Nova Era
Nova Era Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Overview
- Components List
- Setup
- Basic Concepts
- Component Anatomy
- Gameplay
- Unrest
- Scoring Phase
- New Era
- Check For Obsolescence
- End of Game
- Fast Play Variant
- Round Structure
- Credits
Game Overview
In Nova Era, players develop their own Civilization by expanding their Territories, enlisting famous Personalities, and researching and developing new Technologies throughout the ages to become the most advance and prosperous Civilization. But watch out for global Disasters, social Unrest that turns into Civil Wars, and decisions that may cause Civilizations to fall into a dark age! Only the smartest Ruler will be able to rise to the top and create the most successful Civilization!
Components List
- 8 Technologies (Starting)
- 18 Evolution (Era I > II)
- 18 Evolution (Era II > III)
- 40 Technologies (Era I)
- 32 Technologies (Era II)
- 32 Technologies (Era III)
- 148 Technology cards total
- 18 Personalities (Era I)
- 16 Personalities (Era II)
- 16 Personalities (Era III)
- 50 Personality cards total
- 1 Central Board
- 4 Civilization Boards
- 5 dice zones x5 (green, red, yellow, blue Resource-color dice groups)
- 20 Welfare, 20 Military, 20 Economic, 20 Knowledge — 80 Resource Tokens
- 15 Color Dice (3 green, 3 red, 3 yellow, 3 blue, 3 black)
- 2 Player Aid Cards
- 5 Dice Zones
- 1 Dice Bag
- 4 Player Scoring Markers
- 4 Unrest Markers
- 1 First Player Token
- 1 Round Marker
- 1 Dark Age Marker
- 4 Disaster Markers (Riots, Invasion, Decline, Regression)
- 1 Cleopatra Token
Cleopatra Token: This token will be used only if Cleopatra is enlisted as a Personality during the game. If Cleopatra is in the pool of Personalities, keep her token nearby.
Setup
Personality Cards Display: 2 Players / 3 Players / 4 Players columns. Technology Cards Display: 2 Players / 3 Players / 4 Players columns.
- Each player takes a Civilization board, 1 single Resource of each type, and 1 Unrest marker. Place the Unrest marker on 0 of each player's Unrest track and the Resource tokens in their respective slots on the Civilization board.
- Shuffle the 8 Starting Technology cards and deal 2 to each player. These cards are kept in the players' hands. Any remaining Starting Technology cards are returned to the box.
- Place the Central board in the middle of the table, leaving space for cards on either side.
- Each player takes a Scoring marker of the same color as their Civilization board, placing it on 0 of the Central board Scoring track.
- Place the 4 Disaster markers and the Dark Age marker on the 0 space of their corresponding tracks of the Central board.
- Place the Round marker on the left-most space of Era I on the Central board.
- Place all 15 dice in the Dice bag. Take a number of Dice Zones equal to the player count plus 1 and place them near the Central board.
- Separate and shuffle each of the Era I Decks for Technology and Personality cards and the Era I-II Evolution deck and place them facedown beside the Central board.
- Lay out Era I Technology cards faceup to create 4-card columns known as the Display, based on the number of players:
- 2 players: 4 columns (16 cards total)
- 3 players: 5 columns (20 cards total)
- 4 players: 6 columns (24 cards total)
- Lay out Era I Personality cards faceup based on the number of players:
- 2 players: 4 cards
- 3 players: 6 cards
- 4 players: 8 cards
- Create a reserve of Resource tokens close to the Central board.
- The oldest player takes the First Player token. With age comes wisdom, so they say.
Basic Concepts
The Past (Discard)
Over time, Personalities die, Technologies are made Obsolete or forgotten, and Territories are abandoned or lost. When a game effect causes cards to be put in the Past, the player discards the card facedown into the Past area of their Civilization board.
Obsolescence
Some Technologies make others Obsolete (e.g. the Crossbows card makes the Archery card Obsolete). When a Technology in a Civilization becomes Obsolete, it is discarded into its owner's Past on their Civilization board (see Check for Obsolescence on pg. 11).
