Polynesia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Summary and Aim of the Game
• Playing the Game
  • Action Phase
  • Explore
  • Travel
  • Populate
  • Fish
  • Maintenance Phase
    • Volcano Eruption
    • Decline
    • Resources
    • New Starting Player
• End of Game
• Two Player Games
• Island Tokens
• Tide Cards
  • Type 1: Archipelagos
  • Type 2: Masks
  • Type 3: General
• Credits

Components

• 1 Double-Sided Map Board
• 4 Personal Boards
• 52 Tribe Members (13 in each of 4 colours)
• 60 Boats (15 in each of 4 colours)
• 10 Lava Stones (1 white, 3 black, 6 red)
• 30 Fish
• 30 Shells
• 8 Resource Tokens
• 14 Island Tokens
• 10 Point Tokens
• 18 Tide Cards
• 4 Player Aid Cards
• 1 Phase Marker
• 1 Cloth Bag
• 1 Starting Player Token
• 1 Rulebook

Setup

1. Place the Map on the table face up on the side which corresponds to the number of players: the side marked with a symbol for 4 players, and the side marked with a different symbol for 2/3 players.

2. Each player chooses a colour and takes the Personal Board, Ships and Tribe Members of their colour. The Ships are placed in the Sea Area of the Personal Board and the Tribe Members are placed as follows:

   • 8 in the spaces numbered from 2 to 7 on the Personal Board.
   • 5 on the Main Island (volcano) on the Map.

   All unused Personal Boards, Ships, and Tribe Members are returned to the Game Box.

3. Each player takes 3 Fish and 3 Shells. Next, form a General Reserve with the remaining Fish and Shells, as well as the Resource Tokens. These Tokens are equivalent to 5 Resources of the marked type and will be used in case the corresponding reserves run out. Note: Resources are not limited to the available elements, so if any are missing, any other component can be used in its place.

4. Mix up and place all the Island Tokens on the Map face down:

   • 1 green Token on each Island within an Archipelago (there are 8 Islands in total). An archipelago is made up of two Islands, the boundary of which is marked with a dark outline.
   • 1 orange Token on each Island with the Fish symbol or the Shell symbol (there are 6 Islands in total).

   Now flip all the Tokens that have been placed and remove the Tokens with a red cross from the game. In games with fewer than 4 players, also remove the Mask Token with the number 4 from the game.

5. Place all the Lava Stones inside the Cloth Bag.

6. Separate the Tide Cards by type (1, 2, and 3), shuffle each deck separately, draw a card from each deck, and place those 3 cards next to the Map. Return the remaining Cards to the Game Box. Note: In 2-player games, remove the Tide Cards 3.1 and 3.2 from the game beforehand (see Tide Cards).

7. Form a reserve with the Point Tokens if any of the Tide Cards require it. Otherwise, leave these Tokens in the Game Box.

8. Place the Phase Marker on the 3 space on the Phase Track.

9. Randomly choose the Starting Player and give them the Starting Player Token.

Summary and Aim of the Game

In Polynesia, players must save their tribe members from the dangers of the volcano by taking them to the islands that will give them the most points. At the same time, players must try to reach the objectives set by the tide cards, which will vary from one game to another. To succeed, players must collect resources in the form of fish and shells that will allow them to explore new sea routes, use the routes of other players, and sail from one island to another.

Playing the Game

Polynesia is played over a varying number of rounds. In each round the following 2 phases are played in order:

1. Action Phase
2. Maintenance Phase

Players play in turns during the Action Phase.

Action Phase

The first three spaces on the Phase Track correspond to the Action Phase: 3, 2 or 1. Beginning with the Starting Player, and moving clockwise, each player must perform an Action. Once all players have performed their Action, the Starting Player will move the Phase Marker one space to the right on the Phase Track. This is repeated 3 times until the Phase Marker reaches the Volcano Space: the Action Phase ends and the Maintenance Phase begins.

