The Eighteenth Century is a time of great scientific discoveries, as well as exciting research into mysterious and as yet unknown fields.

Competition in the academic world is ruthless... above all for young scholars such as yourselves! In order to follow in the steps of the great Newton you must devote yourselves to undertaking new research and increasing your knowledge in order to become the most highly respected scholar in the world's scientific community!

You will travel through Europe visiting cities, universities and ancient lands which were once seats of vast and mysterious knowledge.

Devote yourselves to studying the works of the great scholars who have gone before and learn new things in academic lessons. Experiment original theories to arrive at revolutionary technological inventions.

Work hard to provide economic support for your research. and try to gain the backing of the great contemporary Masters!

Components

• 1 Map board
• 4 Study boards
• 1 Tracks board
• 10 Specialization tiles
• 4 Medicine Income tiles
• 48 Bookshelf tiles
• 10 Objective tiles
• 12 Income tiles
• 18 Bonus tokens
• 20 Potion tokens
• 32 Coins
• 3 Ancient Land tiles
• 10 Invention tiles
• 20 Development tiles
• 7 City tiles
• 6 University tiles
• 16 Students
• 4 Scientists
• 8 Player Markers 20 Master cards
• 24 Starting Action cards
• 45 Action cards
• 4 Summary tiles
• 48 Travel cubes
• 1 First Player token

Setup

1 Place the Map and the Tracks board in the center of the table.

2 Randomly place all the City, University and Ancient Land tiles in the appropriate spaces (those with the same shape) on the Map.

3 Shuffle the Specialization tiles then draw 5 of them and randomly place them on the appropriate spaces (those with the same shape) on the Tracks board. Place the remaining Specialization tiles back in the box.

4 Shuffle the Objective tiles, draw 6 of them and randomly place them on the appropriate spaces (those with the same shape) on the Map and Tracks board. Place the remaining Objective tiles back in the box.

5 For a 4-player game randomly place all the Bonus tokens on the appropriate spaces (those with the same shape and a gold border) on the Map and Tracks board.

For a 3-player game do not place any tokens on the spaces marked with a 4. In a 2-player game do not place any Bonus tokens on the spaces marked with a 4 or 3+.

In a i-player game do not place any Bonus tokens on the spaces marked with 4, 3+ or 2+. Place the remaining Bonus tokens back in the box.

6 Shuffle the Invention tiles then draw 5 of them and randomly place them on the appropriate spaces (those with the same shape) on the Tracks board. Place the remaining Invention tiles back in the box.

7 Divide the Income tiles by type (according to the symbol on the front) and place them faceup on the appropriate spaces on the Tracks board.

8Place the Medicine Income tiles on their space on the Map, with the side showing 1 Victory Point faceup.

9 Place the Coins and the Potion tokens on the table to form a common pool. Coins and Potion tokens are considered to be unlimited (in the very rare case you need more of them, use some other item).

10 Divide the Action cards by level (according to the symbol on the back), shuffle each of the 3 decks separately and place them facedown on the table.

Draw 3 cards from each deck and place them faceup next to the relative decks to form 3 lines. For a 1-player game draw 2 cards from each deck instead of 3.

11 Divide the Development tiles by type (according to the symbol on the front) and place them faceup on the appropriate spaces on the Tracks board.

Player Setup

Choose a color and:

A Randomly choose a Study board and place it in front of you.

B Take the 12 Bookshelf tiles of your color and place 3 tiles in each of the appropriate spaces on your Study board.

C Take the 12 Travel cubes of your color and place 1 in each of the appropriate spaces on your Study board.

D Take the 6 Starting Action cards of your color.

E Take the Scientist of your color and place it on the Map in the starting space of Basel.

F Take the 4 Students of your color, place 1 of them in the starting space of the Technology track on the Tracks board and place the other 3 next to your Study board.

G Take the 2 Markers of your color. Place 1 of them in the starting space of the Work track on the Tracks board and place the other on the Map in the space marked O on the Victory Points track.

H Take 1 Summary tile and place it next to your Study board. Place the remaining Summary tiles back in the box.

