Santiago Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Preparation
• Important Points About Canals and Plantations
• How to Play
  • Phase 1: Turning over plantation tiles and bidding on them
  • Phase 2: Changing the Canal Overseer
  • Phase 3: Taking and placing plantation tiles
  • Phase 4: Trying to bribe the Canal Overseer
  • Phase 5: Extra irrigation
  • Phase 6: Drying (skip this phase in the last round)
  • Phase 7: Collecting income (skip this phase in the last round)
• End of the Game
  • 1. Final drying of plantation tiles
  • 2. Scoring
  • Scoring example
• 3 Palm Trees Variant
• Quick Guide
  • Preparation
  • How to play
  • End of the Game

Contents

• 150 bank notes of play money in values of 1, 2, 5, 20 and 50 Escudos
• 110 yield markers — 22 each of five player colors (White, Beige, Gray, Black and Purple)
• 45 plantations — 9 each of the five crops (bananas, sugar cane, potatoes, beans and red pepper). Of each crop, there are 3 plantations with 1 planter and 6 with 2 planters (in the upper left corner).
• 15 blue canals
• 5 proposal canals — 1 in each of the 5 player colors
• 1 spring
• 1 game board
• 3 palm trees — only needed for the variant
• 1 Canal Overseer — place into its stand.

Preparation

Put the game board in the middle of the table. Place the spring on any intersection of the thick brown lines (ditches).

Note: Placing the spring on the edge or in a corner of the ditch grid is allowed, but – especially in the first game – not recommended, as doing so quickly leads to water shortage. However, more experienced players can try this out as a variant in which they have to cope with the water shortage bound to come sooner rather than later.

If there are 3 or 4 players, put 11 of the 15 canals next to the game board (in a 5 player game, only 9 canals are needed). Give one of the remaining blue canals to each player as an extra canal for later use. If there are blue canals left over, put them back into the box – they will not be needed for the game.

Shuffle the 45 plantation tiles, face-down.

• In a game with 3 or 4 players, turn over 1 plantation and put it back into the box; it will not be used in this game. Divide the remaining 44 plantations into four face-down piles of 11 each, which you put next to the board.
• In a 5 player game, make 5 piles of 9 tiles each.

Each player chooses a color and gets the 22 yield markers and the proposal canal of that color. Leftover yield markers and proposal canals are put back in the box; they will not to be needed in this game. Each player gets 10 Escudos (three 2-Escudo notes, 4 1-Escudo notes). Players should keep their money hidden from the other players' view, or at least stacked, during the game. Sort the remaining notes by value and put them beside the board as the bank. All players can exchange money with the bank at any time they need to.

Randomly determine a player to be the first Canal Overseer. That player takes the Canal Overseer figure and puts it on the table in front of himself.

Example: Set-up for 4 players — the money (bank), 11 canals (supply) and 4 face-down piles of 11 plantations each are placed beside the board; put the spring on a point of intersection of the thick brown lines (ditches). Anika gets the Canal Overseer.

Important Points About Canals and Plantations

Before giving you the details on how to play Santiago, a few important notes about the canals and the plantations should be made. Reading this section carefully should make it easy to understand how the game works. The exact sequence of game actions is explained in the next section, "How to Play".

Over the course of the game, a network of interconnected canals develops on the board. The first canal must begin at the spring. Canals must always be placed on the thick brown lines (ditches), never on the thin ones (which merely divide the board into squares). The canal system may branch out in any way possible and reconnect with the spring several times.

Note: Every canal must be placed between two intersections of the brown ditch lines.

Example for the development of the canal system during the game: The canal marked 1 cannot be placed this way, because it is not connected to the existing canal network. Canal 2 cannot be placed this way, because it must begin and end on intersection points of the brown ditch grid.

Note: This illustration only serves to show a possible development of the canal network. In an actual game, the canal system and the plantations develop in parallel, piece by piece, but the plantations have been intentionally left out of this illustration.

Each round of the game, the players can get plantation tiles by bidding on them. These must be placed on a free square in the same round they have been purchased. A plantation need not be placed adjacent to another plantation, nor to a canal, although most of the time, it makes a lot of sense to do so.

Each plantation tile shows either 1 or 2 planters in the upper left corner. A player who places a plantation with 1 planter on it must immediately put one yield marker on the tile. If there are 2 planters on the plantation, the player must put 2 markers on it. You can never put more than 2 yield markers on a plantation, but sometimes a plantation tile will get one marker less than it shows planters (in cases when a player passes in the auction; this will be explained later).

