Terra Mystica
213 questions players ask about Terra Mystica, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-30.
213 questions players ask about Terra Mystica, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-30.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. If the scoring tile with the Spade on its left side would land on space 5 or 6, set it aside, draw another tile, and shuffle the Spade tile back in. This is an official change to the setup, adopted to stop a spade-transforming exploit in the last rounds. As a side effect, the Spade tile appears a little less often than the other tiles.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Use the map-balanced starting VP chart the publisher released (2019, rebalanced in 2020), not a flat 20 for everyone. On the base map, Fakirs and Giants start highest at 30; Acolytes, Auren and Alchemists get 25; Engineers, Cultists and Darklings start lowest at 15; every other faction gets 20. Other maps (Fire & Ice, Merchants of the Seas) have their own tables, and the publisher's newest chart is the one to use.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The designer said the map-balanced starting VPs apply with or without Fire & Ice, Merchants of the Seas or the mini-expansion, and for all player counts. He described them as the new official starting VPs when announced, and later as the recommended values.
The rulebook covers faction choice and dwelling order; the bonus-card pick order rests on agreeing community posts.
First set up the board, scoring tiles and bonus cards, then choose factions starting with the Starting player and going clockwise. Dwellings go down in turn order for the first one and reverse order for the second. Bonus cards are then picked in reverse turn order, last player first. Play starts with the Starting player.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. Placing the first Dwellings is setup, not building, so no Power is gained from adjacent opponents. Power from neighbours only comes from build and upgrade actions in the Action phase.
No, except the Darklings, who begin with one. The other Priests sit in your supply and only reach your faction board once you earn them, for example through income or other bonuses.
The Nomads place their third Dwelling after everyone has placed their second one. The Chaos Magicians place their only Dwelling last. Neither faction changes the reverse-order pick of bonus cards later.
Yes, as written. Each round a Bonus card nobody took gets another coin, and whoever takes it later collects them all. Two posters read the rulebook that way, though one recalls hearing at Essen that only one coin should sit on a card.
No. Resources sit on faction boards and nothing in the rules hides them, so coins, workers, priests and Power are open information.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Treat them as unlimited, like coins and workers. If you run out, use a substitute marker, for example a tile of another colour that shows the needed colour on its back.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No, the game is for 2 to 5 players. The map gets too crowded and downtime and faction balance suffer beyond that.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Three. Each faction has 3 Bridges and they cannot be reclaimed once placed.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. The designer says the two factions were deliberately designed not to be played in the same game.
A designer's hedged reply plus agreeing community posts; no published official list.
There is no single official errata list that we know of. Errata exist for the Cultists, Riverwalkers and Shapeshifters and for the Spade scoring tile (not allowed in rounds 5 and 6). They are gathered in the community FAQ and on an unofficial sticker sheet. Players report the second English edition includes the Cultists fix and no other rule differences.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
The three-dwelling hexagon under the Sanctuary means a Town that includes the Sanctuary needs only 3 structures instead of 4. The priest icon is income, and the oval is a one-time Favor tile you take when you build that structure.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Sort them by Cult into twelve stacks: each Cult has one unique 3-step tile and two stacks of identical tiles. Favor tiles are face up and you may pick any available tile, they are not drawn randomly.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Terraform a hex to your colour as normal and place your landscape tile instead of a blank terrain disc. It cannot go on a hex that was already your home terrain, because you must actually change the colour. Check your faction's own prerequisite. Nothing else can be built on a landscape, and with Merchants of the Seas you cannot trade with it.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. A special landscape counts as a building with Power value 1, including for Towns and final scoring. So a 2-Spade action cannot place a landscape with the first Spade and then build a Dwelling with the second.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
When the Mermaids found a Town that includes the Coral Reef, the Reef counts as the river space they skip, so it cannot be an extra, separate skip; the designer calls this official. Paying a Spade for the reef scores the Spade-tile VP, and Merchants (Dwarves, Fakirs) cannot end movement on it.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
From the Great Tunnel hex the Dwarves get a permanent +1 on their range tile, up to the maximum, for both tunneling and Merchant movement. A Merchant gets the bonus only if it starts its move there. With Cult-bonus Spades the Dwarves pay no workers, gain no tunneling VP, and the two Spades may go to different hexes within tunneling range.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The mini-expansion text only gives the Ice Maidens a Spade for each Temple, but in 2020 the designers updated the rule so they may also build when they get that Spade.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
It can be placed only on a hex the Nomads transform to desert that turn, not one that was already desert. When another player builds next to the Camp, the Nomads choose either 1 coin plus 1 Power for 0 VP, or 2 Power for 1 VP. An upgrade is not a build, so it gives no coin; they can only take 2 Power for 1 VP. Afterwards you can terraform or build a hex adjacent only to the Camp.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
It can go on any terrain except Ice, including another player's home terrain, and costs only 3 Cult steps. The designer says the Power gain for moving down the tracks only starts after the Altar is placed, not for the move that pays for it, and that the Dragonlords do not get this discount.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes, a Land Bridge may be placed along the edge of the map, even though only one side is a land space. It connects land spaces, not other bridges, so it cannot be attached to a normal bridge.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. When you build the Stronghold you can use the other 2 Spades on hexes directly adjacent to the Driller, as long as those hexes were adjacent or reachable by Shipping before you built the Stronghold.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
It lets a Swarmlings Town keep growing into a City, Metropolis and Megacity, each stage earning another Town tile. The landscape must be part of the Town being grown.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
It gives 4 VP for each Temple built that round (the Dwelling in the text is a typo) and, at round end, 2 coins for each Priest you have sent to a Cult track.
