The time has come for the tribe to leave their shelter and head for new horizons. As clan chief, guide your prehistoric people through the valley. Hunt and gather food, discover safe caves for the upcoming winter, and interact with the other nomad groups. Gather your tribe and discover the valley!
Components
- 1 Scoretrack
- 8 Valley personal board halves
- 63 Tribe tiles
- 32 Mountain tokens
- 4 Food Point tokens
- 4 Shelter Point tokens
- 1 First Player token
- 18 Mammoth Steak tokens
- 18 Bear tokens
- Instructions
Details of a Personal Board
Details of a tribe Tile
Object of the Game
Meet your tribe's needs in two distinct domains: Food and Shelter. To do this, connect tiles to make your way into the valley. As you connect, you will gather food and locate new caves.
At the end of the game, players compete on the weaker of their two domains. Whoever has the most points in his weaker domain will be the winner.
Setup
 Sample of a 3-player Game Setup |
Put the Scoretrack 1 on the table. Arrange the Mammoth Steak 2 and Bear tokens 3 next to it. Shuffle the 63 Tribe tiles and place them next to the Scoretrack in any number of face-down piles 4.
Randomly remove some Tribe tiles from the game without being revealed.
- In a 2-player game, remove 12 Tribe Tiles
- In a 3-player game, remove 18 Tribe Tiles
- In A 4-player Game, Remove 6 Tribe Tiles
The remaining tiles are called the Stack. Reveal five of these and place them face-up within reach of all players, to form the Common Pool 5.
Each player randomly takes two half-boards, one Left half and one Right half. Assemble your halves face-up in front of you to form your Valley Board 6).
Next, each player chooses a color. Take the eight Mountain tokens of your color and put them randomly on the eight squares on the edges of your board : the six Cave squares and the two Waterfalls 7, with the Scene icons visible. Draw four Tribe tiles from the Stack, and place them face-up next to your board. These form your Personal Pool 8.
Then, place the three Fight tokens of your color near your board 9, and put your Shelter Point and Food Point tokens directly next to the Scoretrack, near its first spot 10.
The youngest player places the First Player token 11 in front of him. He starts the game.
Game Play
Starting Cave and First Tribe Tile
Players begin by chosing their starting Cave.
The first player chooses a tile in his Personal Pool and lays it face-up on any Cave on his Valley board. The icon on the Scene that he places on this Cave square must match the icon on the Mountain token that lies there.
The other Scene on the tile must cover the adjacent square in the Valley. If this square is a Plain, then this other Scene can not be a Picking 
.
Next, the first player takes the Mountain token for his starting Cave. He scores the higher number of Shelter Points indicated next to this Cave, by moving his Shelter Points token on the Scoretrack.
Marceau has to select a starting Cave covered by a Mountain token that matches at least one Scene on his tiles.
He chooses to start on the Cave covered by the Hunt token 
, he claims the token for himself and lays a Hunt Scene on this Cave.
The other Scene on the tile covers the only adjacent square in the Valley. As there was a Mountain token on the Cave where he laid his tile, he scores 7 Shelter Points.
The player now chooses a tile in the Common Pool and places it in his Personal Pool, to bring it back to four tiles. He then reveals a new tile from the Stack and places it in the Common Pool, to replace the tile he just took.
To prepare for next turns, Marceau needs a tile containing a Fight Scene 
. He chooses it among the five tiles available in the Common Pool. He replaces this tile with a new one he drew off the Stack.
Going clockwise, each other Player puts her first tile into play, scores her first Shelter Points, and refills the Pools.
Game Turn
Once every player has laid a first tile down, the game begins. On your turn, you must perform the following actions, in this order :
- Put a tribe tile from your personal pool into play on your valley.
- Refill your personal pool, and then the common pool.
Once per turn, before you refill the pools (but not during a tile's resolution), you may use a single Mountain token you have claimed. Mountain tokens can be played on the turn that they are earned. However, you may not play one just after choosing a starting Cave.
