How to Play Finca

Game Objective

In Finca, players take on the role of Mallorcan farmers, seeking to harvest as much as possible of the island's tropical fruits: figs, almonds, olives, oranges, grapes, and lemons. Players deliver their harvested fruits to the island's communities, which have ever-changing requirements throughout the game. For these deliveries, players receive victory points. In the end, the player with the most victory points is the winner.

Setup

1. Place the game board on the table.
2. Shuffle the 12 windmill blades face down and place them face up on the windmill spaces.
3. Shuffle the 42 fruit tiles face down. Then, separate them into 10 stacks of 4 each. Place one stack on each region and flip the top tile face up. Place the remaining 2 tiles face down in the box without looking at them.
4. Randomly distribute the 10 finca tiles, 1 per region, in each region's community.
5. Place the wooden fincas next to the board, depending on the number of players:
   • 4 players: 6 fincas
   • 3 players: 5 fincas
   • 2 players: 4 fincas
6. Separate the 108 fruits by type and place them as a general supply next to the board. (18 of each: figs, almonds, olives, oranges, grapes, and lemons).
7. Each player takes the 4 action tiles of their color.
8. Each player takes farmers of their color, depending on the number of players:
   • 4 players: 3 farmers
   • 3 players: 4 farmers
   • 2 players: 5 farmers
9. Place the 4 bonus tiles in a stack next to the board. Place the tile with the golden 4 at the bottom, then comes the 5, then the 6, and finally, on top is the 7.
10. Place the donkey carts in a stack in the middle of the windmill. The number placed depends on the number of players:
    • 4 players: 8 donkey carts
    • 3 players: 6 donkey carts
    • 2 players: 4 donkey carts

Game Flow

The game begins with the introduction phase. First, players choose a starting player. They begin the game by placing one of their farmers on any windmill blade and taking exactly one fruit from the supply that matches the fruit illustrated on that windmill blade.

Players follow in clockwise order. Each places one of their farmers on any windmill blade and takes exactly one fruit from the general supply corresponding to the fruit illustrated on the blade where they placed their farmer. Multiple farmer figures can be placed on the same windmill blade. The introduction phase ends when all players have placed all their farmers and received one fruit for each. Players place the fruits they take visibly on the table near them (their play areas). This open display of taken fruits continues throughout the game.

After the introduction phase, the actual game begins. The starting player takes the first turn. After their first turn, the game continues in clockwise order until the end of the game. On a player's turn, they must choose one of the following three options:

1. Move farmer
2. Deliver fruit
3. Use action tile

Actions and How to Play

On your turn, a player must choose one of the three options:

1) Move farmer

The player selects any of their farmers that is on a windmill blade and moves it clockwise. Before moving their farmer, the player counts the number of farmers on the blade from which they are moving (theirs and their opponents'). They then move their farmer exactly the same number of spaces (blades) as there were farmers on the blade from which they moved the farmer. Thus, if a farmer is alone on a blade, they move only 1 space - to the next blade. If the farmer shares the blade with another farmer, they move 2 spaces (blades). And so on, for 3 or more farmers on a blade.

After the player moves their farmer, they count the farmers (theirs and their opponents') on the windmill blade where they ended their movement. They then take that number of fruits from the supply, placing them in their play area. The type of fruit taken is shown by the illustration on the blade where they ended their movement.

If the supply does not have enough fruits (there are 18 of each type) of the type the player can take, all players (including the player taking the fruit) must return all fruits of that type back to the supply. The player then takes the number of fruits of that type that they can from the supply.

When a player moves their farmer past one of the two windmill dividing lines, the player also takes a donkey cart from the center of the windmill, placing it in their play area.

If there are no more donkey carts in the center of the windmill, all players, including the player who moved their farmer, must return all donkey carts back to the center of the windmill. The player then takes the donkey cart that they can.

Rare case: when a farmer crosses both dividing lines because there are more than 6 farmers on the windmill blade from which they move, the player takes 2 donkey carts.

2) Deliver fruit

By moving farmers on the windmill blades, players take fruits and donkey carts. Later, players can use the donkey carts to deliver fruits to communities. Which fruits each community wants are shown on the face-up fruit tile in each community.

