Agora (Spielworxx, 2013) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Components
  • 2.1 The game board
  • 2.2 The citizen markers
  • 2.3 The rhetoric tableaus and rhetoric cubes
  • 2.4 The lot markers
  • 2.5 The administrative markers
  • 2.6 The resource cards
  • 2.7 The resource markers
  • 2.8 The demand markers
  • 2.9 The start player marker
• 3.0 Aim of the Game
• 4.0 Preparations
• 5.0 Playing the Game
  • 5.1 Place citizens
  • 5.2 Conduct actions
    • 1. Market
    • 2. Exchange
    • 3. Stoa
    • 4. Court
    • 5. Monument
  • 5.3 Administration
• 6.0 Game End and Scoring

1.0 Introduction

The agora was the central gathering place in ancient Greek city-states, the place where all artistic, political and market activity took place.

Agora lets the players enter a Greek city in ancient times, with each player representing a group of citizens who are trying to improve their reputation in the city. To do this, they buy and trade resources to erect a monument for their heroes. They also try to perfect their rhetoric abilities in the stoa (covered walkways) because it's advantageous to be able to persuade your fellows with arguments! The citizens with the best rhetoric will receive the last resources when few remain and will have their way as prosecutor and judge in court.

2.0 Components

Each copy of Agora contains:

• 1 game board
• 4 rhetoric tableaus (in the 4 player colors)
• 20 citizen markers (5 each in the 4 player colors)
• 20 lot markers (5 each in the 4 player colors)
• 20 white rhetoric cubes
• 8 administrative markers (2 each in the 4 player colors)
• 45 resource cards (15x wood, clay, and marble)
• 12 resource markers (4x wood, clay, and marble)
• 9 demand markers (3x wood, clay, and marble)
• 1 start player marker
• 1 rules booklet

2.1 The game board

The game board depicts the center of an ancient Greek city that's divided into five sections numbered 1 to 5. Each section has, depending on the number of players, a different number of spaces for the citizen markers (from now on "citizens"). At the left side of the game board is the scoring track, and in the bottom right corner the prison for convicted dealers.

The five sections are: 1: Market, 2: Exchange, 3: Stoa, 4: Court, 5: Monument.

2.2 The citizen markers

Each player controls 5 citizens, marked A to E. A player sends his citizens to the various sections of the city. During the game, each citizen improves his rhetoric, which is tracked on the rhetoric tableaus.

2.3 The rhetoric tableaus and rhetoric cubes

Each player has a rhetoric tableau depicting his 5 citizens. The rhetoric ability of each citizen is tracked with a white rhetoric cube in the corresponding line on the tableau (A to E).

2.4 The lot markers

Each player owns 5 lot markers, one for each citizen. These lot markers are used to determine the jurors when a dealer is in Court for fraud and a verdict must be decided.

2.5 The administrative markers

Each player has two administrative markers: one to track his victory points on the scoring track, and one to show his level on the Monument.

2.6 The resource cards

The game uses 3 resources: wood, clay and marble. Players use them as donations at the Monument and as payment for citizens in the Stoa. Each player may purchase resources at the Market by visiting dealers at their market stalls.

2.7 The resource markers

The resource markers represent the dealers and the resource they carry.

2.8 The demand markers

The demand markers depict the current resources demanded at the Monument.

2.9 The start player marker

This marker indicates the start player in the current game turn.

3.0 Aim of the Game

The players try to gain victory points in the different sections of the city. In addition, the players gain or lose victory points at court when they decide on the impeachment of a dealer.

At the end of the game, the players receive victory points for the rhetoric abilities of their citizens and for their donations at the Monument. They receive additional victory points for having majorities in resource cards.

The player with the most points wins!

4.0 Preparations

Place the game board on the table.

Each player chooses a player color and takes the corresponding rhetoric tableau, 5 citizens, 5 lot markers, 2 administrative markers, and 5 white rhetoric cubes. He places the 5 rhetoric cubes onto the five spaces marked "1" on the rhetoric tableau, 1 administrative marker on space "5" of the scoring track, and 1 administrative marker on the lowest level of the Monument. Each player gives his five lot markers to his left-hand neighbor, where they remain for the time being.

Place the 9 demand markers face down, mix them, then stack them next to the Monument. Flip over the top two markers and place them onto the two spaces above the Monument.

Place the 12 resource markers face down, mix them, then draw 3 markers and place them face up on dealer spaces I, II, and III; these markers show which resource type each dealer is currently offering in the Market. Create three face-down stacks with the remaining markers, and place them on the spaces at the bottom of the Market. (Note: Players can draw new resource markers from any of these 3 stacks.)

Separate the resource cards by type and place them out as stock. Depending on the number of players, use only a certain number of resource cards:

• 2 players: 8 cards per resource
• 3 players: 11 cards per resource
• 4 players: 15 cards per resource

Return any surplus cards to the game box.

