Takara Island Rulebook

Table of Contents

Goal of the Game
Components
- The 54 gallery tiles
Set Up
Playing the Game
End of Game
Counting XP Points
The Chest Tiles
The Specialists
Overview

Goal of the Game

Each player leads a team of adventurers to mine the depths of Takara. Chance events will affect discoveries of wealth and treasure. As players advance, they must face the Takara Monsters, survive rockfalls, and recruit additional help and experts as they constantly gain more experience and knowledge of the island. If one player secures both of the Stones of Legend on his own then he will be embraced by eternal life. Otherwise, the winner will be the player who has gained the most experience.

Components

1 Game board
4 Player boards (4 different colors)
8 Adventurer tokens (all different, 2 per color)
4 Recruit tokens (all the same design, 1 per color)
4 Specialist tiles
8 Chest tiles
54 Gallery tiles
12 XP tokens (Experience), each worth 2 XP
1 Sword tile
1 Fight die (4 sword sides, 2 hospital sides)
18 Kara coins (value of 1)
18 Kara coins (value of 5)
3 Kara coins (value of 10)
6 Wound tokens

The game board shows several named locations: the Forge, the Harbor, the Beach, the Counter, the Dive, and the Hospital (with its hospital break room).

The 54 gallery tiles

18 Surface gallery tiles:

8 tiles worth 2 Karas
4 Rockfall tiles
2 tiles worth 1 XP
2 tiles worth 1 XP + Wound
2 Monster tiles

18 Intermediate gallery tiles:

7 tiles worth 4 Karas
3 tiles worth 2 XP
3 tiles worth 2 XP + Wound
3 Monster tiles
1 Chest tile
1 Rockfall tile

18 Deep gallery tiles:

4 tiles worth 4 XP + Wound
3 tiles worth 4 XP
3 tiles worth 6 Karas
3 Chest tiles
3 Monster tiles
2 Stone of Legend tiles

Set Up

Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding play board and 2 matching adventurer tokens.
Recruit players are positioned on the Beach of Takara.
Put the 4 Specialist tiles face up on the Harbor (top edge).
Mix the Chest tiles and place the stack face down on the Axolotl.
Both Legend Stones must be in two separate sites (near the Chest tiles). Create six sites as follows:
- All players close their eyes except one. He takes the 18 Deep gallery tiles and makes two stacks of 8 tiles each and then adds one Stone of Legend to each stack. Now he shuffles each stack and places them face down in 3 stacks of three tiles each. This creates 6 stacks of Deep tiles next to the Board. The player closes his eyes.
- The other players open their eyes and randomly place 3 Intermediate gallery tiles on top of each of the 6 Deep gallery tile stacks. Now there are 6 stacks of 6 gallery tiles. Next the players randomly place 3 Surface gallery tiles on top of the Intermediate gallery tiles on each of the 6 gallery tile stacks. Each of the 6 stacks now have a total of 9 gallery tiles.
Establish the Counter with XP tokens equal to the number of players times 3 (6 tokens for two players, 9 tokens for three players and 12 tokens for 4 players).
Place the Sword and the Die at the Forge.
All Kara coins and Wound tokens are placed next to the board.
A start player is selected at random.

Playing the Game

IMPORTANT: tiles won by the players, as well as those discarded during play of the game, must be visible to all players during the game.

Players take turns in clockwise order.

During each turn, the active player performs the following three actions:

Rent the Sword (optional)
Use the Adventurers
Recruit & Finish the Day

1. Rent the Sword (optional)

At the beginning of his turn, a player may equip himself with the Sword by paying 3 Karas and placing the "Sword of the Forge" tile onto his player board.

The use of the Sword is explained in detail in the following sections.

NOTE: The Sword may only be rented at the beginning of a player's turn.

2. Use the Adventurers

IMPORTANT: an adventurer may perform one action every turn.

Every adventurer can be used to perform the following actions:

2a. View Gallery Tiles
2b. Dig a Gallery
2c. Destroy a Rockfall
2d. Go to the Dive
2e. Go to the Counter
2f. Hire a Specialist
2g. Fight a Monster

2a. View Gallery Tiles (1 view per adventurer)

This can be done several times per turn, but each time it must be a different adventurer.

The active player takes one available adventurer (from his Player board) and puts it next to one of the 6 gallery site piles.

The player secretly views the first 3 gallery tiles, one at a time, taking care not to change the order of the tiles. His action immediately ends if he finds a Rockfall. He thus does not observe the following tiles (if any remain to be viewed) and must turn the tile face up, leaving it in place on the stack. The player then received 2 Karas.
If he finds a Monster, he can turn the tile face up leaving it in at its place. He receives in this case 2 Karas and the observation can continue. He can also choose not to turn it.

