Place the starting tile (with the volcano) face-up in the middle of the table. Shuffle the remaining 78 land tiles face-down into a stack. Similarly, shuffle the 12 bonus cards and place them face-down in a separate bonus card stack on the table. Each player gets 5 tribe members and 2 huts in his color.

The players take turns laying land tiles. They create meadows, forests and rivers, on which the players may place their tribe members and huts in order to earn points. Players score points during the game and at the end of the game, so the players will not know the winner until the end.

On a player's turn, he takes following actions in the order shown:

1. The player gets a land tile and places it face-up next to previously placed land tiles on the table (the playing area).
2. The player may place one of the tribe members or one of the huts from his supply on the tile he just played.
3. If, as a result of placing the tile, the player completed a forest or a river, it is scored now.

As first action, the player gets a land tile and places the tile face-up on the table in the playing area. When placing a land tile, a player must use the following rules:

• The player must place the new land tile with one or more of its sides adjacent to a previous placed land tile. He may not place the land tile so it touches previous placed tiles only corner to corner.
• When placing a land tile the player must match meadow, river and forest segments on the placed tile and any adjacent tiles.
• In the rare situation where a land tile has no legal place where it can be played, the player discards the land tile from the game, draws another land tile, and places it following these rules.

After placing a land tile, the player may place 1 tribe member or 1 hut. When doing so, the player must follow these rules:

• The player may only place 1 tribe member or 1 hut in a turn (exception : see rules on bonus cards below).
• The player must take the tribe member or the hut from his supply.
• The player must place the tribe member or the hut only on the land tile he just placed.

The player must place the tribe member so that it is clear on which segment on the tile it rests.

A player places a tribe member as a

When a player places a tribe member as a hunter, he places it lying rather than standing in the meadow segment. The reason for this will be fully explained below in "the meadow".

• A player may not place a tribe member on a forest, river or meadow that already has another tribe member (his or an opponent's). It matters not how far from the new segment the other tribe member is as long as it is on a connected segment.

This rule is illustrated in the following example:

It is still possible that several tribe members can be in an area (forest, river, or meadow). This can occur when separated forests, meadows or rivers that have tribe members on them are connected by placement of a land tile and is explained more completely later in the rules.

Players may not move tribe members once placed. However, tribe members may return to their owners (see "Returning tribe members to their owners" below)

After a player places a tribe member (or chooses not to), his turn ends and the next player takes his turn.

Note: if, by placing the tile, the player completed a river or a forest, the river or forest is now scored. After it is scored, the next player takes his turn.

A river is completed when there is a lake with fish (all lakes have fish!) or a spring on each end, or if the river makes a complete loop. There is no limit to the number of segments in a river. The player with the only fisherman on a completed river scores 1 point for each segment and 1 point for each fish in the lakes (if any) at the ends of the river.

Note: The player, who places a tile that completes a river, usually scores points for the completed river, but this is not always the case. It can happen (as shown above), that one player places a tile that completes a river where another player has a fisherman and scores points for the river.

Through clever tile laying, it is possible for there to be several gatherers in a completed forest or several fisherman on a completed river. When scoring such an area, first determine if one player has more tribe members in the area than each other player. If a player has more tribe members, he scores the points alone. If several tie with the most tribe members in the area, they each score the full points for the area.

After a river or a forest is completed and scored - and only then - players with tribe members in the completed area return them to their staging areas. The players may place the returned tribe members and use them in any role they choose on their next turn. Because of the order of actions, it is possible to place a tribe member in an area, score the area and get the tribe member back in the same turn. To do this, a player must...

1. Complete a river or forest by placing a land tile or bonus card,
2. place a gatherer or fisherman,
3. score the completed river or forest,
4. take back the tribe member.

It is even possible in the right circumstance for a player to do this with his placement of a land tile and again with the placement of a bonus card.

Huts are always placed on a river segment or lake. A hut owns the entire river system that it stands on. A river system is all connected lakes and river segments, and is not broken by lakes with fish. A river system is only bounded by a spring or the edge of the playing area. Huts are scored only at the end of the game.

When placing a hut a player must check to see that there is no other hut (his or an opponent's) on the entire river system (this rule is similar to the one for placing tribe members). One placed, a hut may not be moved or removed from the playing area, and remains until the end of the game. After a player places a hut (or chooses not to), his turn ends and the next player takes his turn.

Note: huts and fishermen do not affect the placement of each other.

Several connected meadow segments, bounded by forests, rivers, and the edge of the playing area form a meadow. Meadows or meadow segments are not scored. They exist only to accommodate hunters. Hunters remain where placed for the entire game and are never returned to their owners. To emphasize this, players lay hunters on meadow segments. This also serves to distinguish hunters from the standing gatherers and fishermen that can be returned during the game (when a forest or river is scored).

Players with hunters on meadows can only score points for them at the end of the game (see final scoring).

The game ends at the end of a player's turn, when the last land tile (not bonus card!) has been placed. All incomplete forests and rivers have no value and will not be scored. The players remove their gatherers and fishermen from the incomplete forests and rivers on the playing area. The huts on the rivers and the hunters in the meadows remain on the playing area for the final scoring!

A player who alone has a hut on a river system, scores 1 point for each fish in the river system. If several players tie with the most huts on a river system, each score the full points for the system. If one player has the most huts, he scores the points alone. For scoring of the huts, it is unimportant whether the river systems is closed (complete) or not. In this way, all river systems with huts are scored.

The player, who alone has a hunter in a meadow, scores the following points: 2 points for each deer, each mammoth and each aurochs. Saber-toothed tigers get their food in the meadows. They hunt only the deer, avoiding the mammoths and the aurochs. For each tiger in the meadow, a deer is hunted by the tiger and not scored. The remaining deer, as well as the mammoths and the aurochs, score 2 points each. If there are more tigers than deer in the meadow, the extra tigers do not represent minus points (they do not score -2 points each).

If several players have the most hunters in a meadow, each scores the full points for the meadow. If one player alone has the most hunters, he scores the points alone. For scoring the hunters, it is unimportant whether the meadow is complete. In this way, all meadows with hunters are scored.

The player with the most points is the winner!