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Babylonia Game Rules

The rebirth of the Neo-Babylonian empire, above all, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), was a time of splendour and wealth.

This was mainly due to the proliferation of trade routes between the main cities and settlements in the area and the optimal use of the fertile valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.


Components

  • Cities x19
  • Crop Fields x13
  • 32 Location Tiles
  • 9 Ziggurat Cards
  • 1 Board
  • Merchants x6
  • Civil Servants x6
  • Priests x6
  • Farmers x12
  • 5 Ziggurats
  • 4 Scoring Markers
  • 120 Clan Tokens
  • 4 Stands
  • Rulebook

Setup



  1. Place the board in the centre of the table. This shows the south-eastern region of ancient Mesopotamia with its two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates.

    • For 4 players, the whole board is used.
    • For 3 players, the area of land north of the Tigris is NOT USED.
    • For 2 players, the area of land south of the Euphrates is NOT USED.

    Note: For any number of players, both rivers form part of the playing area, so Clan Tokens can always be placed on them throughout the game.

  2. Place a Ziggurat on each hexagon outlined in blue (). Next, mix the Cities and Crop Fields face down and place a tile face up randomly on each hexagon outlined in green ().

    • For 4 players, use all the Ziggurats and all the Location Tiles.
    • For 3 players, remove the following components from the game.
    • For 2 players, remove the following components in addition to the previous ones:

  3. Display Ziggurat Cards numbers 1-7 at the side of the board (Cards 8 and 9 are only used in the Game Variant).

  4. Each player takes the Stand, the Clan Tokens and the Scoring Marker of a single color. Each player mixes their Clan Tokens face down on the table, thus forming their personal reserve.

    Each player draws 5 tokens and places them on their Stand. Finally, each player places their Scoring Marker on the "0" space of the Scoring Track.

Note: Unused stands, markers and tokens are removed from the game.


Object of the Game

In Babylonia you will try to make your clan prosper under the peaceful and imperial rule of the era. You must place your nobles on the map to make your relationships with the cities as profitable as possible.

Placing your tokens wisely next to the Ziggurats will permit you to get the special power of the rulers. Finally, the good use of your farmers in fertile areas will add value to your crop fields.

The player who obtains most points using these actions wisely will be the winner of the game.


Game Play

The starter player is chosen at random, and they start the game. Each player plays their entire turn before the turn passes clockwise to the next player. On your turn you must:

  1. Play Clan Tokens from your Stand.
  2. Score Cities and Ziggurats that have been surrounded.
  3. Fill your Stand to 5 tokens.


1. Play clan tokens from your stand

You have two options:

  1. Play any 2 Clan Tokens (Nobles and/or Farmers). OR
  2. Play 3 or more Farmers (i.e. no Nobles).

A Clan Token can be placed in any free hexagon on the board. A hexagon is considered free when it does not contain any Clan Tokens or Location Tiles or Ziggurats.


On his turn, Adam can play any 2 Clan Tokens OR 3 or more Farmers.

Special rules when playing Clan Tokens:

First round: In the first round, the first player can only play 1 Clan Token and the second player can only play 2.

Rivers: In the rivers the Clan Tokens must be placed face down. If you choose to play option A: Play any 2 Clan Tokens, you can place one or both tokens in any river hexagon. If you choose to play option B: Play 3 or more Farmers, you can not place any of them in the river.


Adam decides to play any 2 Clan Tokens,
placing one of them (a Farmer) face down in the river.

Ziggurats: Each time you place a Clan Token next to a Ziggurat (even if the hexagon is in the river or even if you already have tokens next to that Ziggurat), after placing your token you receive one point for each Ziggurat which has at least one of your tokens next to it.


Adam places a Civil Servant next to the Ziggurat
and receives 3 points as there are 3 Ziggurats with his tokens next to them.

Crop Fields: To place a Farmer Token in a Crop Field, you need to already have another one of your Clan Tokens (a Noble and/or a Farmer) next to that Crop Field.

