Indus 2500 BCE Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• 2 - 5 Player Setup
• Legend
• How to Play
  • 1. Pick Phase
  • 2. Plan Phase
  • 3. Build Phase
  • 4. Replenish Phase
• End of Game
• Scoring
• Cards
  • Terrain/Resource Cards
  • Score Cards
  • Calamity Cards
  • City Setup Cards
• Solo Player Setup

Components

1-5 players, ages 14+, 60 mins.

• 200 INDUS Maps booklet
• 100 Terrain/Resource cards
• 10 Calamity cards
• 10 Score cards
• 10 City Setup cards
• 1 First player marker
• 5 Pens

2 - 5 Player Setup

1. Each player takes one Map sheet and a pen.
2. Shuffle the Terrain/Resource cards and create 4 equal decks, keeping the Resource side up.
3. The card count in the game depends on the no. of players playing the game. 2 - 3 Players: 80 cards | 4-5 Players: 100 cards. Refer to the symbol on the bottom right corner of a card to separate the cards out which are not going to be used in the Solo or 2-3 Player game and keep them back in the box.
4. Shuffle and draw 2 Calamity cards and without looking, place them in 2nd and 4th decks at a random position.
5. Shuffle all the individual decks and form a single draw deck. (1st on top and 4th at bottom)
6. Draw cards equal to the number of players (2 cards for a 2 player game, 3 cards for a 3 player game and so on) and place them Terrain side face up in the Market area.
7. Shuffle the Score cards and draw 2 cards. Place them in the center. Allow all the players to familiarize themselves with the cards.
8. Shuffle the City Setup cards and deal 1 City Setup card to each player. Everyone agrees to play either Side 'A' (Beginner) or Side 'B' (Advanced) of the Map.
9. Draw the terrains/structures on the chosen side of the map as shown in the City Setup card.
10. Each player names their city on the map sheet.
11. The player who recently visited any excavation site is the first player, or the youngest player starts first. This player is given the First player marker.

(An example 3 player setup diagram is printed in the book.)

Legend

• River: Part of the Indus river which flows into the city.
• Citadel: This is the capital of the city and is drawn during the setup of the game.
• Mountain: Mountains that are present in the city.
• Farm/Forest/House/Canal: Each of the 4 terrain types which can be drawn by players.
• Reservoir: These buildings store water that feed the farms and houses. Occupies 1 space.
• Bathhouse and Granary: These buildings occupy 4 map spaces, unlike other terrains. Players can build them only on the upper level of the city.
• Wall: A wall can be built (drawn) in between 2 spaces on the grid. Walls can be continuous or separate, but can only be drawn on the edge of the terrains shown as per the chosen Terrain card. Walls protect the city from calamities if planned well.

How to Play

Each Map has 2 levels of ground - an upper level and a lower level. The two areas of the map can be differentiated by the thick outline. The darker area is the upper level, and the lighter area is the lower level. Players cannot overlap a pattern on both levels.

Each round has the following 4 phases.

1. PICK
2. PLAN
3. BUILD
4. REPLENISH

1. Pick Phase

Each player starting from the first player picks one card, either Terrain side from the market OR Resource side from the draw deck. A player can pick and reserve only 1 resource side card per turn, but there is no hand limit.

2. Plan Phase

A. Players who picked a Terrain card draws the pattern shown on the card on their map. The Terrain pattern can be drawn flipped or rotated. HINT: Refer to the Scoring cards and draw patterns to maximize Victory Points.

B. If the Terrain indicates a free Wall structure, players can choose to draw the wall on their map to aim for maximum number of walls in a city and /or to protect their city. NOTE: A Wall can only be drawn on one side of any area drawn in above Step A.

C. Players who picked Resources like Stone or Brick can use it for the Building actions. Refer Build phase.

D. Players who picked Resources which are Artifacts (Sculpture, Toys, Jewellery, Seals) place the artifacts next to their map. Victory points can be earned for every unique set of artifacts collected.

E. Players can trade their resource cards with other players during this phase and test their negotiation skills!

3. Build Phase

This is a free action and can be used by all players, irrespective of the type of card picked in the current round. If sufficient resources are available with a player, they can draw their desired Structure (Reservoir, Granary, Bathhouse). NOTE: Granary and Bathhouse can ONLY be drawn on the upper level on the map.

4. Replenish Phase

A. A round is complete when every player has picked one card and completed their Plan/Build phase.

B. The first player marker moves to the player on the left.

C. In a 1-2 Player game, discard all Terrains cards in the market area and replenish the market.

D. In a 3-5 Player game, any Terrain cards that were not picked in the previous round remain in play (displayed in the market area). Replenish the market with fresh cards by drawing enough cards to refill the gaps. For example: In a 4 player game if there was 1 card left in the market from previous round, player draws only 3 new cards.

NOTE: If a Calamity card is drawn, refer to Calamity Cards section.

