Darwin's Journey: Galileo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• General Components
• Setup
  • General Setup
  • Player Setup
• Key Concepts
  • Principle Coin
  • Principle Icons
  • Affected Actions
  • Suspicion Track and Penance Cards
  • Gain a Penance Card
  • The Prison
    • Arrest and Imprisonment
  • Action Icons and Effects
  • Release
  • The Stake
• Scoring Track
• Personal Board
  • The Bookshelf
  • Gaining Books
  • Mastery Bonus
  • Spending Books
  • The Window
  • The Desk
• The Mentor Cards and the Wax Seals
  • Removing Wax Seals
  • Unlocking the Cards
  • Wax Seals
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Income Phase
  • 2. Actions Phase
    • Resolving Actions
    • End of the Action Phase
    • Main Actions
      • Pass
      • Passing in the same round of actions
    • End of a Round of Actions
    • The Inquisition Suspects
      • Abjure
        • The Choice
        • Inquisition Repercussions
• End of the Game
  • Each player gains Victory Points from
  • Each player must subtract Victory Points for the following

General Components

The General and Player Components are shown as illustrations in the rulebook and are not reproduced as text.

Setup

This section details the setup for your first and future games of Galileo's Truth. We suggest using the 'First Game' setup for your initial play-through, then transitioning to the 'Subsequent Games' instructions for all following sessions.

General Setup

If you are using the Card Holder Book, follow the instructions on page XX.

1. Place the Main Board in the center of the play area. Next to it, arrange the four Treatise Boards in a pyramid as shown, with Level I at the bottom and Level IV at the top.
2. Place the Suspicion Tiles with the "2" side face up onto the corresponding Suspicion Spaces along the Scoring Track.
3. Separate the Travel Tiles into stacks based on their backs and shuffle each stack separately. Draw three tiles from each stack and place them face up in their respective spaces along the Scoring Track, matching the letters.
4. Place the Inquisition Token face down in the indicated space of the Turn Order Track.
5. Place the Cycle Marker on the first step of the Cycle Track.
6. Separate the Invention Cards into three decks based on the Period number on their backs (I, II, III), and shuffle each deck separately. Place these three face down decks next to the Main Board. Draw four cards from the Period I deck and place them face up in the indicated spaces of the Workshop (upper-left of the Main Board), from top to bottom.
7. Separate the Observation Tiles into three piles based on the number of stars on their backs and place them in their respective cotton bags. Place these bags next to the Main Board.
8. Randomly place the 4 Mastery Tokens face up in their four dedicated spaces.
9. Separate the Graduation Tiles by their backs and shuffle each stack separately. Draw one tile from each stack and place it in its corresponding Graduation Space on the Main Board.
10. Separate the Prohibition Tiles by their backs and shuffle each stack separately. Draw one tile from each stack and place it in its corresponding Prohibition Space on the Main Board.

A Graduation Tile and a Prohibition Tile with the same red number can never be in play at the same time. If this occurs, discard the Prohibition Tile and draw a replacement from the stack.

11. Prepare the Treatise Cards. Separate both the Treatise Cards and the Treatise Randomizer Cards into four distinct decks based on their Level (I, II, III, and IV).

    • Level I (Bottom Row): Place the Level I Randomizer Cards face-up in the first row of the pyramid. Keep the Purple card in its current position; then, rearrange the remaining cards in ascending numerical order from left to right.
    • Level II: Shuffle the Level II Randomizer Cards. Draw 4 cards and place them face-up in the second row of the pyramid. If the purple card is present, keep it in its current position; rearrange the others in ascending numerical order from left to right.
    • Level III: Shuffle the Level III Randomizer Cards. Draw 3 cards and place them face-up in the third row. If the purple card is present, keep it in its current position; rearrange the others in ascending numerical order from left to right.
    • Level IV (Top Row): Shuffle the Level IV Randomizer Cards. Draw 2 cards and place them face-up in the fourth (top) row. If the purple card is present, keep it in its current position; otherwise, rearrange the cards in ascending numerical order.
    • Final Step: For every Randomizer card placed in the pyramid, take the corresponding Treatise cards from their respective decks and stack a number of them equal to the player count on top.
    • Final Check: Each stack should consist of 1 Randomizer Card at the bottom, with a number of Treatise Cards on top equal to the number of players.

    Place the Wax Seals shown on the Setup Cards above each indicated Treatise Cards and Mastery Tracks, in the leftmost Victory Point space (A). Then, place the Natural Philosophers into the indicated spaces within the Cathedral at the top of the Main Board (B). In this example, the Natural Philosopher is placed in this specific row and space within Cathedral.

Player Setup

Take the components in your chosen color and perform the following steps in order:

1. Place your Personal Board in front of you.

2. Place the Natural Philosopher figure standing up, next to your Personal Board.

3. Place the Principle Coin in the designated space on your Personal Board with the Copernican side face up.

4. Place 10 Coins and 10 Research Tokens in your play area.

5. Take the Penance Cards that show the Wax Seal of your chosen color (level I, II, III) and place these cards in your play area.

6. Place the Scoring Marker onto the "0" space of the Scoring Track.

7. Randomly determine the first player. Place the Turn Order Markers on the Current Turn Order Track from left to right, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise around the table.

