Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Your Goal: Score Points
Points are counted only at the end of the game. Until that moment, your wealth is merely potential greatness. There are two ways to score points in Aegean Sea: Amassing Goods at your home Island, and utilizing the special bonuses from your peoples' customs. When the game concludes, your Temples, Ships, and Populace spread across the seas count for naught!
Bring Goods Home
On your turn, do one of A, B, C, or D.
A: Play a card for its preference, then use its effect, make it your Quest, or discard it.
- Bronze - Add a Populace at an inner Island.
- Marble - Add a Temple at an Island (even a Home Island).
- Dye - Add an Island (then may Activate it) or Activate an Island (with control).
- Timber - Add a Ship at an inner Island or Move any or all ships at one Island.
- Electrum - Create a Good (Discard second card for type) at an inner Island. Then draw two cards.
B: Play a card directly as a Ship or Populace at your Home Island.
C: Complete your Quest (preference, may use effect, then discard it) at your Home Island, or Discard your Quest.
D: Draw cards (Hand size: 4 + Revered Temples), then resolve Conflict if needed.
Conflict: Discard the top card of your deck, note preference. At each Island with your populace, and with any card of color matching that preference, sack one populace from each other player. Sack two each instead if you control the Island.
Vainglory: If an inner Island has more than 11 + 1 per player cards (including Island card), Island and all cards there are discarded. Blue Island Mat remains.
Revered: Each type of good on an Island makes one Temple of each player Revered.
End Game & Scoring: Game ends immediately when a player takes a Draw Cards action with an already empty deck. Score all goods at home, squaring the number of Goods of each type (ex: 4 Bronze = 16 points). Add any points from Customs.
Use Your Customs
- Athens - +5VP per Decadent Temple
- Crete - Bonus Goods for New Islands
- Ephesus - Tax and Trade Goods
- Rhodes - Commandeer Goods with Ships
- Sparta - +2VP per Statue
The more Goods of a material you have, the better!
Each Good's value is equal to the quantity of that Good you possess. So two Electrum are worth 2 points each (+4 total, as above), three would be worth 3 each (+9 total), and so forth.
Getting Goods Home
There are many rules to come on the pages that follow, but before we delve into them, you might want to know the roadmap (seamap?) to success. The simplest way to get Goods to your Home Island is to follow this three step plan.
1. Create Goods
You can create Goods at Islands with basic actions, or some Islands' special effects.
Example: An Angistri Island card (Electrum Preference) reads "Add a populace here with electrum preference. Then create a good here," yielding 1 Dye Good and 1 Marble Good.
2. Control Islands
Each Island is controlled by the player with the most Populace there.
Example: At Angistri, Rhodes has 1 Populace and Crete has 2 Populace, so Crete has control.
3. Sail Home
When your Ships sail from Islands you control, each can carry a Good.
Example: 2 Ships each carry a Good to your Home!
Card Layout
Each card in your deck has many purposes. They can be used both to take actions and to represent things in play. Each of the five people's decks has its own material. Its Island cards have effects specialized toward one of the ways cards can be used: Spartans (bronze) toward Populace, Athenians (marble) toward Temples, Cretans (dye) toward Islands, Rhodians (timber) toward Ships, and Ephesians (electrum) toward Goods.
Each card shows:
- Island Name
- Deck and Card Number
- Preference Indicator - Along the edge matching what it can add (ex: a white Marble stripe next to the Temple icon at the top edge). The corners of the card and a subtitle beneath the name also show its preference. Dye preference is indicated in the center of a card, instead of an edge.
- Island Special Effect
Example card: Trianisia, Marble Preference, Rhodes ~ Timber 88/220. Effect: "Zephyr your ship and two of your populace from one island to another and convert a temple there."
When in play, cards represent different things based on where they are tucked: Temples along the top edge, Ships along the left edge, Populace along the bottom edge, and Goods along the right edge.
Example: At the Island Angistri, there are two Rhodian Temples, two Ephesian Ships, one Cretan and one Athenian Populace, and one Good (timber).
Setup
- Each player chooses and takes the deck and Home Island for one of the five peoples.
- Place three Island mats on the table, plus one additional mat per player. Return the rest to the box.
