Micro Architects
Micro Architects Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Architects Board
- 4 City Boards
- 4 Resident Boards
- 120 Buildings
- 60 Residents Tokens
- 24 Action Tokens
- 44 Boat Tokens
- 20 Landmark Tiles
- 4 Scoring Tokens
- 20 Service Cards
- 20 Goal Cards
- 10 Automa Cards
- 20 Event Cards
City Board
The Architects board has the following sections:
- Building plans - Architects present their building plans to the city planners. Each round place a specific number of Buildings here.
- Backup plans - Place for 6 additional Buildings.
- Landmark requirements - Place for Landmark requirement tiles.
- Services - Place for 3 Service cards.
- Action description - Description of actions and place to store Action tokens.
- City planning guidelines - Place for Goal tiles.
- Scoring track - Players mark their victory points (VP) here.
- Round summary
The City board consists of 8 blocks. Each block is either green or gray. In each of them there are 2 lots by the water and 2 lots by the mountains.
Buildings
There are 120 buildings in 6 types (20 each): residential, shops, offices, municipal, industrial, landmarks.
Landmarks are special Buildings with particular requirements regarding their placement in the city and vicinity to other buildings.
Types of Buildings are relevant while scoring for Goals, Landmark requirements as well as Services.
Goal Tiles
Goals are the main way of scoring points in Micro Architects. Each of the three game rounds has 2 Goals which specify the required Building arrangement for the given round. At the end of each round players score points indicated on the right side of the tile, for each block where Buildings are placed according to the pattern shown on the Goal tiles chosen for the given round.
Landmark Requirement Tiles
Each time a player picks a Landmark tokens (black) he also picks one of the available Preference tiles from the Lounge. He then places the Landmark in a block and the chosen Preference tile beside it. From now on this Preference tile becomes a Landmark goal and at the end of each round scores points for fulfilling its conditions.
The bottom part of the Requirement tile shows a Landmark's:
- Placement preference - block colour and its preferred lot (river or mountain). If, at the end of the round, the Landmark is placed according to both these preferences the player scores 1 VP.
- Neighbour preference - types of neighbouring buildings in the same block. At the end of the round players receive 1 VP for each building in either of the two types.
Remember: Regardless of the number of Action tokens you have, you can only spend up to 2 of them on each turn.
Service Tiles
Service tiles show additional Services available for the Buildings in your City. In order to acquire a Service tile, a player must use two Boat tokens. On the left side of each Service tile is an illustration indicating a particular service. The right side shows which types of Buildings could use this Service. At the end of each round players score 2 VP for every pair of Buildings in the indicated types located in the player's City.
Action Tokens
Action tokens are used for performing actions - each action requires moving 1 Action token to the Blueprint area. Each player begins the game with 2 Action tokens. At the end of round I and II each player receives 2 Action tokens and adds them to their pool of available Action tokens.
At any moment of the game, a player can use 1 Boat token to reclaim 2 Action tokens. (Any number of times).
Boat Tokens
Each time a player places a Building on the last available lot of a given block, they receive 1 Boat token and place it on the lifebuoy icon by that block. A Boat can only be received once per block. Boats are used to acquire Service tiles and retrieve previously used Action tokens.
Used Boats remain on the City board but must be moved to the left so that the lifebuoy is visible.
Each unused Boat provides an extra 2 VP at the end of the game.
Scoring Tokens
Scoring tokens are used for marking players' victory points on the scoring track after each round.
Game Setup
Place the Architects board in the middle of your table.
Shuffle all Goal cards and place 3 pairs above the Architects Board. Put the remaining cards back in the box as they will not be used for the rest of the game.
Shuffle all Service cards and place 3, face up, to the left of the Architects board. Put the remaining Service cards to the side.
Put all Buildings in the bag, shake well, draw the proper number and place them, in rows, below the Architects board.
- 2 players: 2 rows with 10 Buildings each
- 3 players: 3 rows with 9 Buildings each
- 4 players: 4 rows with 8 Buildings each
Draw 6 Buildings from the bag and place them in the Backup plans section of the Architects board.
Shuffle Requirement tiles and draw as many as the number of Landmarks in the first row of the Building plans section and the Backup plans summed up. Place them, face up, to the left of the Architects board. Put the remaining Requirement tiles in a facedown stack near the board.
