In the strategy game Neta-Tanka, you are a member of the Indian tribe of the "Frozen River", living in harmony with nature. The tribe obeys the laws of the Four Wise Men, who in turn are led by the wisest among them - the leader Neta-Tanka. As the leader of your clan, you will control your workers, sending them to collect resources, expand the camp, build totems, etc. The game is distinguished from most of its sisters in the "worker placement" category by a unique connection of the individual actions of the workers in a super thematic way - we observe the situation partly for ourselves, but also invariably for the common good of the tribe. In short, if I want to salt meat for the winter with one of my Indians, another person from the tribe (not necessarily from my warriors) has to go hunting and catch bison, and a third person has to process the meat and skins... This whole idea of resource connectivity is strongly present in all fields of the map and gives great bonuses for combinability, with or without the exchanged "generosity" chips, which are also victory points. The concept of the game is that in order to prosper, you have to "give a hand" to an opponent from time to time, otherwise things don't work out... and although the game is not cooperative, but actually quite competitive, it manages to make you make very interesting choices. This seriously distinguishes it from many other games with similar mechanics. Very accessible rules, fast and dynamic gameplay, but with a lot of tricks and subtleties, if one decides to play at a highly competitive level. It is extremely important to "program" the order of your actions correctly so that you don't lose valuable resources (which sometimes spoil) or the turn of a worker from your tribe!
Information from the publisher:
The Frostrivers tribe dwells along the Great Frozen River. As a clan chief, send you workers to get resources, to develop your camp and sometimes to help the community. Discover how the « linked actions » work, to maximize your actions, and become the new Neta-Tanka!
Neta-Tanka is a game of resource management and worker placement, with clever and refreshing mechanics.
All the players place their workers, one at a time, until everyone has placed all their workers. Then, the players trigger all their workers.
Think ahead, because some actions require other actions to be triggered beforehand! For example, if you want to get hides, the "Hunt" action must have been triggered earlier in the turn. And when you cut up a Buffalo to get the hide, then the meat becomes available for the other players. It is crucial to remember the turn's order when you place your workers, or they might have nothing to do when you resolve your actions!
Another key point of the game is that the spots on the board are linked with each other. Triggering 2 actions that are linked with each other gives you a boost (by improving those actions, or giving you extra resources, …).
There are different ways of scoring points. The player with the most points at the end becomes the new Neta-Tanka!