Example: Putting yield markers on the plantation tiles — Anika has placed a plantation (potato). Since there is only 1 planter on this potato plantation tile, she puts 1 of her yield markers (purple) on it. Chris has also placed one plantation (banana) with 1 planter, and puts one of his yield markers (black) on it. Dagmar (gray) and Bernd (beige) have each placed a red pepper plantation with 2 planters, and put 2 of their respective yield markers on their tiles.

Tip: Put the yield markers on the plantations in such a way that they cover the planters on the tile.

A plantation which borders on at least one canal counts as irrigated for the rest of the game. After each round of the game, each tile not irrigated (i.e., not bordering on a canal on at least one side) loses 1 yield marker, which is removed and put back into the box. If a yield marker has to be removed from a non-irrigated plantation on which there is no marker left, that plantation tile is turned over. The land it represents now counts as desert for the rest of the game, which cannot be cultivated again.

At the end of the round, Dagmar's red pepper plantation is not irrigated (not connected to the irrigation system). Dagmar must remove one of her yield markers from her plantation tile and put it back into the box.

All plantation tiles of the same kind that are horizontally or vertically adjacent to each other count as large, connected areas. A connected area can have yield markers of any number of different colors on it. Canals running through a connected area do not divide it.

Tip: Each player should try to enlarge and irrigate those connected areas on which he has many yield markers, while at the same time trying to limit the size of (and possibly allow to dry out) those areas from which his fellow players draw the most profit.

The value an area has for a specific player is calculated by multiplying the number of its plantation tiles with the number of yield markers that player has on these plantations.

Note: At the end of the game, all plantations not irrigated (even if there are markers left on them) are turned over and become deserts, which has no value and does not count toward the size of any cultivated area.

This illustration shows three connected plantation areas. Area 1 in the lower left area of the board (red pepper) consists of 5 plantation tiles. Area 2 in the lower right (sugar cane) consists of 3 plantation tiles. Area 3, to the left of the spring (bananas) consists of 2 plantation tiles.

At this point of the game, the red pepper area has the following values:

• For Anika (purple): 10 points (5 tiles x 2 yield markers)
• For Bernd (beige): 20 points (5 tiles x 4 yield markers)
• For Dagmar (gray): 5 points (5 tiles x 1 yield marker)

Note: The two red pepper tiles on the far left of the area are not irrigated yet. If they are not connected to the canal system before the end of the game, they still can turn into desert and reduce the value of the area.

A single plantation has a value of 1 (with 1 yield marker on it) or 2 points (with 2 yield markers) – see "End of the Game".

How to Play

A game runs for 11 rounds (9 if there are 5 players). Each round consists of 7 phases, which are played out in the following order:

• Phase 1: Turning over plantation tiles and bidding on them
• Phase 2: Changing the Canal Overseer
• Phase 3: Taking and placing plantation tiles
• Phase 4: Trying to bribe the Canal Overseer
• Phase 5: Extra irrigation
• Phase 6: Drying (skip this phase in the last round)
• Phase 7: Collecting income (skip this phase in the last round)

Explanation of the individual phases:

Phase 1: Turning over plantation tiles and bidding on them

The Canal Overseer turns over the top plantation tile in each stack next to the board (4 in a 3-4 player game; 5 in a 5 player game). One round of bidding follows, in which each player has the opportunity to bid only once. The player to the left of the Canal Overseer begins by either bidding an amount in Escudos or passing. Bidding continues in a clockwise direction. A player may bid any amount not yet bid (and there is no obligation to increase the amount bid) or may pass. It is possible for more than one player to pass, but it is not possible to bid the same amount as another player. The bid is placed openly in front of the player making the bid. The phase ends after the Canal Overseer makes the last bid or pass. Players may not change their bids once they have been made.

Phase 2: Changing the Canal Overseer

The player with the lowest bid immediately becomes the new Canal Overseer and takes the Canal Overseer figure. If a player has passed, this is considered the lowest bid and he receives the Canal Overseer figure.

Note: If several players have passed, the one who passed first becomes the new Canal Overseer.

Phase 3: Taking and placing plantation tiles

The player who made the highest bid in phase 1 is the first to take a plantation card of his choice and place it, together with his yield marker(s), on a free square of his choice on the board. Put one yield marker on a plantation with 1 planter, and 2 markers on a plantation with 2 planters. Then the player with the second highest bid follows, and so on. If more then 1 player passed, the one who passed last goes first, then the one who passed before that, and so on.