- Each player shuffles their deck and places a random card face-up on any Island mat, as an Island.
- The player who placed the Island closest alphabetically to A is the start player. They draw a hand of 4 cards. Going clockwise, the second player draws 5, the third 6, the fourth 7, and the fifth 8.
- Place the unused decks nearby. They will be used as Goods.
- The start player takes the first turn!
Play will proceed clockwise during the game.
Gameplay
On your turn you have four options, which are also summarized on your Home Island. Most of the time, you'll be spending one card from your hand to take a basic action (Option A).
You must take one of the four options on your turn; you cannot pass.
A: Spend a card for its basic action. You may then use its special effect if you can perform the full effect. If you don't, you can instead keep it as a Quest, if you don't already have one.
B: Place a card from your hand directly to your Home Island as a Ship or Populace.
C: Complete or Abandon (spend your turn to discard) your quest. Spend it for its basic action, and then you may use its special effect if you can perform the full effect.
D: If you have fewer than four cards in your hand, draw cards, up to your hand size of four plus the number of Revered Temples (p8) you have. Then, resolve Conflict if necessary. Starting this action with an empty deck ends the game immediately.
When your turn is complete, play passes clockwise (to your left). Play continues until someone ends the game by taking Option D with an empty deck. Note that you cannot take Option D with four or more cards in your hand.
Vainglory: At the end of any basic action or after executing an Island's special effect, check for Vainglory at each inner Island. Count all players' Populace, Ships, Temples, Goods, Spartan Statues, and the Island card itself. If an inner Island has more cards than the Vainglory limit, they are all immediately discarded. The gods do not tolerate such wanton excesses!
The Vainglory limit is 11 plus the number of players, as shown below. After Vainglory, the Island mat remains and a new Island can be placed there later.
| # of Players | Vainglory Limit |
|---|---|
| 2 | 13 |
| 3 | 14 |
| 4 | 15 |
| 5 | 16 |
Option A: Basic Action
Perform the following three steps in order.
- Choose a card from your hand, and set it aside.
- Take a basic action matching its preference.
- Choose to either discard it, keep it as your Quest, or use its special effect and then discard it.
Basic Actions:
Bronze - Add a Populace at any inner Island (any Island that is not a Home Island) by tucking a card from your hand under the Island's bottom edge.
Marble - Add a Temple at any Island (even a Home Island) by tucking a card from your hand under the Island's top edge.
Timber - Add a Ship at any inner Island by tucking a card from your hand under the Island's left edge OR Choose an Island, and sail (see p11 for rules on carrying Goods/Populace) one or more of your Ships from there to one other Island.
Electrum - Create a Good by discarding a card from your hand. Note its preference. Tuck the top card of the matching deck face-up under any inner Island's right edge. Then, draw two cards.
Dye - Activate an Island you control to perform its special effect OR If there are any empty Island mats, place a card from your hand on top of it as a new Island. You may then activate that Island to perform its special effect.
You must be able to perform the basic action to choose option A. You cannot, for example, choose and set aside a card with Bronze preference without another card in your hand to tuck as Populace.
Choose: Discard / Quest / Special Effect & Discard
To keep the set-aside card as your Quest, place it face-up on or near your Home Island. You can only have one Quest at a time. Executing special effects is described on page 10. After using the special effect, discard the set-aside card, and your turn is complete.
Options B, C & D
Option B: Add Ship or Populace to Home
Choose a card from your hand and tuck it under the left edge of your Home Island as a Ship, or the bottom edge of your Home Island as a Populace. Your turn is then complete.
Option C: Complete or Abandon Quest
To Complete your Quest, take an Option A turn as if your Quest (the card currently face-up on your Home Island) were the card you chose from your hand. After the basic action, you cannot choose to keep it as a quest for a second time. You must either discard it or use it for its effect and then discard it. Your turn is then complete.
To instead Abandon your Quest, simply discard it, and your turn is complete.
Option D: Refresh Your Hand
You must have fewer than four cards in your hand to take this option. If your deck is already empty, the game ends immediately. Otherwise, draw cards from your deck until you have four, plus one for each Revered Temple you have in play. After drawing, you must check for conflict.
Revered Temples: At each Island (including Home Islands), one of your Temples there is revered for each material type of Good there. Control of the Island is irrelevant.
