Magna Grecia
Magna Grecia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 4 player markers in 4 colors
- 80 road tiles in the 4 player colors (one side straight, the other curved)
- 80 city tiles in the 4 player colors
- 80 markets in the 4 player colors
- 9 oracles
- 12 action cards
- 1 game board, showing a part of undeveloped Magna Grecia with its many villages
Goal
The goal of the game is to score as many points as possible. To do this, each player must work to successfully settle and develop Magna Grecia. It is important to build markets, expand villages into cities, and connect them all with a network of roads. It is also important to capture the attention of the oracles, who always look toward the most important cities. A city's size is less important than the network of roads connecting it to other places in Magna Grecia. It is too expensive to build a large city and more effective to build markets in villages or others' cities. Players score points for their markets and for attracting the attention of oracles.
Preparation
- Place the game board in the middle of the table.
- Each player chooses a color and takes the markets, road tiles, and city tiles in that color, placing them on the table where he sits: his play area. Each player also takes a summary card and places 4 each of his road and city tiles and all of his markets in the supply area on the card. His remaining road and city tiles remain in his play area (staging area) until moved to his supply by actions taken by the player.
- Remove 2 oracles with 2 or 3 players, placing them back in the box. Randomly place the oracles on village spaces without green borders.
- There are 12 action cards with 4 different colored borders. Separate the cards by border color and shuffle into 4 face down stacks. Take 1 card from each stack and shuffle them into another face down stack. Do this a second and third time, so that all 12 cards are now in the new stack. Now turn this stack over, placing it face up next to the game board.
- The players place the player markers on the scoring track: on space 15, with 4 players, on space 12, with 3 players, or on space 10, with 2 players.
- The players keep their materials face-up in their play areas.
The Game
The game is played over 8 or 12 rounds.
In each round, the players use a new action card, which gives the possible actions and the player turn order (in the 8 round game the last 4 action cards are not used, but are left in the stack). The player order is determined by the order of the 4 colors on the card from top to bottom. In example A, yellow is first, followed by orange, brown, and red in that order. With 2 or 3 players, the unused colors are skipped.
Playing a Round
- The first player (yellow, in example A above) takes the action card, placing it face up his play area.
- He takes up to 2 of the 3 basic actions shown on the card.
- He may build and pay for 1 market.
- Then, he gives the action card to the next player shown on the card (orange, in example A above). This player takes the actions and may build a market as described in 2 and 3 above, and then gives the card to the third player, and so on.
- When each player has taken his turn, the card is returned to the box and the next round begins with the next action card on the stack.
The 3 Basic Actions
The 3 basic actions are shown on the action card.
Important: the player can only take up to 2 of the 3 basic actions in his turn:
a) build roads: the player may place up to the number of road tiles shown in that action on the action card (3, in example A above). More details on road building are given in "The roads" below.
b) found/expand cities: the player may place up to the number of city tiles shown in that action on the action card (2, in example A above). More details on city building are given in "The cities" below.
c) resupply: the player may move up to the number of road and city tiles from his staging area to his supply as shown in that action on the action card (5, in example A above). The player may move city and road tiles in any combination, not just that shown on the action card. Thus, using example A above, the red player could take 5 city tiles, or 5 road tiles, or 4 road tiles and 1 city tile, or any other combination adding to 5 total tiles.
Important: when a player chooses resupply as one of his actions, he must always do it last, after build roads or found/expand cities. Thus, a player may not use roads and cities from resupply on the turn they are moved to his supply.
Note: build roads, then resupply or found/expand cities, then resupply.
If a player chooses the first two actions: build roads and found/expand cities, he may place the tiles for these actions in any order he chooses, including mixing the order of road and city tiles.
He may, for example, place a road tile, then a city tile, and then another road tile.
It is always possible for a player to do less than allowed of an action. For example, place 2 road tiles instead of the 3 shown on the action card.
Enhanced action: when a player chooses, he may select just 1 instead of 2 actions from the 3 offered. In this case, he may enhance the action by increasing the number of tiles placed or taken by one step.
In example A above, a player could place 4 road tiles instead of 3, 3 city tiles instead of 2, or resupply with 7 city and/or road tiles instead of 5.
