A clever tile-laying game for 2-5 players aged 8 and up by Klaus-Jrgen Wrede
The New World has been discovered! Now it is time to explore and settle it. The players explore and
develop the New World beginning on the east coast and moving ever westward, and deploy their settlers
on the trails, in the towns, in the farms, and on the plains. The skills of the players to develop the area
and use their robbers, shopkeepers, trappers, and farmers will determine who is victorious.
Contents
95 land tiles, with town, trail, and plains segments, and farms.
30 settlers in 5 colors.
Each can be used as a shopkeeper, robber, trapper, or farmer.
One of each player's settlers is the player's scoring marker.
back of tiles
farm
town segment
1 game board with scoring track and east coast
starting spaces.
2 surveyors, which are used to track
the players movement westward.
crossings
trail segments plains segments
rule booklet and summary sheet
Overview
The players place land tiles turn by turn. As they do so, the trails, towns, plains, and farms emerge and grow. On
their turns, the players can deploy their settlers on these features to earn points. Players score points during the
game and at the end. The player with the most points after the final scoring is the winner.
Preparation
Place the game board on one side of the table so that the starting spaces face toward the middle of the table.
Shuffle the land tiles face down and stack them in several face-down stacks so that all players have easy access to
them. Each player takes the 6 settlers in his color and places one as his scoring marker in the large space at the
lower left of the scoring track. Each player places his remaining 5 settlers before him on the table (his play area)
as his supply. Place the two surveyors on any two of the starting spaces on the game board. The players decide
among themselves who will be the starting player, using any method they choose.
Playing the game
Players take turns in clockwise order beginning with the starting player. On a player's turn, he executes the
following actions in the order shown:
The player must draw and place a new land tile.
The player may deploy one of his settlers from his supply to the land tile he just placed.
If, by placing the land tile, farms, trails, and/or towns are completed, they are now scored.
The players turn is over and the next player, in clockwise order, takes his turn in the same manner.
Placing land tiles
First a player must draw a land tile from one of the face-down stacks. He looks at it, shows it to his fellow players
(so they can advise him on the "best" placement of the tile), and places it on the table, using the following rules:
The new tile (with red borders in the examples) must be placed with at least one edge abutting one previously
placed tile or abutting one of the starting spaces on the game board. The new tile may not simply be placed
corner to corner with a previous tile or starting space.
The new tile must be placed so that all plains, town, and trail segments on the new tile continue to plains,
town, and trail segments on all abutting tiles, respectively.
trail and plains segments
are continued
town segment is continued
In the rare circumstance where a drawn tile has no legal placement
(and all players agree), the player discards the tile from the game
(into the box) and draws another tile to place.
on one edge the town segment is
Deploying settlers
continued and on the other edge
After the player places a land tile, he may deploy one
the plains segment is continued
of his settlers, using the following rules:
The player may only play 1 settler on a turn.
The player must take it from his supply.
The player may only deploy it to the tile he just placed.
The player must choose where to deploy the settler on the tile, either as a:
shopkeeper
robber
trapper
This is an
invalid
placement
farmer
here
or
or
or
or
here
in a town segment
on a trail segment
The player may not deploy a settler on a plains, town, or
in a plains segment
(lay trappers on their sides)
in a farm
trail segment if that segment connects to a segment of the same feature on another tile (no matter how far
away) that already has a settler (from any player, including himself) on it. See the following examples.
Blue can only deploy a trapper as there is
already a shopkeeper in a connected town
segment.
Blue can deploy his settler as a shopkeeper or a robber, but only as a trapper
in the small plains segment where the red arrow points. In the larger plains
segment there is already a trapper on a connected plains segment.
When a player has deployed all his settlers, he continues to play land tiles each turn. Although a settler may not
be recalled, settlers are returned to players when farms, trails, and towns are scored.
The players turn is over and the next player in clockwise order takes his turn, and so on. Remember: if, through the
placement of the tile, towns, trails, and/or farms are completed, these are scored before moving on to the next player.
Scoring completed farms, trails and towns
A COMPLETED TRAIL
A trail is complete when the trail segments on both ends
connect to a crossing, a town segment, or a farm, or when the
trail forms a complete loop. The trail may have many segments.
between its ends.