Important: If a player has passed, he places 1 fewer yield marker on his plantation than the number of the planters on the card indicates (one marker if there are 2 planters, none if there is 1).

In a 3 player game, one plantation tile remains unplaced. At the end of the phase, the player with the highest bid places this tile, without any yield markers, on the board. It must be placed so that it borders on at least one other plantation tile. It is neutral and belongs to none of the players (but may enlarge a connected area, if it is irrigated soon enough). If it is impossible to place the plantation in this way (because the only free squares all border on deserts), it must be placed so it borders on at least one desert.

After all plantation tiles have been placed, the players put all bids into the bank.

Example for phases 1-3: Bernd is sitting to the left of the current Canal Overseer (Anika) and has to bid first. He bids 5 Escudos. Chris does not want to bid and passes. Dagmar bids 4 Escudos. Anika bids 1 Escudo.

As Chris has passed (lowest bid), he becomes the new Canal Overseer.

Bernd has made the highest bid, so he must first take one of the plantation tiles and place it on the board. Then it is Dagmar's turn, then Anika's and finally Chris'.

Bernd takes the bean plantation with 2 planters on it and puts 2 of his yield markers (beige) on it. Dagmar takes the banana plantation (2 planters) and puts 2 of her yield markers (gray) on it. Anika takes the bean plantation with 1 planter on it and puts 1 of her yield markers (purple) on it. Chris takes the red pepper plantation (2 planters) and, since he has passed, places only 1 of his yield markers (black) on it.

The bids of all players go into the bank.

Phase 4: Trying to bribe the Canal Overseer

Each player now has a chance to suggest the placement of a new canal to the current Canal Overseer, and bribe him into accepting the proposal. A maximum of one of the proposed canals will be built.

The player to the left of the Canal Overseer begins, then the other players follow clockwise. Each player only has one chance to decide whether to (1) make a proposal for a new canal, or (2) support someone else's proposal or (3) pass:

(1) Propose a canal: The player places his proposal canal (according to the rules described for canals) on the board to indicate where he would like the new canal to be built. Additionally, the player offers an amount of money (minimum 1 Escudo) of his choice to the Canal Overseer as a bribe. He must put the money on the table openly in front of himself, so that everybody can see how much he offers. It is possible to offer an equal or even lower amount than one of the preceding players for a different proposal.

(2) Support a proposal: If a player wishes to support another's proposal, he openly adds an amount of his choice (minimum 1 Escudo) to the bribe of the player whose proposal he wants to support. You should keep the different amounts separate, in case players need to take their offers back when the bribe is not accepted. The sum of the two amounts is now the new bribe for the proposal.

(3) Pass: A player who passes has no influence on the building of the new canal.

Dagmar (as the left-hand neighbor of Chris, the current Canal Overseer) puts her gray proposal canal between the 3 topmost plantation tiles. This would be her favorite place to build the new canal. At the same time, she puts 1 Escudo on the table in front of herself as a bribe.

Anika puts her purple proposal canal between the two bean plantation tiles. Her bribe is 3 Escudos, which she puts on the table in front of herself.

Bernd (beige) agrees with Anika's idea, as he would also like both of the bean plantations to be irrigated. Thus he supports Anika's proposal by putting 2 Escudos next to Anika's 3. This raises the bribe supporting Anika's proposal to 5 Escudos.

After each player has either made a proposal, supported that of another player, or passed, the Canal Overseer must decide to either accept one of the proposals (not necessarily the one with the highest bribe offered!) or to realize a plan of his own.

When he agrees with a proposal that has been made, he replaces the proposal canal with a blue one from the supply, receiving the bribe offered for this proposal in exchange. If he decides to build a canal according to his own ideas, he takes a blue canal out of the supply and puts it on a free square of his choice in accordance with the rules. In this case, he must pay to the bank an amount of money which is 1 Escudo higher than the highest bribe on the table.

Special case: If all players have passed, the Canal Overseer may build a new canal by paying 1 Escudo to the bank. Should he decide not to do so, then no canal is built this round and nobody has to pay any money.

All proposal canals are now taken off the board and given back to their owners. All players whose proposals have not been accepted get their bribes back in hand.

Chris accepts Dagmar's suggestion: He takes a blue canal from the supply and places it between the topmost 3 plantation tiles. He also takes Dagmar's bribe (1 Escudo). Bernd and Anika get their respective money back (Anika her 3, Bernd his 2 Escudos).

Note: If Chris had built a canal different from any of those proposed, he would have had to pay 6 Escudos of his own money to the bank, as the largest bribe offered for a single proposal was 5 Escudos (3 from Anika plus 2 from Bernd).

