Lisboa
Lisboa Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
A game of Lisboa is divided into 2 time periods, each spanning a variable number of rounds. On your turn you play one of the five Political cards in your hand to perform one of four actions (or to get 1 gold), then draw a new card. The first period ends when a player completes their 2nd set of rubble or 3 Political-card decks are exhausted; the game ends when a player completes 4 sets of rubble or 3 decks are exhausted again (then one final round and scoring). The player with the most wigs wins.
Political cards come in two types: Noble cards (showing Influence at the top and a reward/penalty at the bottom, depicting the King, Manuel da Maia, or the Marquis) and Treasury cards (a subsidy from the Royal Treasury with a permanent money/sales benefit). You play cards either into your Portfolio (under your player board, for rewards and lasting benefits) or into the Royal Court (to visit a Noble or sponsor an event).
Your Turn
Perform these steps in order:
- Dock Your Ships: return the goods of any of your Ships that are "at sea" (cargo hold full, goods face-down) to the general supply — the Ship has returned.
- Get 1 Gold or Take an Action:
- Get 1 Gold: discard a Political card from your hand and take 1 gold from the supply.
- Take an Action: play a card from your hand to take one of the four actions.
- Take a Political Card: take any face-up card from the display to refill your hand to 5.
- End of Turn upkeep.
The Portfolio and Influence
Your player board has 3 wide dock slots (top, for Noble and Ship cards, which give cumulative Influence) and 3 narrow office slots (bottom, for Treasury cards, which give money/sales benefits). Together these are your Portfolio. Start with a Portfolio capacity of 2 cards; each Rubble set you complete raises it by 1 (and your warehouse capacity by 1 good of each type).
To play a Noble card into your Portfolio: receive the reward / pay the penalty at the bottom, tuck the card into a top slot, then you must perform Sell Goods (action 1) or Trade with Nobles (action 2). To play a Treasury card: take réis equal to the Treasury value (moving the Treasury marker down 1), tuck it into a bottom slot, then perform Sell Goods or Trade with Nobles.
Influence is gained equal to the total shown atop the Noble and Ship cards in your top row whenever you gain Influence (max 10; landing on the "10/Wig" space grants 1 wig). It is spent to Visit a Noble or in place of réis (move the marker left to each real space).
The Four Actions
Action 1: Sell Goods (play any card into your Portfolio)
Sell one or more goods. For each: choose a docked Ship (any player's, with space), move a good from your warehouse onto an empty dock space below the Ship, and earn réis for its value (modified by the Ship's price bonus). If the goods equal the Ship's hull size, the Ship sets sail: its owner flips the goods to crates and earns 1 wig per crate.
Action 2: Trade with Nobles (play any card into your Portfolio)
Trade 1 or 2 goods, each to take one of the six State actions (not already covered this turn). Give the good the relevant Noble seeks (Manuel da Maia: tools or gold; Marquis: books or gold; King: cloth or gold) to cover and perform that State action. The six State actions are:
- Manuel da Maia's office: Recruit State Officials (move up to 2 of your Officials to 2 different Nobles' offices), Acquire a Plan (take the top Plan from either architect onto your board).
- Marquis de Pombal's office: Build a Ship (pay different goods equal to the Ship's hull size, place it in a top slot, move the Treasury marker up 1, gain Influence), Produce Goods (take 1 good from each of your stores, matching its street's type; each type produced drops 1 real in market price).
- King's office: Meet the Cardinal (advance the Cardinal 1–2 spaces on the Clergy track, take an adjacent Clergy tile — max 4; may trigger Church Treasury/Influence icons), Get a Royal Favor (take a Royal Favor tile for one Noble, enabling you to Follow that Noble's visits — max 1 per Noble).
