CACAO

Welcome to the world of “fruit of the Gods” in Cacao! As the chief of your own tribe, it’s your job to lead your people to prosperity through the cultivation and trading of cacao. The goal is to gather the most cocoa and earn the most gold. Are you up for the challenge?

SETUP

To get started, choose a color that represents you in the game. Gather your water carrier, worker tiles, and the Village board that matches your chosen color. Place your Village board in front of you and put your water carrier on the water field at -10.

So here’s what you do: I start by shuffling my Worker tiles and making a face-down pile beside my board. Then, I draw three cards from my pile. Next, we place two jungle tiles in the center of the table, across from each other. All the other jungle cards are shuffled and placed face-down to create a draw pile. We put the top cards beside it to make it clear where we draw from.

Now, let’s talk about the other stuff. We divide the assets – coins, cacao, and sun tokens – into piles and put them in the middle of the playing area. We want them to be within everyone’s reach. And that’s it! We’re ready to start playing.

GAMEPLAY

Let me tell you about this game I know. It’s played by a group of people, and we go around in a circle taking turns. The oldest person starts the game. We add tiles to the board as we go, but there are a couple of rules. Worker tiles can’t be next to other worker tiles, and jungle tiles can’t be next to each other either. So, as we keep playing, the board ends up looking like a checkerboard.

When it’s your turn, you have to do a few things. First, you need to place a worker tile. You pick one from your hand and put it next to the jungle tiles. It can face any direction you want. Then, if your worker tile leaves an empty space next to more than one other worker tile, you have to fill it with a jungle tile. You pick one from the display and put it in the empty space.

When I’m placed on a jungle tile as a worker, I become active and need to perform the action indicated on the overview sheet. This happens every time a new jungle tile is placed next to me. Once I’ve completed all three steps in order, I can draw a tile from my draw pile and add it to my hand. And with that, my turn comes to an end.

THE END

Hey there! Just wanted to let you know that when everyone’s done placing their final worker tile, the game comes to an end. So, what happens next? Well, it’s time to tally up the scores! Each temple gets scored, and the players who rank first and second with the most points get some gold. And hey, if you’ve got any Sun tokens, you’ll earn one gold for each token you have. Oh, and before we forget, don’t forget to subtract the water field your water carrier is on from your total gold. In the end, the player with the most gold takes home the ultimate victory! How cool is that?

By the way, I’m Ellie! I’m from Northeast Tennessee, and I’m just a lover of all creatures, big and small. You can always find me reading fantasy novels or exploring the great outdoors. And yeah, I’m lucky to have an amazing husband and two adorable fur babies. It’s so great to be part of this incredible community!