Riverbed Hunt Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Overview
• Game Setup
• Triton Cards
  • Chief Merchant
  • Merchant
  • Separatist Leader
  • Separatist
  • Profiteer
• Game Play
• Actions
  • Dive
  • Swim
  • Co-op / Uncover
• Refresh Marker
• Elements
• Track Board
• Ability Cards
• End of the Game
• 4-Player Setup
• Variations
  • Board Layouts
• Glossary & Clarifications
• Icons Explanation
• River Tiles

Components

• 9 Triton Cards - Roles (x4 merchants, x4 separatists & x1 profiteer)
• 27 Action Cards (x1 Dive, x1 Swim, x1 Co-op/Uncover - for each player)
• 9 Icons Guide Cards (double-sided)
• Main Board - River
• 28 Ability Cards
• 18 River Tiles
• 9 Refresh Markers (x1 for each color)
• 1 Track Board
• 3 Track Counters
• 9 Triton Meeples (Player Pawns) (x1 for each color)
• this Rulebook

Game Overview

At the beginning of the game, each player will take a secret role card and, as a triton, they'll dive into the river, searching for valuable items! These items (in the form of tiles) are randomly placed on the board spaces, so that no one knows what is hidden underneath each one. The players will move around from space to space, searching for information that will lead their side to victory. Some tritons, the Merchants, will be after the rare kelp plants, aiming to export the kelp seeds to the humans. On the other hand, the Separatists will be gathering logs, in order to create a dam and block these trades. Meanwhile, the Profiteer will be trying to take advantage of the situation and make the most profit, before the game ends. The players will perform a single action on each turn, so if they want to follow through an effective strategy and reach their goals faster, they will have to guess correctly who their teammates are and cooperate with them in the most effective ways.

Game Setup

1. Place the river board in the middle of the table.

2. Place the track board above/below the main board. Next, place each of the three track counters on their respective track's starting space, matching its element and color.

3. Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding triton meeple and refresh marker, as well as three action cards (x1 Dive, x1 Swim, x1 Co-op/Uncover), which should be placed in front of them, as shown in the example. Keep your refresh marker face-up (active).

4. According to the number of players, you are going to need the following river tiles:

   • 4-player game - tiles numbered 1-12
   • 5/6-player game - tiles numbered 1-14
   • 7-player game - tiles numbered 1-16
   • 8-player game - tiles numbered 1-17, except 11
   • 9-player game - tiles numbered 1-18, except 11 & 12

   Shuffle these river tiles together and randomly deal them face-down on the board spaces; one on each.

   Note: If you are playing with 6 or less players, see "Variations, Board Layouts" on p.14, for a variety of setup layouts.

5. Take as many triton cards as the number of players, divided as follows:

   • 4 players - 1 chief merchant, 1 merchant, 1 separatist leader, 1 profiteer (+1 separatist)
   • 5 players - 1 chief merchant, 1 merchant, 1 separatist leader, 1 separatist, 1 profiteer
   • 6 players - 1 chief merchant, 2 merchant, 1 separatist leader, 1 separatist, 1 profiteer
   • 7 players - 1 chief merchant, 2 merchant, 1 separatist leader, 2 separatist, 1 profiteer

(The setup diagram shows the layout: river board, track board, discard pile, ability deck, and each player's action cards, refresh marker, triton card and ability card.)

Triton Cards

As a hidden role game, players are encouraged to communicate verbally with others in the open, bluff, lie, or even hide any piece of information they get, during the game. Trying to understand who is on your side and who's not, is also part of the game, so players will have to be very careful about who they trust...

Chief Merchant

The Chief wins the game (along with any other Merchant) when a certain number of Kelp Plants is reached on the board, according to the number of players (see "Track Board", p.12). This role differs from a simple merchant, as they play with their triton card (role) revealed from the beginning of the game. The Chief also chooses which river tile to flip when a Hunt Penalty is triggered (see "Separatist Leader" below).

Merchant

They win the game (along with their Chief) when a certain number of Kelp Plants is reached on the board, according to the number of players (see "Track Board", p.12). Triton merchants are known for being able to provide extremely rare goods, such as dried starlight kelp seeds from Ie's riverbed, to trade them in the human markets, as humans are willing to pay great sums for them.

Separatist Leader

The Leader wins the game (along with any other Separatist) when a certain number of Logs is reached on the board, according to the number of players (see "Track Board", p.12). This role differs from a simple separatist, as they have a one-time-use special ability, called "Hunt":

The Hunt may be triggered any time the Leader is chosen through a co-op action by another player. To do so, the player must first discard an ability card from their hand and then reveal their triton card, declaring its activation. When this happens, the Separatist Leader gets to reveal a river tile as normal (see "Actions, Co-op", p.9), with an exception. If the tile revealed includes a Hunt symbol in the top-left corner, the Leader may choose to reveal a second one, this time from anywhere on the board. This continues until the Leader either chooses to stop revealing, reveals enough elements for a team to win, or reveals a tile that does not include a Hunt symbol. If the latter occurs, the tile remains face-up, but the Separatist Leader must stop the Hunt and immediately, the Hunt Penalty triggers. At this point, the Chief Merchant must choose and flip a tile that has a log (see "Elements", p.11), which was revealed during the Hunt.