NOTE: Once the completed or stopped observation, the tiles are delivered on the same site, in the order they were taken. The tiles that are face up remain visible, even if they are covered by other tiles.

IMPORTANT: an adventurer can never observe under the tiles made visible the previous rounds (Rockfalls and Monsters).

2b. Dig a Gallery (1 searched by an adventurer)

This can be done several times per turn, but each time it must be a different adventurer.

The active player takes one available adventurer and placed it next to the site he wishes to excavate. He turns the first gallery tile face up:

If it is a Kara tile, the tile is discarded from the game and he receives the number of Karas written on the tile.
If it is a Rockfall tile, the adventurer is locked, he does not win any coins (unlike the viewing phase 2a) and the tile is turned face up on the stack.
If it is a Monster and the player has not rented the Sword, the adventurer is injured and has to go to the Hospital. The tile remains face-up on the stack.
If it is a Monster tile and the player rented the Sword at the start of his turn, the adventurer is protected, but his action ends.
If it is a Chest tile, the tile is discarded and the player draws the first Chest of the pile in the middle of the board. He then receives the rewards listed on the tile (see "The Chest tiles" at the end of the rules).
If it is an XP tile, he places the tile face-up next to his player board: it will yield XP points at the game end. However, if the tile shows the XP-plus-injury symbol, the adventurer is injured and has to go the Hospital.
If it is one of the two Legend Stones, he places the tile face-up next to his Player board. If both Legend Stones were found, the game ends immediately (see "End of the Game").

2c. Destroy a Rockfall (requires 2 adventurers)

It takes two available adventurers to perform this action. The active player places them next to the Rockfall. It is destroyed and the tile is discarded. The player wins 2 Karas per visible Rockfall at this point in the game (counting the one he just destroyed).

Example: if there are 4 visible Rockfalls, the active player can place 2 adventurers beside the Rockfall. This Rockfall is destroyed (the tile is discarded) and the player wins 8 Karas (2 x 4). There are now only 3 Rockfalls remaining.

2d. Go to the Dive (1 Dive per visiting adventurer)

This can be done several times per turn, but each time it must be a different adventurer.

The active player takes one or more available adventurers and sends them to the Dive. This brings him one Kara per adventurer.

2e. Go to Counter (only 1 trade per turn)

IMPORTANT: a player can only perform this action once per turn.

The active player takes one available adventurer and sends him to the Counter. He can only perform one of these two actions, once per round.

Sell one of its XP tiles. Each XP tile point brings a player 5 Karas; all XP tile points must be sold. It is not possible to sell the Legend Stones or XP tokens acquired previously. Example: a tile with 4 XP gives 20 Karas.
Exchange 5 Karas and gain one XP token (only one permitted).

2f. Hire a Specialist (only 1 commitment per turn)

The active player takes one available adventurer and places him in the Harbor, on the circle at the end of the dock. He pays the price of a chosen Specialist and puts the tile face-up in front of him. The expertise of the chosen Specialist must be applied immediately.

IMPORTANT: at the end of the turn, the hired Specialist is returned to his face-down position in front of the player (he cannot be used during the next turn).

NOTE: the skills of each Specialist are explained in details in "The Specialists" section at the end of the Rules.

IMPORTANT: you can never have two Specialists in active use at the same time. A hired Specialist remains in front of a player for two turns: one round face-up (active) and one round face down (not active).

2g. Fight a Monster (1 fight by an adventurer)

This can be done several times per turn, but each time it must be a different adventurer.

IMPORTANT: When fighting a Monster, it is mandatory:

To Rent the Sword at the beginning of your turn;
Have a Monster tile be face-up on the top of the site (a Monster becomes visible when he is viewed or exposed when digging).

The active player takes one available adventurer and places him next to the site where the visible Monster is located.

The player must roll the Fighting Die as many times as necessary until the Monster is defeated, or until the attack fails.

The face of the die showing always designates the result of the attack:

Hospital face: The attack fails and the adventurer is injured; he must go to the hospital. The action of the adventurer ends, but the player can use a new adventurer to continue to attack the Monster.
Sword face: The attack succeeds and the Monster is injured. 1 Wound token is added on this tile. The adventurer has to continue his attack by rolling the die again.

A Monster is defeated if there are as many tokens as injuries and life points.

Once a Monster is defeated, the player wins the tile and places it next to his player board. This ends the adventurers' action. A defeated Monster immediately rewards the player with the number of Karas and XP points shown on his tile.

If the player's turn ends before the Monster is defeated, the Wound tokens remain on the tile and maybe will be collected by future successful fighter(s).

