Contents
A board
showing a vast area divided into
60 territories
of 4 different
types. These are grouped into
12 regions
, each containing 5 territo-
ries; these 12 regions, bordered by rivers, the shores of lakes, and the
edge of the board, are used only in the preparation phase of the
game. The 60 territories are of 4 types: forests (dark green), moun-
tains (light gray), steppes (tan) and grasslands (light green). Also on
the board, but separated from the playing area, are a chart of the five
epochs of play and a scoring track of 60 spaces.
60 huts
in 5 different colors (12 of each color)
5 secret clan cards
in the 5 colors
5 small scoring discs
in the 5 colors
12 village chips
1 rules sheet
Game idea
The game is set in late prehistory, a time of transition – when our dis-
tant ancestors, who had struggled and barely survived for ages in very
small nomadic groups, began to feel that their lives would be more
Players:
2 – 4
Age:
10 and up
Lenght:
30 minutes
Region with
5 territories
60 huts
5 scoring discs
Board (12 regions - 60 territories)
Mountain
Forest
Grassland
Steppe
Grassland
Epochs chart
Village chips
5 Clan cards
Scoring track
secure and less arduous if they formed larger groups. This led to the
formation of the first villages.
1
4
End of the game
The game ends immediately after the 12th village is founded and
scored. This last village always scores the 5 bonus points, no matter
the territory in which it is founded. It can also happen that no more
moves are possible before the 12th village is founded. In this case,
the game ends immediately without scoring more villages.
At this point, all the players reveal their secret colors, turning their
clan cards face up. Remove the colored scoring discs from the board
that are not in play. The players move their scoring discs forward on
the scoring track to score the village chips they collected for founding
villages (1 point per chip). The player with the most points is the
winner!
Tactical hints
• Try to disguise your color as much as possible, at least at the begin-
ning of the game. Avoid moves that favor it too much. Try to discover
your opponents’ colors, paying attention to their moves. You may also
want to create situations which force them to reveal themselves (for
example, force the next player to choose whether to move a certain
hut to a village or not).
• Often it is not possible to easily identify an opponent’s color, but
you can learn that a color is not his color. Thus, you can proceed by
elimination to discover the player’s color.
The fewer the players, the more this point becomes important.
• Founding a village is very important, because you gain extra points,
which can be very important in the final score.
• The more your huts are dispersed, the more occasions they will have
to be a part of founded villages. Also, try to concentrate your oppo-
nents’ huts as much as possible in a few territories.
Pay attention to the territories in which there are all 5 colors! If you
only have one hut in a very valuable village, you can gain a big score,
but if all 5 colors are present, you will score nothing.
Move away the huts of one color and try to concentrate many huts of
the other colors.
• Don’t let the villages which contain your huts be founded in unfa-
vorable territories. Try to found villages, which do not contain your
huts, in unfavorable territories.
• Remember that a village with 7 or more huts can no longer be
moved!
• Never forget the epoch chart: every time the epoch changes, the
favorable and unfavorable territories change. If only one move is
needed to form a village, try to accomplish it in the epoch, which is
more propitious for you and less for your opponents. If you realize
that a very dangerous village is about to be founded, try to change
the epoch in such a way that the village is founded in an unfavorable
territory.
• Creating two villages in the same move is often a big advantage,
especially if you cross two epochs. Then, you can decide which is
scored in which epoch! Be careful not to give an opponent such an
opportunity and be ready to exploit it if your opponent gives it to
you.
• The last village is also very important: not only does it have the
biggest bonus, but it also ends the game, destroying all unformed vil-
the first villages
© 2002 Venice Connection
© 2002 Winning Moves Deutschland
www.venice-connection.com
Leo Colovini
