Ashes & Amber

Ashes & Amber Rulebook

Table of Contents

What's in the Box

290 Chronicle cards (Era 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
54 Wonder cards (Wonder symbol)
62 Resilience cards (gray back)
32 Ambition cards (gold bottom)
4 Civilization cards
5 Timeline cards
8 Achievement cards
32 Catastrophe cards
60 Death/Utopia cards (double-sided)
36 Ash cards (day/night-sided)
4 Fire cards
4 Amber cards
16 Decisive Moment cards
16 Project cards
1 First Player card
19 Tribe sets (95 cards)

Also included: 1 Rulebook, 4 Player aids, 16 Card boxes, 19 Tribe envelopes. Each Wonder card is included in two copies, one of which is gold-foiled.

Check the app to translate cards and watch how-to-play videos at https://aaa.davids.games

The cards marked with a crack are meant for experienced players. We recommend not using them in your first games.

Setup

Place the Prehistory Timeline card face up on the table. This card will help you visualize the phases of the game.
Below the Timeline card, place a Prehistory Catastrophe card, face down and at random.
Place Prehistory Wonder cards equal to the number of players minus 1, face down and at random.
Place as many Prehistory Resilience cards (grey back) as the number of players, face down and at random. For example for 2 players, 1 Wonder card and 2 Resilience cards. The area where the Wonder and Resilience cards are placed is a shared space accessible to all players, hereafter referred to as the "public area".
Shuffle the Prehistory Chronicle deck and place it beside the Timeline card, face down. If your table is large enough, repeat this setup for Eras 2 to 5 (except that Era 5 has no Catastrophe or Resilience cards). Otherwise, you will place the Timeline cards and their related Catastrophe, Resilience, and Wonder cards for each era at the beginning of each round.
Take one oversized Achievement card at random and place it on the table, face up. Read the back of the card for details on the related Ambition cards. Find the 4 related Ambition cards, named after that Achievement, which you will use in the next step.
Below the Achievement card, place as many Ambition cards as the number of players, at random, face up. Under each of them, place one Civilization card, face up. All Civilization cards are identical. During Era 5, players may use them as alternatives to their paired Ambition cards.
Lay out three random Decisive Moment cards face up in a row anywhere on the table. The first one will be resolved at the end of Era 2, the second one at the end of Era 3, the last one at the end of Era 4. The Achievement and Decisive Moments are face up. The Catastrophe cards remain face down for now.
Place the Ash and Death/Utopia decks anywhere on the table.
Give each player a Fire card and an Amber card. They place these two cards in a stack in front of them, Fire on top of Amber. This forms their first city. Amber and Fire cards are one of a kind in your civilization, and you cannot gain them again if they are lost!
Give each player two Project cards. They choose one and discard the other. Shuffle the discarded Project cards back into the Project deck, then place it anywhere on the table, face down.

Overview

Ashes & Amber is a civilization game spanning five eras, from Prehistory to the Modern Era, one era per round.

You build your civilization by creating cities. A city is a stack of cards, and only the top card can be activated. The more cities you have, the more cards you can activate and combine.

But the more cities you have, the greater the danger, because at the end of each era, a Catastrophe strikes. If you do not protect your valuable cards properly, they will turn to ashes. You will need to acquire cards to protect them.

One card in particular is precious, your Amber card. You have it from the beginning, and it symbolizes the resilience of your people through time. If you protect it and shape your civilization wisely, your Amber card can generate points towards the end of the game, when the great moment of humanity unfolds (described on the Achievement card). You see this goal from the start and plan your strategy around it.

You will score one point for each Utopia you have and lose one point for each Death you did not manage to remove. In addition to the final Ambition cards combined with your Amber, you can also gain points from Wonder cards acquired during the game, as well as by matching the Decisive Moments between each era.

Each era has its own deck of cards. The Prehistory deck contains simple effect and resource cards, but the cards become increasingly complex as the eras progress. To keep the game visually engaging, every card has unique artwork, even when they serve the same purpose. For example, Bison and Roasted Nuts are both simple Food cards.