8. Place the Suspicion Marker on the second space (marked "1") of the Suspicion Track.

9. Prepare the Mentor and Starting Treatise Cards.

   • First game only: Separate the Mentor Cards by their letter. Each set consists of 3 Standard and 1 Scoring Mentor Card. Take the Starting Treatise Cards and pair each set of Mentor Cards with the Starting Treatise Card matching its letter. Then, assign these sets to the players based on their turn order:
     • First Player: Set A
     • Second Player: Set B
     • Third Player: Set C
     • Fourth Player: Set D
   • Subsequent games: Divide the Standard and Scoring Mentor Cards into two separate decks and shuffle them. Reveal a number of Scoring Mentor Cards equal to the player count. Shuffle the Starting Treatise Cards and randomly pair each one face up with one of the revealed Scoring Mentor Cards. Finally, deal 4 Standard Mentor Cards face down to each player.

Finally, return all unused components to the game box.

Key Concepts

Principle Coin

You begin the game as a Copernican but you may become a Ptolemaic. Keep track of your current Principle on your Personal Board by flipping and moving the coin as needed.

Principle Icons

Some actions feature the Principle icon. You must perform either the Copernican or Ptolemaic version of the action based on which side your Principle Coin is currently showing.

Affected Actions

The following elements may all be affected by your Principle Coin:

• Observing the Sky (marked 1)
• Playing Treatise Cards (marked 2)
• Playing Inventions (marked 3)
• Prohibitions (marked 4)

Your Principle Coin can also affect End Game Scoring.

Suspicion Track and Penance Cards

During the game, Suspicion may increase or decrease due to your actions, gaining Victory Points, and at the End of a Cycle. Suspicion may also increase during other players' turns. This represents the watchful eye of the Inquisition.

Suspicion Icons:

• +1 icon: This icon indicates an increase in Suspicion. You must advance your Suspicion Marker on the Suspicion Track by the specified number of spaces.
• -1 icon: This icon indicates a reduction of Suspicion. You must move back your Suspicion Marker on the Suspicion Track by the specified number of spaces. Your Marker can never move below the "0" space.

The Penance, Prison and the Stake icons are indicators only and are not considered spaces on the Suspicion Track.

Take the corresponding Penance Card from the ones in your play area and place it face-down on top of your Draw Deck. You may gain multiple Penance Cards in the same turn. If your Draw Deck is empty, the newly gained Penance Card simply forms the top of the deck.

Your Suspicion Marker will move back and forth along the Suspicion Track during the game. You only gain a Penance Card the first time your marker passes a specific icon. If your marker moves back and passes the same icon again later, you do not receive an additional card.

If you draw one or more of these Penance Cards into your hand, you must play them during one of your turns within that Cycle. You may never discard a Penance Card from your hand. Detailed instructions on how to Play a Penance Card can be found on page XX.

Gain a Penance Card

Whenever your Suspicion Marker moves past a Penance icon on the track for the first time, you must take the corresponding Penance Card.

The Prison

Arrest and Imprisonment

If your Suspicion Marker moves past the Prison icon on the Suspicion Track, your Natural Philosopher is immediately arrested. Move your figure to the Prison space on the Main Board. While imprisoned, you cannot use your Natural Philosopher.

If your Natural Philosopher is moved to Prison from an Action Space, lay the figure down to indicate it has already been used this Cycle. It will remain lying down until the End of a Cycle Phase. The Action Space vacated by your Natural Philosopher becomes available again immediately.

Action Icons and Effects

Performing Main Actions (page XX) grants you access to icons to resolve, which are divided into two categories:

• Secondary Actions: icons with a circular frame represent Secondary Actions (page XX). These are optional.
• Effects: icons without the circular frame represent Effects (page XX). These are mandatory.

Release

If your Suspicion Marker moves back on the Suspicion Track past the Prison icon, you immediately retrieve your Natural Philosopher. This can happen at any time, even during the same turn in which your Natural Philosopher was arrested.

• If the figure is standing up when retrieved (because it hadn't been used yet), you may use it to perform an action later in the current Cycle.
• If it is lying down when retrieved, keep it in that state until the End of Cycle Phase.

Your Natural Philosopher may be arrested and released multiple times throughout the game.

The Stake

As soon as your Suspicion Marker moves past the Stake icon on the Suspicion Track, the Inquisition has condemned your blasphemous actions. Move your Natural Philosopher to the Stake Space on the Main Board. You can no longer use it for the rest of the game.

1. Place your Suspicion marker back onto the "0" space of the Suspicion Track.
2. Continue to track Suspicion as usual. However, the Penance, Prison, and Stake icons no longer affect you.
3. For the remainder of the game, each space you advance on the Suspicion Track will count as 2 negative Victory Points during final scoring.

Scoring Track

Moving your Scoring Marker along the Scoring Track grants you access to Travel Tiles but may also increase the Suspicion.

Travel Spaces: As soon as your Scoring Marker reaches an intersection (marked A) on the Scoring Track, you may choose which path to follow to continue tracking your Victory Points.

