AEOLOS Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Game Setup
• Goal of the Game
• Gameplay
  • 1. Play a Sailing Card
  • 2. Move a Ship (Optional)
  • 3. Perform a Harbor Action
    • The Harbor Actions
    • Use Bonus Tokens
  • 4. Check Wind and Draw a Sailing Card
• End of the Game
• Final Score
• The Action Cards "Favor of the Gods"
• Game Variants
  • 1. Player Tableaus with Special Ability
  • 2. The Poseidon Expansion
  • 3. The Challenge of Aeolos
  • 4. Variable Harbor Actions

Game Components

• 1 double-sided game board (for 3 & 4 or for 2 players)
• 52 sailing cards
• 20 action cards "Favor of the Gods"
• 21 crystals (5x red, 5x green, 4x blue, 4x yellow, 3x purple*)
  • *The fourth purple crystal is a replacement.
• 28 tokens "A Breeze of Wind"
• 4 cover tokens (for a game of three)
• 1 token "Aeolos"

In the 4 player colors each:

• 1 double-sided player tableau
• 1 bonus token each: "extra action" and "card swap"
• 5 ships
• 3 settlements
• 1 pawn "prophet"
• 1 victory point marker

For the Poseidon expansion:

• 7 tokens "Poseidon"

For the game variants:

• 10 harbor tokens

Game Setup

1. Put the game board in the center of the table – with the side facing upwards, which corresponds to the number of players. You will find this information on the bottom left of the game board.
2. In a game of three, cover the four settlement spaces marked with an X with the cover tokens. These spaces are not available in the three player game.
3. Place 1 purple crystal on each of the 3 landing places of the temple in the lower right corner. The 4th purple crystal is a replacement. For 2, 3 or 4 players, place 2, 3 or 4 crystals next to the harbors with the number 3 (blue crystals), 4 (red crystals), 5 (green crystals) and 8 (yellow crystals) – that is, 1 crystal of each color per player. Then place next to the harbors 4 and 5 an additional red and green crystal respectively. At the beginning of the game there is always 1 crystal more here than there are players in the game. If you play with less than 4 players, put the remaining crystals back into the box.
4. Shuffle all the sailing cards and deal 3 cards to each player. These are your hand cards. Put the remaining cards next to the game board as a draw pile.

Please note: When playing with two or three players, you must sort out cards before shuffling. In a game of three, pick out the 6 cards that have an X symbol on the side, and in a game of two, also pick out the 4 cards with a diamond symbol. Put these 6 or 10 cards back into the box.

5. Shuffle the "Favor of the Gods" action cards and deal 1 card to each player. Place your action card face down next to your player tableau. Place the remaining action cards in a draw pile next to the game board. Leave space next to them for a discard pile.
6. Take the game components of your color:
   1. Place the player tableau in front of you, that shows your player color and a symbol on the flag in the upper right corner. (The neutral side with the special function is explained on the supplementary sheet).
   2. Place your 3 settlements on the settlement spaces of the tableau.
   3. Place 2 of your ships on the water in the center of the tableau. Place the remaining 3 ships as a supply next to the game board.
   4. Place the two bonus tokens face up next to your tableau.
   5. Place your prophet on the starting space next to harbor 9.
   6. Place your victory point marker on space 0 of the victory point bar.
7. Determine which player will start the game. This player receives the "Aeolos" token and 2 "A Breeze of Wind" tokens. In clockwise order from the starting player the other players receive 2, 3 (in a game of three) and 4 (in a game of four) wind. Place your wind tokens in the bag of wind of your tableau. The remaining wind tokens are placed on the game board in the wind supply.

Goal of the Game

AEOLOS is a simple game:

You play a sailing card and determine a number with it – the so-called sailing value. Your sailing value defines which harbor or river space you can move one of your ships to. If you move into a harbor or are already present there with a ship or a settlement, you may perform the harbor action there.

If you move to a river space with your sailing value, no action is available to you – but you get closer to the temples and thus to valuable victory points. At the end of your turn draw a sailing card.

The game ends after the round in which the last sailing card is drawn from the draw pile. Whoever has earned the most victory points wins the game.