I Take 2 Coins and place them next to your Study board.

J Randomly choose who will be the first player, and give them the First Player token (for a 1-player game the token is not used).

K Shuffle the Master cards and deal 4 to each player. Place the remaining Master cards back in the box.

• For your first game, keep the Master cards you receive.
• For following games: all of the players simultaneously choose 1 card to keep and pass the remaining cards to the player on their left. Continue doing so until all players have 4 Master cards.
• For a 1-player game: draw 6 Master cards and choose 4 to keep.

Game Play

A game is played over 6 rounds, each of which is divided into 2 phases: the Action phase and the End Round phase. In the Action phase players place cards on their desk, on the Study Board, in order to perform various actions.

At the end of the round they have to move one of the cards they have played under their desk: this card can no longer be played, but the symbol on it will increase the value of that action when it is performed later in the game.

Players receive Victory Points as an immediate bonus, as income during the game, or from Objective tiles and Master cards at the end of the game. At the end, the player with most Victory Point wins!

Action Phase

During the action phase players play one turn after another in a clockwise direction starting from the first player.

On their turn each player must play 1 Action card from their hand onto the desk on their Study board, and they may, if they wish, perform any number of Quick actions (see page 9).

Every Action card has a Basic Action Symbol in its lower half, and may or may not have a Special Effect symbol in its upper half (see page 14).

To play an Action card take it from your hand and place it on your desk in the first available space from left to right. Then perform the Basic Action and apply the Special Effect if there is one. If you wish you can decide not to perform the basic action and/or not to apply the special effect.

You can perform a card's Basic Action, apply its special effect and perform Quick Actions in the order that you wish.

The value of a Basic Action is the same as the total number of symbols of that same particular action that are visible on your desk, including the one on the Action card that you have just played.

Important! You can always choose to perform a Basic action at a lower value than the total number of symbols of that action visible on your desk.

Work

Move your Marker forward on the Work track by a number of spaces equal (or inferior) to the value of the action.

Receive a number of Coins equal to the value of the Action. Take the Coins from the common pool and add them to your personal supply.

If you have already reached the last space on the Work track you can still perform the Work action to receive Coins without moving your Marker.

In order to activate the effects of a Special space on the track, your Marker must end its movement in that exact space. (For the effects of tiles and the Master space, see page 12 onwards).

If, in order to finish your movement on one of the special spaces and apply its effects, you choose to move your Marker by a value which is lower than the total number of symbols visible on your desk, you can only receive a number of Coins equal to the number of moves your Marker makes.

In order to move your Marker into the Objective space at the end of the track, you must meet the requirement depicted next to it.

Example: Sarah performs a Work action at a value of 3, but she decides to move her Marker only by 2 spaces to activate the Special Space. She receives 2 Coins and moves her Marker forward by 2 spaces.

Technology

Move ONE of your Students forward on the Technology track by a number of spaces equal (or inferior to) the value of the action.

The technology track starts in one space but then splits into different paths. When you move your Student from the starting space and each time that you find yourself at a fork in the road you will have to choose which path you wish to take. The 6 final spaces on the track are marked with the highlighted symbol.

Your Students can only move forwards. They cannot turn back down a path.

You cannot move more than one Student in the same action, that is, you cannot split the value of an action between Students. If you do not have any Students on the track or on the starting space you cannot perform a Technology action.

When your Student passes over a Bonus token, take it and activate its effect. In order to activate the effects of a special space on the track your Student must end its movement in that exact space. In order to move your Student into the Objective space (at the end of 4 of the paths) you must meet the requirement depicted next to it.

There cannot be more than one Student of the same color on the last space of a path. However, there is no limit to the number of Students that can occupy the same space along the path.

Example: Alice performs the Technology action at a value of 3. She decides to move the Student depicted. After the first step, she takes and activates the Bonus token; then she decides to take the route on the right to end the movement on the Special Space and activate it.

Travel

Move your Scientist along the routes on the Map by a number of spaces equal (or inferior) to the value of the action.