Phase 5: Extra irrigation

Beginning with the Canal Overseer's left-hand neighbor and proceeding clockwise, each player who still has his extra canal is asked whether or not he wants to place it. If so, he puts it (in accordance with the rules) where he wants to on the board, free of cost.

Note: Only one extra canal can be built per round. This means that (beginning with the Canal Overseer's left-hand neighbor) all players are asked once if they want to place their extra canal. As soon as a player decides to do so, or all players have declined, phase 5 ends.

Tip: Each player has only one additional canal at his disposal and can only use it once – thus it is advisable to carefully consider when to use it.

Phase 6: Drying (skip this phase in the last round)

Now you need to check which plantations are irrigated, i.e. adjacent to at least one blue canal. Remove 1 yield marker from each plantation which is not irrigated at all and put it back into the box. Some plantations may now turn neutral – be empty of any player's yield markers. Non-irrigated plantations which are already neutral at the beginning of phase 6 are now turned over. For the rest of the game, they count as desert, cannot be cultivated again and add to no player's plantation size or profit.

Anika's bean plantation is not irrigated. One yield marker is removed from it and put back in the box.

Note: At the moment, the two bean plantation tiles still count as a connected area. However, unless the bottom tile is irrigated within the next round, it'll be turned over and become desert.

Phase 7: Collecting income (skip this phase in the last round)

Each player gets 3 Escudos from the bank to replenish his funds.

Note: While Santiago is not primarily a game of negotiation, communication and non-binding agreements among the players are possible in any phase of any round.

An additional short playing guide can be found at the end of this booklet. By leaving this guide on the table during the game, you can easily check back on the sequence of phases whenever necessary.

End of the Game

The game ends at the end of the round in which all plantation tiles have been placed on the board: after 11 rounds if there are 3 or 4 players, after 9 rounds if there are 5. The final round is played normally up to and including phase 5 (extra irrigation). Then, a final drying of plantation tiles takes place first; after that, the plantations are scored.

1. Final drying of plantation tiles

All plantation tiles which are not irrigated after the final round (even those with yield markers on them) turn into desert (remove yield markers and turn over plantation tiles).

2. Scoring

• Each player keeps the money he still has in hand.
• Each player now receives additional money for all connected plantation areas on which there are some of his yield markers. Multiply the number of the plantation tiles of a connected area with the number of yield markers of a given player to determine how much each player receives from the bank. All areas are scored separately for each player in turn.
• Single plantations (tiles not part of a larger, connected area) earn a player one Escudo per yield marker he has on such a tile (i.e., either 1 or 2 Escudos).

Tip: It is a good idea to have one player conduct the scoring step for all players, one after the other. E.g., first calculate the beige player's profit, give him the money from the bank and take his markers off the board; then calculate the gray player's profit, etc.

The player with the most money after the scoring wins the game.

Scoring example

At the final scoring, Bernd (beige) has 15 Escudos in his hand. Each plantation area with beige yield markers is now scored and the profits paid to Bernd from the bank. After that, all the beige yield markers are removed from the board to prevent double scoring. For the five plantation areas shown here that have Bernd's yield markers on them, he earns 55 Escudos (9+12+20+2+12).

• 3 markers x 3 tiles = 9 Escudos
• 3 markers x 4 tiles = 12 Escudos
• 5 markers x 4 tiles = 20 Escudos
• 2 markers x 1 tile = 2 Escudos
• 3 markers x 4 tiles = 12 Escudos

Bernd's final total is 70 Escudos (15+55). The earnings of the other players are determined in the same way.

3 Palm Trees Variant

At the beginning of the game, put the 3 palm tree figures on 3 different squares of the board. No palm tree may be put on a square adjacent to the spring, nor may they be placed next to each other (vertically, horizontally or diagonal).

• If a plantation is placed on a square with a palm tree during the game, the palm tree is put on the plantation. The palm tree counts (in addition to the player's yield markers) as an additional yield for the player. If a player has 1 yield marker on a plantation with a palm tree, it counts as if he had 2 yield markers on it. If he has 2 yield markers on such a plantation, it will count as though he had 3 yield markers on it.

However, if a plantation with a palm tree on it is not irrigated, it still loses a yield marker in phase 6 of each round. If there is no yield marker left, the plantation is neutral. If the drought continues after that, the plantation turns to desert and the palm tree is put back into the box.