Round Structure

Each round begins with the Income phase, during which players gain cards based on the size of their civilization. It is followed by the Action phase, where players take turns, starting with the First Player and proceeding clockwise. On their turn, a player may either claim a card or perform 1 or 2 actions. When a player passes, they discard their Ash cards and take no further turns until the next era. When all players have passed, the Action phase ends.

At the end of each of the first 4 eras, a Catastrophe occurs. In addition, at the end of Eras 2, 3, and 4, a Decisive Moment is resolved. At the end of Era 5 (i.e. after a total of 5 rounds), the game ends.

Note that during the Action phase of the final era (Era 5), as soon as the last Ambition card is claimed, the Achievement is resolved.

The round proceeds through these phases, in order:

Income phase — once per round, all players simultaneously.
Action phase — players take turns in clockwise order. The Achievement card may be resolved (Era 5). When players pass, they discard their Ash cards.
Catastrophe phase — once per round, all players simultaneously (Era 1, 2, 3, 4).
Decisive moment — (Era 2, 3, 4).
End of game — (Era 5).

Income Phase

The Catastrophe card (Era 1, 2, 3, 4), the Resilience card(s) (Era 1, 2, 3, 4) and the Wonder card(s) (Era 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) of the era now beginning are revealed in the public area (number of Wonder cards equal to the number of players minus 1, number of Resilience cards equal to the number of players).

The remaining Wonder and Resilience cards for this era can be returned to the box, as they will not be used in the game.

Each player readies all their Action cards (turn them upright, ready to be exhausted again) (Era 2, 3, 4, 5).

Make the Chronicle deck for the current era available. For the remainder of this era, players will draw from this deck whenever they are instructed to "draw a card".

Then, every player takes their income simultaneously:

Draw 2 cards if you still have your Amber card in one of your cities (even if it is covered).
If you have only 1 city, draw an additional card.
For each of your cities, from the smallest to the tallest and up to 4 cities total (or all cities if you have 4 or fewer), do the following one city at a time: count the number of cards in that city, draw that many cards (up to 4), keep 1, and discard the rest. Even if a city contains more than 4 cards, you still draw 4 cards and keep 1. If you have more than 4 cities, select only the 4 smallest.

The Action phase then starts with the player who has the First Player card.

Example of income for a player with 2 cities and the Amber card still present: the player draws 2 cards for their Amber card, plus 1 card for the city with 3 cards, plus 1 card for the city with 7 cards (drawing 4 and keeping 1 in each case), for a total hand built from the Chronicle deck.

Action Phase

Players take turns clockwise until all players have passed. On their turn, a player may choose one of the following: claim a card from the public area, or take 1 or 2 actions.

Claim a Card

Take a card from the public area (Wonder, Resilience, Ambition, etc.). You must discard the card(s) shown in the top left corner of the claimed card.

The cards that can be claimed are Resilience cards (shield symbol in their bottom-left corner, protecting the card underneath), Wonder cards (producing Utopia), and Ambition cards (Era 5 only).

The cards you discard must come from your cities (any cards from any city or combination of cities). For example, a Resilience card can be claimed by discarding a card with the Engineering resource.

To pay the resource cost (Food, Population, Engineering, Culture, or Science) of a Resilience card, you may discard any regular card instead of a matching symbol by also discarding additional Ash cards: 1 Ash card in Eras 2-3, or 2 Ash cards in Era 4.

If the card you claim comes from a group of cards stacked together, you must pay for and take each and every card in that group. For example, if an Ambition card and a Civilization card are stacked together, they can be claimed by discarding 3 cards: 2 cards with Engineering and any other regular card.

The claimed cards with a down arrow symbol must be played immediately (on the top or bottom of any city). See "Play a Card" below.

If you claimed a card: if you have the First Player card, return it to the middle of the table so it is available to everyone. Otherwise, take the First Player card if it is available. Although the player order does not change during the Action phase, the player with the First Player card will act first during the Decisive Moment phase.

Achievement Resolved? (Era 5)

During the last era, if the last Ambition card has been claimed, the Achievement is resolved.