Each time that you move your Scientist along a route which has a cost to be paid in Coins you must first pay the number of Coins indicated.

On the Map there are different types of places connected by routes. There are 6 Universities, 3 Ancient Lands, 7 Cities, 14 Villages, 1 Master space, 1 Objective space and the starting space. The routes pass over land, sea, or both, and some have a cost in Coins.

When your Scientist passes over a Bonus token, take it and activate its effect. If your Scientist finishes its movement on a City, University, Ancient Land, Objective or Master space, take a Travel cube from your Study board and place it on that space.

You must take the Travel cubes from your Study board from top to bottom and from right to left. When you place your 9th/10th/11th/12th Travel cubes, you immediately receive 1/2/4/8 Victory Points respectively.

There cannot be more than 1 Travel cube of each color in the same space. There is no limit to the number of Scientists which can occupy the same space on the Map.

In order to move your Scientist into the Objective space, you must meet the requirement depicted next to it.

Example: Frank performs a Travel action at a value of 4, but he decides to move his scientist by only 3 spaces to end the movement in Istanbul. After the second step, he takes and activates the Bonus token; then he places one of his Travel cubes on the City tile.

Lessons

Lessons Take ONE ofthe available Action cards with a value equal (or inferior) to the value of the action played and add it to your hand. You can play it from the next turn. Don't replace the card that you have taken: Action cards will be replaced during the End Round phase.

The value of an Action card corresponds to the number of Lessons symbols shown on the back of the card.

Important: As you have to place an Action card under your Study board at the end of every round, it is extremely important to get new Action cards to avoid not having any cards to play later in the game!

Remember that Action cards which are not Starting Action cards always feature a special effect which will give you a greater variety of options.

You cannot take more than one card in the same action, that is, you cannot split the value ofan action between cards.

If you do not have any Action cards in your hand when it is your turn, you cannot perform Basic Actions!

Example: Sarah performs a Lessons action at a value of 2. She can take one of the highlighted cards.

Study

Take ONE of your Bookshelf tiles and place it on your Study board in a book space of your choice on a shelf of a value equal (or inferior) to the value of the action.

The bookshelf on your Study board is composed of book spaces (squares) distributed over 3 shelves (on horizontal lines), each of which has a different value (1/2/3 Study symbols). Each book space shows a requirement (see below).

The spaces on the bookshelf showing a windowpane divide the rows and columns of book spaces. The bookshelf tile printed in the bottom left-hand corner of the bookshelfis considered already placed.

When all the adjacent book spaces in a row or column have been filled, you have made a scientific discovery, and can receive its income in Victory Points according to the number indicated by the arrow. At the bottom of the bookshelf there are 5 spaces for Income or Medicine Income tiles.

In order to place a Bookshelf tile you must meet the requirement shown in the book space where you want to place it (for requirements, see next page). Bookshelf tiles must be taken from your supply from top to bottom. When you take the third Bookshelf tile from a pile you immediately receive a bonus (1 Potion token/ 4 Coins/1 Master card/8 Victory Points).

You cannot place more than one Bookshelf tile in the same action, that is, you cannot split the value of an action between book spaces. If you do not have any Bookshelf tile left in your supply you cannot perform a Study action.

If you complete a row or column of book spaces you receive its income in Victory Points according to the number indicated by the arrow on that row or column.

Example: Frank has visited the University of Bologna (II). Frank performs a Study action at a value of 2. He takes his first available Bookshelf tile to place it on his bookshelf and he immediately receives 1 Potion token.

He is able to place the bookshelf tile on one of the highlighted book spaces because he meets both of their requirements (he has visited the University II and he has a blue Volume on his desk).

He decides to place it on the blue Volume space to activate that column income. During the end round phase of the current round, and of all following rounds, he will receive 2 Victory Points.

Joker

Action cards with a Joker symbol can be used to perform a basic action of your choice.

The value of the action you choose to perform is equal to the total number of symbols of that action visible on your desk plus 1 (for the Joker played). When the Joker has been played the Joker symbol visible on your desk is never counted when calculating the value of actions performed later in the game.

