by all players. Then check the symbol shown on the field notebook card revealed at the start of the current round (if a player has already obtained the field notebook card, they must keep it visible next to their shield until the end of the round):

• Each player receives the coins indicated by the highest of the three dice results, plus the number of explorers placed.
• Each player receives the coins indicated by the lowest of the three dice results, plus the number of explorers placed.
• Each player receives the coins indicated by the median of the three dice results, plus the number of explorers placed.

Examples: with a result of 5, 4, and 3, the "+" symbol indicates the "5", the "-" symbol indicates the "3", and the "=" symbol indicates the "4". With a result of 5, 2, and 2, the "+" symbol indicates the "5", the "-" symbol indicates the "2", and the "=" symbol also indicates the result of "2".

HUNTING AND FISHING

"Our provisions are not always enough, so team members must go in search of food."

This is the zone where food markers are obtained. These markers are used to avoid the energy cost of explorers in play, and to resupply them (thereby avoiding losing them) when the spaces on the energy track require it. Each player who has explorers in this zone rolls a number of dice equal to the number of explorers placed + 1 (e.g., with two explorers, three dice will be used).

Then, the player takes a number of food markers equal to the number of explorers placed plus the difference between the highest and lowest results on the dice (remember that a Catastrophe symbol has a value of 0).

Example: the red player sent three explorers to hunt and fish, so they roll four dice and get 4, 3, 3, and 1. So, they obtain six food markers (three for the difference between 4 and 1, and three for the number of explorers placed in that zone).

FIELD NOTEBOOK

"To report the happy moments, the highlights, and the discoveries of the exploration, it is essential to keep the diary updated and to help future explorers."

Field notebook cards are divided into two decks. Deck I is used at the start of the game, but when any player's energy reaches 25, deck I is returned to the box and replaced by deck II.

The player with the most explorers in this zone receives the field notebook card revealed at the start of the round. In case of a tie, no one receives the card.

The card's effect is applied immediately after it is obtained, unless the card states otherwise. Players must keep field notebook cards behind their shield until the end of the game, because they will grant additional points.

End of Game

The game ends immediately if, at the start of a round, there are not at least three cards left in the expedition deck to fill the three destinations of the expedition zones. The game also ends if, during the round, any player's energy drops below 0. In that case, players continue playing until the end of the current round. In both cases, points are totaled to determine the winner (see below).

Players may end up with energy below 0 when, while performing their last actions, their energy piece ends on a space with a negative value. If this happens, players must pay one food marker for each negative point, or lose one explorer from their reserve for each unit of food that is missing. Players also immediately lose a number of prestige points equal to the final negative energy value.

Example: a player needs to perform certain actions and ends with their energy piece on energy space "-2". They must pay two food markers (or two explorers, if they don't have enough food) and lose 2 prestige points during the scoring.

Scoring

In the final scoring, each player totals their prestige points as follows:

• Money. The player with the most coins gets 5 points.
• Food. Each player receives 1 point for every two food markers.
• Remaining energy. Each player receives 1 point for every three spaces above 0 on the energy track.
• Explorers. Each player receives 1 point for each explorer in their personal reserve.
• Different expedition cards. Find the largest collection of different cards and score the following points: 7 different types = +40, 6 = +30, 5 = +22, 4 = +15, 3 = +9, 2 = +4.
• Expedition cards of the same type. The cards are separated into groups of the same type, and points are earned for each group: 5 cards = +30, 4 = +20, 3 = +12, 2 = +6.
• Field notebook cards. The player scores points depending on the number of field notebook cards obtained: 5 cards = +15, 4 = +10, 3 = +6, 2 = +3, 1 = +1.

The player with the most prestige is the winner and should be applauded by the other players.

Science Cards

Each of these cards is public and visible to all players. Each card gives a special gift to its owner. It can only be used ONCE during the game, and only if the following conditions are met:

• Medicine. At the end of the game, your negative energy values are not subtracted from your prestige points.
• Economy. In a funding roll, use the "+" symbol instead of the symbol indicated on the field notebook card.
• Cartography. After resolving the expeditions zone, you do not lose energy due to lost bets.
• Meteorology. You may exchange Catastrophe results rolled on the dice for a result of your choice.
• Biology. At the end of the game, receive two additional prestige points for every four explorers in your personal reserve.
• Anthropology. You may use the benefit of a tribe card without having to discard it.
• Engineering. After resolving the logistics zone, you may apply the effect of one of the unused markers.

Two-Player Games

Setup is the same as for games with three or four players. Once ready, take the explorers of one of the unused colors and leave them on one side of the board. You will need them later.

During the initial phase of the first round, one player will place the forbidden zone marker and the other player will be the first to take their turn. However, in subsequent rounds, players alternate actions regardless of how much energy they have.

In addition, before the start of individual turns, a die is rolled as if there were a third player for each of the following zones: logistics, field notebook, and each of the three expedition zone destinations. The die result indicates the number of "third" color explorers to be placed:

• Catastrophe: no explorer is placed.
• 1-2: place 1 explorer.
• 3-4: place 2 explorers.
• 5: place 3 explorers.

Then, follow these simple rules:

• The third (non-existent) player does not spend energy or place zone markers.
• If the third player wins a logistics marker, the player who did not manage to win anything in that zone discards a marker of their choice, before the other player makes their decision.
• If there is a tie with the third player for any expedition card, take the field notebook symbol into account. If it is a "+", it means the third player has more energy than the other players, and so wins the tie. If it is a "=", the third player's energy is between the two real players (they beat the player with less and lose to the player with more). Finally, if the symbol is a "-", the third player has less energy and loses ties.

Explorer's Journal

[...] The entirety of my crew will attest to the existence of the wonders this island holds within its abundant jungles. Though I curse the incessant rains that drove us off our course, I give thanks to providence, for had it not been for them, I would never have reached this land.

Here, there are flowers and plants I have never heard of or seen, fabulous animals that seem to have come out of books describing distant and fantastic places, and natives bound to ancient times, with archaic customs and rituals. Our chaplain tried to understand their religion, and my men showed them some tools they had never seen before, since they still used bone and stone. The king's wise men were fascinated by our stories. Perhaps, in the future, they will become part of the Crown's dominions, and our monks will spread the true faith among them. Who knows what these islands may hold within them?

I interviewed some Malay natives who came from nearby regions. It seems they call the people of this archipelago papua, which means "frizzy." I suppose they are called that because of their hair. Unfortunately, I do not have the time or the resources to venture further into the island, and I must content myself with small expeditions along the coast. I hope the weather improves quickly so we can leave this archipelago to fulfill our duty. I will never forget these lands, and from now on, I name this place the Island of Papua.

Diary of Jorge de Menezes, 1526