You gain 3 extra Power in the Income phase. When you pass and return it, you score 3 VP for each step you have advanced on your Shipping track.
Based on a single community reply plus the mini-expansion text; no official ruling.
No. The prerequisite is two Temples on the board, and a Sanctuary is not a Temple.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Set up as a standard two-player game; the designer says that officially you then use the map-based starting VP values. He personally ignores them and starts both sides at 20, which is also where the Automa rulebook puts her marker. The Automa starts with two fewer Dwellings than a human, a balancing choice from playtests. For the initial Dwellings, use the deck you will play with, including the 14th Merchants card if you use it.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The second edition is a new printing with essentially the same contents.
Not officially. The designer says a variant for 2 humans plus 1 Automa is in the box and should extend to 3 humans, and that the rules are written so "you" can mean any other player, but more than one Automa is untested and needs house rules.
A designer expects it to work but did not test it, and one player reports it worked; no ruling.
It is not officially tested. The designer thinks it could work, and one player reports it worked in a 2-player game with the Automa.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
The Automa gets no VP for the conditions on scoring tiles or for placing structures; she scores the fixed VP shown on the scoring tile when she passes. VP icons on her faction card apply only when she performs her Faction action, not every round, and the dividing line on a faction card is not a per-round bonus.
Yes. The line only separates two actions, and both are performed each time the faction action is taken. Everything on an Automa faction card happens only when she takes her Faction action, unless the card says otherwise (for example the Powermongers' Ongoing Ability).
When an action uses the terrain priority tiebreaker, go through the A or B row of her terrain priority card from left to right and take the first terrain type that has a valid space. If her support card shows the third (connecting) icon, she narrows to spaces that reduce the distance between her two groups of structures; otherwise she works near the marked or unmarked group shown. Valid spaces are those in range of that group, and you then apply the tiebreakers in turn until one space is left.
She first looks for a Dwelling directly adjacent to your structures, which mimics a player getting the cheaper upgrade. If none can be upgraded, she picks the structure that gives you the least Power, usually one not adjacent to you, and uses directional selection if several tie.
It ignores the build action and its tiebreakers and performs a regular upgrade instead, and still gains its 2 VP faction action since that is separate.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Nearest uses the absolute difference, so one space above and one below are equally near and the directional selection tiebreaker decides. If no +3 Favor tile is left, the action is skipped.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. With Merchants of the Seas, do the second Merchant block only when the special MotS Decision card 2, which has an extra icon, is drawn. The designer admitted the rulebook is unclear here. An earlier 2022 reply saying the block always goes twice was superseded by this 2023 answer.
The designers left those elements out on purpose; the rules cover only what interacts with the player. A neutral Symbionts cube gives no Power and is neither a build nor an upgrade.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Rule 4c assigns it to the nearest city, usually the one used for the action; the two Automa cities only merge for final scoring.
After the Blight's normal Transform and Build, it does two special Fallow-to-Blighted transforms; they follow the card tiebreakers and ignore range, with the tiebreakers applied again for the second land. Wanderers use the normal procedure but ignore range. When the Automa plays the Symbionts she has two terrain priority cards, and the cube placement ignores range and follows the card tiebreakers.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
The top-right symbols on the Automa scoring tiles are the base game icons, explained in the base rulebook's scoring tile appendix; only the two symbols at the bottom right are new for the Automa. The tile giving 2 coins per Priest on the Cult board comes from the mini-expansion.
The designer answered the Merchants shipyard point and a community post covers starting VP; the posts do not cover everything asked.
Most fan factions came without a Shipyard board and were not designed with Merchants in mind, so if you use them with Merchants, use any standard Shipyard board. No adjusted starting VP values or special landscapes exist for them so far.
Rests on relayed messages and community replies; the designer said an official ruling was still to be finalised.
Not settled officially. The manual forbids lifting a bridge when that would leave its Town too small or too weak to count as a Town. The designers' relayed answer is that the Town tile must stay in a legal Town of 4 structures (3 with the Sanctuary) with at least 7 Power (6 with Fire 2), and that two Town tiles cannot be combined into one big Town; an official rule was still being finalised. Each bridge into a hex reduces its transform cost, so two bridges give a 2-Spade discount.
The designer confirmed the per-resource choice; the rest rests on agreeing community replies.
You decide separately for each resource under a hand icon whether to bank it. Before the Stronghold only Income phase resources are stored and doubled; afterwards any resource gained counts. Boats and Power tokens are not resources and cannot be doubled.
