Age of Towers
Age of Towers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
General Components
- 1 Event Board
- 14 Event Cards
- 1 First Player Tile and Phase Marker
- 12 Trophies, 5 Markers
- 4 Expansion Tiles
- 57 Quest Cards, 2 Markers
- 30 Towers and their Upgrades (roofs) (10 per color)
- 60 Crystals
Monsters
- 16 Red Goblin Tokens (4 per player)
- 12 Blue Orc Tokens (3 per player)
- 12 Yellow Spider Tokens (3 per player)
Boss
- 1 Boss Board
- 4 Boss Tokens
Solo Mode (see Solo Mode section)
- 9 Demonic Spell Cards
- 1 Demon Token
- 1 Demonic Spell Track
Player Components
- 4 City Boards (1 per player)
- 12 Large Action Markers (3 per player), 12 Small Boss Markers (3 per player), 4 Guard Cubes (1 per player)
- 4 Reference cards (1 per player)
- 4 City Tiles (1 per player)
- 36 Road Tiles (9 per player)
- 4 Mine Entrance Boards (1 per player)
Player Area Setup
Each player takes one city board and takes the following components matching the color of their city banner:
- 2 action markers, 1 boss marker, and 1 guard cube.
- 9 road tiles (3 straight roads, 3 curved roads, 2 "T" roads, 1 crossroad).
- 1 mine entrance board.
- 1 city tile.
- 10 monster tokens (4 goblins, 3 orcs, 3 spiders).
- 1 boss token.
- 6 crystals.
Then, each player must:
- take 1 Reference card.
- create a road stack by shuffling the 9 road tiles and place them in a facedown stack next to their city board.
- place their mine entrance board near their city board and their city tile at the end of the road.
- place their guard cube on space "15" of their city board and their action markers nearby.
- create a creature stack by shuffling their monster tokens healthy side faceup without looking at them, and placing 2 of them in a stack on the mine space.
Finally, they place the boss token on top of that stack followed by the 8 remaining monsters (see example above).
Central Play Area Setup
Place the event board, the boss board, and the first player tile and phase marker in the center of the play area.
Shuffle the quest cards and place them facedown in a pile near the center of the play area to create the quest deck. Then, draw the top 3 cards and place them faceup next to the deck: this is the market.
Shuffle the 4 expansion tiles and place them facedown in a stack near the quest deck.
Depending on the level of difficulty, choose 10 event cards (see below), shuffle them, and place them facedown on the left space of the event board to create the event deck:
- EASY: 5 "Nothing" cards and 5 other random cards.
- NORMAL: 4 "Nothing" cards and 6 other random cards.
- HARD: 3 "Nothing" cards and 7 other random cards.
- EXTREME: 10 random cards but no "Nothing" cards (with «To The Rescue» expansion).
Each player places their boss marker next to space "1" of the boss board.
Place the towers (5 of each color with 2 players, 7 with 3 players, 10 with 4 players), tower upgrades, and the crystals within reach of all players.
Draw 4 random trophies, reveal them, and place them faceup near the boss board.
Finally, each player draws 1 quest card, adds it to their hand and may look at it.
The game can now begin.
Important Terms
Creatures: monsters and boss. Structures: towers, upgraded towers, and any other building that will appear in future expansions.
The boss is not a monster!
First Player
Give the first player tile and phase marker to:
- the player whose family owns a tower (even if it is in ruins), or;
- the player who has a keystone in their pocket, or;
- the tallest player.
Game Overview
The game is played over a series of rounds. A round consists of 4 phases:
Dusk: Be careful! A new threat emerges! Resolve the event card that was revealed during the previous round. Then, reveal the next event card that will be resolved next round. Prepare yourself accordingly!
Night: Under the cover of night, danger lurks... The creatures on your road move toward your city, and invade it if able! But that's not all: two new monsters or maybe the boss himself come out of the mine!
Dawn: Make hay while the sun shines! Open fire with your towers to repel the approaching menace.
Day: Now's the time to prepare your defenses and show other cities who's the boss!
You must take two actions among the following:
- build a tower and play a quest card.
- extend your road and play a quest card.
- go to the market (play an available card) and play a quest card.
- quest (draw 2 quest cards).