Note: In any case that does not end the game, the Separatist Leader card remains face-up and the game continues as normal, with the current active player. Additionally, this special ability (along with the Hunt Penalty) is considered a continuation of the Co-op action that triggered it, thus no ability cards or other actions can be played, until the Hunt is over.

In order to better understand the following example, we suggest you read the rest of the rules, until "End Of The Game" on p.13, first.

Example: In a 7-player game where each team has collected 2 of their elements, it's the black player's turn and they choose to perform their Co-op action, selecting the white player. The white player, being the Separatist Leader, immediately discards an ability card and flips their triton card, in order to use Hunt. Then, they reveal tile A and since it includes the hunt icon, they are allowed to continue revealing, after applying the tile's elements on the track board. Next, they choose and reveal tile B. Since the game is not over yet, they decide to keep revealing. They reveal tile C which also includes the hunt icon. Although, they decide to take the risk and use its instant effect, revealing an adjacent tile (D). This tile does not have the hunt icon, but it doesn't matter since it was flipped through the effect. After applying the D tile's elements, the white player decides to risk one more time by continuing their Hunt and revealing tile E. Bad luck, this tile has no hunt icon as well, so the Hunt is over and now the Chief must apply the Hunt Penalty, flipping face-down one of the A or B tiles.

Separatist

They win the game (along with their Leader) when a certain number of Logs is reached on the board, according to the number of players (see "Track Board", p.12). Separatists want to interrupt the trade route between triton and human merchants, so they collect logs to build a dam. Their motivation emanates from their fear of the outer world's influences and their effort to protect the sacred starlight kelp seed.

Profiteer

They win the game when a certain number of Gold Coins is reached on the board, according to the number of players (see "Track Board", p.12). The Profiteer is not actually searching for coins in the river. He is seeking for logs and kelp seeds; exploiting both sides to gain as much gold as possible. The Profiteer also has a one-time-use special ability, called "Con":

The Con may be triggered any time the Profiteer is chosen through a co-op action from another player. To do so, the player must first discard an ability card from their hand and then reveal their triton card, declaring its activation. When this happens, the Profiteer gets to reveal a river tile as normal (see "Actions, Co-op", p.9), with an exception. After the first revealed river tile, they must choose and reveal a second river tile, this time from anywhere on the board. The Con ends immediately after the second reveal and, in the event that no winning conditions have met, the Profiteer card remains face-up and the game continues as normal, with the current active player.

Note: This special ability is considered a continuation of the Co-op action that triggered it, thus no ability cards or other actions can be played, until the Con is over.

This is a very powerful ability, as it can enable you to win in a single turn - use it wisely!

Game Play

During their turn, a player must perform one of the three available (non-exhausted) actions. They may also play one ability card (see "Ability Cards", p.12) from their hand and/or activate their refresh marker (see "Refresh Marker", p.10.), before or after their action. There's no such thing as a game round. Players take turns in a clockwise direction and the game continues like this, until someone reveals a river tile that would trigger the end of the game.

Note: A player on their turn is considered the active player.

Actions

Dive

The player must first flip their Dive action card face down, indicating that they are about to perform its action. Dive allows a player to choose an available face-down river tile within reach (see below) and view it for themselves. Then, they must return it to its space (face-down).

Note: A face-down action card shows that this action has been exhausted and cannot be selected and performed in a future turn.

Within Reach

Within reach are the river tiles that a player can interact with. Each space on the board is a specific part of the river and is connected through water to two more spaces (the beginning/ending of the river is an exception to this, being just connected to a single river space). Thus, there will always be two or three tiles within your reach: the one located on your space, as well as those on the spaces connected to yours through water.

Example: It's the orange player's turn and they decide to perform their Dive action, flipping it face-down. According to their meeple's position, they could choose to view any of the A, B, or D, river tiles, but not tile C, since it's not within reach.

Swim

The player must first flip their Swim action card face down, indicating that they are about to perform its action. Swim allows a player to move 1 or 2 steps around the board, in order to be able to reach more river tiles. Moving from a space to another (adjacent one) costs steps. For 1 step, a meeple may cross between two spaces that are connected by water, while for 2 steps, it may cross between two spaces that are connected by land. A player cannot end their movement on a space that does not contain a river tile. Should such a case occur, they will have to continue their move until they reach an available space, following the above rules.

Note: There is no limit to the number of players that may be standing on a single river tile.