Mostly agreeing community replies plus a hedged designer opinion; no formal ruling.
The designer thinks a Djinni lamp swap should be allowed unless both Cults are on level 10. The Conspirators' Stronghold swap removes a Favor tile's Cult steps immediately and the new tile gives its steps, including Power. Returning the Fire 2 tile after founding a 6-Power Town does not undo the Town or its points.
Power can be converted to coins first and the whole cost paid in coins, so a mix of power and coins is effectively allowed. The special income marker starts on the lighter spot showing 2 coins.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Always return it to the rightmost space of the Dwelling row. There are never gaps, and the A, B and C labels only matter during setup.
The printed Kingdom of Ember rules are the final ones; the version where Priests not in play were spent for Lava was an older playtest iteration. A Lava Flow cannot move onto an existing Volcano.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Geologists score the Spade scoring tile only for Spades they actually gain, such as from a Power action or a round bonus, not for a plain transform-and-build. Prospectors do not score for their golden Spades, but regular Spades they convert to Priests do.
Based on a single community reply; no official ruling.
Yes. Their buildings count as Power value 2 for all purposes, including Town formation, but a Town still needs four structures unless one of the big buildings is involved.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
Probably yes. Nothing in the rules stops it and the faction needs room to return tokens to the bowls.
Yes, you can use all of them, for 14 Town tiles in total. Randomly selecting ten can weaken some factions and reduces variety. The 10-Town limit from the base rulebook no longer applies.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Every faction with a Shipping track gets the +1, which excludes the Dwarves and Fakirs; the Riverwalkers only gain the 4 VP printed on the tile. Dwarves get no faction bonus from tiles 2 or 3 and still take 4 VP. Fakirs cannot use the Shipping side.
Yes. The skip range from the Stronghold and the tiles adds up, so they can skip up to four hexes.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. The key tile lets you cross two barriers to two Cult spaces of 10; it has no scoring bonus, and the Witches' Town bonus stays +5 VP. A round 6 tile showing a key scores 5 for the Town, not 10 for two keys.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. Conversions and Power actions happen on your own turn, before or after your action, never during an opponent's turn or in the Income phase. They are not an action themselves, so you can do any number of them in a turn. Passing counts as your action.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. An action and all its consequences resolve as a whole, so conversions fit only before or after it. For example, Power gained during a build or a trade cannot be turned into coins to pay for that same build. Resources that arrive directly, such as the coins from Flight School, can be spent on the same build.
Five conversions exist: Power to Priest (5 Power), Power to Worker (3), Power to Coin (1), Priest to Worker, and Worker to Coin. The Power ones spend tokens from Bowl III, the priest and worker ones cost no Power. Do them as often as you like on your turn; resources you gain can be banked for later turns.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Burning moves one token from Bowl II to Bowl III and removes another Bowl II token from the game, so each burn costs two tokens of Bowl II. You can burn only while Bowl II holds at least two tokens, which caps it at half of Bowl II rounded down. Burning is a free step, not an action, and creates no extra Power.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. Burning can be done at any point on your turn, as often as you like, and does not depend on the action you take that turn.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Only Power in Bowl III can be spent. If Bowl III is short, burn Power from Bowl II first, which is a free step at any point on your turn.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
Yes. The spent tokens leave Bowl III and go to Bowl I first, then any Power you gain is added to the bowls.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. You take as much Power as the bowls can absorb and pay VP only for what you actually take, which is one less than the amount gained. When you gain from several adjacent buildings, add the amounts together and take it all or take none. You can take only what your VP can pay for, never dropping below 0.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Gaining N Power costs N-1 VP. The cost table continues past 4 with no cap, so the first point is free and each further point costs 1 VP.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
You only gain what fits; the rest is lost. Tokens move from Bowl I to II, and from II to III, until no more tokens can move, and a gain of Power stops once all your tokens sit in Bowl III. You cannot convert mid-gain to avoid waste.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
They pay only in the Income phase (Phase I) of the next round, never immediately. This covers worker income from newly built Dwellings, the income part of Favor tiles and Bonus cards, and any other hand-marked reward. All players collect at the same time, so order does not matter.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
You can take any available tile freely, but only one of each of the twelve kinds per player.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
You simply miss any Priest you cannot take; the missed Priest does not come back later. Free converting is only possible in your Action phase, so you cannot convert Priests during income.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. Gaining Power from neighbours is not an action, so passing does not stop it. In round 6, the final conversion of leftover resources only happens after every player has passed, so a late leech can still matter.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Add up the Power values of all your structures directly adjacent to the structure just built or upgraded (bridges count as adjacency). Only that adjacent total matters, not what the builder built, and upgrades trigger it just like new Dwellings.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Neighbours decide on Power right after the structure is built, before the rest of the action's effects (Favor tile, Town tile, Cult steps). The designer's latest word is: build, leech, then all other effects. Earlier designer answers (2013) said to take the Favor tile or Town tile first, but that has been replaced. The Cultists choose their Cult track only after all opponents have decided.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Only one step in total, on a Cult track of the Cultists' choice, however many opponents accept. The Cultists choose after all opponents have decided.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
They gain 1 Power instead of the Cult step. This was an official rules update, so older printings lack it. If at least one opponent accepts, they get the Cult step and no Power.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. The bonus only applies when a neighbour could actually take Power, so neither the Cult step nor the 1 Power is given if they could not. A neighbour that cannot take Power has not refused it. With no adjacent opponents the Cultists also get nothing.
