Targi

A 2-player worker placement game that works!

From BGG:
Theme and overview: Unlike in other cultures, the desert Tuareg men, known as Targi, cover their faces whereas women of the tribe do not wear veils. They run the household and they have the last word at home in the tents. Different families are divided into tribes, headed by the ‘Imascheren’ (or nobles). As leader of a Tuareg tribe, players trade goods from near (such as dates and salt) and far (like pepper), in order to obtain gold and other benefits, and enlarge their family. In each round their new offerings are made. Cards are a means to an end, in order to obtain the popular tribe cards. Gameplay: The board consists of a 5x5 grid: a border of 16 squares with printed action symbols and then 9 blank squares in the centre onto which cards are dealt. Meeples are placed one at a time on the spaces at the edges of the board (not including corner squares). You cannot place a meeple on a square the opponent has a meeple on already, nor on a square facing opponent's meeple. Once all meeples are placed, players then execute the actions on the border squares the meeples are on and also take the cards from the centre that match the row and column of the border meeples. The game is predominantly scored and won by playing tribal cards to your display. These give advantages during the game and victory points at the end. Usually cards are played (or discarded) immediately once drawn. A single card can be kept in hand but then requires a special action to play it (or to discard it to free the hand spot for another card). Each card has a cost in goods to play. Goods are obtained either from border spaces or from goods cards. The display (for scoring) consists of 3 rows of 4 cards that are filled from left to right and cannot be moved once placed (barring some special cards). There is also a balance to be found between the victory point score on the cards themselves (1-3 VP per tribal card) and in the combinations per row (a full row of 4 identical card types gets you an additional 4 VP, and a full row of 4 distinct card types gets you 2 VP). The winner at the end of the game is the player with the most victory points.

Setup

- Place the 16 edge cards to form the border. These cards have the numbers 1-16 in the top left corner
- Shuffle the Goods and Tribal cards separately
- Deal 5 Goods and 4 Tribal cards into the middle of the table
- Place the remaining Tribal cards in a stack next to the "Tribal Expansion" space ont he playing field
- Place the remaining Goods cards next to the Caravan Space
- Place the grey Robber figure next to the #1 space
- Each player receives:
  - 3 Targi figures and 2 Tribal markers in their chosen color
  - 2 Dates
  - 2 Salt
  - 2 Pepper
  - 1 Gold
  - 4 Victory Point tokens

Gameplay

Overview
- Each player places their 3 Targi figures on the edge cards. At the 2 intersections, they place their Tribal markers. The cards where your Targi and Tribal markers stand indicate the available actions.
  
  The game ends when 1 of the players has played 12 Tribal cards, or when the robber has made 1 round of the edge cards.
Gameplay
- 1. Move the Robber 1 space forward.
  - - At the beginning of each round, the Robber is moved 1 space clockwise.
    - For the 1st round, the Robber is placed on the "Noble" (#1 card).
    - No Targi figures may be placed on the space with the Robber.
    - When the Robber reaches a corner, a Raid takes place
- 2. Place, in turn, the Targi Figures
  - - Starting with the start player, each player alternates placing 1 of their Targi figures until all 3 are placed.
    - No figures may be placed on the following spaces:
      
      On the space with the Robber
      
      On the "Raid" corner space
      
      On a space with another player's Targi
      
      On a space opposite an opponent's Targi
- 3. Place the Tribal marker on the crossing points
  - - Each player places their 2 Tribal markers at the intersection(s) of their Targi figures.
- 4. Executing Actions
  - - Beginning with the start player, each player plays all the actions from their Targi and Tribal marker.
    - They get to decide the order of execution
    - An action must be completed before executing the next action.
    - Once an action has been taken on a space, the player removes their Targi/Tribal marker from the card.
    - If a center space is used, the card is immediately replaced with a card of the opposite type. e.g. if a Goods card is used, it is replaced by a Tribal card (and vice versa).
      
      If the Goods draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile
      
      Tribal cards are placed in front of the player and the cost is paid. The Tribal card can also be taken into the player's hand instead
      
      Only 1 Tribal card may be held in hand. If a 2nd card would be taken into hand, it is discarded instead.
      
      A Tribal card in hand can only be played in a later round when using the "Noble" space
      
      The cost is paid at this time
      
      The card may be discarded at this time instead of playing it (to make room for a new card)
- 5. Turn over new Goods/Tribal cards and change the Start Player
  - - Turn over all the Goods/Tribal cards in the center of the play area
    - The start player is given to the other player
    - The next round begins with the Robber movement

Other Rules

Tribal Cards
- - The cost for playing the card is in the top right portion of the card
  - If a slash is depicted, the player can choose from the items separated by the slash
  - The victory points are 1 to 3 Silver crosses in the lower right.
  - Some cards are single-use and some have perm. effects.
  - As soon as a card is played, it can be used.
  - Players should build a tableau of 3 rows of 4 cards with their Tribal cards
    - A row does not have to be completed to start a new row
    - A full row of cards with the same symbol is worth 4 victory points at the end of the game
    - A full row of cards with 4 different symbols is worth 2 victory points at the end of the game
Raid
- - If the Robber is moved to the Raid space, the player must give up what is indicated on the space.
  - Each player, beginning with the start player, gives back the appropriate items.
  - The Robber is then moved to the next space
Goods and Gold Stock Limitations at the End of a Round
- - After a player's turn executing actions, the player must discard down to 10 Goods and 3 Gold.
  - The player may go over the limit during their turn.

Game End and Scoring

- The game ends in 1 of 2 ways:
  - At the end of the round when a player has played their 12th Tribal card
  - The Robber is moved onto the 4th Raid space. Players must still pay for this Raid, however.
- Add up all Silver crosses from tokens and Tribal cards
- Add the points for Tribal card tableau rows:
  - 4 points for completed rows of cards with all matching symbols
  - 2 points for completed rows of cards with 4 different symbols
- If there is a tie:
  1. The player with the most Gold
  2. The player with the most Goods
  3. The game is a draw

How to Play Videos 📹

Credit:	Jay Deiman
Version:	1.0