In addition to the above, the player must also draw the top card from the ability deck (see "Ability Cards", p.12).

Example: It's the yellow player's turn and they decide to perform their Swim action, flipping it face-down. Since there are no tiles on spaces A, they could choose to move to any B space, spending their 2 steps. For 2 steps, they could also end their movement on any C space and of course, they could always choose to make just 1 step, ending their movement on any of the D spaces. In any case, after moving, they will draw one ability card from the deck, which they may also play immediately.

Co-op / Uncover

This action can be performed in two different ways; as a Co-op or as an Uncover action. The player simply declares their choice each time they're about to perform it.

Co-op

The active player must choose another player. The chosen player must reveal a face-down river tile of their choice, within reach. After resolving everything shown on that tile, the active player must also draw the top card from the ability deck (see "Ability Cards", p.12).

Example: It's the purple player's turn and they choose to perform their Co-op action, selecting the green player. The green player, could choose to reveal any of the A tiles, but they decide to reveal the tile on space C, since space B is empty. They immediately execute its instant effect, by flipping the tile on space D. After applying the D tile's elements on the track board, the purple player draws 1 ability card from the deck and refreshes both their exhausted Dive & Swim actions.

Uncover

In order to choose this option, the player must first discard an ability card. Then, they must choose a face-down river tile within reach and reveal it.

Note: This action is available only once per game for each player, so think twice before choosing it!

Example: It's the red player's turn and they decide to perform their Uncover action, discarding an ability card from their hand. Then, they choose to reveal tile C. They could also choose any of the B tiles, but not tile A, since it's not within reach. Right after flipping the tile, they execute its instant effect (if possible) and then add 2 coins to the coin track on the track board. Finishing their action, they flip face-up all their exhausted actions (if any) and since the Uncover was performed, the co-op/uncover action card has to be flipped face-down.

Either way, at the end of this action, the player must refresh (flip face-up) all their other exhausted actions, making them available anew from their next turn. Unlike the Dive & Swim, this action never actually gets exhausted and as the card indicates, it must be flipped only if the Uncover was performed.

Refresh Marker

The refresh marker works both as an indicator of the player's pawn color and as a once-per-game refresh ability. At any time during their turn, a player may flip their active (face-up) refresh marker, in order to immediately refresh one of their exhausted actions (Dive/Swim). An inactive (face-down) refresh marker cannot be used for this purpose.

This game is about knowledge and communication. Revealing river tiles at random may put your team at a disadvantage, so it's often in your best interest to use an action to view the tiles first or to rely on the knowledge of a trusted ally.

Note: Players must always execute all the instructions of an action (where possible) and in the specific order that the card indicates.

Elements

Each of the river tiles (with a couple exceptions) contain one or more of the three basic elements that the players will be looking for: kelp plant, log, gold coin. Most of these tiles will be divided into layers and whenever one of them is flipped face-up, the players must immediately execute it from top to bottom, applying all the elements to their respective tracks on the track board. In addition to this, a tile may also contain an instant effect, in the form of a text. In such a case, the text must be triggered at the corresponding time, following the above rule.

Note: If a face-up tile must be flipped, the players must immediately subtract the element(s) shown on the tile from the respective track(s) on the track board. Furthermore, if a tile with a text is revealed once again, its effect is retriggered normally.

• Kelp Plant: The "gift of the river" itself. This element counts towards the merchants' victory condition.
• Log: Part of a bigger plan... This element counts towards the separatists' victory condition.
• Gold Coin: Shiny and powerful. This element counts towards the profiteer's victory condition.

Tile anatomy: 1 Tile's numbering; 2 Hunt icon (see "Separatist Leader", p.5); 3 Tile elements, separated into layers; 4 Layer dividers; 5 Text - Instant effect.

Track Board

This board is your main victory condition tracker. Whenever a river tile is flipped face-up/face-down during the game, you will have to adjust the track markers on their respective tracks. Depending upon the number of players, if a counter reaches or exceeds the victory endpoint, the game ends immediately (see "End Of The Game", p.13).

Example: In a 7-player game, this tile (8) just got flipped face-up. The separatists could win the game with this 1 log, but, as the tile indicates, the merchants must first get their 2 kelp plants, which take their track counter from space 5 to 7, ending the game immediately.

Ability Cards

The ability cards are one-time-use powers that may bend the game rules, occasionally. Players keep these cards hidden in their hand, until they decide to use them. Any used or discarded card is placed on the discard pile, at the end of that turn. A player may only play one such card per turn and if they end up with more than 3 cards at the end of their turn, they must discard down to 3. Ability cards do not count as an action and can only be played before or after an action; not in the middle of it, unless the card specifies so.

Note: Players may look through the discard pile at any time. Additionally, if a player has to draw and there are no remaining cards within the ability deck, reshuffle the discard pile.