The symbol on fruit tiles indicates that any type of fruit can be used to fulfill the tile's fruit requirements. The player must provide the number of fruits shown.

During their turn, the player can deliver fruits to one or more communities, however, the maximum number of fruits a player can deliver in one turn is 6 fruits. To deliver, the player first returns one of their donkey carts back to the center of the windmill. Then, they place the fruits required by the communities to which they wish to deliver on the fruit tiles that are in those communities. The player must place exactly the required fruits - no more, no less. They are, however, limited to delivering a maximum of 6 fruits in a single turn.

After the player has delivered all the fruits they wish, they place the delivered fruits back into the supply and take the tiles they were on, placing them face up in their play area. Then, they flip the top tile in each stack from which they removed a tile. Thus, during the game, these stacks become smaller and smaller and, naturally, not at the same rate. So, some stacks will run out before others.

When a player takes the last fruit tile from a community, the Finca tile for this community is immediately assigned to a player. To determine which player receives the Finca tile, each player counts the fruits of that type they have on the fruit tiles they have collected in their play area. The player who has the most fruits of that type on their fruit tiles takes the Finca tile. If two or more players tie for the most, the Finca tile is returned to the box without any player taking it. For example, if the Finca tile shows figs, all players count their figs. After the Finca tile is assigned or returned to the box, the player places a wooden finca on the community to show that the Finca tile has been taken.

There are also Finca tiles with 2 types of fruit (e.g., figs and almonds). When such a tile is to be assigned, players count all the fruits of these two types on the fruit tiles in their play areas and add the two together to determine who has the most. For example, the player who has the most figs and almonds combined takes the tile.

One of the 10 Finca tiles shows a generic fruit symbol. When this Finca tile is to be assigned, players sum the values on all their collected fruit tiles in their play areas. The player who has the highest total on their fruit tiles takes the Finca tile. As with the other Finca tiles, if two or more players tie for the highest total of fruits, no player takes the Finca tile and it is returned to the box.

After the assignment of a Finca tile, the player places a wooden finca on the community. This serves to clearly indicate that no more fruits can be delivered to this community.

3) Use action tile

Each player has 4 action tiles. A player can use an action tile during a turn, but can use each tile once in the game. After using a tile, the player returns it to the box.

The action tiles have the following uses:

• Double windmill movement: after moving a farmer and collecting fruits, the player can move one of their farmers again on the windmill (the same or another) and collect fruits as in a normal movement. In this way, the player can get more than 1 donkey cart in one turn.
• Gust of wind: the player can place one of their farmers on any windmill blade. Then, they take the allowed number of fruits. However, the player cannot take a donkey cart, regardless of how far they move the farmer.
• Large donkey cart: the player can make a delivery of up to 10 fruits using this special donkey cart. When a player uses the large donkey cart, they do not use a normal donkey cart.
• One less fruit: the player can deliver 1 fruit less than required. Thus, they can take tiles totaling 7, since they are delivering only 6 fruits. A player cannot take a fruit tile with only one fruit by delivering 0 fruits of that type.

Note: a player can only use 1 action tile in a turn!

Bonus Tiles

The first player to collect 6 fruit tiles with values from 1 to 6, immediately takes the bonus tile with the value 7 on top of the stack of bonus tiles. The next player to do so takes the next tile (with the value 8), and so on until all 4 bonus tiles are taken. A player can take a second bonus tile if they collect a second set of six tiles, with values from 1 to 6.

End of Game and Scoring

The placement of the last wooden finca signals the end of the game. The game ends after placing the last wooden finca on the board. The player finishes their turn. Then, players count their victory points. The player with the most victory points is the winner.

Players count their victory points:

• the values on the collected fruit tiles,
• each Finca tile is worth 5 points,
• each unused action tile is worth 2 points,
• and the value of the bonus tiles.

If players tie for the highest number of victory points, the player among them with the most fruits in their play area is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players rejoice in their shared victory.

Special case: when players place the last wooden finca, the player finishes their turn, which may include the assignment of additional Finca tiles, even if there are no more wooden fincas to place. At the end of the player's turn, the game ends.

Tips for Winning

Refer to the manual for details on this section.