The game continues clockwise. Anytime during the game, if a player cannot or does not wish to draw the shown pattern, the player has to pick up a Resource card. Collected Resource cards can be spent during the build phase to draw required structures. If a calamity card is encountered, refer Calamity cards section.

End of Game

The game ends immediately after the second Calamity card is drawn and resolved. Players score the victory points and player with the highest victory points wins.

Scoring

A. Each player counts the number of Houses, Farms, Forests, Canals and Walls on their map that has not been crossed out due to a Calamity and writes it in the scoring area (the bigger square). Player with the most number of Houses, Farms, Forest, Canals, and Walls score 5 Victory Points (VPs) each, in case of a tie all tied players get 5 VPs each, others get 0 VP, which should be written in the smaller square. For Example: If Player 1 has 7 Houses, Player 2 has 8 Houses, and Player 3 has 8 Houses, Players 2 and 3 get 5 VPs each, whereas player 1 gets 0 VP.

B. Each Reservoir, Bathhouse, Granary scores 3 VPs.

C. For each set of unique artifacts, each player scores as below:

• 1 unique artifact = 1 VP
• 2 unique artifacts = 2 VPs
• 3 unique artifacts = 4 VPs
• 4 unique artifacts = 7 VPs

For Example: If a Player has collected 3 jewelry, 1 statue, 1 seal, and 1 toy cart. The Player earns 7 VP for the complete set of all 4 art types, plus another 2 VP for each jewelry card, for a total of 9 VP.

D. Players score each of the objectives from 2 Score cards and enter the VPs under Card 1 and Card 2 sections.

In case of a tie in final scores, the player with the least empty spaces is the winner, if there is still a tie, then the player with most scoring card points is the winner. If the tie still exists then all the tied players share the victory.

Cards

Terrain/Resource Cards

This card can be used in 2 different ways.

Terrain side: Terrains are used to draw patterns & walls on the map. There are 4 types of terrains - Farm, Forest, House, and Canal. Each terrain side can have

• A. 2 different terrains and 1 pattern OR
• B. 1 terrain and 2 different patterns OR
• C. 1 terrain and 1 pattern

(Player has to select 1 terrain in case of A and 1 pattern in case of B)

Note: Some terrain cards provide a free wall that can be drawn adjacent to the pattern on that terrain card.

Resource side: Resources (Yellow box) can be used to build Reservoirs, Bathhouses, and Granaries. Some Cards can have options for resources. The same side can have Artifacts (Indigo Blue box) and can be collected to earn points. Only one Granary, Reservoir or Bathhouse can be built in a single turn.

Score Cards

Each card is divided into 2 sections and each section scores separately. Each space that is crossed due to Calamity should NOT be considered for scoring. All "Edge Adjacent" spaces are scored. Lower and upper levels on the map are NOT adjacent and so they DO NOT score as adjacent.

Some of the scoring sections consider individual spaces and some sections consider a complete set for scoring (Eg. Max. of 3 connected spaces). Note: The instructions are provided on the card.

"Edge Adjacent" - spaces that share an edge (adjacent to an edge).

Calamity Cards

Calamities range from Floods, Landslides, Drought, Earthquakes, Plague or Locusts. (The effect and rules for each calamity is on the card itself.)

Calamity card can be encountered while:

A. Picking a Resource card from the deck, revealing the Calamity card underneath, during a round: Current round can be completed with the remaining number of cards in the market (do not flip over the Calamity card yet). However, no player can pick resources from the draw deck. Once the round is completed, the Calamity card is flipped and resolved.

B. Drawing cards to replenish the market: The game is paused to reveal and resolve the Calamity. Players assess the impact of the Calamity on their map by crossing out relevant terrains/structures. Once all players finish this action, the game resumes.

While resolving the calamity DO NOT cross empty spaces. Calamities DO NOT occur across levels. If the epicenter of the Calamity is on the lower level, all impact is assessed only on the lower level, and vice versa.

Quick reference:

• "Edge Adjacent" - spaces that share an edge (adjacent to an edge).
• "Diagonally Adjacent" - diagonal spaces that share a corner.

City Setup Cards

Each Setup Card comes with legends to populate the cities for Map 'A' and 'B' side.

Citadel, River, and Mountains are indicated only in the City Setup cards and cannot be built during the game.

Few other terrains or structures are provided to the city as well and vary with each map.

Solo Player Setup

Setup: Follow the setup for a 2 player game as already mentioned earlier for setting up the Card deck, adding the Calamity cards, choosing the Scoring cards and the City Setup card.

Gameplay: The PICK, PLAN, BUILD and REPLENISH phases are same as mentioned in 'HOW TO PLAY', just follow the rules mentioned for a 2 Player game.

Scoring: If the count of Houses, Farms, Forests, Canals and Walls on the map is more than 15 per type then 5 VPs are earned per type. The scoring for other sections remains the same. Please refer to the Scoring section.