Viva Catrina
Viva Catrina Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Double Sided Board
- 6 Starting Tiles
- 114 Path Tiles
- 1 Catrina Token
- 16 Balloon Tiles
- 12 Large Chimera Tiles
- 15 Small Chimera Tiles
- 1 Score pad
- 1 Bag
Set Up
Place the main board at the center of the table on the side matching the number of players (there is a side for 2-3 players and a side for 4-6 players).
Sort the Chimeras by size and place them on the board on their dedicated space.
Put all the Path Tiles in the bag. Randomly place a Path Tile on every available space on the board.
Take the Balloon Tiles corresponding to the number of players (2 players, 3 players, or 4 players +).
Sort the Balloon Tiles by color. Stack them in ascending order with the highest value on top of the pile. Place them on their dedicated space on the board.
Randomly give a Starting Tile to each player. This tile represents the start of your playing area (called Village). The last person who was offered flowers takes the Catrina Token. They will be the first player.
Your goal is to create the most beautiful celebration in your village to earn the most victory points.
How to play
There are as many rounds as there are players in a game. The player with the Catrina Token starts the 1st round. Then, the game goes on clockwise.
Turn structure
On your turn, you must take the following actions:
- Take a tile from the board
- Place the tile in your village
Take a tile from the board
Choose one of the available tiles. To be available, a tile must be at one end of a row.
Note: Choose one of the available tiles. To be available, a tile must be at one end of a row.
Example: Anna has the choice between 3 tiles.
Place the tile in your village
Place the chosen tile in your Village. It can be placed in any orientation and must be adjacent to another tile in your Village, sharing a full edge.
Note: You never have to match the paths drawn on the tiles.
A Path Tile can be composed of two types of paths:
- Paved paths
- Blooming trails
A Path Tile may contain the following elements:
- One or several Balloons
- One or several Butterflies
- One or several Visitors
- One or several Chimera Pedestals
- One Altar
- One Shop
Important: In order to be part of your Village, an element must be on a path (or trail) connected to your Starting Tile.
The Balloons
Thousands of balloons fly to the night sky.
As soon as you place your 3rd balloon of the same color (connected to your Starting Tile), take the first Balloon Tile of the corresponding color. Place the Balloon Tile next to your Village, it will score points at the end of the game.
Example: Anna places her tile. Doing so, she gets her 3rd red balloon and takes the 5 points red Balloon Tile from the top of the Red Balloon pile.
When you place your sixth balloon of the same color, flip your Balloon Tile on its golden side.
The Chimeras
It is time for the alebrijes procession! These fantastic and colorful creatures, looking like chimeras, are wandering in the streets.
To attract chimeras into your Village, you must build Pedestals. There are 2 sizes of Pedestals you can build, each one matching a different size of Chimera.
When you build a Pedestal as shown below, take the 1st matching size Chimera from its pile and place it on its Pedestal. It will score points at the end of the game.
Important: A Pedestal is only valid if it is closed and exactly the same size as the Chimera.
Note: Chimeras of the size you need may run out. In that case, your Pedestal will not score any point. Keep an eye on your opponents' Village!
Example: Amandine built an 8-tile Pedestal. Even though there is plenty of room to place a small and a large Chimera, it is not exactly the same size as a Chimera. Thus she cannot place any Chimera there.
The Stalls
It is tradition to decorate the altars for the departed with many things: pan de muerto, fruits, cempasúchil, flowers, banners, candles and calaveras. Visit all the stalls to collect your offerings!
There are 6 stalls in the game: Pan de muerto, Fruits, Calaveras, Cempasúchil flowers, Banners, Candles.
At the end of the game, you score points for each different Stall in your Village.
When you place your second Stall of the same type in your Village, immediately draw a Path Tile from the bag. Place this tile as an ordinary Path Tile following the same placement rules and effects.
Note: You may draw several extra tiles from the bag during the same turn, by placing several Stalls one after the other.
Example: Louison chooses a Path Tile from the board. She places it in her Village, thus gaining her 2nd Fruits Stall. She draws an extra tile from the bag and places it in her Village. This tile contains a 2nd Candles Stall. Louison can draw a 2nd extra tile from the bag. She places it in her Village, thus gaining her 3rd blue Balloon. She takes the 1st available blue Balloon Tile from the board.
The Butterflies & The Visitors
Every year, during Día de los Muertos visitors are coming from all over the world, as well as thousands of monarch butterflies as they end their migration. Trace Paved Paths and Blossom Trails to invite them to the celebration!
In addition to Paved Paths, your Village also includes Blossom Trails. At the end of the game, each Butterfly on the Blossom Trail connected to your Starting Tile is worth 2 points.
At the end of the game, each Visitor on a Paved Path connected to your starting Tile is worth 1 point.
Example: In her Village, Anna has 4 butterflies and 4 Visitors. She places her new tile, containing 1 Visitor and 1 Butterfly. However, 1 Visitor and 1 Butterfly are still not connected. By doing so, she connects 2 additional Visitors. Anna now has 5 Butterflies and 7 Visitors.
The Altars
To honor their departed, families prepare beautiful Altars – also called Ofrendas – that they cover with gifts and decorations.
At the end of the game, each Altar grants you points for each requested element you have in your Village.
Example: Amandine has 5 Stalls, her Altar = 1, grants her 5 points. Thanks to her 3 blue Balloons, her Altar = 1, grants her 3 points.
End of round
When the last Path tile is taken from the board, the round ends. Draw as many Path Tiles as necessary to fill the board. The Catrina Token goes to the next player clockwise. A new round begins.
Note: There are as many rounds as there are players in a game. When the last player takes the Catrina Token, the last round begins.
End of game
When the last Path Tile of the last round is taken, the game ends.
Count your points using the Score pad. The player with the most points is the winner.
Reminder: In order to be part of your Village, an element must always be on a path (or trail) connected to your Starting Tile.
Catrina is grateful to you for this spectacular celebration!
Endgame scoring example
Louison has 8 blue Balloons and 4 green Balloons.
She took the corresponding Balloons Tiles, flipped her blue Balloon Tile and scores 12 points.
The Altar grants her 8 points.
She has 4 different Stalls and scores 9 points.
Her Chimeras are worth 13 points.
Finally, her Village counts 7 Visitors and 6 Butterflies connected to her Starting Tile. She scores 19 points. (This Butterfly is not connected and is worth no points.)
12 + 8 + 9 + 13 + 19 = 61 points