• The Longer Path: If you choose the longer path, your Victory Points will increase more slowly. However, as soon as your Scoring Marker reaches or moves past a Travel Space (marked B), you gain access to the icons depicted on that Travel Tile.
  • Resolution: You must activate these icons in any order by the end of your turn. If the icons are separated by a dividing line (marked C), you must choose which group of icons to activate.
  • Out-of-Turn Activation: If you gain access to these icons outside of your turn or the Action Phase, you must activate them immediately.

Suspicion Spaces: As soon as your Scoring Marker reaches or moves past a space on the Scoring Track containing a Suspicion Tile (marked D), you must increase the Suspicion by advancing your marker on the Suspicion Track the indicated number of steps.

After resolving the Suspicion increase, the Suspicion Tile is either flipped or removed based on the player count:

• 2-player games: The first player to reach or pass the space flips the Suspicion Tile.
• 3-player games: The first player flips the tile; the second player to reach or pass the same space removes the tile.
• 4-player games: The first player flips the tile; the third player to reach or pass the same space removes the tile.

Exceeding 100 Victory Points: If a player exceeds 100 Victory Points, they no longer increase Suspicion from Suspicion Tiles and cannot choose the longer path to reach Travel Spaces. This also applies during End-Game Scoring.

Personal Board

Your Personal Board represents your studio which is divided into three sections.

The Bookshelf

The Bookshelf consists of 4 shelves, each representing different Subject Tracks where you track your Books: Astronomy, Physics, Mathematics and Philosophy.

Each Shelf is also divided into 4 Levels:

• Level I and II: 3 spaces each.
• Level III: 4 spaces.
• Level IV: 5 spaces.

Gaining Books

For each Book you gain (Astronomy, Physics, Mathematics or Philosophy):

• Move the corresponding marker to the right on that Subject Track a number of spaces equal to the amount gained.

A Book of any Subject icon represents a Book of any Subject. You may choose any one Subject Track to advance.

Mastery Bonus

The first time one of your markers reaches the last space of a Subject Track, you gain a free action:

1. Remove any one Wax Seal from one of your Mentor Cards.
2. Place the Wax Seal onto the Main Board, in the leftmost empty space of the Mastery Track corresponding to that Subject.
3. Gain the Victory Points depicted in the space where you placed the Wax Seal.

You gain this free action even if your Subject Marker moves back in the same turn. When a marker is on the last space of a track, any further Books gained in that Subject are forfeited. You may only have one Wax Seal on each Mastery Track.

Spending Books

In order to spend one or more Books follow these steps in order:

1. Meet the requirements of each single cost: To meet a cost requirement, your Marker on the corresponding Subject Track must be at a Level that shows a number of Books at least equal to the cost. Discounts do not lower the Level requirement; they only reduce the actual cost to be paid.
2. Spend the indicated amount of Books: Move the marker to the left on that Subject Track a number of spaces equal to the amount spent. If your marker is already on the leftmost space, you cannot spend any Books.

Example: Luna has to pay a cost of 2 Physics Books and 1 Mathematics Book. In order to meet the requirements of each single cost, her Physics marker must be at least on a Level 2 space (or higher), and her Mathematics marker must be at least on the second space of the Level 1 (or higher). Since Luna meets the requirements, she spends 2 Physics Books and 1 Mathematics Book, by moving the respective markers to the left. If her Physics marker had been on Level 1, then she would not have met the requirement and could not have performed the action, regardless of how many individual spaces she could move the marker.

The Window

The Window is your glimpse into the starry sky. Here you will place Observation Tiles to activate the depicted icons as you cover them, after paying the associated costs.

Detailed instructions on how to Observe the sky can be found on page XX.

The Desk

The Desk is where you store your Coins and Research. Each player has a total of 10 Coin and 10 Research tokens.

Whenever you gain either of these, move the indicated amount onto the Desk of your Personal Board; these are now available to you.

Whenever you need to pay a cost, discard the indicated amount from your Desk into a reserve pool in your play area.

You may never have more than 10 or fewer than zero units of each.

Your Principle Coin is also kept on your Desk.

The Mentor Cards and the Wax Seals

During setup, you received a set of Mentor Cards, and placed a specific number of Wax Seals on top of the lit candles on each card. In the image below, the first card on the left is a Scoring Mentor Card, while the other three are Standard Mentor Cards.

Removing Wax Seals

Throughout the game, certain actions will allow you to remove one or more Wax Seals from the Mentor Cards. These are either discarded in your play area or placed onto the Main Board or Treatise Boards. You may freely choose which Wax Seal to remove from any of your Mentor Cards.

Unlocking the Cards

As soon as all Wax Seals are removed from a Mentor Card, you unlock its associated icons or scoring. If you empty more than one card at the same time, fully resolve one before resolving the next.

• You must activate these icons, in any order, by the end of your turn.
• Victory Points from the unlocked Scoring Mentor Card are awarded at the end of the game.

Wax Seals

If you are required to place a Wax Seal onto the Main Board or a Treatise Board but none are available on your Mentor Cards, you may take one from the reserve pool in your play area.

You may never remove Wax Seals from the Main Board or Treatise Boards; they remain there for the entire duration of the game.

Descriptions of specific Mentor Cards can be found on page XX.

