Resafa Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Individual Player Setup
• Game Overview
• Gameplay
• A Player's Turn
• Color actions
• Special Cards and their Color Tracks
• Special Card Types
  • Organising your cards
• Description of Actions
  • Workshop Construction
    • Example
  • Production
    • Example
  • Provisions
  • Garden Construction
    • Garden completion bonuses
    • Example
  • Canal Construction
    • Example
  • Canal bonus tiles
  • Trading
    • Example
• End of the Round
• Rain Scoring Phase
  • • Example
• End Game Scoring
  • • Example
• Solo Mode
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
  • Resafabot's Main Actions
    • Production, Garden Construction
    • Workshop Construction
    • Provisions
    • Canal Construction
    • Trading
  • End of the Game
• Bonus and Special Card Effects Explanation
• Icon Legend
• Pink Special Card Effects (End-Game Scoring)
• White Special Card Effects
• Yellow Special Card Effects
• Blue Special Card Effects

Components

• 1 Main board
• 72 Special cards
• 72 Bonus cards (36 level I, 36 level II)
• 12 Sack cards
• 7 Solo cards
• 3 Canal setup cards
• 34 Workshop tiles (8 Starting workshops, 12 level I workshops, 14 level II workshops)
• 17 large Garden tiles
• 22 small Garden tiles
• 30 Coins of value 1
• 14 Coins of value 5
• 9 Canal bonus tiles
• 1 Starting player tile
• 6 Starting action cards (in four sets: α, β, γ, δ)
• 4 Player boards
• 9 Trading tiles
• 1 Special card help sheet
• 4 Camel figures (1 in four player colors)
• 1 Round marker
• 28 Canal tiles (7 in four player colors)
• 42 Resource tiles (22 stone, 20 marble) and 36 goods tiles (18 spice, 18 amphora)
• 28 triple resource and goods tiles (7 of each type)
• 41 Merchant tokens (21 square tokens, 20 scarab tokens)
• 56 Player markers (13 cubes, 1 disc in four player colors)
• 9 Water cubes

Game Setup

1. Place the main board in the center of the table, with the correct side facing up depending on the number of players. There is a side for 1–2 players and a side for 3–4 players.

2. Place the round marker on the first spot on the round track.

3. Sort all the garden tiles according to their size and place them on the appropriate space on the main board.

4. For a 3–4 player game, place 9 blue water cubes on the water source spaces in the water network area, just outside the grid. Only 8 are required for a 1–2 player game.

5. Shuffle the sack cards and place them face down in a deck next to the main board.

6. Sort all the trading tiles according to their color, either red or blue. Then randomly place a blue trading tile on each blue space so that 3 of the blue spaces have a tile with the blue box at the top of the tile and one has the blue box at the bottom. Do the same with the red trading tiles and spaces so that 4 have the red box at the top of the tile and one has the red box at the bottom.

7. Sort the workshop tiles into two stacks according to their level, either level I or II. Place these 2 stacks face down on the main board at the bottom of the workshop tile display, with level I tiles on the left and level II tiles on the right. Reveal 3 tiles from the level I stack and place 2 of these in the slots above the level I stack with the third placed on top of the stack. The Level II stack remains face down. These tiles will be revealed at the start of the 3rd round. (There is a reminder of this under the round track.)

8. Sort all the special cards by their color and level (I, II and III) and create 12 stacks of face-down cards in this way. Then, randomly draw 4 cards from each stack and place these cards face down in the appropriate slots at the bottom of the main board. The remaining cards will not be required for this particular game and should be returned to the box, of each level I stack. Then, turn over the first card of each level I stack.

   Advanced rule: if all players have experience playing the game and agree together to review the cards that have been returned to the box, they can do so, if they wish.

9. Sort all the bonus cards by their color and level (I and II) and shuffle each level. Place the level I cards face down on top of the level II cards of the same colors to create 4 separate stacks of face-down cards to the right of the board, as shown in the set up picture. Reveal 3 cards from each stack, placing them to the right of each stack, creating a display of 12 level I bonus cards (3 yellow, 3 white, 3 blue and 3 pink). At the mid-point of the game (at the end of the 3rd round) the level II cards will enter the display.

10. Using a random canal setup card matching the player count, randomly place canal bonus tiles, with their bonus sides face up, on the water network as indicated.

11. Create a common supply of the coins, resources, goods tokens and merchant tokens for all players to access.

12. Determine a starting player and give them the starting player tile.

Individual Player Setup

1. Each player takes a player board and the player markers, canal tiles, wooden camel and starting workshop tiles in their chosen color. The 2 starting workshop tiles should be placed next to the player board so that they touch diagonally, corner to corner. Both tiles can be rotated in any way the player chooses.

2. One of their player markers is placed at the bottom of the camel track (on the right of their player board).

3. Each player takes 1 of the 4 starting sets of action cards, selected randomly. Each of the sets is marked with a letter of the Greek alphabet – alpha, beta, gamma and delta – and is comprised of 6 cards. Each action card has 2 actions depicted on it, one in the top half and one in the bottom half. There are 6 types of actions and each action appears twice across the 6 cards in a set. Each action is also associated with a different color – blue, white, yellow and pink. The combination of actions to colors is different across each set.

4. Once a player has selected a starting set of action cards, they shuffle their cards and place them face down next to their player board. Then, each player draws 3 cards into their hand as their starting cards.

5. Each player takes 2 coins of value 1 and a stone resource tile as their starting resources. The stone tiles should be placed in the warehouse area of each player's board. The coins can be placed next to the player boards.

   In a 4 player game, the fourth player receives 1 additional stone and 2 VPs.

6. Another of their player markers is placed at the start of each of the 4 special card tracks at the bottom of the main board and their circular scoring disc is placed on the zero space of the score track around the outside of the main board. Finally, each player places their wooden camel in Resafa on the map on the main board.

The camel figure is placed on the city of Resafa on the main board.

Player markers: 1× camel capacity (player board), 8× trading base (personal supply), 4× track (main board), 1× scoring disc (main board).

Game Overview

The game is played over 6 rounds. Actions are taken by playing action cards and each action has a color associated with it which allows players to take additional actions. In each round, a player only plays 3 cards, so each player will play 18 cards over the course of a game.

Each player will play 6 action cards three times during the game.

