Let's go back to 1803 and imagine that President Jefferson did not send one but many expeditions to explore the Wild West. You and the other players will each lead one of these parties.

Your aim will be to cross the North American continent and, of course, to reach the Pacific as soon as possible. History will only remember the first to arrive. Lewis & Clark is a race game driven by resource and hand management.

What needs to be managed are your resources, your Corps of Discovery, and especially the trappers and Native Americans met during the journey. Good management will result in good progress across the West!

Components

• 1 Game board
• 5 Scout figures of different colors
• 5 Camp tokens of different colors
• 100 Resource hexagons
• 5 Expedition boards
• 8 Resource Multiplication markers
• 12 double-sided Boat tiles
• 18 Indian figures
• 84 Character cards
• 10 Route Change tokens
• 8 Resource Badge tokens (for solo play)

Setup

1. Unfold the game board and place it in the center of the table.

   It represents the territory that you will have to cross, and also an Indian Village where you will be able to get help for your journey.

2. Place the resource hexagons on the appropriate Stocks of the game board:

   
   
   

   During your journey, you will need different kinds of resources. Some of them can be obtained directly by using an action (this costs nothing) ; these are the Primary Resources.

   
   
   

   Other resources need a «transformation» ; you will have to give some resources or Indians to get them.

   Each group of resources is a Stock.

   8 Resource Multiplication Markers

   

   Place them next to the game board. If a Stock is depleted, a player may take a marker, and put an appropriate hexagon on it, making it worth three of that resource.

   Resources will not run out during the game. Multiplication Markers allow you to compensate for a potential shortage of resource hexagons.

3. 

   Based on the number of players, take the appropriate number of Indian figures and place them next to the game board to form the Stock. Remaining Indians are put back into the box.

   
   
   

   The Indians will allow you to perform actions in the Village or with your Characters. Th ey can also increase the power of your actions. More Indians are available when you use the "Interpreter" Starting Character. Use good management as they could slow you down.

4. Place 1 Indian figure from the stock on the Newcomer area of the game board.

5. Place the 12 Boat tiles on the game board (on the Gulf of Mexico) in two stacks of 6 tiles:

   
   
   

   By adding these Boats to your Expedition, you will increase your storage or passenger capacity.

6. Each player chooses a color and takes the 6 Starting Character cards of this color in his hand.

   If there are fewer than 5 players, the unused Starting Character cards are placed back in the box.

   These 6 cards represent historical members of the Expedition. They form your starting hand. At the beginning of the game, all the players have identical hands, apart from the names of their explorers.

7. Shuffle the 54 Encountered Character cards to form the draw deck, and place it face down on the game board, on top of the Journal of Encounters.

   

   Draw 5 cards from this deck and arrange them on the Journal of Encounters by their Strength (number at the card's top left-hand corner) . The lowest Strength card is placed at the bottom of the Journal, close to the Gulf of Mexico, and the highest Strength at the top. If two cards have the same Strength, place them in the order drawn.

8. Each player takes an Expedition mini-board of the color she chose and places it in front of her. She takes an Indian figure from the stock and places it on the fourth Boat of her Expedition.

9. Each player takes 1 Fur, 1 Food, and 1 Equipment from the Stocks and places them on the first boat of his Expedition.

   
   
   

10. Each player places the Scout figure of her color on the Route starting space (St Louis).

    She places the Camp token of her color next to the river, pointing at the starting space (St Louis). The Scouts and Camps of the unused colors are placed back in the box.

11. The starting player is chosen randomly. The game starts with this player's turn.

The Expedition Mini-boards

Your Expedition is represented by your individual board. It is composed of Boats on which:

• you will store the resources you get (hexagonal spots) or

• you will place the Indians who join you (circular spots).

Some of these Boats are «easy to handle»: they will not slow you down during your Encampment phase. Others (with a Time symbol above them ) will slow your Encampment if their spaces are occupied during this phase.