IMPORTANT: When a player causes their own Technology to become Obsolete, they gain 1 Victory Point.
Flipping Dice
Some card effects will ask a player to flip their die. When flipping a die, the value that was facing up must end facing down.
The Display
The area where faceup cards are placed on the table. These cards are made available to players in the game through various player actions by paying their costs, fulfilling their requirements, or through resolving game effects.
Card Availability
When players try to obtain a faceup Technology card in each Era for their Civilization, only the bottom-most card in each column of the Display is available. Other cards only become available once they become the bottom-most card in their column. However, all faceup Personality cards are always available.
Damaged Cards
Many effects, like Disasters, will cause cards to become damaged. A damaged card is flipped facedown. While damaged it will have no further effect in the game. This means its Production, Ability, and Scoring Objective texts are ignored, even during a Scoring Phase. A damaged card can still be made Obsolete by discovering other Technologies. A player can repair damaged cards by spending dice (see Spending Dice on pg. 8).
Component Anatomy
Icons and Card Effects
Cards often have additional effects when they are acquired. These effects trigger in a variety of ways.
Instant: Triggers instantaneously when the card is obtained. The player immediately gains any benefits or suffers any penalties listed on the card.
Production: Triggers during each Production Phase (see Production on pg. 10). The player gains the benefits or suffers the penalties listed on each card with this icon during the Production Phase.
Scoring Objectives: Triggers during the Scoring Phase of every Era (see Scoring Phase on pg. 11). The player gains extra Victory Points during the Scoring Phase if the card's listed requirements are met.
Permanent Abilities: Other cards may grant players permanent abilities. These effects and how often they can be used will be specified on the card.
Transformation Abilities: Other cards may grant players the ability to transform one Resource type into another. These effects are optional and players can decide to trigger them when they are able to during the respective phase.
Types of Resource
- Welfare - Green
- Military - Red
- Economic - Yellow
- Knowledge - Blue
Central Board
The Central Board contains, from top to bottom: the Era Track, the Disaster Track (with Riots, Invasion, Decline, Regression, and Dark Age tracks numbered 0-9), and the Scoring Track (numbered 0-40).
Technology Card
A Technology card shows: Type (top left icon), Cost, Name, Era, Obsolescence (the Technology it makes obsolete, if any), Effect, and Evolution (the Era-advancing card it leads to).
Personality Card
A Personality card shows: Name, Era, Effect, Flavor text, Type (icon), and Cost.
Territory Card
A Territory card shows: Name, Era, Effect, and Requirements (the prerequisite Technologies needed to expand into it).
1st Player Token
One side is used during the Pick Dice Phase. It shows the player order for picking dice, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise.
The other side is used during the Spending Dice Phase. It shows the player order for spending dice, starting with the player to the right of the first player and proceeding counter-clockwise.
Civilization Board
The Civilization board shows, for each of the four Resource types (Welfare, Military, Economic, Knowledge), a card column and a Resource Token slot. It also shows the Unrest Track, the Player's Civilization Color, a Personalities row, a Territories row, a Past area (where cards that go to the Past are placed facedown), and the Player's Dice Area.
Raise Unrest when a die picked is above 10 or when hiring a Personality. The Unrest track runs 0 through 9, with spaces 7, 8, and 9 marked as the Civil War / Unrest Zone.
Gameplay
Nova Era is played over 3 Eras. Each Era consists of 3 Rounds followed by a Scoring Phase.
During each Round, players follow these steps in order.
1. Roll Dice (First Player Only)
The first player randomly draws 3 dice from the Dice bag and rolls them. They place the rolled values into 1 of the empty Dice Zones. Repeat this until there are 3 dice in each Dice Zone.
2. Pick Dice
Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player picks 1 Dice Zone, keeping the dice values unchanged. If the sum of the dice picked exceeds 10, that player must advance their Unrest marker by the excess value (see Unrest on pg. 10).
