The Towers of Arkhanos Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Game Objective
  • Floor Tiles in Detail
• Setup
• Player Turn
• Game Round
• The Towers
  • Side A
  • The Pillars
  • The Central Tower
• Spellbooks
• The Mana Pool and Magic Council Player Board
• Scoring
• End Game
• Round Summary
• Credits

Game Components

• 1 game box
• 1 rulebook
• 40 translucent dice (10 of each color: pink, purple, yellow and blue)
• 32 meeples (8 of each color: blue, green, red and yellow)
• 18 tower floor tiles
• 50 prestige tokens (25x1, 15x3 and 10x5)
• 1 purple cloth dice bag
• 4 magic school spellbooks
• 1 Mana Pool and Magic Council player board

Game Objective

In The Towers of Arkhanos, players must jointly build arcane towers to channel the power of past civilizations. For this, your master and apprentices must use magic stones (dice) and apply abilities written in their spellbooks, as you attempt to become the magician with the most prestige in the kingdom.

Floor Tiles in Detail

Each floor tile has two sides: Side A, the floor, and Side B, the ceiling:

• SIDE A: This side has the dice and color information in the center of the tile, as well as abilities on the 3 pillars with illustrations to represent the different bonuses.
• SIDE B: This side has only a colored spectrum in the middle, indicating that any die of any color can be allocated on its pillars. The illustration is always the same for easy identification.

Setup

1. Look for the 4 floor tiles marked with pink and hexagon shapes with stars on the pillars on the B side and shuffle them.

2. Position three of these tiles in the center of the table, with the A side facing up, forming a triangle and the fourth tile in the middle of the triangle with its B side facing up.

3. Shuffle all of the remaining tiles, then place them in a single stack with Side A facing up.

4. Place the Prestige markers and the Mana Pool and Magic Council player board, which tracks the number of rounds played, within reach of all players.

5. Each player chooses a color, then takes these items matching their color:

   • 1 spellbook
   • 7 apprentices
   • 1 master

6. The last player who visited a tower will start the game. After each player's turn, play proceeds in clockwise order.

Below is an example of the table as it should be after setup for a 4-player game.

Player Turn

The first player picks up the dice bag and randomly takes 5 dice (2-4 players) or 4 dice (3 players) and rolls them. Then, each player (starting with that player) takes their turn:

1. Choose one of the rolled dice to allocate, along with one of your meeples (master or apprentice), and place it in an available space in a tower (external or central), according to the rules of the tower (see The Towers).

2. Resolve the effect of the pillar where you allocated the dice and meeple.

NOTE: A die can never be allocated without a meeple.

Game Round

In 2-player matches, each player will play two times in the round, always alternately. In 3 or 4 player matches, each player will play only once in the round.

In either case, there will always be a die remaining at the end of the round, which should be placed on the Mana Pool and Magic Council player board, over the space corresponding to the round that had just ended.

In 2 or 4 player matches, the game will have 8 rounds. In 3 player matches, there will be 9 rounds.

At the end of each round, the first player passes the dice bag to the left, and that player becomes the first player of the next round.

Summary:

Number of players	Dice per round	Turns per player	Dice left at the end of the round	Number of Rounds
2	5	2	1	8
3	4	1	1	9
4	5	1	1	8

The Towers

As described previously, tiles have both a Side A, the three floor tiles face up build the three External Towers, and the Side B, ceiling tile make up the Central Tower.

Side A

This side has the dice and color information in the center of the tile, as well as abilities on the 3 pillars and the illustrations to show the different rooms.

• 1A, 1B, 1C — The Pillars: locations for Dice allocation.
• 2 — Location for meeple allocation.
• 3 — Indication of the dice allowed, obeying the colors and numbers presented. In this example, you can only allocate yellow dice with numbers 1 and 2. There may be dice with repeated numbers.

See other examples:

• In this example, only purple dice with numbers 2, 4 and 6 are allowed. Dice with repeated numbers are allowed (it could be all 6 sided dice).
• In this example, only yellow color dice are allowed. Any number can be allocated. However, no numbers may be repeated. For example, if a player allocates a number 3 die, no other player can allocate another number 3 die. Dice with repeated numbers will not be allowed.
• In this example, dice of two colors are allowed: yellow and pink. So, they may be yellow 5 and 6, or pink 5 and 6. Any combination of pink or yellow 5 or 6 are allowed.
• In this example, only blue color dice with numbers 1, 3 and 5 are allowed. Dice with repeated numbers are allowed.

