Tikal II: The Lost Temple
Tikal II: The Lost Temple Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Components
- Set Up
- Rules of the Game
- The Game Turn
- The Action Tiles
- Notes About the Rooms
- Use of the Secret Passages
- Delivery of Treasures
- Additional Exploration / Key
- End of the First Round
- Intermediate Scoring
- Preparation for the Second Round
- End of the Round and End of the Game
- Final Scoring
- The Special Cards
- Reminders and Notes
- Variants
- Notes and Tactical Advice
- About the Authors and Thanks
Game Components
The Game Board
The lost temple is in the centre of the board. At the beginning of the game, 10 rooms have already been discovered, but no excavations have yet been undertaken (that's why you're here!). Little by little, all the rooms will be discovered and each player will explore some of them in order to earn the most points possible.
- An already discovered room.
- Empty temple spaces which are therefore inaccessible to the explorers (since they have not yet been discovered).
- The forest.
- The river runs round the edge of the board and you move along it by pirogue. It doesn't make a complete circuit of the board, and, as you will see in the rules, crossing the forest while carrying the pirogues is not free.
- The two seaplanes show the areas where you can deliver treasures.
- There are 6 secret rooms on the outside of the temple. Since they are secret, you will need to play a secret passage token in order to explore them.
- The wall surrounding the temple acts as a scoring track. Each time you earn some points, they are immediately noted here.
- The river connects 6 edifices which are the 6 sites in which you will find the information and objects required for the exploration of the temple. In the game, these are represented by "action tiles", placed on each site at the beginning of the game.
- One of the 6 sites and an example of the action tiles that can be found there. Here, it is the starting site, whose edifice is orange in order to distinguish it from the others.
The Special Cards
They give very useful advantages to their holder.
The Price Wheel
Shows the value of the treasures you deliver.
The Treasures
There are five different types of treasure in this game. There are five of each treasure, for a total of 25 treasures. (The five treasure types.)
The Keys
In order to pass through the doors of the temple, you will need keys. They exist in five colours, and there are seven of each type. The keys can also be used to score points. (The 5 key colours.)
The Light-Coloured Rooms
The light-coloured rooms have doors with the same colours as the keys. They will be referred to by the colour(s) of their door(s). Thus, a "pink room" is a light-coloured room with one or two pink doors. (The five room colours.)
The Sanctuaries (Dark Rooms)
The sanctuaries are distinguished from each other by the colours of their altar. These are the same 5 colours used for the keys and the doors of light-coloured rooms, but there is a sixth sanctuary whose altar is multicoloured.
The Colours
Each of the 5 colours is found on the keys, the doors and the altars. Note that each colour is associated with a symbol.
The Treasure Room
This room is the last in the temple to be placed on the board. It is unique and scores a lot of points. Make sure you don't miss it!
The Camps
Each explorer has his own camp in which he stores keys, treasures, secret passages and action tiles.
The tent shows on the one hand whether a player has used his additional exploration (an option you will discover in the rules) and on the other hand the direction in which each round is played.
At the bottom of each camp there is a reminder of the points one can earn during the 2 scoring rounds of the game.
The colour of the tent and the flags in the camp correspond to that of the players' pieces.
The different storage areas for: keys, treasures, secret passages, action tiles. The reminder is for calculating points during the 2 scoring rounds. The colour of the flags and the notebook corresponds to the player's colour.
The Player's Pieces
Each player has the following pieces:
- 20 flags
- 1 explorer
- 1 equipment chest
- 1 pirogue
Set Up
-
Place the board in the middle of the table.
-
Each player chooses a colour and puts his camp in front of him, as well as his 20 flags.
Then, place the following on the board:
- A. The explorers outside the temple.
- B. The equipment chests on the 0/100 space of the scoring track.
- C. The pirogues on the starting site beach (orange edifice).
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Each player sets his tent next to his camp so that it points towards the left with the flag and key side visible.
-
Shuffle the 6 sanctuaries and make a pile of them face up. Place the treasure room underneath this, and put the whole on the appropriate space.
This allows you to see which will be the next sanctuary to be discovered.
