Guide to Mombasa

Also, some cards that can be acquired will also show an

SET-UP additional share of a company.
* Take the 4 Track Cards, shuffle and place one at random face
down next to each edge of the board, making sure that one of The value of each share is determined by the trading posts
the arrows is clearly pointing to that edge. Flip them up and removed from a company’s base, as coin icons will be revealed
place the company track indicated by the card pointing to the as they are removed. The TOTAL number of coin icons revealed
edge of the board, returning cards to box. at the base determines the value of EACH share of that
*Place the 15 trading posts on their matching company bases, company.
making sure that each space is covered.
*Sort the 44 Action Cards by letter in the upper right. Shuffle Each Company Track also has 1 or 2 capital calls – payments (-X
the 4 E cards. Shuffle the 4 D cards and place them on top. pounds) that MUST be made to proceed on the track. If you
Repeat for each lettered deck, stacking them on top. DO NOT CANNOT pay, you do NOT advance.
SHUFFLE THE ENTIRE DECK AGAIN.
* Fill the 12 Card Display spaces from the top of the action card Each Company Track also has 2 special spaces. As soon as you
deck with face up cards. First fill the 4 spaces of the right reach OR pass these spaces, you immediately receive X pounds.
column from top to bottom, then repeat for middle and left You ALSO unlock either a PERMANENT SPECIAL TRACK BONUS
columns. If everything is correct, the top space of the left or an extra BONUS SPACE, the latter accessible like any other
column should be an A card and the 3 cards below it should be bonus marker space. EXCEPTIONS – ONCE YOU HAVE
B cards. UNLOCKED BOTH BONUS SPACES ON A TRACK, YOU CAN ONLY
* Place the coins near the board as a supply. USE ONE OR THE OTHER IN A ROUND – NOT BOTH. ALSO, IN
* Fill spaces 2 to 7 of the Round Track with coins. For 2p, place CASE YOU UNLOCK A SPECIAL TRACK BONUS IN THE MIDDLE
1 pound in each space. For 3p, place 2 pounds on the 2 / 4 / 6 OF AN ACTION, IT DOES NOT TAKE EFFECT UNTIL YOUR NEXT
spaces and 1 pound on the 3 / 5 / 7 spaces. For 4p, place 2 TURN.
pounds in each space.
* Sort the Book Tiles by letter and place them face down in IMPORTANT – WHEN A PLAYER REACHES OR PASSES A
supply. Fill the 12 spaces of the Book Display by revealing 4 SPECIAL SPACE ALL OTHER PLAYERS THAT REACHED OR
tiles of each letter and placing on the appropriate book spaces. PASSED IT BEFORE THEM RECEIVE THE PAYMENT AGAIN!
* Place the 4 Bonus Tiles face up next to the board.
* Each player receives a player board in their color, 9 starting Book Tiles & Bookkeeping Points
action cards, 4 track markers which go on the company tracks, Your ink jar marker can only advance into spaces where there
1 diamond marker which goes on their diamond track, 1 ink jar are book tiles. To acquire book tiles, you need bookkeeping
marker which goes below their player board, 1 pounds and points (blue square with quill).
bonus markers (workers) – 2 in 3p or 4p games and 3 in a 2p
game. Set aside spare bonus markers -only used in games that You MUST use any bookkeeping point awards when you receive
include the B2 company track. them. You spend them between buying ANY book tiles (A/B/C
* Determine a 1st player and give them the 1st Player Marker. tiles cost 1 / 1 / 2 points) or taking 1 pound for 1 point.
* Each player then receives a SPECIFIC 1-value expansion
(helmet) card. The 1st player gets the card with the 1 in the At the end of your turn, if you acquired at least ONE book,
upper right. The player to their left gets the 2 and so on. Each place the acquired books onto your Bookkeeping Track.
player adds these cards to their hand, giving them 10 starting
cards. Return any leftover cards to the box. You CANNOT place an A book onto an empty space with a
* Each player receives a specific Starting Tile with a pre-printed crossed-out A. Once a book is placed, it CANNOT be removed.
book. Shuffle the 10 Starting Tiles and deal 2 to each player. You may place a newly-acquired book ON TOP of one on your
Each player then selects 1 secretly and all reveal. Place these track, but you can NEVER cover a B or C book with an A book.
tiles on the envelope space of your player board.
The upper part of the book tiles show a requirement that you
Starting Tiles – Each shows 3 icons (top left) that show the must meet with the cards in your Action Area. PLACING
cards that start in your colored Resting Slots (ABOVE your BOOKS NEXT TO EACH OTHER WITH SIMILAR REQUIREMENTS
board). These function like personal discard piles. Starting IS A GOOD IDEA AS IT CAN LEAD TO FURTHER ADVANCEMENT.
Tiles also show a starting book that will start your bookkeeping
track, an ink jar icon to place your ink jar marker, and your Refill each empty space of the book display with the matching
starting bonus. letter once book buying is COMPLETE.

