In the Florence of the 12th-14th centuries, the city's powerful and influential families don't just compete with each other in trade and politics. They also try to outdo one another by building tall, mostly square- based tower homes as status symbols.

In this game, you are master builders working on the families' construction commissions for such towers. You build the towers from different-colored bricks you receive from the game's cards.

But be careful: once you've started construction on a tower, you must keep erecting it every turn, or it will be torn down as abandoned construction. Pay attention to other players' projects, so that they don't snatch commissions you were counting on right from under your nose!

Object of the Game

You receive Prestige Points for completed commissions. Whoever has amassed the most Prestige Points by the end of the game wins.

Components

• 1 Game Board
• 88 Bricks
• 52 Action Cards
• Overview Cards
• 4 Construction Sites
• 4 Prestige Markers (in the 4 player colors)
• 36 Seals (in the 4 player colors)
• 7 neutral Seals
• 4 small Seals (in the 4 player colors)
• 19 Balcony Tiles
• 4 Level Tiles
• 1 End of Game Tile
• 1 Pouch
• 1 Action Card Overview Sheet

Game Board

Setup

1. Place the Game Board in the middle of the players.

2. Place the Level Tiles on the four small spaces to the left of the white tower according to their respective levels.

3. Place the End of Game Tile on the oval space above the two towers in the middle.

4. Turn the Balcony Tiles to the sides with Roman numerals and shuffle them. Turn over 4 Balcony Tiles, one I, one II, one III, and one IV. Place these balconies on the Game Board so that they cover the appropriate Level of the tower of the appropriate color.

5. Now take the 5 neutral Seals and use them to cover 5 Levels of your choice of whatever towers you like, as long as they don't already have a Balcony Tile on them. You can choose any Levels you like.

   We recommend that no more than two tiles (Balconies and/or neutral Seals) be placed on any given tower. In addition, two or three neutral seals should be set on the third and fourth Levels. The two leftover neutral Seals are not required and may be placed back in the box.

   Tip: You'll find more advice on placing the Balconies and neutral Seals during setup on page 8. You can also simply place the tiles as depicted.

6. Each player takes one Construction Site and one of the Overview Cards, placing them in front of them.

7. Now each player chooses a Seal Color and takes the following number of Seals, depending on the number of players, of their chosen color:

   • If 2 players: 9 Seals each
   • If 3 players: 7 Seals each
   • If 4 players: 6 Seals each

   Place your Small Seal in front of you; it advertises your color. Place superfluous Seals back in the box.

8. Whoever was most recently up a tower is the Starting Player and receives 2 white Bricks. Proceeding in a clockwise direction, each other player receives one more brick than the player before, that is: 3, 4, or 5 white Bricks.

   Place these Bricks below the Construction Site in front of you (not on the Construction Site). This is your Storehouse. Place all the other Bricks in the Pouch, and mix them up in it.

9. If this is your first time playing Firenze, we recommend that you do not use the Campanile Action Card. Take it out of the deck and put it back in the box.

   When you do play with the Campanile card, take care that all players know the effects of the Campanile before the game begins. You'll find a description of it on the accompanying Summary Sheet.

10. Pick the 10 Start Cards out of the Action Cards. They have Start Symbol on the bottom of front side. Lay them aside for the moment. Shuffle the rest of the cards and place them face down on the space at the bottom right of the Game Board to make the Deck.

    Now shuffle the 10 Start Cards and place them on top of the Deck, also face down.

11. Turn over the top card of the Deck and place it on the leftmost space of the Card Row. Then place the second card on the second space, the third card on the third space, etc., until all six spaces of the Card Row are occupied. Now place 4 Bricks drawn randomly from the Pouch on each of the six cards in the Row.

    Tip: Always be sure to go in the correct order. Only take the Bricks for the overturned cards out of the Pouch after each player has already received their white Bricks and placed them in their Storehouse.

12. Place the Prestige Marker of your color on the 0 (zero) space of the Prestige Tracker. Always be sure to move your Prestige Marker the appropriate number of spaces when you receive Prestige Points of the game.

Construction Commissions

In the top part of the Game Board, you'll see six towers. They have the same colors as the Bricks. Each Level of the towers is a symbol for a different Construction Commission.

