start of each game, and after passing each round, choose a bonus scroll
unused scrolls get 1 coin added at the start of each round
Get income from hand palm up symbol (most are covered by buildings)
Play actions until you can’t then pass – passing order becomes play order of next round
transform and build (indirectly adjacent – i.e. connected with shipping or other faction ability)
upgrade a structure
when building or upgrading: other players directly adjacent tiles (includes bridges) trigger purple power income equal to their tile value. Owner has to lose vp equal to their purple power income minus one (e.g. gain 4 purple power, lose 3 VP)
trading house upgrade cost is cheaper if directly adjacent to another player
advance shipping track
upgrade spade exchange rate
send a priest to priest track
priest track can grant purple power
purple power market
use and yellow/orange hex action
Free action
spend purple power for a priest, worker or coin
downgrade a priest to worker and/or worker to coin
During Play
get a town for 4 directly adjacent structures with a value of at least 7
town can be build with just 3 tiles if one of them is the sanctuary
town gives a key to lock in top spot of a priest track
bridges can be used for directly connecting over water
this is their only use
they’re only available from the purple power market
get a favour tile for building a temple or sanctuary
end of each round gives a bonus powered by the priest track
Gain Points From
each round has a bonus scoring option
bonus for forming a town
advancing the shipping track
advancing the spade exchange rate track
end game bonus for largest count of connected tiles (indirectly adjacent)
end game bonus for ranking on priest tracks
Tips
at start of game digest your factions dig track and the good spots on the board to start in – starting areas are important
you want neighbouring tiles that are cheap to convert
you want other players nearby for purple power bonuses and cheaper upgrades
edges can be dangerous as you can be fenced in
overpopulation can be dangerous as you can be fenced in
at start of game digest which rounds give which scoring bonuses, in particular:
5 points for towns
5 points for stronghold/sanctuary
3 points for trading house
at start of game digest which rounds give which end of round priest track bonuses, in particluar:
1 coin for each brown
1 worker for 2 red/2 silver
Purple power is important
sacrifice 1 purple power in bowl 2, to move a purple power from bowl 2 to 3
reduce purple power early on to use the market asap
with fewer purple power tokens they move around the bowls quicker
the purple power market is powerful
being first in the player order gives first access to the purple power market
focus on getting quantity of buildings out early on – uncovered buildings are income, this is the engine
stronghold upgrade early can be worthwhile depending on the faction
target the priest track in the second half of the game – many points live there
some favour tiles have added value early on:
give points for building or points at end of round for buildings
action space to advance priest track
reduce town power requirement to 6 (lot’s of points in towns, can be a strategy to try to build many)