You are one of 4 automatons that have woken after a hundred years of slumber. What you see is a world in ruin, with no human left alive
However, in your hearts, you still have the wish and will of mankind, a hundred years past.
But time has taken its toll, and in each of you only fragments of that will are left - you find yourself with no choice but to follow the shadows that linger inside of you, and to fulfill this will before any of the other automatons.
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 28 Memory Cards
- 31 Item Tokens
- 4 Will Markers
- Start Player Marker
- 12 Action Pawns
- 1 Round Marker
- 4 Player Sheets
- 4 Memory Lists
- Score sheets
- Instructions
Game Elements
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Memory Cards
Each card has a number in the top left and an instruction (effect). Cards 19-28 are noted "Expert" (instead of Normal); use them only with the Expert rules.
All cards also have an order number in the bottom right. This is the order in which the card instructions are applied at the end of the game.
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Item Tokens
These are put in the Ruins at the start of the game and will be acquired by the players as the game goes on. Some are worth VP (
), others not. The inherent VP value of the items may be changed by the Memory cards. -
Game Board
The board has a number of locations; these are grouped into sections, showing which rounds they are active. You place your Action pawns on these locations to perform the action of that location, and to show that you have been there.
In the middle of the board, you have the Ruins. This is where various tokens are placed during setup, and it's from here that players take items.
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Player Sheets
One for each player. Here players mark how much Will they have left, the two Memory cards they receive at the start, their unused Action pawns, gained items, and any released Legacy.
(The Will gauge only goes to 15, but this is not a top limit. Should your Will surpass 15, keep track of that in any suitable way. Will can never go below 0).
Object of the Game
The player(s) with the most VP at the end of the game wins. However, how VP are gained varies from game to game.
At the start of the game, each player gets two Memory cards that describe what will earn you VP at the end of the game. Some Memory cards also contain what might give penalty points, and what might cause a player to not be able to win at all!
Each player gets two of these cards, which means that there will be eight such cards in each game.
And all eight of these Memory cards are valid for all players.
You have 15 actions that you must use to gain points. You will gather items and Will to perform powerful actions. You might be able to peek at other players' cards, and you need to balance your assets.
When all players are done, all 8 Memory cards are revealed, and players count their points. The player(s) with most points wins.
Setup
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Place the board on the side you wish to play. The side with the Yellow 1 is for the Normal Game and the one with the Red 1 is for the Expert Game. The Expert side is more challenging.
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Put the Item tokens in the Ruins on the board, as depicted; the 8 statues, the 16 coins, and the 4 books in the middle of the board. The 2 Legacies are placed on top of the Round 2 section.
Put the Medal in the box, unless you are playing the Expert Game. If you are playing the Expert Game, put the Medal under the "Cult of Honeybook" action.
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Each player takes a player sheet, a Will marker and the 3 Action pawns in their color. If you're playing with 3 players, put the fourth player sheet beside the board to represent the ghost player.
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Choose a start player and give them the Start Player marker. The start player gets no Will to start with, but the second and third player get 1 Will each, and the fourth player (if any) gets 2 Will. If playing with 3, the ghost player gets no Will at all.
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Shuffle the Memory cards (only use the Expert cards if you're playing the Expert Game) and deal 2 facedown to each player.
At this point, players may perform a one-time change of their Memory cards if they wish, at the cost of 1 Action pawn (effectively reducing the number of actions they may take during the first round).
All players who wish to change Memory cards return both their cards to the deck, and pay one Action pawn. The Memory cards are then shuffled and re-dealt to those who changed.
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Each player chooses which of their two Memory cards is placed in their Abyss, and which is placed in their Shoal (during the game, other players may take actions to look at these cards.
The Abyss is more difficult to look at than the Shoal). Players may always look at their own Memories, but may not show them to others unless the rules say so. Players may never swap cards between the Shoal and the Abyss.
If you're playing with 3 players, deal two Memory cards to the ghost player, putting one in the Abyss and one in the Shoal.
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If you're playing with the Expert rules, after dealing, put one of the remaining Memory cards faceup on the designated space on the board. This is the Ninth Memory.
The effects of the Ninth Memory will not be applied to scoring, but actions in the game let players exchange one of their Memory cards with the Ninth Memory!
The rest of the Memory cards are put back in the box and may not be looked at by anyone.
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Set the Round marker on the "1 only" space to show the current round. You are ready to play.
Game Play
The game is divided into five rounds. Every round, each player will get up to three turns, during which he places one of his Action pawns to note which action he is taking.
Starting with the Start player, and going clockwise, each player takes their turn until all players have run out of Action pawns. A player who has Action pawns left may not choose to pass.
If you run out of Action pawns, your turn is automatically skipped. On your turn, choose a location to place your Action pawn and perform the associated action.
You may place an Action pawn on any location associated with the current round or any previous round, but never on locations associated with future rounds. Also, you may not place an Action pawn on a space already occupied by another Action pawn, or where you are unable to pay the placement cost.
Once you have placed and performed the action, then it is the next player's turn to place an Action pawn. This continues until all players have run out of Action pawn, at which point the round ends.
When the round ends, perform any "end of round" effects, give back all Action pawn to all players, advance the Round marker to the next round, and then start the next round. Continue until both Legacies have been released, or you have finished round 5, at which point the game ends.