After each player has taken two actions, the first player tile passes to the next player in clockwise order and a new round begins.
The game ends when a player loses their last guard (their marker reaches the skull space of the city board) or captures their boss (their marker reaches the skull space on the boss board).
The player with the most points (see Scoring) wins the game.
Dusk
The first player places the phase marker on the dusk space of the first player tile.
1. Resolve Event
During the first round of the game, players skip step 1.
Move the revealed event card from the left space to the right space of the event board. Then, each player immediately resolves its effect, starting with the first player and proceeding in clockwise order.
2. Reveal Next Event
Reveal the top card of the event deck. Each player will resolve its effect during the next dusk phase.
Summary of Upgraded Tower Abilities
Aura of Protection: The blue upgraded tower protects itself and up to four orthogonally adjacent towers. When one of these towers would be destroyed, the blue tower loses its upgrade instead.
Night
The first player places the phase marker on the night space of the first player tile. This phase can be resolved simultaneously by all players.
General Rule: When moving, a creature moves a number of spaces equal to its level (some powers can modify this value) and takes the shortest path available toward the city tile. Multiple creatures can occupy the same road space.
Level — Power (example: a level 2 creature with a power).
During the first round of the game, players skip step 1.
1. Move Creatures
Starting with the creatures that are the closest to their city tile (following the road), each player moves each creature occupying a space of their road. If multiple creatures occupy the same space, the player chooses which one to move first.
If a creature exits the road and reaches the city tile, that city is invaded and that player immediately loses a number of guards equal to the creature's level: the player advances their guard cube forward on their city board that many spaces.
If the creature is a monster, it remains on the invaded city tile. However, if the creature is a boss, it is placed back on the road space located just before the invaded city tile.
2. Add More Creatures
Then, creatures come out of the mine. Each player takes the top two monsters from their creature stack — or just one monster if the second token is the boss — and immediately moves them, one at a time.
If the boss is on top of the creature stack, the boss is the only creature to comes out of the mine.
Creatures come out of the mine with their healthy side faceup (see below).
End Game Condition
If a player's guard marker reaches the skull space on their city board, the game ends at the end of the night phase. Multiple players can lose their last guard during the same phase.
Summary of Creature Powers and Upgraded Tower Abilities
Horde: Creatures with Horde move a number of spaces equal to the number of creatures displaying this power on the road at the start of the night phase.
Monster Trap: Each yellow upgraded tower can stop one monster of any color (once per Night) that enters one of the four adjacent road spaces from moving. This does not apply to the boss.
Night Phase Example
Start of the Night Phase: See picture 1
Step 1: First, Charles moves his spider (yellow token) and his boss (black token) in the order of his choice because they are both the closest to his city tile. Then, he moves his orc (blue token).
He starts by moving the spider 3 spaces forward because it is a level 3 monster. The spider invades his city and Charles loses 3 guards because it is a level 3 monster; he immediately advances the guard cube 3 spaces forward of his city board. The spider remains on the city tile (picture 2).
Then, he moves his boss 2 spaces because it is level 2 on its healthy side. The boss also invades his city, so Charles loses 2 more guards. However, Charles places the boss back on the road space located just before his city tile because it is a boss (picture 3). If Charles does not expand his road before the next round, the boss will invade his city again during the next night phase.
Finally, he moves the orc, his last creature occupying a space of his road, 2 spaces because it is level 2 (picture 4).
Step 2: Now that Charles has moved all the monsters occupying a space of his road, two monsters come out of the mine, healthy side faceup. A goblin (red token) is on top of his creature stack; it's a level 1 monster so it moves 1 space forward (picture 5).
Then, the next monster is an orc (blue token); it's a level 2 monster so it moves 2 spaces forward (picture 6).
Dawn
During the first round of the game, players skip the dawn phase because they do not have any towers.
The first player places the round marker on the dawn space of the first player tile. In turn order, the players activate their towers one by one (upgraded or not) in the order of their choice.
Each tower (upgraded or not) on a player's road can be activated only once per round (unless a power or effect specifies otherwise) to deal 1 damage to a creature.
