Polis (Colovini) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Variable city board distribution
• Game Summary
• Gameplay
  • 1. Draw 2 cards from different stacks
  • "End of game" card
  • 2. Auction at least 1 card
  • 3. Build up to 2 cards
  • 4. Protect 1 card in his city
  • 5. Income phase and activating development cards
  • 6. Trade
  • 7. War
• End of a turn
• Overview of symbols
• End of game
• Scoring phase
  • Example of end of game scoring
• Overview of development cards
  • Alexander the Great
  • Archimedes
  • Aristoteles
  • Diogenes
  • Euclidis
  • Port
  • Herodotus
  • Hippocrates
  • Homerus
  • Mercenary
  • Assassin
  • Canal of Corinthe
  • Captain

Components

• 64 playing cards in different colors: 16x red, 16x green, 16x blue, 16x yellow
• 4 "End game" cards in 4 colors
• Money (70 coins): 40x 1, 20x 5, 10x 10
• 6 double-sided city boards
• 20 victory tokens: 15x 1, 5x 5
• The rules

Setup

• Choose a starting player at random.
• Each player receives 1 city board (randomly or one of his choice). In the first game use the city boards of Athína, Delfoí and Alexándreia. Add Olympía in a game with 4 players and Korinthos in a game with 5 players. See the text box below for a variable distribution of the city boards. Return unused city boards to the box.

Variable city board distribution

After the first game the players could decide to distribute the city boards differently. We suggest 2 options:

1. Shuffle all city boards. Each player receives one randomly and decides for himself which side he wants to use.
2. The player to the right of the starting player chooses 1 city board and puts it in front of him with the side of his choice visible. He gives the remaining city boards to the player to the right of him, who also chooses a city board, and so on, until each player has got a city board in front of him.

• The starting player receives 24 coins, the first person to his left receives 25 coins, second player to his left 26 coins, etcetera.
• Put the 4 "End game" cards aside. Sort the development cards by color, shuffle each color and make separate face-down stacks. Take the bottom 4 cards from each stack and shuffle the "End game" card of that color through those cards. Place these cards on the table and the remaining cards on top of them. In this way, there are 4 face-down stacks of development cards on the table.
• When playing with 3 or 4 players, take respectively 2 or 1 card(s) out of each deck of development cards (before the "End game" cards have been shuffled in) and remove these from the game (without looking at them). Use all cards when playing with 5 players.
• Clockwise, starting with the starting player, each player takes one development card from a stack of their choice and keeps it in their hand, hidden from the other players.

Game Summary

The players develop their cities by getting cards, putting them up for auction and building them. Cities can either trade with each other or go to war. That is why it is recommended for players to protect the most important people and buildings. However, destroyed buildings and eliminated people can also mean victory points because of the valuable history it creates. The game ends when there are 2 "End game" cards revealed. The player with the most victory points wins the game.

Gameplay

• During the entire game the turn order is played clockwise.
• Starting with the starting player and continuing in clockwise order, all players finish their turns until the game is ended (see: "End of game").
• A player on turn performs the following steps in the indicated order (see the overview on the city boards):

1. Draw 2 cards from different stacks. Optional: buy one additional card of his choice for 5 coins
2. Auction at least 1 card
3. Build up to 2 cards
4. Protect 1 card in his city
5. Income phase and activating development cards
6. Trading
7. War

1. Draw 2 cards from different stacks

The player draws 1 development card from each of 2 different development card stacks. The player may choose to buy 1 additional development card of his choice for 5 coins (it is allowed for the player to draw from the same stack he chose for his first 2 cards). He takes the chosen cards in his hand.

Example: Sara is starting player. She draws 1 card from the red and 1 from the green stack. She chooses to buy another red card. She pays 5 coins to the bank. Now she has got 19 coins left.

"End of game" card

If a player draws the "End of game" card, he immediately draws a replacement card from the same stack. Then he places the "End of game" card face up on the remaining stack. This stack is now blocked for the remainder of the game. A player is never allowed to draw from a blocked stack.

Important: if there is only one card left in a stack, this card is immediately turned face up. This is automatically the "End of game" card.

Example: Thomas draws 1 card from the blue and 1 card from the green stack. It turns out that the green card is the "End of game" card. Thomas draws a replacement card from the green stack and puts the "End of game" card face up on the green stack to show that this stack is blocked.

2. Auction at least 1 card

The player must choose 1 hand card and places it face down in front of him (the other players only see the color of the card). The player left to him starts the auction, he can either pass or offer an amount of money (at least 1). The next player (clockwise) may raise the bet or pass. This continues until all players have passed.

