Indonesia

Overview

Players build an economic empire across the Indonesian archipelago across three eras. Players start production companies (rice, spice, rubber, siap faji, oil) and shipping companies, operate them to sell goods to growing cities, and compete through mergers and acquisitions. Shipping companies transport goods from production areas to cities, earning fees. Production companies sell goods at fixed prices but must pay shipping costs. Cities grow when they receive all available types of goods. The game spans 3 eras with increasingly valuable goods becoming available. The player with the most money (including banked bid money) at the end wins.

Components

• 1 Game board (Indonesian archipelago with land areas, sea areas, provinces)
• 5 Player aids
• 30 Player markers (6 wooden disks per color, 5 colors)
• 48 Ships (6 sets of 8)
• 23 City markers (12 size 1/green, 8 size 2/yellow, 3 size 3/red)
• 24 Company deeds (sorted into eras a, b, c)
• 214 Goods markers (54 rice, 44 spice, 40 rubber, 40 siap faji, 36 oil)
• 15 City cards (3 per player, one per era: a, b, c)
• Money: coins (1 and 5 rupiah) and banknotes (10, 50, 100, 500 rupiah)

Setup

1. Give each player a player aid, 100 rupiah, a set of wooden markers, and 3 city cards (one each from piles a, b, and c).
2. Each player places a marker on the first slot of each R&D track.
3. Randomly determine player order; indicate on the order of play track.
4. Sort company deeds into three sets (a, b, c); place era “a” deeds on their respective provinces on the map.
5. Agree whether money is open or secret (default: secret).

Turn Structure

The game plays across 3 eras. Each era consists of multiple years. Each year has 7 phases:

Phase 1: New Era

A new era starts if no companies from the previous era remain to acquire, or only one type remains. When an era starts:

• Players place new cities (in order of play) using their city card for that era. Cities must be built in an empty coastal land area in one of the 3 indicated provinces. Each province may only contain one city. New cities start at size 1.
• Discard remaining unacquired companies from the previous era; place next era’s deeds on the map.

Phase 2: Bid for Turn Order

In current play order, each player bids cash once (0 is allowed). Bid money goes to the “Bank” box on the player aid (cannot be spent again but counts for final scoring). Highest bidder goes first. Ties preserve relative order. Players with Turn Order Bid R&D have their bid multiplied accordingly (mandatory).

Phase 3: Mergers

Only players who have researched Mergers on the R&D track may announce mergers. Multiple rounds until no one wants to announce more. Mergers always combine exactly 2 companies of the same type.

Announcing: In turn order, a player may announce a merger. The announcing player must own one of the companies or have a free slot. The number of deeds in the resulting company is limited by the announcer’s Merger R&D level.

Bidding: Announcer bids first (minimum = nominal value: number of goods x value per good). Bids increase in multiples of total goods count. All players with a free slot or who own a merging company may bid. Passing eliminates you from that merger’s bidding.

Resolution: Winner pays the total bid, divided among former owners proportionally by goods count. Company deeds are stacked together under the new owner.

Nominal values: Rice=20, Spice=25, Rubber=30, Siap Faji=35, Oil=40, Ships=10.

Siap Faji mergers: A rice + spice company merge into siap faji (era b or c only). Nominal value = total goods x 25. After merger, new owner must give up half the goods areas (rounded up), clearing those areas. Remaining goods become siap faji. Siap faji companies can only merge with other siap faji companies afterward.

Phase 4: Acquisitions

In turn order, players may start one available company per round (free, but need a free slot). Rounds continue until all players pass or no companies remain.

• Production company: Place 1 goods counter in the indicated province on any empty land area. Cannot be placed adjacent to the same goods type.
• Shipping company: Place 1 ship in a sea area bordering the indicated province.

Phase 5: Research & Development

Each player may advance 1 step on one R&D track:

Track	Effect
Slots	Number of companies you may own simultaneously
Mergers	Max deeds in a merger you announce (1=none, 2=two singles, etc.)
Hull	Goods each of your ships can transport per production company
Expansion	Max areas a company can expand per operation
Turn Order Bid	Multiplier for your bid in Phase 2

You may advance another player’s Hull track instead of your own (useful if they own a shipping company transporting your goods). No other tracks may be advanced for other players.