The player who has a robber on a completed trail scores
one point for each tile in the completed trail (count the
number of tiles; separate segments on a tile count just
once) and 2 points for each trading post along the trail.
The player moves his scoring marker forward on the scoring track a
number of spaces equal to the points earned. If you pass 50 on the scoring
track, lay your scoring marker down to indicate a score greater than 50
Red earns 8 points, 4 extra
and continue along the track.
for the 2 trading posts.
Red earns 3
points.
A COMPLETED TOWN
A town is complete when the town is completely Red earns
8 points
surrounded by a town wall and there are no gaps
(3
town
tiles
in the wall. A town may have many segments.
The player who has a shopkeeper in a completed
town scores two points for each tile in the town
(count the tiles, not the segments). Each flag on
segments in the town earns the player 2 points.
and
1 flag).
What if a completed town or trail has more than one settler?
It is possible through clever placement of land tiles for there to be
more than one robber on a trail or more than one shopkeeper in a
town. In a completed trail or town, the player with the most robbers
(on a trail) or the most shopkeepers (in a town) earns all the points.
Red earns 8 points
(4 town tiles, and
no flags)
When a tile has 2
segments in a town,
it still counts for
just 2 points (1 tile).
The new land tile connects separate town
segments to complete a town.
When two or more players tie with the most robbers or shopkeepers,
they each earn the total points for the trail or town.
A COMPLETED FARM
A farm is complete when the tile it is on is
completely surrounded by land tiles. The
player with a farmer in the farm earns
9 points (1 for the farm tile and 1 each for
the other tiles).
Red earns 9 points.
RETURNING SCORED SETTLERS TO THE PLAYERS SUPPLIES
Red and Blue each score the full 12 points
for the town as they tie with 1 shopkeeper
each in the completed town.
After a trail, a town, or a farm is scored (and only then), the settlers involved are returned to the appropriate
players' supplies. The returned settlers may be used by the players as any of the possible settlers (robber, farmer,
shopkeeper, or farmer) in later turns.
It is possible for a player to deploy a settler, score a trail, town, or farm, and have the settler returned
on the same turn (always in this order).
1. Complete a trail, farm, or town with the new tile.
2. Deploy a shopkeeper, robber, or farmer.
3. Score the completed town, trail, or farm.
4. Return the shopkeeper, robber, or farmer.
Red earns 4 points
Red earns 3 points
THE SURVEYORS: THEIR BONUSES AND THE LIMITS THEY IMPOSE
After each feature is scored (there may be more than one in a turn), the player whose turn it is moves one
surveyor one column to the west (away from the coast). It matters not which tile the player places the surveyor
on as long as it is in the correct column. The player must move the eastern-most surveyor if the surveyors are not
in the same column. Thus, the two surveyors will never be more than one column apart in their westward trek. If
the surveyors are both in the western-most column of tiles (no tiles to their west) neither moves. They will remain
there until a feature is scored and there are tile(s) to their west. If a feature is completed, but not scored, the player
does not move a surveyor.
BONUS: when a settler is scored that is standing on the same column with one (or two) surveyor(s), the player
scoring the settler gets a +4 points for each surveyor! (note: an surveyor is moved after the settler is scored!)
REMOVING fallen-behind settlers: whenever the eastern-most surveyor is moved from a column with one (or
more) standing settlers (not trappers - they remain lying down until the end of the game), remove these settler(s)
and all settlers east of this column from the tiles and return them to their owners. A player may place a settler
on a just-placed tile in colums east of the surveyors, but it is dangerous as such a settler (not a trapper) will be
removed immediately after the next scoring!
See surveyor movement and scoring example on B2.
THE PLAINS
Connected plains segments are called plains. Plains are not scored if completed during the game. Players may
deploy trappers on plains segments, but they only score at the end of the game. A trapper remains in the plains
segment where it is deployed for the entire game and is never returned to the players supply! To
emphasize this, place the trapper on its side on the plains segment. Plains are bordered by trails,
towns, and the edge of the area where the land tiles are played.
Game End
At the end of the player's turn during which the last land tile is placed, the game ends. If the
player completes one or more features, these are scored as normal and then the game proceeds
to the final scoring.
