Tikal
Winner of Spiel des Jahres in 1999, Tikal is a game of exploration within the Central American jungles in search of lost temples and the treasures within. Players send their team of explorers into the jungle, exposing more and more of the terrain. Along the way, you find temples that require further uncovering and treasures. Players attempt to score points for occupying temples and holding onto treasure.
Tikal is the first game of the Mask Trilogy.
Number of players: 2 - 4
Game duration: 77 mn
Complexity: 3 / 5
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Play Tikal and 959 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
Overview
Claim the most treasure and guard the most valuable temples during play and at the game's end.
Turn
Draw a terrain tile, place it on the board, and use 10 action points (AP).
In the advanced game, instead, the first player draws tiles equal to the number of players. Bid victory points to choose a tile, place it, and use 10 AP. The last player gets the final tile for free.
Terrain Tiles
Terrain tiles have 1, 2, or 3 stepping stones to show how difficult they are to cross.
When placing a tile, it must connect to at least one other tile or the base camp.
When placing a non-volcano tile, at least one stepping stone must be on either side of at least one of the border(s) that connects the new tile to the existing tiles. (Explorers must be able to reach every non-volcano tile.)
There are four types:
- Temple tiles have a scoring number in the middle. Players can uncover (increase the value of) temples and place guards on them.
- Clearings have nothing in them. Players can build forward camps in clearings.
- Ruins have several orange symbols. Place treasure tokens equal to the number of symbols on the tile. Players can excavate (claim) a treasure token. Treat the tile as a clearing after all treasure tokens have been claimed.
- Volcanos prompt a scoring phase. Explorers cannot enter volcanos, which need not be connected to existing tiles via stepping stones.
Action Points (AP)
Each turn, you have 10 action points, which you can spend as desired.
You may repeat actions and need not spend all your points.
There are 8 actions to choose from:
| Action | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| New Explorer | 1 AP | Place a new explorer on the base camp or one of your forward camps. |
| Move Between Camps | 1 AP | Move a single explorer from one of your camps to another or to/from the base camp, skipping over any other tiles. |
| Move Through Terrain | 1-6 AP | Move an explorer to an adjacent terrain tile by crossing stepping stones.
If there are no stepping stones on both sides of a border, explorers cannot cross it. Pay 1 AP per stepping stone. Count the stepping stones on both sides of the border. Explorers cannot enter volcano tiles. |
| Uncover Temples | 2-4 AP | Use 1 or 2 explorers to uncover (increase the value of) an unguarded temple on the same tile by 1 or 2 levels respectively (e.g. 1 explorer could increase a level 6 temple to level 7, while 2 explorers could increase it to level 7 and then level 8).
Pay 2 AP per level. Multiple temples may be uncovered, but each is limited to 2 uncovers per turn. If the desired temple levels are unavailable in the supply, the temple cannot be uncovered (e.g. if a temple is level 6 and there is no level 7 in the supply, the temple cannot be excavated, even if there is a level 8 available). |
| Excavating for Treasure | 3-6 AP | Use 1 or 2 explorers to excavate (claim) 1 or 2 treasure token(s), respectively, on the same tile.
Pay 3 AP per treasure token excavated. Multiple ruins may be excavated, but each ruin is limited to 2 excavations per turn. |
| Exchange a Treasure | 3 AP | Swap an unpaired treasure token with any other player's unpaired treasure token. The other player cannot refuse the trade.
No explorers are required for this action. Pay 3 AP per treasure swapped. |
| Establish Forward Camp | 5 AP | Place a forward camp on a clearing tile or an empty ruins tile where you have an explorer.
No more than one forward camp may be placed on each tile. Pay 5 AP per forward camp established. |
| Placing a Temple Guard | 5 AP | Place an explorer from the same tile on top of a temple as a guard.
You must have more explorers on the tile than any other player. Expedition leaders count as 3 explorers. Remove all your explorers on the tile (except the new guard) from the game. Other players' explorers on the tile are not affected. Each player may guard up to 2 temples in the entire game. Guards can never be moved. Guarded temples cannot be excavated. During scoring, guarded temples are scored by the guard's owner, regardless of how many opposing explorers are on the tile. |
Volcano Scoring
Beginning with the player who drew or selected the volcano tile, each player:
- Spends up to 10 AP following the usual rules, without drawing or selecting tiles.
- Scores the level (value) of all temples where they have a guard, or the majority of explorers if there is no guard.
- Scores 1/3/6 points for 1/2/3 matching treasure tokens.
After all players have scored the active player resumes their turn by placing the volcano tile and spending 10 (additional) AP.
Game End
The game ends when tiles run out. Each player will play an equal number of turns.
After the last player finishes their turn (draws the last tile, places it, and uses 10 AP), each player:
- Spends up to 10 AP following the usual rules, without drawing or selecting tiles.
- Scores the level (value) of all temples where they have a guard, or the majority of explorers if there is no guard.
- Scores 1/3/6 points for 1/2/3 matching treasure tokens.
If playing the basic game, begin with the start player and proceed clockwise. If playing the advanced game, begin with the player with the lowest score and proceed in ascending order by score.
The player with the most points wins!
If tied, the tied player with a guard on the most valuable temple wins. If still tied, the player with the most treasure tokens (regardless of type) wins. If still tied, victory is shared.