Build a Market
At the end of his turn, a player may choose to build one market in a city or village. More details on markets are given in "The markets" below.
The Villages
There are several villages on the game board of Magna Grecia - these are the spaces pictured with small houses. At the edges of the game board, the villages are outlined in green. It is in these green-bordered villages that the development of Magna Grecia begins.
A village is always neutral, belonging to no player!
The Cities
A city tile may be used to found or expand a city. The action card for the current round shows how many city tiles a player may place on his turn, if he chooses this action. A player may always choose to place fewer than allowed.
Found a city: to found a city, a player must place a city tile:
- on a village space with a green border, or
- on a village space without a green border that is connected to at least 1 of the player's roads.
In example B red founds a city on a village space with a green border.
Brown founds a city on a village without a green border, but that is connected to a brown road.
Exception: a player may found a city on a non-village space if he places other city tiles during his turn connecting to and including a legal village space (see example E below).
Expand a city: to expand a city, a player places a city tile on a space adjacent to a city tile in one of his founded cities. A player may not expand an opponent's city.
Placing rules: city tiles may never be placed:
- on spaces adjacent to an opponent's city
- on spaces adjacent to a village*
- on spaces adjacent to an oracle or on an oracle space itself
- already occupied spaces
A player may place a city tile on a village with market(s). Once placed, a city tile may not be moved or removed.
In example C, brown may only expand his city in the one space shown, as all other possible places are adjacent to villages, cities, or oracles.
* A player may place a city tile adjacent to a village if he then, immediately, places a tile on the village, thus double-expanding his city.
In example D, orange expands his city by first placing a city tile next to a village. This is normally not allowed, but he then, immediately, places a second city tile on the village, making the first placement an allowed placement.
In example E, brown places 2 road tiles and founds a city with 2 city tiles, the first adjacent to a village, but the second on the village, allowing the first placement.
Limits: a player may only found 1 city in a turn.
He may, however, expand several cities, including the city he is allowed to found in the turn.
Building cost: a player pays 1 point for each city tile placed: either to found or expand a city.
The player moves his player figure backwards on the scoring track for each point he spends.
When a player has no more points, he may not build more! A player may never borrow points!
On a village space, a player has placed a city tile. The city belongs to the player, whereas, the village was neutral, belonging to no player.
Market at city founding: when a player founds a city, he automatically builds a market in that city. He places one of his markets in the city at no cost! If the player already had a market in the village, he does not add another. If other players had markets in the village, they are placed on the city tile and they need not pay for them. More details on markets are given in "The markets" below.
The Roads
At the beginning of the game, it is only possible to found cities on the villages at the edge of the game board. By building roads from these cities, the players will be able to settle and develop the inner part of Magna Grecia. When players reach the villages in the inner part of Magna Grecia, they can found cities on them.
Roads connect places together. A road consists of at least one road tile.
The action card for the current round shows how many road tiles a player may place on his turn, if he chooses this action. A player may always choose to place fewer than allowed.
Placing rules: road tiles may only be placed:
- adjacent to a player's city
- adjacent to an opponent's city
- adjacent to an oracle, when the player has at least one of his roads already connected to the oracle
- adjacent to a village, when the player has at least one of his roads already connected to the village
- adjacent to (and connecting to) one of his roads
Once placed, a road tile may be neither moved or removed.
Limits: a player may build or lengthen any number of different roads in a turn. A player may never lengthen an opponent's road.
Building cost: placing a road tile costs no points.
Example F for placing road tiles:
Yellow and orange may each place a road tile next to their own cities that connects to the nearby village. From the village thus reached by their road, each player may start another road.
Red may place a road tile adjacent to the yellow city. She may not, however, place a road next to the oracle or the village as she has no roads connected to them.
Brown may place road tiles adjacent to his city and a road tile adjacent to the yellow city, connecting to the oracle and then place a road tile past the oracle.
He may not place the road tile shown that is connected to nothing.
He may also not place a road tile extending the red road.
By allowing players to place road tiles adjacent to opponent's cities, players will be able to quickly develop the inner parts of Magna Grecia.
Cutting off roads: a player may place road tiles that cut off previously placed road tiles, when he follows the other road tile rules (see example G below).
