Note : squares maked with a * are left empty (no Garden tiles) in 2-player games.
Player Stock
Babylon board: this board represents the hanging gardens of Babylon. They are divided into sixteen squares to be planted with gardens A, as well as areas to be irrigated (B1). The gardens are laid out on four floors (V-shaped).
The highest floors are better to gain prestige, but they are harder to irrigate (B2) and must be planted with plants of better quality C.
The board also features fields D that enable the players to produce resources by recruiting peasants, as well as three temples dedicated to Ishtar (B1), Marduk (B2) and Tammouz (B3) that yield bonuses to the most zealous priests, a 'Pass' square F and a scoring track G to measure out the players' prestige during the game.
Mesopotamia: this board represents Mesopotamia, and the cities which trade with Babylon. By spending camels, the play- ers move the Caravan H from one city to the next, clockwise.
Upon arriving in a city, they spend their resources to acquire upgrades I or plants J for the gardens. High quality plants K are more expensive, but they grant you access to the top floors of the gardens, for queen Amyitis is hard to please!
Recruitment: to develop in the game, the players must recruit characters on each turn. They spend talents to hire peasants L who harvest the fields, priests M who pray in the temples, engineers N who irrigate the gardens, and merchants O who supply camels.
Player stock: A player's stock comprises a set of cubes of his chosen color. Cubes can be used to irrigate, harvest the fields and place priests in the temples.
As the game moves forward, the player accumulates camels, resources and talents. Finally, each player may own (if they choose to acquire them) three kinds of Court cards representing the player's level in several domains:
The Banker P: indicates the player's income at the start of the turn.
The caravaneer Q: indicates the player's bonus to move the Caravan, as well as the number of tokens he is allowed to stock at the end of the turn.
Note: all the players start the game with a level '0' Caravaneer card.
The Palace R: which represents the impressiveness of the player's palace (by earning him prestige).
During the game, the players can progress in each domain by acquiring cards with higher values S. They may also hire Gardeners T to improve the quality of their plants. However, Court cards are in limited supply in the general stock, so all the players do not have access to the same advantages!
Mesopotamia
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