Action 3: Visit a Noble (play a Noble card into the Royal Court)
Play a Noble card to the Royal Court, place your Courtier meeple on it, and spend Influence equal to the value left of the Treasury marker plus the number of other players' State Officials in that Noble's office (minimum 0; you may pay the shortfall in wigs, 1 wig = 1 Influence). Then optionally take one of that Noble's State actions for free, and then you must take that Noble's main action:
- Manuel da Maia — Build a Store: take a City tile from the display (its space dictates the store's business type and the street its entrance must face), choose a matching empty land space, take its reward, place the tile, take 1 Rubble cube from that space's row/column, pay the land price (Treasury value + cost of remaining rubble in the space's row and column: earthquake/brown 3 réis, fire/red 2, tsunami/blue 1), place a wooden house, and earn wigs for relevant Public Buildings.
- Marquis de Pombal — Take a Decree: take a face-up Decree card (scored at game end if fulfilled). A Rubble Set marker on the Marquis may be discarded (once per turn) to take an extra Decree.
- King — Open a Public Building: using a Plan from an architect, select a Public Construction Site, take both its Rubble cubes and reward, place the matching Public Building tile, reassign the required State Officials (from offices/plazas, hiring the rest at the Treasury value), and score: every matching store (same color in its row, or facing its street) earns its owner wigs equal to the number at the bottom of that store's column.
Follow a Visit: after your visit, each opponent (clockwise) with a matching Royal Favor may return it, spend Influence, and take one of that Noble's three actions.
Action 4: Sponsor an Event (play a Treasury card into the Royal Court)
Play a Treasury card to the Royal Court, pay réis equal to the Treasury value, and perform the action/reward in the card's center.
Reconstruction: Rubble Sets
Building stores and opening Public Buildings reward Rubble cubes (earthquake, fire, tsunami). Each set of 1 of each immediately raises your Portfolio and warehouse capacity by 1 and provides a Rubble Set marker (usable at the Marquis for an extra Decree). You have space for 5 sets. Completing your 2nd set triggers the end of the period; your 4th triggers the end of the game. Each completed set is worth 3 wigs at both the end of period and end of game.
Wooden Houses and Clergy
Your player board has 3 groups of wooden houses, each unlocking cumulative abilities as you build stores (e.g. cheaper Ships, spending réis instead of Influence to Visit, extra goods when producing). Clergy tiles (from Meeting the Cardinal, max 4) give permanent benefits and can be surrendered during Church Scoring for wigs and Influence.
Church Scoring
When the Cardinal lands on or passes the Church Influence icon, Church Scoring occurs at the end of the turn: each player (starting with the mover, clockwise) may discard one or more Clergy tiles to earn the wigs on their backs and gain Influence. The Church Treasury icon instead moves the Treasury marker up 1.
End of Turn / Period / Game
End of Turn: reveal replacement Political cards, refill the City-tile display, refill the Church track and Decrees display, and return goods left on State actions.
End of Period (2nd rubble set or 3 decks empty): finish the turn, discard the display, then each player scores 3 wigs per rubble set, refreshes the shipyard, discards cards for one reward per Noble type, refills to 5 from the next deck, and prepares the next period's deck.
End of Game (4th rubble set or 3 decks empty again): finish the round, play one final round, then score.
Endgame Scoring
To your wigs on the track, add:
- Wigs equal to the sum of hull sizes of Ships in your Portfolio.
- 3 wigs per completed Rubble set.
- Store-majority wigs by type (Gold: 3/2/1; Tool: 6/3/1; Book & Cloth: 9/6/3 for most/2nd/3rd; ties split rounded down; none for a type you don't own).
- 1 wig per 5 réis (cash + réis on the Influence track, rounded down).
- Wigs from your fulfilled Decree cards.
- Majority of State Officials in Public Buildings (total on your completed Plans): 3–4 players 15/10/5, 2 players 15/5 (ties split, rounded down).
- 2 wigs per Royal Favor tile on your board.
Tiebreakers: most rubble sets, then most stores, then most completed Plans, then most money, then a shared victory.