The Markets
Building rules: in his turn, a player may build up to 2 markets: a) one, that he automatically builds when he founds a city, and b) one, that he may build at the end of his turn in a village or an opponent's city.
When a player builds a market, he takes one of the markets from his supply and places it on the city or village.
Limits: a player may have only 1 market in a city or a village.
Building cost: the automatic market placed by a player founding a city costs nothing. The market built at the end of a players turn costs:
- in a city, 1 point per city tile in the city plus 1 point for each opponent's market in the city
- in a village, 1 point plus 1 point for each opponent's market in the village
The player moves his player figure backwards on the scoring track for each point he spends. When a player has no more points, he may not build more! A player may never borrow points!
Example H:
orange builds a market in the yellow city and pays 4 points for it (3 points for the 3 city tiles and 1 point for the yellow market).
Red builds a market in the orange city and pays 2 points for it (1 point for the single city tile and 1 point for the orange market).
Brown builds a market in a village and pays only 1 point for it (1 point for the village and no points for other markets as there are none).
Yellow builds a market in the brown city and pays 5 points for it (2 points for the 2 city tiles and 3 points for the brown, orange, and red markets).
Active markets: a market earns a player points only when it is active.
A player's market is active when it is:
- in a player's own city, or
- in a village or an opponent's city that is directly connected by a road to at least one of the player's cities.
The color of the road connecting the city is unimportant, but the market must be directly connected to be active.
An inactive market is worth 0 points.
Value of a market: the value of a market (in a city or a village) is equal to the number of places directly connected to the city or village. Places are other cities, other villages, or oracles.
Important: directly connected means the place is connected by a road without any other places in between. The colors of the roads or cities are unimportant to the value of the market.
Count only the places that are directly connected to the city or village - not just the roads:
A road that does not connect to a place counts 0. 2 or more roads connected to the same place count as only 1 connected place.
Example I:
Red: the red market in the red city is active because it matches the city color. It is worth 1 point as the red city has 1 connection.
The red market in the orange city is active, because the red road connects it to a red city. It is worth 3 points as the orange city is connected to 3 places.
The red market in the brown city is not active, as the brown city is not connected to a red city. It is worth 0 points.
Brown: both brown markets are active: one in the brown city and one in the village connected to the brown city: the market in the city is worth 4 points; the one in the village is worth 3 points.
Yellow: the yellow market in the brown city is active and is worth 4 points. The yellow market in the yellow city is active and also worth 4 points. There are 5 roads connected from it, but they only go to 4 different places.
The yellow market in the village is not active as it is not connected to a yellow city. It is worth 0 points.
Orange: all orange markets are active. The market in the brown city is worth 4 points, the one in the village is worth 2 points, the one in the yellow city is worth 4 points, and the one in the orange city: 3 points.
Sell a market: the value of active markets is normally tallied at the end of the game. As mentioned earlier, a player may build a market at the end of his turn. Instead, however, a player may sell an active market at the end of his turn, to get the value of the market to use in later turns. It is only allowed for a player to either build 1 market or sell 1 market at the end of his turn. He may not do both. Also, a player may not sell more than 1 market in a turn.
Example: brown founds a new city and automatically builds a market there. At the end of her turn, she may build another market or she may sell a market.
When a player sells a market, he places the market on it side, but leaves it in the village or city. This shows that the market was sold. It also means that the player cannot build another market in this city or village, as he is allowed only 1 per village or city. Of course, at game end, sold markets have no value.
Important: when building a market, sold markets are not counted when calculating the building cost of the market.
In example J, orange and yellow have already sold their markets. Brown may, therefore, build a market in that city for only 3 points: 2 city tiles and the red market.
A player will sell a market during the game in order to have points for further building. Naturally, it may not be favorable to sell a market that could increase in value, but a player may need the points for further building more than the extra points at the end of the game.
A sold market remains on its side and may never be rebuilt.
The Oracle
To gain the attention of an oracle, a player must build a road connecting one of his cities to the oracle. When a player connects the first city to an oracle with a road, the oracle is placed so it points to the road connecting the oracle to the city. This city has the attention of the oracle.
In K, yellow founds a city and builds a road connecting it to an oracle. The oracle now points to the road that connects it to the yellow city (L).