Each tower (upgraded or not) can target only black creatures and creatures matching its color that are occupying one of the four adjacent road spaces (grey creatures, like the demon for the solo mode, cannot be targeted by towers). If a tower can target a creature, it must do so. If the tower cannot target any creature, the tower is not activated.
Clarification: There are no black towers, any tower can target a black creature. When a monster is dealt 1 damage for the first time, flip it to its wounded side (unless a power or effect specifies otherwise). Then, the power on its wounded side is activated if necessary (see Creature Powers).
If a wounded monster is dealt at least 1 damage, it is captured: the player places it on their city board and gains 2 crystals.
When a monster on its healthy side is dealt enough damage by a single tower (upgraded or not) to be captured, the power on its wounded side is not activated.
When a boss is dealt 1 or more damage, the player advances their boss marker forward that many spaces on the boss board.
End Game Condition
If a player's boss marker reaches the skull space on the boss board, that player's boss is captured and the game ends at the end of the dawn phase. Multiple players can capture their boss during the same phase.
Summary of Creature Powers and Upgraded Tower Abilities
Smasher: When it becomes wounded, a creature with Smasher destroys the structure that dealt damage to it.
Double Cannon: The red upgraded tower can deal 2 damage to a single creature or 1 damage to two creatures.
Aura of Protection: The blue upgraded tower protects itself and up to four orthogonally adjacent towers. When one of these towers would be destroyed, the blue tower loses its upgrade instead.
Dawn Phase Example
The red tower can target a red or black creature token. If Charles chooses to deal 1 damage to one of the two goblins (red token) on space 1:
- the healthy goblin is flipped to its wounded side.
- the wounded goblin is captured. Charles places it on his city board and gains 2 crystals.
Charles can also target the healthy goblin on space 2. However, he cannot target the orc (blue token) on space 3 because its color does not match the tower's color and it is not a black creature.
In the end, Charles chooses to target the boss on space 4 because it is a black creature. The boss is dealt 1 damage and Charles advances his boss marker 1 space on the boss board.
The blue tower can target a blue or black creature token. Charles must target the boss in space 4 because it is the only available target. The boss is dealt 1 damage and Charles advances his boss marker 1 space forward on the boss board. The boss becomes wounded and the boss token must be flipped.
Day
The first player places the phase marker on the day space of the first player tile.
In turn order, each player takes one of the four actions available by placing an action marker on the corresponding action space of their city board.
Then, each player takes a second action. A player may take the same action twice during the same Day phase.
You can take an action (Build a tower, Expand the road, Go to the market) without completing it but you can still play a quest card from your hand.
Build a Tower
Spend 2 crystals to build a tower. Then, you may play a quest card from your hand.
Take a tower of a color of your choice from the supply and place it one of the available structure spaces along your road. You can place the structure on any tower space as long as the tower can fit in it, whether or not it is surrounded by 4 road spaces.
Towers are structures. Other structures will appear in future expansions.
There are three types of towers: red, blue, and yellow. They deal 1 damage to black creatures and creatures of matching color.
Expand the Road
Spend 2 crystals to add road tiles to the end of your road. Then, you may play a quest card from your hand.
Move your city tile aside. Then, take the top tile of your road stack and place it at the end of your road after having carefully choosen its orientation. Once placed, you cannot change the orientation of the road tile. You must choose to which path of this road tile the next drawn road tile will be linked. Repeat this action two more times, thus expanding the road with a total of three road tiles. Finally, place your city tile back at the end of the road.
Shortcuts If you create a shorter path leading to your city tile when placing a road tile, you create a shortcut (Special case #1). Because creatures always take the shortest path available toward your city tile, they will use that shortcut. So be careful how you expand your road!
Dead Ends (Special cases #2 and #4) If placing a road tile would cause it to block the access to the city tile by creating a dead end, you must take another road tile until you are able to place a tile that does not block the access to the city tile, or make a loop.
Then, shuffle any unused road tiles back into the stack.
If none of the tiles allow you to have a clear access to the city tile, place your city tile back at the end of the road instead. You can no longer expand the road until a new tile is placed by any other effect.
Expand the Road: Example
Step 1: Charles moves his city tile aside.
Step 2: He takes the top road tile; it is a crossroad that he places at the end of the road. Then, he chooses where to place the next road tile.
