Age of Innovation
167 questions players ask about Age of Innovation. Pick one for the answer. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-11-01.
Setup and Starting Placement
- In what order are free spades from setup bonuses used, and can you build a Workshop with them?
- When do Monks and Inventors get their starting Competency tile?
- Can I terraform in setup, with tools or otherwise, before placing a Tower from a Competency tile?
- Where may a neutral Tower from a setup Competency tile go?
- Can Desert Monks or Desert Inventors use the Desert setup spade to place a Tower?
- When does the Desert player's free setup spade happen?
- Do buildings placed in setup give opponents power or trigger build bonuses?
- Do Navigators score the river bonus for starting Workshops placed next to a river?
- Do Round Bonus tiles or their +1 Sailing apply during setup?
Cities, Adjacency and Reach
- If I build next to one of my existing cities, does the building join it or can it found a new city?
- Can two of my cities be joined later, and does that affect city tiles I already took?
- Can buildings linked only by Reach (Sailing) form a city?
- What is the difference between adjacency and reach?
- Does a city need to be a compact cluster, or can the buildings form a line?
- What does it take to found a city?
- Where does the City tile go when I found a city, and does it take up a hex?
- Must a new city be non-adjacent to other players' cities too?
- If a city is joined by a bridge to another group of buildings, does that group become part of the city?
- How do Annexes affect the requirements to found a city?
Neutral Buildings
- Do I have to place a neutral building right away, and can I decline?
- If I can't place the neutral building from a Tower Competency or Innovation, do I still get the tile's income?
- How can I terraform a hex to place a neutral building?
- Do neutral buildings count as my own for innovations, scoring and income?
- Does the owner of a neutral building gain power when someone builds next to it?
- Does a neutral Palace avoid the extra 5 Coins for developing an Innovation?
- What Power value does a neutral building have?
- Can Palace 3 or any other effect upgrade or downgrade a neutral building?
- With the neutral School innovation, do I build the School before taking the Competency tile?
Terraform and Build
- Can I build a Workshop on a hex I didn't terraform in the same Terraform and Build action?
- If I gain two free spades, can I build on both terraformed hexes?
- Can I buy extra spades with tools for a second hex when free spades overflow?
- When may I buy spades with tools instead of using free ones?
- Can free spades from a Power, Special or Book action terraform more than one hex?
- When I get 2 or 3 spades, must each hex be in reach of the same building?
- Can I terraform without building a Workshop?
- Can I save spades for later?
- Can I build a Workshop after using spades from setup, income or end of round?
- If a Power action gives me spades, do I also get a free Workshop?
Power, Resources and Actions
- If I gain power but have too few tokens in Bowls I and II, what do I do?
- How does Power Sacrifice (burning) work, and how many times can I do it?
- Must Bowl I be empty before power moves from Bowl II to Bowl III?
- Does having fewer power tokens in circulation give more spendable power?
- Do power tokens go onto the map?
- Do I have to take the power when a neighbour builds next to me, and can I take only part of it?
- When can I convert resources, and can I do it in the middle of an action?
- Can I convert resources as part of passing?
- Can I convert resources during final scoring?
- Can I take a Power action without using its effect?
Science Display and Scholars
End of Game and Final Scoring
- Do Annexes count as buildings in final area scoring?
- Do neutral buildings count in final area scoring?
- Do buildings need to be adjacent for the largest-group area score, or is reach enough?
- Are Mole buildings linked by a tunnel connected for area scoring?
- How is a tied final score resolved?
- Is the Wanderers' poor area score intended?
Factions
- How far can Moles tunnel, and can it be combined with Sailing?
- Can Moles start a tunnel from the end of a bridge instead of from a building?
- Can Moles tunnel to a hex next to another of their buildings?
- Can Moles tunnel into the same hex more than once, and what does a tunnel cost and score?
- Can Moles tunnel more than once in a single Terraform and Build action with several spades?
- Which spades can the Moles tunnel with?
- Can Moles tunnel, or Palace 9 fly, when placing a neutral building?
- Can Moles build land bridges, and where?
- Can a building placed after a Mole tunnel found a new city?
- Do Goblins gain 2 Coins from the free Desert spade in setup, and can they spend them on the same build?
Innovation Tiles
Palace Tiles
- How does Palace 9's Flight work?
- Are buildings connected only by flight or tunnelling connected for end-game scoring?
- Can I mix Palace 15's bridges and Terraform and Build in any order?
- With Palace 15's two free spades, can the Moles tunnel twice?
- Do Palace 14's free Sailing advances give the usual bonuses?
- How do I resolve a Palace bonus that adds power tokens to Bowl III?
- Can tunnelling or flight skip over a hex holding an opponent's building?
Competency, Round and City Tiles
- What counts as a border hex for the Workshop Competency tile?
- What does the Science Display Competency count when I pass?
- Does the Send a Scholar Competency pay when the Scholar is returned to advance only 1 Level?
- Does a flipped City tile still count for the Competency scoring City tiles on Pass?
- Does the Schools Round Bonus count only Schools built this round?
- What if the Round 6 tile and the Final Round tile reward the same building?
- Does the rulebook's special action example award 2 or 3 points?
Automa, Solo and 2-Player
- Do the page-19 two-player special rules apply when playing solo against the Automa?
- Is there an Automa for 2-player games?
- Can I play with more than one Automa or several humans?
- When does the Automa's Bring Together icon apply?
- How does the Automa score?
- Do the pencil marks on the Automa cards set tiebreaker order?
- How does the Automa choose which building to upgrade?
- How does the Automa pick the hex for Terraform and Build?
- Which Discipline does the Automa pick for Advance 1 Level?
- Do I gain power from the Automa's builds?
Age of Innovation: Future & PastExpansion
- Are Lock Breakers and Chrono Projections limited by components?
- Can a Chrono Projection hex be partly terraformed or use bonus spades?
- When does the Futurist place its Chrono Projection in setup?
- Is the Libella special Competency tile limited, and is taking it optional?
- Does a Monument count as a building for Constitution?
- When an Academy forms a city and grants a Competency tile, can I take the tile first?
- When do I receive the Scholar used to prepare land?