When other cities connect to this oracle, the oracle may change its attention, but only if one of the other cities is more important than the one it points to. A city's importance is measured by the number of places it connects to. If a new city has the same number of connections as the city with the oracle's attention, the oracle remains unchanged.
Example M: next, red founds a city and connects it to the oracle and a village. As the red city has more connections (2:1) than the yellow city, the oracle turns her attention to the road connecting to the red city.
Example N: the orange player founds a city and connects it to the oracle and 2 other cities, giving it 3 connections, causing the oracle to shift her attention again - to the road connecting to the orange city.
Example O: red and yellow are competing for the attention of the same oracle. Red now has the attention with 5 connections to yellow's 4. For yellow to capture the oracle's attention, she will have to add 2 connections (6) to have more than red's 5. A tie would leave the oracle's attention at red's city.
At the end of the game, a player scores 4 points for each oracle that points to one of his cities. A single city can attract the attention of several oracles and scores 4 points for each.
Important: a village can never attract the attention of an oracle.
Game End
The game ends after the 8th or 12th round. The last 4 action cards are not used in the shorter, less constricted, game. First, players collect the non-active and sold markets from the board and return them to the box. This will make scoring easier. Now, players score all active (and unsold) markets. Players score the cities and villages one at a time, moving the appropriate player markers forward on the scoring track to record the scores. After scoring a village or city, remove the markets and return them to the box. This ensures that all will be scored and none scored twice.
In example P, there are 2 sold markets and 2 non-active markets (the red market in the brown city and the yellow in the village. Remove all 4 and put them in the box.
Example Q: now the remaining markets are scored. Orange scores 9 points, red and yellow 4 points each, and brown 3 points.
Finally, the oracles are scored. Each oracle scores 4 points for the player whose city she points to.
The player with the most points is the winner! If 2 or more players tie with the most points, the player with the most city and road tiles remaining in his supply is the winner!
Clarifications and Tips
How can I make profits with markets?
The value of a market in a city is the number of places the city is directly connected to. The size of a city plays no role in the value of its markets, but it does help determine the cost of placing a market there. The difference between the cost and the value is the profit a player can make from a market.
For example, brown builds a market in a city that costs him 4 points, as the city has 3 tiles and 1 other market. As the city is already connected to 6 places, a market in the city is worth 6 points, giving brown a profit of 2 points, plus the possibility of more if the players add connections to other places.
What do I get for enlarging a city?
That depends completely on a player's strategy. A player who is placing many markets may have little to gain from enlarging a city: it costs points and may help others with markets in the city. However, a player who wants to score for oracles will find larger cities more useful, as they can have more connections to other places than a small city. A large city in the middle of Magna Grecia can score several oracles, bringing the player who owns the city many points, if he establishes the right connections.
Does it make sense to found a city on a village with markets?
A player may found a city on a village with markets already in place. This is allowed, but may not be in the best interest of the founding player, because this may give the other players with markets there extra points.
Building a market in a village with the hope that another player will build a city there can be a good strategy. The cost of building the market in the village is small, but the value of the market in the city can be large if the city gains connections to many places.
It is not wise to build a market in a village and later found a city there, as the player pays for the market that would normally be free with the founding of the city. If a player does this, he does not add a market when he founds the city, as he already has one there.
Does it make sense to build a market in a village with other markets?
The more markets in a village, the more expensive it is to build a market there. For a player to score a market in a village at game end, the village must be connected to one of the player's cities. Thus, the question is whether the cost of building the market and making the necessary connection is worth the possible profit to be gained from having the market there. Although it can be worth it, in many cases it will not be.
Can a player have several markets in a city/village?
No. Once a player has a market in a city or village, he may not build another there.
What happens when two cities merge?
Two cities can be merged, but only when they belong to the same player. When a player merges two of his cities, he must remove one of his markets in the merged city. If one of the markets has been sold, he can remove the sold market, leaving the other to score later.
The same goes for other players' markets in the merged city. The player who owns the markets chooses which to remove.
Can a village attract the attention of an oracle?
No, oracles are only interested in cities.
Why play 8 or 12 turns?
Beginning players may choose to use only 8 action cards, playing an 8 round game. Players who prefer a longer, more competitive game, may choose to play 12 rounds.