Each player receives 1 City board and 2 Action tokens in their chosen colour which they place in their play area as well as a Scoring token which they place on the 0 space of the scoring track.
First player token goes to the person who last held a hammer.
Game Play
The game is divided into 3 rounds. Each round consists of:
- Action phase
- Scoring phase
- Cleanup phase
Action Phase
Beginning with the first player, all players perform their turns in a clockwise order. On their turn each player performs the following actions, in any order:
- MUST pick 1 Building from the first from the top, non-empty row on the Blueprint card and place it onto a free lot in their City.
- CAN perform up to two Actions, discarding 1 Action token to the Boat Office per action.
- CAN collect any number of Service cards using 2 Boats for each of them.
Picking Buildings
Buildings are always chosen from those currently available in the top (first, non-empty) row on the Blueprint card. A player can pick any available Building in the row regardless of their order. After picking the Building, a player must place it onto any free lot in their City. If a Building is placed on the last available lot of a block, the player automatically receives 1 Boat token and places it on the lifebuoy icon by that block.
Each time a player picks a Landmark (black building) they also pick one of the available Requirement tiles from the Blueprint board. They then place the Landmark on a block and the chosen Requirement tile beside it. Each block can fit up to 4 Landmarks. Therefore, there can be no more than 4 Requirement tiles beside it.
Performing Actions
At any point of their turn, before or after picking a Building, a player can perform up to two Actions using 1 Action token per action. Used tokens should be placed onto the appropriate spot on the Blueprint board.
Available actions:
1. Overhaul
Swap two Buildings of your choice in your City.
If you are swapping a Landmark you must also take one of the Requirement tiles beside that block and place it beside the new block.
2. Relocation
Move a Building to any other available lot in your City.
If this Building is placed in the last available lot of a block, and if there is no Boat token beside it, draw one Boat token and place it on the lifebuoy icon by that block.
3. Backup plan
Swap a chosen Building from your City with one of the available ones in the Backup Plans area. If it is a Landmark you chose from the Backup Plans area, you must pick one of the available Requirement tiles and place it beside the block where you are placing the Landmark. If you are swapping a Landmark with another Building from the Backup Plans area, remove one of the Requirement tiles from beside that Landmark's block and put it back onto the Landmark Requirements section.
4. Demanding residents
Draw 2 additional Service cards and place them beside the Buffet, face up. You can now decide if you want to spend 2 Boat tokens and pick one of the available 5 Service cards.
5. I'm not supposed to be here! (Used only with the Residents module)
Discard the Resident token you just picked and choose a Resident token of any colour from the box, then place it on your Residential board.
NOTE: If a block has more than one Landmark tile, then, when swapping the Landmark from this block you can move a Requirement tile of your choice from the ones beside this block.
Acquiring Services
At any moment of their turn, a player can use (move to the left, revealing a lifebuoy) any 2 Boat tokens in order to pick one of the available Service cards. Immediately draw another one from the Service cards stack so that there are always 3 available.
After picking a Service card, a player places it beside their City.
NOTE: Players cannot have two identical Service cards.
Using the "Demanding Residents" Action
Before choosing a card, a player can spend 1 action token and perform the "Demanding Residents" action in order to increase the number of available Service cards to choose from by 2.
If a player picks one of the extra 2 Service cards, they place the remaining one onto the discard pile. If they pick one of the basic 3 Service cards, they should also replace the chosen one with a new one from the top of the Service card stack and put the 2 extra Service cards onto the discard stack.
Continuing the Action Phase
After the active player ends their turn, it's the next player's turn. Players perform their turns until they pick the last Building from the current row. When that happens, count how many Landmarks there are in the next non-empty row (from top) and the Waiting area and place the proper number of Requirement tiles to the right of the Architects board, taking them from the top of the Requirement tile stack. Now, the first player passes the First player token to the person sitting to their left.
Players continue their turns, beginning with the Player holding the First Player token, until the current row of Buildings is empty. If this was not the last row, fill the Requirement tiles once more, pass the First Player token to the next person and continue the Action Phase of the current round. If this was the last row of Buildings the Action Phase of this round is complete and the Scoring Phase begins.