Players take turns this way, going clockwise, until the end of the game.
Putting a Tile into Play
Choose a tile in your Personal Pool and lay it down on a square (Forest, Plain, and/or Cave) still free of any Tribe tile or Bear token. You must also respect the following rules:
The new tile must be connected to at least one tile already in play. A tile is connected when at least one side (not diagonals) of one of its two Scenes is in contact with another tile.
All connected Scenes always must be identical.
A Picking Scene
, whether connected or not, cannot be placed on a Plain square.
Earning Food Points (FP)
When you play a tile, each of its Scenes connected to one or more tiles already in play earns you Food Points. Advance your Food Points token on the Sco- retrack as many spaces as the value indicated on the Square that this Scene covers.
Tile Bonuses
In addition to earning FP, each Scene that has just connected to one or more Scenes already in play allows you to benefit from the Bonus of this Scene. You are not required to apply the Bonus of a connected Scene.
If you connect both Scenes that you just put into play, you may gain both Bonuses. Choose which one to resolve first.
By choosing to play his tile here, Vianney scores the 3 Food Points indicated on the square that the Feast 
covers. He can then use the Feast's Bonus.
He neither scores the points under the Ritual 
Scene, nor does he benefit from its Bonus, because this Scene is not connected to another tile already in play.
Refilling the Pools
Bring your Personal Pool back to four tiles by choosing and taking as many tiles as necessary from the Common Pool.
Then draw and reveal exactly as many tiles from the Stack as you took, and add them in the Common Pool. Once the Stack is empty, do not refill the Common Pool anymore.
Vianney has only two tiles left after playing his main action. He chooses to take the two marked in red in the Common Pool to bring his Pool back to four. He then reveals two tiles from the Stack and adds them to the Common Pool, so that it is brought back to five.
Important: In a two player game, remove one additional tile at this step, as stated in the 2-player rules.
Caves, Mountain Tokens, and Shelter Points (SP)
Cave squares, whether covered by a Mountain token or not, are squares on which a Tribe tile can be laid to earn Shelter Points, with respect to all rules regarding how to put a tile into play.
The Scene laid on the cave always must match the symbol on the token that lays here. If the Cave has no token, you may put any Scene there.
When you lay a Scene on a Cave square, first gain the FP and Scene Bonus for the connection. Then claim the Mountain token, if any, and score the Shelter Points indicated: the higher score if there was a token, the lower one if not.
Marceau can connected a tile to a Scene and cover the Cave with the Scene required by the Mountain token. He's led his Tribe into the safety of this cave!
He claims the token and lays his tile down. He earns 2 FP and may benefit from the Ritual Bonus.
Since there was a Mountain token on the Cave, he scores 7 SP. If there had been no Mountain token, he could have laid any Scene of his choice on the Cave, but would have scored only 5 SP.
Using a Mountain Token
Once per turn, before you refill the pools (but not during a tile's resolution), you may use a single Mountain token you have claimed (even if you claimed it this turn). Apply the token Bonus, then remove the token from the game.
 The Mountain tokens, eight for each player |
Abandoning a Tribe
On your turn, if you cannot put a tile into play, your Tribe has reached a dead end. You can do nothing else for them; you must abandon this Tribe and start a new one.
Choose a Cave with no Tribe tile on it and remove the Mountain token on it (if any) from the game. Put the tile of your choice from your Personal Pool here, and score the lower amount of Shelter Points indicated.
This new Tribe becomes your active Tribe, the only one to which you are allowed to connect new tiles. An active Tribe can never be connected to an aban- doned Tribe.
To indicate that a Tribe has been abandoned, flip all of the tiles of the abandoned Tribe face down.
Vianney cannot put any of his tiles into play. He must abandon his Tribe. Among the Caves available for his new Tribe, he chooses the one with the Picking symbol on it.
He removes the token from the game and can now lay a tile on it. He earns the 5 SP corresponding to the absence of a Mountain token. He could have chosen a Cave on which there was no token, but this seems like the best new start.
