Idea and Objective of the Game

Unlike in other cultures, the desert Tuareg men, known as Targi, cover their faces whereas women of the tribe do not wear veils. They run the household and they have the last word at home in the tents. Different families are divided into tribes, headed by the ‘Imascheren’ (or nobles). As leader of a Tuareg tribe, players trade goods from near (such as dates and salt) and far (like pepper), in order to obtain gold and other benefits, and enlarge their family. In each round there new offerings are made. Cards are a means to an end, in order to obtain the popular tribe cards. These give advantages during the game and victory points at the end.
Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins.

Content

80 Playing cards, of which
45 Tribal cards
19 Good cards
16 Edge cards		1 Robber figure
6 Targi-figures		4 Tribal markers
Good tiles	Victory Point tokens	Gold tiles	Starting Player tile

Preparation

The 16 edge cards are arranged as in the illustration to form a border. For guidance, the small numbers from 1-16 should be in the top left corner. The edge cards remain unchanged during the whole game.
Note: on the front side of the cards, the different meanings of the edge cards is explained in symbols. On the back side of the cards, (the card names are underlined) the functions are explained in text form.



Shuffle the Goods cards and Tribal cards separately and, using the symbols on the back of the cards, deal 5 Goods and 4 Tribal cards into the middle of the table



Place the remaining Tribal cards in a stack next to the “Tribal Expansion” space on the playing field; and the remaining Goods cards next to the “Caravan” space.

Note:
On Yucata.de the remaining cards are not shown next to the board. You can look at the remaining cards with .

Place the Goods, Gold and Victory Points tokens near the playing field to form a supply pool.
Place the Robber (grey figure) next to the space no. 1 (Noble).
Each player receives 3 Targi figures and 2 Tribal marker in their chosen colors. In addition each player receives 2 Dates, 2 Salt, 2 Pepper, 1 Gold and 4 Victory Point tokens.
The starting player receives the starting player tile and begins the game.

Game Play

Overview
In each round each player places their 3 Targi figures on the edge cards. In the crossing point between each two figures of the same colour, he places his tribal marker. The cards on which your figures and tribal markers stand indicate to each player what his possible actions are. These can be cleverly combined by each player in order to obtain Victory Points in the form of Silver crosses. The game ends when one of the players had played 12 Tribal cards or when the robber has made one round of the edge cards of the playing field.

Gameplay
1. Move the Robber 1 space forward
At the beginning of each round, move the Robber one space round the playing field in a clockwise direction. In the first round the Robber is placed on the “Noble” card. No Targi figures may be placed on the same space as the Robber. When the Robber reaches a corner space, a raid takes place, during which players will lose Goods or Victory Points and, later in the game, also Gold (see “Raid”).

2. Place in turn the Targi Figures
Beginning with the Starting player, each player alternates placing one of their Targi figures down until all 3 are placed. Every player occupies the three spaces which he would like to use this round. No figures may be placed on the following spaces:

• On the space on which the Robber stands.
• On the “Raid” corner space.
• On a space already occupied by either player’s Targi .
• On a space opposite an opponent’s Targi.

Example: The Blue player begins and places his first Targi (1). Next, the white player places his first Targi on another space. He cannot play on the space indicated by a white X.



Then Blue places his second Targi (2). He may not play on the space marked with a blue X, opposite the white player’s Targi. Then the white player places his second Targi on the space opposite the Robber. Placing a Targi opposite the Robber is allowed, but placing it on the space of the Robber is not allowed.



At length all players play all three of their figures:

3. Place the Tribal Marker on the crossing points
After each player has placed all three of his Targi figures on the playing field, each player then places both his tribal markers. To do so, each player imagines a straight line extending from each of his figures to the opposite side of the playing field. Where two lines cross, the player then places his tribal marker – in most cases there will be two crossing points and therefore two markers will be placed.
Hint: If a player has placed two Targi figures on opposite spaces, there will only be one crossing point, and he may only place one Tribal marker.

Continuing the previous example: the players place their Tribal markers on the playing field.

4. Executing actions
The Start player begins by playing out all the actions allowed by his Targi and Tribal marker. He is at liberty to decide the order in which each action from the occupied cards are played. However, he must first finish the action from one card before beginning to execute the action from the next card.
A player may also choose not to carry out the action on a card at all.
Once a player has used an edge card, he removes his Targi figure from the card. The card itself remains where it is.
If a card in the middle area is used, the player takes his Tribal marker back. This card is immediately replaced by a card of the other sort:
If a Goods card has been used, it is placed on the discard pile for Goods cards and a Tribal card is turned over and placed on the vacated space. If a Tribal card is used, it is replaced with a Goods card.
Note: If the draw pile of Goods cards is empty, shuffle the discard pile and replace it face down as the new draw pile.