The players decide on a start player, who receives the start player marker.

Agora may now begin!

5.0 Playing the Game

A game of Agora lasts several game turns, and each game turn consists of 3 phases:

• Place citizens
• Conduct actions
• Clean up

5.1 Place citizens

Beginning with the start player and proceeding clockwise, each player places one of his citizens face down on any empty space in a section until all citizens of all players have been placed. Within each section, place the citizens on the next empty space according to the arrows! In most sections the number of spaces is limited, and the spaces have symbols for the minimum number of players.

Note: At the Exchange, all 4 spaces are always available. In addition, only here can players place a citizen on any empty space! (That is, they do not have to place citizens in a particular order.)

A player may place a citizen in a section even if he doesn't intend to use the corresponding action in phase 2. In this way one player may block another.

A player may place his citizens in any order; he doesn't have to place them in the A, B, C, D, E order.

Once all citizens have been placed, this phase ends.

5.2 Conduct actions

The actions in the sections are always conducted in the same order:

1. Market
2. Exchange
3. Stoa
4. Court
5. Monument

Reveal the identities on citizen markers only for the current section being assessed.

1. Market

At the Market, players receive new resource cards from the dealers; the players don't have to pay for resources, but simply take the cards from stock!

Assess the dealers in order – first I, then II, and finally III. At each dealer, the players receive only the resource type depicted on the resource marker. The card symbols above a dealer indicate how many resource cards (1 or 2) each player's citizen receives.

Since fewer resource cards than needed might be available, it's important to assess the dealers in order (I, II, III). If a dealer doesn't have enough resource cards, the player whose citizen at that dealer has the best rhetoric ability receives resource cards for all of his citizens first. After all, this citizen has the best arguments! Afterwards the player whose citizen has the second best rhetoric ability receives cards, etc. In case of a tie, the tied players compare their second best citizen at that dealer, etc. If there's still a tie or if none of the involved players have a second citizen at that dealer, the player whose citizen is farthest to the left on a space at that dealer receives resources first.

Example: Blue receives a total of 3 marble for his citizens, while Green receives 1 and Yellow 2.

Example: The dealer has only 4 marble left, so not all citizens will receive their resources. The yellow citizen has a rhetoric ability of 4 points, so Yellow receives 2 marble. The blue citizen has 3 rhetoric points, so Blue takes the remaining 2 marble. Green does not receive any cards.

The players add these resource cards to their hands. There is no hand limit during a game turn. If asked, they must reveal the number of resource cards they hold, but they can keep the resource types secret.

2. Exchange

In order of the spaces at the Exchange (I – IV), the players may trade resource cards in hand for those in stock at the ratio given above the respective space.

• 3:2 = The player places 3 resource cards of one type in the stock, then takes 2 resource cards of one type into his hand. (No partial exchanges! If 2 cards aren't available, a player cannot trade for this type of resource.)
• 2:1 = The player places 2 resource cards of one type in the stock, then takes 1 resource card into his hand.

A player may decide not to trade cards when it is his citizen's turn.

Example: Green exchanges 3 wood for 2 marble. Yellow exchanges 2 clay for 1 marble.

3. Stoa

At the Stoa, the citizens debate with the scholars of the city and improve their rhetoric abilities.

A citizen on a stoa space can have his rhetoric ability improved by 1 or 2 points, as indicated below each space, but only if that citizen's player returns one resource card of his choice to the stock. If he does, the player moves the white rhetoric cube for this citizen 1 or 2 spaces to the right on his rhetoric display; if he doesn't, that citizen's rhetoric cube remains as is.

Example: Blue returns 2 marble resource cards to improve the rhetoric abilities of his two citizens at the Stoa. Blue improves citizen A's rhetoric ability by 2 points on his tableau and citizen C's ability by 1 point.

4. Court

At Court, dealers are impeached for fraud, then a verdict is rendered. This is done in two steps, as detailed below:

a. Impeachment:

The players sum the rhetoric points of their citizens in this section. The player with the highest sum becomes the prosecutor and must select one of the dealers at the Market. This dealer is impeached for fraud. To mark this dealer, flip his marker face down. (A player with a sum of 0 may impeach a dealer if no other player has a citizen in Court.)

If there's a tie, the tied player whose citizen at this section has the most rhetoric points impeaches the dealer. If among the tied players the best citizens are also tied, the players compare their second best citizens, etc. If all citizens of the tied players are tied, then nothing happens. In this rare case, skip step B below.

b. Verdict:

If a dealer was impeached in step A, now a verdict is rendered.

First, the jurors are selected: Each player secretly shuffles the 5 lot markers of his right-hand neighbor, draws 3, and places them face up onto the court house. Each player then sums the rhetoric points of his selected citizens. Important: These citizens stay in the sections where they are currently located!