At the end of the 2nd, 4th and 6th rounds there is a Rain scoring phase.

The player with the most Victory Points (VPs) at the end of the 6th round is the winner.

The round track on the main board tracks the game's progress. Each circle represents 1 round in which each player will play 3 action cards.

After 6 rounds and the last Rain scoring phase, the end game scoring takes place. The golden section to the right of the round track shows everything that is scored.

Gameplay

Players take turns one after another in clockwise order. On their turn, a player plays one of the action cards from their hand and places it in the leftmost available slot above their player board.

The played card should be turned so that the uppermost action/color is the one that the player has selected to take this turn. Once the player has taken the depicted action and the color action, in any order, they draw 1 card from their remaining starting cards, if able.

Each time an action card is played, the player must decide which action will be facing up and thereby which actions will be taken that turn.

The players will only have cards to draw in the 1st, 3rd and 5th rounds. In the 2nd, 4th and 6th rounds, each player will start the round with the 3 cards they have not yet played and will play them one after the other until their hand is empty. At the end of those rounds, each player will collect all 6 of their action cards, shuffle them and draw 3 at the start of the next round.

Blue rounds indicate an odd round, in which you draw a new card after each action.

Red rounds indicate an even round in which players do not draw new action cards. The Rain scoring phase occurs after each even round.

When all players have played 3 cards each, the round ends and the round marker is moved to the next space.

All players now flip the three played cards above their player boards face down.

The starting player token is moved to the player to the left of the start player of the previous round.

Note: Players can look, at any time, at the action cards they have in their draw pile to see what actions and colors will be coming up in future turns. However, if they do so and have more than 1 card in their draw pile, they must shuffle the draw pile after looking.

A worked example table walks through rounds 1 and 2 (turns 1/1 through 2/3), showing for each turn: the action card deck, the cards in hand, the action played, and the resulting player board state. After the first 3 played actions of a round, the 3 played cards are flipped face down.

A Player's Turn

After a player plays a card, they may take the main action and the color action from the upper part of the card in any order. On each card, there are always two actions and each action is assigned to a particular color. The main actions will be covered in later sections. If the player is not able to play the main action, they only take the color action.

Color actions

When taking the color part of the action, a player can do one of the following:

1. A player can choose a face-up bonus card of the same color from the common supply next to the board. These cards provide one-time bonuses. The bonus card display is only refilled at the end of a round. The selected card can be played immediately for its bonus or it can be kept in hand to be used later in the game, or
2. A player can move their marker a step along the special cards track of the indicated color, or
3. A player can take a sack card. Sack cards provide a bonus which can be used immediately or later in the game.

Sack cards provide a player with resources or allow them to convert stone or coins into something else. Sack cards can be used immediately or kept in hand. They can be discarded, unused, at any time to receive 1 VP. When a sack card has been used or discarded, add it face down to the bottom of the sack card supply.

Hand limit: Each player can have at most 5 cards in their hand at the end of their turn. Action cards, bonus cards and sack cards count towards this limit. Special cards, however, do not count toward this limit. If a player has more than 5 cards in hand at the end of their turn, they must discard or use bonus cards or sack cards to reduce their hand down to 5 cards.

A player may play any number of bonus cards or sack cards from their hand, even during actions.

By playing the card so the blue stripe is at the top, a player could take a blue bonus card as their color action.

If the player turned it upside down, they could take a yellow bonus card as their color action.

There is a reminder of all 3 color action options in the upper left corner of each player board.

Special Cards and their Color Tracks

When a player takes the color action of the action card they have just played, they can choose to move one step to the right on the matching color track on the bottom of the main board. When the player's marker lands on, or goes past, the first space with a symbol that matches the cards in that area, they choose one of two options:

1. Take the face-up top card of the appropriate stack of special cards in that area, gain a bonus of 1 VP and 1 coin, and reveal the next card in that stack, or
2. look at the unrevealed cards in that stack and select any of the cards. In this case, they do not gain the VP or coin bonus. The player then shuffles the unrevealed cards and places them face down back in the same place, with the previously visible card still face up on the stack. If the previously visible card was chosen, then the next card in the stack is turned over.

In either case, the top card of the next stack (the level II cards) in that area is turned face up as well.

When a player reaches the space with the second symbol, they get this choice again with the cards in the second stack and the top card of the third stack is then revealed. Players can only take cards from the appropriate stack matching the current level of their marker on that track. They cannot take cards or look through the stack for a higher or lower level. For example, if a player reaches the third symbol on a color track, that player can only interact with the cards in the third stack. They cannot choose to go back to previous stacks.

There is a reminder located in the middle of the color tracks of the 1 VP and 1 coin bonus for taking the topmost, visible card from a stack.

Each track has its own type of cards with a different symbol on the back of the cards. Each track has three icons on it – the first is for level I cards, the second for level II and the third for level III.

All players can advance to any level on the pink track. There are, however, limits as to how far along the yellow, white and blue tracks a player can go. On the yellow, white and blue tracks, a player can reach level I in all 3 colors, but can only reach level II on 2 tracks and level III on one. A reminder of this is on each player board.

Once a player's marker has reached the end of a particular color track, it can go no further. Alternatively if any of these limits have been reached by a player's markers then they can go no further on those tracks.

Special Card Types

YELLOW cards provide players with stronger versions of the starting action cards. None of these cards have a color assigned so the player can choose which color action they take when playing these cards.

If the new card is a level I action card, it must be swapped out with the starting card that has the same actions on it. The cards are swapped out when the player has finished taking their actions for that turn. If the player swaps the action card out with one in their draw pile, then they immediately draw it into their hand as their new card so it is available for their next turn (in odd rounds only).

The level II and III cards have question marks on them instead of action icons. In these cases, the player can choose which main action(s) to take when they are played. When a player obtains one of these improved action cards, the new card must be swapped with one of the starting action cards, either in their draw pile, their hand, or their played area above their player board. (A player will never have more than 6 action cards.)

The level I, II and III action cards also have a bonus marked in the middle of the card and that is received when the card is played.

WHITE cards provide additional, immediate actions, sometimes with a discount toward the actions. These bonuses mostly relate to garden and workshop construction.

BLUE cards from level I provide either immediate actions or permanent bonuses when certain actions are taken. Cards from level II and III provide additional immediate actions. These bonuses mostly relate to canal construction and trading.