Playing the Game

The game takes place over three Periods, each composed of a different number of Cycles:

• First Period: 2 Cycles
• Second Period: 2 Cycles
• Third Period: 1 Cycle

Each Cycle is further divided into three phases:

1. Income (skipped in Cycle 1)
2. Actions
3. End of Cycle

1. Income Phase

(Skipped during the Cycle 1.)

During this phase, players activate icons to resolve Actions and Effects from two different sources (Inventions and Bookshelf). Players may resolve their Income simultaneously; however if the timing becomes relevant, follow the turn order.

Follow these steps in order:

1. Inventions: you must activate all icons on the Income Inventions in your play area. If there is more than one icon, you may decide the order in which to resolve them. Detailed instructions on how Inventions work can be found on page XX.

   If an Invention Card shows the Income icon, you must perform either the Copernican or the Ptolemaic part, based on the side currently shown by your Principle Coin.

2. Bookshelf: The income provided by Subjects in your Bookshelf is determined by the Level where their respective markers are. This income is resolved sequentially from top to bottom.

   • Astronomy: provides the indicated number of Victory Points, tracked on the Scoring Track. Level 1 of Astronomy provides no Victory Points. If you reach a Travel Space during this phase, resolve its icons immediately.
   • Physics: provides the indicated number of Coins, which are placed onto your Desk.
   • Mathematics: provides the indicated number of Research Tokens, which are placed onto your Desk.
   • Philosophy: Determines how many cards you must draw from your Draw Deck. If the deck is empty, shuffle the Discard Pile to form a new one. If there are still not enough cards, draw as many as possible.

In this example Luna gains 2 Victory Points, 2 Coins, 1 Research Token and draws 3 cards from her Draw Deck.

2. Actions Phase

During this Phase, players will play a variable number of rounds. In each round, every player takes a turn to perform a Main Action, starting with the First Player and proceeding according to the current order on the Turn Order Track.

Resolving Actions

When you choose a Main Action during your turn, you gain access to one or more icons. Activating these icons allows you to perform Secondary Actions and/or Effects. Detailed instructions on how Secondary Actions and Effects work can be found on page XX and XX.

• You may decide the order in which you activate the icons.
• Secondary Actions: identified by a round frame, are always optional.
• Effects: these do not have a round frame and are always mandatory.
• Discounts: If an action provides a discount, it must be applied.
• Pay also attention to Arrows and Parentheses:
  • The Arrow: If you perform the action from which the arrow originates, you also perform the action to which it points.
  • The Parentheses: icons shown in parentheses with a colon indicate a modification to the Secondary Action currently being performed.

If you need to draw from your deck and it is empty, draw as many as possible, shuffle the Discard Pile to form a new deck, and then draw the remaining cards. If there are still not enough cards, simply draw as many as you can.

Cards played during this Cycle remain face up in your play area.

End of the Action Phase

The Action Phase ends as soon as all the players have Passed.

Main Actions

On your turn you must perform one of the following Main Actions:

• Pass
• Use an Invention
• Abjure
• Upgrade your Academic Level
• Play Treatise Cards
• Use your Natural Philosopher
• Play a Penance Card

Pass

The Pass action can affect the actions of other players. During your turn, if you are unable or do not wish to perform any more actions, you must Pass.

When you Pass: Move your Turn Order Marker from the Current Turn Order Track down into the Passing Area. You will not perform any further actions, and your turn will be skipped entirely until the next Cycle.

You cannot choose to Pass until you have played all the Penance Cards in your hand.

Passing in the same round of actions

If other players pass during subsequent turns of the same round of actions, move their Turn Order Markers into the Passing Area, placing them to the left of any markers already present.

End of a Round of Actions

As soon as the last player in the current turn order has taken their turn, resolve one of the following:

• NO players have passed: proceed to the next round of actions.

• Some players have passed but others are still active:

  • If the Inquisition Token is face down, flip it face up. Now the Inquisition Suspects (see below).
  • If it is already face-up, leave it as it is.

  In either case, move all markers from the Passing Area down into the Future Turn Order Track, maintaining their relative left-to-right order. Do not move markers already on the Future Turn Order Track.

  Proceed to the next round of actions.

• ALL players have passed: move all the markers from the Passing Area to the Future Turn Order Track, maintaining their relative left-to-right order. Do not move markers already on the Future Turn Order Track.

  This Action Phase is over.

The Inquisition Suspects

If the Inquisition Token is face-up, then the Inquisition Suspects. From this moment on, every time a player performs a Main Action, they must increase their Suspicion by 1 at the beginning of their turn.

Passing does not cause you an increase in Suspicion.

In this round of actions, Meg plays a Treatise Card, Luna chooses to pass (1), and Dan uses his Natural Philosopher. Now, it is Domy's turn, and she also chooses to Pass, moving her Turn Order Marker into the Passing Area. Domy places her marker to the left of Luna's Turn Order Marker (2), as Luna had Passed in her previous turn. Since Domy was the last player in the current turn order, this round of actions comes to an end. Because there are Turn Order Markers in the Passing Area and one or more players have not yet passed, the Inquisition Token is flipped face up (3). Then, all the Turn Order Markers in the Passing Area are moved to the Future Turn Order Track, maintaining their relative order (4). A new round of actions begins. From now on, each time Meg or Dan performs a Main Action (other than Pass), they must increase the Suspicion by 1.