Temples do not stay Revered. If the Goods there move, they lose their status.
Example: At Angistri, Rhodes has one Revered Temple (2 temples, 1 type of Good). At Viokastro, they also have one Revered Temple (1 temple, 2 types of Good). If they built a second temple at Viokastro, it would be Revered.
Conflict & Control
Conflict: If there are one or more Islands (including Home Islands) where you and another player both have Populace, you must discard the top card of your deck. That card's preference is the conflict preference for all such Islands.
At each such Island, if there is any card of material matching that conflict preference (Ship, Temple, Populace, Good, Island, Spartan Statue), sack (discard) one of each enemy's Populace there. If you control the Island, sack two of each instead.
Example: You are Crete (Purple/Dye), and have discarded Liadi (Marble preference) as your Conflict card. At the Island Pano Koufonisi, there are cards (two Athenian Populace - Marble), matching the conflict preference. You sack one Athenian and one Spartan Populace.
If you had a second Populace there and thus controlled the Island, you would have sacked both of the Athenian Populace and the Spartan! At Skyros, no Populace would be sacked, because there are no Athens (Marble) cards present.
Control
The player with the most Population at an Island controls it. If there is a tie, the player matching the material of the Island controls it, even if that player is not part of the tie.
Examples: Athens (Marble) controls Pano Koufonisi above, with 2 Populace (Crete and Sparta have 1 each).
Despite having no Populace there, Ephesus (Electrum) controls Skyros, because Crete and Sparta are tied at 1 Populace apiece.
Island Special Effects & Keywords
Each of the 220 cards in Aegean Sea has its own unique special effect. The golden rule of Island special effects is that you must be able to perform the entire effect, or you cannot use it at all. This includes both the quantity of cards indicated (ex: you cannot add two Ships if instructed to add three) and all the individual parts of the effect.
Keywords used in effects:
Activate: To activate an Island, perform its special effect.
Add a Ship / Temple / Populace: Tuck a card from your hand under the correct edge of the indicated Island.
Change: Move the indicated cards to be tucked under the indicated edges. To change a Populace into a Ship, for example, move it from the bottom edge to the left edge.
If instructed to change a Populace, Ship, or Temple into a Good, you must discard the card, noting its preference. Draw a card from the matching deck and tuck it under the Island's right edge to replace it.
Create a Good: Discard a card from your hand, noting its preference. Draw a card from the matching deck and tuck it under the Island's right edge. If instructed to create more than one good, you must discard multiple cards from your hand, one by one.
Control: The player with the most Populace controls an Island, or the player matching the Island's material, in a tie.
Convert: Discard the indicated enemy card, and replace it with a card from your hand.
Draw: Take cards from your deck into your hand. If your deck runs out or is empty, ignore the remaining draws. The effect is still considered complete in either case.
Enemy: All other players and their cards are your enemies. You cannot choose to exclude them from such an effect.
Here: If activating an Island, here refers to that Island. If the effect is on a Quest or a card used for Option A, you can select an Inner Island to be "here" for the whole effect.
Home Island: Your Home / Reference Mat, counting as an Island for all other purposes. Some decks contain an Inner Island card sharing a Home Island's name. Those cards are not Home Islands.
Inner Island: Any non-Home Island. Inner Islands are cards placed on Island mats.
Material: The material of any card is defined by what deck it comes from (Bronze, Marble, Dye, Timber, or Electrum).
Pay: Discard a card of yours that is tucked under an Island. This can be your Populace, Temple, or Ship where indicated. You can only pay a Good if it is at an Island you control.
Preference: When instructed to add a card with a specific preference, you must use a card from your hand matching that preference.
Recolor: Discard the indicated Good. Discard a card from your hand, noting its preference. Draw a card from the matching deck and tuck it under the Island's right edge to replace the Good.
Replace: Discard the indicated Island. Place a card from your hand on its Island mat. None of the cards tucked under the Island are affected.
Sack: Sack must target an enemy card. Discard the Ship, Populace, Temple, or enemy-controlled Island. When an Island is sacked, also discard every card at that Island mat, but not the Island mat.