Example: The player picks a set of dice: a Yellow, Black, and Black die. Since the total is 11, they advance their Unrest marker by 1 space (11-10=1).
3. Advance Disasters
Once all players have picked their dice, there will be 1 Dice Zone remaining. Based on each of the remaining die's values, move the markers downwards on the Disaster and Dark Age tracks on the Central board, respectively. If a marker reaches the last space of its track, bad things will happen to all Civilizations (see Check for Dark Age below and Check for Disasters on pg. 9).
Note: Players only check for Disasters after all dice have been returned to the Dice bag.
Example: After every player has chosen a set of dice, the last group left consists of a Black, Black, and Red die. The Invasion marker advances 8 spaces and the Dark Age marker advances 3 spaces. None of them have reached the last space of their track (although the red track is close!), so no Disasters or Dark Age will trigger this round.
4. Check For Dark Age
If the Dark Age marker reaches the last space of its track, all Civilizations enter a Dark Age for the rest of the Era. Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player must:
- Choose 1 of their dice and return it to the Dice bag.
- Reduce the value of each remaining die by 1, to a minimum of 1.
5. Spending Dice
Starting with the player to the right of the first player and proceeding counter-clockwise, players must take turns spending 1 die at a time to perform 1 of the following actions:
- Develop Technology
- Gain Resources
- Enlist a Personality
- Expand Territory (Era II and Era III only)
- Repair Damaged Cards
- Reduce Unrest
- Research
A spent die is returned to the Dice bag. Each action must be fully completed before the next player's turn. This continues until all dice have been spent.
Develop Technology
Cost: 1 die and/or Resources of a matching color and value.
The player chooses 1 available Technology from the bottom columns in the Display or a Technology from their hand to develop. Players must be able to pay its cost using a die and/or Resources of a matching color. The value of the die will be used to pay its cost if their colors match. If the value of the die is lower than the cost, the difference must be paid with Resources of a matching color.
Note: If the value of the die is greater than the cost, the excess value is lost.
VERY IMPORTANT: In Era II and III, when developing a Technology, check if it makes other Technologies Obsolete (see Check for Obsolescence on pg. 11).
The player may use a die of a different color, in which case, the cost must be paid in full with Resources of a matching color.
After paying its cost, the player adds that card to their Civilization board in its corresponding column.
Note: Some Technology cards have a bicolor cost. Players must choose to pay the cost with either 1 of the 2 types of Resource only. Players cannot mix a die and Resources of a different color to pay the cost for Bicolor Technologies. Bicolor Technologies are placed in the column matching the color of the die or Resource used to pay for it.
Example: The player spends a Blue die to develop Military Tactics, so they must pay 2 Knowledge Resources to cover the difference.
Example: The player spends a Green die to develop Blacksmithing without paying additional costs. Blacksmithing is placed in the Welfare slot of their Civilization because the cost was paid with a Green die.
Gain Resources
Cost: 1 die of any color except Black Dice.
The player gains Resource tokens based on the die's color and value. Black dice do not give players Resources.
Example: The player spends a Red die, receiving 3 Military resources from the reserve.
Enlist a Personality
Cost: 1 die of any color. Player's Unrest may be affected based on the die's value.
Choose 1 available Personality and enlist them by paying their cost. The Personality influences player Unrest in the following ways, based on which die is spent:
A Black die is spent:
- If the value of the Black die is higher than the cost of the Personality, the excess value reduces the player's Unrest by that many spaces, to a minimum of 0 Unrest.
- If the value of the Black die is lower than the cost of the Personality, the remaining cost must be paid by increasing a player's Unrest that many spaces.
A non-Black die is spent:
- The Personality's full cost must be paid by increasing a player's Unrest that many spaces.
After paying its cost, add the Personality to the player's Civilization board in its corresponding space.
Example: The player spends a Red die and adds Sun Tzu to their Civilization. Since the Personality cost for Sun Tzu is 3, the player's Unrest is reduced by 3 spaces, from 4 to 1.
