Overview

Jambo (“Hello” in Swahili) is a two-player card game set in Central Africa before colonization. Players are competing merchants buying and selling tea, hide, fruits, salt, silk, and trinkets. The goal is to be the first player to earn 60 gold through clever card play. Players use up to 5 actions per turn to draw cards, buy/sell wares, play utility cards, and use people and animal cards to gain an advantage.

Components

• 112 cards total:
  • 40 ware cards
  • 22 utility cards
  • 29 people cards
  • 14 animal cards
  • 2 large market stand cards
  • 5 small market stand cards
• 36 wares (6 each of: trinkets, hides, tea, silk, fruit, salt)
• 52 gold pieces (23 small value-1, 29 large value-5)
• 5 action markers

Setup

• Each player takes 1 large market stand (green or red) and places it in their play area (holds up to 6 wares).
• Shuffle all remaining cards and place face-down as the card supply.
• Each player draws 5 cards as their starting hand.
• Place wares as a supply next to the card supply.
• Place gold as the bank. Each player takes 20 gold starting capital (3 large + 5 small).
• Place 5 action markers in the middle of the table.
• Choose a starting player.

Turn Structure

Each turn is divided into two phases, always played in order:

Phase 1: Draw Cards

• Draw the top card from the supply; look at it secretly.
• Choose to either add it to your hand OR discard it face-up.
• If you keep the card, move immediately to Phase 2 (no more draws).
• If you discard it, you may draw another card (each draw costs 1 action marker).
• You may draw up to 5 cards but may only keep the last one drawn.
• You may skip Phase 1 entirely to save all 5 actions for Phase 2.

Phase 2: Play Cards

• Playing 1 card costs 1 action (unless the card text says otherwise).
• You may play cards in any order.

Important bonus: If a player has 2 or more action markers remaining (unused) at the end of their turn, they take 1 gold from the bank.

Actions

Small Market Stand

• Play from hand to build next to your large market stand; holds 3 wares.
• First small market stand built costs 6 gold; all subsequent ones cost 3 gold.
• A player may build up to 5 small market stands total.

Ware Cards

Used for buying or selling wares; discarded after use.

Buying: Pay the bank the gold shown on the lower left; take all wares shown on the card from the supply and place them on your market stands.

• Must have enough empty spaces for ALL wares shown.
• Must have enough gold to pay.
• All wares on the card must be available in the supply.
• Using the 6th space on your large market stand costs an additional 2 gold each time.

Selling: Take from the bank the gold shown on the lower right; return all wares shown on the card to the supply.

• Must have ALL wares shown on the card on your market stands.

Utility Cards

• Placed face-up in your play area (not discarded).
• May be used anytime during your turn (including the turn played), but each use costs 1 action marker.
• Each utility card may be used only once per turn (flip upside-down when used; flip back at end of turn).
• Maximum 3 utility cards in your play area; to play a 4th, discard one first.
• You may have duplicates of the same utility card.

People Cards

• Execute the action described on the card, then discard it.

Animal Cards

• Execute the action described on the card, then discard it.
• Opponent may play a guard card in reaction (costs no action markers) to negate the animal card’s effect for both players. Both cards are then discarded.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• When a player has 60 or more gold at the end of their turn, the game is nearly over.
• The opponent takes one last turn (with 5 action markers).
• If the opponent ends with the same amount or more gold than the player who triggered the end, the opponent wins.
• Otherwise, the player who triggered the end wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Players’ gold is open information at all times.
• If a player has no gold and wants to take an action costing gold, they may not take that action.
• Players may hold unlimited cards in hand.
• If receiving wares from people/animal card effects and lacking space, the player chooses which wares to take and which to leave.
• If the card supply is exhausted, shuffle the discard stack to form a new face-down supply.
• Utility cards have a different border and darker text background to distinguish them from people/animal cards.

Player Reference

Action	Cost
Draw a card (Phase 1)	1 action marker per draw
Play any card (Phase 2)	1 action marker (unless card says otherwise)
Use a utility card	1 action marker
Build 1st small market stand	6 gold + 1 action
Build subsequent small market stands	3 gold + 1 action
Fill 6th space on large market stand	2 gold extra
Unused actions bonus (2+ remaining)	+1 gold

Starting Resources	Amount
Starting gold	20
Starting hand	5 cards
Actions per turn	5
Large market stand capacity	6 wares
Small market stand capacity	3 wares
Max utility cards in play	3
Game end trigger	60 gold