PINK cards are evaluated during final scoring. When a player obtains one of these cards, they may also gain a bonus. The earlier in the game one of these cards is taken, the better the bonus.

If a player takes one of these cards in the first two rounds, they gain 2 coins and 3 VPs. If a player takes one of these cards in rounds 3 or 4, they get a bonus of 1 coin and 1 VP. There is no extra bonus in the 5th and 6th round for taking pink cards. This is indicated on the main board below the round tracker. This bonus is taken in addition to the 1 VP and 1 coin bonus if the player takes the top card.

This is indicated on the main board below the round tracker.

Organising your cards

Players display the special cards they have obtained that have a permanent effect face up in their playing area and they can use them at any time during the particular action the card refers to.

End game special cards are placed face up in a player's area and at the end of the game the player gains VPs from them if they meet their requirements.

Special cards with an immediate effect can be used either at the point of getting them (in which case they are played and then placed face down in the player's area) or they can be used later at any time (in which case they are played face up in the player's area until they are used, when they should then be flipped over).

NOTE: Special cards do not count toward the hand limit.

The red player has two pink cards visible that will score at the end of the game. Their blue card shows a permanent ability. They also have a white instant effect card face up in front of them. When it is used, it will be flipped face down.

Description of Actions

Workshop Construction

Workshops can be built in a player's area using this action. Players choose a workshop to build from the workshop offer which consists of 3 level I workshops and, from the start of the 3rd round, also 3 level II workshops.

The cost to build a workshop is 1 coin and 1 stone. A workshop has to be built so that its corner is diagonally adjacent to another workshop. The workshop tile can be rotated in any way the player likes. The corner to corner positioning of the workshops may seem a little unusual, but players are leaving space in between them for gardens to be built. However, before the player places the workshop into their player area, they need to decide which side will be face up.

Level I workshops' front sides show 2 production rooms; the reverse shows a production room that generates 2 VPs and provides an extra production. (Production is described on the next page.)

Level II workshops' front sides show a single production room that the player also receives the benefits from as an immediate bonus when placing the workshop (and that can be activated by production as well); the reverse side has a production room that generates 3 VPs and provides an extra production.

Level II workshops only become available to be built from the start of the 3rd round. However, a player can only build these if they have met the criteria of having at least 2 merchant tokens on their player board. Merchant tokens are explained in more detail on page 13.

When a workshop tile is built, the workshop offer is refilled immediately with a tile of that type.

NOTE: Once all level I (or level II) workshops have been built, it is no longer possible to build any more of that type.

Workshop I with two production rooms.

Workshop I back with a production room that generates 2 VPs and with an extra production icon.

Workshop II with an instant production and one production room.

Workshop II back with a production room that generates 3 VPs and with an extra production icon.

After placing a merchant token on this location, a player can then build level II workshops from round 3 onwards.

Example

1. The player plays one of their starting action cards to slot two as their second turn. They have selected the pink workshop construction action so they place that action at the top of the slot.
2. The player decides to take the color action first and chooses a pink bonus card from the supply which they choose to play immediately and which gets them a square merchant token.
3. The player places the merchant token in the second slot. They are now able to construct level II workshops.
4. The player now takes the construction action indicated on the card they played and buys a level II workshop for 1 coin and 1 stone and receives the immediate bonuses from that tile. In this case, the player gains 1 amphora and also immediately gets 2 VPs. (The player places the amphora in their warehouse in Resafa on their player board.)
5. Now the player decides which side of the tile they want to have facing up in their player area. In this case, the player decides to have the reverse side facing up and in the future, they will be able to activate this workshop to gain 3 VPs. It will also provide them with an extra production when they take the production action.
6. The player then decides where the tile is going to be placed and in what orientation, remembering the new tile must touch corners with, and be placed diagonal to, another workshop.

Workshop tile supply area.

Production

Each workshop has either 1 or 2 production rooms and each production room has a different production capability. When a player chooses this action, they can produce using 1 room on 2 different workshop tiles (for 2 activations in total).

If they have previously placed any workshop tiles so their reverse side is visible, they will have additional production actions to take.

All production actions must be taken in different workshops. Consequently, each workshop can only be activated, at most, once. The only exception to this is if a player gains an extra production during a production action by playing a bonus card, special card, sack card or canal bonus tile which provides an extra production. In this case, the additional production can be taken in any room, including ones already used.

Example

1. The player plays the production action by playing this action card.
2. The player has 5 workshops that have 7 production rooms in total. In addition to the 2 production rooms on different workshops that this player can activate, they can activate 2 more rooms in different workshops due to the 2 extra production symbols (shown on the reverse sides of the level I and level II workshops). Consequently, this player will now have 4 production activations to take.
3. For the first production, the player produces 3 stone. This workshop cannot be activated again this turn using a production action.
4. The player places these resources in their storehouse in Resafa on their player board.
5. As the second production, the player activates the 3 VP production room and moves their player marker accordingly on the score track.
6. As the third production, the player chooses to gain 1 camel from one of their starting workshops. This workshop cannot be activated again this turn using a production action.
7. The player moves their player marker up one step on the camel track on the right side of their player board.
8. For their fourth and final production, the player decides to take 1 coin and 3 VPs are scored by activating the production room on this workshop tile.
9. The coin is placed next to their player board and the 3 VPs are scored on the score track.
10. Finally, the player decides to use this bonus card and chooses to activate a room that has already been activated, in this case, the room that produces 3 VPs and 1 coin.

Provisions

A player can either choose any one face-up bonus card from the common offer, move their marker one step along any colored track or they can take one sack card.

NOTE: This action is effectively the same as the color action, as explained on page 6. So, for example, a player could take a bonus card as a result of this action and then take another for the color action.

This symbol allows a player to take any bonus card that is currently in the offer next to the main board.

This symbol allows a player to move one step to the right on any colored track.

This symbol allows a player to take one sack card from the deck near the main board and either add it to their hand or play it immediately.

Garden Construction

Players can build gardens between their workshop locations using this action. A player decides if they are going to build a small or large garden and pays the cost indicated at the sides of the garden tile supply area – 1 stone for a small garden and 1 coin and 1 stone for a large one. The placed garden tile must touch at least one workshop or another garden tile. The first tile can be positioned either horizontally or vertically. If horizontally, it can be placed either at the top or the bottom of the garden square; if vertically, it can be placed either to the right or left of the garden square.