Details on the Locations
The locations on the board have symbols that depict what action you will take. For reference, all location effects are also explained below.
Each location has a name 1, a cost 2 (this is noted in the circle where you place your Action pawn; most of the locations are free) and an effect 3, depicted by the symbols. Also, the locations with red text are attack effects; they will do something bad to your opponents.
Locations List
| Round | Location | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 only | Her Library | 1 Will | You get 1  Book from the Ruins (if any left). |
| 1 only | Mechanism of Fortune | Free | You get 3  Coins from the Ruins (if the Ruins have less than 3 Coins, you get whatever remains). |
| 1-5 | Cash Cow Shed | Free | You get 2 from the Ruins (if the Ruins have less than 2 you get whatever remains). |
| 1-5 | Where the Lights Sink | Free | You get 1 (if any left) from the Ruins and 1  . Adjust your gauge. |
| 1-5 | An Old Cross | Free | You get 1  from the Ruins (if any left). |
| 1-5 | Clocktower | Free | First, you get the (unless you already have it). Then you may return a , or to the Ruins. |
| 1-5 | Allure Show (attack) | Free | First you look at another player's Shoal card. Then, you may choose a player other than yourself who gains a , or from the Ruins. |
| 1-5 | Quarry of Wills | Free | You gain 1 (adjust your gauge). This action is available even if there already are Action pawns here. |
| 1-5 | Beyond the Tunnel | Free | You gain 2 (adjust your gauge). |
| 1-5 | Hearth of Thoughts | Free | You gain 3 (adjust your gauge). |
| 1-5 | Sooty Watchtower | Free | Look at another player's Shoal card. For the remainder of the round, all Memory card-looking effects targeted at you have no effect. |
| 1-5 | Cult of Honeybook (attack) | 1 Will | Expert game only. Choose any player (including yourself) who must take the  , either from the board, or from the player who currently has the . If the is taken from the board, that player also gains 4 (Adjust his gauge). |
| 2-5 | Venerable Cathedral | Free | First, look at another player's Shoal card. Then you must gain either 1 or 2 . If there are no , you must gain the 2 . |
| 2-5 | The Place Where They Looked at the Old World | 3 Will | You gain one of the two  from the Ruins (if any left). |
| 2-5 | Commune System | 3 Will | Expert game only. This action varies according to the number of players. At the end of the round, if 2 players have placed here, they look at each other's Abyss card. In a 4-player game, if only one player has placed here, that person gains 2 (adjust gauge).In a 3-player game, the player who placed here gets to look at the ghost player's Abyss card. |
| 3-5 | The Hidden Village | 3 Will | Nothing happens when you place here. For the remainder of the round, all attack actions (those with a sword) targeted at you have no effect. |
| 3-5 | Underground Library | Free | You must either gain 1 or 2 . If there are no , you must gain the 2 . |
| 3-5 | Soul Recorder (attack) | 2 Will | Look at another player's Abyss card. |
| 3-5 | The Creeping Main Street (attack) | 1 Will | Take a , or from the player with the highest total number of (in case of a tie, you choose). |
| 3-5 | Forgotten Alley (attack) | 4 Will | Take any 1  from another player. |
| 4-5 | Tivoli of the Pranksters (attack) | 2/3 Will | Expert game only. This action varies according to the number of players. (2 (4 players) / 3 (3 players)).You may give up to 2 of your to any other player. |
| 4-5 | The Place Where They Ended the Old World | 0/2 Will | This location has 2 places. Hence up to 2 players may place here. One player may not place twice here during the same round. If a player who doesn't have any Legacies places a marker here, he must pay 2 .Nothing happens when you place here.At the end of the round, if 2 players have placed here and they both have one each, the are released and the game ends immediately. |
| 4-5 | Crossroads of Phenomena | 3 Will | Expert game only. Exchange your Shoal or Abyss card with the 9th Memory. (As an effect, your former Memory card will be faceup as the new 9th Memory, and the former 9th Memory will now be facedown as your Memory card, and will be valid for score calculation). |
| 5 | City of Devils (attack) | 3 Will | Choose a player who must give a ), or (you choose) to another player. You may choose yourself as giver or receiver. |
| 5 | Tree of Heaven | 6/7 Will | Expert game only. This action varies according to the number of players. (6 (4 players) / 7 (3 players)).You may gain up to 2 , 2 and 1 from the Ruins. If the Ruins run out, you may take the missing items from other players. |
End of the Game
Once the game ends, reveal all Memory cards (even the ghost player's), and then calculate the score. As a base, players will get VP from the items they have gained during the game.
However, the Memory cards may affect the value of each item, so do not total your score before going through the Memory cards. It is possible for your final score to be less than 0.
All Memory cards have an order number in the bottom right. Apply the cards in order, starting with the lowest number, and count each player's score as you go through them.
All cards with the same number concern VP for the same item, and may be applied simultaneously. Do not forget that Statues, Books and Legacies have inherent VP, even if no Memory card refers to them.
You may use the score calculation sheet if you wish. There you can note the points for each item type, and there are references to what cards affect the points for that item.
Please note that on the score sheet, if no one has the card "There were the words", the number in column 8 should be 1, regardless of how many books people have.
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