The resolution of an Achievement card happens the same way as for a Catastrophe card. The only difference is that it is resolved immediately after the last Ambition card has been claimed instead of at the end of the round. See the Catastrophe Phase section for details on the resolution.

In most of the Achievements, when they are resolved, all players gain Utopia cards. They must be prepared to be able to store them in their cities without collapsing them! See "Collapse" in the Card Anatomy section.

Resolving the Achievement card does not end the game. Players continue playing until all players have passed.

Some Achievements (see "We Return to Fire") include additional effects after a double arrow symbol. During Era 5, these effects are always active. Be careful!

Actions

If you do not claim a card, you must perform 1 or 2 of the following actions (you may repeat the same action, you may play only one action).

Play a Card — Play a card from your hand to your cities. It can be placed either on the top of a city (over the cards) or at the bottom (under the cards). Make sure the cards are stacked so that the bottom symbols of all cards are visible.

Exhaust a Card — Turn the top card of a city sideways to perform the effect(s) written in the middle. All listed effects are mandatory and are executed from left to right, from top to bottom. They may be visually grouped with vertical and horizontal bars for clarity. If you cannot perform one of the effects, you cannot exhaust the card. Once exhausted, a card cannot be exhausted again until the next era. If an exhausted card is moved or replaced by Ash, it remains exhausted (rotate the Ash card to show it is exhausted).

Discard 2 Cards / Create a City — Discard 2 regular cards from your cities, and start a new stack with any other regular card from your cities. See "Create a City" below.

Discard 1 Card / Move a Card — Discard 1 regular card from your cities, and move any other card, from your cities to any of your cities, including the one it came from. See "Move" below.

Pass — Once you pass, you can no longer play during this era. When you pass, discard all your Ash cards, and take the First Player card if it is available in the middle of the table.

Possible Effects on Cards

Create a City — Take a card from anywhere in your cities and place it on its own, beside or between your cities, to start a new stack (a new city).

Move a Card — Move any card, from your cities to any of your cities, including the one it came from. The moved card can be placed anywhere within the destination city.

Draw One Card — Draw as many cards as shown on the symbol (for example 3), keep one in your hand, and discard the rest. Some cards let you discard a card to draw another. They can be useful to "upgrade" a card from one Era to another, or to "convert" an Ash into a more interesting card.

Take a Utopia Card — Choose any Utopia card and play it immediately in your cities. Play it on top or at the bottom like any regular card. When played, a Utopia card cannot touch another card with the Utopia symbol. If it does, they collapse in one: one of the two is discarded.

Take an Ash Card and play it immediately in your cities. See the Death Cards / Ash Cards section.

Take a Death Card and play it immediately in your cities. See the Death Cards / Ash Cards section.

Discard a Regular Card — The card must always be discarded from your cities (anywhere within them), not from your hand. A Death card is not a regular card. To get rid of a Death card, you must use the "Remove a Death Card" effect.

Discard a Card of a Specific Type — The card to discard must have that specific symbol at the bottom, for example Food, Culture, or Wonder.

Remove a Death Card — Remove a Death card from any of your cities and return it to the Death deck.

Discarded cards are placed face up near their corresponding draw decks. Discarded Ash and Utopia cards, and removed Death cards, are returned to their respective decks. Discarded Tribe, Ambition, and Civilization cards are removed from the game.

Card Anatomy

A city is a stack of cards where the bottom of each card remains visible.

The top-left corner shows the cost of the card (if any). The required cards must be discarded from your cities (not from your hand). For example, a card may cost a card with an Engineering resource and any other regular card. You may discard any regular card instead of a matching symbol by also discarding 1 (Era 2, 3) or 2 (Era 4) additional Ash cards.

Other symbols can appear in the top left corner:

Must be played immediately when claimed or received (cannot be kept in hand).
Must be played immediately as a new city when claimed or received.
Must be played in a city that does not already contain Death. If all your cities contain Death, play it in any city.
Collapses with Utopia. When played, if a card with a Utopia symbol touches another card with a Utopia symbol, they immediately collapse. Choose one of the two cards to discard. Note that this constraint applies only at the moment a card is played, not if they touch later (for example, after being moved).