Gameplay

AEOLOS is played clockwise in turn. When it is your turn, take the following steps in order:

1. Play a sailing card
2. Move a ship (optional)
3. Perform a harbor action (if possible)
4. Check wind and draw a sailing card

In addition, you may use any number of your "Favor of the Gods" action cards and use your two bonus tokens.

You may only move your own game components. If the rule says "a ship" or "the prophet", it always means a ship or prophet of your color.

Wind is extremely important in AEOLOS. It can help you with sailing and certain actions. Also you can move your prophet with a wind sacrifice.

When you gain wind, take the corresponding number of wind tokens from the general supply on the game board and place them in the bag of wind on your tableau. If you give away wind, return the wind tokens from your bag of wind to the general supply. At the end of your turn you may have a maximum of 5 wind!

When you gain victory points, place your marker on the victory point bar accordingly. There can be more than one marker on the same space.

If you receive wind tokens or victory points, this is indicated by a white border around the symbol.

If you have to give up wind tokens or victory points, you will see a red border around the respective symbol.

On the following pages, we will explain the rules, step by step for the basic game. On the supplementary sheet you will find variants and expansions for greater challenges.

1. Play a Sailing Card

The winds of Aeolos will lead you to the 7 harbors or upriver to the temples of the winds.

On the game board there are 2 spaces, each of which already shows 1 sailing card - a purple 2 with the sun symbol and a grey 4 with the cloud symbol. These are the two discard piles for the sailing cards.

When it's your turn, you must play exactly 1 sailing card from your hand. The following applies:

• You must always place your sailing card on the same color on the discard pile (purple on purple or grey on grey).
• If, after playing your sailing card, both cards on top of the deck show the same symbol (sun, cloud or wave), you immediately gain 1 wind.

Then add the values of the two sailing cards. The sum of the two card values is your sailing value. Now you can give away as much wind as you want to increase or decrease your sailing value by 1 per wind.

EXAMPLE: Elia plays a purple 2 with the sun symbol. Since both cards on the table show the same symbol (sun + sun), Elia immediately takes 1 wind. Elia's sailing value is 5 (purple 2 + grey 3). But Elia really wants to move a ship to harbor 3. Elia gives away 2 wind and reduces the sailing value to 3.

2. Move a Ship (Optional)

After you have determined your sailing value, you may move a ship:

Either to the harbor that corresponds to your sailing value (harbors 3–9). Or to a river space that corresponds to your sailing value (river spaces 9–13). For this you can take a ship from your tableau or move a ship from another harbor or river space. An unlimited number of ships can be placed on each harbor and river space, by any number of players.

If you move a ship to a river space, you may not perform a harbor action – you skip step 3 and immediately continue with step 4 "Draw a sailing card".

EXAMPLE: Luca has a sailing value of 9. Luca could move a ship to harbor 9 or directly to one of the two river spaces with the value 9. If Luca increases the sailing value by, say, 3 wind, Luca could move a ship directly to one of the three river spaces with the value 12.

3. Perform a Harbor Action

If you have not moved a ship to a river space, you may take the harbor action equal to your sailing value. The following applies:

• You may only take the harbor action that corresponds exactly to your sailing value. You can change the sailing value by using wind.
• You must be present at that harbor. "Being present" means that you have at least one ship in the harbor; so you must move a ship into the harbor in step 2 if you don't already have one there. Or you already have built a settlement in the harbor. (PRESENCE = ship and/or settlement)

The Harbor Actions

MOVE SHIPS UPRIVER (sailing value 3): Take 1 blue crystal OR spend up to 3 wind to move ships upriver. You may move more than one ship.

Take crystals: Crystals bring you nothing but fame and prestige. The gods love variety and like it colorful. They reward you for collecting different crystals.

In harbors 3, 4, 5 and 8 you may take one crystal as an action. As long as there are still crystals in the harbors you take one of them and put it on the treasure chest of your tableau. You only get purple crystals if you move a ship or a prophet to the lower temple.

Move ships upriver: River spaces are the spaces on which a sailing value is shown. There are four major temples in AEOLOS. Travel on the rivers to the temples to sacrifice your ship to the gods. At each temple there are 3 landing places and three temples also provide a special bonus place each. (In a game of two, the top three temples have only 2 landing places).