Warning: The game can end earlier for one player than for the others if, on his turn, a player cannot put a tile into play, even by abandoning his Tribe. He still counts his points normally at the end of the game.
Scene Bonuses
-
Feast: Lay One Additional Tile
Put one additional tile from your Personal Pool into play. You cannot benefit from any Food Points or Scene Bonuses linked to this additional tile. However, if this tile is used to join a Cave, you may score the corresponding SP.
"A well fed tribe can head faster for caves and luxuriant areas. "
-
Picking: +1 FP / Forbidden on a Plain
Earn 1FP in addition to the FPs normally gathered by laying the tile. This Scene cannot be put on a plain, even if it does not connect.
"Some woods are hiding treasures for feeding a tribe".
-
Ritual: Take a Mountain Token
Claim any Mountain token covering either a Cave or a Water- fall on your board. If no more are available anymore, take back one you already used.
"Superstition and beliefs have always helped humans face what they are unable to explain. "
-
Water: Swap a Tile
Swap a tile in your Personal Pool with any tile in another player's Personal Pool or the Common Pool. Fight tokens remain on their tiles.
"Water areas are both meeting points and the source of tribal conflicts. "
-
Camp: +3 SP
Earn 3 Shelter Points.
"Establishing camps provides the tribe with shelter and helps to stock its food. "
-
Hunt: Take a Steak Token/Convert
Take a Mammoth Steak token from the pool. Then convert any or all of your Steak tokens into FP. Any that remain unconverted must wait until next Hunt for another conversion opportunity.
The total value in FP for a collection, regarding how many tokens it contains, is indicated on the Scoretrack. Five or more tokens are worth 10 FP. Place all converted tokens back into the token pool. Unconverted Steak tokens remaining at the end of the game are worth nothing.
"Hunters leave on a quest for mammoth meat. When will they come back ?"
-
Fight: Place a Fight Token/ +1 -1 FP
The player places one of his Fight tokens on a tile, either in a Personal Pool, or in the Common Pool.
When a player puts a tile into play, on which there is a Fight token, he loses 1 FP and the owner of the token wins 1 FP. FPs are adjusted before the tile is put into play.
If there is more than one Fight token on the tile, they are resolved in an order chosen by the player. If a player has no FP when he is supposed to lose one due to the effect of a token, this token has no effect. A player can take back any one of her Fight tokens, at anytime.
"When survival is involved, law of the fittest is the rule".
-
Fire: Put on (+ SP) or Take off a Bear Token
Take a Bear token from your Personal Pool and lay it on another player's Personal Board.
Choose a free square, adjacent to any tile already in play. Then score as many SP as tiles connected to this token. No tile can be laid on a square covered by a Bear token.
Instead of laying a Bear token and earning SP, you may move one Bear token on your board back in the pool.
"Fire will force beasts to search for less protected tribes".
-
Mountain Tokens
Mountain tokens provide the same Bonus as the corresponding Scenes, with two exceptions :
Hunt Token: No Conversion Allowed
Take a Mammoth Steak token, but you cannot convert your collection of Steak tokens into FP.
Picking Token: Pickings on Plains
For the rest of this turn, you can put Picking Scenes on Plain squares.
End of the Game
The game end triggers when the Common Pool and the Stack are both empty. End the current table turn, so that all players have played the same number of turns.
Players now count up their points. Remove your token on the Scoretrack that reached the higher total, either Food Points or Shelter Points. The player with the highest remaining score is the winner. In case of a tie, tied players share victory.
Vianney (green) has earned 38 FP and 28 SP. He removes his FP token from the track. Marceau (yellow) has 30 FP and 31 SP. He removes his SP token. Marceau wins the game with 30 points, to Vianney's 28.
Sapiens for 2 Players
A 2-player game is played with all normal rules, with one exception: Each turn, after refilling your Personal Pool, choose one tile in the Common Pool and remove it from the game. Then refill the Common Pool to five tiles.
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