Card anatomy:

1. A symbol showing when the card can be played: when you're the active player, or in two different occasions (active/non-active player) shown within the text
2. The player count needed for this card to be used in a game
3. Card's illustration
4. Card's name
5. Text - Card's effect
6. Card's numbering

Note: All ability cards requesting a player to choose, view, flip, or reveal a river tile, refer to the available tiles within reach, except if they use the keyword any (see "Glossary & Clarifications", p.15).

End of the Game

The game ends immediately (with the players revealing their roles) at any moment a winning condition is met. In other words, according to the number of players, when a track counter reaches or exceeds the endpoint on its track (even in the middle of an action), the game ends, with the respective team as the winner.

1. Merchants win: reveal enough kelps and the merchants succeed in growing their trading business with the humans.
2. Separatists win: reveal enough logs and the separatists succeed in blocking this trade!
3. Profiteer wins: if enough coins are revealed, the profiteer successfully managed to deceive everyone about his intentions, for his own profit!

4-Player Setup

While setting up the game, take the five triton cards for 4 players, as shown on p.3 (step 5). Take the profiteer and separatist cards, shuffle them (face-down) together and pick one at random. Without flipping it, take the chosen card and shuffle it with the other three triton cards anew. Randomly deal one, face-down, to each player. Then, follow the instructions on step 5 as usual. All the other game rules apply normally.

Note: Do not reveal the fifth card that was not picked, until the end of the game.

Variations

Board Layouts

The rulebook shows twelve board layouts (pictures only): for 4 players - 1 "Branches", 2 "Crossroad", 3 "Watermill", 4 "Tower", 5 "Islands", 6 "Continents", 7 "Path", 8 "Hill"; for 5/6 players - 9 "Passage", 10 "Spearhead", 11 "Fort", 12 "Whirlpool".

Glossary & Clarifications

Any - When a text requests a player should interact with a meeple or river tile(s) using the keyword "any", it means that they may choose any single (not each) meeple/tile anywhere on the board (following the card's instructions). In all other cases, the meeple/tile should be within reach. Example: While using the "Swimming Hole" you may even choose your own meeple.

Cards/Tiles - All the instructions of any text are mandatory, except if they use the keyword "may". Example: The "Delusion" cannot be played unless you can flip both the tiles it requests.

Discard - When a text requests a player to discard an unspecified ability card, it means that they may discard a card of their choice, except if the keyword "random" is being used. In such a case, the player must shuffle their cards (face-down) and let another player pick a card to be discarded.

Hunt/Con - Tiles that flip during the Hunt/Con are executed immediately; before flipping continues. Thus, some tile texts may interfere in the middle of these special abilities, affecting their progression.

Immediately - When a text requests a player to act immediately, it means that the effect should be applied right at that moment, interrupting anything else that's been going on (until it's complete).

Movement - A player cannot end their move in the same space they started from. Example: You cannot use the "Swim" action or the "Stepping Stone" just to draw an ability card.

Icons Explanation

ability card(s); triton card(s); face-up river tile(s); face-down river tile(s); view; step(s); Hunt; Con; dive; swim; co-op; uncover; flip; swap; shuffle; orthogonally; diagonally; meeple(s); active player; non-active player(s); kelp(s); log(s); coin(s); refresh.

River Tiles

Tiles 1-12 are used in the 4-player game, 1-14 in 5/6 players, 1-16 in 7 players. Tile 17 replaces tile 11 (8-player game) and tile 18 replaces tile 12 (9-player game). Layers are listed top to bottom. Hunt icons on the tiles are not transcribed here.

• 1: 2 coins / 1 kelp
• 2: 1 coin / 1 kelp
• 3: 1 kelp / 1 coin
• 4: 1 kelp / "If a Co-op revealed this tile, the active player discards all their ability cards."
• 5: 1 kelp / 1 coin / "If a Co-op revealed this tile, the revealer may move by 1 step."
• 6: "The revealer may flip any other 1 face-down river tile, with exactly 2 coins on it." / 2 coins
• 7: 1 log / 3 coins
• 8: 2 kelp / 1 log
• 9: 1 log / 2 kelp
• 10: 1 log / 2 coins
• 11: "The revealer may flip a river tile orthogonally adjacent to this one."
• 12: "The revealer may flip a river tile orthogonally adjacent to this one."
• 13: 1 coin / 1 log / "Each player on this or any orthogonally adjacent space, immediately draws 1 ability card."
• 14: "The revealer may flip 1 face-down river tile orthogonally adjacent to this one." / 1 kelp
• 15: 1 log / 2 coins
• 16: 1 coin / "The revealer may flip any other 1 face-down river tile, with exactly 1 coin on it."
• 17: "The revealer may flip a river tile orthogonally adjacent to this one." / 1 kelp
• 18: "The revealer may flip a river tile orthogonally adjacent to this one." / 1 log