Tikal

To set up a game of Tikal, place the main board in the center with the standard or deluxe components, depending on your version. Each player receives a set of expedition members (explorers and leaders), base camps, and personal player boards. Terrain tiles, action cards, volcano tiles, and treasure tokens are sorted into their respective stacks and placed near the board for drafting during each round.

The goal of Tikal is to act as a museum curator sending archaeologists into the jungle ruins to discover lost temples, unearth ancient treasures, and secure area control over valuable regions to gain the most prestige points by the end of the six rounds.

Each round consists of a round management phase where players draft terrain tiles, action points, turn-order markers, and action cards. Following this, players take turns spending action points during the action phase. Actions include placing terrain tiles onto the board, deploying and moving expedition members along stone steps, building base camps, digging for treasure, and clearing temple floors.

Scoring phases occur periodically throughout the game, triggered by the placement of volcano tiles. During these phases, players score prestige points based on the height of temples they control, majority control of volcanoes, jungle terrain, and lakes, as well as collecting sets of unique and matching treasure tokens.

The game concludes at the end of the sixth round after the final scoring phase and cleanup. The player with the highest overall prestige points accumulated from temples, treasures, and area control is declared the winner.