The Goal

TEMBO is a cooperative game where you win or lose as a team. Together, you lead a herd of elephants safely across the savanna to the destination. You must manage the triple threats of food (Energy), time (cards), and Lions.

Setup

• Each player chooses a player board and receives elephants (3 "active" on the board, the rest as "tired" elephants in the reserve).
• Arrange 6 Savanna boards between the Start and Destination boards according to the Journey tile.
• The Matriarch starts on the Start board; place 2 Lions and 4 Trees as indicated.
• Shuffle the three Savanna decks (I, II, III) with Matriarch and Lion cards. Each player starts with 3 cards.

Game Flow

The game is played clockwise. On your turn, choose one of two actions. Drawing or playing event cards (Matriarch/Lion) triggers immediate sequences.

Turn Sequence

A) Build Savanna

Place a card on an empty slot of a Savanna board.

• Water: Refill your supplies (+3 active elephants).
• Trees: Completing a Tree area grants the team +2 Energy.

B) Place Elephants

Discard a card to place elephants in the depicted footprint pattern.

• Placement must always be adjacent to the Matriarch or the existing herd.
• Difficult Terrain: Without a special symbol, only a maximum of one elephant can be placed per space.

Special Sequences

Matriarch Sequence (triggered by Matriarch card):

1. Move Matriarch: The figure moves forward.
2. Gather Herd: All active elephants on player boards become tired elephants again.
3. Lose Energy: The team loses -2 Energy.
4. Refresh Trees: All used Trees are stood up again.

• Note: A "Double Matriarch" (holding two cards) costs -5 Energy immediately.

Lion Sequence (triggered by Lion card):

• Lions move via the shortest path toward the nearest elephants.
• Any elephants reached are permanently removed from the game.
• If a Lion is in the same area as the Matriarch, all players must discard additional elephants.

End of Game

• Victory: Once all 6 Landmarks have been visited and the herd reaches the Destination board.
• Defeat: Energy drops to 0, the draw pile is empty, or a player loses their last available elephant.