Peloponnes Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Power Card
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1. Reveal Power Cards
  • 2. Catastrophes/Supply
  • 3. Bidding
  • 4. Turn order
  • 5. Gain Power Cards
    • Adding power cards
    • Paying resources for building cards
  • 6. Income
• Supply
• Luxury Goods
• Catastrophes
• Game End
• Scoring
• Special Buildings

Components

• 5 Luxury Cards
• 10 Civilization Cards
• 48 Power Cards (24 Building Cards and 24 Landscape Cards)
• 72 Coin Cards
• 5 Catastrophe Cards (Plague, Earthquake, Tempest, Drought and Decline)
• 1 "Conquest" Card
• 1 Arrow Card
• 2 Summary Cards (Coin income and game end events/scoring)
• Wooden Components: 15 markers (3 in each of 5 different colors), 5 grey catastrophe markers

Power Card

A power card shows:

1. Catastrophe
2. Building costs (only on buildings)
3. Name + Illustration
4. Value (Minimum bid)
5. One-time income/inhabitants
6. Power points
7. Special function
8. Production

Setup

Each player chooses a color.

Give each player the 3 colored markers in their color as well as a luxury card. Players place the luxury cards in front of themselves.

Shuffle the civilization cards and deal one at random to each player. Players place their civilization cards in front of themselves as well. Return any unused civilization cards to the game box.

Use one colored marker from each player to track turn order. At the start of the game, turn order is determined by the players' civilization cards. The player whose civilization card has the lowest number printed next to the arrow on the card is the start player. The remaining players follow in ascending numerical order. Place the colored markers, in a row, in this order next to the arrow card.

Each player places another of their colored markers onto the "0" space on their luxury cards.

Shuffle the coin cards face down and deal each player as many cards as indicated by their civilization card. Players should hold these cards so that they can see the resources/grain/population side. The remaining coin cards form the coin card pile.

Place the "Conquest" card in the middle of the table.

Place the 5 catastrophe cards on the table so that they are easily seen by all players. The card order doesn't matter. Place a grey catastrophe marker onto the first space of each catastrophe card (marked with a lightning bolt).

Place the two summary cards on the table so that they are easily seen by all players.

Sort the power cards out into "A", "B", and "C" piles, shuffle each pile separately, and then stack the piles together to form the power card pile. The "A" cards should be at the top of the pile, and the "C" cards at the bottom.

Gameplay

1. Reveal Power Cards
2. Catastrophes/Supply
3. Bidding
4. Turn order
5. Gain Power Cards
6. Income

1. Reveal Power Cards

Draw and reveal as many power cards from the pile as there are players taking part, placing them in the middle of the table.

Then, draw as many additional power cards as needed to reveal a total of 6 power cards, placing these additional cards to the right of the "Conquest" card (forming a "Conquest row").

The catastrophe symbols on the first two power cards drawn determine which catastrophes move one space closer to occurring. Move the corresponding catastrophe markers one space forward.

2. Catastrophes/Supply

Once a catastrophe marker reaches the last space on a catastrophe card, then the corresponding catastrophe occurs (see Catastrophes, below).

If one of the drawn power cards shows a supply symbol (once each in the "B" and "C" cards), then a supply phase takes place (see Supply, below).

3. Bidding

In turn order, players either bid on a power card or elect to pass, drawing 3 coin cards from the pile.

To bid, take as many coin cards from your hand as you'd like to bid and place them next to the power card you are bidding on, along with your third wooden marker. Make it easy to tell how many cards (i.e. coins) your bid is worth.

A power card's value (bottom left of the card) always indicates what the minimum bid for that card must be, i.e. the minimum number of coin cards that must be used to bid on the card.

If you want to bid on a card that someone else has already bid on, then you must bid a higher amount, which in turn forces the outbid player to immediately bid elsewhere. That player must move his/her coin cards and marker to a different power card without changing the bid amount. If you move your bid to a different power card that has already been bid on, then your bid amount must be higher than the existing bid, of course, which can potentially result in a chain reaction of bids being moved.

You must always meet the minimum bid for each card you bid on.

If you are outbid, you also have the option of taking your bid back entirely and passing. In this case, take all of the coins you bid back into your hand, along with three additional coin cards from the draw pile. You will not be getting a power card this round.

The value of power cards in the conquest row is considered to be 3 higher (i.e. +3) than the printed values on the cards. If, for example, you want to bid on a value 2 card in the conquest row, then your bid must be 5.

The benefit of bidding on conquest row cards is that your bid cannot be outbid – you are guaranteed to receive the power card.

Once all players have either passed or not been outbid, then the bidding phase is over. Return any power cards that were not bid on to the game box, thus removing them from the game.