You can give away up to 3 wind. For each wind you turn in, you may move one ship 1 space upriver. To do this, your ship must be in a harbor at a river (harbors 7, 8, 9), or must already be on a river space. Any number of ships may be on any river space.

When a ship reaches the last river space, you may move it to the temple for 1 wind. Place the ship there on any free landing place or bonus place. You immediately receive the victory points shown and the following bonuses on the bonus places:

• Immediately take 4 wind.
• Immediately draw 2 cards "Favor of the Gods".
• Immediately take a crystal. You may only take a blue, red, green or yellow crystal – if available on the game board.
• If you travel to the lower temple, you will receive 1 purple crystal in addition to the victory points.

Important: In step 2, you may use your sailing value to move your ship directly onto a river space. With the harbor action "Move ships upriver", move ships on the rivers to the temples. The last move to a temple can only be done with the harbor action "Move ships upriver" or with an action card.

Once a ship has been "sacrificed" at a temple, it may not be moved from there until the end of the game. Ships on river spaces, on the other hand, can be moved to another river space or to a harbor in step 2 "Move a ship".

EXAMPLE: Jona has a sailing value of 3 and is present at harbor 3 with a ship. Jona gives away 3 wind. For the first two wind, Jona moves a ship from harbor 8 two spaces upriver toward the upper temple. With the remaining third move, Jona moves the ship from space 12 toward the temple. There, only the landing place with 12 victory points and the bonus place are still free. Jona decides to place the ship on the bonus place and "sacrifice" it there. Jona gains 4 victory points and immediately takes 2 action cards.

BUILD A SETTLEMENT (sailing value 4): Take 1 red crystal OR build a settlement.

Settlements are used to expand the realm of Aeolos. Each of your settlements is a permanent presence. Your prophet can call on the gods to get credit for your settlements.

To build a settlement, the following conditions must be fulfilled:

• You are present in harbor 4 – with a ship or a settlement.
• You are present in the harbor where you want to build a settlement, with at least 1 ship. Only then the carpenters can build your settlement.
• You have not yet built a settlement in the selected harbor.
• There is still one available settlement space in the selected harbor.
• You still have at least 1 settlement on your tableau.

Each settlement you build increases your hand card limit by 1. At the end of your turn, you draw 2 cards from the draw pile. See step 4 "Draw sailing card".

EXAMPLE: Mika has a sailing value of 4 and is present in harbors 4, 5, 7 and 9 with 1 ship each. In harbor 5 Mika already has a settlement and in harbor 7 both settlement spaces are already occupied. So Mika can only build one settlement in harbor 4 or 9. Mika chooses harbor 9 and places a settlement there from the tableau on the last free space. At the end of the turn, Mika draws 2 sailing cards. Since Mika has built a second settlement, Mika's hand card limit increases to 5.

BUILD A SHIP (sailing value 5): Take 1 green crystal OR build a ship.

Aeolos loves it when he can blow wind into the sails of ships. Build ships to increase your fleet and sacrifice them at the temples. Your prophet can call on the gods to get credit for your ships.

Take a ship from the supply and place it on your tableau. You can use this ship from now on in step 2 "Move a ship". If you have already built 3 ships, you can no longer perform the "Build a ship" action.

FAVOR OF THE GODS (sailing value 6): Draw 1 "Favor of the Gods" action card.

The "Favor of the Gods" offers you various additional actions that give you a small advantage. Use the "Favor of the Gods" wisely and at the right time. The actions of the individual cards are explained in more detail on the supplementary sheet.

Draw the top card from the "Favor of the Gods" draw pile. Look at it and place it face down next to your tableau. Action cards are never in your hand, so they do not count as part of your hand limit. You may, of course, look at your action cards at any time.

You may use as many of your action cards as you wish at any time during your turn – even before you play your sailing card. Put any action cards you have played onto the discard pile. If the draw pile of action cards is empty, shuffle the discard pile and make a new draw pile.

With your sailing value, you may only perform a harbor action once. For example, you may not use the harbor action "Build a settlement" to build two settlements or the harbor action "Move your prophet" to move the prophet twice for 4 wind.

You may take additional actions with action cards and your bonus tokens at any time.

