ASARA , the land of a thousand towers , opens its gates to you. Walk on boldly and you will find yourself in a magical realm where the cities are dominated by palaces with white alabaster walls and towers topped by gold domes .

All over these magnificent cities , cranes reach into the sky, at work on various building projects . Wondrous flying machines transporting heavy materials at dizzying heights can be seen from afar.

The Caliph's call for a competition to beautify the land has been heard far beyond its borders. And so now you have come to pit your skills against your rival architects...

Components

• 1 Game Board
• 4 Scoring Counters
• 1 Year Counter
• 52 Asari Coins
• 100 Tower Pieces
• 4 Observation Barriers
• 45 Merchant Cards
• Instructions
• Overview Guide

Setup

1. The board represents a marketplace divided into various areas. This must be assembled as shown. First put the 5 square parts together in a cross shape, so that the prestige bar progresses from 0-100.

   Then place the 4 triangles in the corners of the cross. Arrange the two triangles with the wells so that the well side is showing, and the other two triangles so that the building side is showing.

2. Sort the 100 tiles depicting the tower sections according to shape and place them in 4 piles.

   (Leave the 15 "lit window" tiles with the red backs in the box - they are only required for the professional version).

   Shuffle the 4 piles separately and place them/ace down in the correct spaces on the board.

3. Take from each of these piles as many tower sections as there are spaces to display them in the respective market areas. Place one tower section/ace up in each space. These tower sections constitute the market wares.

4. Each player selects one of the 4 counters (in their chosen color) and places it on space 0 of the prestige bar.

5. Place the year counter on space 1 of the year bar.

6. Each player takes one of the 4 screens according to his chosen color.

   The 52 Asari coins are separated into groups by value (25 ones, 16 fives, 11 tens) and placed in the kitty.

   The last player to have climbed a tower starts the game. They are granted the patronage of the Caliph and receives coins in the value of 20 Asari.

   All the other players receive 1 extra Asari each, progressing in a clockwise direction (i.e. 21, 22 and 23 Asari). The players place the coins behind their screens.

7. The 45 cards depict the buyers in 5 different colors. Shuffle all 45 buyers. Each player is allocated cards as follows:

   • 2 players: 9 buyers
   • 3 players: 8 buyers
   • 4 players: 7 buyers

   Hold your cards so that the other players cannot see them. The remaining buyers are placed face down in a pile.

8. For the professional game, flip the two triangles with the wells so that the building side is showing and place the 15 lit windows face down in a pile in the corresponding space.

Object of the Game

The players assume the roles of the rich building magnates Timanis, Mirar, Leiard and Faraiel, each of whom is seeking to boost his prestige within the Caliphate.

The players compete with each other to see who can build the highest, the grandest and the largest number of towers within the space of 4 years. To do this, they dispatch their buyers to the marketplace to purchase the necessary building blocks.

The players purchase different sections of the tower (base/trunk/window/turret) from each area of the market.

The sections are available in 5 different materials (in the colors brown, green, red, black and white). Some of them have gold decorations. The sections vary in price, but also in the amount of prestige they bring the player. Whoever is top of the prestige list at the end of the game is the winner.

Game Play

Distribute the game components as described in the crib sheet. The starting player begins. His turn consists of two actions:

1. Dispatch buyers (= lay card)
2. Execute move (e.g. choose and pay for tower section)

Play then continues in a clockwise direction with the person on his left, who performs the same two actions, and so on.

1. Dispatch Buyers

On his turn, each player lays one of the buyer cards in his hand face up on an empty space in one of the market areas.

The rules are as follows:

• If there are no other buyers in this area yet, the new buyer can be any color (see example 1).

• If one or more buyers are already in the area, the new buyer must be the same color as the others. Play must there- fore always follow suit, i.e. color.

• If a player wishes to place a buyer in a particular area, but is neither able nor willing to play the required color, he can place any 2 buyer cards face down on one space instead (see example 2).

Play must always follow suit in all areas of the board (i.e. bank, building circle, market areas, etc)..

Example 1: Tina holds 6 buyer cards shown above. She would like to buy a trunk section. She has a free choice, as there are no other buyers in that area yet. She places any one of the buyers in her hand on one of the 4 spaces in the trunk area of the market.

Example 2: Wolfgang also wants to buy a trunk section, but there is already a blue buyer in this area of the market.

To follow suit, he would therefore have to lay a blue buyer card. Since he doesn't have a blue buyer card, he chooses any 2 buyers from his hand and places them face down on one space.

2. Execute Move

The player can execute one of several moves depending on the area in which he places his buyer. The possible moves are as follows:

• Buy Tower Sections

  There are 4 market areas where the players can buy the building blocks for their tower. Here they can find bases, trunks, windows and turrets.

  

  If a player chooses the move "Buy tower sections", he can take any 1 of the tower sections lying face up in this market area and place it behind his screen. He then pays the required number of Asari into the kitty.

  Tower sections of the same color always cost the same amount. A red base costs exactly the same as a red trunk section, for example. The prices for each color are indicated on the board, and on the inner right-hand side of the screens.

  A tower section with a gold decoration costs the same as an identical tower section without d decoration.

  Note.: It is up to the players collectively to check that all payments are made!

  
  
  

  Example: Tina wants to buy a trunk section She lays the blue buyer card A, takes the black tower section and places it behind her screen B.

