Chronos Conquest Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setting Up the Game
• Basic Rules
• God Cards
• City Tokens
  • Other situations
• Team Play

Components

• 18 sand timers (hourglasses) of about 30 seconds (6 colours, 3 per colour)
• 129 ARCHIPELAGO cards:
  • TERRITORY cards, worth 10, 20, 30, 50 and 100
  • MONSTER cards (HYDRA and MINOTAUR)
  • WIND cards (north, south, east, west)
  • PLAGUE cards (CATACLYSM, WAR and FAMINE)
• 30 God cards
• 6 PLAYER cards (one colour per player)
• 9 City tokens
• 2 wooden pawns, for APOLLO and TROY
• 1 die, for KNOSSOS
• 1 board

Setting Up the Game

Shuffle all the ARCHIPELAGO cards and divide them into roughly equal piles. The cards must always be placed face up, so that once the first card is taken, the second card is also face up (and so on).

Randomly choose 2 City tokens and 6 God cards, and place them on the board. Each player chooses a colour, takes the corresponding PLAYER card and 2 hourglasses (3 hourglasses for 3-4 players).

Inexperienced players

If any of the players has never played before, do not use all the cards. They can get mixed up, and the game cannot be stopped to recall the rules once it has started. Therefore, for the first games we advise using only part of the cards, as follows:

1. Use only the TERRITORY cards.
2. Use the TERRITORY and MONSTER cards.
3. Use the TERRITORY, MONSTER and WIND cards.
4. Use all the ARCHIPELAGO cards (TERRITORY, MONSTER, WIND and PLAGUE).
5. Use all the ARCHIPELAGO cards, 2 City tokens and 6 God cards.

Basic Rules

Chronos Conquest is a real-time game. There is no turn order. All players play simultaneously.

At the start of the game, all players have their hourglasses (run out) in front of them. The start is determined by a countdown.

A player may only move an hourglass of their own colour. In addition, a player may only move an hourglass that has run out. It is forbidden to move an hourglass while it is running, and it is forbidden to move other players' hourglasses (the only exception is placing an hourglass in Hell, see below).

At any time, a player may move one of their hourglasses, provided it has run out completely. Then they may:

1. either turn it over on a pile of the archipelago, or on a City token. They may turn it over on the same pile/token that they have just left.
2. or place it (without turning it) in front of them, outside the board.

Exception: if a player removes an hourglass from the first part of Hell, they must turn it over to the second part (there is no other option).

Moving an hourglass is never compulsory. One is free to wait as long as one wishes before moving an hourglass that has run out.

When a player removes their hourglass from a pile in the archipelago where it was alone (that is, there was no other hourglass on this pile), they are allowed to take the top card of the pile. Taking the first card is not compulsory. Note that there must have been at least 30 seconds (the duration of the hourglass) between the time one places an hourglass somewhere and the time it can be removed.

Negotiation

When two players have an hourglass on the same pile, they "freeze" each other. If one player removes their hourglass, the other will have the opportunity to remove their own hourglass and take the card. Therefore, there is no interest in moving first; however, having hourglasses frozen forever is not a good idea. Players may negotiate to reach an agreement.

Taking a card

A player may take a card from the archipelago when they remove an hourglass from a pile where they were alone.

If they take a TERRITORY, MONSTER or WIND card, they place it (face up) in front of them, in their "realm". A player's realm has a central pile, on which they place (face up) any TERRITORY or MONSTER card they take. Players may not change the order of the cards in their central pile.

Discarding a card

When a player discards a card, they place it face down in the area set aside on the board.

PLAGUE cards

These are the effects of the PLAGUE cards. These effects are triggered immediately when the card is taken.

• CATACLYSM. The game ends immediately. No player may take any more cards.
• FAMINE. The player who takes this card chooses an opponent. That opponent must discard the top card of the central pile of their realm. The FAMINE card is also discarded.
• WAR. The player who takes this card chooses any hourglass of any player (the hourglass may or may not be running), and places it in Hell. The WAR card is discarded.

WIND cards must be placed around the pile (above, below, left or right, depending on the direction of the wind). If a player takes several times the same WIND card, they stack them. This is not usually a good idea, as only the different WIND cards matter when calculating the score.

Hell

The WAR card, as well as several GODS and CITIES, allow you to place hourglasses in Hell. You may choose to place in Hell any hourglass in the game, with the exception of the hourglasses belonging to the player who holds the ATHENA card. This is the only case in which other players' hourglasses may be moved.

When a player places an hourglass in Hell, they must place it in the first part of Hell. They choose whether or not to turn the hourglass over. Once the hourglass has run out, its owner is allowed to turn it over in the second part of Hell. Once it has run out again, its owner is allowed to turn it over anywhere.

Calculating the score

Players calculate their score by adding up the values of all the TERRITORY cards in the central pile of their realm. Then, if they have several different WIND cards, they multiply the result by the number of different WINDS:

• If a player has 0 or 1 WIND card, their score does not change.
• If a player has 2 different WIND cards, their score is multiplied by 2.
• If a player has 3 different WIND cards, their score is multiplied by 3.
• If a player has 4 different WIND cards, their score is multiplied by 4.

End of the game

The game ends immediately once one of the following conditions is met:

• A player takes the CATACLYSM card. In that case, the player with the highest score is the winner. If several players share the highest score, all of them are winners.
• A player claims to have 200 points (or more), after taking the WIND cards into account. They win the game.
• A player claims to have both the HYDRA and the MINOTAUR in the central pile of their realm. They win the game.
• A special end-of-game condition is met. This can happen when playing with ZEUS, HESTIA, CERBERUS, ASCLEPIUS or CALYPSO.