Abjure

Some Secondary Actions and Effects will be affected by your Principle (see page 6).

You may not perform the Abjure action during the third Period (the Cycle 5).

The Choice

You begin the game as a Copernican. As a Main Action during your turn, you may flip your Principle Coin and place it in the space on the right on your Personal Board to become Ptolemaic. This choice is final and irreversible.

Inquisition Repercussions

Choosing to Abjure has immediate consequences:

• For You: Immediately reduce the Suspicion by 5.
• For Others: All other Copernican players must immediately increase the Suspicion by 1.

Play Treatise Cards

Treatise Cards represent papers and documents you have written that will forever change what we know and believe.

As a Main Action during your turn, you can play Treatise Cards from your hand in your play area. Descriptions of specific Treatise Cards can be found on page XX.

Anatomy of a Treatise Card

Treatise Cards are divided into two sections:

• A. The Treatise Spine (Left Side): The color, texture and the uppermost icon determine the Subject:

  1. Astronomy
  2. Physics
  3. Mathematics
  4. Philosophy
  5. Any Subject (Wild)

  The icons on the Spine depict the Books you gain when playing the card.

• B. The Open Treatise (Right Side): Shows the Secondary Action and Effect icons.

How to Play Treatise Cards

To play one or more Treatise Cards, follow these steps:

A. Choose and Stack Cards. Select one or more Treatises from your hand and place them face-up in your play area.

• Playing multiple cards: Stack them so that the Spines on the left side of all the cards are visible. The card on the very top is the Active Card.
• Matching Subjects: all the cards in the stack must share the same Subject (All Physics, or all Astronomy).
• Playing Purple Treatise Cards: If played alone (or only with other Purple cards), they represent any one Subject of your choice. If played with cards of a specific Subject, Purple cards match that Subject.

B. Gain Books. You must gain all visible Books shown on the Spines of cards in the stack.

• Purple Cards: If played with a card of a specific Subject, the Books become that Subject. If played alone, you choose one Subject for all of them.

C. Activate Icons. Activate the icons on the Active Card.

• Effects (marked 1) are mandatory; Secondary Actions (marked 2) are optional.
• Groups (marked 3): icons may be separated by:
  • A simple line: You must choose only one group to activate.
  • The Suspicion Icon: You may activate one group for free, or both groups by increasing the Suspicion by 1 before activating the second group.
  • The Principle Icon: You must activate the group (Copernican or Ptolemaic) that matches the current side of your Principle Coin.

Treatises played in previous turns are ignored during this action.

Example: Meg plays these Treatises from her hand, stacking them so that the Spines remain visible. She can play them together because they all share the same Subject (the Purple card now counts as Physics). She gains 1 Book from this Treatise (1), 1 Book and 1 Mathematics Book from this card (2), and 2 more Books from this card (3). Meg's Principle Coin is showing the side indicated by the principle symbol in the example, so she must also gain one additional Book and the +2 icon (marked 4). She then decides to activate the Secondary Action (5). All other icons on this and the other Treatises are ignored.

Example: Dan's Principle is the Copernican side and he plays this Treatise from his hand. He must gain 3 Books and the +1 icon (marked 1). Then, he may choose to activate the Secondary Action (marked 2) in the Copernican group of icons on the card: Create an Invention. All the other icons on this card are ignored.

Play a Penance Card

You gain a Penance Card whenever your marker moves past a Penance icon on the Suspicion Track for the first time (see page X). Upon gaining a Penance Card, place it face-down on top of your draw deck.

When you draw a Penance Card into your hand, you must play it as a Main Action during one of your subsequent turns in the current Cycle.

You may never discard Penance Cards nor choose to pass until you have played all the Penance Cards currently in your hand.

Playing the Card

To play a Penance Card from your hand, perform the following steps as a Main Action:

• A. Place the card face-up in your play area.
• B. If the Inquisition Token is face down, immediately reduce your Suspicion by 1 (marked 1).
• C. Regardless of whether you reduced your Suspicion, you may pay the depicted number of Coins (marked 2) to remove the Penance Card from the game.

If you are not able or choose not to pay the Coins, the card remains face up in your play area.

Use an Invention

Invention Cards represent the breakthroughs and creations you achieve during your studies.

Activating an Invention

As a Main Action during your turn, you may use a Once Per Cycle Invention you have in your play area that features the Once Per Cycle icon (marked 1). To do so:

• A. Rotate the card 90° to the right to indicate it has been used. It cannot be used again during the current Cycle.
• B. Activate all icons depicted at the center of the card (marked 2).

These Inventions will be rotated back to their upright position and become available again during the End of Cycle Phase.

Other types of Inventions (such as those with passive or Income effects) do not require an action to activate.

Descriptions of specific Invention Cards can be found on page XX.

Upgrade your Academic Level

As a Main Action during your turn, you may upgrade your Academic Level.

You begin the game at Academic Level I (marked 1). To upgrade to the next level, you must meet the requirements (marked 2) shown on the corresponding Graduation Tile.