Note: the player who put the card up for auction cannot place a bet!

2 situations may occur:

a. The bid is 4 coins or higher. In this case the player who had the highest bid pays the player who put the card up for auction. He then places the card immediately face up in front of him.

b. The bid is 3 coins or lower. In this case the player who put the card up for auction may choose to buy the card himself. He pays the highest bid +1 to the player who placed that highest bid. He then places the card face up in front of him. The player may also choose to still sell the card to the highest bid even if it is lower than 4 (identically to situation 1).

Special case: if all players have passed, the player who put the card up for auction may buy the card for 1 coin (this will go to the bank). If he does not want the card, it is removed from play.

After auctioning a card (regardless of the result), the player is allowed to put up another card for auction (optional). Only when he doesn't want to put up any cards for auction, he proceeds to the next phase.

Example: Sara puts a red card up for auction. Thomas bids 1 coin, Bob raises to 5 coins, Thomas bids 6 coins, after which Bob passes. Thomas pays 6 coins to Sara and puts the bought card face up in front of him.

Example: Thomas puts a blue card up for auction. Bob bids 2 coins. Sara bids 3 coins after which Bob passes. Thomas may choose to sell the card to Sara for 3 coins or pay 4 (3+1) coins to Sara to buy the card himself. He chooses the last option and puts the card face up in front of him.

3. Build up to 2 cards

The player may now build one by one up to 2 hand cards. He places the card he is building face up in front of him and pays the bank 10 coins. Some development or city cards may give a discount to a specific color. Discount is only valid when the cards are open on the table (may be built in the same turn). Discount is cumulative.

Note: it is theoretically possible that a player has so many discounts that the building costs are 0 or less. He may build such a card without any costs (he does not receive additional money).

Example: Sara possesses 3 hand cards and 29 coins. So, she's easily able to pay for building 2 cards. However, she first builds the "Temple of Apollo" for 10 coins. As a result she's allowed to draw 1 card from the blue stack immediately (see effect on the card). The temple also gives her a discount of 3 coins when building a blue card. She builds her "Tragicus" for 7 coins.

IMPORTANT: a player puts his cards in one well-organized row in front of him. He's allowed to overlap identical cards, but he has to make sure that all relevant symbols are visible.

4. Protect 1 card in his city

The player may put 1 coin from his supply on one of the face up cards in front of him. He places the coin on a symbol that is surrounded by a bold line. This protects the card versus attacks from other players. However, the effect that was connected with the symbol no longer applies. The player is not allowed to protect more than 1 card per turn.

Example: Thomas has got the "Acropolis" in front of him. He doesn't want to lose it and puts 1 coin on the culture symbol. The other players may not attack the "Acropolis" anymore. Thomas is not allowed to use the culture symbol anymore.

5. Income phase and activating development cards

The player collects his income from his city board and the face up development cards in front of him. The symbols on the cards indicate if he gets money or victory points and how much/many (see page 11 for an overview of the symbols).

Example: Bob gets an income of 2 coins and 1 victory point.

Some cards have text indicating a special ability. The player may activate these cards in this phase of the game in an order of his choice (even before taking his income). He activates cards with the text "1x per turn" or "1x per game" by moving them 1 row up. Move activated cards back at the end of the turn (except the 1x per game cards).

Important: some cards are always or in certain phases active, as shown on the cards.

Note: cards which have been moved up, are still part of the player's city.

Example: Thomas has got (among others) the "Priestess" and "Herodotus" in his city. He first performs the action of the "Priestess" and moves the card up. Then he performs the action of "Herodes". After finishing his actions, he moves the "Priestess" back in the row. He leaves "Herodotus" on his location to remember that he can't use the card the rest of the game anymore.

6. Trade

The player may choose a trading partner. He then receives as many coins from the bank as the vases shown on the city board and face up development cards of the player's trading partner. The partner receives as many coins from the bank as the vases shown on the active player's city board and face up development cards.

Example: Thomas has got 3 vases on his city board and face up development cards, Bob has got 5. Thomas chooses Bob as his trading partner. Thomas gets 5 coins from the bank and Bob 3.

7. War

The player may choose another player with less war symbols on his face up development cards and city boards than he has. He is not allowed to pick his trading partner. He then receives as many coins as there are face up development cards in the city of the other player. Next, the player chooses an unprotected development card (card without a coin) from that player and destroys it. Then he chooses a development card with at least 1 war symbol on it from his own city and destroys that one as well.

Important: a player may not attack if he's not able to sacrifice at least 1 card with a war symbol.

Note: the players put the destroyed cards face down on their own city board. These form their "history piles" and can give points at the end of the game.

