Goal
The players are estanzieros (large landowners) in Argentina. They
acquire land and animals, build estanzias (haciendas), harvest and sell animals
at market. The winner is the player who has most important estanziero at the
end of the game; that is, who scores the most points. Players earn points
for access to markets and water, for land chains and haciendas,
and for money.
Contents
1
game board
It shows markets, pampas spaces, land spaces, and four water spaces. During the
game, players place animal tiles on pampas spaces and land tiles on land
spaces. Markets remain as is - nothing is placed on them. The scoring track
runs around the edge of the game board. The game board has two sides: a
symmetric map and an asymmetric map. The symmetric map has 11 markets and the
asymmetric map has 10 markets. Each map requires a different strategy to give
players extra options. All examples will use the symmetric map.
Adaptation for the online game: Several more maps are available.
80 land cards 14 each of mountain, forest, meadow, rocks, swamp; 10 pampas
72 animal cards 18 each of cattle, horse, pig, sheep
80 hexagonal land tiles (two-sided with different player colors on each
side)
18 water tiles in different shapes
9x
4x
3x
2x
150 round animal tiles in 5 colors (30 of each player color,
double-sided)
5 haciendas as scoring markers in 5 colors
9 neutral haciendas
8 harvest chips
72 money bills (pesos) 20x1, 16x2, 12x5, 10x10, 8x20, 6x50
5 rule summaries
1 rule booklet with rules for both maps (front and back).
Preparation
Game board: the players choose one side of the game board and place it
in the middle of the table. We recommend player use the symmetrical map for
their first game.
Each player takes 1 hacienda and 30 animal tiles of a
color, 20 pesos starting capital, and 1 rule summary.
The players place their haciendas as scoring markers on the start space of
the scoring track. The animal tiles have different animals pictured on the
front and back sides.
Shuffle the 80 land cards. Each player takes 8 land cards
as his starting hand. Place the remaining cards as a face down supply next to
the board.
Draw 4 land cards from the land supply and place them face up next to
the board.
Shuffle the 72 animal cards and randomly remove, without
looking at them, several cards, depending on the number of players (see below),
from the game.
Each player takes 4 animal cards, adding them to his hand. Draw 4 animal
cards from the animal supply and place them face up next to the board.
Divide the remaining animal cards into two equal stacks. Place one stack
face down next to the face up animal cards as a supply, the other stack is set
aside for now.
Place all hexagonal land tiles as a supply next to the game
board.
Place 4 water tiles (number 1 tiles) on the 4 water spaces
on the game board.
Place all remaining water tiles next to the board as a supply.
Place the appropriate number (see below) of neutral haciendas
and harvest chips as supplies next to the game board.
The players choose a player to manage the game money.
Preparation at a glance:
number of players |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
animal cards removed |
30 |
20 |
10 |
0 |
haciendas next to the board |
5 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
harvest chips next to the board |
all |
water tiles on the map |
1 each of
on the 4 water spaces |
water tiles next to the board |
all remaining |
face up animal and land cards |
4 of each |
split animal stack into two halves
|
each player takes: |
1 hacienda (score marker), 30 animal tiles, 8 land cards, 4 animal
cards, 20 pesos, 1 rule summary
|
Playing the game
The players choose a starting player, and players take turns in
clockwise order. On a player's turn, he takes up to 3 of the following actions
in any order:
-
1 object buy (land card, animal card, hacienda, water tile)
-
1 card play
(land card or animal card)
-
1 harvest
1 object buy
player can buy from the bank:
1 land card buy (several per turn)
The player pays the required amount to the bank and adds the
card to his hand. He can play the card immediately, but this is another action!
See 1 card play, below. When a player buys a face up land card, he immediately
replaces it in the display by drawing a new land card from the supply. He could
buy this just drawn card in a further action.
Adaptation for the online game: each player is limited to 20 land cards. If he has 20 land cards on his hand, he must play one before he can buy another one.
1 animal card buy (several per turn)
The player pays the required amount to the bank and adds the
card to his hand. He can play the card immediately, but this is another action!
See 1 card play, below. When a player buys a face up animal card, he
immediately replaces it in the display by drawing a new animal card from the
supply. He could buy this just drawn card in a further action.