Sail: To sail a Ship, move it from one Island to any other, except that it cannot move from one Home Island to another Home Island. A ship can carry one Good or one of your Populace. The ship and carried card are tucked at the destination Island. You can only carry a Good if you controlled the originating Island before sailing. The Sail keyword is also used by the basic Timber action.
Zephyr: Move exactly the cards indicated from one Island to another, re-tucking them under the appropriate edges of the destination. Zephyr ignores all Sailing rules.
Endgame
Empty Deck
When your deck is empty, the game is nearing its end (see Ending the Game, below). If instructed to draw cards when your deck is empty, draw as many as you can (this could be none) instead. The effect still is considered complete, so an empty or near-empty deck does not prevent you from executing an effect. If you would check for conflict when your deck is empty, do nothing instead. If you need to draw a card from a deck to become a Good and that deck is empty, tuck the top card of that discard pile instead. In the rare case that both the deck and discard pile are empty, do nothing instead.
Ending the Game
If a player's deck is empty at the start of their turn and they choose to refresh their hand (Option D), the game ends immediately. Your score comes from the number of Goods you've amassed at your Home Island. Each Good is worth one point per Good of its material type there. Sparta and Athens can also earn points for their Customs. These points are added to the total they receive from Goods at Home.
The player with the highest score wins! Ties are broken in favor of the player who took a turn last (including the partial turn that ends the game).
Example: Sparta has 1 Bronze (worth 1) and two Electrum (each worth 2, for 4 total).
Example: Crete has 1 Bronze (worth 1) and four Timber (each worth 4, for 16 total).
Customs
Your Home Island card lists your peoples' two Customs on its back side. These are special rules that are in effect during the entire game. Some allow you to score points directly at the end of the game, and others impact various situations during the game. Some Customs refer to the preference of a card in play. The corner of each card shows its preference, as a helpful reminder when in play, tucked under an Island.
Athens - The always reverent Athenians will claim points for some of their temples at the end of the game. Spread their decadent faith across the seas.
Crete - By exploring far and wide, Crete can form a coalition to quickly enrich their coffers. All this wealth attracts Piracy though, so be careful!
Ephesus - The Ephesians can become the financial heart of the Aegean by clever trades and effective taxation. Amass an unrivaled hoard of goods!
Rhodes - The skilled fleets of Rhodes are able to bend the rules of Commerce at any port they reach. Their Admiralty rules the seas: use it to your advantage!
Sparta - Despite their warlike reputation, Sparta's true power comes from discipline. Plan wisely and construct wonders that will earn the Admiration of all.
The full rules of each peoples' customs are described on the back of their Home Island card.
FAQ
Q: Does the placement or order of Island Mats matter? A: No, all Inner Islands are equivalent, regardless of where they are on the table. They can face in any direction, but you may find it easier to have them all face the same direction for ease of use.
Q: If a deck is empty, can you no longer create Goods of that material? A: Take the top card of the discard pile instead, if a deck is empty.
Q: Can you use Discipline (Spartan Custom) if your deck is empty? A: Only for basic actions that wouldn't require a card (Activate an Island, Sail Ships).
Q: What is the difference between Material and Preference? A: The Material of a card is which deck it comes from. (Ex: All cards from Athens' deck are of Marble material). The Preference of a card is indicated in several places (see p4).
Q: Does it matter what order conflict is resolved in? A: No, once the conflict card is drawn you can resolve it at Islands in any order.
Q: What advice do you have for new players? A: Aegean Sea is a game with many moving parts. For first time players, we recommend lower player counts, and to keep the game moving at a reasonably quick pace. Focus on trying to get a couple Goods home, and don't worry if your scores are low! Single digit scores are very common.
Q: What does "at an Island" mean? A: Effects referring to "an Island" refer to a single Island of your choice, meeting any requirements the effect has.
Q: Does your basic action affect where "here" is for a special effect? A: No. The basic action you take before using a card for its special effect has no impact on that action.
Q: What happens if another player controls your Home Island? A: Nothing, aside from the benefits of controlling an Island (Sailing ships carrying goods, sacking 2 populace during conflict). Notably, if the game ends, you still score for Goods at your Home.
Q: If I have Revered Temples, does it affect when I can choose Option D? A: No. Regardless of your potential hand size, you can only choose Option D with fewer than four cards in your hand.