Goal of the Game

In Coatl, you take on the role of an Aztec High Priest candidate. To prove your merit and impress the gods, you must participate in a prestigious tournament by building the most elegant and spectacular Cóatl (feathered serpent) sculptures. The objective is to accumulate the highest number of prestige points by satisfying the requirements of different cards, crowning yourself the winner at the end of the game.

Setup

Follow the steps below to set up the game board:

1. Place the Stock Board in the center of the table.
2. Each player receives their Player Board and their corresponding color Sacrifice Tokens (note: for the first game, it is recommended not to use the Sacrifice Tokens).
3. Fill the spaces on the Stock Board by drawing random pieces from the corresponding Stock Bags.
4. Choose a player to start and give them the First Player Marker.
5. Shuffle the Temple Cards. Deal 1 Temple Card to each player (keeping it hidden) and place the rest in two face-up piles near the Stock Board.
6. Shuffle the Prophecy Cards and reveal 6 of them to form the Prophecy supply.
7. Deal the initial Prophecy Cards: the 1st player receives 3, the 2nd receives 4, the 3rd receives 5, and the 4th receives 6. Each player chooses up to 3 cards to keep in their hand and discards the rest (also keeping the chosen ones hidden).

Gameplay

The game is played in turns, clockwise, starting with the player indicated by the First Player Marker. On each turn, the player must choose one of the three main actions below:

1. Take Cóatl pieces
2. Choose Prophecy cards
3. Assemble your Cóatl

At the end of each turn, if the player chose the Choose Prophecy cards action, they must reveal new cards from the deck until the Prophecy supply has 6 face-up cards.

Stock Refill: The Stock Board must be refilled whenever all body part spaces are empty OR when all head and tail spaces are empty. Refilling is done with pieces drawn from the Stock Bags.

Actions and How to Play

Take Cóatl pieces

Choose a space on the Stock Board (1 head, 1 tail, or 2 body parts) and add it to your Player Board. If you choose a body parts space, you must take both pieces. Attention: your Player Board has a limit of 8 pieces.

Choose Prophecy cards

Take one or more Prophecy Cards from the Prophecy supply or the top of the deck. You can have a maximum of 5 cards in hand.

Assemble your Cóatl

You can use the pieces from your Player Board to create a new Coameh (plural of Cóatl) or add pieces to an existing one. During this action, you can perform the following sub-actions:

• Start a new Cóatl: Place one piece from your board onto the table. This is not possible if you already have 2 incomplete Coameh.
• Add pieces to an existing Cóatl: Connect a piece from your board to an incomplete Coameh. A Cóatl can have as many body parts as you wish, but only 1 head and 1 tail.
• Fulfill a Prophecy card: Place a Prophecy Card from your hand next to an incomplete Coameh that satisfies the requirements. You can add more pieces later to increase the score, but the card is only scored at the end of the game.

Assembly Rules:

• You can only have up to 2 incomplete Coameh at a time.
• To complete a Cóatl, it needs 1 head, 1 tail, and at least 1 body part.
• A Cóatl must fulfill 1 to 4 Prophecy Cards to be considered complete.
• Once placed, pieces cannot be moved or removed.

Completing a Cóatl: When finishing a Coameh, you must:

1. Fulfill as many Prophecy Cards as you wish (maximum of 4). If you have none, you must fulfill at least one.
2. Fulfill a Temple Card (from hand or the table) if possible.
3. Place the fulfilled cards face down.

Special Actions (Sacrifice Tokens)

You can discard a Sacrifice Token to perform a special action instead of a normal action:

• Perfect Choice: Take 1 head, 1 tail, or 2 body parts of your choice from the bag and refill the Stock Board.
• Vision of the Future: Discard the open Prophecy Cards, refill the supply with new cards, and discard cards from your hand to use the Choose Prophecy cards action.
• Priest's Promise: Take an open Temple Card and add it to your hand.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when:

1. A player completes their 3rd Cóatl.
2. The body parts supply runs out (on the table or in the bags).

Final Turns:

• If the end was caused by completing the 3rd Cóatl: Players following the player who completed the Cóatl perform 2 actions on the last turn; players before them perform only 1 action.
• If the end was caused by lack of pieces: Everyone plays until they have the same number of turns, and then each player has one final turn.

Scoring:

Each player sums the points of their complete Coameh based on the requirements of the fulfilled Prophecy Cards and Temple Cards. The player with the most prestige points wins. In case of a tie, the tie-breaker follows this order:

1. Highest number of Prophecy Cards and Temple Cards next to the Coameh.
2. The most valuable Cóatl (highest sum of points from its cards).

Tips for Winning

Consult the manual for details regarding this section.