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Conservas – Quick Guide for Beginners

Redesign Insert for Conservas - Redesign

Reading time: approx. 4 minutes

The goal of the game

You run a cannery on the Spanish coast. Over several days (rounds) throughout a month, you must manage boats, catch seafood, deliver canned goods, and operate sustainably. You win if you meet the month's objectives (money, expansion, sustainability).

Game setup

  • Number of players: 1
  • Age: 10 years and up
  • Playing time: 30 minutes
  • Components:
    • 1 Monthly Markets Book
    • 18 boat maps
    • 1 map "Open Sea"
    • 27 map upgrades
    • 116 discs, divided into: 20 water, 96 marine animals
    • 1 day marker
    • 32 tokens (money): 12 x 1 Euro, 16 x 5 Euro, 4 x 10 Euro
    • 1 duffel bag

Preparation:

(1) Sort all the discs according to their type.

(2) Place all the money tokens in reserve.

(3) Free choice of month in the monthly markets book. Recommendation: Start with the month of January.

(4) Fill the duffel bag with slices according to the instructions in the book.

(5) Take the money from the supply according to the instructions in the book.

(6) Day marker on field 1

(7) Shuffle the boat cards and place them face down.

  • Draw 2 boat cards, select one of them, place the other under the card pile (7).

(8) Discard the selected card

  • Draw 3 boat cards (7) and place them face up to the right of them (9)

(10) Lay out the "Open Sea" card.

(11) Shuffle the upgrade cards and place them face down.

(12) Draw 3 upgrade cards from the top card pile and place them face up next to it.

Gameplay of a day

Important: Each day consists of 3 phases

Phase 1: TO THE SEA – Catching

  1. Take 5 discs from the duffel bag. (4)

  • Either place the exact amount, i.e. the catch amount (bottom right) of the boat (above the waterline) on a boat (8) , or place the remaining discs in the sea (below the boat).

A NOTICE

The marine animals in the sea (under the boat and on "Open Sea" (10) multiply in Phase 3 when placed back in the sea bag if at least two of the same species are present.

2. Or place all the discs on "Open Sea" (10). In phase 3, they will multiply if at least two of the same animal species are present.

  • Repeat steps 1 & 2 until all boats + "Open Sea" are occupied.

  • Warning: If the supply of water discs is empty → immediately lost (overfishing!).

A NOTICE

Do you ever need to pull more panes than there are in your duffel bag ?
Then fill it up with water discs .


Phase 2: ON LAND – Recycling discs

After you have fished at sea, you can use your sea creatures in three ways:

A) Deliver canned goods to the market

  • Each order shows which marine animals are needed and how much money you will receive.

  • Remove the appropriate discs from your boats (not from the sea).

  • One disc is placed on the market field as a can (it remains there until the end of the game), the rest goes back into the supply.

  • Each order can only be fulfilled once.

B) Trading sea creatures for upgrades

  • Trade captured sea creatures for upgrade cards .

  • Upgrades bring you advantages (e.g., more catch, extra money, manipulation of the duffel bag).

  • Trading costs are shown in the top left corner of the map (e.g., 1 sea creature of the same species, different species). Trading also applies between different boats.

(1) Exchange costs

(2) Name

(3) Effect

(4) Frequency and phase of the effect

  • Some upgrades require that the exchanged animals remain on the map → these are then considered "in the sea" and can reproduce.

  • Upgrades take effect immediately and can be used permanently, once per day, or once.

    A NOTICE

    Discs that you exchange for upgrades go back into your inventory – not into your duffel bag.

C) Buy new boats

  • Each boat costs a purchase price (one-time fee) + daily maintenance costs .

  • Purchased boats strengthen your fleet, but from the next day you must be able to receive them.

  • No maintenance costs are incurred on the day of purchase itself.

A NOTICE

 In Phase 2, you convert your catch into money (market), advantages (upgrades), or fleet expansion (boats). The right balance determines success and sustainability.

Phase 3: End of the day

At the end of each day, you prepare the next round and check the sustainability:

  1. Cleaning up the catch

    • All sea creatures still on boats → back into stock.

    • All water discs on boats, from the sea (under the boats) and from the "open sea" → back into the duffel bag.

  2. Replenish displays

    • Refill the display to a total of 3 upgrades (12) and/or 3 boats (9) after removal. out of.

    • If you did not take an upgrade or buy a boat that day, you may (but do not have to) discard all the cards from the corresponding display and reveal new ones.

  3. Maintenance payments

    Pay the costs for all your boats (except for boats,
    which you bought today).

    If you can't pay for a boat, you have to abandon it.

  4. Reproduction in the sea

    • Check all animal species in the sea (under the boats and on the "Open Sea" map).

    • Reproduction: Number in the sea minus 1 = new discs of this type from the stock into the sea.

      • Example: 1 sardine = no reproduction, 2 sardines = 1 new sardine, 3 sardines = 2 new sardines, etc.

    • After reproduction, place all the marine animals in the sea bag (4) .

  5. Move forward to the next day

    • Move the day marker one space further.

    • Was it the last day of the month? → Check the monthly specifications.

  6. Start again with Phase 1 , unless it is the last day of the month .

A NOTICE

In Phase 3, you clean up, pay your fleet, allow the sea to grow, and prepare for the next day. The sea is your most important resource – keep it in balance!

End of the match – check monthly targets

At the end of the last day of the month, it will be checked whether you have met the monthly targets .

There are 3 types of specifications:

1. Money target

You must have at least the specified amount of money.

Don't forget: You still have to pay maintenance costs in the final round!

2. Expansion requirements

You must own a certain number of boats or upgrades .

One-time upgrades also count here.

3. Sustainability requirement

          • Empty the duffel bag and count the required sea creatures (e.g. sardines, mussels).

          • If you have at least the specified number, the requirement is considered fulfilled.

          • Important: The last reproduction at the end of the day must be taken into account!

If you have fulfilled all the requirements → you have won the game!

Only one requirement is missing → game lost.

A NOTICE

For more of a challenge, you can play the difficult challenges (higher money and tier requirements) instead of the normal ones.

Tips for getting started

  • Don't catch everything – leave marine animals in the sea so they can reproduce.

  • Upgrades are powerful: they give you long-term benefits.

  • Plan your finances – without money for maintenance, you'll lose boats!