Example: Bob has got 4 war symbols in his city and Sara 2. Sara's city consists of 4 cards. Bob chooses to attack Sara. Bob gets 4 coins and destroys an unprotected card in Sara's city. Then Bob destroys a card in his own city with at least 1 war symbol. Both players put the destroyed card on their history piles.

End of a turn

When a player has finished all 7 phases of his turn, the next player (clockwise) will perform his turn, starting with phase 1.

Overview of symbols

A symbol on a city board or development card is only active if shown (a coin will block the effect of the symbol and cards in hand are not active either).

• History symbol (building icon on city board): the player receives victory points at the end of the game for his history (see page 12).
• Discount symbol (1 or 2): the player pays 1 or 2 coins less to build a development card.
• Colored discount symbol (2 or 3): the player pays 2 or 3 coins less to build a development card of the appropriate color.
• Coins symbol: the player receives the amount of coins as shown in the income phase.
• Victory point symbol: the player receives the shown victory points during the income phase.
• Colored cards symbol: the player receives 1 coin in the income phase per development card in the appropriate color face up in front of him.
• Building symbol with coin: the player receives 1 coin in the income phase per development card with a building symbol on it.
• "+" coin symbol: the player gets the mentioned additional starting money.
• Vase symbol: this symbol is used in the trading phase (see page 9).
• War symbol: this symbol is used in war (see page 10).
• Double-axe war symbol: during the war phase the player receives 1 additional attack symbol per 2 coins he pays.
• Colored cards victory symbol: at the end of the game the player receives as many victory points as the amount of development cards in the appropriate color face up in front of him.
• Victory points list symbol (5, 4, 3, 2, 1): the player receives the shown victory points at the end of the game.
• Building victory symbol: at the end of the game the player gets 1 victory point per development card with a building symbol.

End of game

The game is finished after the second "End game" card is face up on the table. The player whose turn it is, is allowed to finish his turn until the end of the building phase. All other phases (protecting cards, income, trading and war) are not played anymore. Now there is a scoring phase.

Scoring phase

All players add up their victory points for the following categories:

• Value of the victory point tokens.
• Victory points shown on face up development cards that are not covered up by coins (see page 11 for the symbol overview).
• 1 victory point per 10 coins.
• History: the amount of uncovered culture symbols on the city board and face up development cards multiplied by the face down cards under the city card.

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie the player with the most cards in his city wins.

Example of end of game scoring

Thomas has got 6 victory point tokens, 14 coins, a city with the cards "Colony", "Leader", "Temple of Ares", "Theatre", "Acropolis" and "Pottery", and a history pile consisting of 5 cards. The culture symbol on the "Theatre" and the victory points symbol on the "Temple of Ares" have been covered by a coin to protect his income. In total he scores 28 victory points:

• Victory point tokens: 6 victory points
• Money: 1 victory point
• Points on cards: 2 victory points (Leader), 4 victory points (Acropolis) = 6 victory points
• Points for history: 3 symbols (Potter, Acropolis and city board) x 5 cards = 15 victory points

Overview of development cards

Alexander the Great

A player with this card in front of him may move it up in phase 5 of his turn. Then he puts 1 own hand card of his choice under "Alexander the Great". Each card below "Alexander the Great" counts as 1 war symbol. He only needs to show the color of the card to the other players, not the front side. Move Alexander the Great back into the row at the end of the turn. If the player hasn't got any hand cards, he can't use the effect of Alexander the Great. A player with Alexander the Great is not allowed to remove Diogenes from a city after a successful attack.

Archimedes

A player with this card in front of him may move it up in phase 5 of his turn. Then he removes 1 own hand card of his choice from the game (in the box, not on his history pile!). He only needs to show the color of the card to the other players, not the front side. Afterwards he draws 1 development card from a pile of his choice. Move Archimedes back into the row at the end of the turn. If the player hasn't got any hand cards, he can't use the effect of Archimedes.

Aristoteles

A player with this card in front of him may move it up in phase 1 of his turn. He's then allowed to buy 1 additional card for 2 victory points instead of 5 coins. Move Aristoteles back into the row at the end of the turn. If the player hasn't got sufficient victory points, he can't use the effect of Aristoteles.

Diogenes

The player with Alexander the Great in his city is allowed to attack the city with Diogenes, but if he wins, he is not allowed to remove Diogenes from the losing city.

Euclidis

A player with this card in front of him may buy or sell as many victory points as he wants for 3 coins a piece in phase 5 of his turn.