The player whose selected citizens have the most rhetoric points becomes the judge and now decides whether the impeached dealer is guilty or not. In case of a tie, the tied player who has the single selected citizen with the most rhetoric points becomes the judge. If the best citizens are tied, the tied players compare their second best citizens, etc. If all selected citizens of the tied players are also tied, there's no judge and therefore no verdict. In this case the impeachment is withdrawn and the dealer remains at the market.

The judge delivers the verdict:

• If the dealer is not guilty, the prosecutor loses 1 victory point. (Move his marker on the scoring track down 1 space.) As a gift from the dealer (who remains at the Market) the judge receives 1 resource card of the type matching the accused dealer. The judge flips the dealer marker to its face-up (resource) side.

• If the dealer is guilty, the prosecutor gains 1 victory point. (Move his marker on the scoring track up 1 space.)

• If the dealer is guilty, the prosecutor gains 1 victory point. (Move his marker on the scoring track up 1 space.) Each citizen at the market stall of the guilty dealer loses 1 rhetoric point. The players move the corresponding white rhetoric cubes 1 space to the left on their tableaus. The judge removes the resource marker of the convicted dealer and places it onto an empty prison space (at the bottom right of the board). He then draws a new resource marker from one of the three stacks below the Market and places it on the empty market stall. The judge gains 1 victory point and moves his administrative marker up 1 space on the scoring track. In addition, he receives 2 resource cards of the type matching the new dealer (as a "thank you" for the stall in the Market).

Example: The selected red citizens have the most rhetoric points, so Red is the judge. Red declares the marble dealer guilty and places his marker in prison. Both Green (prosecutor) and Red (judge) gain 1 victory point. The 4 citizens at the guilty dealer's market stand each lose 1 rhetoric point. Red draws wood as the new resource dealer and places the marker on the empty market space. The new wood dealer says "thank you" and gives Red 2 wood resource cards.

5. Monument

The players try to help build the various levels of a monument in the city to honor a Greek hero.

To do this, each citizen located at the Monument may donate the resources needed to build the next level. Above the Monument are 2 demand markers, which show the resources currently required to build the next level. A player must donate the required resources in the correct ratio, but he can choose how to allocate the resources:

• Level 1: 1x resource A, 2x resource B or vice versa
• Level 2: 3 resource markers, either resource A, B, or C
• Level 3: 2x resource A, 2x resource B
• Level 4: 2x resource A, 3x resource B or vice versa
• Level 5: 2x resource A, 4x resource B or vice versa
• Level 6: 2x resource A, 5x resource B or vice versa

It's possible that 2 identical resource types are demanded. In this case a player must discard the sum of cards required (e.g., at Level 4 he must discard 5 cards of the required type).

If a player has more than one citizen at the Monument, he may donate for more than one level if he is able to pay the required resources for each level.

To block another player, a player may place a citizen at the Monument even if he has no intention of donating for the next level.

Example: Yellow must discard 3 identical resource cards, so he discards 3 marble. Green must discard 2 each of marble and wood. However, he has only 1 wood resource card and must remain at the current level.

For each successfully donated level the player moves his administrative marker at the Monument up one step.

5.3 Administration

At the end of a turn, each player removes his citizens from the game board. Flip all used lot markers face down and return them to the left-hand neighbors.

If at least one player has discarded resource cards at the Monument, set aside the 2 current demand markers face up, then draw 2 new ones from the stack and place them on the Monument. Starting next turn, players must donate these new resources at the Monument. If only 1 demand marker

remains, shuffle all 9 markers to form a new demand stack, then draw the top 2 markers and place them on the Monument.

If a player has more than 9 cards in hand at this time, he must discard cards of his choice to the stock until he has only 9 in hand. Note: In the final game turn, ignore this hand limit!

Finally, the start player gives the start player marker to his left-hand neighbor, then the next turn begins!

6.0 Game End and Scoring

The game ends at the end of the turn during which at least one of the following conditions has been fulfilled:

• The court has sent six dealers to prison.
• A player has reached the top level of the Monument.
• A player has 2 citizens with a rhetoric value of 9 points.

At the end of that turn, the players tally their victory points. To the points already scored via prosecution and judgment, they gain victory points as shown next to their administration marker on the Monument and in the columns occupied by markers on their rhetoric tableau.

Finally, for each of the three resource types, the player who has the most cards of this type in hand receives 1 victory point. If there's a tie for a resource type, no victory point is awarded.

The player with the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, the tied player who has risen higher on the Monument wins the game. If there's still a tie, the tied player with the highest sum of rhetoric points wins.

Example: Red has scored 9 victory points via successful prosecution and judgment. He has scored another 6 points at the Monument. His citizens were busy at the Stoa, so Red gains another 8 points for his citizens' rhetoric abilities. Unfortunately Red had to use almost all the resource cards he had and does not score a "majority" victory point for a resource type. Red scores a total of 23 victory points.