Example: The player spends a Yellow die and adds Genghis Khan to their Civilization. Since the Personality cost for Genghis Khan is 5, the player's Unrest is increased by 5 spaces, from 1 to 6.
Reduce Player Unrest
Cost: 1 Black die of any value.
The player can reduce the Unrest on their Civilization board by 1 space by discarding a black die of any value. Only a Black die can be used for this action.
Repair Damaged Cards
Cost: 1 die of any color and value.
Repair up to 2 damaged cards by flipping them faceup.
Expand Territory
Cost: 1 die of any color and meeting the requirements of the Territory.
Note: Territories are available in Era II and III only.
The player chooses 1 available Territory in the Display or a Territory from their hand to expand their Civilization.
Each Territory Card lists a prerequisite number of Technologies a player must own to expand their Territory. Players can only expand their Territories if they have fulfilled these requirements. The player spends a die of any color and value then adds the Territory card to their Civilization board.
Beware: Expanding a Civilization is controversial. This is reflected by how a Player's Unrest increases when they gain a Territory.
Example: The player spends a Yellow die and expands into an Urban Development, which has a prerequisite of 1 Welfare and 2 Military Technologies. They can do so since they have the prerequisite Technologies in their Civilization. They place Urban Development in the Territories column of their Civilization board. They then resolve the Instant effects of Urban Development by increasing their Unrest track by 1 and gaining 3 Welfare Resources.
Research a Technology or Territory
Cost: 1 die of any color and value.
The player chooses 1 available Technology or Territory in the Display (see Basic Concepts on pg. 4). The player spends a die of any color and value then adds the Technology or Territory card to their hand.
Example: The player spends a Black die to research a Technology. They can pick Craftsmanship, Mysticism, City Walls or Lighthouse. They cannot chose the other Technologies as they are not yet available.
6. Check For Disasters
After all dice have been returned to the Dice bag, players check for Disasters. If a Disaster marker has reached the last space of its track, the corresponding Disaster will trigger now. All players must damage 1 Technology matching the color of the triggered Disaster. If a player is unable to do so, they must put 1 Technology or Territory from their Civilization into the Past. Then, return that Disaster marker to the 0 space of its track. Disasters resolve in the following order:
- Riots (Green)
- Invasion (Red)
- Decline (Yellow)
- Regression (Blue)
Example: During the Pick Dice Phase, the Decline marker reached the last space of its track and Civilization Decline now affects all players. Andrea (A), who has Markets in play, is unaffected as the effect of Markets protects him from Decline. Lucy (B) has 2 undamaged yellow Technologies in play: Trade and Lighthouse. She has no protection from Decline, and so she chooses to damage Trade. Robert (C) has no yellow Technologies in his Civilization, so he chooses Warfare on his Civilization board to put into the Past.
7. Production
Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, players may resolve their Production effects in the order they choose.
Example: Andrea (A) has Irrigation and Tyranny in play, so he gets 1 Welfare Resource and his Unrest marker goes back 1 space. Lucy (D) has Caravans and Lighthouse, so she gets 2 Welfare Resources plus 2 of her choice since she is the player with the most Economic Technologies. She decides to take 2 Economic Resources. Robert (C) has Military Training and Pillage. He gets 1 Military Resource, then steals 1 Welfare Resource from Andrea and 1 Economic Resource from Lucy since he has more Military Technologies than them. Dale (D) has Oppression, Tributes, and Theater. His Unrest is unchanged as the effects of Oppression and Theater cancel each other out. He then gets 1 Knowledge Resource as his choice Resource for Oppression. Tributes do not give him any Resources as he has the same number of Military Technologies as Robert.
8. Clean Up
The First Player token is passed to the player on their left and the Round marker is moved 1 space to the right, beginning a new round. If the Round marker moves into the Scoring Phase space, players start the Scoring Phase instead (see Scoring Phase on pg. 11).
