Tanbo rules

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Tanbo rules

A two-player strategy board game of Japanese rice farming, built on a mancala mechanic.

Players
2
Age
10+
Playing time
5–15 min
Mechanic
Mancala

Overview

As you wanted to live closer to nature, you have decided to start cultivating rice in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Snakes are commonly found in paddies: these reptiles are considered sacred creatures that help the rice to grow.

The more snakes there are, the greater the harvest will be. However, you will need to control the snake population in order to harvest the rice. Harvest as much rice as possible to score points and try to win the game.

Components

  • 62 tokens: 20 × Snake, 30 × Rice (15 yellow, 10 black, 5 red), 10 × Dike, 2 × Rice Farmer
  • 1 bag

Setup

  1. Each player places 5 Dikes in a radial pattern to create 5 paddies.
  2. Place 2 Snakes in each paddy and 1 Rice Farmer in the paddy of your choice.
  3. Place the 30 Rice tokens in the bag and set the bag in the centre of the table.

Depending on the variant you choose, the setup may be slightly modified — see the Variants section at the end of this page.

How to play

The player who most recently ate rice becomes the starting player. Players take turns alternately. On your turn, perform the four phases in order.

  1. Preparation phase — pick up all the tokens in the paddy holding the Rice Farmer.
  2. Movement phase — move the tokens one by one, each to a different paddy, in a clockwise direction.
  3. Action phase — perform an action based on the number of Snake and Rice tokens in the last paddy where you placed a token.
  4. End phase — count your tokens in each paddy. If a paddy holds more than 10, remove the excess by choosing Snake or Rice tokens and placing them in the centre of the table. Removed Rice tokens go back into the bag.

The five actions of phase 3

Important points

  • Rice tokens have different values depending on their colour: yellow = 3 points, black = 4 points, red = 5 points.
  • When you add a Rice token to a paddy, draw one randomly from the bag in the centre of the table.
  • When you remove a Rice token from a paddy, immediately return it to the bag.

A. Harvest the rice Rice > Snake, ≠ 0

There must be both Rice and Snake tokens, with more Rice than Snakes. Take as many Rice tokens from the paddy as the difference between the number of Rice and the number of Snakes, and place them on your side to keep track of your points.

You may choose the colour of the Rice tokens you take — we recommend choosing those with the highest point values.

Example — 4 Rice tokens and 1 Snake token in this paddy: you take 3 Rice tokens (4 – 1) and place them on your side. They give you 9 points.

B. Cultivate the rice Snake > Rice, ≠ 0

There must be both Rice and Snake tokens, with more Snakes than Rice. Add to the paddy as many Rice tokens as the difference between the number of Snakes and the number of Rice.

Example — 4 Snake tokens and 1 Rice token in this paddy: you draw 3 Rice tokens (4 – 1) from the bag and add them to the paddy.

C. Sow Snake = 0 or Rice = 0

There must be no Rice tokens or no Snake tokens. Return all the tokens from this paddy to the centre of the table, then add 2 tokens of the type that was missing.

Example — you have only 1 Rice token and no Snake tokens: you return the Rice token to the bag, then add 2 Snake tokens to the paddy.

D. Rest Snake = 0 and Rice = 0

There must be neither Rice nor Snake tokens in your destination paddy — meaning the last token placed is the Rice Farmer, alone in the paddy.

Move the Rice Farmer clockwise to the next paddy containing tokens. Then return to the bag as many previously collected Rice tokens as the number of paddies you crossed. If you have not collected any Rice tokens, do nothing.

You may choose the colour of the Rice tokens you return — we recommend choosing those with the lowest point values.

Example — you move the Rice Farmer forward by one paddy: you lose 1 previously collected Rice token and return it to the bag.

E. Replay Snake = Rice ≠ 0

There are as many Rice tokens as Snake tokens, and that number is not zero. This action affects both your opponent and yourself.

Your opponent first: they must choose exactly 2 of their tokens (Snake, Rice or Rice Farmer) and swap their positions.

Then you: perform phase 2 again, starting from the paddy where the last token was placed, then proceed with the action phase. During this second action phase, perform all possible actions based on the number of Snakes and Rice in the paddy where the last token was placed.

End of the game

The player who meets one of the following conditions immediately wins the game:

Having 25 points
Leading by 20 points
Scoring 20 points in one turn

Variants: good harvest & poor harvest

To enrich your gaming experience, you can try different setups based on the seasons. The good harvest (housaku) offers games with more tokens on the field, while the poor harvest (husaku) has fewer. Each harvest includes 5 unique setups, allowing for varied challenges and increased replayability.

New setups are added regularly on the Musoka Studio website.

Want to add Tanbo to your collection?

A two-player strategy board game, 5 to 15 minutes, ages 10 and up. €14.99.

See the product page

Into Japanese games? Have a look at Haniwa, a tile-laying game inspired by the funerary sculptures of the Kofun period, or the Japan Pack, which bundles both.

Game designer: Ikumo Tasaka · Illustrator: Wanjin Gill · Graphic designer: Mehdi Bouti · Translation and text editing: Ambre Poilvé · Layout: Stéphanie Lairet
© 2025 Musoka Studio — 58 rue de Monceau, 75008 Paris, France