On your turn you must perform one of the following 4 Actions:

Explore

Exploring consists of placing one of your ships from your Personal Board onto a Sea Route. Sea Routes are shown on the Map by dashed white lines that always connect 2 Islands. You can explore any Route on the Map without any limitations, as long as you can pay the cost. Also, it is not necessary to have Tribe Members on either of the 2 Islands connected by the Route.

Note: The 3 Orange Routes that connect the Main Island with the 3 closest Islands (marked with an orange line) are considered to have been explored. No ship is placed on them and all players can freely use them (they are considered neutral).

When exploring you have 2 options:

• Explore a new Route: This consists of exploring a Route where there are no Ships. You must pay as many Resources as the number shown by the Phase Marker: 3, 2 or 1 and you can only use one type of Resource, Fish or Shells. Place one of the used Resources next to the Route and return the rest (if you pay for more than one) to the General Reserve.

OR

• Explore an existing Route: This consists of exploring a Route where there are only Ships from other players. You must pay 2 Resources of the type that is already on the Route to each player who owns a Ship on that Route. In this case the cost does not depend on where the Phase Marker is located.

Note: A player cannot have more than one Ship of their colour on the same Route.

Example: Alberto decides to explore a new Route, using 3 Shells for it, since the Phase Marker is on 3. Of those 3 Shells, one is placed next to the Route to indicate the Resource used for the exploration and the other two are returned to the General Reserve. Next, Laura decides to explore the Route created by Alberto, so she must pay him 2 Shells (the Resource that is already present on the Route).

Travel

Travelling consists of moving your Tribe Members from one Island to another via explored Sea Routes (see Explore), whether they are your own, other players', or neutral Routes (the 3 orange ones). Each movement from one Island to a connected one costs 1 Movement Point. You can use as many Movement Points as the number shown by the Phase Marker: 3, 2 or 1, and distribute them among your Tribe Members as you wish.

If you decide to travel on another player's Route, you must also meet the following requirements:

• There must be a Member of that player's Tribe on the starting Island (i.e. the Island from where the player is setting off from) to guide you to reach the Island of your destination. You will move both figures, yours and your opponent's, to the destination Island.

AND

• You must pay that player 1 Resource of the type already present on the Route used.

If you do not meet both requirements you are not able to use another player's Route to travel. The owner of the Route cannot deny you taking this action. If you can choose between several players' Routes to travel on, you can choose whichever one you wish.

Note: You cannot travel on other players' Routes where you already have a Ship of your own.

Islands with Tokens: Several Islands will have a Token which was placed there during Setup. If you are the first player to reach one of those Islands with one of your Tribe Members, you take the corresponding Token, even if you are travelling using another player's Route, since it is always taken by the Active player.

Example: The Phase Marker is on 3 and Alberto decides to travel on his turn, for which he has 3 Movement Points. First, he travels on Laura's Route, paying her 1 Fish (the Resource that is already present on the Route) and moving his own figure and Laura's from the starting Island to that of the destination. The destination Island has a Token on it and so Alberto takes that token because even though Laura's Guide accompanies him there, he is the Active player. Then, he continues to travel with that same Tribe Member, but this time on his own Route, and therefore without additional requirements. Finally, he spends his third and last Movement Point on moving a Tribe Member from the Main Island to a neighbouring Island via a neutral Route.

Populate

Populating consists of moving your Tribe Members from your Personal Board to the Map. When you do this, you should always take your Tribe Members from your Personal Board from left to right.

When populating you have 2 options:

Add 3 Tribe Members to the Main Island (Volcano).

OR

Add 1 Tribe Member to an Island where you already have at least one other Tribe Member.

Note: There is no limit to the number of figures an Island can have.

Fish

Fishing consists of obtaining Resources, but only of one type: Fish or Shells. Take from the General Reserve as many Resources of the chosen type as the number shown on the Phase Marker: 3, 2 or 1.