Company Shares & Value If a book supply of a particular letter runs out, empty spaces of
During the game, you can advance your marker on each that letter are simply left empty.
Company Track. Whenever you REACH OR PASS a space with a
share icon, you own as many shares as the icon shows.
Special Spaces on Player Boards  Use ALL expansion cards (helmet) in your Action Area
Each player’s diamond track and bookkeeping track potentially  Use ONE bookkeeper card (showing man, quill and ink
unlock additional Action Slot spaces if your marker reaches jar) in your Action Area
these spots.  Use ONE diamond merchant card (man with
If your diamond marker or ink jar marker reaches the final diamonds) in your Action Area
space of their respective tracks and you receive ANY awards  Place ONE bonus marker
that would have moved you forward, you gain 2 pounds FOR  END your Action Phase
EACH space you would have moved (diamonds) or for EACH
bookkeeping point you would have received. - As soon as you end your Action Phase, you drop out of the
General Action Phase. The phase ends when all do this.
Money
Money is open and is not piece limited. - You CANNOT take an action of which you do not have the
appropriate cards.
SEQUENCE OF PLAY
The game is played over 7 rounds, each consisting of 3 phases: - After using a card for an action, you MUST flip it FACE DOWN
to indicate that you have used it. Face down cards CANNOT be
1. Planning Phase used.
2. General Action Phase
3. Preparation for the Next Round Phase ACTIONS
Use Good Cards – 1 OR MORE CARDS
1. Planning Phase With this action, you can acquire new cards from the card
This phase is carried out by all players simultaneously and is display.
comprised by 2 steps.
- To perform this action, choose ANY number of face up goods
A: Each player plans their Action Phase by placing cards face cards which show the SAME good. You MUST choose at least
down in their Action Area. one card. The values of your chosen cards ADD up to form
your TOTAL unit value.
- Choose cards from your hand and place them face down in
the AVAILABLE (you start with 3, but can gain 1 or 2 others) - You MUST use this value to EITHER acquire ONE card from
colored Action Slots in your Action Area (the area BENEATH the card display AND/OR advance on ONE OR MORE Company
your board). Tracks.

- The card you place in each slot is up to you, but consider that - To ACQUIRE A CARD from the card display, add the values of
each Action Slot is LINKED to a Resting Slot. At the end of your the RED CRATES on the card you want to acquire AND the
Action Phase, you will move each Action Slot card to its linked printed value on the board. If your total MATCHES, take the
Resting Slot above your board. The cards in the Resting Slots card and add it to your HAND. If your total EXCEEDS, take the
are INACTIVE and CANNOT be used until recovered. card and add it to your HAND and THEN use the remaining unit
value to advance on ONE OR MORE company tracks.
EACH ROUND, YOU CAN ONLY RETURN THE CARDS OF ONE OF
THESE RESTING SLOTS TO YOUR HAND. - If the cost to acquire a card is ever ZERO (due to bonuses),
you STILL MUST use at least 1 goods card, though you can use
- You can also choose to play fewer cards than the number of all the units of that total unit value to advance on Company
your available Action Slots. Tracks.