Scoring Phase
Players score for: 1. Goals, 2. Landmarks, 3. Services.
Goals
In each round, there are 2 different patterns for scoring Buildings in your City, as shown on Goal tiles for the given round. Each player scores VP shown on the right side of the Goal tile, for every block where all Buildings are placed according to the pattern shown on the left side of the Goal tile.
- This symbol means a Building of any type.
- This symbol means all Buildings must be of the same type.
- This symbol means all Buildings must be of different types.
All Goal tiles are explained in the Goal Tile Descriptions section of this rulebook.
Landmarks
Each player receives points for all of their Requirement tiles. Score each tile separately.
If a Building is placed according to its placement preference a player scores 1 VP for this Requirement tile. Additionally, a player can score up to 3 VP, 1 VP for each Building in one of the two types indicated on the given Requirement tile. It means that each Requirement tile can grant a maximum of 4 VP for fulfilling both preferences shown on the given tile.
NOTE: One Landmark matches only one of the Requirement tiles.
Example 1
Requirement tile 1 - The player scores 3 VP total - 1 VP for the lot and the colour of the block based on the Landmarks' requirements (gray block by the mountains) and 2 VP for the two Building types indicated on the Requirement tile.
Requirement tile 2 - The player scores 2 VP total - 0 VP for the lot and the colour of the block based on the Landmarks' requirements (it's placed by the river but not in a green block) 2 VP for the two Building types indicated on the Requirement tile.
Example 2
Requirement tile 1 - The player scores 2 VP total - 1 VP for the lot and the colour of the block based on the Landmarks' requirements (green block by the mountains) and 1 VP for the purple Building in the block.
Requirement tile 2 - The player scores 0 VP total - 0 VP for the lot and the colour of the block based on the Landmarks' requirements (green block by the mountains) and 0 VP for the Buildings in the block.
Requirement tile 3 - The player scores 1 VP total - 0 VP for the lot and the colour of the block based on the Landmarks' requirements (gray block by the river) and 1 VP for the purple Building in the block.
Services
Each player receives points for all of their Service tiles. Score each tile separately, counting all pairs of Buildings of types indicated on the given Service tile. These Buildings do not have to be beside one another, they only have to be placed in the player's City.
The player scores 2 VP for each pair of Buildings of the given types.
Each Building counts towards scoring multiple Service tiles.
Remember: Players cannot have two identical Service cards.
Example: In the following example, at the end of the 2nd round of a 2-player game, the player has 2 Service tiles: the first one scoring for pairs of and, and the other one, scoring for pairs of and. In their City, the player has the following Buildings: 6, 6, 3, 2 and 1. Each Service tile scores separately. The first tile scores 6 VP. Although the player has 6 only 3 of them form pairs with. The second tile scores 12 VP, for 6 pairs and. At the end of the round, the player scores 18 VP for all his Service tiles. In the next round, he will be able to get more Service tiles and score more VP for the same pairs of Buildings.
Once all players finish scoring for the current round and marking their results on the Scoring Track, the Cleanup Phase begins.
Cleanup Phase
After scoring in rounds I and II perform the following actions: (This phase is omitted at the end of round III).
Flip both Goal tiles for the current round of the game, face down. In the following round, the next two Goal tiles will indicate new scoring patterns.
Put the Buildings from the Backup Plans Area back in the bag, shake well and then draw 6 new Buildings to place in the Backup Plans Area.
Draw the proper number of Buildings and place them below the Architects board:
- 2 players: 2 rows, 10 Buildings each
- 3 players: 3 rows, 9 Buildings each
- 4 players: 4 rows, 8 Buildings each
Round II:
- 2 players: 2 rows, 8 Buildings each
- 3 players: 3 rows, 9 Buildings each
- 4 players: 4 rows, 12 Buildings each
Round III:
Discard the remaining Requirement tiles and replace with as many new Requirement tiles as there are Landmarks in both the first row of the Building Plans and in the Backup Plans Area. If there are none, then no Requirement tiles should be placed.
Each player receives 2 Action tokens.
The first player passes the First player token to the person sitting to his left.
Begin the next round with the player holding the First player token. If this is the end of round III, skip the Cleanup Phase.
Final Scoring
The game ends after round III. Apart from the points scored during the game, players score additional points for their unused Boats and Action tokens.
