Overview
Make your ancient civilization thrive over three rounds by acquiring money & resources, constructing shrines to art and science, and building wonders. But you're competing with another player for those same resources.
Three ways to win:
- Gain enough military resources to advance the military token to the opponent's edge of the board
- Collect six different science symbols
- Have the most victory points at the end
Game Preparation
At the beginning of the game, each player chooses four wonders in a snaking draft. These wonders act like regular resource cards, but take more resources and give greater rewards. Each player starts the game with 7 coins.
On Your Turn
During your turn, select an available card. (To be available, a card must have no cards on top of it.)
- Construct a Building: This is the most common action. Doing this adds the card to your "city" and gives you the resources or bonuses on the card. Each card is different--mouse over or read the formal instructions to see what it does.
- Build a Wonder: You must have the necessary resources in your city or pay the remaining difference. The cards is "sacrificed" and tucked underneath one of your Wonders. You do not pay any costs or gain any benefits of the card. Any available card can be used. There are a total of 8 wonders between players, but only 7 can be built. After the 7th wonder is built, the 8th is disgarded and cannot be built.
- Discard for Money: You can choose any available card and discard it for 2 coins plus 1 for each yellow card in your city.
Construct a Building (Buying Cards)
To buy a card and add it to your city, you must either have the same quantity and type of resources (symbols) in your city. If you are missing resources, you may pay 2 coins plus 1 extra for each of that resource your opponent has.
BGA displays what the card's money cost is to you and your opponent at the bottom. A checkmark means it has no cost.
Many cards alter the price you must pay for resources or allow you to buy for free if you have a previously claimed card.
End of Age (Round)
When the last card is taken from the board, a new age begins. Cards from that age are dealt in a predefined pattern. The player closest to the Conflict pawn (player in most danger of being conquered) chooses which player starts the next round. If the Military token is in the middle, the player who took the last card chooses who starts the next round.
Types of Cards
Raw Materials (brown): These are basic resources and primarily appear in Age I. They are needed to construct certain buildings or Wonders. Age III does not contain any of these kinds of cards. These cards are not spent or expire. As long as you have the card, you may use its resources on subsequent turns.
Manufactured Goods (gray): These are advanced resources and primarily appear in Age II. They are needed to construct buildings or Wonders. Age III does not contain any of these kinds of cards. These cards are not spent or expire. As long as you have the card, you may use its resources on subsequent turns.
Civilian Buildings (blue): These cards are worth victory points only.
Scientific Buildings (green): These cards are worth victory points only, but also have symbols. Collect 6 different symbols and you automatically win the game. Collect 2 cards with the same symbol and you gain a Progress token which gives a bonus or beneficial effect.
Commercial Buildings (yellow): These cards give coins, produce resources, reduce the costs of missing resources, or gain victory points. For each yellow card, you gain 1 extra coin when you discard a card for money.
Military Buildings (red): These cards move the military token. For each sword-and-shield symbol, the token moves that many spaces closer to your opponent's end. If it moves into a space with a penalty symbol, your opponent loses money. If it reaches the end, you automatically win the game. Otherwise, one player gains points at the end of the game for its position.
Guilds (purple cards): Guilds are worth money and points based on how many of a particular card type or other quality in your city. The money is awarded immediately, but the points are only awarded at game end. These cards only appear in Age III.
Scoring/End Of Game
The game ends automatically if:
A) a player conquers the other by moving the Conflict pawn on the military track to their end and gains "Military Supremacy".
B) a player gains 6 different science symbols and gains "Scientific Supremacy".
Otherwise, the game ends after the last card is drawn from Age III.
Players earn victory points from
- Building cards (including Guilds)
- Wonders
- Final position of the Conflict pawn
- Progress tokens
- Money (3 coins : 1 point).
The player with the most points wins. In ties, the player with the most Civilian Buildings wins.
Pantheon Expansion
Mythology tokens (1 of each pantheon) appear during Age I. Offering tokens appear during Age II. If you flip over cards with them, take the tokens.
When you take a Mythology token, draw 2 Divinities from the corresponding deck, choose 1 to put in the Pantheon facedown and put the other on top of the deck.
At the start of Age II, reveal all Divinities and place the Gate in the remaining empty space in the Pantheon.