Yes. It works with the one opponent: if the opponent takes the Power the Cultists advance, and if the opponent declines they gain 1 Power.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
It triggers when the Cultists build a Dwelling or upgrade a structure, since both let neighbours take Power. It does not trigger when an opponent gains Power from a Merchants of the Seas trade.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
Yes. Each building gives adjacent neighbours its own decision to take Power, resolved one after the other. For example, the Halflings build the Stronghold, neighbours decide, and then the Dwelling gives a second decision.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
Yes, for the Trading house. Upgrading a Dwelling next to an opponent's structure costs 2 Workers and 3 Coins for most factions, and 2 Workers and 6 Coins otherwise. You also gain Power when that opponent builds or upgrades next to you.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. Action 1 is "transform and/or build", so you may skip the transform entirely and just build, as long as the space is empty and directly or indirectly adjacent to one of your structures. You must do at least one of the two parts, and you may also just transform without building.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
At most one. A single Transform and Build action allows only one Dwelling, so another Dwelling needs another action. The Halflings' Stronghold is the exception in effect: upgrading to it grants an extra Transform and Build with 3 Spades, which allows one Dwelling of its own.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. All terraforming in an action is done first and then you build at most once; you cannot build and then keep terraforming, and you cannot use a freshly built structure as the starting point for a further transform in the same action. Any Spades must be used before the Dwelling is placed.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. The Dwelling goes on a space you just brought to your home terrain, or one that already was. When an action gives several Spades you may transform more than one space, but you can build on only one of them. A partial transform of another space does not allow a build there.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Only when the first space needs just one Spade to become your home terrain. Then the second Spade may transform another space, but you may not place a Dwelling on that second space. Both Spades must go to one space if it needs two.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. Workers (or priests for Darklings) can top up Spades only toward your home terrain on the first space. If Spades from a Power action or bonus are split across several spaces, no additional Spades can be bought for the extra ones.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
The free Spades are applied first, and workers or priests are exchanged only for a Spade that is still missing afterwards. You may stop short of your home terrain; buying extra Spades is optional.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. Free Spades are optional; you may leave them unused or waste them, for example to block an action from an opponent. They cannot be saved for a later turn, because spades are only created for the terraforming you do right now.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. The Power action Spades and the Bonus card Spade are separate actions, and you get one action per turn. You can, however, pay workers to add extra Spades to whichever one you take.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. Each of these is a separate action, and you get one action per turn. To collect Spades from several of them you must use them on different turns, and a hex you only terraformed in between stays open for others to build on.
Yes. You can go either way round the wheel, stop partway, or terraform a space away from your home terrain to another colour. Each step costs one Spade, so a space can need up to 3 Spades to reach the opposite colour, but 3 is an example of the shortest route, not a cap on how many Spades an action can use.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes, if it was already your home terrain at the start of your turn. You cannot keep transforming a space that you just changed to your colour in the same action.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. A transformed space is not protected until someone builds on it, so any player with a structure within reach may transform it again.
Yes, directly or indirectly adjacent to one of your structures, whichever way you got the Spades. A new Dwelling can be adjacent to any structure, not specifically a Dwelling. Leftover Spades can transform any empty space you can reach, including by Shipping or a bridge.
No. Spades from the end-of-round Cult bonus can only transform, not build, and you cannot add workers or priests to buy more Spades with them. Spades from a Power action or Bonus card, in contrast, start a full Transform and Build action.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Every Spade you use scores 2 VP, including Spades bought with workers or priests. Building alone does not score.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
The Giants always pay exactly 2 Spades per space, whatever the starting terrain, and the space always becomes their home terrain (wasteland); they cannot dig to other colours. They can pay workers for extra Spades on Power actions or the Bonus card Spade, but not for Cult-bonus Spades.
No. Ice and Volcano can never be transformed into another terrain by Spades, Sandstorm or any special action.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
You get 3 free Spades once, in the action where you build the Stronghold, and may spend them on up to three spaces. You can then build one Dwelling on a space you transformed. All Spades must be used before the Dwelling is built, so you cannot build in the middle and then dig on from the new Dwelling.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Instead of workers they pay 1 Priest per missing Spade, and each Priest used scores 2 VP, even if they do not build. Priests can top up Spades from a Power action or Bonus card. They score the VP only for Priests, not for Spades from other sources, and a hex can only be dug until it reaches their home terrain.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
The Nomads' Stronghold special action transforms an adjacent space to desert. It works only on directly adjacent spaces, so it does not reach across a river by Shipping and does not work over a bridge. Other players still gain Power when the Nomads build as a result.
The rulebook text covers this.