The small numbers to the left indicate how many Levels a tower requires to fulfill the commission. The large numbers indicate how many Prestige Points you receive for fulfilling the commission.

Example: This is a commission for a tower of exactly five Bricks of the color green. For the completion of this commission, you receive 4 Prestige Points.

In total, there are 36 Commissions. The Commissions which have already been covered by neutral Seals are not available in that particular game. Once you fulfill a Commission, cover it with your personal Seal. Each Commission may only be executed once.

Balconies

Balcony Tiles cover 4 Commissions. These balconies represent Special Commissions for particularly lavish towers and therefore yield additional Prestige Points.

The Balcony Commissions can only be performed in a particular sequence, as indicated by the Roman numerals. At the beginning of the game, only Balcony Commission I may be undertaken. Then, only after one player has executed that Commission, may Balcony II be undertaken. After II's fulfillment, III can be undertaken, etc.

Game Play

Beginning with the Starting Player, each player takes a turn in clockwise order. Only the player whose turn it is may act. Each turn is divided into up to six phases, which proceed in the following order:

1. Choose a card (mandatory)
2. Exchange Bricks (optional)
3. Build Towers (optional)
4. Tear down abandoned construction (mandatory)
5. Fulfill Commissions (optional)
6. Check Limits (mandatory)

1. Choose A Card

When it's your turn, you must first choose exactly 1 of the 6 face-up Action Cards in the Card Row. The symbol on the Game Board below the chosen card shows how many Bricks must be paid for the card in question.

We call these prices Card Costs. The card at the far left is free. The others each cost one Brick more than the one to its left.

In order to pay the Card Costs, you must withdraw the corresponding number of Bricks from your Storehouse. Place one Brick on each Card Row card to the left of your card. You can use any color Brick to pay these Costs.

Tip: Pay attention to the correct order. You must pay the Costs before you can take the Card and the Bricks. That is, you may not use the Bricks on the chosen Card to pay for it!

Now take the chosen Card along with the Bricks on top of it off the Game Board. Place the Bricks in your Storehouse. What happens with the card depends on the Symbol at the top left of the card.

You must play Event Cards immediately.

Put Personnel Cards into your hand. You can play them immediately or later, whenever it's your turn.

Put Celebration Cards into your hand, where they will normally remain until the end of the game.

Put Building Cards in front of you face up. You can use them at any time, starting immediately.

Place Church Cards on the Church Spaces face up.

There is now a hole in the Card Row. Move all the cards to its right one place to the left (in the direction of the arrows). Then turn over the top card of the Deck and place it on the now-open, rightmost field. Take 4 Bricks from the Pouch and put it on the new card.

Tip: In the unusual case that the Pouch has fewer than 4 Bricks, simply place all the Bricks left in the Pouch on the card. Bricks are not added to the card when someone places Bricks back in the Pouch!

Example: Thomas chooses the third card from left, the Princess. To pay the Card Cost, he takes 2 Bricks from his Storehouse and places one Brick each on the two cards to the left of the Princess. Then he puts the Princess in his hand and the four Bricks which sat on top of the card into his Storehouse.

Finally, Thomas moves the 3 right-hand cards each one space to the left, placing the top card in the Deck in the Card Row's open, rightmost field. At the end of this phase, he takes 4 Bricks out of the Pouch and places them on the new card.

2. Exchange Bricks

You may swap 1 Brick of your choice from a card in the Card Row for 3 Bricks from your Storehouse. Simply place the 3 Bricks from your Storehouse on the card where the Brick you want is sitting, and place the desired Brick in your Storehouse. You may choose the 3 Bricks' colors freely.

You may conduct at most one such exchange per turn. Exchanging Bricks is completely optional; you may simply skip this phase.

Example: Daniela places 3 Bricks from her Storehouse onto the Wholesaler, in order to take the blue Brick on that card and put it in her Storehouse.