4. Turn order

The amounts that players bid determine the new player order. The player who bid the most becomes the start player, with the remaining players following in descending bid order. Rearrange the markers next to the arrow card accordingly.

Should two or more players have bid the same amount, then their relative turn order is unchanged. Passing counts as a bid of 0.

5. Gain Power Cards

Players now receive the power cards they successfully bid on.

Remove all coin cards used in winning bids, adding them to a face up discard pile next to the coin card draw pile. When the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile and use it to form a new, face down, draw pile. Return the wooden bidding markers to their respective owners.

Adding power cards

Building cards get added to the left of your civilization card, either next to the card itself or to the left of the previous building you added. When you can (and want to), you immediately pay the required resources (wood/stone).

If you can't (or don't want to just yet), then instead take a coin card from your hand and slide it partially beneath the building card – that building is now "under construction" but otherwise fully usable. You will gain income from it and can also take advantage of any special functions it has. You will have to pay the cost to finish the building during the next supply phase.

If you don't have either the necessary resources or a spare coin card to use to finance the construction, then the building is lost and returned to the game box.

Landscape cards get added to the right of your civilization card, either next to the card itself or to the right of the previous landscape card you added.

Paying resources for building cards

When paying resources (wood/stone) for a building, you can only use the current production capacity of your tableau (wood and/or stone at bottom right on the cards) – the newly acquired building does not count yet. If your production capacity is not enough, then you can make up the difference with coin cards depicting the missing wood and/or stone from your hand.

6. Income

Once all players have added their power cards to their tableaus, all players receive income.

One-time income for a newly acquired power card is in the upper right corner of the card (coin cards or luxury goods).

Income for each round is calculated by adding up all of the inhabitants on all of your cards – power cards as well as your civilization card – and then checking the summary card to see how many coin cards your total population allows you to draw from the pile.

Supply

When you draw a power card with a supply symbol on it, then all players must supply their inhabitants with grain after all 6 power cards have been drawn. Players must also pay for any buildings under construction.

To feed your population, you must supply each inhabitant (excepting those on your luxury card!) with one grain.

First, use the full grain production capacity of your tableau (grain at bottom right on the cards). If your production capacity is not enough, then you can make up the difference with coin cards depicting the missing grain from your hand.

If you can't or don't want to supply all of your inhabitants, then you can make up the difference by either paying the necessary number of coin cards depicting inhabitants from your hand or removing cards (power cards and/or your civilization card) from your tableau until your total population is equal to your grain production capacity. Return any cards removed from your tableau in this way to the game box. You can also do a combination of both.

Buildings under construction (buildings with a coin card under them) must now be completed by using your resource production capacity (wood and stone).

Note: If you have more than one building under construction, then you must first total up all of the resources you need to pay. You then use your production capacity to pay for the combined total (which prevents you from being able to use the same resource twice on the same turn).

If your production capacity is not enough, then you can make up the difference with coin cards depicting the missing wood and/or stone from your hand.

If you don't have (or want to pay) the necessary resources, then the building is lost and returned to the game box. Add the coin card that was beneath it to the discard pile.

Luxury Goods

Luxury goods are created by having excess production capacity:

1. You win and build a building that requires fewer resources (wood/stone) than you can produce. The building's own production capacity is not included.

For each excess resource you produce, you gain one luxury good: adjust the marker on your luxury card accordingly. If you have more than 8 luxury goods, use the reverse side of the card. You cannot have more than 17 luxury goods. You are not allowed to pay with cards in hand in order to obtain extra luxury goods.

Example: Leonidas produces 1 stone and 2 wood. His newly-acquired building costs 4 stone to build. He pays the 3 missing stone from his hand and obtains 2 luxury goods for the excess wood.

Note: Luxury goods are not awarded when completing buildings under construction during a supply phase. You also don't receive any luxury goods when using them to pay for some of the missing resources.

Example: Leonidas produces 2 stone and 4 wood. His newly-acquired building costs 5 wood to build. He uses a luxury good to pay for the missing wood. He does not obtain 2 luxury goods for the excess stone.

2. You produce more grain during a supply phase than you need.

Example: Helena produces 12 grain. She has 9 inhabitants during a supply phase. She obtains 3 luxury goods for the excess grain.

3. If you have 11 or more inhabitants during income, then you can produce luxury goods directly. The summary card shows the amounts that are possible.

You are allowed to use luxury goods whenever you need resources, grain, or coins. Each luxury good you use is worth 1 of whatever you are missing.

You are also allowed to trade luxury goods in for coin cards when you need them to make a bid or pay to put a building under construction. You can also use them to pay any coins required by a catastrophe.