Phase 6: Operations

Players operate companies one at a time in turn order, multiple rounds, until all companies have operated once.

Shipping companies: May expand (place new ships in or adjacent to existing ship areas, up to the deed’s era limit, constrained by Expansion R&D).

Production companies (three steps in order):

1. Sell goods: Sell to cities connected by a chain of ships from one shipping company. Size 1 cities buy 1 of each produced good type; size 2 buy 2; size 3 buy 3. Production companies MUST sell as many goods as possible, even at a loss.
2. Receive income: Owner gets fixed price per good sold (rice=20, spice=25, rubber=30, siap faji=35, oil=40), minus 5 rupiah per ship used to the ship owner. Each ship can transport 1 good per production company per operation (more with Hull R&D).
3. Expand: If all goods were sold, the company MUST expand for free (1+ areas per Expansion R&D). If not all sold, may pay to expand (cost = good’s value per area).

Actions

Starting a Company

Take an available company deed from the current era (free). Place initial goods/ships according to company type.

Operating a Production Company

1. Sell: Deliver goods to cities via shipping chains. Each ship in the chain must belong to one shipping company. Pay 5 rupiah per ship used to the ship owner. Receive the good’s fixed sell price.
2. Income: Collect total revenue minus shipping costs.
3. Expand: If all goods sold, mandatory free expansion. Otherwise, optional paid expansion (cost = good’s value per area).

Operating a Shipping Company

Expand: Place new ships in or adjacent to existing ship areas, up to the deed’s era limit. Number of ships added per turn limited by Expansion R&D.

Merging Companies

Announce a merger of 2 same-type companies. Bid at least nominal value. Winner pays proportionally to former owners. Resulting merged company occupies one slot.

Research & Development

Advance 1 step on one of 5 R&D tracks: Slots, Mergers, Hull, Expansion, or Turn Order Bid.

Phase 7: City Growth

Cities that received every type of good currently produced on the board (up to their capacity) grow one size. Size 1 needs 1 of each type; size 2 needs 2 of each. Discard all delivered goods. If insufficient upgrade tokens, first player in order of play chooses which cities upgrade.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends in Phase 1 when era “c” ends (all c-era companies acquired, or only one type remains).

Final operations phase: All money earned in the last operations phase is doubled. Keep it separate, then double and add to cash at game end.

Winner: Player with the most total money (cash + banked bid money) wins. Tiebreaker: first in order of play.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Companies that cannot start (no valid starting area) are discarded, which may trigger a new era earlier.
• Each company deed can only be involved in one merger per year.
• Merged companies occupy only one slot but operate as one entity.
• Goods cannot be transported over land to cities, even if adjacent; shipping is always required.
• If a company has multiple production zones (from merger), each zone needs its own shipping chain. Goods cannot move between non-adjacent zones.
• Goods can move freely between adjacent areas within a single production zone.
• A production company cannot expand such that two companies producing the same good would have adjacent areas.
• Ships can be used anew by each production company operating that turn, but each ship can only transport 1 good per production company (modified by Hull R&D).
• It is allowed to pass on announcing mergers and rejoin later in the same phase.
• Once you pass on acquisitions, you cannot acquire again that phase.
• A player may announce a merger of companies they don’t own (if they can hold the result).
• 2-player game: Each player gets 2 city cards per era and builds 2 cities each in the New Era phase.
• Money in the “Bank” box from turn order bids is permanently spent but counts toward final score.

Player Reference

Phase	Action
1. New Era	Place cities, new company deeds
2. Bid for Turn Order	Bid money for play order
3. Mergers	Announce and bid for company mergers
4. Acquisitions	Start new companies
5. R&D	Advance 1 R&D track
6. Operations	Operate each company once
7. City Growth	Cities grow if fully supplied

Good	Sell Price	Ship Cost
Rice	20	5 per ship
Spice	25	5 per ship
Rubber	30	5 per ship
Siap Faji	35	5 per ship
Oil	40	5 per ship

Eras: a (basic agriculture) -> b (rubber, siap faji) -> c (oil)

Game end: Era c ends. Final operations earnings are doubled.