The Joker symbol is not counted towards the value of an action even if the Joker is placed under your Study board at the end of a round.

Example: Sarah plays the Joker card to perform a Travel action. That action has a value of 4, because there are already 3 symbols of that action visible on the desk.

Requirements, Volumes and Potions

In order to place Bookshelf tiles and to be able to activate Objective tiles, you must meet the requirements shown (Volumes, University or Ancient Land) in the book or Objective space.

In order to meet a University or Ancient Land requirement, you must have visited the University or Ancient Land shown on their space (one of your Travel cubes must be on that space).

In order to meet a Volumes requirement, you must have those Volumes available, that is, they must be visible on your desk (or on a Master card that you have played). You can use any available Volume to meet different requirements during the same round.

Whenever you have to meet a requirement (during a Study action or to activate an Objective tile), you can spend Potion tokens in order to meet that requirement more easily in the following ways:

You can spend 1 Potion token in place of one Volume which is required (by a book space or by an Objective tile). You can replace multiple Volumes by spending 1 Potion token for each.

You can spend 3 Potion tokens in place of one University or Ancient Land which is required by a book space.

Quick Actions

Before, during or after performing a Basic Action, you can spend Coins to perform any number of the following quick actions.

• Turn over 2 Action cards from a deck.

  
  
  

  Cost: 1 Coin.

  Repeatable. Spend 1 Coin. Draw the first 2 Action cards from a deck of your choice and place them faceup next to the relative deck.

  
  
  

  Leave the Action cards drawn where they are. There is no limit to the number of cards available in a line.

• Increase the value of a basic action.

  
  
  

  Cost: 2 Coins. Only once per turn.

  Spend 2 Coins. Add 1 to the value of the Basic Action you are performing. This quick action can only be applied once per turn and can only increase the value of a basic action that you are performing thanks to an Action card.

  You cannot pay 4 Coins to increase an action's value by 2, nor is it possible to increase the value of a basic action being performed with an Invention tile or a Master card.

• Buy a Potion token.

  
  
  

  Cost: 3 Coins.

  Repeatable. Spend 3 Coins. Take 1 Potion token from the common pool and add it to your personal supply.

• Enroll a new Student.

  
  
  

  Cost: 5 Coins. Repeatable.

  Spend 5 Coins. Take a Student from your personal supply and place it in the starting space of the Technology track.

Example: Sarah plays the Joker card to perform a Travel action and she spends 2 Coins to increase that action's value. That action has a value of 5 (3 visible symbols on the desk + 1 for the Joker + 1 for the quick action).

End Round Phase

The action phase ends when all players have played 5 turns (this is shown by the players' desks which will be filled with Action cards).

The end round phase can be played simultaneously by all players to speed up the game play.

• Each player must choose ONE of the Action cards they have played and place it under their Study board in correspondence with the first column of free drawers from the left of the desk.

  The special effects of the cards under the desk can no longer be used in the rest of the game.

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  Next, all players take the rest of the cards they have played back in their hands.

• All players then receive all the active income from the Bookshelf on their Study boards.

  If you receive Victory Points, move your Marker along the Victory Points track by a number of spaces equal to the number of points received.

• All the available Action cards (facing up) in each line are put back at the bottom of the relative deck. Draw 3 new cards from each deck (in a 1-player game, only draw 2 cards from each deck).

  The cards are limited: if you don't have enough cards to fill a line, just leave that line uncompleted.

• The First Player token passes to the next player in a clockwise direction.

End of the Game

The game ends after the end round phase of the sixth round. The number of rounds played can be seen by the number of Action cards that have been placed under the players' Study boards.

When you have placed the fifth Action card under your desk (filling the available spaces) you have finished the action phase of the fifth round: play for one more round!

Each player receives Victory Points for the Objective spaces occupied by any piece of their color (a Travel cube, a Student or a Marker). Players also receive the Victory Points shown on the Master cards that they have played during the game.

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the tied players share the victory.

1-player Scoring

At the end of the game, compare your score with the table shown below to see how much academic glory you have managed to receive!

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