Description

The aim of TOTEM is for your chief to build their totem pole before the other chiefs do, but it's not as easy as it sounds!

Players first decide how high totem poles need to be to win, between one and four totems, with higher poles meaning longer games. Cards in TOTEM come in three colours, representing the spirit power associated with them - red = power of destruction, yellow = power of protection, green = power of creation. Players are dealt at random a card representing their chief, and a spirit card (which is not looked at), which can be used as a risky last resort to destroy other player's totems, but can backfire and destroy yours (if the spirit card doesn't match the colour of the chief using it).

Players then take turns to turn over and collect totem part cards. To build a totem, players need to collect three cards, a wood, tools and paint card, in the same colour as their chief. Once they do this they discard those cards and choose a totem in their colour to add to their pole. There are several totem designs for each colour, so players can customize the way their totem pole looks.

Some cards in the totem parts deck are Magic Items - if a player picks one of these up and it is in their chief's colour, they can use it to do various things, from destroying other players' hands of cards (the Tomahawk), to preventing other players using magic items (the Teepee), or allowing them to look at other player's cards and swap any they want to (Pipe of Peace).

Once a player has created the set number of totems, they need to finish off by creating a Totem Topper (collect a wood, tools and paint card in each of the three colours in any order), and then they win! But play can continue to determine other placings.

Components:
Totem Parts (42 cards - wood, tools, paint, plus 6 Magic Items)
Totems (24 cards - 8 destruction, 8 protection, 8 creation, all double sided)
Chiefs (6 cards - 2 destruction, 2 protection, 2 creation)
Spirits (6 cards - 2 destruction, 2 protection, 2 creation)
Totem Toppers (3 cards, double sided)