Cards that can be part of your cities are Chronicle cards (drawn from the Era decks), Fire cards, Amber cards, Utopia cards, Ash cards, Death cards, Wonder cards, Resilience cards, Ambition and Civilization cards, and most Tribe cards. However, Decisive Moment cards (which show global information), Project cards (which score at the end of the game), and the First Player card can never be part of a city.

In the bottom right corner, the cards have symbols: Utopia (worth 1 point), Ash (will disappear when you pass), Death (worth -1 point), and Food, Population, Engineering, Culture and/or Science. All regular cards have a colored/gray bottom right corner (Death cards are not regular cards). Unlike Death cards, regular cards can be discarded (to claim cards, create a city, move another card, etc.)

The top card of a city, if it is an Action card, can be activated (or "exhausted") to perform the effect(s) written in the middle. For example, a card may require you to discard 2 regular cards, and then remove a Death card. If an Action card is covered, you cannot exhaust it.

Every card has a unique illustration and a short historical note. They serve no purpose other than to immerse you in the game. You can safely ignore them when playing.

The symbols in the bottom left identify the type of card:

Action cards can be exhausted to perform the effect(s) written in the middle of the card.
Wonder cards generate points by letting you get Utopia cards.
Amber cards provide 2 cards during the Income phase.
Ambition cards can be claimed during the last era. They provide powerful effects to generate Utopia using your Amber card.
If a card has a shield symbol in the bottom left corner, it protects the card immediately below it during the Catastrophe phase.

A card can only be used as one of its symbols at a time, even if it has multiple symbols. For example, if a card has Food and Engineering symbols, it can be used to discard Food or to discard Engineering (but not both at the same time).

In the bottom middle, a card may have a trait: humanist, expansionist, industrialist. These traits are used when playing with the Tribe cards.

Catastrophe Phase

Each player identifies the cards that are protected by a Resilience card (i.e. the cards directly underneath a card with a bottom-left small shield symbol). This protection still applies even if the card providing it is covered or exhausted. The players may slightly offset the protected cards to make them visible within the stack.

Some cards have big shield symbols. These describe the greater powers of Resilience cards that can be used once per game. A player may activate them if they are on top of a city. Activation is optional. If they do so, they identify the protected cards. As before, they may slightly offset these cards to make them visible within the stack. Cards activated that way and showing a burning cross symbol are burned (replaced with an Ash card). When burning this way, these cards cannot be protected.

The steps on a Catastrophe card, separated by a vertical line, are resolved from left to right, simultaneously by every player. The first step is always to take a Death card. The remaining steps indicate which cards may be targeted and burn if they are not protected.

Except in Prehistory, all Catastrophes target cards touching Death and may additionally target other cards. Tip: they tend to strike your tallest city, the border cities, and the city containing your Amber.

To resolve a second or third step of a Catastrophe, each player targets the indicated cards. Cards to target are specified with a burning card symbol. If multiple cards in a player's cities fit the description, the player can choose which ones to target. If fewer cards fit the description (or none), they target as many as possible.

If a card is targeted and not protected by a small shield symbol above it (or globally by an activated greater power), it turns to ashes: the card is replaced by an Ash card. For each step, all the targeted cards must be different, but from one step to another, the targeted cards can be repeated. Death or Ash cards may be among the targeted and burned cards. If so, they remain Death or Ash cards and are not replaced with Ash cards.

Summary of the Catastrophe phase:

Identify protected cards.
Optionally activate Resilience greater powers.
Resolve steps left to right.
Replace unprotected cards with Ash.

Example of a Catastrophe Resolution

First step — Each player takes a Death card and immediately plays it in any of their cities that does not already contain Death.

Second step — Every card touching a Death card is targeted. A card protected by the card above it (small shield symbol) is safe. Cards that are targeted and not protected burn.

Third step — Players must choose 4 cards to target in any of their tallest cities. If a player has only one tallest city, they choose the 4 bottommost cards. The protected card and the Death card remain unchanged, but the protection card and the card above it would burn and would be replaced by Ash cards. However, if a player chooses to use the greater power of their top Resilience card (here it protects the entire city), none of the targeted cards in that city burn. But the top Resilience card, as it is used for its greater power, burns and is replaced by an Ash card.

