Creature Caravan

Each player begins the game with a caravan, a set of tracking cubes, 12 camp tokens, 5 dice, a player board, 8 creature cards, and 1 coin. The first player is determined and they choose an unoccupied starting space in the first column for their caravan. Subsequent players then place their caravans in different starting spaces in the first column. The game includes deluxe components for Kickstarter versions, with retail versions using punchboard components. The Kickstarter deck is also slightly larger due to a built-in expansion.

The primary objective in Creature Caravan is to accumulate the highest number of victory points by the conclusion of the game. Players achieve this by strategically moving their caravans across the map, gathering resources, playing creature cards, and engaging in combat or trade, all while aiming to fulfill various scoring conditions.

At the start of a turn, players roll their 5 dice. They have one opportunity to re-roll all their dice if they are not satisfied with the initial roll. Once a player begins taking actions, they cannot re-roll. Actions are performed by assigning dice to action spots on their player board or played creature cards. The die value must be equal to or greater than the pips shown on the action spot. Free actions, which do not require a die, include trading cards from hand for food (1:1) or coins (3:1), and playing creature cards from hand by paying their cost (usually food, sometimes bags or coins). Movement actions allow players to move their caravan into adjacent plains (spending a 3+ die) or any terrain type (spending two 1+ dice). Landing on a treasure space grants an immediate bonus and a hidden end-game scoring token. Ending a turn on a fruit space grants a fruit token, which can be placed on a creature card to reduce its die requirement to 1. Ending a turn on a tower allows drawing three cards. Ember Zombie spaces give negative points if traveled through or landed on. Combat actions can only be taken if the caravan is on an Ember Zombie space, by assigning dice to combat action spots to defeat zombies based on combined die values. The Trade Market allows players to exchange resources for food or bags, with cubes sliding down the track each round, potentially blocking columns.

At the end of the game, victory points are calculated based on several factors. Players receive 5 points if they have a camp token in the Eastery. Points are awarded for the furthest space reached by their caravan on the map, up to a maximum of 25 points. Each camp token on the map scores 1 point, but only one camp scores per space if multiple camps of the same player occupy it. Negative points are given for any Ember Zombies remaining on a player's board. Points are also gained from positions on the Ember Zombie and Trade Market boards, with each column containing a player's cube scoring points indicated at the bottom. Finally, victory points from played creature cards and acquired treasure tokens are added to the total. The player with the highest total victory points wins.

The game concludes after 12 full rounds of play. At this point, all players should have utilized all 12 of their camp tokens and placed them on the game board. Following the completion of the 12th round, players proceed to the final scoring phase to determine the winner.