B: All players then turn their cards face up. THE CARD DISPLAY IS NOT FILLED UP UNTIL THE END OF THE
ROUND.
2. General Action Phase
The 1st player begins this phase by taking their turn. The other - To ADVANCE on ONE OR MORE company tracks, use your
players follow in clockwise order and this continues until ALL TOTAL unit value and for each unit, move ONE space forward
players have dropped out of this phase. on ONE track until ALL units are used up. You can divide them
up between the companies however you wish.
- On your turn, you MUST perform EXACTLY ONE of the
following actions: Use Expansion Cards – ALL CARDS
With this action, you can expand the companies by placing
 Use 1 OR MORE good cards (coffee/bananas/cotton their trading posts in the regions of the map on the game
with values of 1, 2, 3, or 4) of ONE type in your Action board.
Area
- To perform this action, you MUST use ALL expansion cards in  Tip over the trading posts that you expanded so that
your Action Area at once. Each card shows a number of they are right-side up.
expansion points – 1, 2, or 3. The values of your chosen cards  Flip ALL expansion cards in your Action Area face
ADD up to form your TOTAL expansion value. You do NOT down.
need to use ALL of your expansion value.
NOTES – There are TWO ENCLAVE regions on the map – each is
- These points MUST be used to expand JUST ONE company. surrounded by another region. To enter the enclave, you must
FIRST enter the surrounding region.
IT DOESN’T MATTER IF THE EXPANSION CARD SHOWS A
SHARE OF A PARTICULAR COMPANY. YOU ARE NOT FORCED If there are no more trading posts for a company, it CANNOT be
TO EXPAND THAT COMPANY. expanded until it had another – via ousting. If it runs out of
trading posts while you are expanding it, forfeit remaining
- To expand, choose a company. Enter new regions with expansion points.
trading posts taken from the company’s base. The 24 regions
of the map are separated from one another by SINGLE and If you need to return an ousted trading post and there are no
DOUBLE line borders. Depending on which border you cross, valid empty spaces, REMOVE it from the game.
entering a region consumes 1, 2, or 3 expansion points. Once
you have spent your TOTAL expansion value, you receive the If you have only ONE expansion card in your Action Area and it
rewards of the region. isn’t enough to expand a company, you forfeit your action and
flip it face down.
- To ENTER a region, do the following:
 Choose a region that is directly accessible to the It does not matter if a company’s trading post gets “cut off”
company. A region is directly accessible if it is from its base. You can still place adjacent to it.
ADJACENT to EITHER the company’s base OR to ANY
region with a trading post of that company. It MUST Company bases are NOT regions and CANNOT be entered.
NOT already contain a trading post of the expanding
company – i.e. it CANNOT expand into its own region. Use Bookkeeper Card – ONE CARD
 Check how many expansion points it costs to expand With this action, you may advance your ink jar marker on your
into a region. bookkeeping track and can lead to rewards.
o It costs 1 expansion point to cross a single
border. - Before moving your ink jar marker, you MAY flip ONE book on
o It costs 2 expansion points to cross a double your track FACE DOWN. You MUST pay 2 pounds for this.
border.
o It costs an ADDITIONAL expansion point if - Move your ink jar marker forward on your bookkeeping track.
there is ANOTHER company’s trading post in You can move as far as you want, but consider the following:
the region.
 If you have enough expansion points to enter, place  You move forward book-by-book. You must meet the
ONE trading post from a space of the expanding requirements of each book. These refer to the cards
company’s base to place in the region. Each base that you have in your Action Area. You must check the
consists of THREE columns. You can take the trading TOTAL VALUE of the cards of these types.
post from ANY column, but you must take that  If you meet all of the requirements, you may enter it
column’s FOREMOST (closest to the map) trading post. and check the next book and so on. Each book is
 Place the trading post in the region on its side so you SEPARATE and NOT cumulative.
know you still need to collect your reward. It also  Cards are NOT used up, JUST checked.
helps in case you want to redo your turn.  If you cannot or do not want to move further, check
the tile you are on. You receive THIS and ONLY this
- Once you have used up your total expansion value: reward. If you do not move, you get NO reward.
 Collect your rewards (in ANY order) from each region  AFTER moving (or not), use the total number of
entered. Rewards include money, diamond track bookkeeping points as usual.
advances, company track advances, and bookkeeping  Flip the card face down, ending your turn.
points (to buy books).
 Oust ALL trading posts of other companies in regions IMPORTANT – ONCE CARDS IN YOUR ACTION AREA ARE
that you entered. You may choose which column the FLIPPED, THEY NO LONGER COUNT TOWARDS
trading posts return to, but it MUST be placed in the REQUIREMENTS OF BOOK TILES.
column’s REARMOST space. EXCEPTION – ONCE A
COLUMN’S FINAL SPACE HAS BEEN UNCOVERED, IT
CANNOT BE COVERED AGAIN. In this case, cover the
space in FRONT of the final space.
Use Diamond Merchant Card – ONE CARD End Your Action Phase
With this action, you advance your diamond marker on your Perform this action only if you cannot or do not want to
diamond track and collect money. perform any other actions. If you have any unused cards or
action tiles, use those since you CANNOT take them into the
If you use the Diamond Merchant with the diamond and next round.
money symbols, advance on the diamond track and collect
money as indicated. First, pick up EXACTLY ONE of your resting decks into your
hand. In the first round, resting decks are comprised of only
If you use the Diamond Merchant with a company name, ONE card. Later, they may have several cards.
advance and collect as normal, but ALSO check for additional
diamond track movement based on mine icons (picks) in Then, clean up your action area. Turn cards in your Action Area
regions that company occupies. For EVERY TWO mine icons face up and move each card to its LINKED resting deck. Splay
that company controls, move the diamond track ONE cards so you can see them. Return any bonus tiles.
additional space.
3. Preparation for the Next Round
After you use it, flip the card face down, ending your turn. Carry out the following steps:

Place Bonus Marker – ONE MARKER A – Move Coins from the Rounds Track to the Book Display
With this action, place 1 of your bonus markers onto an empty Move the coins from the leftmost stack of the Round Track
bonus space, gaining privileges and rewards. down to the row (or rows if 2 coins) below it. If someone buys
this book in the future, they will ALSO get the coin.
Place a marker onto a space making sure to meet any
requirement/cost. Depending on the space, you either B – Fill Up the Card Display
immediately gain a reward OR gain a bonus tile for NEXT Remove ANY remaining cards (if any) from spaces in the RIGHT
round. column and place into the action card discard pile. Move other
remaining cards to the right. Fill open spots TOP to BOTTOM
Once placed, bonus markers block the space for the rest of the from the RIGHT column to the LEFT. If the action card deck is
round. The spaces are as follows: empty, remaining spaces are NOT filled.

 Start Player: You CANNOT take this if you are 1st C – Return Bonus Markers & Possible Bonus Tiles
player and it is your first turn of the round. Placing Each player takes back their bonus markers. If a player takes
here makes you the first player (for next round) and back a marker from a bonus tile space, the also take the
use 1 bookkeeping point. respective bonus tile and places it face up in their Action Area.
 Buy Card (crates with money): Pay 1 pound. Begin the next round with the Planning Phase.
Immediately buy ONE card from the card display buy
paying its ENTIRE price in pounds. Take the card into END OF THE GAME
your hand. If the cost is ever reduced to ZERO Money is the means of scoring points in the game. The game
(bonuses), you take the card for free – though you still ends after 7 rounds. Each player returns all of their cards from
MUST pay to use the space as normal. their action and resting areas and sorts out any cards that
 Sell Card (card cut in half): Remove 1 card from YOUR show an additional company share in their lower left corner.
HAND from game by placing it in the action card
discard pile. Take pounds equal to red-crate value + 2. At the end of the game, you will calculate your total by adding:
 Majority Spaces (MAX w/ good): You are ONLY
allowed to place if CURRENTLY no other player has a  Your cash on hand
higher total unit value in their Action Area than you.  The value of your shares in each of the 4 companies
Each has a specific bonus depending on YOUR total  The last value your diamond marker has PASSED on
unit value. the Diamond Track
 Bonus Tile Spaces: Pay 1 or 2 pounds as shown.  The last value your ink jar marker has PASSED on the
Reserve the bonus tile for the NEXT round. You do Bookkeeping Track
NOT take it right away. You get it in final phase.
The player with the highest total is the winner. There is NO
The +1 Goods Tile increases a good type by 1 unit. Once tiebreaker.
placed, you CANNOT move it. It CANNOT be used
independently. Flip it along with the goods card(s) once used.

Bonus Action Card Tiles count as regular action cards buy do

NOT take up an Action Slot. They are additional to your cards.