Gardens may be built vertically or horizontally. You may complete the garden with 1 large and 1 small garden tile or with 3 small garden tiles.

When the garden tile is placed, if it connects any of the green bonuses on the workshop tiles it is adjacent to, then the player receives those bonuses immediately. When placing the second (or third garden tile if using three small ones) in the same garden square, it triggers all the green bonuses which are connected to it through gardens. This means that when the garden square is completely filled, it triggers all the green bonuses connected to that garden square at that time.

NOTE: These bonuses are only collected at the time the garden is placed. If a workshop is placed later next to an already placed garden, the bonus does not trigger at that time.

Garden completion bonuses

When a player completely fills a garden square, they gain a reward. The rewards are shown on the left part of the player boards. The rewards are as follows:

1. For the first completed garden, the player moves 1 step along a color track.
2. For the second completed garden, they can move 1 step along a color track and receive 2 VPs.
3. For the third completed garden, they can move twice along the color tracks (either the same one twice or once on two separate tracks) and receive 3 VPs.
4. For the fourth completed garden, they can move along the color tracks twice and receive 4 VPs.
5. For the fifth completed garden (and additional gardens thereafter), they gain 5 VPs.

NOTE: Not until a player has completely filled 2 garden squares can they build water tanks in the water network. This will be explained in further detail in the section below on constructing canal tiles.

Example

1. A player takes the garden construction action and decides to build a small garden tile and pays the cost of 1 stone to build it.
2. The player places this small garden tile in between two of their workshops and then receives the connected bonuses. In this case, that is 1 coin and 1 stone.
3. In a later turn, the same player takes a garden construction action to build a large garden at the cost of 1 stone and 1 coin and places it in the garden slot indicated, receiving the placement bonus of 1 stone and 3 coins.
4. As the player has completed their first garden square, they move one step to the right on a color track of their choosing.

Canal Construction

When a player selects this action, they choose one of their canal tiles from their personal supply, pay the cost indicated on the tile, and then place it on ANY space on the water network that does not already have a canal tile on it. The player gains any bonus (VPs and occasionally building discounts) from the space they place the tile on. If there is a canal bonus tile on the space where the canal tile is placed, the player placing the tile takes the canal bonus tile and either discards it immediately to gain the reward or keeps it to use, once, later in the game. Placed canal tiles must be orientated so that their cost is in the upper left corner. Horizontally adjacent tiles do not have to connect to each other but vertically adjacent tiles do have to connect to each other. In this way, the canal tiles placed vertically adjacent to one another will always connect. Note that horizontally adjacent canal tiles do not have to connect, as shown on the picture below.

When a player places one of their canal tiles on one of the edges of the water network that has a blue water cube directly next to it, that player moves the water cube onto their tile to indicate that it will move in the next Rain scoring phase (explained on page 15). The water cube is moved onto the adjacent tile even if the tile does not link directly to the source. Rain scoring phases take place after the 2nd, 4th and 6th rounds, as indicated on the round track.

Blue water cubes are placed on the marked spots around the edge of the main board as part of setup.

Each cube marks a source from which water can flow when the rains fall.

This icon shows there is a water tank on the other side of the canal tile. If you want to build a water tank during the game, be aware you have only two of these tiles.

Players can also place one of their water tank tiles at the end of one of the water networks. However, they can only do this when they have filled at least 2 garden squares completely and founded at least one trading base on the main board. (Trading bases are explained in the next section.) A reminder of this is shown at the bottom of the water network area.

NOTE: If a player places a canal tile next to a water cube, then the adjacent water cube is moved and placed on that new tile. This water cube remains there until the next Rain scoring phase, which is detailed later. See the example below.

Unless a player meets this condition (having completed at least 2 full garden squares and placed at least 1 trading base) then they cannot build a water tank in any of these squares.

Example

1. A player plays an action card with the canal construction action.
2. The player decides to build their canal tile with a crossroads shape. They pay 2 marble and 3 coins, as indicated on the upper-left corner of the canal tile.
3. The player places the canal tile on the square with 3 VPs marked on it and scores that immediately. As there is a water cube next to this tile, the water cube is moved onto this newly placed tile.
4. On a later turn, the same player plays the canal construction action again. They place their second canal tile below their last one, paying 2 marble and no coins, as the space has a 1 coin discount. They also score 4 VPs.

Canal bonus tiles

There are nine tiles in total with seven different bonuses:

• 1× a card icon (a spade/trowel symbol on a bookmark-shaped card)
• 1× a merchant token (square token)
• 2× a resource and a goods tile (stone/marble paired with spice/amphora)
• 1× a triple resource and goods tile
• 1× a camel
• 1× 1 stone, placed immediately onto a garden tile space
• 2× 3 VPs

Trading

At the beginning of the game, a player has a camel of their color stationed in Resafa. This represents their merchant caravan.

The trading action has three parts:

A) MOVE (obligatory): A player must first move their caravan on the map from one trading center to another by paying any coins indicated along the route.

B) TRADE (optional): When trading, a player can either buy or sell (but not both) ONE type of good or resource that is indicated on the trading tile in that location. The total number of items that the player can trade is determined by the number of camels in their caravan, as shown by the camel track on their player board.

Camel caravan capacity: stone / marble / amphora / spice.

Note: The camel caravan can only carry ONE type of good or resource at the same time.

When a player buys an item or items in a trading center (up to their camel caravan capacity total), those items are loaded onto their camel.

NOTE: Any goods or resources produced by means other than trading (i.e. through productions actions or by activating bonus cards, special cards or sack cards) are kept in a player's warehouse in Resafa.

Loading goods in Resafa: A player can choose to travel via Resafa to pick up any goods or resources from their warehouse that match the type they wish to trade and if they have capacity in their camel caravan. There is no additional cost to stopping at Resafa on the way to another trading centre and the coin paid for the stretch of road just below Resafa counts for both the inward and outward journey. For example, traveling from Gerasa to Resafa to load a good and then back to Gerasa, costs only 1 coin. Similarly, to travel from Alia to Gerasa and then to Resafa to load a good and then back to Alia would cost 3 coins.