In these cases, reduce your luxury good total by the necessary amount and then draw and use coin cards from the pile without looking at their reverse sides.

Catastrophes

Once a catastrophe marker reaches the last space, then the corresponding catastrophe occurs immediately.

A catastrophe cannot happen twice. Leave the marker where it is, even if additional matching symbols are revealed while revealing additional power cards.

Plague: Your civilization is laid to waste. Cover your civilization card with a coin card from your hand such that only the catastrophe symbols (if any) are visible. If you can't or don't want to do this, then remove your civilization card from your tableau, returning it to the game box.

Earthquake: A third of your buildings (rounded up) are damaged. Cover them up with coin cards from your hand such that only the upper card symbols are visible. You can choose which building(s) to cover up. If you can't or don't want to do this, then remove the affected buildings from your tableau, returning them to the game box. You are allowed to choose to have buildings under construction be affected by the earthquake.

Tempest: A third of your landscapes (rounded up) are laid to waste. Cover them up with coin cards from your hand such that only the upper card symbols are visible. You can choose which landscape(s) to cover up. If you can't or don't want to do this, then remove the affected landscapes from your tableau, returning them to the game box.

Drought: Your highest grain-producing power card (not civilization card!) is affected by the drought. Cover it up with a coin card from your hand such that only the upper card symbols are visible. If you can't or don't want to do this, then remove the affected power card from your tableau, returning it to the game box. If you have more than one power card with the same grain production level, then you can choose which card is affected by the drought.

Decline: You lose all of your luxury goods (return your wooden marker to the "0" space). Additionally, cover your luxury card up with a coin card from your hand such that only the numbers 0-3 are visible. From now on, you can only have up to 3 luxury goods. If you can't or don't want to do this, then remove your luxury card from your play area, returning it to the game box. You cannot produce luxury goods for the rest of the game.

You can protect yourself against catastrophes: buildings with a catastrophe protection symbol on them (bottom middle of the card) allow you to ignore the corresponding catastrophe.

You are also protected from a catastrophe if you have at least 3 matching catastrophe symbols (top middle of the cards) on the power/civilization cards in your tableau.

Gaining protection from a catastrophe after that catastrophe has occurred allows you, at game end, to remove the coin cards from the affected cards again, adding the coin cards to the discard pile. This will allow your civilization, power, or luxury cards to be active again during scoring.

Game End

The game ends as soon as players are finished claiming their final "C" cards (i.e. after the 8th round).

Players receive income one final time.

A final supply phase takes place at the end of the game, requiring players to feed their population and finish any buildings under construction.

Finally, check to see if you have gained protection from any catastrophes after they occurred. If so, remove the coin cards from the affected cards, adding the coins to the discard pile.

Scoring

Population points: Add up all of your inhabitants:

• those from your tableau
• those on coin cards in hand (add them to your tableau at this time)
• those on your luxury card, provided it was not affected by decline or removed from play.

Power points: Add up all of your power points:

• those from your tableau
• every 6 remaining coin cards in hand/luxury goods are worth 1 power point
• those on your luxury card, provided it was not affected by decline or removed from play.

Compare your population points with your power points. The lower of the two values is your final score.

The player with the highest final score is the winner. In the case of a tie, then the winner is the player whose other scoring total was highest. If there is still a tie, then the winner is the player with the most luxury goods.

Example: Dimitrios has 10 population points and 15 power points for a final score of 10. Helena has 17 population points and 12 power points, so her final score is 12. Helena is the winner!

Special Buildings

Port: The Port provides a coin card as income and protects against decline.

Temple of Apollo: The Temple of Apollo provides a coin card as income and protects against drought.

Lion Gate: The Lion Gate protects against drought.

Market + Agora: If you have one of these buildings in your tableau, then your bids count as ½ coin higher than the number of coin cards used to bid. This means that you can effectively bid the same amount as another player but outbid them when doing so. If you have both of these buildings in your tableau, then your bids count as 1 higher than the number of coin cards used to bid. Note: the higher bid amount is not considered when adjusting turn order.

Barracks + Stockade: You are allowed to bid 1 coin less when bidding for cards in the conquest row. If you own both of these buildings then you are allowed to bid 2 coins less instead.

Cyclopean Masonry + Treasury of Atreus: Both of these buildings protect against earthquake.

Well + Aqueduct: Both of these buildings protect against plague.

Acrocorinth + Phidias Workshop: Both of these buildings protect against tempest.

Stoa: The Stoa protects against decline.

Landscapes with a supply symbol on them trigger a supply phase but have no further effect when they are in your tableau.