Hanno and Wilfried Kuhn
Players: 2–4
Age: from 12 years
Playing time: 30–60 min
Game components
92 invention cards (23 cards each of colours red, pink, yellow and blue)
Note: for the specific classification of the invention cards look at the leaflet.

- Level 1 inventions
1×
1×
1×
1×
- Level 2 inventions
3× each
3× each
3× each
4× each
4× each
3× each
- Level 3 inventions
4× each
4× each
2
- Level 4 inventions
5×

5×
5×
5×
7 god cards and 3 disaster cards
1× each

1× each
4 epoch cards
1×
1×

1×
1×
4 cards which summerize shortly the rules (summaries)
1×
3×
48 resources (12 each of colours red, pink, yellow and blue)
24 settlement stones (1 stone = village, 2 stones stacked = city)
 1 rule booklet and 1 leaflet


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Topic and object of the game
10.000 years of civilizational development go by quickly in one game. Each player
takes charge of one tribe, makes inventions, builds villages and cities, enjoys the
favours of the gods and tries to withstand disasters. A playful ride through the ages.
He, whose civilisation comes out developed best, and who finally gains the most
victory points wins the game.
Preparation
1. Sort out the level 1 and level 2 invention cards, the epoch cards and the summaries.
2. The most inventive player appoints the player who goes first. This player receives the summary with the DDD logo. The other players each get one of the
other other summaries. Leftovers are put in the box.
3. Each player draws blind one level 1 invention and puts it face up on the table
in front of him. This is the first invention of his tribe. The remaining level 1
inventions are put back in the box.
4. Shuffle the level 3 and level 4 inventions, the gods and the disasters and
put them in the middle of the table as a supplementary pile.
5. Shuffle now the level 2 inventions and give each player 5 of these as hand
cards. Put the remaining level 2 inventions on top of the supplementary pile.
6. Take the top three cards of the supplementary pile and lay them face up in the
middle of the table. That are the common display. Leave some space for the
god/disaster – cards.
7. In a game with two players draw 10 cards, in a game with three players
draw 5 cards and in a game with four players draw 1 card and put these on
the discard pile.
8. Above these piles lay down the epoch-cards from I to IV.
On card I put down 3, 5 or 7 settlement stones (depending on the number of
players), on card II 6 settlement stones, on card III 4 settlement stones and on
card IV 3 settlement stones.
9. Each player places one settlement stone above his level 1 invention; his first
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village. The rest of the settlement stones will not be used and is put back in
the box.
10.Finally put the resources on the table, reachable for everyone. This is the common pool. Each player takes 3 resources in the colour of his level 1 invention
and puts them on the 3 cube drawings on his invention.
example for two players
Game play
The player with the DDD logo on the summary card is the starting player. The play
continues in a clockwise direction. When it is your turn, you can do three of the following actions (there is no order and no limit to each action, except three in total):
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take a card
make an invention
take resource/s
exchange cards in your hand (of inventions lying already in any personal
display) for resources of the same colour
set one settlement stone
carry out a card action
Note: the functions of invention cards lying in your personal display can be used.
These functions are explained in the leaflet.
Take a card
The player can either take one card from the common display or one of the supplementary pile and add it to his hand cards. If it is a god or a disaster card, see
page 11. The player then draws another card from the supplementary pile until he
finally gets an invention. If he draws another god or disaster card see page 11 also.
Note: Gaps in the common display will only be filled at the end of the turn from the
supplementary pile. If god or disaster cards are drawn at this time, see page 11.
Make an invention
[See also the function of: Axt (axe), Segelschiff (sailing ship), Stadtmauer (city wall), Statuette (statue) and
Wasseruhr (water clock).]
In the beginning of the game each player has a level 1 invention in his personal display. There is space for a maximum of 5 inventions in the personal display, which
must each be different. New invented inventions can substitute old inventions or
be put next to them.
To make an invention, you need to have the same number of invention cards of
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this invention, as the level of the invention, you want to make. You put one card of
them in your display and discard the others.
Example: André has 3 cards of the level 3 invention “Flaschenzug
(block and tackle)” among his hand cards. He takes one of them, adds
it to his personal display and puts the other two on the discard pile.