Unrest
A player's Unrest track increases when they pick a high-value Dice Zone during the Pick Dice Phase (see Pick Dice on pg. 6). The 3 RED spaces of the Unrest track (7-9) are called the Unrest Zone. When a player's Unrest marker enters or is in the Unrest Zone, that player's Civilization is in a state of Unrest. All that player's dice values are immediately reduced by 1 for the rest of the round, to a minimum value of 1.
Clarifications
- If a player's Civilization is already in Unrest during the start of the Pick Dice Phase and their combined dice value is higher than 10, they must first increase Unrest before reducing each die value by 1.
- Unrest is cumulative with a Dark Age. This means any Civilization in Unrest during a Dark Age must have all their dice values reduced by 2, to a minimum value of 1.
- Unrest is only applied once per round. Players' dice cannot be lowered multiple times by reaching and leaving the Unrest Zone multiple times in the same round.
Example: The player picks the following set of dice: Red, Black, and Black. They must increase their Unrest by 2. Their Unrest marker was already on the 5 space. The Unrest marker enters the Unrest Zone. Their dice are immediately reduced to the following values: Red, Black, and Black (each reduced by 1).
Civil War
If the Unrest marker reaches the last space of a player's Unrest track, that Civilization starts a Civil War. The player must immediately damage 1 Technology of every color and 1 Territory card, if possible.
After damaging Technologies and Territories, the Civil War ends and the Unrest marker resets to 0.
Example: The player's Civilization enters a Civil War. They have the following undamaged Technologies: 1 Green, 1 Red, 2 Yellow. They also have a Territory. Because of the Civil War, they must damage the Green, Red, either of the Yellow Technologies, as well as their only Territory. As they do not have any Blue Technology, it is ignored. Their Unrest marker goes back to the starting space of the Unrest track. Their remaining dice values are unchanged.
Scoring Phase
When the Round marker reaches the Scoring space on the Era track, the Scoring Phase begins and players gain Victory Points as follows:
- 1 Victory Point for each color of Technology/Territory they have in play.
- 1 Victory Point for each color of Technology/Territory they have majority in (more cards of a specific type than any other player).
- Victory Points awarded by fulfilling Personalities/Technologies with Scoring Objectives. If multiple players fulfill the conditions when Scoring an Objective, no one gains the Victory Points.
IMPORTANT: Damaged cards do not count towards Victory Point scoring.
After each Scoring Phase, follow the New Era procedures below. After the final Scoring Phase, the game ends.
New Era
When starting a New Era, players must follow these steps:
- All Technology, Personality, and Territory cards in the current Display are removed from the game.
- Players check all developed Technologies and expanded Territories for possible Evolutions. Search the corresponding decks for the specific Evolution Technology, adding it to their hands.
- For Era II, search the I->II Evolution deck.
- For Era III, search the II->III Evolution deck.
- All Personalities are put into their respective player's Past.
- Return the Dark Age marker (not the 4 Disaster markers) to the 0 space of its track.
- Lay out the next Era's Technology cards faceup to create 4-card columns, based on the player count:
- 2 players: 4 columns (16 cards total)
- 3 players: 5 columns (20 cards total)
- 4 players: 6 columns (24 cards total)
- Lay out the next Era's Personality cards faceup based on the number of players:
- 2 players: 4 cards
- 3 players: 6 cards
- 4 players: 8 cards
- Move the Round marker to the first space of the next Era.
Check For Obsolescence
Note: This rule only comes into play in Era II and Era III.
During Era II and Era III, developing a Technology or Territory (see Spending Dice on pg. 7) may render other Technologies Obsolete (stated in the card's Obsolete section).
When a card is made Obsolete:
- The Name of the Obsolete Technology card(s) must immediately be declared to all players.
- All players who own any Obsolete Technologies must put them in their Past, regardless of whether the card is damaged.
- If the Obsolete Technology is in a player's hand, it is removed from the game and put back in the box.
However, if a player develops a Technology which causes their own cards to become Obsolete, they are considered as being upgraded. They gain 1 Victory Point for each undamaged Technology or Territory card put into their Civilization's Past in this way. They do not gain Victory Points for cards made Obsolete from their own hand.