-
Make a pile of the 8 secret passage tokens.
-
Put the price wheel showing the value of the treasures on the appropriate circle.
The orientation doesn't matter, but the numbers must be correctly lined up opposite the 5 treasure symbols.
-
Shuffle the 13 special cards and put them face down on the game board in order to make a draw pile.
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Shuffle the 25 treasure tokens and make 3 piles that are more or less equal in size, and place them face down (chest side visible).
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Shuffle the 10 light-coloured rooms and make a pile, face down.
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Sort the 35 keys by colour and form 5 piles placed face up next to the board.
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Set up the action tiles on the board as follows:
With 4 players, shuffle the 24 action tiles and put 4 of them face up on each site.
With 3 players, first remove the three tiles with a 4 on their back.
With 2 players, first remove the eight tiles with either a 3 or a 4 on their back.
Then, shuffle the remaining tiles and distribute them between the 6 sites as shown:
Site With 2 players With 3 players Top left 3 3 Top right 3 2 Left 4 3 Right 3 2 Bottom left 4 3 Bottom right (starting site, orange) 4 3
Rules of the Game
In a Word
You take on the role of one of the four explorers and try to gather more points than your colleagues during the two months that the expedition lasts.
These two months take the form of 2 rounds, each made up of a number of turns.
On your turn, you will begin by visiting one of the 6 sites around the board with your pirogue in order to take one of the action tiles. Then you will undertake an excavation in one of the temple rooms with your explorer, which immediately scores points, marked on the scoring track using your equipment chest.
Each round ends with a scoring of extra points.
At the end of these 2 rounds, the player with the most points is crowned explorer of the year.
Start of the Game
The youngest player starts.
The first of the 2 rounds is played clockwise. The player to the left of the first player is therefore the second, etc. The orientation of the tents acts as a reminder.
Before the game starts, each player (in turn order and beginning with the first player) freely chooses 2 keys from the stock which he places face up in front of him, next to his camp. This area represents his backpack.
These keys will allow you to go through the doors of the same colour within the temple or to pay to cross the forest (see later).
The Game Turn
Each of your turns is divided into 2 phases.
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The pirogue phase, during which you take an action tile and immediately apply its effects. This phase is mandatory.
-
The explorer phase, during which you search a room and score points. This second phase is optional.
It is nevertheless strongly advisable to search a new room on each turn, in order to remain in the running.
1) The Pirogue Phase
At the beginning of each turn, you can take any of the action tiles that are still on the board, as long as you adhere to the following conditions:
If you want to take a tile on the site where your pirogue is currently located (for example, A, B or C), you take the tile you want, put it on the appropriate space on your camp and carry out the actions shown (explained later).
If you want to take a tile that is on a site other than the one where your pirogue is currently located (here, D), you must navigate the river in order to reach the site in question (going clockwise).
Navigation is free, but you're not allowed to advance more than 5 sites in one go with your pirogue.
If your pirogue goes through the forest during your move, it immediately costs you one key of your choice taken from those in your backpack. The key is placed in the stock.
NOTE: if you can't pay the key, you must move your equipment chest back 10 spaces on the scoring track.
2) The Explorer Phase
This takes place in two stages: A) Movement and B) Excavation.
A) Movement
Move your explorer to a room in which you haven't yet left a flag.
- In the temple, you can only move using rooms that have been discovered (you cannot therefore move through empty spaces on the board).
- To enter or leave the temple, you therefore need to go through a door that leads directly to the exterior.
- To go through a door, you must have a key of the same colour in your backpack.
NB: you do not actually pay the key to go through the door, you merely have to have a key of the correct colour in your possession in order to move through the door concerned.
- The door doesn't have to appear on both sides of the wall in order to go through it. Here, the blue door also enables you to go from the pink room to the blue room.
- On the other hand, if there are 2 doors with different colours on opposite sides of the wall, you must have the two corresponding keys in order to go through (here, a yellow key and a green key).
- Movement distance is unlimited.
- It is perfectly permissible for an explorer to leave the temple by one door and then to enter it by another (as long as he has the correct keys).
