Santa Cruz

Overview

Santa Cruz is a card-driven exploration and resource collection game designed by Marcel-Andre Casasola Merkle, published by Hans im Gluck (2012). In two independent rounds, players build houses, churches, and lighthouses on the island of Santa Cruz, tapping available resources and collecting points. Players use a hand of traveling cards and scoring cards to navigate the island and trigger scoring events. The game features a unique second-round mechanic where players rebuild their card hands for a revised strategy.

Components

• 1 Game board depicting the island of Santa Cruz with various terrain locations
• Building pieces (houses, churches, lighthouses) in player colors
• Traveling cards (road, ship, river – for movement)
• Scoring cards (trigger point scoring for specific conditions)
• Resource tokens
• Scoring track
• Round marker

Setup

Place the board centrally. Each player receives building pieces in their color and a set of traveling and scoring cards. Shuffle and deal cards according to setup rules. Each player selects their starting hand of cards for Round 1. Set up resources on the board as indicated.

Turn Structure

The game plays over 2 rounds. Each round:

1. Players take turns playing one card from their hand.
2. Traveling cards: Move and build on the island.
3. Scoring cards: Trigger scoring for all players based on specific conditions.
4. The round ends when all players have played all their cards.

Round 2 Distinction

After Round 1, players retrieve their played cards and rebuild their hand for Round 2. This allows players to adjust their strategy based on what they learned in Round 1.

Actions

Playing a Traveling Card

• Road card: Build a house, church, or lighthouse on a location accessible by road from your existing buildings.
• Ship card: Build on a coastal location accessible by sea.
• River card: Build on a location accessible by river.
• When building, place your building piece on the chosen location and collect any resource tokens present there.

Playing a Scoring Card

• Trigger a scoring event that applies to all players.
• Scoring cards reward points based on specific conditions, such as:
  • Number of buildings adjacent to specific terrain
  • Number of resources of a specific type collected
  • Buildings on coastal vs. inland locations
  • Church or lighthouse placement bonuses
• After scoring, the card is placed face-up and is spent.

Resource Collection

• When placing a building, collect any resource tokens on that location.
• Resources may be scored by specific scoring cards.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Players earn points through:

• Scoring cards: Points based on meeting the card’s criteria when played.
• Resource bonuses: Collected resources may score additional points.
• Building placement: Strategic locations may provide inherent point bonuses.

Points are tracked on the scoring track. After 2 rounds, the player with the most points wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Two-Round Structure: Round 2 uses the same cards as Round 1, but players can reorder their hand. This creates a strategic layer where Round 1 informs Round 2 strategy.
• Building Connectivity: You can only build at locations accessible from your existing buildings via the appropriate transport method (road, ship, river).
• Scoring for All: When a scoring card is played, ALL players score (not just the active player). This means timing of scoring cards affects everyone.
• Limited Locations: Each location can hold only one building. First come, first served.
• Lighthouses: Must be placed on coastal locations and may have special scoring interactions.
• Churches: May have specific scoring bonuses related to their placement.

Player Reference

Card Type	Effect
Road	Build on road-accessible location
Ship	Build on coastal location
River	Build on river-accessible location
Scoring	All players score based on condition

Game Length: 2 rounds, play all cards each round.

Victory: Most points after 2 rounds.