The Pillars

Side A tiles have 3 columns for dice allocation. By allocating a die on a pillar, along with your color meeple, the player gains the respective pillar bonus. Going back to the example highlighted on the last page, the bonuses of the pillars are:

• 1A The player gains two prestige points (PP) immediately.
• 1B The player gains prestige points (PP) immediately corresponding to the level of the tower placed, including first level (1st level = 1 prestige point, 2nd level = 2 prestige points, and so forth).
• 1C The player can immediately allocate another one of their meeples in one of two locations:

  • In Another Tower: Any space available in another tower. In this case, the meeple will take the place of a die and stay there until the end of the game. However, in this situation players will not gain the bonus corresponding to the location where that meeple was allocated, but it will be considered in the meeple count when the tower in question is completed.

    Example option 1C, placing in another tower: The yellow player allocates a purple die of number 1 on the indicated pillar and gains an additional meeple allocation. The yellow player then removes an additional meeple from their personal stock and allocates it in another tower, on one of the pillars. This meeple does not give the bonus of the pillar it was allocated to, which in the case would be 2 PPs. However, it will count towards the majority when the 3 pillars are constructed and scoring for the floor is calculated.

  • OR In Your Spellbook: A space in your spell book corresponding to the number of the dice allocated in the tower that generated action, as long as the space is empty. Note: each spell in your book may only hold one meeple at a time.

    Example option 1C, placing in a spell book: The yellow player allocates a purple die of number 1 on the indicated pillar and gains an additional meeple allocation. The yellow player decides to use this new meeple allocation in the spellbook. This meeple should be allocated in the yellow player's spellbook in the spot corresponding to the die played in the tower. In this case, as the die was the number 1, it allocates the meeple in 1 die spot of their book.

IMPORTANT: If, for any reason, you do not have any meeples available in your personal reserve, ignore this bonus. If you do not have meeples available in your personal reserve, but they are in your spellbook, you take one from another spell, to the one you just earned, or even use it without gaining the bonus simply to release it back to your personal reserve and use it in another tower.

When all three pillars are filled by dice and/or meeples the tower is complete, and the players must follow these steps in order:

1. Score the floor (see Scoring).
2. Remove any meeples that were placed with dice.
3. Leave any meeples that were allocated without dice, these meeples are lost to the tower and will become part of it's foundation.
4. Take the tile from the top of the pile of new floors and place it on the pillars (dice and meeples), thus increasing the next level of the tower.

If it is an outer tower, place the floor side up (Side A, which contains the color and dice specifications), if it is the central tower, put the ceiling side up (Side B, which contains a mixed color spectrum).

If more than one tower is completed during the same player turn, these steps must be followed in the same order starting with the tower that was completed first, and continuing in chronological order.

NOTE: If you wish, a player may choose to allocate a meeple in the central tower, even if there is one or more die that could be allocated in other towers. This is a strategic decision made by each player according to the situation.

The Central Tower

The central tower does not require specific dice, meaning it is possible to allocate dice of any number and color on it. When doing this, the player will gain the ability that corresponds to the die placed, and should mark it by placing a meeple on the number in their spell book (see details in the next section).

In the example, the green player allocates a pink number 3 in the central tower. The player gains the bonus of the central tower that is the same for all pillars: the player takes another meeple from their personal reserve and allocates it to the ability in their spellbook that corresponds to the die that generated the bonus.

At any point in their future turns, the player can return this meeple from their spellbook to their personal reserve and gain the ability described in book of spells where the meeple was allocated.

Spellbooks

Each player will have a magic book, where they will mark the arcane abilities acquired during the match, either by allocating dice in the central tower or by using the pillar that grants additional meeple allocations in the outer towers. The bonus abilities are explained in the spellbook of each player.

On your turn you can use as many spells as you want. When using an acquired ability (previously marked with a meeple), the player must return the meeple to their personal reserve and immediately gain the bonus described on the spell. Each spell in your book can hold only one meeple at a time. Example: If you use a number 3 dice on the middle tower and already have a meeple on your number 3 on your spellbook, you gain nothing.

The Mana Pool and Magic Council Player Board

The remaining die at the end of each round must be placed in the mana pool. In addition to being used by spell 5, the dice that are in the mana pool also serve to mark the rounds of the game. There are 8 rounds in a game of 2 or 4 players and 9 rounds in a 3 player game. The 10th space with a symbol on it is meant to be used in further expansions and do not interfere with the core game.