3. Build Towers

In this phase, you can use the Bricks in your Storehouse to build or expand Towers. The following rules of construction apply:

• 1 Brick = 1 Level.
• Each tower must be of a single color.
• Towers must always be built on the Construction Site.
• You may begin new towers as well as continuing work on towers already under construction.
• You can build as many towers as you like at one time. The towers may differ in color or be of the same color.
• Towers may not be reduced in size.
• You may add on at most 6 Bricks per turn.
• 2 Bricks per turn can be used for free. If you want to use more bricks, you must pay for them in the form of additional Bricks from your Storehouse. We call these costs Construction Costs.

The Construction Costs are assessed according to the total number of Bricks used for building in this turn:

Bricks used to build	Construction Cost
1	0
2	0
3	1
4	3
5	6
6	10

You will find a summary of these costs on your Construction Site.

It is immaterial for the assessment of Construction Costs how many towers are being built or how high they are. The sole factor assessed is the total number of Bricks used during this turn.

In order to pay the Construction Costs, simply move the appropriate number of Bricks from your Storehouse to the Pouch. The colors of these Bricks don't matter. You may choose them at will, regardless of the colors of the Bricks you're using to build.

Example: Holger has 4 Towers under construction and 8 Bricks in his Storehouse. He decides to add two Bricks to his white Tower. He wants to add one Brick each to his green and yellow Towers. Because he has no red Bricks, he can't expand his red Tower this turn.

In total, Holger adds four Bricks, the Construction Cost for which is 3 Bricks. He places 1 white, 1 green, and 1 blue Brick in the Pouch. One yellow Brick remains in his Storehouse. Holger cannot use that Brick this turn, because he could not afford the Construction Cost for using 5 Bricks.

4. Tear Down Abandoned Construction

All the towers on your Construction Site that were under construction at the beginning of your turn but were not worked on are considered abandoned construction. You now have to tear them down.

Place half of such towers' Bricks into the Pouch (rounding odd numbers up). Place the remainder in your Storehouse.

Example: In the previous example, Holger could not add on to his red Tower, consisting of 3 Bricks. Consequently, Holger has to tear down this Tower. Holger places 2 Bricks in the Pouch and 1 in his Storehouse.

5. Fulfill Commissions

In this phase, you may choose whether you wish to use any of your Towers , or if you want to continue building them. You may only fulfill Commissions that are not covered by a Seal. You may only fulfill the Balcony Commission with the lowest Roman numeral).

The number of Levels (i.e., Bricks) in a Tower must match the number exactly. There can be no more and no fewer Levels.

To fulfill a Commission, complete the following steps:

1. Declare out loud which Tower you want to use.
2. Take the number of Prestige Points indicated on the Game Board, by moving your Prestige Marker forward a corresponding number of spaces.
3. Cover the Commission you executed with one of your Seals.
4. Put all the Bricks of the Tower in question in the Pouch.

Then you can fulfill other Commissions. If you have executed a Balcony Commission, you may fulfill the next Balcony Commission in the same turn.

Example: Holger chooses his 6-Level green Tower to fulfill the corresponding Commission, for which he receives 5 Prestige Points. He then places his black Seal on the Commission and drops the 6 green Bricks into the Pouch.

Next, Holger wants to fulfill Balcony Commission I with his white Tower. He receives 7 further Prestige Points for doing so. He places another of his Seals on that Commission, and puts the white Bricks back into the Pouch. (As of now, Balcony Commission II for a red Tower can be fulfilled).

Holger can't fulfill a Commission with his yellow Tower because the yellow Commission for three stories is already covered with a Seal.

Level Bonus

At the left next to the white tower are 4 Level Tiles. These award a bonus to the first player who fulfills a Commission for the corresponding Tower height.

This Commission may also be a Balcony Commission. If you receive this bonus, move your Prestige Marker ahead the number of spaces given. Place the Level Tile back in the box, as each bonus is only given once.

Example: When Holger fulfills the green Tower Commission for 6 Levels, the Level Tile for 6 is still on the Game Board.

Holger receives 2 additional Prestige Points and places the Level Tile in the box.

6. Check Limits

When your turn is over, you must check 2 limits, the Storehouse Limit and the Card Limit. These limits only apply in this phase-i.e., earlier in the turn they can be exceeded as much as you like; they only apply at the end of the turn.