Some trade actions have an immediate bonus (on the golden background) next to them that triggers if a player makes that trade. It is a one-time bonus and is not received per transaction. When a player gains this bonus, it can be taken before or after the trade part of this action.

Once the trade has been completed, the trading tile in that location is flipped over to its reverse side.

The blue or red highlight on the trading tile shows the more favorable trade for that tile. The timing of taking trade actions is key to getting the best deals and possible bonuses for certain trades as once that tile has been activated, it is flipped and the prices and rewards change!

When travelling around the map, a player must pay a cost in coins equal to the number of road segments their camel caravan has travelled through.

This player's camel caravan can carry up to 4 goods of the same type because their caravan capacity, marked on their player board, is on level 4.

The red player sold all their goods in Gerasa so their caravan is empty. In the next trade action, they travel to Resafa, where they pick up 2 spice and then take the goods back to Gerasa to sell it. (If they had 3 spice in their warehouse they would have been able to load all 3 as their caravan capacity is 3.) The travel cost from Gerasa to Resafa and back is just 1 coin. The red player would gain 3 coins and 10 VPs for selling their 2 spice.

C) ESTABLISH A TRADING BASE (optional): In a trading center where a player buys or sells goods, they can also establish a trading base there as part of this action, if they do not have one in this location already. The player taking the action must pay 1 stone and 1 coin (as indicated on their player board) to do so.

The player then takes one of their player markers and places it on one of the trading base boxes below the trading center they are in. Some of these spaces are only available at certain player counts.

Additionally, some of these trading base locations provide VPs, sack cards or extra moves on the color tracks. A player can choose to put their marker on any of the available spaces at that trading center that are applicable for the player count. Each player can only place one trading base in each trading center.

When a trading base is established, the player gains a merchant token. There are two different merchant tokens, a square one and one with a scarab (which is scored at the end of the game). In either case, the player places the merchant token on their player board. The first two tokens must be placed to the left on the causeway. Once these both have been placed, a player may then construct level II workshops. (However, these workshops only become available to be built from the start of the 3rd round.)

After those first 2 tokens, the player puts newly acquired merchant tokens in the leftmost space of one of the 3 rows on their player board.

Each row determines the end game points a player receives for each of the garden, workshop or canal tiles they have at the end of the game.

Gardens / Workshops / Canals — the three merchant token rows on the player board.

4 Player only spots.

Additional bonuses for placing a trading base.

The red player is taking a trade action and has moved their camel to Ctesiphon. There, they bought 2 spice for 2 coins and loaded them onto their camel. The player then spends 1 coin and 1 stone to build a trading base in the middle location, placing one of their player makers there. The player takes a square merchant token and places it immediately on their player board and also gets a sack card as a bonus. The trading tile is then flipped over.

Example

1. The red player has their camel in Alia. As their caravan carrying capacity is 3, their camel can carry up to 3 items of the same type. Currently, it is carrying 2 amphoras that were bought on a previous turn.
2. The camel caravan travels through Gerasa to Resafa, where the 3rd amphora is loaded onto the camel from that player's warehouse on their player board, and then continues on to Ctesiphon. Since the camel travelled along 2 road segments, this costs 2 coins.
3. The player sells all three amphoras, each one for 1 coin and 4 VPs. They also get the one-time trading bonus of 3 coins and 1 VP. In total, this trading action earns this player 13 VPs and 6 coins!
4. As part of the trading action, the player can build a trading base in Ctesiphon, if they wish, as they do not have one there already. They decide to do so and pay 1 stone and 1 coin to place a marker on the only free spot. This spot gives the player a scarab merchant token.
5. The player can place this merchant token on any of the leftmost free spaces on the 3 rows. In this case, they decide to place it on the top row which means they will get 2 VPs per garden tile placed in their area at game end.
6. Following the completion of this trading action, the trading tile is flipped.

End of the Round

When each player has taken 3 turns, the round ends. At this point, all bonus cards that are left in the bonus card display are removed and 3 new cards of each color are revealed to make the new bonus card display for the next round.

The starting player marker is passed to the player to the left of the current starting player and the round marker is moved along one space.

The new round is started by the new starting player. Each player plays 3 more action cards. At the end of the 1st, 3rd and 5th rounds, players will not have any cards to draw into their hands. The cards that were played in those rounds should be flipped over in their current slots. After the 2nd and 4th rounds, a player takes all of their action cards and first draws any yellow special cards they have. Then, they shuffle their remaining cards and draw until they have a hand of 3 cards. In this way, a player will always cycle through their 6 action cards.

This is the situation at the end of the 2nd round. The 3 cards from the first round were flipped over and the other 3 cards were played over them in the 3 slots.

Discard all of the unused bonus cards for this round. Deal new ones from the corresponding decks so there are 4 rows of 3 cards (1 row from each stack) in the display again.

NOTE: At the end of the 2nd and 4th rounds, if a player has any yellow special cards in their pool of action cards, they take those into hand first and then randomly draw up to 3 cards.

Rain Scoring Phase

At the end of the 2nd, 4th and 6th round, the rains arrive! At these points, each player scores 1 VP for each canal tile they have placed in the water network. They also score any blue VPs indicated on those tiles.

Once this has been scored for all players, any water cubes that have been activated since the last Rain scoring phase move along the water network and score VPs for the players whose canal tiles the water cube passes along. The water cubes that have been activated (if any) will be sitting on a canal tile at the edge of the board.

The player who placed the tile determines the route the water takes, if there are various directions to take. Water always flows from the outside edge to the bottom of the water network. It cannot flow back towards its source, but it can flow to either side if a canal tile points in that direction.

For every tile the water cube passes through, the player owning that tile receives 1 VP and any blue VPs indicated on the tiles themselves. If there is no canal tile, the water cube flows along the water network printed on the main board.

The player who determined the direction of the water cube places it in front of them after the VPs have been scored. These water cubes are used in the scoring for one of the pink special cards.

See the Rain scoring phase symbols on the round track.

Each blue cube placed on a canal tile will be activated and the water will flow downward.

The water network scores in two ways. First, each player gains VPs for their built canals, then VPs for the water flowing through their canals, if any.