Starting from Age II, players can activate a card from the Pantheon instead of claiming a card. The cost can be reduced by discarding Offerings.
During Age III, Grand Temples appear instead of Guilds, which can be build via linking if you have the corresponding Mythology token. At the end of the game, players score 5/12/21 points if they have 1/2/3 Grand Temples.
Divinities
The Divinities' cost is determined by their placement on the Pantheon board. They are kept in separate decks until they are placed on the board by picking up the corresponding pantheon token during Age I.
The pantheons are as follows:
Gate - white back
- Gate: Reveal the top Divinity from each deck, choosing one of them to activate for free. Its activation cost is double that of its space.
Mesopotamian - green backs, science-related effects:
- Enki: When Enki is revealed, randomly draw 2 Progress tokens from those discarded at the beginning of the game. These tokens are placed face-up on Enki’s card. When you invoke Enki, choose one of these two Progress tokens and gain it. The other token is returned to the box with those discarded at the beginning of the game.
- Ishtar: Grants the Law scientific symbol.
- Nisaba: Place the Snake token on an opponent’s green card. Treat it as if you also have that symbol.
Phoenician - yellow backs, economy-related effects
- Astarte: Place 7 coins from the bank on Astarte’s card. These are not part of your City’s Treasury, and so are thus protected against coin losses. It’s possible to spend them normally. At the end of the game, each coin still present on Astarte’s card is worth 1 victory point for you.
- Baal: Steal a brown or grey card built by your opponent, it is added to the cards of your City.
- Tanit: Take 12 coins from the bank.
Greek - blue backs, wild-card effects
- Aphrodite: Worth 9 victory points.
- Hades: Choose one card from the discard pile and construct it for free in your City.
- Zeus: Put in the discard pile a card of your choice (face up or down) from the structure, as well as any tokens which may be present on that card.
Egyptian - grey backs, wonder-related effects
- Anubis: Discard a card previously used to construct a Wonder (an opposing one or one of your own). The affected player doesn’t lose the instant effects previously granted by that Wonder (shields, coins, progress tokens, constructed or discarded card, replay effect). It is possible to rebuild this Wonder and thus apply its effects once again.
- Isis: Choose a card from the discard pile and construct one of your Wonders for free using that card.
- Ra: Steal an opponent’s Wonder which has not yet been constructed; it is added to your own Wonders.
Roman - red backs, military-related effects
- Mars: Grants 2 shields.
- Minerva: Place the Minerva pawn on any space of the Military Track. If the Conflict pawn would enter the space which contains the Minerva pawn, it instead stops moving and its movement ends. Then discard the Minerva pawn.
- Neptune: Choose and discard a Military token without applying its effect. Then choose and apply the effect of another Military token (which is then discarded).
New Progress Tokens
- Engineering: You can construct any building with a link by paying 1 coin.
- Mysticism: At the end of the game, you receive 2 points for each Mythology and Offering token in your possession.
- Poliorcetics: Each time you move the military token forward on the track, your opponent loses a coin for each space moved.
Agora Expansion
There is an additional way to win the game: Control all six chambers in the senate. This ends the game automatically.
During your turn, you may trigger a prepared conspiracy before selecting one of the cards on the board to claim.
When you claim a card, you can use it to prepare a conspiracy by putting the card underneath one of your conspiracies, instead of the other options.
At the end of the game, players gain points for the senates they controlled (1-3 points).
Senators
Black and White cards (with a grey back) are senators. Their cost are coins equal to your number of senators (0 if first). Then apply its effect as follows:
- Politician (White): Take a number of senate actions (place influence in the section or move an influence) according to the number of blue cards you have (0-1: 1 action, 2-3: 2 actions, 4+: 3 actions).
- Conspirator (Black): Put an influence in any chamber or conspire (draw 2 conspiracies, choose 1 and put the other on top or bottom of the deck).
If you have more influences than your opponent in a chamber, you control the chamber and have the power of the decree in it. However, you lose it if your opponent has at least the same number of influences as you. If you are tied with your opponent, no one control the chamber.
New Progress Tokens
- Corruption: From now on, you recruit all Senators (Politicians and Conspirators) for free.
- Organized Crime: When you conspire, keep both conspiracies in front of you.