Rescue
If a player finds himself unable to make any new excavations as a result of a miscalculation, he can exceptionally buy a key and add it to his backpack. This key costs 10 points off his score.
B) Excavation
When you have reached the room of your choice, you undertake an excavation:
Each room contains one or more bonuses. Choose the unoccupied space that interests you the most, and place one of your flags on it in order to immediately benefit from the advantages shown, that is: points, as well as the occasional special card or treasure.
Examples:
| Space | Bonus |
|---|---|
| light-coloured room | 1 pt |
| treasure room | 16 pts |
| secret room | 7 pts + 1 card |
| sanctuary | 3 pts + 1 card |
| sanctuary | 1 treasure |
Putting a flag on the board stops your explorer's movement, and you can only continue moving on your next turn. Exceptions: secret passage (see "Use of the Secret Passages") or bonus exploration (see "Additional Exploration / Key").
Note: an explorer can only put one flag of his colour in each room!
Light-coloured rooms
In each light-coloured room, there is only one space that provides points. Nevertheless, searching a light-coloured room is still a very good idea even if an opponent has already taken the bonus since it also scores the following points:
- 1 point for each door in the room in which you have just placed your flag;
- 1 point for each door of the same colour in the rooms which already contain one of your flags (anywhere in the temple).
Examples:
- This is your first green room = 2 points: 2 doors (A & B).
- This is your second green room = 4 points: 2 new doors (C & D) + 2 old doors (A & B).
- This is your third blue room = 5 points: 2 new doors (A & B) + 3 old doors (X, Y & Z).
The Action Tiles
Each tile has one or more actions on it. You may use all of them. The tile opposite, for example, allows you to take the following actions: take a treasure, take a secret passage token, and score one point.
Important: if there is more than one action on the tile, you can take them in the order that you wish.
The Actions
Coloured key: take a key of the shown colour from the stock and immediately choose where you will place it:
- Either A, face down in your camp in order to score points during the 2 scoring rounds.
- Or B, face up in your backpack in order to improve your movement ability and/or later pay the cost of crossing the forest.
Multicoloured key: same as above, but you may choose a key of any colour.
Treasure: take the first 3 treasures from a pile of your choice, choose one of them secretly and place it face down in your camp. Return the other two to the top of the pile.
Special card: take the first 3 cards from the top of the deck, choose one of them, and place it face down in front of you. You can play it immediately or keep it for later use. Return the other two cards to the top of the deck.
The cards' effects are explained in "The Special Cards".
Discovery of a light-coloured room: take the first 3 tiles from the deck, choose one of them, and place it on any empty space on the board. You can freely choose its orientation. Return the other two tiles to the top of the pile.
Secret passage: take a secret passage token and place it on your camp.
Bonus: immediately score the number of points shown.
Discovery of a sanctuary: take the tile from the top of the pile and place it on any free space on the board. The orientation is of no importance since it does not have any doors.
Scoring: choose a colour of rooms. In that colour, score 1 point for each door of the rooms you already have a flag in.
NB: only you score points for this.
In the example opposite, Red could score 5 points with the blue doors, whereas if Orange had taken this action he would only score 3 points.
Notes About the Rooms
- The placement of the treasure room is automatic: as soon as there is only one empty space left in the temple, it is immediately placed there. It is then available to be searched.
- The 6 secret rooms are only accessible via the exterior of the temple and by playing a secret passage. NB: they can be explored in any order.
Use of the Secret Passages
A secret passage allows your explorer to cross one (and only one) wall, or a door for which you do not have a key. When you play a secret passage token, you return it to the stock. The passage opens, you enter the room… you now have 3 options: 1) you continue on your way as normal; 2) you place a flag and your explorer stops; 3) you place a flag and your explorer immediately leaves the room via the secret passage before the latter closes.
In the examples below, the player's keys and the token(s) used are shown beneath or next to the board. The flag is the one placed this turn and the cross shows where the explorer ends his move.
- Orange crosses the wall, then continues directly to the yellow altar thanks to his pink key.