Yes. A bridge makes the two spaces directly adjacent for everyone, regardless of who built it, so adjacency effects such as Power gain and the Trading Post discount work across it. You only need a structure of your own on one of the two spaces to build the bridge.
The rulebook covers the three-bridge limit and no reclaiming; the placement spots rest on agreeing community posts.
Bridges go only on the marked bridge spots across a river, and you need a structure on at least one of the two spaces it joins. Once built, a bridge cannot be reclaimed, and each player has only three.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. The Engineers' ability builds one bridge per action for 2 workers, so two bridges need two actions.
The rulebook text covers this.
No. Shipping gives only indirect adjacency, which lets you transform and build across rivers and counts for final area scoring. Towns need direct adjacency: bordering spaces or a bridge. The Mermaids are the only faction that can reach across a river for a Town.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. The Bonus card's +1 adds to your Shipping level, so Shipping 1 plus the card reaches 2 spaces. It applies only during the Action phase, so it does not help with Cult-bonus Spades, whether you just took the card or just passed it away.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. The advance from that tile gives the extra victory points of the new Shipping level, not just the town's points.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The Dwarves score 4 VP each time they tunnel as part of a Transform and/or Build action, whether they transform, build or both. They score again each time they tunnel, even to the same hex. A tunnel without a transform or build is not an action and scores nothing.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. Tunneling and carpet flight are meant for reaching spaces you could not otherwise reach. If you have a structure directly adjacent to the target space, you use normal terraforming and building, and cannot collect the 4 VP for a skip. The skip also starts from your own buildings, not from a space you reached over a bridge.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. A Dwarves tunnel or Fakirs carpet flight can be used only once per action, not once per Spade, even in a two-Spade action. With the Stronghold the Fakirs can skip up to two spaces in one flight, but cannot split that into two separate one-space flights.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
They can with Spades from a Power action or Bonus card, since those start a normal Transform and Build action. They cannot with Cult-bonus Spades, which may only transform directly adjacent spaces.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. Neither ability is blocked by opponents' structures or by rivers, because the rules place no such restriction on them. At game end, your connected area can likewise pass over or under an opponent's.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
For final area scoring, yes, they count as indirect connections. For founding a Town, no: it needs direct adjacency, so Dwarves and Fakirs need a bridge or real adjacency.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
A carpet flight skips one space, or up to two with the Stronghold, and costs a Priest. In the base game the +1 Shipping Bonus card gives the Fakirs no extra range, only its Power income. The double-sided +Shipping Town tiles do add to carpet range on their flip side.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The 2 coins need no conversion, so they can pay for the Dwelling built in that action. You cannot convert Power during the flight itself.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Once you use the Stronghold's double-turn special action, you must take exactly two actions in a row, not zero or one (confirmed by the designer). The rule says "any" two actions, and players commonly allow the same action twice, though that is a community reading; each Power action space can still be used only once per round.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. Instead of placing the Priest on an order space (worth 3 or 2 steps), you may send it back to your supply and advance one step. This works whether the order spaces are free or full, and the Priest is then available to be earned again through income. Priests placed on order spaces stay there for the rest of the game.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. A Priest spent on a Spade (Darklings), on advancing Shipping or the Spade exchange rate, or converted to a worker goes back to your supply and can be earned again later. Only a Priest placed on a Cult track space for 2 or 3 steps is permanently out of play.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. A Priest placed on an order space stays there for the rest of the game and blocks that space for others. You can still place several of your Priests on one Cult track, in different spaces.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Only one Priest per action, but a turn can contain several actions, for example with the Chaos Magicians' double turn. Placing two Priests on the same track in one turn is therefore possible with the right Stronghold.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. You may send a Priest to an order space even if you cannot advance the full amount, and it is a legitimate way to block an opponent. Taking a Power action you gain nothing from is also allowed, except that the Riverwalkers cannot take Spade Power actions.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. You may not give up a Cult advance you are entitled to, for example to stay below a step for a Favor tile. The exception is Town tiles that advance every track: if that would put you on 10 on more tracks than you have keys, you choose which tracks.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Reaching space 10 needs a key, and only one player can be on space 10 of each track. Founding a Town, taking a Favor tile and advancing happen simultaneously, so a key from a new Town is available at once, and you cannot decline to reach 10 in order to save the key.
No. Cult tracks never go down, except for the Acolytes (Fire & Ice), who may step back.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
No. A player on space 0 of a Cult track cannot gain victory points from it, so no 2nd or 3rd place points are given.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. They move up as far as possible; with no key, the second step is simply wasted. Both advances must go to one Cult track of your choice.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
You take one action per turn and keep taking turns until you pass, so you may take many actions a round. Most actions, such as Transform and Build or Upgrading, can be repeated in later turns. Power actions and special actions marked with an orange shape can be used only once per round and are covered after use.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. The Power action spaces are available from the start of the game.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes, for Power actions you only need to pay the Power, even if the effect cannot be carried out, for example when you have no Bridges or Priests left. Taking the Priest is optional, so you can pay and skip it. Stronghold and Favor special actions are different: they cannot be taken unless you can really perform them.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
You choose immediately on passing, from the cards still on the table, and return your old one. You cannot retake the card you just returned, but a player who passes after you may take it. Cards left on the table gain a coin each round.