Adaptation for the online game: each player is limited to 10 animal cards. If he has 10 animal cards on his hand, he must play one before he can buy another one.
1 hacienda buy (once per turn)
The player can buy only 1 hacienda per turn. The player pays 12
pesos to the bank, takes 1 hacienda (as long as there is 1 left in the supply)
and places it immediately on any of his land tiles or animal tiles that does
not already have a hacienda. When scoring, 1 hacienda earns a player 1 point
for each land tile in the chain or each animal tile in the herd.
1 water tile buy (once per turn)
The player can buy only 1 water tile per turn. All
water tiles, regardless of their size, cost 12 pesos. The player plays the 12
pesos to the bank, takes the water tile of his choice (as long as there are
some in the supply), and places it on any empty pampas space, if it is a single
water tile, or on several empty pampas spaces, if it is a larger water tile.
During scoring, a water tile earns a player 1 point for each of his land tiles
or animal tiles that are adjacent to the water tile.
Adaptation for the online game: If water tiles are touching each other, they become a large lake. Each land or animal tile neighbouring the lake is counted only once. Thus, in the online game, the water tiles might gain you slightly less points than in the board game.
1 card play
land card
When a player plays a land card, he takes a land tile of his
color from the supply and places it on any empty land space on the map that
matches the land type of the card played.
Note: the land tiles are two-sided with different player colors on each
side.
When a player plays a pampas land card, he must play his land tile on a pampas
space adjacent to one of his already placed land tiles.
Red plays a mountain land card and places one of his red land
tiles on a mountain space on the map.
It can happen late in the game that a player plays a land card, but
there are no empty land spaces of that type. In this case, the card is treated
as a pampas land card. In such a case, for example, if a player plays a
mountain land card and there are no empty mountain spaces, he must place his
land tile on an empty pampas space adjacent to one of his already placed pampas
tiles.
Red plays a pampas land card and places one of his land tiles
on an empty pampas space next to one of his already placed land
tiles.
After playing the land card and placing the tile, the player
discards the land card.
Land chains: a land chain is made up of 2 or more land tiles of the
same color that are connected to each other on the map. A chain of 3 or more
tiles will earn the player points during scoring. Single land tiles and 2 tile
chains do not earn players points during scoring.
Tip: players should try to create chains of 3 tiles or more.
animal card
When a player plays an animal card, he takes one of his animal
tiles showing the same animal and places it on an empty pampas space on the
map, adjacent to one of his land tiles or one of his animal tiles, showing the
same animal. A herd (one or more connected animal tiles) can only be with
animals of the same kind. However, different animal herds may be adjacent to
each other. After playing the animal card and placing the tile, the player
discards the animal card.
Your own and others herds can be next to your herds. The blue pig
herd is next to the blue horse herd and also the red pig herd.
Note: the animal tiles have different animals on each side.
Tip: when placing animal tiles, players should plan to leave empty
pampas spaces for water tiles to be played later.
market
When
a player places an animal tile adjacent to a side of a market, the player earns
money. If a player places several animal tiles adjacent to market sides in a
turn, he earns more money. For each market side, the player earns money. The
amount the player earns is calculated using the following formula:
number of animal tiles in the herd + number of land tiles = number
of pesos
By "number of land tiles" it means all land tiles that are
connected to any tile in the herd.
Blue plays 3 pig cards as his 3 actions and places 3 pig tiles as shown. He places the first pig next to his land tiles. He places the second next to the first and a market. He earns 5 pesos (3 land tiles + 2 animal tiles = 5) for reaching the market. He places the third next to the second and another
side of the market, earning another 6 pesos (3 land tiles + 3 animal
tiles = 6).
Red places pig #1 next to the market. He thereby connects the two before separate pig
herds together and adds a market side. For the now 6 tile herd and the 5 connected
land tiles (2 above and 3 below), he earns 11 pesos.
Note: each side of a market may only be scored once. Thus,
when a player increases a herd, but does not reach a new market side, he
earns no money.
Note: when a player reaches a market side with a herd, even if with just
1 tile, he scores and closes this side for further payments.
Tip: players should try to reach as many markets as possible with their
herds.