- Red leaves the temple thanks to the pink key, enters the secret room +10 by discarding a secret passage, places a flag, and leaves so as not to be locked in. His movement is therefore finished.
- Black goes through the door by playing his token, then he explores the pink room and decides to stay there, because he wants to go to the yellow altar on the following turn (by going through the pink door).
- The first secret passage provides access to the brown room, and the second to the yellow altar, which Beige decides to leave immediately. It has cost a lot, but it is perfectly legal.
- Here too, Red uses two tokens to reach the yellow altar, but he decides to stay, because the pink key will enable him to continue his exploration on the following turn.
Important: note that if an explorer makes a round-trip to a room thanks to a secret passage, he must immediately stop after crossing the same wall or the same door for the second time (see examples 2 and 4).
Delivery of Treasures
In order to maximise points for the treasures that you accumulate in your camp during the game, you need to deliver them to one of the seaplanes.
Delivery can only take place when your pirogue passes a seaplane when going from one site to another: you momentarily interrupt your movement to deliver your treasure, then you continue on to your target site. The delivery is done in 3 steps:
- Discard as many treasures as you like of a single type (return them to the game box).
- Score the points shown on the price wheel (which varies from 2 to 5).
- Turn the wheel one space clockwise, which will have the effect of changing future delivery prices.
Notes:
- It is not possible to make a delivery without moving your pirogue (exception: special card).
- If you make a sufficiently long move with your pirogue, you can sometimes visit both seaplanes in one go and therefore make two successive deliveries. In this case the price wheel is turned one space after each of the deliveries.
An example of a delivery:
- In going from site A to site B, Red stops at the seaplane to make a delivery.
- He delivers 4 masks.
- The current value of masks is 3.
- He therefore immediately scores 12 points.
- The price wheel is turned.
- Red continues his movement to B and takes tile X. The game continues normally.
Additional Exploration / Key
Once per round, you have the possibility of using the flag or the key shown in front of your tent. You can then:
- Either make an additional exploration;
- Or take a key of your choice, which you must place in your backpack and not on the camp.
To show that you have used this option, turn your tent over.
If you opt for an additional exploration, you undertake it whenever you like during your turn. You can therefore play an explorer phase before the pirogue phase, or finish your turn with a second explorer phase.
- Undertake your additional exploration, then play your turn as usual.
OR
- Play your turn as usual, then undertake a additional exploration.
End of the First Round
The first round ends when the 6 sites have been emptied of their action tiles. The player who took the last tile finishes his turn normally. There is then an intermediate scoring round.
Intermediate Scoring
Note that for all the scoring possibilities below, only those keys stored at the camp are taken into consideration. Keys in the backpack never score points.
1. Scoring keys
Each player reveals the keys that he has collected in his camp and adds up the points using the corresponding table. The more different keys that the player has, the more points are scored, up to a maximum of 15 points for a complete set.
| Different keys | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 |
- 3 different keys = 6 points
- 4 different keys = 10 points
In the case of doubles, the points for each set started are counted separately.
- Example 1: a set of 3 different keys (6) plus a single extra key (1). Total: 7 points.
- Example 2: a set of 4 different keys (10) plus a set of 2 different keys (3). Total: 13 points.
2. Scoring the altars
For each sanctuary, among the players who have placed a flag in it, the player who has the most keys matching that altar's colour scores 3 points.
In the event of a tie, each of the players concerned scores 3 points.
If none of the players who have a flag in this room has a key of that colour, they each score 3 points.
Some examples for the altars:
- Regardless of the number of keys, Red is the only player in the room and therefore immediately scores 3 points.
- Red and Orange both score 3 points since neither have any yellow keys.
- Black scores 3 points as he is the only player with a yellow key.
- Red and Beige each score 3 points as they both have a yellow key, and Black doesn't.
- Here, Orange alone scores the points as he has more yellow keys than his opponents.
- For the multicoloured altar, count the total number of keys in the camp regardless of the colour.
Once all the points have been noted, the players can once again hide their keys by turning them face down. They will be scored again at the end of the game.