How to Upgrade

If you meet the requirements:

• A. Take one Wax Seal from any of your Mentor Cards and place it in the leftmost available Wax Seal space of your next Academic Level on the Main Board.
• B. Immediately gain the Victory Points depicted in the space where you have placed the Wax Seal.

Rules for Advancement

• You must upgrade your Academic Levels in order (I → II → III → IV). You cannot skip a level.
• You may only upgrade your Academic Level once per action, even if you meet the requirements for multiple levels.
• Upgrading your Academic Level grants you access to more powerful action spaces for your Natural Philosopher.

Example: Dan wants to upgrade to Academic Level II (marked 1). He meets the requirements since he has at least 1 Mentor Card without Wax Seals (marked 2). Dan takes a Wax Seal of his color from one of his Mentor Cards, places it on the leftmost available Wax Seal space of the Level II track, and gains 4 Victory Points (marked 3).

Assign your Natural Philosopher

As a Main Action, you may assign your available Natural Philosopher to an action space on the Main Board that is within your Academic Level.

The Natural Philosopher is available only if he is standing up next to your Personal Board. It is not available if it is laying down next to your Personal Board, or on an action space, if it is in Prison or at the Stake.

Once assigned, you must activate all the related Effects and may choose whether to activate the Secondary Actions. If the icons are separated in groups by a dividing line, you must choose which group to activate.

Types of Action Spaces

• Exclusive Action Space: This space can be occupied by only one Natural Philosopher per Cycle. If it is already occupied, you cannot place your figure there.
• Shared Action Space: This space may be occupied by multiple Natural Philosophers during the same Cycle.

Secondary Actions

Secondary Actions can be found on Treatise Cards, action spaces on the Main Board, and on the Invention Cards. You perform these actions as a consequence of a Main Action.

Write a Treatise

To Write a Treatise follow these steps in order:

• A. Choose any one Treatise Card on the Treatise Boards provided you do not already have a Wax Seal of your color associated with it. You may have at most one copy of each Treatise.

• B. Spend the Books depicted on the Treatise Board, next to the card (refer to the "Spending Books" rules on page X).

• C. Spend the Research Tokens depicted under the chosen card. The cost depends on the row:

  • Bottom Row: Spend 3 Research Tokens.
  • Other Rows: Spend the two Research Token costs depicted under the card, applying the following potential discounts:
    • Partial discount (icon): Ignore one Research Token cost if you have a Wax Seal of your color associated with one of the Treatise Cards directly linked below it.
    • Full discount (icon): spend no Research Tokens if you have a Wax Seal associated with both Treatise Cards directly linked below it.

• D. Take one Wax Seal from one of your Mentor Cards and place it in the leftmost unoccupied Wax Seal space above the chosen Treatise Card. Gain the Victory Points depicted in the space you have just covered.

• E. Take the chosen Treatise Card from the Treatise Board and choose one of the following:

Descriptions of specific Treatise Cards can be found on page XX.

Example: Luna wants to take this Philosophy Treatise (marked 1) from the second row. She must spend the required Books (marked 2). Then, she only need to spend 2 Research Tokens (marked 3) (instead of 3 + 3) because she already has a Wax Seal of her color associated with one of the 2 Treatise Cards directly linked below it (marked 4). Luna places a Wax Seal onto the leftmost Wax Seal space associated with that Treatise, scoring 4 Victory Points (marked 5). Finally, she chooses to add the new Treatise to her hand, discarding a different Treatise from her hand into her discard pile to do so.

Copy a Treatise Card

You may take a Treatise Card from the Treatise Boards, up to the Level indicated on the Action (marked 1) provided you follow these restrictions:

• You do not already possess that Treatise.
• There is at least one Wax Seal of another player already associated with that card.

To Copy a Treatise follow these steps:

• A. Pay the required number of Coins (marked 2).
• B. Take one Wax Seal from one of your Mentor Cards and place it in the rightmost available Wax Seal space above the chosen Treatise Card (marked 3). You do not gain any Victory Points.
• C. The player whose Wax Seal occupies the leftmost space associated with this Treatise immediately gains the Victory Points depicted by the Action (marked 4).
• D. Take the Treatise Card from the Treatise Board and choose to either:
  • Place it on top of your draw deck.
  • Add it to your hand. If you do, you must first discard a different Treatise Card from your hand to your discard pile. (Remember: You may never discard a Penance Card.)

Read a Treatise Card

You may activate the icons on a Treatise Card directly from the Treatise Boards, up to the Level indicated on the Action (marked 1) provided you follow this restriction: There should be at least one Wax Seal (yours or another player's) already associated with that card.

To Read a Treatise follow these steps:

• A. Pay the required number of Coins (marked 2).
• B. Choose a Treatise on any Treatise Board up to the allowed Academic Level that has at least one Wax Seal from any player associated (marked 3).
• C. Activate all icons on that card as if you were performing the "Play a Treatise Card" action (marked 4). Do not take the card from the Treatise Board.
• D. The player whose Wax Seal occupies the leftmost Wax Seal space associated with this Treatise immediately gains the Victory Points depicted by the Action (marked 5). If you are the player in the leftmost space, you do not gain these bonus Victory Points.