Understanding Symbols

This symbol specifies a card that is targeted, and burns if not protected. If nothing else is specified, it may be anywhere in any of your cities. This symbol specifies a card that may be protected.

The greater power on a Resilience card is always followed by this symbol, meaning it burns when used (it can be used only once per game).

A specific type of card may be indicated, for example a Food card or an exhausted card. It may also be indicated that a card must touch (directly above or below) a certain type of card, for example Death.

A number indicates how many different cards may burn or the maximum number of cards that may be protected. An infinity symbol indicates that all matching cards are targeted or protected.

If a city is indicated, the card must be in a city matching the criteria, for example the city with Amber. A city with or without a resource may also be indicated, for example with Science or without Culture.

A city may also be indicated as any one of the tallest, any one of the border cities, or any one of a certain size (with a given number of cards or more, for example 3+).

A specific position within any city may be indicated, such as the topmost position or the bottommost position. The top two positions (top card and second from the top), the bottom two positions (bottom card and second from the bottom), or both the topmost and bottommost positions may also be indicated.

An indicated city may need to be adjacent to a certain type of city, such as one of the tallest. If a number of cities is indicated (for example 3x), the cards must be in different cities, for example 3 different cities. Thus, if that number is 1x, all the cards must be in one single city.

Examples

Target 2 cards that must be in the bottom two of your cities.
Target 2 cards in your city with Amber.
Target 2 cards in your tallest city. If multiple cities are tied for tallest, choose the 2 cards from one or more of those cities.
Target 3 cards anywhere in your cities.
Protect 2 cities adjacent to your tallest city (protect all cards in those cities). If multiple cities are tied for tallest, they may be adjacent to any of them. Burn this card if you use it.
Protect border cities (protect all cards in all cities that have only one adjacent city). Burn this card if you use it.
Protect up to 5 Utopia cards anywhere in your cities. Burn this card if you use it.

Death Cards / Ash Cards

Death cards — When you receive a Death card, place it in a city that does not yet have one. If all your cities already have a Death card, choose any city. A Death card must be placed either on top or at the bottom of a city, like a regular card. Tip: it's often a good idea to place it at the bottom. When counting city size (tallest, smallest, during the Income Phase, during the Decisive Moment, etc.), all cards count (including Death cards).

If a city ends up with only Death cards, move all Death cards (freely) to other cities. The city disappears.

When a Death card burns, it is not replaced by Ash. Death remains Death!

Ash cards — Ash cards are discarded when you pass. Ash cards are temporary resources that you should use quickly, before they disappear at the end of the era. Ash cards are regular cards and can be used as such.

When an Ash card burns, it remains Ash.

Decisive Moment

At the end of Eras 2 to 4, the Decisive Moment card of the era is resolved.

The left part is resolved in turn order, starting with the player who has the First Player card. Each player may perform the list of effects on the left once. If they choose to do so, they must perform all of them. It is usually a good way to get rid of a Death card!

Then, the right part is resolved for the whole table. The player who best meets the condition draws 2 Project cards and 1 Utopia card, keeps 1, and places the rest at the bottom of their respective decks. Project cards are resolved at the end of the game. In case of a tie, nobody gets the reward.

End of Game

When all players have passed during Era 5 (Modern Era), the game ends.

If all the Ambition cards have been claimed, players reveal their Project cards and discard any they have not fulfilled. If any Ambition cards remain unclaimed, players discard all their Project cards.

For each Death card they have, players must remove that Death card and discard one Utopia card (if they still have one).

The player who has the most Utopia symbols wins. If there is a tie, the player with the most Project cards wins. If there is still a tie and one of the tied players has the First Player card, that player wins. If none of the tied players has the First Player card, they share the victory.

Round Example

Income phase — A player starts with their first city (Fire and Amber): they draw 2 cards for their Amber card, draw 1 additional card for having only 1 city, and draw for the city of size 2 (draw 2, keep 1), giving them their first hand after income.

First turn — The player plays a card on top, twice (two actions).

