Place the starting tile (the one with a dark back) in the middle of the table. Shuffle the remaining tiles and set them as different facedown stacks that are easily accessible to all players.

Set the scoreboard to the side of your playing surface (table, floor, etc.).

Distribute 7 meeple of the color of their choice to each player. These meeple constitute each player's personal supply.

Each player takes their remaining meeple in their color and sets it on space 0 of the scoreboard. Return to your box any unused meeple.

Determine a first player (for example, the youngest).