Since you are playing a Treatise directly from the boards, you may not combine it with cards in your hand.

Observe the Sky

With the Observe the Sky Action you gaze at the night sky through your window, taking an Observation Tile and placing it in the Window section of your Personal Board.

General Rules

• Principle Coin: The specific benefits of this action are determined by the current side of your Principle Coin, as also indicated on your Personal Board.
• Tile Levels: There are three levels of Observation Tiles. Each must be placed in its designated row in the Window section (marked 1).
• Reshuffling: If a draw pile is empty, reshuffle its corresponding discard pile to form a new one.
• Placement Rules: Observation Tiles must be placed in an available space in the Window section of your Personal Board:
  • Your first Observation Tile must be a Level I tile placed in the Starting Space (bottom-left corner) (marked 2).
  • For all the subsequent Tiles, a space is available only if it is empty and orthogonally adjacent to a tile already placed in the Window section.

To Observe the Sky

To Observe the Sky follow these steps:

• A. Choose which Level of Observation Tile you wish to take, ensuring you have an available space for it.
• B. Based on your Principle Coin, draw tiles from the pile:
  • Copernican side: Reveal two tiles, choose one to take, and discard the other.
  • Ptolemaic side: Reveal one tile and take it.
• C. You must choose an available space in your Window section. Pay the Research Tokens and Astronomy Book costs depicted on the left side of that space.
• D. Activate the icons in the chosen space and the icons on the Observation Tile in any order.
• E. Place the Observation Tile face-down in the chosen space.
• F. Based on your Principle Coin, gain an immediate bonus:
  • Copernican side: Gain 2 Victory Points.
  • Ptolemaic side: Gain 1 Coin.

Example: Meg wants to take a Level II Observation Tile (marked 1). Since her Principle Coin is showing the Copernican side, she reveals two tiles and gains 2 Victory Points (marked 2). Meg chooses one tile to keep (marked 3) and discards the other. There are two available spaces in the Window section of her Personal Board where Meg can place the tile (marked 4). She chooses the space on the right, and pays the depicted Research Tokens and Astronomy Books costs. Meg activates the icons on both the Observation Tile and the chosen space in any order. Finally Meg places the Observation Tile face-down in that space.

Create an Invention

To create an Invention follow these steps:

• A. Choose any one Invention Card currently in the Workshop of the Main Board and pay the following:
  • The Coins (marked 1) depicted in the slot next to the chosen card.
  • The costs (marked 2) depicted in the upper-right corner of the card itself.
• B. Activate all the icons (marked 3) depicted in the bottom-right corner of the card. Remember that Secondary Actions are Optional.
• C. Take the Invention Card and place it face up in your play area.
• D. At the end of your turn, shift down all remaining cards in the Workshop to fill the gap, if needed. Draw a new card from the current Period's Invention Deck and place it in the now-empty top space.

If the Invention Deck of the current Period is empty, no new cards are revealed.

Types of Invention Cards

There are four types of Inventions, each identified by an icon at the bottom of the card.

• Income: These must be activated during the Income Phase.
• Ongoing: These are always active. They must be triggered each time the depicted condition is met.
• Once per Cycle: These may be activated as a Main Action during your turn.
• End-Game Scoring: These provide a specific condition to gain additional Victory Points during the final scoring at the end of the game.

Descriptions of specific Invention Cards can be found on page XX.

Draw a Card

Draw one card from your Draw Deck. If your Draw Deck is empty, shuffle your Discard Pile to form a new Draw Deck and continue drawing.

If all your cards are currently in your hand or in your play area, you cannot draw any more cards.

Remove a Treatise Card from the Game

You may remove a Treatise Card from the game by choosing one from any of the following locations:

• Your hand.
• Your Discard Pile.
• Your play area (cards you have already played).

Immediately gain the Books depicted on the spine of the card you are removing (marked 1).

You cannot remove Penance Cards with this action.

Pro Tip

Keep your Discard Pile, played cards, and removed cards in clearly separated piles to avoid confusion. Remember:

• You may check your Discard Pile and removed cards at any time.
• You may never look through the cards in your Draw Deck.

Effects

Effects provide you Coins, Research Tokens, Books, Victory Points and reduce and increase Suspicion.

All Effects are mandatory.

• Gain the depicted number of Coins.
• Pay the depicted number of Coins.
• Gain the depicted number of Research Tokens.
• Pay the depicted number of Research Tokens.
• Gain the depicted number of Victory Points.
• Gain the depicted number of Victory Points in addition to those you gain with this action.
• Lose the depicted amount of Victory Points at the end of the game.
• Gain 2 Victory Points for each Academic Level you have upgraded.
• Double the Victory Points gained.
• The player with a Wax Seal in the leftmost space, associated with that Treatise, gains the indicated amount of Victory Points.
• Gain or lose Victory Points based on some specific conditions.
• Gain Victory Points based on a specific Level.
• Reduce the Suspicion by 1 for each Treatise Card of different Subjects in your play area (up to a maximum of 4). Purple Treatise Cards are ignored.
• Reduce the Suspicion by the depicted amount.
• Increase the Suspicion by the depicted amount.
• All the other players must increase the Suspicion by the depicted amount.
• All the Copernican players must increase the Suspicion by the depicted amount.
• Gain an amount of Books of the same Subject, equal to the number of Treatise Cards of different Subjects in your play area (up to a maximum of 4). Purple Treatise Cards are ignored.
• Gain the depicted amount of Books in the indicated Subject.
• Meet the requirements (page XX) and pay the depicted amount of Books in the indicated Subject.