If one or several cards are missing for your invention, you can
substitute each missing card with a Colour Couple. These are any 2 cards matching the same colour). Other attributes are ignored. They need NOT be from
the same colour as the invention you are going to make.
But before “inventing” you have to check the level-rule: If you want to invent something, the level of your new invention may not be higher than the level of the highest invention on your display plus one, even if you substitute the new for the old invention.
Example: Marco has three level 2 inventions and the level 1 invention “Lehmhaus
(mud hut)” in his personal display. In his hand cards he has the level 4 invention
“Zahnrad (cogwheel)”. But he cannot invent the level 4 “Zahnrad (cogwheel)”
until he has invented a level 3 invention.
Note: A substituted invention is immediately taken back to hand and can be used
to build a colour couple or can be reinvented according to the rules.
Example: Regula substitutes her level 1
invention “Lehmhaus (mud hut)” by the
pink level 3 invention “Flaschenzug (block
and tackle)”. She plays the invention “Flaschenzug (block and tackle)” and takes the
level 1 invention “Lehmhaus (mud hut)” back on her hand. She needs 2 other invention cards “Flaschenzug (block and tackle)” to do this. Since she doesn‘t have them,
she creates one colour couple out of two yellow cards (“Axt (axe)” and “Leier (lyre)”)
and another one out of the red cards (“Stadtmauer (city wall)” and the substituted red
“Lehmhaus (mud hut)”). Then she puts these four cards on the discard pile.
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Take resource/s
[See also the function of: Astronomie (astronomy), Brennofen (kiln), Domestizierung (domestication), Flaschenzug (block and tackle), Kanalisation (sewerage), Lehmhaus (mud hut), Netz (net), Rollenprinzip (roll
with trees), Straße (street), Tongefäß (earthenware), Tonrohr(earthenware pipe), Wasserrad (water heel),
Zikkurat (ziggurat), Zisterne (cistern).]
The player takes one resource which he can produce due to one of his inventions in
his personal display. He takes it from the common pool and puts it in front of him.
This is his personal pool, which remains visible for everybody. Some inventions
offer the possibility to take more than one resource.
Example: Marco has the level 2 invention “Domestizierung (domestication)” and
adds one pink resource to his personal stock.
Note: If there are no more resources of your chosen colour in the common pool, you
may take 1 resource of this colour from the player or players, which have the most
of these resources in their personal pool. If you are the one who has the most, you
don’t get any resource. The player from whom you have taken 1 resource may take
a resource of another colour out of the common pool.
Exchange cards in your hand (of inventions lying already in
any personal display) for resources of the same colour
The player on turn can discard any number of hand cards of already outlying inventions in any players personal display. For each card so discarded, he receives a
resource in the colour of the discarded card.
Example: Marco has 1 card “Wasserrad (water wheel)” and 1 card “Flaschenzug
(block and tackle)” in his hand. The “Flaschenzug (block and tackle)” is in his
personal display, André has the “Wasserrad (water wheel)” in his personal display.
So Marco throws away both hand cards and takes a blue and a pink resource out
of the common pool.
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Set one settlement stone
[see also the function of: “Gewölbe (vault)”, “Münzwesen (coinage)” and “Schöpfbaum (draw well)”.]
To found a village or a city, the player takes one
settlement stone of the epoch card, by paying
the resources shown on the card. A settlement
stone on the epoch card I can only be used
as a village, a settlement stone on the epoch
cards II – IV can be used as village or city.
The settlement stone is immediately placed above one of his own inventions. The first settlement above an invention is always a village and when you build a second settlement stone on that invention, this is then a
city. If a player substitutes an invention with another invention card, the settlement
stones remain and are now assigned to the new invention.
Note: Above one invention may only be one village (1 stone) or city (2 stones). If
a player has no invention without stones above it, he can’t build a village. If he
hasn’t a village, he can‘ t found a city.
A settlement stone taken from epoch card I costs as many resources of the same
colour as the invention is the level of the invention he wants to place it.
Example: Regula wants to found a village at the “Wasserrad (water wheel)”. The
“Wasserrad (water wheel)” is a blue level 2 invention. So she has to pay two blue
resources.
A settlement stone of epoch card II to IV costs as many resources as shown on the
epoch-card he has taken it from.