At any time during your Expedition, you may reorganize your resources and Indians in any way you like, enabling more of them to be on Boats that cost less Time.

The Character Cards

The Characters may either: perform actions; acquire or transform resources; or move your expedition forward on the route.

A large number of strategies are possible in Lewis & Clark, thanks to the card combinations that can be made from your hand.

84 Character cards composed of:

• 30 Starting Character cards (5 crews of 6 Characters), with the players' colors on the back.
• 54 Encountered Character cards, numbered from 1 to 54, whom the players will be able to recruit.

Object of the Game

During the game, you will mainly perform actions by using Character cards from your hand, but also by sending Indians of your Expedition to the Village. These actions will allow your Scout to move forward on the route. Character cards can either perform actions (for which they'll need to be given Strength), or provide Strength to another Character card.

Frequently, you will have to stop and Camp in order to retrieve the Character cards that you have previously played. During this phase, your Scout will have to move back on the route if your Boats are heavily loaded with resources or if you transport a lot of Indians. How long it takes for your Expedition to set up Camp will be crucial. Afterwards, your Camp token will join your Scout.

When a player brings his Camp on or beyond the Fort Clatsop space, the game immediately ends. This player wins the game, because he is the first one to reach the Pacific.

Game Play

On your turn, you must perform an Action.

In addition to this compulsory Action, you can set up Camp.

You can also Recruit a new Character.

Those two phases are optional: each of them can be done any time during the player's turn, before or after the compulsory Action, but never simultaneously.

Action

(Compulsory Phase).

On your turn, you must perform an Action. There are two types of Action: the Character cards' Actions and the Indian Village Actions on the game board.

To perform an Action, Strength, represented by this symbol, must be given to the Action by Indian figures, or from another card, or both! Character cards have a Strength from 1 to 3 and the Indian figures have a Strength of 1 each.

The Action may be performed this turn as many times as the number of Strength points given to it.

Character Cards Actions

In order to activate the Action of a Character card from your hand, you must play it in front of you. It must be given Strength (its own card Strength is NOT used!) from either:

• A another Character card from your hand: choose a card and place it face-down underneath the card to activate it; or

• B Indian figures taken from your Expedition: take 1, 2 or 3 Indian figures from your Expedition mini-board and place them on the card to activate; or

• C a combination of a Character card from your hand and 1 or 2 Indian figures: choose a card and place it face-down underneath the card and place 1 or 2 Indian figures on it to activate, with a maximum total Strength of 3.

In all three cases, the Action is performed as many times as the Strength that activates it.

The Character cards played remain in front of you and constitute your Playing Area.

Be careful! In cases A and C, the Action of the face-down card is temporarily unavailable (until the next Encampment).

In cases B and C, the Indians played still belong to your Expedition.

It is often useful to perform an Action more than once. Having Character cards with a Strength of 2 or 3 in hand is a big advantage, since Actions can now be done without Indians.

Indian Village Actions

The Village Actions (shown by icons in bubbles) can only be activated by Indians placed on the Action area.

• On an empty circle, place just one Indian figure taken from your Expedition.
• On a semicircle, place simultaneously 1,2 or 3 Indian figures taken from your Expedition, regardless of whether or not the area is already occupied.

In both cases, perform the Action as many times as the number of Indians you have placed. These Indian figures do not belong to you anymore.

Unlike the Character card Actions, these Actions are available for all the players.

The Village Actions can be hotly contested! Anticipating when the other players will try to grab them is a key part of your strategy.

Important Note About The Actions

It is always permissible to use only a part of the Strength (or none of the Strength) that has been given to an Action. For example: an Action that has been given a Strength of 3 could be performed twice, or once, or not at all, rather than three times.

It is also permissible to take only some (or none) of the benefits gained from an Action, rather than all of them.

Recruitment

(Optional Phase).

During the adventure, you will meet Characters who will be able to join your Corps of Discovery They are present on the Journal of Encounters. You can only recruit one Character each round, either before or after your compulsory Action.