3. End of the Cycle Phase

Once all players have Passed, the Action Phase ends. Follow these steps in order:

• Move all the Turn Order Markers back in the Current Turn Order Track, maintaining their position (marked 1).
• If the Inquisition Token is face-up, flip it face down (marked 2).
• Move the Cycle Marker one step down on the Cycle Track and resolve all the Turning Points the marker passes in order (see below).
• Clean Up (Skip it in Cycle 5): To prepare for the next Cycle, follow these steps:
  • Take back your Natural Philosopher from the Main Board and place it standing up in your play area. If your Natural Philosopher is at the Stake, it must remain on the board. If it is in Prison, leave it there, but make sure it is standing up.
  • Rotate upright all Once Per Cycle Inventions that were used. These cards are now ready to be used again.
  • Move all cards from both your play area and your hand into your Discard Pile.

Turning Points

Update the Workshop:

• Cycle 1 and 3: Remove from the game the bottommost Invention from the Workshop. Shift the remaining cards down and reveal a new Invention from the current deck. If the deck is empty, do not reveal a new card (marked 1).

Change the Inventions Deck:

• Cycle 2 and 4: Remove from the game the current Invention Deck and all cards remaining in the Workshop. (Players keep any Inventions they have already gained.) Reveal 4 new Invention Cards from the deck of the new Period and place them in the Workshop (marked 2).

Resolve the current Prohibition:

• In Cycles 2, 3 and 5 check if you have followed the restrictions of the Current Prohibition.

You follow the restrictions as long as you possess fewer of the depicted elements than the limit indicated on the Prohibition Tile (marked 3).

• Success: If you follow the restrictions of the Prohibition, nothing happens.
• Failure: If you do not follow the restrictions of the Prohibition, you must increase the Suspicion. The amount is determined by the current Cycle and the side of your Principle Coin.

You may find a description of all the Prohibitions on page XX.

End of the Game

The game ends after the End of a Cycle Phase of the Cycle 5. Final scoring then takes place.

During final scoring, moving your Scoring Marker does not increase Suspicion. Additionally, players do not activate any Travel Effects or Actions; you simply gain Victory Points by proceeding straight through every intersection. If your Scoring Marker is already on a longer path, continue scoring points normally until it rejoins the main scoring track.

Each player gains Victory Points from

1. Natural Philosopher Status: Your Status is determined by the side of your Principle Coin and the location of your Natural Philosopher at the end of the game. Move your figure to the corresponding space in the Cathedral (at the top of the Main Board). Each space may be occupied by multiple players.

   The Status:

   • Free: Your Natural Philosopher is in an action space or next to your Personal Board. Place it in the correct space in the Cathedral row, according to your Principle.
   • Prison: Your Natural Philosopher is in the Prison Space on the Main Board. Place it in the correct space in the Cathedral row, according to your Principle.
   • The Stake: Your Natural Philosopher is in the Stake Space on the Main Board. Place it in the correct space in the Cathedral row, according to your Principle.

   Gain the Victory Points indicated above the position of your Natural Philosopher in the Cathedral.

2. Rank Scoring: Players gain 4 Victory Points for each other player with a lower Rank (i.e., players who gained fewer Victory Points from the Status Scoring step).

3. End-Game Scoring Inventions (page XX).

4. Unlocked Mentor Scoring Card (page XX).

In this example Luna gains 15 Victory Points for her Natural Philosopher's Status. Additionally, she gains 12 Victory Points for the Rank Scoring because 3 other players have a lower Status Rank than her (3 players x 4vp). Meg gains 18 Victory Points total for this section: she earns 10 Victory Points for her Status plus 8 for Rank Scoring, as there are 2 players with a lower Rank. Dan scores 5 Victory Points for his Status and 4 Victory Points for Rank Scoring. Domy gains 0 Victory Points, as she earned no points from her Natural Philosopher's Status and there are no players with a lower Rank.

Each player must subtract Victory Points for the following

1. Penance Cards: For each Penance Card you possess (whether it is in your hand, Draw Deck, Discard Pile, or play area), you lose the number of Victory Points depicted on that card.

2. The Stake: If your Natural Philosopher is at the Stake and you have further increased the Suspicion after reaching that point, you suffer an additional penalty. Lose a number of Victory Points equal to your current Suspicion level multiplied by 2.

   If your Suspicion Marker is on space 3, you lose 6 Victory Points. If it is on the "0" space, you lose no points.

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner. In the case of a tie, the tied player who is earliest in the Turn Order wins the game.

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Source note: the rulebook refers to "page XX" for the descriptions of specific Treatise, Invention, Mentor and Prohibition cards, for the Card Holder Book, and for the full list of Prohibitions. Those pages are not part of this 17-page rulebook and are not transcribed here.