If a player wrongly claims to have won, the game continues.

If you want to play another game, you do not need to shuffle all the ARCHIPELAGO cards. Just shuffle all the cards that have been used in the game (including the top card of each archipelago pile), and place the shuffled cards at the bottom of the archipelago piles.

Offerings

At any time, players may make offerings to obtain a God card. To claim a card, a player must discard as many cards as the cost (written in the top left corner) of the God card they claim. The discarded cards are chosen from the realm (they may be TERRITORY, MONSTER or WIND cards).

The player may discard any card(s) from their central pile, but may not change the order of the cards that are not discarded. A player making an offering must discard the exact number of cards (no more and no less).

God Cards

Each God card gives its owner a special power. When you win a God card, place it in front of you and leave it there for the rest of the game. You may apply the card's effect as many times as you wish.

The cards are listed below as printed, with their cost in brackets. The printed sheet numbers several cards the same (4, 13 and 19 each appear twice); the numbers are kept as printed.

• 1) HADES (cost 5). If Hell is empty, you may place two hourglasses in Hell (the hourglasses may or may not belong to the same player). Both parts of Hell must be empty to apply the power of HADES.
• 2) ASCLEPIUS (cost 3). You may obtain the cards discarded using the power of FAMINE (even if you are not the only player who has used the FAMINE card).
• 3) SPHINX (cost 3). Any hourglass you have on a City token is worth 50 points (the multiplicative effects of WIND cards apply).
• 4) ZEUS (cost 8). You win the game.
• 4) CALYPSO (cost 2). If your realm contains at least 5 different cards, you win the game.
• 6) HERMES (cost 4). You may take a card from another player's realm (a WIND card or the top card of the central pile) by exchanging it for any card in your realm.
• 7) HELIOS (cost 2). The TERRITORY cards 10 and 20 that you own are worth 30 points.
• 8) ATHENA (cost 2). Nobody is allowed to place your hourglass in Hell.
• 9) ARES (cost 1). You may move your hourglasses to the realm pile of the other players, and gain cards according to the usual rules (that is, if you remove an hourglass from a pile where it was alone). The attacked player is allowed to turn their own hourglasses in their realm to protect their cards. Having hourglasses on realm piles does not prevent their owner from adding or removing cards.
• 10) AEOLUS (cost 3). This card acts as a WIND card (you choose the direction of the wind).

City Tokens

At any time, a player may turn a run-out hourglass onto a City token on which there is no hourglass (it may be that two hourglasses are never on a given City token). Once the hourglass has run out, the player may move it or keep it on the City token.

Special rule for the start of the game: It is forbidden to place an hourglass on a City token before the other hourglasses have been turned over on the board.

City tokens are never removed. While a player has an hourglass on a City token, they may apply the special power of that City, whether or not their hourglass has run out. Special cases: here are all the special powers.

1. ATHENS. An hourglass on ATHENS is worth 50 points (the multiplicative effects of WIND cards apply).
2. ALEXANDRIA. An hourglass on ALEXANDRIA counts as an additional WIND card (you choose the direction).
3. DELPHI. While you have an hourglass on DELPHI, whenever you make an offering, you pay one card less than the usual price. Therefore, you may obtain God cards with a cost of 1 for free.
4. RHODES. While you have an hourglass on RHODES, you may (as many times as you wish) discard a card from your realm, and then place any hourglass in Hell.
5. MYCENAE. When you remove an hourglass from the MYCENAE token, you may move any hourglass (turned over or not) on the MYCENAE token.
6. OLYMPIA. When the OLYMPIA token is used, only the player with an hourglass on OLYMPIA may make offerings.
7. TROY. When setting up the game, place the TROY wooden pawn on the TERRITORY card with the highest value in the archipelago. It is forbidden to take a card from the pile with the TROY pawn. While you have an hourglass on TROY, you may move the TROY pawn from one archipelago pile to another archipelago pile.
8. SPARTA. You may place your hourglasses in the realms of other players. Attacked players may defend themselves by placing hourglasses in their realm. If you remove an hourglass from the pile where you are alone, you may take the top card of the pile (even if you do not have an hourglass on SPARTA). The presence of an hourglass in a realm does not prevent the addition or removal of cards.
9. KNOSSOS. The first time you place your hourglass on KNOSSOS, turn the die to the face <<1>>. If your hourglass runs out and you turn it over again, change to the face <<2>>. Continue turning the die to the next face with each hourglass run-out. If your hourglass runs out while the die is on the face <<6>> (after 6 hourglass periods), you win the game. If your hourglass leaves the KNOSSOS token (and is placed in Hell, for example), the die returns to the face <<1>> when any player next places an hourglass on KNOSSOS.

Other situations

These are some special situations that may be omitted in the first game.

1. The game may be frozen: all hourglasses have run out, and nobody wants to move. In that case, any player may start a countdown from 10 seconds. If the countdown ends while no card has been taken, the game is over. The player with the highest score is the winner.
2. During the game, players may see the cards in their central pile, without reordering them. However, players may only see the first card of other players' central piles and therefore cannot know their exact score.
3. It is assumed that players play fairly, and do not move their hourglasses before they have run out.
4. It is forbidden to take a card on which there is another hourglass. Sometimes, one has to be quick; if you are about to take a card, bear in mind that you will not be allowed to do so if another player turns an hourglass over it in the meantime!

Team Play

You may divide into teams if you are at least 6 players, with 2 players in each team. The game is played in the same way as an individual game. Once a player wins, their team is declared the winner. Remember: the points accumulated by several players cannot be combined!