Maintenance Phase

As soon as the Phase Marker reaches the Volcano Space, the Maintenance Phase begins. The Starting Player will begin moving the Phase Marker one space to the right on the Phase Track and resolving the different Phases in the order indicated below:

Volcano Eruption

The Starting Player randomly draws 1 Lava Stone from the Bag and places it on the Crater of the Volcano on the Main Island on the Map. Several things can happen depending on the colour of the stone:

• Grey: Nothing happens and the game continues.
• Black: The Starting Player takes 2 additional Lava Stones from the Bag.
• Red: If it is the sixth Red Stone (i.e. there are already 5 in the Volcano), the game ends immediately (see End of Game); if not, the game continues.

Decline

The Starting Player chooses one of the Resources, Fish or Shells, and all players, including themselves, must return all Resources of that type which they still possess to the General Reserve.

Resources

All players receive Resources from the following Islands where they have at least one Tribe Member:

• Each Island with the Fish symbol provides 1 Fish.
• Each Island with the Shell symbol provides 1 Shell.

Islands with other symbols or without any symbols do not provide Resources.

Additionally, players who own Island Tokens will get 1 Fish and / or 1 additional Shell in this Phase.

New Starting Player

The Starting Player passes the Starting Player Token to the player on their left. This player puts the Phase Marker back onto the first space 3 of the Phase Track in order to begin the new round.

End of Game

The game ends immediately when the sixth and final Red Lava Stone is pulled out of the Bag. The Phase Marker no longer advances and the Volcano Erupts! The Main Island and the 3 closest Islands (marked with an orange line) are destroyed and, consequently, all your Tribe Members who still remain on one of those Islands return to your Personal Board. You must place them from right to left, starting with the first free Space in the Row numbered from 2 to 7. If you complete that Row, you must continue through the Row numbered from 0 to 2.

Then each player calculates their score by adding:

• The highest valued Space that is free on their Personal Board.
• 1 point for each resource symbol on each Island with the Fish or Shell symbol where they have at least one Tribe Member.
• 1 point for each Island Token they own.
• 1 point for each Point Token they own.
• The points obtained through the Tide Cards.

The player with the most points wins the game. In the event of a tie, whoever has Tribe Members on the largest number of Islands wins the game. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.

Example: After the game ends, Alberto calculates his points:

• 4 points for the highest valued free space (4) on his Personal Board.
• 5 points for being present on 3 Islands with the Fish symbol (3 points) and on the Island with the Shell symbol (2 points).
• 1 point for having a Point Token.
• 3 points for being present on 3 archipelagos (The Tide Card 1.3 is in play).
• 2 points for having 2 Masks (The Tide Card 2.4 is in play).

Alberto has gained 15 points in total.

Two Player Games

Apart from what is indicated in the Setup section, the only exception to the rules in two player games is that you cannot explore an existing Route, so the Explore Action is limited to only exploring a new Route.

Island Tokens

• Blank / removed Token: No effect. It is removed from the game as soon as it is revealed during Setup.
• Point Token symbol: Each one provides one point at the end of the game.
• Mask: The effect and / or value of the Masks is determined by the type 2 Tide Card that is in play. The Mask Token with the number 4 is removed from the game in games with less than 4 players.
• Fish symbol: Provides one Fish in each Resource Phase (see Maintenance Phase).
• Shell symbol: Provides one Shell in each Resource Phase (see Maintenance Phase).
• Free Explore symbol: Allows you to immediately explore a Route at no cost. If it is a new Route, take 1 Resource of your choice from the General Reserve and place it next to the Route. If it's an existing Route, you don't have to pay any Resources to the other players present on it. Remember, you cannot explore an existing Route in 2 player games.

Tide Cards

The effects of Tide cards with the "in-play" symbol are applicable whilst the game is in play. Whereas the effects of the Tide Cards with the "end-game" symbol are applicable at the end of the game.

Type 1: Archipelagos

1.1 (in play): The first route that connects to an Archipelago costs twice as much as normal (see Exploring a new route). In return, the player can perform the Populate Action immediately. It applies to each Archipelago.

