Ora et Labora FAQ
124 questions players ask · Updated Nov 9, 2026 · Full rulebook
Rounds, Actions and Clergymen
- Who is the starting player in each round of a 3 or 4 player game?
- When do my clergymen come back to me?
- What if a player forgets to take back clergymen when the wheel turns?
- If the game ends on someone's action, does the player with the final action get clergymen back?
- Can I place a clergyman on a building without using its function?
- Do I still pay a building's cost if I place a clergyman but do not use its function?
- Can I put my prior on a building I just built to use it right away?
- Can I build a building with one action and use it with my next action?
- Can I pass if I cannot do anything useful on my turn?
- What can I do if all three of my clergymen are already placed?
- Can I issue a work contract after placing all my own clergymen?
- Can I flip grain to straw or trade coins, wine and whiskey at any time, even in the middle of an action?
- Can players trade goods with each other?
- Can I spend coins as food or energy?
- Can I use the joker even if it gives less than the normal goods indicator?
- Are the forest and moor cards limited?
- Can I take my prior back from the Locutory and place it on a second building in the same turn?
Work Contracts, Priory and Palace
- When I pay a work contract, who chooses which clergyman is placed and how the production is taken?
- When I use an opponent's building by work contract, who pays the building's goods cost?
- When I use an opponent's building by work contract, does it count my board or theirs (for example Festival Ground)?
- Can I issue a work contract for a building that already has a clergyman on it?
- Can I pay a work contract with wine or whiskey before the Winery or Distillery is built?
- Does building the Winery or Whiskey Distillery raise the work contract price for everyone?
- How does the Priory work: do I pay a work contract for the occupied building?
- Can the Priory use a building occupied by my own prior?
- What do the Priory, Palace and Grand Manor cost to use on an occupied building?
- If I use my own Priory on another player's building, who pays?
- Can I use the Sacristy twice in one turn with the Palace?
- If someone uses my Bathhouse by work contract, do I get a clergyman back?
Production Wheel and Goods
- What happens to a goods indicator on space 10 when the wheel turns?
- How do the checking numbers work on the second trip around the production wheel?
- What do the bold checking numbers on the production wheel mean?
- What do the circled arrows and numbers on the production wheel mean?
- Can I use the joker for stone or grapes before their own indicator enters the game?
- Can I use the stone (or grape) indicator in the round it enters the wheel?
- How can I get stone before the stone indicator enters in round 13?
- When the wheel passes a space with goods printed on the board, do I get them before the settlement phase?
- How do I get more forest and moor cards?
Landscapes and Building Placement
- How many times can I buy a landscape tile (district or plot)?
- Do I have to place a landscape the moment I buy it, and which way round?
- Can I place a plot so that it leaves a gap from my other landscape?
- Can I build a building on top of another building, such as the Clay Mound?
- Which buildings must be built next to another building?
- Can buildings be moved at all?
- Can I take a building card and keep it until I have room?
Individual Buildings
- Does the Castle let me build a settlement without paying its cost?
- Do I get real goods from the House of the Brotherhood or Festival Ground, and can I use them later?
- Can I mix goods types when taking goods for the House of the Brotherhood?
- Why would I use the Carpentry instead of just taking wood?
- Does the Bulwark give me both a district and a plot?
- Do I reset the wood and peat indicators after using the Calefactory?
- If I pay a wonder into the Round Tower, do I get change?
- Does a 5-coin tile count as a separate resource, for the Chamber of Wonders?
- Does the Chapel need both beer and whiskey to make a reliquary?
- Can the Pilgrimage Site turn a pot into an ornament and that ornament into a relic in one action?
- Can the Guest House or Hospice activate a Cottage or Cloister Garden I have not built yet?
- Is there a limit on how many times a building's conversion can be used?
- Can I use the joker on the Farmyard to take both grain and livestock?
- Are there two copies of some buildings, like Grapevine and Quarry?
The Settlement Phase
- When can I build a settlement?
- How do I pay for a settlement and where can it go?
- Must I build a settlement in each settlement phase, and which one?
- Can I build the settlement card I just received in this settlement phase?
- Which settlements do I start the game with?
- Can every player buy a landscape in the settlement phase, and do I need to build a settlement to do so?
- Does the production wheel turn again for the settlement phase?
- What happens to buildings nobody bought when a new settlement phase starts?
- Can settlements be built next to each other?
- When is an empty slot in the building display refilled?
Scoring
Bonus Round In Three And Four Player Games
- Is round 25 the bonus round, or is there a normal round 25 first?
- What can I do with my single bonus round action?
- In the bonus round, can I place my prior on another player's building or an occupied one?
- Which clergymen come back before the bonus round, and when?
- Can I buy a plot or district in the bonus round?
- In the bonus round, who is the starting player?
- In the bonus round, can I use the Priory on a building whose prior was just taken back?
The Short Multiplayer Game
- In the short multiplayer game, who gets the bonus good when the wheel produces?
- What are the two goods printed on each wheel space in the short game?
- Which spaces of the heartland stay empty in the short multiplayer game?
- Which buildings do I use in the short game, and do the 3+ / 4 labels still apply?
- Does the two-player short game also have bonus production?
- When do I get my clergymen back in the short game?
The Two Player Game
- Which two-player version should I play first?
- How do turns work in the standard two-player game?
- When does a standard two-player game end?
- What if neither player can build the remaining buildings, for example when both cloisters are blocked?
- What happens on the final action of a two-player game?
- How do I build the D settlements in the two-player game?
- Can I build more than five settlements in a two-player game?
- Which markings on the production board do I use in the two-player game?
- When do I get my clergymen back in the two-player game?
- What counts as a turn in the two-player game?
- Can I pass in a two-player game?
- Which buildings do I leave out in a two-player game?
- When do the grape and stone indicators enter the two-player game?
- In a settlement phase, do the new buildings arrive at the start or the end?
The Long Two Player Game
The Solo Game
- How many actions do I get in the solo game, and when does it end?
- In the solo game, when is my final turn compared to the last settlement phase?
- Where do I get stone and grapes in the solo game?
- Which buildings are used in the solo game?
- What does the neutral player do at each settlement phase?
- Can I use the neutral player's prior on a building it just built?
- How many clergymen does the neutral player use?
- Does the neutral player use settlement cards, and where do I keep mine?
- What does turning the district and plot piles upside down mean in solo setup?
- Do I remove 3+ and 4 player cards in the solo game?
Components and Setup
- Do I use both game boards and both production wheels?
- What player colours does the game have?
- What if the glossary and the building cards disagree?
- Is the Essen bonus landscape (FL1, Lehmlandschaft) only for the French variant?
- Do the different editions of Ora et Labora have different rules?
- Why are buildings double-sided, and how do I know which are used?
- Are goods tiles limited?
- Do all players start with the same goods?
- What is the coin on the starting player marker for?