End of Game
After the final Scoring Phase in Era III, each player now gains 1 Victory Point for every 10 Resources they have, rounded down. The player with the most Victory Points wins the game.
In the case of a tie, the player with the lowest Unrest wins.
Fast Play Variant
Experience a faster-paced, exciting variant of Nova Era that focuses on quick decisions by proceeding to the End of Game Phase after the Era II Scoring Phase.
Setup
Follow the usual game setup based on player count, removing the following cards:
- Era II > III Evolution Cards
- Era III Technology Cards
- Era III Personality Cards
Round Structure
A quick-reference summary of the round, numbered 1-8:
- Roll Dice — Fill Dice Zones with sets of 3 dice each. (Note: Dice Zones are equal to the player count plus 1.)
- Pick Dice — Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player picks a Dice Zone of dice. If the combined dice value exceeds 10, that player increases their Unrest, resolving Unrest or Civil War, if applicable.
- Advance Disasters — Advance the Disaster and Dark Age Tracks by the value of each die in the remaining Dice Zone.
- Check for Dark Age — If the Dark Age track reaches its end, every player must discard 1 die and reduce all remaining dice values by 1.
- Spending Dice — Starting with the player to the right of the first player and proceeding counter-clockwise, each player takes turns spending 1 die at a time to perform 1 of the following actions: Develop a Technology from hand or the Display; Gain Resources based on Die Value (non-Black dice only); Enlist a Personality; Reduce Unrest by 1 (Black dice only); Repair up to 2 damaged Cards; Expand Territory (Era II and III only); Research a Technology or Territory to your hand.
- Check for Disasters — After all dice have been spent, players check if any Disaster tracks reached their end. If a Disaster triggers, all players must damage 1 Technology matching the Disaster's color. If they cannot, they must put 1 Territory or 1 Technology of another color into their Past. Then, return that Disaster marker to its 0 space. Players that are protected from Disasters ignore these effects.
- Production — Players gain benefits from Technologies and Territories with the Production icon.
- Clean Up + Scoring Phase — Pass the First Player token to the next player on the left. Move Round marker 1 space to the right. After the third round of each era, proceed to the Scoring Phase.
End of Game: After Era III Scoring Phase, players gain +1 Victory Point for every 10 Resources (rounded down). Player with most Victory Points wins!
Game Icons
- Instant: Triggers instantly when played.
- Production: Triggers during Production Phase.
- Objective Scoring: Triggers during Scoring Phase.
- Victory Points
- Unrest
- Personality
- Resources (Welfare, Military, Economic, Knowledge)
- Colored Die
- Any Resource
- Any Die
- Technology Cards
Credits
- VP of Game Design: Guilherme Goulart
- Game Design: Andrea Chiarvesio
- Lead Developer: Alexio Schneeberger
- Development: Marco Legato, Rugerfred Sedda, and Pierluca Zizzi
- Lead Producers: Kenneth Tan and Gregory Varghese
- Production: Thiago Aranha, Daryl Choo, Marcela Fabreti, Rebecca Ho, Isadora Leite, Erwann Le Torrivellec, and Nicholas Sia
- Art Direction: Mathieu Harlaut
- Graphic Designers: Gabriel Burghi and Matteo Ceresa
- Illustration: Agnès Ripoche
- Publisher: David Preti
- Playtesters: Alessandro Avataneo, Giorgio Bacolla, Claudio Bagliani, Fabrizio Corselli, Alessandro Cuneo, Rocco Dereviziis, Fabio Galbiati, Christian Giove, Cristian Giuran, William Greco, Luca Iennaco, Dario Massarenti, Walter Obert, Pierpaolo Paoletti, Simone Paris, Gianluca Pavone, Lavinia Pinello, Paolo Ruffo, Valentina Sacco, Fiorenzo Sartore, Beatrice Sgaravatto, Marco Tamagno, Emanuele Tomasetti, Vincenzo Tura, and Alberto Vendrammini