The magic council determines the score of the completed tower type, as shown in the next section.

Scoring

When a tower is complete, players must find who has the greatest arcane influence in that location. To determine this, each player counts the number masters and apprentices in that location. Each apprentice is worth 1 arcane influence while each master is worth 2 arcane influence.

When scoring one of the three floor tile external tower, award these points:

• 1st place: 6 prestige points
• 2nd place: 4 prestige points
• Ties: 3 prestige points for each tied player

When scoring the ceiling tile central tower, award these points:

• 1st place: 3 prestige points
• 2nd place: 2 prestige points
• Ties: 1 prestige point for each tied player

Check out these scoring examples below:

Example 1: There was an arcane influence tie in one of the outer towers, all players receive 3 PPs.

Example 2: The red player has 2 arcane influence and green has only 1, so red gains 6 PPs and green gains 4PPs.

Example 3: The red player has 2 arcane influence but the green player placed their master, which is worth 2 arcane influence on its own. Therefore the players are tied and both receive 3pp.

Example 4: The green player has 2 arcane influence, having used their master meeple, and red and blue players have 1. Green gains 6PPs and Red and Blue gains 3 PPs for second place.

Example 5: Green and Red players have 2 arcane influence because they have their own master and the blue player has 1. By tying first and second places, the green and red players receive 3PPs for the draw, but unfortunately for the blue player, they receive nothing.

NOTE: The examples shown above have occurred in the outer towers, but the same cases can occur in the central tower. When this happens, consider the same rules described above by changing only the score that is lower for the center tower. See the points table of both towers on the mana pool player board on the bottom where it shows the magic council.

End Game

The game ends at the end of the 8th round (2 or 4 players) or the 9th round (3 players). At that point, incomplete towers will also earn points. Thus, players who have meeples allocated on any of the towers (regardless of whether they are external or central) receive the following score:

• 1st place in arcane influence: 3 points of prestige
• 2nd place in arcane influence: 2 points of prestige
• Ties in arcane influence: 1 point of prestige

In addition, each meeple in the players spellbook will also yield 1 prestige point. Add up the prestige points of each player and the one with the most PPs is the winner. In case of a tie, the player who has more meeples in their spellbook wins. If the tie persists, the player with the most meeples at the top of the four towers wins. If this is not enough for the tiebreaker to occur, all players tied for first are declared winners.

Round Summary

1. The first player pulls 5 dice (in a 2 or 4 player game or 4 dice in a 3 player game) from the bag and rolls the dice on the table.

2. Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player must choose one of the rolled dice and allocate it along with one of their meeples in one of the 3 outer towers that are arranged in the center of the table in the shape of a triangle or the central tower.

3. After allocating the dice in a tower, the player receives the bonus for the pillar of the allocated tower. If, after allocating the die, the floor's 3 pillars are completely full with 3 dice or meeples, score that tower floor. Take out the meeples that have been allocated along with dice and add a new floor from the stack of floors that is in the game area by placing it over the tower dice/meeple.

4. Pass the turn to the player on your left who must repeat steps 1 to 3 until all the players have allocated a die in one of the towers (or 2 dice in a 2 player match), leaving only one die left of the table.

5. Take the remaining die and place it on the mana pool, over the number of the played round, demonstrating that a round has ended and a new one must begin.

6. The initial player, who was holding the dice bag, passes the bag, which indicates the first player, to the player to their left. Return to Step 1 to begin the new round.

7. The game runs like this until the end of the 8th round (in a 2 or 4 player match or 9th round in a 3 player match). When this happens, count the final score according to the End Game section. The player with the most prestige points wins the game and is declared the best wizard in the kingdom!

Credits

Game design: Daniel Alves and Eurico Cunha Graphic design and art direction: Daniel Alves Art: Marcelo Bastos & Rodrigo Ramos Production: CGS - Creative Games Studio Rulebook: Bianca Melyna, Daniel Alves, Eurico Cunha, Ryan Jones and William Sobel Proof reading: Bianca Melyna, Ryan Jones and William Sobel Worldwide distribuition: IDW Games

Playtest: Daniel Alves, Eduardo Cavalcante, Leandro Lopardi, Flaviano Ranção, Ronan, Alexandre Xanxão, Ricardo Back Cater, Márcio Assis.

© 2018 CGS - Creative Games Studio, all rights reserved. No part of this product can be reproduced or copy without its rightfull permissions.

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