No. Passing in the final round is an exception: you return your Bonus card and take no new one, since there is no next round.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. Bonus-card pass scoring counts what is on the board when you pass, including structures built in earlier rounds (but not ones you upgraded away). You return the card when you pass, so you cannot score it two rounds in a row, but you can score the same structure again if you take that card in a later round.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. A Bonus card taken when you pass is only usable from the next round. Any Priest income it grants arrives in the next Income phase, in addition to Temple and Sanctuary income.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
In the normal game, play goes clockwise from the Starting player, and the first player to pass becomes the next Starting player. With variable turn order, leeching goes to players who are still active first, in turn order, then to players who have passed, in next round's order. Bonus Spades from round scoring also follow the next round's turn order.
The token is removed when the player passes and returns the card, so the next player who takes it can use the action in the following round.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
You need at least 4 of your own structures connected by direct adjacency (or bridges) with a combined Power value of 7 or more. A group containing your Sanctuary needs only 3 structures, still at 7 Power; the symbol under the Sanctuary marks this. The discount applies only to the Town that includes the Sanctuary. A Favor tile can also lower the Power requirement to 6.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. Each structure only needs to touch at least one other in the group, so a straight line or chain of four counts. Bridges link structures into the group.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. A Town is made only of your own structures, and players never share one. Opponent buildings next to your group are not included.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
It joins and expands the existing Town. Separate Towns can never be directly adjacent, so a second Town must be built apart from the first.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
You keep both tiles and their benefits, and nothing is given back. Merging two Towns awards no new tile.
You may take a tile you already own as long as one of that value is still available. If no Town tile can be taken, no Town is formed. With the 4 Town Tiles expansion, the old 10-Town limit no longer applies.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
A Town forms the moment its conditions are met, including on upgrading a Temple to a Sanctuary, and is part of the same action. Favor tile, Town tile and Cult steps resolve together, in whichever order you choose, and a key from the new Town can be used at once. Taking a Favor tile that lowers the power requirement, such as Fire 2, also applies to groups already on the board.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. You keep the Favor tile from the Temple and take another one for the Sanctuary immediately, losing only the Temple's Priest income.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Its special ability applies immediately when you take it, for example a lowered Town requirement can found a Town at once. Any income it shows is only paid from the next Income phase onward, not on the spot.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The Mermaids can found a river Town at any point during their own turn, and it is not itself an action. They may also choose to wait until a later turn. It cannot be done on another player's turn. Because it is a free step, you can convert Power before taking your action.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Only one river space per Town, and it is not a structure, so you still need 4 buildings (3 with Sanctuary) and 7 Power. That one river space can join up to three groups into a single Town, and the Town tile is placed on it. A Town tile on a river space does not count as a structure for the final connected-area scoring.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes, every Town can use the river ability, as long as each uses a different river space. One river space cannot serve two Towns.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Nothing. The one-time Shipping advance is free; the rulebook wording that suggested paying a Priest or 4 coins was an error. The "1x" mark on the Stronghold means the effect happens once, when it is built.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The tile gives 5 VP for each of those buildings you build in its round, so if you build both that round you score 10 VP, the most possible in a game. You must build it in that round; merely owning it does not score.
Upgrade one of your Dwellings on the board to a Trading Post, which returns that Dwelling to your faction board to build again. You cannot move or destroy structures, and you cannot downgrade one to get a piece back.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Each upgrade is a separate action and one level per action, so Dwelling to Trading Post to Stronghold takes two actions. The Swarmlings' Stronghold ability, which upgrades to a Trading Post, scores the round's Trading House bonus like a normal upgrade.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
It depends on the faction: most give Power as income each round, some give a benefit once when built, and others enable an action. Check the faction board for the symbols.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
One VP converts to one coin, and two coins convert to one VP. The Stronghold gives 2 Power for each Spade gained, including Cult-bonus Spades.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Three extra workers on top of the normal Town tile reward, as the corrected rule states. They get these only when founding a Town; growing a Town later gives no new founding bonus.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. The Stronghold action needs a forest space at the start of the action, so transforming and using it are separate actions. A Dwelling built through the special action still counts as a Dwelling for round scoring, and it can leech Power.
Community posts agree on the order; no official ruling.
They are taken at the end of the round, after everyone has passed, in the turn order of the coming round: the next Starting player first, then clockwise. They are not saved into the next Action phase.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
On empty spaces adjacent to any of your structures, including by Shipping, and you may split the Spades across different spaces. Dwarves and Fakirs, however, may only use them on directly adjacent spaces, with no tunneling or flight.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes, with the Stronghold built, each Spade gives 2 Power, including the Cult-bonus ones, and the Power is credited with the next round's income.
Your total position on the track when the bonus is evaluated. The game keeps no memory of earlier advances. A tile's cult reward is paid once, at the end of the round it applies to.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Only the current round's tile counts; earlier tiles are turned face down. The left side pays when you take the action during the round, and the right side pays at the end of the round based on the Cult tracks.