1.2 (in play): The first player to get one of their Tribe Members to an Archipelago gains a Point Token. It applies to each Archipelago. Place a Point Token on each Archipelago during Setup (there are 4 Tokens in total).

1.3 (end game): Each player gains 1 point for each Archipelago where they have at least one Tribe Member on one of its Islands. If their Tribe is present on all the Archipelagos, they gain 5 points.

1.4 (end game): Each player gains 2 points for each Archipelago where they have at least one Tribe Member on both Islands. If a player's Tribe is present on all the Islands of all the Archipelagos, they gain 10 points.

Type 2: Masks

2.1 (in play): As soon as a player gets a Mask, they must immediately choose a Resource type and decide whether to take 2 Resources of that type for themselves, or alternatively make all other players lose 2 Resources of that type. The Mask is then discarded.

2.2 (in play): A player can choose to discard a Mask in their possession in order to travel on another player's route as if it were their own, that is, without the cost of Resources and without needing to use a Guide.

2.3 (in play): As soon as a player gets a Mask, they must immediately place a Tribe Member from their Personal Board on the Island where they just got that Mask from. The Mask is then discarded.

2.4 (end game): The Masks obtained award points at the end of the game:

• 1 Mask = -1 point
• 2 Masks = 2 points
• 3 or 4 Masks = 5 points
• Having no Masks has no effect.

2.5 (end game): Each player gains as many points as the result of multiplying the number of Masks they have obtained by the number of Archipelagos where they have at least one Tribe Member on one of its Islands.

2.6 (end game): Each player who has not obtained any Masks loses 2 points.

Type 3: General

3.1 (in play): Every time a player travels on another player's route, they both gain 1 Point Token. This effect is applied until the Point Tokens run out. This card is not used in 2 player games.

3.2 (in play): Every time a player explores an existing route, they gain 1 Point Token for each Ship present on that route. This effect is applied until the Point Tokens run out. This card is not used in 2 player games.

3.3 (in play): When a player performs the Populate Action, they may pay 3 Resources of the same type to place an additional Tribe Member on the Main Island, even though they have performed the Populate Action on another Island.

3.4 (end game): Each Island with the Fish or Shell symbol provides additional points to players that have the most Tribe Members on it:

• The player with the majority on the Island gains 3 points (in the event of a tie, those tied gain 2 points each).
• The second gains 2 points (in the event of a tie, those tied gain 2 points each).

3.5 (end game): The player with the most Tribe Members on their Personal Board gains 3 points. In the event of a tie, nobody gains any points.

3.6 (end game): All players carry out the Resource Phase (even if the Volcano has erupted), but only with the Fish. Then, the player with the most Fish in their Reserve gains 4 points. In the event of a tie, those tied gain 3 points each.

3.7 (end game): The player with the most Ships on the Map gains 3 points. In the event of a tie, those tied gain 2 points each.

3.8 (end game): All players carry out the Resource Phase (even if the Volcano has erupted), but only with the Shells. The player with the most Shells in their Reserve gains 4 points. In the event of a tie, those tied gain 3 points each.

Credits

• Author: Peer Sylvester
• Illustrations: Laura Bevon
• Graphic design and Layout: David Prieto
• Game Development and Rules: Juan Luque & Rafael Sáiz
• Translation: Jayne Broomhead
• Proofreading: Susan Broomhead

I thank J C Lawrence for the inspiration for the theme. I also thank all the playtesters from Playtest UK 2016 as well as (in no particular order) Volker Landgraf, Duncan Molloy, Felix Hartard, Jeff Allers, Bernd Eisenstein, Jürgen Karla, Alex Bild, Georgious Panagotidis and Filip Hartelius (and everyone I inconveniently forgot). And of course, my family for having patience with me when I am in the cellar instead of doing house chores.

Ludonova would like to thank Antonio Varela, David Ferrero and Paco Cantarero for their collaboration in playtesting.

© Ludonova, 2020. All rights reserved.