Example: Marco wants to found a village at the “Wasserrad (water wheel)”. There
are no settlement stones left on epoch card I, so he takes one of epoch card II. He
has to pay two resources of one colour and two of another colour, i.e.: two red ones
and two yellow ones.
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The settlement stones must always be taken off the epoch card with the lowest
number, i.e.: villages from I to IV and cities from II to IV.
Example: André has an invention with a village and one without a settlement. There are
still settlement stones lying on each epoch card. If he wants to found a village he has to
take it from epoch card I; to found a city he must use the stones of epoch card II.
If the last settlement stone of epoch card IV is taken, consult “End of game”.
Carry out a card action
[see also the function of: “Aquädukt (aqueduct)” and “Zahnrad (cog wheel)”.]
A player carries out a card function which requires an action. Only “Aquädukt
(aqueduct)” and “Zahnrad (cog wheel)” have card actions, which are not covered
with the other actions! Most other card functions are part of an action or another
action already covered (i.e.: take resource/s).
End of turn
At the end of your turn you fill the gaps of the common display. Only when they
are filled your turn is over.
End of game
If the last settlement stone of epoch card IV is taken, you finish the round
(so that all players have the same number of turns). After that each player has
another turn (beginning with the player with the
DDD-logo), but in this last
round you discard all gods and disasters without consequences.
Note: As soon as the last settlement stone is taken the settlement stones in the common pool (see gods and disasters on page 11) are immediately put on epoch card
IV and can be bought again.
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Scoring
[see also the function of: ”Leier (lyre)” and “Waage (scales)”.]
At the end of the game each player gets victory points for
 for each invention lying in his personal display at this moment:
without any settlement
1 victory point
with a village
victory points due to the level of the invention
with a city
victory points twice the level
 resources in his personal pool:
4 resources are 1 victory point.
 he functions of the inventions “Waage (scales)” and”Leier (lyre)“.
Add all the victory points. The player who has the most wins the game. If two players have the same amount of victory points the player who has the most cities wins
the game. If it is then still a draw, both win!
Pecularities
The Card Functions
You can use each card function just once during your turn, but you can play the
different card functions in any order you like.
Shuffling cards
If the supplementary pile is depleted the first time, you reverse the discard pile.
Remove the top 15 cards and put them back in the box. Shuffle the remaining
pile and place it on the table as a new supplementary pile. If you deplete the supplementary pile again, you do not put cards in the box.
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God and Disaster cards
[see also the function of: “Leuchtturm (lighthouse)”.]
If you draw a god or a disaster from the supplementary pile, place it next to the
common display. If there is already a god or disaster, this card will be activated at
the end of the turn. In this case place the newly drawn god or disaster face down in
front of the player, who has drawn it. The player then completes his turn. If during
this time further gods or disasters are drawn, then they are just discarded and the
player draws cards until he has his regular number of drawn cards.
A player who has drawn a god or disaster always redraws, until he draws an invention.
A god or a disaster is resolved between turns.
Note: Filling the gaps of the common display is still part of the turn of the player.
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You resolve the god and disaster cards top to bottom. First you always remove one settlement stone from the epoch card with the
lowest number and place it in the common pool. Then each player
discards hand cards until there are only eight left. (He can choose
which ones he discards.) Then follow the instructions on the cards,
i. e.: bidding with resources or cards, or receiving benefits for all
players, etc.
If you have won the bidding, you pay the used resources/cards to the common pool
or discard pile. If you have lost, you can keep your used resources/cards.
After resolving the positive or negative event of the activated god or disaster you
discard the card and the one used as marker.
Note: The god or disaster card used as a marker must not be fulfilled. It is just a
marker.
The Gods: Enlil, Nergal and Ninurta
These gods favour only the player who offers the most in card value: Starting off
from the player who has activated this god and then clockwise the players play any
amount of cards and name a bid. The bid consists of the sum of the levels of the
played cards, adding bonus points from the invention “Leuchtturm (lighthouse)”.
The next player must outbid this offer or pass. If he
has passed once he cannot take part in this bidding any
more. Played cards may not be taken back to hand during this bidding. When all players have passed, the player who has offered the
most, wins.