Example

First, both players score VPs based on the canal tiles they have placed on the board. The red player gains 6 VPs (4 VPs for the 4 tiles they have placed and an additional 2 VPs for the blue points depicted on their tiles). The green player gains 7 VPs (3 VPs for the 3 tiles and 4 VPs for blue points on their water tank tile).

Then any activated water cubes travel down the water network. In this example, exactly one water cube is activated as there is one sitting on a red canal tile inside the network. The red player therefore determines the movement of this cube.

The red player moves the water cube through the green tile to a second red tile. There, they decide to change the direction that the water flows to the right channel. This is possible as there is a link out of the crossroads tile to the right, even though there is not a tile connecting to it in the neighbouring channel. As there is no tile on that space, the water flows down through another red tile and then continues to the end of the board without any other changes of direction.

As a result, the red player gains 5 VPs, 3 VPs for the 3 red tiles the water cube passed through along with an additional 2 VPs from the blue VPs depicted on those tiles. The green player receives 1 VP for their 1 tile the water cube passed over.

No other water cubes are activated so this Rain scoring phase ends.

End Game Scoring

At the end of the 6th round, after a final Rain scoring phase, players receive VPs from:

1. The number of blue scarab tokens (max. 5) they have on their player board tracks at a rate shown on the player boards;
2. The number of buildings a player has constructed of each type (gardens, workshops and canal tiles) multiplied by the points (1, 2 or 3) that have been reached by the merchant tokens placed on their player board for that building type;
3. Any pink special cards they have;
4. The yellow VP icons on all their special cards;
5. Remaining rare goods (amphoras, spice) at the rate of 1 VP per good;
6. Remaining resources and coins at the rate of 1 VP per 5;
7. The number of canal tiles each player constructed during the game at a rate shown in the golden scoring section on the main board.

The winner is the player with the most VPs. In the case of a tie, the winner is the player who has placed the most canal tiles in the water network. If it is still a tie, the tied players share the victory!

For end game scoring, see the table with the golden background located to the right of the round track.

Example

1. As the red player has 4 scarab merchant tokens, they gain 11 VPs.
2. The red player placed merchant tokens in each row, so they score all constructed building types.
   • They gain 3 VPs per garden tile they built. In this case, they score 24 VPs for their 8 constructed garden tiles.
   • They also gain 1 VP per workshop tile they have (including their starting workshops), earning 6 VPs.
   • Finally, they gain 2 VPs per canal tile they built, thus scoring 10 VPs for the 5 red canal tiles.
3. For these two pink cards, the player receives 13 VPs and 2 more VPs for each trading base they have established.
4. The player obtained cards with 2, 3 and 5 VPs on them during the game and so they score 10 VPs from these. They also score 2 VPs for the pink card to the left bringing their total here to 12 VPs.
5. This player scores 4 VPs for rare goods that they still have. There are 2 amphoras still loaded on their camel and they have 1 spice and 1 more amphora in their warehouse in Resafa.
6. For 9 coins, 2 marble and 3 stone, they gain 2 VPs.
7. Finally, they gain points for all of their built canal tiles. In this case they score 8 VPs for 5 constructed canals.

Solo Mode

The solo game of Resafa is played against an artificial player called "Resafabot". Resafabot simulates actions as if they were taken by a real player. However, Resafabot does not score VPs, collect or pay resources or goods nor does it need a player board or collect merchant tokens.

The aim of the solo game is for the player to score as many VPs as possible. The designer considers 150 VPs to be a reasonable starting goal, 180 VPs to be a good score, 200 VPs to be a very good score and 220+ VPs to be an excellent score. VPs in the solo game, as in the multiplayer game, can be scored using a variety of strategies.

Set up the game for 1–2 players.

150 VPs — Okay score. 180 VPs — Good score. 200 VPs — Very good score. 220 VPs — Excellent score.

Setup

For the solo game, the 1–2 player side of the main board is used. The player selects a color and takes all the components of that color and follows set up for a 2 player game.

The player also chooses a color for Resafabot and collects the wooden cubes and canal tiles only, in that color. Resafabot also needs the 7 card solo deck.

Resafabot's canal tiles are shuffled to create a stack with a random side face up but also with none of the water tanks being face up in that stack. A cube in Resafabot's color is placed on the starting spaces of all 4 color tracks, together with one from the player.

Then, one of Resafabot's canal tiles is placed on the water network. To do this, locate the canal tile setup card from the solo deck. This card is placed in front of the player so the four water network spaces are visible. The card can be placed in either orientation. One of the remaining 6 solo cards is picked at random and placed to the left of the canal tile setup card. This card has an arrow in an orange pillar that will point to the right, to the location where the top tile of Resafabot's canal tile stack should be placed. The four possible locations on the main board have a small palm tree in the upper right corner to make it easier to find them. A player marker in Resafabot's color is put on the newly placed tile.

Next, the 6 solo cards are collected, shuffled and placed face down with the color/action sides facing up (so the full length yellow columns are on the left side of each card). The canal set up card is then placed in the correct orientation (with the full length yellow column also to the left) on top of the other 6 solo cards.

The solo deck is now ready for Resafabot's first turn.

Placing Resafabot's first canal tile: the player places the solo canal tile setup card in front of them in either vertical orientation and then randomly picks another solo card and places it to the left of the set up card. This card has an arrow on the right that will point to a tile location where Resafabot's first tile is placed. The possible tile locations have a small palm tree in the corner.

The solo deck consists of 7 solo cards with the canal setup card on top.

On Resafabot's turn, the top card of the solo deck (the canal tile setup card) is flipped over and placed to the left of the solo card deck.

Gameplay

A starting player is randomly determined by the player. The starting player (either the player or Resafabot) is given the starting player token. At the end of the round after 3 action cards have been played by Resafabot and the player, the starting player token switches to the other player and they become the starting player. The starting player token swaps back and forth in this manner until the game ends.

On the Player's turn, they take a turn as they would in a 2-player game.

On Resafabot's turn, the top card of the solo deck is flipped over and placed to the left of the solo deck. The arrow on this card will either point to the upper or lower action on the card to its right. The action will be associated with a color as normal.

Resafabot first takes its color action, either by removing a card from the bonus card display matching the associated color or by moving along the appropriate color track 2 spaces. Which color action is taken is determined by the icon at the top or bottom of the solo card on the left.

If a card is to be removed from the bonus card display, the icon shows which card should be discarded (in red). If there is no card to remove in that slot, the next available card to the left towards the deck is removed.