1 harvest (once per turn)
A
player can earn money in two ways. Either he brings a herd to market (see
above) or he places a harvest chip. To place a harvest chip, the player takes a
chip from the supply and places it on any land tile of one of his land chains,
if the chain has no other harvest chip. Then, the player gets money from
the bank using the following formula:
number of land tiles in the chain times 3 pesos.
Example: 7 land tiles x 3 pesos = 21 pesos.
If there are no harvest chips in the supply, a player can still
harvest. He takes any harvest chip from one of his opponent's chains and
places it on his chain, earning money in the normal way. In this way, a land
chain may earn money more than once.
Scoring
animal card supply exhausted
When the last card of the animal supply is bought or used to
replace one that is bought, the second stack is activated and becomes the new
animal supply. At the end of this round, after the last player has
completed his turn, the game flow is interrupted for the interim scoring.
When the animal supply is again exhausted, the players finish that round and
then end the game with the final scoring.
Both interim and final scoring run the same way. The players score
points first for markets, then for land chains, then haciendas, then water,
and, finally, for the money that each player has. The players record their
points as they are scored by moving their scoring markers on the scoring track.
To speed the process, players should use the rule summaries.
points for connected markets
Players earn points for each market they are connected to. It does not
matter how many herds are connected to a market or how many market sides
are connected - only the number of markets connected. Players earn the points
in clockwise order using the following table:
number of connected markets |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
points |
1 |
3 |
6 |
10 |
15 |
21 |
28 |
36 |
45 |
55 |
66 |
Example: a player whose herds connect to 7 markets earns 28 points.
points for land chains
Award each player his points in clockwise order. Add up all land
tiles that the player has in chains of at least 3 land tiles in length.
Single land tiles and 2 tile chains are not counted! The points are scored
using the following formula:
number of land tiles times 2 points.
Example: a player has a 7 tile chain and two 3 tile chains. He also
has a 2 tile chain and 3 single tiles, but these are not counted.
Thus, he scores 7 + 3 + 3 = 13 x 2 = 26 points.
points for haciendas
Award each player his points in clockwise order. Sum all the land
tiles that belong to chains with haciendas and all the animal tiles in herds
with haciendas. The points are scored using the following formula:
number of land tiles times 1 point.
Note: if a land chain has more than one hacienda, it only
counts once.
Example: a player has 2 haciendas; one stands on a land chain of 7 land tiles
and the other stands on a herd of 6 animals. Thus, he earns 7 + 6 = 13
points.
points for water tiles
Players score each water tile separately. For each land tile and animal tile
that is adjacent to a water tile, the owner of the land or animal tile earns 1 point,
regardless of whether the water tile was placed on the board at the beginning of the
game or was placed later. After a water tile has been scored, turn it over.
After the interim scoring, turn these all water-side up again.
points for money
Each player counts his money. For each full 10 pesos, he receives 1 point.
Example: at game end, a player has 28 pesos. Thus, he scores 2
points.
Example for scoring
scoring for red in detail
markets: red has connected to 5 markets. He has only failed
to reach the market in the upper center. He earns 15 points.
land chains: red has a 4 tile chain upper right and a 3 tile chain
lower left. The sum of 7 land tiles scores red 14 points. The 2 tile
chain upper left does not score.
haciendas: red has a hacienda on a 6 tile pig herd. He earns 6 points.
water tiles: the 1 space water tile on the left earns red 4 points, the 2 space water tile under that earns red 6 points. The 3 space water
tile in the middle earns red 1 point, and the 1 space water tile on the
right earns red 6 points. The animals between two water tiles earn
points for both water tiles.
The two pigs in the middle earn 1 point for each of the water tiles
they touch. Thus, they earn a total of 4 points.
money: red has 12 pesos. This earns him 1 point.
player |
red |
blue |
connected markets |
5 |
15 points |
4 |
10 points |
land chains |
7 (3+4) |
14 points |
10 (7+3) |
20 points |
haciendas |
6 |
6 points |
7+4 |
11 points |
water tiles |
4+6+1+6 |
17 points |
7+4 |
11 points |
money |
12 pesos |
1 points |
8 pesos |
0 points |
total |
|
53 points |
|
52 points |
Game end
The game ends after the final scoring. The player with the most
points is the winner. If players tie with the most, the player among them with
the most money is the winner.