  For this, she pays 6 Asari to the kitty C.

• Build Tower

  

  The players build their towers using the building circle. In the building circle there are 7 plots costing from 1 to 7 Asari.

  If a player lays a buyer card on a plot in the building circle, he must use the number of tower sections corresponding to the cost of that plot, either by assembling them into new towers or adding them to existing ones. He then pays the relevant number of Asari into the kitty.

  The following rules apply:

  1. Each tower may consist of one color only.
  2. Each tower consists of one base only and one turret only. It may have any number of trunk parts and windows.
  3. On his turn, the player may build any number of towers simultaneously. These may be new or existing ones, and of the same or different colors.
  4. Completed towers may be added to (i.e. by inserting any number of trunk parts and windows).
  5. Parts may not be swapped between towers of the same color.
  6. At the end of his turn, the player should only have complete towers in front of his screen, i.e. they must have at least a base and a turret.

  In reward, the player receives prestige points in proportion to the number of tower sections he has used during his turn.

  Exception:

  If a player wants to build and the desired plot in the building circle is already occupied, he can place his buyer on the next highest vacant plot. He pays a higher price, but uses fewer tower sections. He only receives prestige points in proportion to the number of tower sections used.

• Extra Funds

  If a player places a buyer in a vacant space in the bank (Fig. 1), he may take the corresponding number of Asari from the kitty.

  
  
  

  Another way of raising funds is via the colored building (Fig. 2) next to the bank. If a player places any buyer card face down on this building on his turn, he receives 5 Asari in return.

  
  

  Important:

  • Any number of buyer cards may be placed on top of each other on the colored building space.

  • In contrast to all the other areas, players do not have to fol- low suit in this space.

• Bribery

  If a player places a buyer card on the House of Spies, he first pays the required 3 or 5 Asari into the kitty and then selects one of the 4 piles of tower sections. He searches the pile and may take a tower section from it.

  He shows this card face up to all the other players, pays the required number of Asari for that section into the kitty and places it behind his screen. The pile is then shuffled and replaced on its space on the board.

  Example of "bribery": Philipp places a buyer card on space 3 of the House of Spies. He pays 3 Asari into the kitty and selects the pile containing the turrets. He chooses a black turret, shows it to the other players, pays a further 6 Asari into the kitty for it and places it behind his screen.

  
  
  

  Attention: the "bribery" option cannot be used to buy a tower section from the market stalls.

• Caliph's Patronage

  

  If a player places a buyer card on this space, he instantly takes the Caliph's patronage from the player currently in possession of the tile.

  He then becomes the starting player for the next year.

End of a Year

A year ends when all players have placed all their buyer cards on the board. Some players may have already distributed all their buyers if they were unable to follow suit and therefore had to lay 2 random buyer cards in one space.

If so, the players without cards skip their turn until all players have placed their buyers.

End-of-year evaluation

After each of the 4 years, an evaluation is performed and the number of prestige points earned by each player is recorded on the prestige bar using the counters.

• Each tower constructed so far - of whatever color or height - earns 1 prestige point.

• Each gold-decorated section in each tower constructed so far earns 1 prestige point.

• The Caliph's patronage earns 1 prestige point.

Tip: Since the tower sections with gold decorations earn new prestige points every year, it is a good idea to buy these where possible.

After the end-of-year evaluation, the next year begins.

Example: Wolfgang has 2 towers, 2 gold decorations and the Caliph's patronage. This earns him (2+2+1)=5 prestige points.

Beginning of a New Year

• Remove all buyer cards from the board.
• Shuffle all 45 buyer cards and re-distribute them according to the number of players.
• Fill the empty spaces in the market areas with tower sections from the respective top-up piles. If a top-up pile is used up, this means that not all the spaces can be filled.
• Distribute 20 Asari to each player; there is no sliding scale as at the beginning of the game.
• Keep the money and unused tower sections from previous years behind the screen.
• Move the year counter on 1 space.
• The player with the Caliph's patronage begins.

Each of the 4 years follows the same pattern.

End of the Game

The game ends after the fourth year. The 4th end-of-year evaluation is now performed. This is followed immediately by the final evaluation.

In the final evaluation, the players are awarded prestige points for their towers.

For each tower color, determine which player has built the highest and second highest tower (in terms of the number of tower sections). The players then receive prestige points as illustrated on the right.

Points are awarded as follows:

• and 4 prestige points respectively for the highest or second highest tower overall (in terms of the number of tower sections), regardless of color

• 12 and 6 prestige points respectively for the lar- gest or second largest number of towers overall,

• 1 prestige point for every 10 Asari.

In the event of a tie, the following rules apply:

• If there is a tie for 1st place, the prestige points earned by the two highest-scoring players are added together. This amount is divided by the number of towers involved (rounding up if necessary). The result is then credited to the players for each tower in question. In this case there is no 2nd place.

• If there is a tie for 2nd place, the prestige points of the second highest-scoring players are shared out proportionately between the players as above.

• Largest number of towers: in this case, the points are not divided by the number of towers, but the number of players involved.

Gold decorations and the Caliph's patronage do not earn any points in the final evaluation.

The player with the most prestige points after the final evaluation wins the game.

In the event of a tie, there will be more than one winner.

Example of Final Evaluation

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