Bernd places his newly-bought banana plantation on a square with a palm tree on it. The palm tree is put on the plantation. Since the banana plantation card shows 2 planters, Bernd also puts 2 of his yield markers on it. At the end of the game, if irrigated, this banana plantation will count as if there were 3 of Bernd's yield markers on it. Naturally, this banana plantation tile should become a part of a large banana plantation if possible.

Quick Guide

This quick guide provides a basic overview of the sequence of game phases, and should give players who have already played the game an easy way to check back on some rules. If in doubt, you can refer to the detailed rules and examples. However, before playing for the first time, we recommend you read the full set of rules.

Preparation

Each player gets 22 yield markers and 1 proposal canal of the same color, 10 Escudos and 1 blue extra canal. The rest of the money (the bank) is put next to the board, as are 11 (9 in a 5 player game) of the blue canals. Place the blue spring on an intersection of the grid of ditches. One player is randomly determined as the first Canal Overseer.

Shuffle the 45 plantation tiles. In a 3 or 4 player game, turn over 1 plantation and then put it back in the box. The remaining 44 plantation tiles are divided into 4 equal piles of 11 and are placed next to the board face down. In a 5 player game, make 5 piles of 9 tiles each.

How to play

Each round consists of 7 phases, which are played one after the other.

Phase 1: Turning over plantation tiles and bidding on them. Turn over the top card of each face-down pile of plantations. Beginning with the player to the left of the Canal Overseer, each player in turn places one bid of his choice in Escudos (put the money openly on the table immediately), which may not be the same as another bid already placed this round (bidding lower is allowed). Passing, even of more than one player, is allowed. There is only one bidding round (the Canal Overseer is the last to bid).

Phase 2: Changing the Canal Overseer. The player who placed the lowest bid (or the one who passed first) immediately receives the Canal Overseer figure.

Phase 3: Taking and placing plantation tiles. Beginning with the player with the highest bid, and proceeding in decreasing order of bids, each player chooses one of the plantation tiles turned over and places it, along with the number of yield markers indicated by the number of planters on the tile, on a free square on the board (his bid goes to the bank). A player who passed in phase 1 puts 1 fewer yield marker on his plantation than the number of planters indicates. If more then one player has passed, the one who passed last begins, the others follow counterclockwise. In a 3 player game, the player with the highest bid places the last plantation tile adjacent to at least one other plantation tile, without any yield markers on it.

Phase 4: Trying to bribe the Canal Overseer. Beginning with the player to the left of the Canal Overseer, each player in turn can propose a new canal to the Overseer (place his proposal canal on the board – always between 2 intersections of the ditch grid and developing a connected network of canals) or support an existing proposal. To propose or support somebody's proposal, a player must offer at least 1 Escudo (immediately put the money on the table openly) as a bribe. Passing (even of more than one player) is allowed. At the end of the phase, the Canal Overseer decides to either accept a proposal and build that canal (getting the bribe for that proposal in return; the other players get their bribes back) or increase the highest bribe offered for a proposal by 1 Escudo (giving the money to the bank) and build the canal elsewhere. If all players pass, and the Overseer doesn't want to build a canal for 1 Escudo, no canal is built this round.

Phase 5: Extra irrigation. Beginning with the player to the Canal Overseer's left, the players in turn decide whether or not to build their extra canal (a maximum of 1 extra canal per round).

Phase 6: Drying (skipped in the last round). Remove 1 yield marker (put it into the box) from each plantation not adjacent to at least one canal, and put it back in the box. Non-irrigated plantations without yield markers are turned over (desert, cannot be cultivated again).

Phase 7: Collecting income (skipped in the last round). Each player receives 3 Escudos from the bank.

End of the Game

The game ends after phase 5 of the 11th (3 or 4 players) or 9th rounds (5 players), when all plantation tiles have been placed on the board. First, the land is dryed; after that, it yields profit. The player with the most money after the scoring wins the game.

1. Final drying of plantation tiles: All plantations not irrigated after the final round turn into desert.
2. Scoring: Each player keeps the money he still has in hand. On top of that, each player receives money from the bank for single plantations and connected areas on which he has yield markers. The amount is determined by multiplying the number of plantation tiles of a connected area with the number of one's own yield markers in it.

---

If you have comments, questions, or suggestions, please contact us: AMIGO Spiel + Freizeit GmbH, Waldstraße 23-D5, D-63128 Dietzenbach — www.amigo-spiele.de, E-Mail: [email protected]

© AMIGO Spiel + Freizeit GmbH, D-63128 Dietzenbach, MMIII — Version 1.0 Engl., Translated by: Momo Evers