3. Recruit and Finish the Day

Once a player has used all his adventurers, he can recruit and must finish his day.

Recruit (once per game)

The active player pays 5 Karas to enlist the single recruit who is waiting on the Beach and places him onto his Player board. This recruit is now an adventurer and has the same characteristics as the other. The player now has 3 adventurers for the remainder of the game.

Finish the Day

3a. Get back uninjured adventurers

The player returns any adventurers who are not in Hospital to his Player's board.

If he has one or more adventurers in the hospital, he may pay 2 Karas per adventurer to get them back. If he cannot or does not pay to get them back, he must move them to the hospital break room (they will remain there until the end of the next round).

If he has one or more adventurers in the hospital break room, he places them on his Player's board.

3b. Give the Sword back

If a player rented the Sword at the beginning of the round, the Sword is returned to the Forge.

3c. Caring Specialist

If a player has a Specialist face-up (he was hired during the turn), the tile is turned face-down next to the player's board so the Specialist can "rest".
If the Specialist tile is face-down, he is turned face-up and moved back to the Harbor. This Specialist is available again for players who do not have a Specialist in front of them.

End of Game

The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:

Four sites are empty and no Stone of Legend was found. All players have lost (the points earned by players do not count). The adventurers were too inefficient; they are banished from the island and return home swimming!!!
Five sites are empty and only one Stone of Legend was found. The Stone of Legend is unusable and the player who found it discards it (it does not give 10 XP points). The player with the most XP points wins (see "Counting" below).
Both Stones of Legend were found:
- If a player has both of them, he instantly wins and is given eternal life;
- If both were found but by two different players, all players count their XP points (including the Stones of Legend). The player with the most XP points wins (see "Counting" below).

Counting XP Points

Each player counts his XP points on his "won" tiles: XP tiles, XP tokens, defeated Monsters, Chests and eventually a Stone of Legend.
Each set of 5 Karas is worth 1 XP point.

Achievement Levels for XP points:

0 to 9 = Food for Axolotl
10 to 19 = Rookie
20 to 29 = Stones Amateur
30 to 39 = The New Indiana
40+ = Legendary Hero

The Chest Tiles

Chest tiles immediately give rewards of Karas and/or XP points.

Only the Mimic has a special power. It is a Monster with 2 life points which the player must fight (even if he has not rented the Sword):

If the adventurer's attack succeeds (you must pass two successive die rolls), the player draws 1 new Chest tile. The Mimic and Chest tiles are kept by the player.
If the attack fails, the Mimic goes back into the pile of Chest tiles and is shuffled.

The Skull: Immediately receive 20 Karas, the tile is kept by the player AND worth -2 XP at the end of the game.

The Map: Immediately receive 5 Karas and discard the tile, OR the tile is kept by the player and receives 2 XP points at the end of the game.

The Specialists

The Miner (5 Karas): The Miner permits the digging of two tiles at a site.

XP tiles, Stones of Legend, The Chests are kept by the player. Chests are resolved as usual and if an XP tile with the injury symbol is face-up, none of the hired miner or the used adventurer are injured.
Rockfalls and Kara tiles are destroyed during exploration (and give no Kara). A Rockfall, visible or hidden, never blocks the Miner.
If facing a Monster, there is no fight but the Miner's action ends (and the adventurer who hired him is not injured).

The Impersonator (cost: Specialist's cost + 2 Karas): It copies the effect of another Specialist who was hired by another player, paying the cost of the Specialist + 2 Karas.

The Soothsayer (3 Karas): The Soothsayer allows a player to select a site and view 3 consecutive gallery tiles at any level. The Rockfalls and Monsters do not stop the viewing. The player does not turn them face-up if viewed. Any face-up tiles among the viewed tiles will not stop the viewing but are counted as part of the 3 consecutive views.

The Archaeologist (2 Karas): The Archaeologist selects a site and views the first 5 tiles. The remarks for Rockfalls and Monsters described for Soothsayer apply to the Archaeologist.

Overview

Rent the Sword (optional) — 3 Karas → Sword
Use the Adventurers

View Gallery Tiles = view up to 3 tiles
Dig a Gallery = turn 1 tile face up
Destroy a Rockfall = 2 adventurers → 2 Karas per visible Rockfall
Hire a Specialist = pay listed cost
Fight a Monster = Sword + Fighting Die
Go to the Dive = 1 Kara per adventurer
Go to the Counter = sell XP tiles for Karas, or exchange 5 Karas for 1 XP token

Recruit and Finish the Day

Recruit = 5 Karas → new adventurer
Finish the Day = Get back uninjured adventurers → Give the Sword back → Caring Specialist