Step 3: He draws the next road tile and adds it at the end of the road.
Step 4: He does this one more time and places a third tile at the end of the road. Then, he chooses where to place his city tile.
Step 5: Finally, he places his city tile back so that it is adjacent to the end of the road.
Special Cases
- Be careful! Shortcut.
- FORBIDDEN! Path without exit (loop).
- Allowed, path with access to the city tile.
- FORBIDDEN! Path without exit (dead end).
Go to the Market
Choose one of three faceup quest card in the market (the three cards that were revealed during setup). If that card has a cost (see Clarifications), pay that cost. Then, apply its effect and discard that card. Finally, draw the top card of the quest deck and place it faceup in the market. If the deck is empty, shuffle the discarded quest cards to create a new deck.
If there are two identical quest cards in the market, discard all quest cards in the market and replace them with three other cards.
Then, you may play a quest card from your hand.
Example: Charles chooses the "El Dorado" quest card in the market. He takes 3 crystals and discards the quest card then he replaces it in the market. Finally, he chooses to play a quest card from his hand.
Quest
Draw the top two cards of the quest deck and add them to your hand.
After taking this action, you CANNOT immediately play quest cards from your hand.
Round End
After each player has taken two actions, the first player tile passes to the next player in clockwise order and a new round begins.
Game End
The game ends at the end of a phase during which:
- at least one player captured their boss (a player's boss marker reached the skull space on the boss board).
- at least one player lost their last guard (a player's guard marker reached the skull space on their city board).
Each player calculates their final score by adding up:
- the number of remaining guards, as indicated by the guard marker on their city board.
- the number of damage dealt to the boss, as indicated by their boss marker on the boss board.
- any points scored from trophies (see Clarifications).
The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most crystals wins. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.
Example: Charles calculates his score as follows:
- 9 points for his remaining guards.
- 15 points for capturing his boss;
- 3 points from trophies, 2 points for the trophy he took during the game and 1 point for having a pair of crystals at the end of the game. He has a score of 27 victory points.
Creatures
Each creature has a level and some also have a power. A creature's level indicates the number of spaces it moves (some powers can modify this value) and the number of guards lost when the creature invades a player's city.
Level — Power (example: a level 2 creature with a power).
Creatures' Powers
A creature's power is active for as long as the power symbol is shown on the faceup side of the token.
Horde Creatures with Horde do not move a number of spaces based on their level. Instead they move a number of spaces equal to the number of creatures displaying this power on the road at the start of the night phase. If creatures invade the player's city or come out of the mine during the night phase, this value does not change. If there are no creatures with Horde on the road when a creature with this power comes out of the mine, it moves a number of spaces equal to its level.
Example: There are 2 goblins on your road at the start of the night phase. Therefore, each goblin moves 2 spaces. After moving the monsters, 2 more goblins come out of the mine. They also move 2 spaces, even if there are now 4 goblins on the road. During the next night phase, if there are still 4 goblins on the road, each goblin will move 4 spaces.
Smasher When a creature with Smasher becomes wounded, the structure that dealt damage(s) to this creature is destroyed.
Boss Powers
After suffering enough damage, some bosses become wounded and their token must be flipped to their wounded side. Spaces on the boss board indicate when a boss token must be flipped.
Upgrades
Towers can be upgraded only through quest card effects.
Upgrade 1 of your towers for free.
When a tower is destroyed, remove it from the road and return it to the supply. When an upgraded tower is destroyed, remove the tower and its upgrade from the road and return them to the supply unless otherwise specified. The upgrade must be attached to a tower of the same color.
Tower + Upgrade = Upgraded Tower
Upgrades
Upgraded towers keep their ability to deal 1 damage but have an additional ability.
Monster Trap
This upgraded tower can stop a monster of any color (not a boss) that enters one of the four adjacent road spaces from moving. However, it cannot prevent a monster from leaving its space at the start of its move.
Double Cannon
This upgraded tower now deals 2 damages to a single creature or 1 damage to two creatures in any adjacent road spaces.
Aura of Protection
This upgraded tower protects itself and up to four orthogonally adjacent towers.
When one of these towers would be destroyed, the blue tower loses its upgrade instead, player's choice.
Trophies
There are two types of trophies: leader trophies and endgame trophies.