Second turn — First action: exhausting the top card to execute the effect on it ("discard 1, create 1 city"), creating a new city with it after discarding another card.

Third turn — Second action: exhausting the fire, taking an Ash card (played immediately), playing a card (second action skipped).

Fourth turn — Assume a card is still available to claim: the player chooses to claim it (instead of taking any actions), discarding an Engineering card and any other regular card (in this case, an Ash card). If the First Player card is available, they take it (if they already have the First Player card, they return it instead, even if they claimed it earlier this round).

Fifth turn — Only one action used: passing, all the Ash cards are discarded (nothing to discard in this example, as the Ash card was used before). When all players have passed, the Action phase ends.

Catastrophe phase — First step: all players take a Death card. Second step: all the cards touching Death are targeted, but the card under the Resilience card is protected. Third step: all players must target 4 cards in the tallest city; here only 3 are possible: the Death card, the protected card (which does not change), and the Resilience card, which turns to Ash.

F.A.Q.

What happens if I discard the last card of a city? Your city vanishes as soon as you discard its last card or move its last card out of it.

Can a city contain only Death cards? No, if a city ends up containing only Death cards, freely move those Death cards to other cities.

Can I create a city with the card from a city that has only one regular card? Yes, but obviously the city the card comes from disappears. If it contained any Death cards, freely move them to other cities.

After a player decides whether or not to claim, can the next player start playing? Yes, although sometimes you need to see which cards that player plays.

Can I execute the same action twice during my turn? You can only claim once per turn, but if you decide not to claim, yes, you can repeat the same action multiple times (for example, you can discard a card to move a card, then again, discard another card to move another card).

Can I execute actions in any order during my turn? Yes, you can perform your two actions in any order.

Since they are visible, can I claim Era 5 Ambition cards during earlier eras? No. Ambition cards can only be claimed during Era 5.

What do the resource symbols mean on Timeline cards? They represent the proportion of those card types in the Era deck. For example, in Prehistory, you are more likely to find Food cards than Culture cards.

What is my card-draw income if I have more than 4 cities? If you still have your Amber card, your income is 6 cards (2 from your Amber, plus 1 per city, with a limit of 4 cities).

During the income phase, how many cards do I draw if I have a city with more than 4 cards? For that city, draw 4 cards and keep 1, as if the city size were exactly 4.

Can I take my card income for each city in any order? No. You must take your income starting with your smallest city (or cities if multiple are tied for smallest).

When I score a Project card, do I take two Utopia cards? No. It adds 2 Utopia symbols to your total score, but you do not take any Utopia cards.

Do we score Project cards if there are still unclaimed Ambition cards? No. Project cards are scored at the end of the game, but only if all Ambition cards were claimed and the Achievement card was resolved during Era 5.

When is the Achievement card resolved exactly? Unlike the Catastrophe cards which are resolved at the end of the era, the Achievement card is resolved as soon as a player claims the last Ambition card (right after the player plays it in one of their cities).

Does the Achievement card work the same way as Catastrophe cards? Yes. An Achievement card is resolved the same way as a Catastrophe card, except it is resolved as soon as the last Ambition card is claimed.

What do we do with unclaimed cards at the end of a round? Do we discard them? Keep them available if you are playing with Tribes, as some may interact with past eras. Otherwise, you can discard them to the box.

With the Move effect, can I move the card I am exhausting? Yes. You can move any card, including the one used to perform the "move" effect.

When I discard a card with a Discard effect (or other "discard" effect), can I discard the card I am exhausting? Yes. You can discard any card with a gray or colored bottom-right corner (not a Death card), including the card used to trigger the effect.

When I discard a card with a Discard effect (or other "discard" effect), can I discard an exhausted card? Yes. You can discard any card with a gray or colored bottom-right corner (not a Death card), including exhausted cards.

When it says that I must discard a city, may I also discard the Death cards in that city? No. Death cards may only be removed with a "remove" action. Discard all cards in that city except Death cards, and move the Death cards to other cities.

Is there a limit to the number of cities I can have, or to the number of cards I can play into a city? No. You can have as many cities as you want (although only the 4 smallest provide income), and you can play as many cards as you want into a city.