The Crop Field is scored and subsequently removed from the game (your token will take its place). If the Crop Field has a number on it, you receive the points it indicates. If the Crop Field shows a City symbol, you get as many points as there are Cities in front of all the players.


Adam places a Farmer in a Crop Field of value '6', he scores 6 points.
He places another Farmer in a Crop Field with the City symbol
for which he receives 5 points as there are 5 cities in total in front of the players.


2. Score cities and ziggurrats that have been surrounded

After finishing playing your Clan Tokens, you must score the Cities and Ziggurats that have been surrounded on your turn. If there are several Cities and/or Ziggurats surrounded, you can decide in which order to score them.


Scoring Cities that have been surrounded

A city is scored when all the land hexagons next to it are occupied with Clan Tokens (of any player). If the City is next to a river, it is not necessary to occupy the river hexagons in order to score it, but if those hexagons are occupied, the Clan Tokens placed there are counted too.

A surrounded City is scored in two steps:


  1. Nobles ()

    The City will have 1, 2 or 3 symbols (). Each player receives 2 points for each of their Clan Tokens that has the same symbol and that is next to the City or that is connected to the City via their own tokens (the Clan Tokens placed in the rivers count for connection purposes, but they do not provide any points as they are face down).

  2. The City

    The player with the most Clan Tokens next to the City, including those placed in the river, wins the City Tile and places it face up in front of them. In the case of a tie, the City Tile is discarded.

    Each time a player wins a City Tile and after placing it in front of them, all players receive as many points as the number of cities they have in front of them at that time. If the tile is discarded because of a tie, no one receives any points.

    Note: After removing a City Tile, the empty hexagon is now available so that any Clan Token can be placed there.


Scoring Ziggurats that have been surrounded

A Ziggurat is scored when all the land hexagons next to it are occupied with Clan Tokens (of any player).

Like the cities, if the Ziggurat is next to a river, the river hexagons do not need to be occupied in order to score it, but if those hexagons were occupied, the Clan Tokens placed there are also counted.

The player with the most Clan Tokens next to the Ziggurat, including those placed in the river, chooses one of the available Ziggurat Cards and places it in front of them.

In case of a tie, no player gets a Ziggurat Card, but none of them is discarded either. The Ziggurats remain in the same place on the board throughout the game.


All the land hexagons that surround the Ziggurat are occupied,
and it is therefore scored. Adam has 3 tokens next to the Ziggurat,
Nora has 2 and Valentina has 1. Therefore, Adam can choose
one of the available Ziggurat Cards. The Ziggurat stays where it is.



3. Fill your stand to 5 tokens

Once you have finished scoring the surrounded Cities and surrounded Ziggurats (if any), you must draw Clan Tokens from your personal reserve to fill up your Stand so that it has 5 tokens again. If your reserve has been exhausted, continue playing with the tokens that you have left on your Stand.


Ziggurat Cards

After winning a Ziggurat, choose one of the available Ziggurat Cards and place it face up in front of you. You can have more than one card at any one time and combine their effects ( = permanent effect; XI = one time effect).


Receive 10 points immediately. Next, turn the card face down: you can not use it any longer.




Play an additional turn at the end of one of your turns (that is, after refilling your Stand). Next, turn the card face down: you can not use it any longer.




From now on you can have 7 Clan Tokens on your Stand instead of 5.



From now on you can play exactly 3 different Nobles face up () instead of any 2 Clan Tokens.



From now on you can also play a Noble face up when you play 3 or more Farmers.



From now on you can place the Nobles in the Crop Fields, even without having one of your Clan Tokens next to those Crop Fields.



From now on, when the Cities are scored, you will receive 1 additional point for every two Cities that you have in front of you.



From now on all the free land hexagons of the central area between the 2 rivers serve to connect your Clan Tokens.



From now on all the free river hexagons serve to connect your Clan Tokens.



End of the Game

The game ends immediately when at the end of a player's turn:

  • That player no longer has any Clan Tokens on their Stand. OR

  • Only one City or no Cities remain on the board.

The player who has the most points is the winner. In the case of a tie, of those players who have tied, the one who has the most Cities in front of them wins. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.


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