Leader Trophies
The first player to fulfill one of these conditions (build 3 towers of the same color, upgrade 3 towers, capture 4 monsters, have the most destruction markers) immediately takes the corresponding trophy and applies its effect:
- You may move one of your towers to another available structure space along your road.
- You may take one of the monsters on your road and send it on an opponent's road (see Clarifications).
- You may upgrade a tower of your choice.
- Take 1 Destruction marker each time you destroy a structure. When the last one is taken, the player with the most markers takes the trophy.
At the end of the game, each player also scores the number of points indicated on the trophy.
Endgame Trophies
At the end of the game, each player scores 1 point for each pair of crystals they have or for each monster they captured.
Majority
At the end of the game, the player with the most towers (upgraded or not) of the indicated color and the player with the most upgraded towers scores the points indicated on the trophy. In case of a tie, nobody scores points for that trophy.
Clarifications
Component Limitations
There is a limited number of towers of each color available based on the number of players. If the supply runs out of a tower of a certain color, you cannot build that tower.
Send a Monster
When a card allows you to send a monster on a road (an opponent's or not), you must take a monster on your road and place it on any space occupied by another creature without changing its side.
Free a Monster
Freeing a monster consists in taking a captured monster from an opponent's city tile and place it on any space occupied by another creature on that opponent's road, with its healthy side faceup.
Destroy a Structure
Each time a player's structure is destroyed, that player must draw a quest card and add it to their hand.
"Hero for Rent" Quest Card
When a player plays a "Hero for Rent" quest card, they must give 1 crystal to the player who has the city with the matching hero. If it is their own city, the player does not spend any crystals. If that city is not in play, the player returns 1 crystal to the supply instead.
Quest Cards
Players can play most quest cards to gain crystals instead of applying their effects. The number of crystals gained this way is indicated at the bottom of the card (see example).
Some quest cards allow players to deal damage or capture monsters. If the card does not specify which road, you may deal the damage to or capture a monster on any player's road. Place monsters captured this way on your city tile and gain 2 crystals (unless otherwise specified).
Advice
Age of Towers requires a bit of practice before players are able to anticipate the different game effects. We strongly suggest playing a few learning games (see below) before moving on to more difficult games.
Defending your city is essential. The best way to do so is to build and upgrade towers to make them more effective. Make sure to anticipate the movements of your monsters before placing your towers.
Remember that a tower can target any adjacent road space. As a result, a tower is most effective when it can target four spaces.
Quest cards are very helpful to increase your towers' effectiveness. In general, they allow you to save crystals, speed up actions, or simply provide powerful benefits. Having cards in hand gives you more options since playing a card does not count as an action. But remember that you can play cards only after certain actions, or when going to the market.
Age of Towers is not an aggressive game but it is sometimes necessary to be on the offensive to upset an opponent's plans: even the smallest action can have the greatest benefits!
Last piece of advice against aggressive players: remember that blue upgraded towers protect the other towers on your road.
Learning Game
In this simplified variant, players learn the best way to defend their city.
Do not use trophies. Return them to the box during setup.
During the game, players cannot destroy their opponent's towers.
At the end of the game, the player with the most guards and captured creatures wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most crystals wins.
Solo Mode
The object of this one-player variant is to survive, capture the boss and have the best score, much like a multiplayer game. Experienced players can use this variant to try to improve their scores.
Setup
Set up the game like a normal multiplayer game. However:
- Return the trophies to the box.
- Place the demonic spell track in the center of the play area.
- Place the phase marker on the first space of the demonic spell track.
- Sort the demonic spell cards into 3 decks of different colors (red, blue, and green). Take one card from each deck — without looking at them — and place them randomly on the three card spaces on the demonic spell track.
- Return the "Sabotage" and "Tornado" event cards to the box.
- Place the demon token near the demonic spell track.
Dusk: New Rule
During the dusk phase, before resolving the event card, proceed as follows:
- Advance the phase marker 1 space forward on the demonic spell track, if the marker already reached the end of the track, skip this step.
- Then, if the marker reached a demonic spell space (red space in the example below), reveal the demonic spell card and apply its effect.
- Finally, apply the effects of any permanent demonic spell cards previously revealed.