Resafabot takes the action on the right-hand card that is pointed to by the arrow on the left-hand card. First, take the color action by discarding the rightmost yellow card; rightmost because of the icon at the bottom of the card on the left and yellow as the arrow points to the bottom half of the card and it is yellow. Then Resafabot takes the Provisions action.

This section of the card on the left shows which bonus card should be discarded.

In this case, Resafabot moves their marker (yellow) two steps to the right on the pink track. Since their marker ended on the spot where they gain a card, they discard the level I special card and reveal the next. They are the first player to get there, so they also flip and reveal the top level II card on the pink track.

Then, they play the Trading action as usual.

If there is no card to the left, then cycle around to the right of the row and continue left until a card is identified to be removed. If there is no card of the color specified, that color action is not taken this turn.

If Resafabot's marker moves along a color track 2 spaces and lands on, or goes past, the card icon for that track, the face up card of that level is removed from the game and the next card of that stack is turned face up (remembering to reveal the first card of the next level as well). Resafabot has no restrictions as to which track levels it can reach.

After the color action, Resafabot takes their main action.

Resafabot's Main Actions

Production, Garden Construction

The solo action card always has an action within a red outline. If the arrow points to a production or garden construction action, those types of actions are not taken and instead the action indicated within the red outline is taken.

Workshop Construction

If the arrow points to the workshop construction action, then a workshop tile is removed from the workshop display and is then replaced. If only the level I workshops are available, then one of those tiles is removed. When the level II tiles are available for the player (i.e. the player has at least 2 merchant tokens and it is round 3 or later), the tile that is removed will be a level II workshop. The workshop tile that is removed is determined by the icon below the construction symbol on the left-hand action card.

Provisions

If the arrow points to this action, Resafabot's marker is moved 2 spaces along a colored track. To determine which to move along, the left-hand card is referenced to see what is under the 2 track movement icon.

If it shows an "=" symbol, then the marker is moved along the track that matches the color of the action that the arrow is pointing to. If it shows a "1./=" symbol, then the marker is moved along the track where Resafabot is furthest. If Resafabot has several markers that are tied for furthest, then the marker of the color the arrow points to is moved forward, if it can be. If the marker indicated is at the end of the track, then the next furthest is moved. If it is not possible to determine a marker to move, then no marker is moved.

Canal Construction

If the arrow points to the canal construction action, the player draws the top tile of Resafabot's canal tiles and then determines where to place it. The left-hand card shows under the canal construction icon where the tile should be placed in relation to the last tile placed by Resafabot. The last tile placed by Resafabot will be indicated by the marker in Resafabot's color sitting on that tile. So if the arrow points downwards, then the new tile is placed directly below the last of Resafabot's tiles that was placed. If all locations in that direction are occupied or the arrow points to a space outside the water network grid, place the tile in the first available space in the opposite direction. If the canal tile is placed on a location that has a canal bonus tile, the bonus tile is removed from the game. If the arrow points to a water tank space, the player searches through Resafabot's canal tile stack for the next water tank tile and places it in that spot. If Resafabot does not have any water tank tiles left, then no action is taken.

Once Resafabot's new tile has been placed, their cube is moved onto the new tile. If it is not possible for one of Resafabot's canal tiles to be placed according to the rules above or, if all of Resafabot's canal tiles have already been placed, then no action is taken.

Trading

If the arrow points to the trading action, one of Resafabot's cubes is placed on the leftmost available trading base spaces in the first trading center listed on the card. If there is already one of their cubes at that trading center, then, instead, a trading base is placed at the next trading center location. If neither is possible because Resafabot has trading bases in both, then no action is taken.

When Resafabot places a trading base, the trading tile in that location is flipped over to its reverse side.

Each solo card has an action highlighted with a red outline. This action is taken instead of a production or garden construction action. In this example, Resafabot would take a trading action.

In this example, if only the level I workshops are available then the middle level I workshop is discarded. If the level II tiles have been revealed, and they can be built by the player, then the middle one of those is discarded instead.

The left example shows a track movement that matches the color that the arrow points to. The right example indicates that Resafabot would move their furthest marker (and if Resafabot has several markers tied for furthest, then the marker that matches the color the arrow points to is moved instead).

Resafabot (yellow) takes the canal construction action. The directional arrow on the left-hand card points to the left so Resafabot places the next canal tile (red square) to the left of their last placed one and the yellow cube is moved on to the new tile.

Resafabot takes the trading action. The action card on the left shows Antiochia as the first option to place a trading base at. However, as Resafabot already has a trading base there, Kena is checked as the second option. Resafabot does not have a base here so a marker in their color (yellow) is placed in the leftmost available spot. The trading tile is then flipped.

After Resafabot has played 6 action cards, the solo cards are collected and the canal tile setup card is set aside. The remaining 6 solo cards are shuffled and placed face down with the canal tile setup card on top of the other 6 solo cards, as at the beginning of the game.

End of the Game

After 6 rounds of the game according to the rules above, the player will count their VPs as per the rules for 2–4 players.

Bonus and Special Card Effects Explanation

When a bonus card is played, it is removed from the game and should be placed in the game box. If the player is only able to or only wants to use part of the effect of a bonus card, that is allowed. There are two types of bonus cards in the game:

Some show an action in a white background. These can only be played when the action of the indicated type is taken, in this case, when trading.

Some do not have the action icon in a white background. These can be played any time during a player's turn.