Pay the cost in Equipment and Fur corresponding to the Character you want to recruit:

• as many Fur as indicated by his position on the Journal of Encounters
• and as many Equipment as the Strength of the Character.

You can partially or completely pay the required Equipment by discarding one (and only one) card from your hand. Then you save as many Equipment as indicated by the Recruitment Discount on the back of the discarded card.

The discarded card is placed face-up into a discard deck beside the game board. Immediately add the recruited Character to your hand.

Then add a new Character card to the Journal of Encounters.

At the beginning of his turn, Cedrick wants to recruit Black Cat. His cost is 4 Fur and 3 Equipment. Cedrick gives 4 Fur, and then puts 2 Equipment into the Stock and discards Hugh McNeal, who has a Strength of 1 (which counts as 1 Equipment). He adds Black Cat to his hand.

Advice To Beginners

During your first games, we advise you not to discard your Interpreter and Commander (see Starting Character Actions description). Without these two cards, and without having recruited the necessary Characters, you would not be able to win the game!

Add a new card to the Journal of Encounters

As soon as a spot becomes empty on the Journal of Encounters, move all the Encountered Character cards downwards.

Draw a new Character card and place it on the first spot, close to the draw deck. Do not re-arrange the cards by Strength!

Encampment

(Optional Phase).

You can set up Camp any time during your round, before or after your compulsory Action. Your Camp and your Scout might end up at the same spot during this time.

If you cannot perform any Action (Character or Village) at the start of your turn, then you must first set up camp before taking your compulsory action for that turn.

This phase allows you to take back into your hand the cards you have played into your Playing Area. Nevertheless, it can take time and delay your progress. This time is symbolized by the «Time» icon present on the cards and on the Boats.

When you set up Camp:

1. Place all the Indians played on your Character cards back on the Boats of your Expedition.

   At any time during your Expedition, you may reorganize your resources and Indians in any way you like, enabling more of them to be on Boats that cost less Time.

2. Calculate how much Time you spend in Camp. It is equal to the sum of:

   • the Character cards still in your hand at this moment, and
   • the possible Time costs of the Boats of your Expedition (based on transported resources and Indians).

   Your Characters that haven't been used since the last Encampment slow you down: they want to talk with you about their terms of employment.

   Unloading Boats, only to later re-embark, takes valuable time away from your journey. Therefore, you must carefully manage your resources in order not to fall back.

   Time costs of the expedition boats

   
   
   

3. Move your Scout backwards by the same number of spaces as the Time your Expedition spends in Camp, observing the Scouts' movement rules.

   If your scout has to move backwards more than 5 spaces downriver from Saint Louis, its movement stops on the first river space, even if other scouts are already there.

4. Bring your Camp up to your Scout if the Scout is further ahead and point your Camp token at the space where the Scout is. Do not move your Camp if your Scout is situated further behind than your Camp.

5. Take all the cards from your Playing Area back into your hand.

The Camp

A Camp never moves backwards on the Route. At the end of your Encampment phase, several Camps can be pointing at the same space. A Scout can be on a space pointed at by one or more Camps.

Example: Karine (Blue) must Camp. She takes her two Indian figures (present on her cards in her Playing Area) and puts them on her Boats. She then calculates her Time spent in Camp. In the situation shown on below, Karine's Time spent in Camp equals 5:

• 1 for the Character card left in her hand A

• +1 for the 3 resources present on her Boat B

• +2 for the 2 resources present on her Boat C

• +1 for the Indian present on her Boat D. Which makes a total of 5 Time points. Karine therefore must move her Scout 5 spaces backwards on the River. Th en she moves her Camp token next to her Scout and takes back her cards into her hand.

End of the Game

When a player brings his Camp token on or beyond the Fort Clatsop space, the game ends immediately. This player wins the game.

During your first games, you might think that the start player is at a small disadvantage at the beginning of the game. However, the "sudden death" ending at Fort Clatsop balances things

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