Overview

In Cacao, players are tribal chiefs leading their people to prosperity through the cultivation and trade of cacao — the “Fruit of the Gods.” Players place worker tiles and jungle tiles in an expanding checkerboard pattern, activating workers to harvest cacao, sell at markets, mine gold, worship the sun, and visit temples. The player with the most gold at the end wins.

Components

• 44 Worker tiles (11 per player in red, purple, white, yellow) with varying worker distributions
• 4 Village boards (1 per player color)
• 4 Water carriers
• 28 Jungle tiles: 8 plantations, 7 markets, 3 gold mines, 3 water, 2 sun worshiping sites, 5 temples
• 20 cacao fruits
• 12 sun tokens
• 48 gold coins (24x 1-gold, 12x 5-gold, 12x 10-gold)
• 1 overview sheet for Jungle tiles

Setup

1. Each player takes their Village board, water carrier, and Worker tiles in their chosen color.
2. Place water carrier on the “-10” water field of the Village board.
3. Tile removal by player count:
   • 2 players: Remove specified tiles from each player’s supply and from the Jungle
   • 3 players: Remove 1x 1-1-1-1 and 1x 2-1-0-1 per player
   • 4 players: No removal
4. Each player shuffles their Worker tiles into a face-down draw pile; draws 3 as starting hand.
5. Place the 2 starting Jungle tiles (1 single plantation + 1 market, selling price 2) face-up diagonally in the center.
6. Shuffle remaining Jungle tiles into a face-down draw pile; draw 2 face-up as the Jungle display.
7. Sort gold coins, cacao fruits, and sun tokens into supplies.

Turn Structure

Play proceeds clockwise starting with the oldest player. Each turn has these steps:

A) Place 1 Worker Tile

Choose 1 Worker tile from your hand and place it adjacent to one or more Jungle tiles. Orient it however you wish.

Placement rules:

• Worker tiles may never share a border with another Worker tile.
• Jungle tiles may never share a border with another Jungle tile.
• This creates a checkerboard pattern.

B) Fill Jungle Spaces

If the newly placed Worker tile causes an empty Jungle space to be bordered by 2 or more Worker tiles, that space must be filled. Choose a Jungle tile from the display.

• If multiple spaces need filling, you choose which tile goes where.
• The display is only refilled at end of turn.
• If more than 2 spaces need filling, use display tiles first, then draw from pile.

C) Perform Jungle Tile Actions

Each worker on the newly placed Worker tile that borders a Jungle tile is activated. Perform the corresponding action.

If Jungle spaces were filled this turn, all players with workers on previously placed tiles now bordering the new Jungle tiles also activate.

Key rule: Each worker is activated exactly once during the entire game.

Actions on one edge must be completed before actions on another edge. Players may choose not to perform individual actions.

End of Turn

• Draw 1 Worker tile from your draw pile (if available).
• Refill the Jungle display to 2 tiles (if possible).

Actions

Plantation

For each worker on the adjacent edge, take 1 cacao fruit from the supply. Store on your Village board (max 5 storage spaces).

Market

For each worker on the adjacent edge, sell 1 cacao fruit from your storage at the price shown (2, 3, or 4 gold per fruit).

Gold Mine

For each worker on the adjacent edge, take gold equal to the mine’s value (1 or 2 gold per worker).

Water

For each worker on the adjacent edge, advance your water carrier one space forward on the water track.

Sun Worshiping Site

For each worker on the adjacent edge, take 1 sun token from the supply.

Temple

Scored at end of game only — not activated during play.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

End of Game

The game ends after the round in which all players have placed their last Worker tile.

Final Scoring

1. Temples: Scored individually. The player in 1st place gets the higher gold reward; 2nd place gets the lower reward. (Flip scored temples over.)
2. Sun tokens: 1 gold each.
3. Water track: Add or subtract the value of the water field where your carrier stands (ranges from -10 to +16).
4. Add up all gold.

Leftover cacao fruits are worth nothing.

The player with the most gold wins. Tiebreaker: most cacao fruits. If still tied, shared victory.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Workers activate exactly once — either when their tile is placed or when an adjacent Jungle tile is filled later.
• You may freely make change at the bank at any time.
• The Jungle display is only refilled at end of turn, not during filling.
• Storage on Village boards holds maximum 5 cacao fruits.
• In a 2-player game, specific Jungle and Worker tiles are removed before play.

Player Reference

Jungle Tile	Action per Worker
Plantation	Take 1 cacao fruit
Market (2/3/4)	Sell 1 cacao fruit for listed price
Gold Mine (1/2)	Take gold equal to value
Water	Advance water carrier 1 space
Sun Worshiping	Take 1 sun token
Temple	End-game scoring only

Water Track Values: -10, -4, -1, 0, +2, +4, +7, +11, +16

Worker Tile Distributions:

• 4x 1-1-1-1 (one worker per edge)
• 5x 2-1-0-1
• 1x 3-0-0-1
• 1x 3-1-0-0