Preparation for the Second Round
Turn your tent back over so that the exploration/key option is once again visible so that you can use it again during the round.
Attention, this time the tent is placed to the right of the camp because the direction of play changes for the second round.
As at the beginning of the game, all the pirogues are placed on the start site (orange edifice).
Gather up all the action tiles, shuffle them and distribute them as shown in the Set Up section.
The player who was the last to play during the first round becomes the first player. The direction of play is reversed: the second player is therefore to his right, etc.
Naturally, the river continues to flow in a clockwise direction and the movement of the pirogues is not affected by the change in the direction of play.
End of the Round and End of the Game
The second round ends in the same way as the first (all the action tiles have been taken and played), but there is then a special turn during which each player can move his explorer for one last time in order to place a final flag and score points. The final scoring round then takes place.
Final Scoring
The final scoring is exactly the same as that at the end of the first round with the addition of the following two elements:
- Any treasures that you haven't been able to deliver nevertheless score you 1 point each.
- The end of game cards (see below) score the points shown.
The player with the most points after this scoring round wins the game. In the event of a tie, the players share the victory.
The Special Cards
- A special card can be played immediately or kept for a later turn.
- You can play it at any time during your turn and you can also play more than one card at the same time.
- A card (for example, a secret passage) can also be played at the end of the game during your explorer's last movement.
- When you play a card, discard it face up on the rock next to the deck.
| Card | Effect |
|---|---|
| Secret passage | Use this card like a secret passage token. |
| Additional exploration | Play this card to make an additional exploration. |
| Key | Take a key of your choice from the stock. You can put it in your backpack or on your camp. |
| Free forest crossing | You do not pay the required key when crossing the forest (may only be used once). |
| +2 per treasure | During one delivery, each treasure scores you +2 points. |
| Multiple treasure types | During one delivery, you can deliver as many treasure types as you wish in a single action. (The price wheel is only turned once, after the delivery.) |
| Free delivery | You can make one delivery without having to pass a seaplane with your pirogue. |
| End of game card (3/12) | During the final scoring round: Each card is worth 3 points. But if you have both of them, they earn you 12 points! |
| End of game card (5) | During the final scoring round: Scores 5 points. |
| End of game card (2 per room colour) | During the final scoring round: Score 2 points for each type of light-coloured room (door colour) in which you have at least one flag. |
Reminders and Notes
- Following the use of a secret passage, it is possible for your explorer to start the turn in a room where you don't yet have a flag. In that case, you can also choose not to move your explorer and just place a flag in the room.
- If you take the double treasure tile, you undertake the take a treasure action twice. You can undertake these two actions on the same treasure pile or on two different piles.
- If there are no more keys in the stock of the colour shown on the action tile that you have chosen, you may take a key of a different colour of your choice.
- The objects taken from the right of the board (treasures, special cards, light-coloured rooms) are all chosen in the same way: you take the first 3, select one, and return the other two to the top of the original pile.
- A key that has been placed on the camp can never be moved to the backpack and vice versa. Think carefully before choosing where to put them.
- When there are only a few action tiles left, it might be tempting to make a complete circuit of the board with the pirogue in order to go past a seaplane. But this is not allowed. The maximum move is 5 sites!
- At the beginning of the second round, don't forget that the pirogues are automatically returned to the starting space (orange edifice), whereas the explorers continue from where they left off at the end of the first round.
- You must always first take an action card (by moving your pirogue or not), then explore. The only exception is if you play an additional exploration right at the beginning of your turn.
- It is perfectly legal to combine your additional exploration with the special card that has the same effect, thus enabling you to undertake three explorations during the same turn.
- A given player may never undertake excavations in the same room more than once. He is certainly allowed to go through it or to stop there, though not to place a second flag in an attempt to score points.
Variants
"More control" variant
If you want to have more control over the treasures, you can make 2 draw piles and place 3 treasures face up on the board. A player who takes a treasure can either take one of the 3 face up treasures, or, as in the base game, take 3 from a pile, etc. If a face up treasure is chosen, it is immediately replaced from the top of any of the two piles.