Th e Storehouse Limit means you may have at most 10 Bricks in your Storehouse. (The Bricks of the Towers on your Construction Site are not counted for this purpose). If you have more than 10 Bricks in your Storehouse, you must surrender enough Bricks to the Pouch to bring you down to 10 Bricks. You may choose the colors of the surrendered bricks freely.

Th e Card Limit means you can possess at most 5 Action Cards. All Personnel and Celebration cards in your hand, and all Buildings you have in play count towards this limit. If you have more than 5 Action Cards, you must put enough Personnel and Building Cards in the discard pile until you only have 5 cards left.

In general, you may not discard Celebration Cards during this phase. Even if someone has more than 5 Celebration Cards, they are not allowed to discard any. Here, in an exception to the rule, they are able to keep more than 5 cards in their hand-though they must discard all Personnel and Building Cards.

Tip: If you have the Patrician card in your hand, you may play it in order to discard a Celebration Card. You then recheck your Card Limit after doing so.

Action Cards

In general, if the text of an Action Card contradicts the general rules in these instructions, the card text always takes precedence. The abbreviation PP on the cards stands for Prestige Points.

In the course of the game, it will transpire that you'll discard cards. As you do so, build a Discard Pile next to the Game Board. When the Deck on the Game Board is all used up, shuffle all the cards in the Discard Pile and use them as a new Deck.

There are five kinds of Action Cards, which can be differentiated by the Symbol at top left.

1. Event Cards

   

   If, during your turn, you choose an Event Card, you must immediately follow the instructions on the card. If the card does not explicitly state that all players are affected, then the effect only applies to the player whose turn it is. After following the instructions, discard the card.

2. Personnel Cards

   

   If you pick a Personnel Card, place it in your hand. You may play the card immediately or at a later point in the game. However, it must be during one of your turns.

   In any given turn, you may play as many Personnel Cards as you wish, just not two or more cards with the same name. Personnel Cards that have been played are put into the discard pile.

3. Celebration Cards

   

   A player who selects a Celebration Card places it in their hand. (One exception is the Monument card, which a player may receive even if it's not their turn).

   The card remains there until the End of the Game. You may not discard it, even if you have exceeded the Card Limit. (Only the Patrician card allows you to discard Celebration Cards).

4. Building Cards

   

   If you draw a Building Card, place it face up in front of you. You may use its function from then on out. You may not possess two identical Buildings.

   You may draw identical Building Cards, but they must be put in the Discard Deck immediately. (If, for example, you have already played a Workshop, you may take another Workshop from the Card Row but you must discard it immediately).

5. Church Cards

   

   Any Church Card chosen is placed face up on one of the 4 Church Spaces. It remains there until its effect is fulfilled. Thereafter, it's placed in the Discard Pile.

Tip: You'll find a summary of all the Action Cards in the accompanying Overview Sheet.

End of the Game

The first player who places their last Seal on the Game board, receives a bonus of 5 Prestige Points as a reward. He takes the End of Game Tile and places it in front of him face-down.

All other players receive exactly one more turn. The game ends, therefore, with the turn of the player to the right of the one with the End of Game Tile. Then, there is a Final Scoring.

Final Scoring

First, the Majority Bonus is given for each tower color. This bonus is shown for each color on the flag flying from top of the tower on the Game Board.

It is given to the player who has fulfilled the most Commissions of this color, that is, the one who has most Seals on the tower of that color. (Balconies count normally).

In case of a tie, the bonus goes to the tied player who executed the biggest Commission (as measured in Levels), that is, the one whose Seal is the highest on the tower.

Now turn over all your Celebration Cards and move your Prestige Marker forward or backwards, as appropriate. Whoever ends with the most Prestige Points wins.

In case of a tie, there are multiple winners.

Example: Thomas (yellow) has fulfilled 1 white Commission, Holger (black) 2 of them, Daniela (blue) none. So Holger receives the white Majority Bonus of 2 points.

In terms of yellow Commissions, Thomas (yellow) and Daniela (blue) are tied.

The Majority Bonus goes to Daniela, because her biggest yellow Commission was 6 Levels high, while Thomas's highest, by contrast, had only 5 Levels.

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