Game Components
- 8 different game board sections
- 28 location tiles
- 160 settlements - 40 of each player color
- 4 gold markers
- 1 start player tile
- 25 terrain cards
- 10 different Kingdom Builder cards
- 8 summary cards of location tiles
- 1 rules booklet
Setup
Select any 4 of the 8 game board sections and assemble them to a rectangular game board as shown in the example below.
Place four summaries of location tiles next to the game board pieces matching the location hexes.
Place 2 corresponding location tiles on each location hex.
Shuffle all terrain cards and keep them within easy reach as face down draw pile.
Shuffle the Kingdom Builder cards, then randomly draw 3 cards and place them next to the game board, face up.
Distribution of game components
Give each player in their player color:
All 40 settlements, this is their personal supply.
1 gold marker
Additionally, each player draws one terrain card from the draw pile and keeps it hidden from the other players on their hand.
Give the start player tile to the oldest player; they will perform the first turn of the game.
Turn one of the unused game board sections over to its back side and place it next to the game board. Then, each player places their gold marker on the black space of the gold score track.
Put any game components not used in this game back into the game box.
Game Play
Players take their turns in clockwise direction, beginning with the start player. The game lasts for several rounds. Each player performs their turn the following way:
The active player plays their terrain card face up in front of themselves and subsequently builds their settlements.
Mandatory action
During their turn, the player must build 3 settlements from their personal supply on unoccupied hexes of the same terrain type as their played card, strictly obeying the building rules.
Extra action
In the course of the game players will collect location tiles.
Location tiles grant extra actions and players can perform each extra action once during their turn.
A player may perform each single extra action before or after their mandatory action.
The extra actions allow building additional settlements or even moving existing settlements.
After a player has performed their mandatory action and does not want to perform any extra actions or cannot do so, they put their terrain card on the discard pile and draw a new card from the draw pile, keeping it hidden on their hand.
Location hex and location tile
Whenever a player builds a settlement next to a location hex, they seize immediately one of these location tiles, if available.
Then, they place this tile in front of themselves, picture side face up and can use this extra action from their next turn on.
A player may seize only one location tile from a given location.
The player keeps a location tile as long as at least one of their settlements is adjacent to the corresponding location. If they move their last settlement away from such a location by using an extra action, they must discard this location tile and remove it from the game.
Castle hex
At the end of the game, players will earn 3 gold for each castle hex if they have built at least one of their own settlements next to it.
Building rules
1. Exactly one settlement may be built on any one eligible terrain space.
2. Settlements may be built only on hexes of these terrain types: Grass, canyon, desert, flower field, and forest.
Exception: If the rare case should occur that there is no eligible hex at the beginning of a player's turn or during their turn, i.e. there is no hex matching the type of their played terrain card on which they could build a settlement, the player draws a new terrain card immediately.
The useless terrain card is removed from the game.
If necessary, the player repeats drawing a new card until they draw a suitable card.
3. Always, a player must build each new settlement adjacent to at least one of their own existing settlements, if possible.
If this is not possible, the player must (if mandatory action) or may (if extra action) choose a new unoccupied hex where they can build their settlement. There are several options, depending on the kind of the player's action:
a) If this is the player's mandatory action or an extra oracle or barn action they must choose a hex of the same terrain type as their played terrain card.
b) If this is the player's extra oasis, farm or harbor action, they must choose a hex of that terrain type as required by this location tile.
c) If this is the player's extra tower action the player may choose any suitable hex at the edge of the game board.
End of the Game
The game ends when one player has built the last settlement from their personal supply. However, the current game round is still completed; the player on the right of the start player is the last player to perform their turn.
Now each player calculates the amount of gold they have earned and records their total on the gold score track.
The 3 Kingdom Builder cards are evaluated one after the other for each player, beginning with the start player.
Then, each player calculates the amount of gold earned by their settlements next to castle hexes (3 gold per castle hex) and adds it to their score.
The player who has earned the most gold is the winner of the game. In case of a tie for the most gold, the tied players share the victory.
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