Game Components

• 44 Worker tiles - backs in player colors
• 4 water carriers in wood
• 4 Village boards - backs in player colors
• 28 Jungle tiles - gray backs
• 8x plantations
• 7x markets
• 3x gold mines
• 3x water
• 2x sun worshiping
• 5x temple
• 20 cacao fruits
• 12 Sun tokens
• 48 gold coins
• 1 rule book
• 1 overview sheet for Jungle tiles

Setup

Each player chooses an available player color. He takes the Village board, the water carrier and the Worker tiles of that color. He places the village board in front of him and puts the water carrier on the water field with the value "-10".

Worker Tiles

The Worker tiles depict a sand-colored area with a hut of the respective player color in the middle.

There are always 4 Workers of this color depicted at the edges of the tile in various distributions. Depending on the number of players, each player sorts out the following Worker tiles and puts them back in the box:

Each player shuffles their supply of Worker tiles to make a facedown draw pile next to their village board. Then, each player draws 3 Worker tiles from their draw pile as a starting hand.

Jungle Tiles

The Jungle tiles are predominantly green and depict locations where your Workers may perform different actions.

Take the following 2 Jungle tiles and place them faceup in the middle of the table diagonal to one another. These are the start tiles: 1x single plantation and 1x market, selling price 2.

Shuffle the remaining Jungle tiles and lay them out as a facedown Jungle draw pile.

Draw 2 Jungle tiles from the Jungle draw pile and place them next to the pile as a faceup Jungle display. Sort the gold coins, cacao fruits and sun tokens into separate supplies.

Object of the game

Cacao immerses the players in the exotic world of the "Fruit of the Gods". As the chief of your tribe, you must lead your people to prosperity and glory through the cultivation and trade of cacao. At the end of the game, the player with the most gold wins.

Game Play

The game proceeds over several rounds, played in clockwise order. The oldest player is the start player and begins the game.

During the course of the game, the players add Worker and Jungle tiles to the playing area.

When placing tiles, the following rules apply:

• A Worker tile may never share a border with another Worker tile.
• A Jungle tile may never share a border with another Jungle tile.

This will create a checkerboard pattern of Worker and Jungle tiles. The starting tiles have already determined whether you have to put a Worker tile or a Jungle tile on an unoccupied square of this pattern. The spaces where Jungle tiles must be placed are referred to as Jungle spaces.

Game Turn

On your turn, you have to carry out the following steps in the order indicated:

• A) Place 1 Worker tile

  Choose 1 Worker tile from your hand and place it next to one or more Jungle tiles. You may orient the Worker tile however you wish.

  
  

• B) Fill Jungle spaces

  

  The placement of Worker tiles can trigger the filling of Jungle spaces. If the newly placed Worker tile causes an empty Jungle space to be bordered by 2 or more Worker tiles, that Jungle space must be filled. To whom the bordering Worker tiles belong does not matter. It is possible that several Jungle spaces must be filled in a single turn.

  For each Jungle space that must be filled, you choose 1 Jungle tile from the Jungle display with which to fill it. If several Jungle spaces must be filled, you choose which Jungle tiles are placed where.

  Attention: The Jungle display is only refilled at the end of each turn.

  Note: In the unlikely event that more than 2 Jungle spaces must be filled in a turn, you first place the 2 faceup Jungle tiles, then draw additional Jungle tiles from the facedown draw pile to fill the remaining Jungle spaces.

  If a newly placed Worker tile does not create a Jungle space that must be filled, or if there are no Jungle tiles remaining in the draw pile or display, then no Jungle tile is placed.

• C) Perform Jungle tile actions

  

  Each Worker on the newly placed Worker tile that shares a border with a Jungle tile is activated. By activating a worker, you may perform the action of the adjacent Jungle tile.

  You will find a detailed description of the actions of the different Jungle tiles on the overview sheet for Jungle tiles. The overview sheet is part of the game rules and has been separated for increased clarity.

  If Jungle spaces were filled during this turn, each player may now perform the actions on the newly placed Jungle tiles now bordering their previously placed Worker tiles.

  Attention: Each worker is activated exactly one time during the game - either when placing the Worker tile or when filling adjacent Jungle spaces with Jungle tiles later on.

  The players involved may perform the actions simultaneously and independently of one another.

  Note: Players may choose to not perform any individual action.

  You may freely determine the order in which you perform actions. However, the actions for workers on one edge of the tile have to be completed before the actions for workers on another edge of the tile may be performed.

  Note: Players may make change for their gold coins at the bank at any time.

Ending a turn

After steps A through C have been performed, draw a tile from your Player draw pile and add it to your hand.

Skip this step if your Player draw pile is depleted.

If there are less than 2 Jungle tiles in the Jungle display, draw tiles from the Jungle draw pile to replenish the display to 2 tiles. Skip this step if the draw pile is depleted.

Then, the next player clockwise begins his or her turn.

End of the game

The game ends after the round in which all players have placed their last Worker tile.

The temples are scored individually, one after another. The players in first and second place obtain gold. To keep things clear, scored temple tiles should be flipped over to their back side.

For each Sun token that you still own at the end of the game, you get 1 gold from the bank.

Finally, you add up your gold and add or subtract the value of the water field on which your water carrier is standing.

Note: Left-over cacao fruits do not give you any gold.

The player with the most gold wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most cacao fruit wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players rejoice in a shared victory.

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