Each unused Boat is worth 2 VP. Each unused Action token is worth 1 VP.
The player with the most victory points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the least Landmarks in their City wins the game. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.
NOTE: Some scenarios can introduce additional ways of scoring victory points.
Solo Mode
Single player mode allows a 1 player game against a virtual opponent called the Automa. During the Action Phase, the Automa performs turns according to cards in the Automa card deck.
An Automa card is divided into three sections and each of them shows a different action that the Automa can perform on its turn. First, Automa tries to perform the action shown on the top section of the tile. If it is not possible, it then tries to perform the action on the second section, and then the third.
Game Setup
- Setup is the same as for a 2 player game.
- Automa receives a City board and one random Service tile.
- Shuffle Automa's cards and place them, face down, beside its City.
- Place the Buildings in the Backup Plans section in one row.
Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to the multiplayer mode with a few changes listed below.
- During the game, place Requirement tiles in one row.
- You are ALWAYS the first player.
- The Automa player can place only ONE Landmark per block.
The course of the game is the same as in the multiplayer mode. Automa takes its turn using its deck of cards.
If, during any action, the Automa has a few options to choose from, the following resolving order should be used.
Overview of Automa Tiles
At the beginning of the Automa's turn, pick a card from the top of Automa's deck of cards. Automa's card consists of three sections. It always tries to resolve the topmost section of the card. If that is not possible, it then moves to the next section.
Section 1
Automa picks any available Landmark from the current row and takes a Requirement tile indicated by the arrow (in the example it is the first tile from the right). Automa places it in a block according to its placement preference. If the Automa is, for any reason, unable to place a Landmark according to the Requirement tile placement preference, it takes the next available Requirement tile and tries again.
If the Automa is unable to place a Building or there are no Landmarks in the current row, it moves to the next section.
NOTE: Remember - The Automa player can place only ONE Landmark per block.
Example: Automa picks any of the two Landmarks from the first row and takes the rightmost Requirement tile.
Section 2
Automa picks a Building matching the requirements on the first (in the Resolving order) Landmark Requirement tile in its City that has an available lot in its block. If there are two types of Buildings to choose from, Automa takes the first matching Building from the left.
Example: The Automa has two Landmarks in its carriage. Based on the Resolving order first check the requirements of Landmark 1. As there are no nor in the top row move on to Landmark 2. Landmark 2 would prefer to have or as neighbors and as both of these Building types are present in the top row, Automa picks the leftmost one (in this case) and places that tile in any seat of that Landmarks' block.
Section 3
Automa picks a Building indicated by the number and arrow (in the example it is the 4th Building from the right). If there are less Buildings than the indicated number, Automa picks the last one.
If the chosen Building is of a type corresponding to the preferences of any of the Landmarks with available lots in their block, then it should be placed in that Landmark's block. In any other case, the Building should be placed in the first available block according to the resolving order.
If the indicated Building happens to be a Landmark, the Automa picks the first available Requirement tile indicated by the arrow in the bottom section of the Automa tile (in this example it's the first tile from the right).
If the Landmark picked cannot be placed in the City, the following Building should be considered - in this case the 5th Building from the right.
General Rules for the Automa
The Automa can have a maximum of 1 Landmark tile per block.
If the Automa cannot perform an action from the topmost section of its tile it moves on to the next section.
If the only available Building is a Landmark and the Automa cannot place it in its City according to the rules, it is exchanged with a Building from the Backup Plans based on the indication from the bottom section of the Automa's tile. (In the very unlikely event when there are only Landmarks available in the Backup Plans and the Automa cannot pick any of them, it picks a random Building from the bag).
The moment the Automa receives a second Boat token, it must IMMEDIATELY pick one of the available Services which rewards it the most Victory Points at the moment. If there are more Service tiles which reward the same amount of VP, the Automa picks the first card from the top. If none of the Services give the Automa any victory points at the moment, pick cards from the Service card deck until you find a Service that does.
Scoring
The Automa scores VP only for Landmarks and Services. It DOESN'T score any points for Goals.
