Clans

A game about the establishment of the first villages

Players: 2 - 4

Ages: from 10 years

Duration: approximately 30 minutes

Idea of the game

5 clans wander throughout ancient terrain in search of security. Every once in a while they build their huts together. This is how the first villages developed.

But the peaceful appearance can be deceiving and, according to some very simple rules, an unusual tactical contest develops regarding supremacy of the clans.

Game material

1 gameboard, divided into 60 areas with different terrain: mountains (gray), forest (dark green), steppes (yellow) and grassland (light green). Rivers and lakes group the areas into 12 regions (which are only important for initial distribution of huts at the start).

An epoch chart is also displayed on the gameboard. This shows 5 epochs, I - V, one after the other from top to bottom, as well as which terrain type in each epoch is favorable and which is hostile to life. Surrounding the epoch chart is a scoring strip, on which you can keep track of game progress without requiring the players to betray their clan color.

60 huts, 12 each in the colors of the 5 clans

5 secret clan cards with the colors of the clans

12 yellow bonus chips

5 scoring disks for the scoring strip, 1 in each clan color

1 rules booklet

Note: In some games the 5th clan color is white instead of black.

A region with 5 areas

Steppe

Grassland

Forest

Grassland

Mountains

60 huts

5 scoring disks

Gameboard with 60 areas divided into 12 regions

Epoch chart

Scoring strip

Bonus chips

5 clan cards in the clan colors

Set-up

Place 1 hut into each of the 60 areas.

In order to ensure an even distribution of colors, first make 12 groups of 5 huts composed of 1 hut in each color. Put one group into each region. Then distribute one of the 5 huts in the group into each individual area in the region.

The 5 wooden disks are all placed at the start of the scoring strip.

Each player draws a clan card and keeps it secret from the other players until the end of game scoring. Any unused cards are put back into the box without being revealed.

The 12 bonus chips are placed on the corresponding spots of the epoch chart.

Goal of the game

Throughout the course of the game, each player tries, as inconspicuously as possible, to collect the most points for his clan color. You get points for your color with the formation of each village, so long as at least one hut of your color is represented. Additionally, a player who establishes a village on his turn gets a bonus chip (= one point).

Thus, it is desirable to establish many villages, preferably ones where your color is represented. Villages are more valuable the more huts they contain.

But, beware - villages established in areas which are hostile to life in an epoch get no points and individual huts can vanish from a village if a dispute occurs.

So, you play like this

1. Start

Randomly determine a startplayer, then play in clockwise order.

2. Movement

There is only one possible type of movement in the game: all huts in one area are moved into any one adjacent area which may not have been unoccupied.

In this way, more and more areas become emptied, while groups of huts are concentrated in other areas.

If a group is composed of 7 or more huts, it may not be moved. Huts from adjacent areas can still be moved in to join this group, however. Movement across rivers is allowed but not across lakes.

In the rare case where multiple groups of 7 or more huts are adjacent to each other, the smaller group must be moved to join the larger. If both groups are the same size, the active player decides which group is moved.

Example 1: Movement.

Group 1 has 4 movement possibilities from this area. Only 2 of them are legal, however, because two of the possible areas are unoccupied.

Group 2 may not be moved because it is more than 7 huts large.

3. Epochs

The game extends over 5 epochs, as displayed on the gameboard. In each of the first 4 epochs, one of the 4 types of terrains is particularly well-suited to the establishment of villages (the terrain depicted on the left of the epoch chart, e.g. forest in the 1st epoch). Another type of terrain is hostile to life (the terrain depicted with a ruins on the right of the epoch chart, e.g. mountains in the 1st epoch). The other terrains are neutral. In the 5th epoch, all terrains are favorable.

A village established in a favorable terrain scores additional points equal to the number shown on the epoch chart, e.g. 2 in epoch II. If a village is established in terrain that is hostile to life, it earns no bonus points or any other points.

In each epoch, the number of villages to be established is equal to the number of bonus chips placed in that epoch on the epoch chart (4 in the 1st epoch, 3 in the 2nd epoch, etc.) Each player who establishes a village gets the topmost bonus chip. When the last bonus chip for an epoch is taken, the next epoch begins. If 2 villages are established on the same player turn but only one bonus chip is left in the current epoch, then one of the villages is actually established as the first village in the next epoch. The active player decides which village belongs to which epoch. This rule also applies if more than 2 villages are established in the same player turn.

If both the 12th and 13th villages are established on the same (last) player turn, that player also decides which of those villages was the 12th and is thus scored.

4. Villages

A group of huts (or even a single hut) becomes a village as soon as, at the end of any player turn, the area they are in is surrounded only by unoccupied areas.

The player who established the village (by the actions of his just completed turn) takes the topmost bonus chip from the epoch chart and sets it in front of himself. Each bonus chip counts as one point for the player holding it at the end of the game.

Every time a village is established, three things happen:

1. The player who established the village takes the topmost bonus chip.

2. The village is scored (see section 5)

3. The scoring disks for the clan colors represented in the village are moved forward on the scoring strip. The next player then takes his turn.

Example 2: Establishing a village

The huts in area 1 will become a village if the huts in the adjacent area 2 move either into area 1 or into area 3 because then all the areas adjacent to area 1 (marked by green dots) will be empty.

The player who establishes this village gets the topmost bonus chip from the epoch chart. Each bonus chip counts as one point for the player holding it at the end of the game.

Dispute in a village:

The clans normally manage to live together in a group quite peacefully - but there ia an exception: if all 5 colors are represented in a village when it is established, there is first a dispute. All colors represented in the village by only one hut are removed before the village is scored.

Example 3: Dispute in a village

This village has just been established with 9 huts. All 5 colors are represented: black with 4, red with 2, blue with 1, yellow with 1, and green with 1 hut.

The single huts for blue, yellow and green are immediately removed before the village is scored - these colors do not score any points for this village.

5. Scoring a village

Generally, when a village is established, each clan color gets points equal to the total number of huts in the village - whether it is represented by one or several huts.

There are 2 exceptions however: when the village was established

- in an area with favorable terrain, the village also gets as many bonus points as indicated on the epoch chart.

- in an area with hostile terrain, the village gets no points, neither for the huts nor any bonus points. The player who established the village does get the bonus chip from the epoch chart, however.

Example 4: Favorable and unfavorable terrains.

The steppe is a favorable terrain in the 3rd epoch. Therefore, the village gets 3 bonus points.

The grassland is a hostile terrain in the 2nd epoch. The village gets no points.

The 12th village always gets a 5 point bonus, regardless of the type of terrain where it was established.

A village's score is equal to the total number of huts plus bonus points. The scoring disks of the clan's represented in the village are moved forward on the scoring strip.

Example 5: Scoring.

Village 1 is composed of 5 huts - 3 blue, 1 yellow, and 1 red. It was established in the 1st epoch in favorable forest terrain, so it also gets a bonus of 1 point.

The village therefore scores 5 points for the huts plus one bonus point equals 6 points. The blue, yellow, and red scoring disks are moved forward on the scoring strip accordingly.

End of the game and the winner

The game ends when the 12th village is established. Scoring for the 12th village takes place as normal and scoring disks of the involved clans are advanced as normal. In the rare case that no legal moves are possible before the 12th village is established, the game ends early.

The players now reveal their secret clan cards. Each player moves his clan's scoring disk forward a number of additional spaces equal to the bonus chips he earned for establishing villages during the game. The player whose scoring disk is fartherest advanced along the scoring strip wins.