VICTORY POINTS (sailing value 7): You immediately gain 4 victory points.

A GOOD BREEZE OF WIND (sailing value 8): Take 1 yellow crystal OR take 3 wind.

MOVE YOUR PROPHET (sailing value 9): Give away 2 wind and move your prophet over the mountain.

The prophet climbs the three platforms on which he invokes the gods to get credit for your deeds. The Prophet can earn you many victory points if you move him at the right time.

Each platform you move the prophet to immediately and uniquely earns you the following victory points:

• 1st platform: For each ship you have in play, gain 2 victory points. A "ship in play" is the 2 ships you own at the start of the game and all ships built so far – including ships that have already been sacrificed at temples.
• 2nd platform: For each settlement you have already built, gain 3 victory points.
• 3rd platform: For each wind token you currently own, gain 2 victory points. You do not have to give up the wind tokens.

For each platform you reach first, gain 2 victory points immediately on top. In a game with three or four players, gain 1 victory point for each platform you reach in second place.

If the prophet is on the third and last level, move him to a free landing place of the lower temple with the next action. Gain immediately the victory points and take the purple crystal lying there. Only 1 prophet or 1 ship may stand at each landing place.

EXAMPLE: Elia has 5 wind, gives 2 of them away and moves the prophet from platform 2 to platform 3. Since Elia is the first to reach this platform, Elia immediately gains 2 victory points. Elia has 3 wind left and plays the action card "Aeolos". For this, Elia immediately gains 3 wind and another victory point. For the total of 6 wind, Elia now gains 12 victory points (2 per wind). However, Elia must give up 1 wind at the end of the turn, since the maximum amount of wind at the end of a turn is 5.

Use Bonus Tokens

You may use up to two bonus tokens at any time during your turn, even before you play your sailing card. If you use a bonus token, use the bonus action and then turn the token over.

Bonus token "Card swap": Draw 5 sailing cards from the draw pile and then discard 5 sailing cards. Shuffle the discarded cards thoroughly into the draw pile.

Bonus token "Extra action": Perform any harbor action. You do not have to play a sailing card or be present in the harbor. However, all the rules of the harbor action apply.

If you do not use a bonus token during the game, you will receive the victory points for it in the final scoring.

4. Check Wind and Draw a Sailing Card

At the end of your turn, you may have only 5 wind. If you have more, you must discard any surplus tokens.

Then you draw exactly 1 sailing card. If you have built a settlement during your turn, draw 2 cards.

End of the Game

When the last card of the draw pile is drawn, the following happens:

In a game of two, the game ends after the current round.

In a game of three and four, the draw pile is refilled exactly once. To do this, take all the sailing cards that have been played so far from the game board – except for the two cards that are on top of the purple and grey discard piles respectively. Shuffle the cards thoroughly.

In a game of three: Divide the shuffled cards into two piles of equal size. Put one of the two piles back in the box and set the other pile aside as a new draw pile.

In a game of four: Keep all the shuffled cards ready as a new draw pile.

Towards the end of the game, you are allowed to count the number of cards remaining in the draw pile. This allows you to see how many turns remain.

When the very last card is drawn, you finish the current round so that each person has had an equal number of turns.

Final Score

At the end of the game gain the following points:

• For sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 crystals of different colors, gain 3, 7, 12, 18, or 25 victory points respectively. You may score more than one set.
• Each wind token you still have counts as 1 victory point.
• Each "Favor of the Gods" card you still have counts as 3 victory points.

Please note: The 5 victory points of the action cards "Aeolos", "Hera" and "Zeus" are only gained if you play the cards during the game – at the end of the game these cards count as only 3 victory points.

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player who has occupied the temple with the highest number of points wins.

The Action Cards "Favor of the Gods"

The results of the action cards are unique and take effect immediately after the card is played.

Aeolos (3x): Take 3 wind from the supply and gain 1 victory point.

Apollon (3x): Give away 1 wind. Move your prophet 1 space toward the next platform or onto a temple.

Artemis (3x): Give away 1 wind. Move a ship 2 spaces or two ships 1 space each upriver or onto a temple.

Athene (2x): Give away 1 wind and perform any harbor action. You do not have to play a sailing card and you do not have to be present in that harbor.

