If players want a game with more tactics and a bit less luck, they should play using these auction rules. The rules of the basic version are followed except that the terrain hexagons are auctioned instead of being drawn. The turns are grouped into rounds with the round size equal to the number of players.

Setup

Place the scoring markers on space "20" of the scoring track. These 20 points serve as starting capital for the players to use in the auctions prior to the first scoring round. The players take the turn indicators in their colors and place them face up on the table.

Game Play

Display Terrain Hexagons

Draw and place face up as many terrain hexagons as there are players in the game.

Bidding For The First Turn

The players now will bid for the right to play first and have the first choice of the displayed terrain hexagons.

Starting with the oldest player and continuing in clockwise order, the players may bid for the right to go first or pass. Each successive bid must be higher than the previous high bid. Once a player has passed, he cannot bid again for this turn.

The bidding ends when all have passed except one player. That player wins the bid and the right to play first in this set of rounds.

Highest Bidder's Turn

The player who made the highest bid moves his scoring marker backwards on the track the number of spaces of his bid. Then he selects a terrain hexagon, places it on the game board and uses 10 action points to explore Tikal. When he has finished his turn, he flips his turn indicator up-side-down to indicate he has taken his turn.

Bidding For The Second And Third Turns

The clockwise neighbor of the player who played first begins the bidding for the second turn.

Only players with face up turn indicators may bid. As before, the highest bidder pays by moving his scoring marker, selects and places a hexagon, and uses his 10 action points to explore. The third turn is done in a similar fashion.

If all players pass in the bidding for any turn, the player who first passed takes his turn for free.

The Last Turn Of A Round

The last turn goes to the player who has not taken a turn in this round. He pays nothing for his turn, places the remaining hexagon on the board and uses 10 action points to explore Tikal. When he finishes his turn, all players turn their turn indicators face up and a new round of turns begins.

New Round

A new set of terrain hexagons is drawn and displayed. The players then bid on the new set of hexagons as before. The clockwise neighbor of the player who played last in the previous round is the first bidder in the new round.

Play continues in this way until all terrain hexagons have been placed and the last player has completed his turn.

Example of the turn sequence with 4 players (A, B, C, D)

To begin the game the first 4 terrain hexagons are drawn and displayed. Bidding begins with the oldest player and continues in clockwise order. B bids the highest with 5 and takes the first turn.

B moves his scoring marker backwards 5 spaces, selects a terrain hexagon, places it on the board, uses 10 AP and turns his turn indicator up-side-down. C now begins the bidding for the second turn (being the first player clockwise from B).

Only A, C and D may bid; B may not bid again this round. A has the highest bid at 4. A pays 4 points, selects a terrain hexagon, places it on the board, uses 10 actions points, and turns his turn indicator up-side-down. The bidding for the third turn begins with C. C and D are the only possible bidders as A and B have taken their turns. Both C and D choose to pass.

Since C was the first to pass, he takes his turn, paying nothing, selecting and playing a terrain hexagon, using 10 action points to explore Tikal and turning his turn indicator up-side-down. Finally, there is just one hexagon left and one player who has not taken a turn. D pays nothing, places the last hexagon on the board, and uses 10 action points to explore Tikal.

A, B and C turn their turn indicators face up to prepare for the next round of turns. 4 terrain hexagons are drawn and displayed and A (the clockwise neighbor of D) begins the bidding for the new hexagons.

Scoring

As with the standard version, a scoring round begins immediately when a player selects the volcano hexagon.

This player sets the volcano hexagon aside as before and begins the scoring round.

The scoring round works just as in the standard version with each player using 10 action points to explore Tikal and then scoring their position.

The players take their scoring turns in clockwise order after the volcano player as before. They do not turn their turn indicators over after they score.

When all players have finished their scoring turns, the volcano player takes his normal turn by placing the volcano hexagon and using 10 action points to explore Tikal. Then he turns his turn indicator up-side-down.

End of the Game

After the last terrain hexagon is placed and that player finishes his turn, the final scoring round begins.

As in the standard version, each player now takes a scoring turn. The turn sequence for the final scoring round is different in the auction version. In this version, the scoring sequence is determined by the players' scores.

The players take their turns in reverse score order. Thus, the player with the lowest score takes his scoring turn first. Next the player with the next lowest score and so on until the player with the highest score takes his scoring turn last.

If two players tie, the closest clockwise neighbor to the player who played the last terrain hexagon scores first.

When all players have taken a final scoring turn, the game ends. The player with the most points is the winner.

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