Example: Regula has activated the god Enlil and offers the invention “Axt (axe)”
(level 2) and “Astronomie (astronomy)” (level 4). She has the invention “Leuchtturm (lighthouse)” with a village in her personal display and so gets another 3
points. So she offers 9 points altogether.
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André offers the inventions “Aquädukt (aqueduct)” (level 4), 2x “Domestizierung
(domestication)” (level 2) and the “Leuchtturm (lighthouse)” (level 2). But he
may not add bonus points for the “Leuchtturm (lighthouse)” because it is not
in his personal display. So he has 10 points altogether. Hence he has out bidden
Regula’s offer. She passes and takes her cards back to hand. André has won the
bidding and discards his four offered cards. Now he has gained the favour of
Enlil.
Enlil
Favour: The player takes one invention from his hand and puts it in his
personal display due to the level rule. He does not need to discard any
other cards, i.e. identical cards or colour couples. Another invention in
the personal display may be replaced by it.
Nergal
Favour: The winner may take 3 resources of the same colour out of the
common pool.
Ninurta
Favour: The player keeps the card face up. At the end of the game he gets
victory points, one for each city he possesses at the end of the game.
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The Gods Gibil, Marduk and Nannar
These 3 gods favour the player with the fewest settlement stones. The other players are less favoured. If
more than one player has the fewest settlement stones, all players are favoured less.
Gibil
Favour: The player who has the fewest settlement stones takes 3 resources of the same colour out of the common pool. After that the other
players take clockwise 1 resource, starting off from the player, who has
activated the card.
Marduk
Favour: The player with the fewest settlement stones pays for his next settlement stone half price (round up). The others may take 1 resource (see Gibil).
The winner keeps this card as a memory. When using it no other discounts like
“Gewölbe (vault)” or “Münzwesen (coinage)” are possible.
Nannar
Favour: The player with the fewest settlement stones pays for his next
settlement just half price (round up). The other players may draw a card
from the supplementary pile. The winner keeps this card as a memory.
When using it no other discounts like “Gewölbe (vault)” or “Münzwesen
(coinage)” are possible.
One God for all: Ischtar
Ischtar
Favour: Beginning with the player who has activated this card in clockwise
order, each player may draw a card from the supplementary pile or take
one resource from the common pool.
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Disaster cards Dürre (Draught), Erdbeben (Earthquake) and
Vulkanausbruch (Volcanic Eruption)
After each player had enough time to have a close look
at the personal pool of the other players, everyone hides his resources in his hand. Then each player secretly takes as many resources as he wants to offer to avert the disaster in the other
hand. Afterwards all players open their hands at the same time. Everyone names his
amount and adds, if possible, the bonus of the invention “Leuchtturm (lighthouse)”.
The player or players with the highest offer do not suffer from this disaster, whereas
all the others have to cope with it and suffer from losses.
Note: If all players offer the same amount, everyone suffers.
Dürre (Draught)
Loss: Each concerned player loses one settlement stone. He must choose
one to be put in the common pool.
Erdbeben (Earthquake)
Loss: Each concerned player discards one invention with no settlementstone above it. If a player has only inventions with a village or a city in his
display, he has to discard 3 hand cards instead, he chooses which. If he
has less than 3 cards, he has to discard all hand cards.
Vulkanausbruch (Volcanic Eruption)
Loss: Each concerned player loses two actions in his next turn. To mark
this, these players move a settlement stone onto an invention. In his next
turn the player has to move it up and can only carry out one action.
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Verlag und Autoren bedanken sich für die intensive Testarbeit und wertvolle Tipps bei folgenden Spielern:
Gerd Eibach, Carsten Söllmann, Katharina Zuber, Birgit Hirth, Ralf Foldenauer, Marco Niedermeyer, Stefan Schwarz, Albert Wolf und den Spielern des Würzburger Spielerlei.
© 2008 DDD Verlag GmbH
Zweierweg 36, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
E-mail: [email protected]
www.ddd-verlag.de
Version 1.1
Autoren: Hanno & Wilfried Kuhn
Titelbild: Mia Steingräber
Illustration: Katharina Kubisch
Realisation: Carsten Grebe
Lektorat: Hanna & Alex Weiß