Final Scoring
Red earns 3 points
for the incomplete
trail. Yellow earns
5 points for the
incomplete farm.
SCORING OF INCOMPLETED TRAILS, TOWNS, AND FARMS
For each incomplete trail and town, the player, who has a robber on
the trail or shopkeeper in the town, earns one point for each trail or
town segment. Flags are worth 1 point each. For incomplete trails and
towns with more than one settler, use the rules for completed trails
and towns to determine who scores. For an incomplete farm, the
player with the farmer on the farm earns 1 point for the farm and 1
point for each land tile surrounding it.
TRAPPER SCORING (for the animals in the plains)
In each plains area at the end of the game, the player with the most
trappers in the area scores 1 point for each animal shown on plains
segments in the area. As with trails and towns, if several players tie
with the most trappers in the area, each scores 1 point for each
animal shown on the plains segments in the area.
Indicates the
order the
tiles were
placed.
Blue earns 3 points for the incomplete town on
the lower right. Green earns 8 points for the
larger incomplete town on the left. Black earns
nothing, as Green has more shopkeepers in the
town than black.
Blue earns 2 points.
Red earns 3 points.
Red earns 4 points for the animals
in the lower plains area, as he has 2
trappers in the area to Yellows 1.
Blue earns 2 points for the animals
in the upper plains area.
In this example, Red and Yellow each
earn 4 points for the animals in the
lower plains area, as each has 2 trappers
in the area. Blue earns 5 points for for
his trapper in the upper plains area.
When all completed plains areas are scored in this way, the scoring and the game is over.
The player with the most points is the winner. If players tie with the most, they rejoice in their shared victory.
Tip: to make plains scoring easier, remove settlers as you score the unfinished trails, towns, and farms.
2008 Hans im Glck Verlags-GmbH
If you have comments, questions, or suggestions, please write Rio Grande Games at:
PO Box 45715
Rio Rancho, NM 87174 or
[email protected] or visit our website at
www.riograndegames.com
These are the tiles available in the game (and number of each)
2x
3x
3x
2x
1x
1x
1x
3x
2x
1x
4x
3x
1x
3x
2x
3x
4x
4x
1x
1x
3x
1x
1x
1x
1x
3x
AA
2x
AB
1x
AC
2x
AD
2x
AE
1x
AF
1x
AG
2x
AH
3x
AI
1x
AJ
3x
AK
3x
AL
1x
AM
3x
AN
2x
AO
1x
AP
1x
AQ
1x
AR
1x
AS
1x
AT
3x
AU
1x
AV
2x
AW
1x
AX
1x
B1
Example for movement and scoring of surveyors:
See description of their movement and scoring on page 3 of the rules.
In the first few turns the players played
the settlers as shown in the graphic and
scored the 2-tile trail on the north,
removing the settler there and moving the
top-most surveyor. Now, Yellow places
the red-bordered tile and her settler on
the trail leading south. She scores her
completed trail for 10 points (4 tiles + 1
trading post + 1 surveyor), removes her
settler from that trail and moves the
bottom-most surveyor westward one
Next, Blue plays the red-bordered tile
and his settler on the small town,
completing three features: Reds city to the
north, Blues farm, and Blues small town.
Blue scores his farm for 17 points (9 + 2
surveyors), removes his settler from the
farm, and moves the top-most surveyor.
Then, he scores his small town for 8 points
(4 + 1 surveyor), removes his settler
from the town, and moves the bottommost surveyor, forcing the Green and
Red settlers out of the surveyor-vacated
column. Thus, the Red town is not scored,
as the Red settler is no longer there!
Scoring summary
Completed features during the game
Trail
(robber)
Incomplete features at game end
1 point per tile +
2 points per trading post
Trail
(robber)
1 point per tile +
2 points per trading post
Town
2 points per tile +
(shopkeeper) 2 points per flag
Town
1 points per tile +
(shopkeeper) 1 points per flag
Farm
(farmer)
Farm
(farmer)
1 point for each tile
(farm + surrounding)
Plains
1 point for each animal
in the plains area
9 points
Surveyor
+4 points when in the
same column as scoring settler
(trapper)
B2