Is there any hand limit? No. You can keep as many cards as you want in your hand.

When I draw a card with a "Draw 3" effect, can I keep all 3 cards and then discard 2 from my hand? No. Draw 3 cards without adding them to your hand, then discard 2 of those cards and add the remaining card to your hand. This also applies to "Draw 2", "Draw 4", and "Draw 5" effects.

If a card allows me to resolve its effects multiple times (for example, 3 times or indefinitely), does this count as a single action on my turn? Yes. If a card, when you exhaust it, allows you to resolve its effects multiple times, it still counts as a single action on your turn.

Does the mention "3+" above a city symbol also refer to cities of exactly size 3? Yes, "3+" specifies a city of 3 cards or more (including Death cards).

If I gain a Utopia with a Wonder, do I have to play it in the city with that Wonder? No. Any card you gain with a "take" action can be played in any of your cities (top or bottom).

If I burn an exhausted card, will the Ash card also be exhausted? Yes, the card remains exhausted (important for some Decisive Moments).

Can I choose to target a Death card during the resolution of a Catastrophe, when I have a choice? Yes. A Death card can be targeted, and it simply remains a Death card.

Can I choose to target an Ash card during the resolution of a Catastrophe, when I have a choice? Yes. An Ash card can be targeted, and it simply remains an Ash card. This can happen when a Catastrophe has two steps and the same card is targeted in both steps.

Can I choose to target the same protected card during multiple steps of a Catastrophe? Yes. A protected card remains protected for the entire resolution of that Catastrophe, even if the card protecting it is burned at an earlier step.

Can I use a Resilience card greater power if it is not on top of a city? No. A Resilience card must be on top of a City to use its greater power (however, its lesser power, which protects the card below it, is always active).

When I use a Resilience card greater power and it is supposed to burn, can I protect it with another Resilience card greater power? No. If you use a Resilience card greater power, that card burns no matter what.

Can I choose not to use the greater power of a Resilience card? Yes. If you do not use it, you can use it later in the game.

Tribes

We recommend playing at least once without the Tribes before using them, to get familiar with the game.

After the Achievement card is revealed, each player, starting with the last player and continuing in counter-clockwise order, chooses and takes a Tribe set of 5 cards.

Set your Tribe set aside, ensuring the cards are stacked in order (1 on top, 4 on the bottom). Replace your Fire with the first card of your Tribe set.

When you take the action to play a card, you may instead play the top card of your Tribe set. Cards in your Tribe set must be played in the order they are stacked (you cannot play card 2 before card 1). The cards are double-sided (it's like a technology tree!). When you play a card from your Tribe set, you may choose which face to play.

The cost of a card (if any) is displayed as usual in its top-left corner. Be careful: the cost may differ for each face of the card. Some cards have the double arrow symbol; their effect is permanent while they remain uncovered (on top of a city). Note that some cards have restrictions, indicated by an exclamation mark or by the words MUST or CAN'T.

All Tribe sets have a different graphic style, but also a different play style. Some bring more player interaction, others offer powerful effects that help you develop more easily, some unfold a personal scenario, others make your beginning harsh but your ending epic, etc.

Solo Mode

The game can be played solo (1 player), with one minor difference and a clarification:

During setup, place a Wonder card at each era (not zero). The First Player card is not used.

The right part of the Decisive Moments is ignored. If you don't (or can't) execute the left part of any Decisive Moment during the game, you lose.

You win the game if the following conditions are met at the end of the game:

You have at least 15 Utopia symbols.
The Ambition card in the last era has been claimed.
The left part of every Decisive Moment has been executed.

Tip: Ignore the rule requiring you to either claim a card or play 1 or 2 actions. In Solo mode, you may play any number of actions, and claiming is treated as an action like the others.

Family Variant

The game can be played with young or inexperienced players, as a teaching game, or simply for a shorter experience.

Remove the Decisive Moment cards and the Ambition cards (keep the Civilization cards).
Ignore the greater powers of the Resilience cards (play only with the small shield effect protecting the card under them).
Skip the Middle Ages.