"Short game" variant
You can decide to play without the additional exploration/key option (see "Additional Exploration / Key"). You will therefore only play with the neutral side of the tents. This shortens the game but removes some tactical subtleties.
Notes and Tactical Advice
- Never underestimate the points that keys stored at the camp can earn you. They can be scored twice and additionally earn you points for the altars.
- The beginner's reflex is to load his backpack with five keys of different colours in order to be sure that he can go anywhere. But that costs actions, and he will probably not need all the keys in the end anyway. The experienced player uses fewer keys and thus optimises his play. This earns more points but is also more risky…
- If you are the last player in the round, be aware that your last pirogue movement will be forced (you will have to take the last action tile), and that will cost you a key if you have to go through the forest.
- It often happens that the treasure room doesn't have any access doors at the end of the game. It will therefore only be accessible through a secret passage…
- Although there are enough for all the players, secret passages are nevertheless quite rare and should be used carefully.
- Among the light-coloured rooms, there are 5 differently coloured doors and 4 rooms per colour (2 already discovered on the board at the beginning of the game and 2 are in the pile). Each colour has exactly the same door configurations. It is often useful to be familiar with these, depending on what you hope to connect when you discover one of the remaining rooms in the pile.
About the Authors and Thanks
Wolfgang Kramer
Wolfgang Kramer has been designing games now for more than 35 years. Something that was only a hobby at the beginning became his profession in 1989. A number of his games have been nominated or have received awards, both in Germany, where he lives, and around the world. During his career he has won the much coveted "Spiel des Jahres (SdJ)" prize five times and the "Deutscher Spielepreis" four times. He develops as many fun games for children as he does exciting games for families and demanding ones for adults. To date, his games have sold over 10 million copies. Among his biggest successes are notably: Take 6, Heimlich and Co (SdJ 1986), Auf Achse (SdJ 1987), El Grande (SdJ 1996), Tikal (SdJ 1999), Torres (SdJ 2000), Midnight Party, Expedition, That's Life! and Top Race. To learn more about Wolfgang Kramer, visit: www.kramer-spiele.de
Wolfgang Kramer wishes to thank his co-author Michael Kiesling as well as GameWorks. Sébastien Pauchon and Malcolm Braff gave their all to Tikal II and have accomplished a remarkable job! He further wishes to thank all the testers, and in particular: Uschi Kramer, Reinhard, Regina and Matthias Kramer, Steffen Klotz, Carsten Neumann, the "Uni Stuttgart" and "Stuttgarter Kronisten" games clubs, Beate, Claudia, Melanie, Michael, Thomas from Game Point, Gerhard and Christel Kühnle, Veit and Ulrike Froer, Heinz and Waltraud Niederberger.
Michael Kiesling
Michael Kiesling has been creating games as a hobby now for more than 15 years. On a professional level, this graduate engineer develops commercial software which he has exhibited for a number of years at CeBIT in Hannover. To date, he has won the "Spiel des Jahres" prize twice and the "Deutscher Spielepreis" prize once. He develops games for the family and adult market, principally with Wolfgang Kramer. The total sales of his 30 published titles exceed 1.5 million copies and among his greatest successes are Tikal (SdJ 1999), Torres (SdJ 2000), That's Life! (nominated for the SdJ in 2005) and Wikinger (on the SdJ recommended list for 2007). To know more about the professional side of his activities, you can consult: www.visigate.de
Michael Kiesling thanks his co-author Wolfgang Kramer and especially Sébastien Pauchon and Malcolm Braff of GameWorks who went above and beyond the call of duty for Tikal II. He also thanks his wife Ina Kiesling, his nephew Markus Stegmann and his wife Lynn, as well as pretty much all the members of the "Spielrausch" games club in Bremen.
Vincent Dutrait
On brushes, we have Vincent Dutrait who magnificently illustrated the game as well as the comic. You can discover the full extent of his talent on: www.vincentdutrait.com
GameWorks
As for us, we would like to thank the numerous testers who worked with us throughout this adventure, and of course we especially thank the authors for the confidence that they have shown in us. Special thanks go to Vincent Duskype!