Yes for building rewards (Dwelling, Trading House, Stronghold, Sanctuary, Town): they pay the moment you build in that round. Scroll-type bonuses printed on Bonus cards pay when you pass and count everything on the board.
Every 4 spaces on the Earth track gives one Spade during the Cult bonus step after the round ends, resolved right away; you may only use it to terraform, not to build.
The rulebook text covers this.
No. The Game end token covers the right half of the round 6 Scoring tile at setup, and the covered part is ignored during the game, so no Cult rewards are paid after the final round.
Several experienced players agree; the rulebook confirms the highest total wins and ties share.
Most victory points are scored immediately when events happen. Only three things score at game end: Cult tracks, area (the largest connected group of structures), and leftover resources. The highest total wins; ties share the win.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. Only your single largest connected group scores for area, however many separate groups you have, and each player scores area only once, so one player cannot take two places.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. Structures connected directly or indirectly count, through Shipping, or through tunneling and carpet flight for the Dwarves and Fakirs. A Mermaid Town tile on a river space is not a structure and does not link anything, and a land bridge needs a real structure at the far end.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
The area scoring example (20 structures versus 19) is impossible, since a player has only 17 structures to build. The designer confirmed it is an error from rules version 1.0 that was fixed before print but remains in the downloadable PDF. Ignore the numbers: area scoring counts connected structures.
Tied players add together the points for the places they occupy and share the total equally. Two players tied for first each get (18 + 12) / 2 = 15 VP, and the next player takes third place for 6 VP. Smaller connected groups are irrelevant.
First and second place score as usual (area 18 and 12), and there is no third place award in the area scoring. The second player does not score zero; the game is not changed for 2 players.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Convert leftover workers, Priests and Power into Coins using the usual conversions, then score 1 VP per 3 Coins (1 VP per 2 Coins for the Alchemists). You may make any number of conversions at game end, and Power can be sacrificed as in normal play to do so.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Their ability to gain Power from other players' builds costs 1 VP per Power token and is optional; if they decline to pay they get nothing. If the other players all decline, the Shapeshifters get 1 Power themselves, as the Cultists do. The Stronghold shift costs 5 Power tokens and no VP, can be used as often as wanted, and cannot change their terrain into another faction's home terrain.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
They cannot terraform, so they cannot use Power actions or Bonus card actions that give Spades. They may still take such a Bonus card for its other benefit or to pass without using it.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. You may use zero or one of the new final scoring tiles, and it is scored in addition to the standard area scoring. The two can use different clusters of your buildings, so the best value for each can come from a different network.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The new tiles follow the area scoring rules: only structures in the same cluster of directly or indirectly adjacent structures count (Shipping, tunneling, carpet flight). For the Stronghold and Sanctuary tile the designer confirmed the two must be connected.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. At least one building on a border space is needed, and zero scores nothing, so you do not receive third-place points either. The tile is called Outposts in the rules and counts connected structures on border spaces.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
The group with the most settlements scores for settlements, even if another group is your largest network for area scoring.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
The one eligible player gets the full first-place points (for example 18 in a 3-player game) and the others get zero. There are no second or third place points.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Faction tokens equal to the number of players are drawn at random and placed face up, so the factions themselves are fixed by the draw before any bidding. The auction winner chooses one of those factions and also his position in play order for the first round (for example going last so he picks a bonus card first).
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yetis, Ice Maidens, Shapeshifters and Riverwalkers choose their colour immediately when they pick the faction. Dragonlords and Acolytes choose after every player has picked a faction. The Riverwalkers have no home terrain.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Unlocking a terrain costs 1 Coin, or 2 Coins if it is another player's home terrain; the starting terrain is free. Priest from income (temple, sanctuary, bonus card): pay with Coins you already hold or that arrive with that income, with no converting. Priest during the action phase: you may convert Power, workers or Priests into the Coins. Priest from a Cult bonus: only Coins you already hold.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Only on spaces they can reach by Shipping through river spaces from one of their structures; adjacency over land does not let them build, so they always expand along a river (the same bank is fine). Directly adjacent structures still count for forming Towns and final scoring.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. The Riverwalkers never terraform, so they cannot use Spades at all, including the Spade power actions and Spade bonus tile. They may still take the bonus card or a power action just to block others, but cannot use the Spade.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Since the 2015 official update, changing the Shapeshifters' home terrain costs 5 Power (moved from Bowl III to Bowl I, or tokens removed from any bowls), and it no longer scores VP. The designer has said the tokens may come from any bowls, so the two payment methods can be mixed. If a neighbour cannot take the Power because its bowls are full, it has not refused it, so the Shapeshifters get no Power, same as the Cultists.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
A Dragonlord that gets a Spade (power action, Spade bonus card, cult bonus) just gains a Power token in Bowl I; it cannot make a volcano or build as part of that action. If the Spade comes while Spade scoring is active, they still score the 2 VP for using it. Volcano factions get no VP for creating a volcano.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. The extra cost applies only to another faction's home terrain; Riverwalkers and ice factions have none. Dragonlords cycle and spend Power normally.