Port

A player with this card in front of him, may pay 2 victory points in phase 5 of his turn to move it up. Then he chooses another player (turn the Port in the direction of that player). This player must trade with the owner of the Harbour in phase 6 of his turn. Move the Port back into the row after the appropriate trade. If the player hasn't got sufficient victory points, he can't use the effect of the Port. If a player is forced to trade with owners of 2 Ports, he may choose one of them.

Herodotus

A player with this card in front of him may move it up in phase 5 of his turn. Then he looks through the history pile of a player of his choice. He removes 1 of these cards from the game. He only shows the color of the card to the other players, not the front side. He's not allowed to give any information about the cards in the history pile. If none of the other players has got a history pile, the player can't use the effect of Herodotus.

Hippocrates

A player with this card in front of him may move it up in phase 5 of his turn. Then he looks through his own history pile, chooses 1 card from it and puts it face-up in front of him again. If the player hasn't got a history pile, he can't use the effect of Hippocrates.

Homerus

A player with this card in front of him may move it up in phase 5 of his turn. Then he puts an own hand card of his choice face-down on his history pile. He only needs to show the color of the card to the other players, not the front side. Move Homerus back into the row at the end of the turn. If the player hasn't got any hand cards, he can't use the effect of Homerus.

Mercenary

A player with this card in front of him may, while attacking another player, pay money to get temporary war symbols in his city. He pays 2 coins per additional war symbol he likes to buy. After the appropriate attack he loses these additional war symbols. If the player gets attacked himself, he's not allowed to buy additional war symbols. If the player hasn't got sufficient coins, he can't use the effect of the Mercenary.

Assassin

A player with this card in front of him is allowed to move it up in one of his turns. Then he pays 3 victory points and removes 1 other card with the person symbol from his own city or the city of another player. Put the removed card on the history pile of the owner. If the player hasn't got sufficient victory points, he can't use the effect of the Assassin. The Assassin can't remove itself. An Assassin can however remove another Assassin. A player can't use an Assassin more than once. He keeps the Assassin above his row to show that he used it.

Canal of Corinthe

If a player has got this card in front of him, he's allowed to trade twice in phase 6 of his turn. He may choose if he wants to trade twice with the same partner or choose 2 different ones. If he's obliged to trade with the owner of a Port, he only has to with one of his trades. If he is forced to trade with 2 Ports, he needs to do both of his trades with the owner(s) of the Ports.

Captain

A player with this card and at least 1 Ship in his city gets 3 additional coins in phase 5 of his turn.

Colony

The player can use this effect only at the moment that he puts the card into his city. He's not allowed to look at the top card of the red pile first. He pays the amount of coins he paid for the Colony to the bank and puts the top card of the red pile face-up in front of him. The building of this card doesn't count to the limit of 2 cards to build in his turn. If the red pile is blocked, the player can't use the effect of the Colony.

Phidias

This card has an effect only at the moment that it has been put into a city. The active player puts all his hand cards and each other player puts 1 hand card of their choice into the box. Then each player draws as many cards as he discarded from piles of his choice. The active player starts, followed clockwise by the other players.

Plato

A player with this card in front of him, may move it up in phase 5 of his turn. Then he pays 1 victory point and takes 15 coins from the bank. He keeps 10 coins himself and has to give 5 coins to a player of his choice (he's not allowed to divide the money between more players). If the player hasn't got sufficient victory points, he can't use the effect of Plato.

Priestess

A player with this card in front of him may pay 1 victory point to move it up in phase 5 of his turn. Then he removes 1 of his own hand cards from the game (in the box, not on the history pile!). He only needs to show the color of the card to the other players, not the front side. Afterwards he draws 1 development card from a pile of his choice. Move the Priestess back into the row at the end of the turn. If a player hasn't got sufficient victory points, he can't use the effect of the Priestess.

Statue of Zeus

If the player with the Statue of Zeus loses a war, the other player must remove the Statue of Zeus from his city. He's not allowed to choose another card.

Temple of Apollo, Athena, Ares, Zeus

These cards have an effect only at the moment that they have been put into a city. The player immediately draws a card from the mentioned pile and keeps it as a hand card. If the mentioned pile is blocked, he's not allowed to draw a card. He's allowed to build the drawn card immediately, provided he didn't reach his limit of 2 cards to build in his turn.

City of Troy

The war symbols on this card only count when the city with this card is being attacked. If the owner of this card attacks himself, ignore all war symbols on this card. The player can't put the City of Troy on his history pile after an own attack.

Lighthouse of Alexandria

If a player has got this card in front of him, at the start of his turn (before phase 1) he may look at the top card of 2 development piles of his choice and put them back. Afterwards he draws 2 cards.