If on a card one or two resources are depicted, for example 1 Gold or 1 Silver cross, the player receives the corresponding tokens. If all three Goods are depicted on the card with slashes in between them, then the player may choose to receive the Good of his choice.
Tribal cards taken by the player are laid on the table in front of him and the cost of the cards paid in Goods and Gold (see “Tribal cards”). If a player cannot or does not wish to pay for a Tribal card, he may instead take the card into his hand. However, only one Tribal card may be held in hand by each player. If further Tribal cards are drawn and not immediately played onto the table, they must be discarded into a discard pile for tribal cards. Swapping the most recently drawn card for the one in your hand is not allowed.
A Tribal card can only be played from your hand when you place, in a later round, a Targi on the “Noble” space. Then you may pay the cost of the tribal card to play it in front of you. (Exception: One of the Tribal cards allows the playing of Tribal cards from the hand without placing a figure on the “Noble” space).
When using the “noble” space you may, instead of playing the card from your hand, discard it to the discard pile to make space for a “better” card.

5. Turn over new Goods and Tribal cards and change Start Player
At the end of the round, when both players have executed their Actions, all Goods and tribal cards in the middle area of the playing field are turned face up. The Start player gives his Start player token to the other player, who becomes the new Start player. The next round begins with the movement of the Robber.

Other Rules in Detail

The Tribal Cards

The playing cost for the Tribal cards is indicated on the top right of the card. Note: on some cards a slash is depicted. Here the player can choose to pay either the Goods or 1 Gold.
On the lower right of the cards the Victory points given by the card are indicated in the form of 1 to 3 Silver crosses. Many cards give the player a benefit during the game. Some advantages are single-use, others are permanent once the card is played. A detailed description is given on each card. As soon as a Tribal card is played, the player may make use of its benefit. For example, if a card gives a player an extra Good, he may receive it in the same Round that the card is played.
As they play their accumulated Tribal cards, players should build them into a display consisting of three rows of four cards. In each row cards are laid out from left to right. One row does not have to be finished before the next row is started.



Each player may build up several rows in parallel. Cards played remain in place for the whole of the game (Exception: one of the Tribal cards allows two played cards to be swapped).

The Tribal cards are divided into five sorts according to their symbols:

Well	Camel rider	Oasis	Targia	Tent

If a player makes a full row in which all four cards have the same symbol, he receives 4 Victory Points and the end of the game. If he makes a full row of cards with four different symbols in it, he receives 2 Victory Points at the end of the game. Rows which have less than four cards in them, and rows which are full but do not meet the above conditions, do not give Victory Points.


Raid

If the Robber is moved to the “Raid” space, the player must give up whichever item is indicated on the space. Starting with the current Start Player, each player chooses if he wishes to give back Victory Points or Goods or, in the case of the last Raid space, 1 Gold. These are returned to the supply, and the Robber is then immediately moved to the next space and players place their Targi figures.


Goods and Gold stock limitations at the end of a round

The number of Goods and Gold which can be taken into the next round is limited. If a player, after executing all his actions, has more than 10 Goods or 3 Gold, he must return the excess to the stock. He may decide which resources to return. During the round itself, the player may however have more than this amount of Goods and Gold, which can be spent before the end of the round on the payment of tribal cards, or exchanged at the "dealer" or "silversmith".

Game End and Scoring

The game ends at the end of the round in which one player plays his 12th Tribal card. If the Start Player ends the game, the opponent may play out his turn. The game can also end if the Robber is moved onto the 4th “Raid” space.
Players must still pay the Gold or 3 Victory Points. Directly after that the game ends.
Now the players add up all their Victory points in the form of Silver crosses (including both the Victory Point tokens and the Silver crosses on the Tribal cards).
Some Tribal cards yield additional points, as indicated by the text on the card.
Then points are added for the symbols in the rows of each player’s Tribal card display:

• 4 Points for rows of cards with all matching symbols
• 2 Points for rows of cards with 4 different symbols.

The player with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, the winner is the player with the most Gold. If there is still a tie, then the player with the most Goods wins. If there is still a tie, the game is drawn.

Meaning of the Edge Cards

	Noble You can play your the card in your hand to your display, if you can pay it. Or you can discard the card in your hand.
	Merchant You can change 3 similar goods into 1 gold or 2 similar goods into another good. You can perform any number of exchanges.
	Fata Morgana You can move one of your tribal markers to a free card in the middle of the board to use this card instead of the other one.
	Silversmith You can receive victory points: For 2 similar goods 1 victory points, for 4 similar goods 3 victory points. For 1 gold 2 victory points or for 2 gold 4 victory points.
	Caravan Draw the top good card from the draw pile and take what is depicted on it: 1 or 2 goods or 1 gold or 1 victory point.
	Tribal expansion Draw the top tribal card from the draw pile. You can play it into your display, if you can pay it. Or you can take it to your (free) hand or you can discard it.
	Robbery Both players have to give the required goods, gold or victory points.

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