• c1 — Trigger one production room. If this card is played during a production action, an already used production room can be used again, if desired.
• c3 — When selling amphora as part of a trading action, gain a bonus of 2 coins and 1 VP. This may be done up to twice in the same trading action.
• c4 — When selling marble as part of a trading action, gain a bonus of 2 coins and 1 VP. This may be done up to twice in the same trading action.
• c5 — Gain 1 amphora and place it in your warehouse in Resafa.
• c6 — When taking a canal construction action, you may exchange 1 coin for 2 marble.
• c7 — Gain 1 stone and move 1 step along the pink track.
• c8 — Gain 1 square merchant token. Place it on your player board.
• c9 — Pay 1 stone to build a small garden tile. Do not receive any connected green garden bonuses.
• c11 — Pay 2 coins and 1 stone to build a small garden tile. Trigger the bonuses from joining the garden tile to the workshops.
• c13 — When taking a canal construction action, you have a discount of 1 marble and 1 coin.
• c15 — When trading, you may flip the trading tile in the city where you are trading. You can look at the reverse side of the trading tile before deciding whether to flip it or not. You also gain a sack card.
• c16 — Gain 1 coin and move your camel caravan capacity marker up 1 space.
• c17 — If you have at least 5 workshop tiles when you play this card, gain 2 sack cards, 2 VPs and 1 coin.
• c18 — Move one step along any track.
• c19 — Gain 2 stone and place them in your warehouse.
• c26 — Pay 1 coin to take a scarab merchant token from the supply and place it on your player board.
• c27 — When taking a canal construction action, you have a discount of 1 marble. In addition, you gain 1 VP for each canal tile you have built (including the one just built).
• c28 — When this card is played, gain 1 VP for each merchant token (either type) on your player board.
• c32 — When this card is played, gain 1 VP for each camel you have in your caravan, as marked on your player board.
• c35 — When selling marble as part of a trading action, gain a bonus of 2 VPs for each marble sold, up to three times.
• c50 — When this card is played, gain 1 VP for each workshop (including starting workshops) you have.
• c63 — If you have built at least 1 canal tile, gain 1 sack card, 1 VP and 1 stone.
• c64 — When taking a canal construction action, you have a discount of 2 coins and then receive 1 VP for each canal tile you have built (including the one just built).
• c72 — Gain 1 VP for each garden tile you have built when this card is played.

Icon Legend

• Coin
• Stone
• Marble
• Amphora
• Spice
• Trading
• Workshop construction
• Canal construction
• Garden construction
• Workshop production
• Any action
• Any track movement
• Yellow track movement
• White track movement
• Pink track movement
• Blue track movement
• Instant Victory Point
• End-game Victory Point
• Rain scoring Victory Point
• Sack card
• Water cube
• Trading base
• Flip one trading tile — you may first check the other side of the trading tile and then decide if you want to flip it.
• Move your camel caravan capacity marker up 1 space
• Bonus card
• Do not gain the connected garden bonuses
• Spend / Spend 1 coin
• Discount / Do not pay 2 marble
• Have
• Have constructed a canal

Pink Special Card Effects (End-Game Scoring)

• p1 — At the end of the game, gain 2 VPs. Also, gain 2 VPs for each trading base you have on the main board.
• p2 — At the end of the game, gain 4 VPs. Also, gain 3 VPs for each blue special card you have. (P4 and P12 work in the same way for the card types indicated.)
• p3 — At end of the game, gain 2 VPs for each camel you have in your caravan as marked on your player board.
• p5 — At the end of the game, gain 2 VPs. Also, gain 2 VPs for each of your constructed canal tiles.
• p7 — At the end of the game, gain 4 VPs. Gain 2 VPs for each of your special cards, including this one.
• p8 — At the end of the game, gain 7 VPs. Then, you may convert up to 3 rare goods you have (either from your camel or your warehouse) into 5 VP for each. Converted goods are returned to the supply.
• p9 — At the end of the game, gain 5 VPS. Gain 4 VPs for each water cube you have (that you triggered during the Rain scoring phase), up to 3 cubes.
• p10 — At the end of the game, gain 2 VPs. You may convert 1 coin to 2 points up to 8 times. (P17 works in a similar way.) Converted goods are returned to the supply.
• p13 — At the end of the game, score this higher amount of VPs for scarab merchant tokens instead of the normal amount. If you do not have any of these tokens, you do not score anything.
• p14 — At the end of the game, gain 10 VPs. Gain 3 VPs for each square merchant token you have on your player board.
• p15 — At the end of the game, gain 5 VPs. Then, choose one of your pink cards and gain VPs for it again (both the card VPs and the requirement VPs).
• p18 — At the end of the game, gain 10 VPs. Then gain 2 VPs for each pair of workshop and garden tiles you have, e.g. for 5 workshops and 7 garden tiles you would gain 10 VPs.

White Special Card Effects

• p22 — Gain 2 VPs at game end and construct a small garden for free. (You gain the green garden bonuses when this garden is placed.)
• p26 — Gain 4 VPs at game end. On playing this card, take the garden construction action with a discount of up to 1 coin and 1 stone.
• p28 — Gain 3 VPs at game end. Trigger 1 production and/or take the workshop construction action, or do only one of these.
• p30 — Construct a level I workshop and/or construct a level II workshop. The cost for each construction must be paid. Receive the immediate production for the level II workshop.
• p36 — Gain 8 VPs at game end. Trigger 4 production rooms in different workshops.

Yellow Special Card Effects

• p37 — Gain 1 coin and 1 marble when this card is played. When this card is played, a color action of any color can be taken. The action side is chosen as normal.
• p45 — Trigger 1 production and gain 1 sack card when this card is played. Play a color action of any color and take any action.
• p49 — Gain 3 VPs and 2 stone when this card is played. Any color action can be taken. Choose 2 different main actions to take.

Blue Special Card Effects

• p55 — Every time that you take a garden construction action, gain 1 stone and 1 coin. These can be used as part of the action.
• p56 — Every time you take a canal construction action, you have a discount of 1 marble and gain 1 VP.
• p57 — Every time you place a trading base as part of a trading action, you have a discount of 1 stone and gain 1 marble.
• p59 — Every time you take a construct a workshop action, gain 1 marble and 1 coin. These may be used as part of the workshop construction action.
• p61 — Gain 2 VPs at game end. Gain 2 coins. Play a trading action. You may flip the trading tile before taking the trading action. You may look at the reverse side of the trading tile before deciding whether to flip it or not. Receive these bonuses in any order.
• p65 — Gain 1 coin and 1 scarab merchant token. Take a construct a canal action. Receive these bonuses in any order.
• p68 — Gain 4 VPs at game end. Gain 2 spice, or 2 amphora or 1 spice and 1 amphora and add it to your warehouse in Resafa. Increase your caravan capacity by 1. Take a trade action but do not pay the cost to move your camel caravan.
• p71 — Gain 5 VPs at game end. Gain 1 scarab merchant token and place it on your player board. Gain 4 of the depicted items in any combination. Trigger a production room in 2 different workshops. Receive these bonuses in any order.