Depending on the chosen difficulty level, the Automa scores the following number of points:
| Difficulty | Services (each pair scores) | Landmarks (proper placement scores) |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 2 | 2 |
| Medium | 2 | 3 |
| Hard | 3 | 3 |
| Extreme | 3 | 4 |
Example of Automa scoring on MEDIUM difficulty: Services - Automa gains 2 VP for every pair of Buildings of the given type. Landmarks - Automa gains 3 VP for each Landmark that is placed according to its placement preference and 1 VP for each neighbouring Building according to its preferences.
At the end of the game, any unused Boat token gives the Automa extra 5 VP.
Goal Tile Descriptions
Goal 001-005 - 2 pairs of Buildings (in this example Workers and Soldiers) placed diagonally to each other. This pattern can be mirrored.
Goal 006-010 - Building of a specified type (Soldier in this example) surrounded by 3 Buildings of one type (they can be the same type as the specified Building).
Goal 011 - Pair of Buildings of the same type placed in one block by the mountains.
Goal 012 - Pair of Buildings of the same type placed in one block by the river.
Goal 013 - Block with a pair of Buildings of the same type by the mountains and another pair of Buildings of the same type by the river. Both pairs can be of the same type.
Goal 014 - Pair of Buildings of the same type placed in a gray block. These pairs must be placed by the mountains or by the river.
Goal 015 - Pair of Buildings of the same type placed in a green block. These pairs must be seated by the mountains or by the river.
Goal 016 - 4 Buildings of the same type in a column.
Goal 017 - 4 Buildings of different types in one block.
Goal 018 - 4 Buildings of different types in a column.
Goal 019 - Buildings of all 6 types in gray blocks.
Goal 020 - Buildings of all 6 types in 2 blocks opposite each other.
Goal 021 - 4 Buildings of the same type forming one horizontal line.
Goal 022 - 4 Buildings of the same type placed by the mountains in two adjacent blocks.
Goal 023 - 4 Buildings of the same type placed by the river in two adjacent blocks.
Goal 024 - Starting with the leftmost compartment create a pattern of diagonally placed Buildings of one type. The longer the pattern, the more VP you score (max 2 = only for 2 longest patterns). This pattern can be mirrored.
Residents Module
Components
- 4 Resident Boards
- 60 Residents Tokens (in 6 colors matching the 6 Building colors)
Game Setup
Follow the standard game setup.
Beginning with the first Building from the left in each row, place a Resident token of a corresponding colour beside every other Building of each row.
Each player receives a Residential board and places it beside their City board.
Each player receives a Residential board. Each board contains 3 sections with 2 rows each.
Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to the base game with a few changes listed below.
Picking Buildings
When picking a Building tile with a Resident token beside it, place the Building as usual in one of the available lots in your City. Put the Resident token in any available space, in one of the rows on the Residential board.
Each row on the Residential board can store Resident tokens of one colour only.
A Landmark's Resident token (black) can be used as ANY color.
In case a player can no longer add another Resident (e.g. all rows on the Residential board are full or are in a different colour than the new Resident token) it is discarded. When a row is filled with 3 Resident tokens of the same colour, a player receives one of 2 bonuses - scores 3 VP or retrieves 1 Action token - depending on which row is filled.
Upon completing two adjacent rows, a player receives 1 Boat token and puts it on a dedicated space on their Residential board (Boat tokens can be used according to the standard rules).
Performing Actions
With this expansion, players can perform one more type of action by using 1 Action token as normal.
I'm not supposed to be here!
Discard the Resident token you just picked and choose a Resident token of any colour from the box, then place it on your Residential board.
Solo Mode
The solo mode plays according to the solo rules from the base game with a few changes listed below.
Automa fills its Residential board from top to bottom. First filling the first row, then the second etc. The colors of the Resident tokens are irrelevant to the Automa (Automa may place different colored Resident tokens in the same row).
Automa gains 3 points for EVERY filled row and gains a Boat token for filling two adjacent rows.
Automa always prioritizes Buildings with Resident tokens beside them.
Changes to the Automa tiles:
Section 1
Whenever picking a Landmark, pick one with a Resident token beside it (if possible).
Section 2
Automa takes the first matching Building from the left with a Resident token beside it (if possible).
Section 3
If the indicated Building doesn't have a Resident token, pick the first Building with a Resident token (from the left or right - depending on the direction of the arrow).