No, never. Ice and Volcano spaces cannot be transformed by Spades or special actions, and players say this includes the Nomads' Sandstorm.
Yes. Ice factions still terraform on the normal terrain wheel, so each Spade scores 2 VP in a Spade scoring round. Volcano factions score the Spade VP only when they use a Spade-giving action (power action or bonus tile), not for creating a volcano.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. After the Ice Maidens place their landscape, the free Spade from a new Temple works as a normal Transform and Build action, so a Dwelling can be built on that space straight away at its usual price.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No Power: the Acolytes' starting Cult influence is where they start, not influence they gain, so they cross no Power line (designer). They can also move back off space 10, which frees that Key to be used on another track.
Based on a single reply; no official ruling.
No, the expansion supports 2 to 5 players.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. Apart from the Fakirs, players use the other side of the Town tile: a free Shipping advance (permanent, with its usual VP) plus the tile's 4 VP. Dwarves get only the 4 VP.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Use a terrain tile in each player colour. Place them in play order under the first-player marker, and as players pass, move their tile into a new column for next round.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Use the PDF starting-VP chart, not the older app values; the designer called them the new recommended starting values. Players report the latest version (09/20) is the one in the Merchants of the Seas expansion and on the publisher site.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
In player order, each player placing all of their income ships and Merchants before the next player starts.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
With the building: the free ship from a newly built Shipyard starts next to that Shipyard, not next to your first dock or starting harbor, and a Dwarves or Fakirs Merchant goes on its Market or Storehouse hex.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
The Shipyard Move action is once per round and is covered with an X, but trading with an opponent's Shipyard can unblock it for another use. You cannot take it with no ships; with Shipping 0 you can still move each ship one hex for 1 Power. A faction can also move ships via the Move power action and the Move bonus tile.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. Move Ships only positions your ships. The one exception is trading with a Stronghold, which grants a Transform and Build action with a free Spade; each such action allows one Dwelling only, next to a remaining ship.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
The Spade(s) and build form one bonus action resolved after all trades are done. Spades go to one space until it is your home terrain, leftovers may go to another, but you build only on the first space and normal digging (workers or Priests) may only be added to that first space. Dragonlords and Acolytes who take the alternative reward cannot dig and build afterwards.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. Officially you cannot deliver to a special landscape. Ships and Merchants may pass through or stop on them, but no trade happens, and a landscape placed on a Merchant's hex does nothing.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. They mark an established route for the rest of the game, so you cannot deliver to that spot twice, even after the Dwelling becomes a Trading House. They count for the Air Favor tile and final scoring.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The ship is obtained rather than returned, so you keep it. Ships obtained from an opponent's Shipyard are taken from there and put on your Dock or Shipyard, and since your move was already used they can only move later.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No ships on the half river hexes at the board edge. Canals only matter for ship movement; they do not extend Shipping range for building and do not count for indirect connection in final scoring.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. Adjacency applies to the Merchant itself, so it can enter and leave any river space, though it cannot stop on water. Coral Reef and Floating Palace hexes count as river hexes, and Merchants may cross but not end on them.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Each time a ship would be gained or moved they use a Merchant instead. A Merchant moves up to its range, plus one extra hex for 1 Power, can transform and build only on its own hex, and cannot start tunneling. The Merchants bonus tiles work with the sailing equivalent number on their range tile, including the Bonus 10 pass bonus.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes, for the final scoring tile that compares the Sanctuary and Stronghold: with Merchants the Shipyard also counts, so pick two of the three buildings and use the longest distance. A tile that refers only to the Sanctuary or only to the Stronghold does not include the Shipyard.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
No. The base game has 10 Town tiles, the promo set adds 4 and Merchants adds 2 used ones, 16 in all. You may found more Towns than there are tiles, but once they run out you receive no tile or key.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
It comes from the general supply, not from your income Priests. Immediately place it on an available Cult spot, or advance one step instead (the Priest then returns to your supply).
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. The designer says to go with what is printed on the Shipyard boards. The Acolytes cannot take a Priest from their Shipyard rewards, and the Dragonlords get a Power token in Bowl I for building the Shipyard.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Yes. A Nomad using Sandstorm must remove the ship back to supply, so the Dwelling is free. Otherwise they may either pay 1 worker and 2 coins and keep the ship, or remove it for a free Dwelling.
Community answers agree; no official ruling.
Yes, each trade is handled separately, and you can take Power from one, both or neither, paying VP only for the Power you take.
A designer or publisher post addresses this directly.
Not as intended. The designer says the 12-tile Merchants round set is meant to be used without the temple tile and its 4 VP and 2-coin-per-Priest reward. Mixing it in is a house rule.
Based on a single community reply plus a designer note on range; no direct official ruling.
Yes. Tunneling and carpet flight already count for final network scoring, and the range from the range track applies there too. The designer notes that with enough range, Dwarves tunnels can reach 3 hexes away.