Hera (2x): Build a settlement at any harbor OR gain 5 victory points. When you build a settlement, you do not need a ship on site. If all settlement spaces at the harbor are occupied, you may build your settlement WITHOUT a settlement space. You simply place it next to the already built settlements.

Hermes (2x): Increase or decrease your sailing value by 1, 2, 3 or 4. Play this card immediately after playing your sailing card.

Plutos (3x): Take 1 crystal. You can only take a blue, green, red or yellow crystal that is still on the board. You do not have to be present at the corresponding harbor to take the crystal.

Zeus (2x): Build a ship OR gain 5 victory points. If you build a ship, then place it directly on a harbor or on a river space with a sailing value of up to 9. If you place the ship in a harbor, you may not perform a harbor action.

Game Variants

If you have already played the basic version of AEOLOS a few times and are familiar with the rules, you can play with the following variants and expansions to bring even more variety into the game.

1. Player Tableaus with Special Ability

Aeolos rewards you for different actions.

Play with the neutral backs of the player tableaus. If you decide to do so, everyone must play with them. Prepare the tableaus as described under Game Setup.

Each tableau rewards you for a different action. The reward given for each is shown on the top right of the tableaus.

• Settlement: When you build a settlement, you immediately gain 1 wind. At the start of the game, you gain an additional 1 wind.
• Ship building: When you build a ship, you immediately gain 1 wind. At the start of the game, you gain an additional 1 wind.
• Prophet: When you move your prophet, you immediately gain 1 wind and 1 victory point.
• Crystals: For each first crystal of the color blue, green, red and yellow you immediately gain 1 wind.

2. The Poseidon Expansion

Poseidon is capricious. Where he appears, you can gain wind or victory points – or lose.

During the Game Setup, shuffle the 7 Poseidon tokens and place them face down as a supply pile next to the game board. Place your victory point marker on space 5 of the victory point bar.

If you lose victory points, move your victory point marker backwards on the victory point bar. You can also drop below 0 in the process.

As soon as the last possible settlement is built in a harbor and all settlement spaces are occupied, take the top Poseidon token from the supply pile. Place it face up on the Poseidon space directly in front of the corresponding harbor.

Whenever you move a ship into a harbor with a Poseidon token in front of it, the effect of the token comes into play. In the following cases, the tokens have no effect:

• If you don't move a ship into the harbor, because you take the harbor action with a presence (a ship or a settlement which is already there).
• If you move a ship directly to a river space.

Of course, you can always move into a harbor even if you already have ships there – for example, if you want to use the positive effect of a token.

If you have to give away wind because of a Poseidon token and you have no wind, you lose 1 victory point instead.

3. The Challenge of Aeolos

This variant requires more tactical and planning skills and is suitable for experienced players.

New Harbor Tokens:

During the Game Setup, take the harbor tokens showing a black anchor and the numbers 6, 7, 8 on their backs. Place them on the game board on the anchor symbols of the harbors 6, 7, 8. They cover the previous harbor action and replace it with the following new harbor action:

FAVOR OF THE GODS (sailing value 6): Draw 2 "Favor of the Gods" cards and look at them. Keep one of them and put the other card face up on the discard pile.

FREE HARBOR ACTION (sailing value 7): You may immediately take the action of another harbor by being present with at least one ship or settlement.

A GOOD BREEZE OF WIND (sailing value 8): Take 1 yellow crystal OR take 2 wind.

Additional Rule Change:

You may only have 1 ship on each river space. This applies both when you move a ship with your sailing value to a river space or when you use the harbor action "Move ships upriver". In this harbor action, you must still count occupied spaces and give away wind for them.

4. Variable Harbor Actions

In AEOLOS harbor actions are appropriately balanced. You can interchange the harbor actions to generate new focal points.

Decide at the Game Setup if you want to play with the basic harbor tokens (anchor on the back) or if you want to use the alternative harbor tokens (anchor on the back). Arrange the harbor tokens so that no number is duplicated on the backs next to the anchors. Shuffle the 7 harbor tokens and randomly cover the 7 harbor actions on the game board. Then place the crystals next to the respective harbor tokens as described under Game Setup.