The Long Reach (Expansion)

Expansion Contents — 40 Land cards, 1 Decisive Moment card, 1 Catastrophe oversized card.

Setup — Order the Land deck from card 1 (top) to card 40 (bottom). Remove any cards that do not match your player count (for example, in a 3-player game, remove all 4+ cards). Reveal a number of cards equal to the number of players + 1 (for example, reveal 3 cards in a 2-player game).

Additional Rules — When you would claim a card, you may instead claim the next available Land card. To do so, you must have the required symbols in your city and discard 1 regular card. For example, the Food card symbol requires you to have a Food card in any of your cities. You can claim only the first available Land (i.e. the one with the lowest order number). All required cards you need to have to claim a Land card must be different. When a Land card is claimed, reveal the next Land from the Land deck.

Important! Land cards are played immediately when claimed and form a new city. Later, they may be moved like any card. Land cards can be targeted (for example, during a Catastrophe) but cannot burn (they are not replaced by Ash). They also cannot be discarded (they are not regular cards).

Additional symbols: remove a Land card; target a card touching Land.

Lands are a good way to build resilient cities, but they cost a card. The final Lands provide 2 Utopia, but you may not be able to reach them alone. Multiple players may need to contribute to unlocking them. The Lands are ordered from the first land humanity discovered to the last, in Antarctica.

The Remnants (Mini Expansion)

Mini Expansion Contents — 4 Remnants cards.

Setup — Make the 4 Remnants cards available on the table.

Additional Rules — When your Amber burns, instead of replacing it with an Ash card, choose one of the available Remnants cards and replace your Amber with it. You still lose the income provided by your Amber when it burns, but you may exhaust a Remnants card to regain it.

One of the Remnants cards provides Utopia, so deliberately burning your Amber can be a valid strategy. When a Remnants card is exhausted and thus removed, it becomes available again for a player who burns their Amber.

If multiple players burn their Amber at the same time (for example, during a Catastrophe phase), they choose from the available Remnants in reverse turn order.

Additional symbols: take back an Amber card; remove the Remnants card.

Strategy Tips

A very safe way to protect a valuable card forever is to first place a Resilience card at the bottom of a city, then tuck the valuable card directly beneath it. Later, when you must take a Death card, place it directly beneath that valuable card. Since Death cards burn the cards touching them during every Catastrophe from Era 2 onward, you already know the valuable card will remain safely protected by the Resilience card above it.

Accept that some of your cards may burn and turn to Ash. It is not always a serious setback. Burned cards are not discarded, they are replaced by Ash cards, and Ash cards are resources you can use in the next Era. In particular, they can help you access Resilience cards even if you do not have the required resource, such as Food or Population. Ash cards can effectively transform a "Discard Population" cost into a "Discard Any" cost on Resilience cards.

Death cards can be removed fairly easily with certain cards from Eras 4 and 5, as long as you do not accumulate too many of them. Plan ahead and prepare ways to get those "remove Death" cards. Cards that replace cards, or tall cities that give you more choices during Income, can greatly improve your chances of finding the cards you need. During the Middle Ages, some powerful cards force you to take a Death card. Sometimes the risk is worth taking, if you already have a plan to remove those Death cards later.

Start looking at the Achievements during Era 4, or even Era 3, especially the specific resources needed to claim the Ambition cards.

Remember that if the Ambition cards are not all taken, then the Project cards will not score. If you have a lot of Project cards, you may need to claim multiple Ambition cards yourself because the other players might not help you. And if you spot an Ambition card you really need, try to secure the First Player position at the beginning of Era 5. Sometimes this is not easy and requires planning ahead, even skipping any claim during Era 4.

The timing of claims, and the player interaction around them, becomes more and more important from era to era because of the need to protect certain cards or acquire Wonders. Having adequate resources also becomes increasingly important.

Do not neglect resources too heavily in favor of actions during Income. A diverse civilization with many different resources can greatly help.

In Era 5, the timing of claims by the players becomes crucial because it can trigger the major burn event at any moment during the era. If you are not prepared, you may be forced to burn very important cards. Sometimes players even delay the final claim because of this, but in doing so they also give the other players more time to prepare.