Urbion (Second Edition)
Urbion (Second Edition) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Base Game
72 Dream cards
32 Incubi cards and 32 Sognae cards. These cards represent the inhabitants of the city. They want to live together in harmony.
Every Dream card shows its element and its influence. The elements (earth, water, fire, air) determine which City card(s) you may place it next to. The influence determines how strongly it acts on the balance of dreams. The values range from -1 to -3 on the Incubi cards and from +1 to +4 on the Sognae cards.
8 Chaos cards
These unpredictable dreams are hard to control and hinder you in your efforts to bring the City cards into balance. Their influence is always +5 or -5.
You must always place a Chaos card on the more influential side of a City card. This causes more imbalance. Or you may decide to trigger a negative effect with the Chaos — then you remove cards from the Dream deck or from balanced City cards.
12 City cards
These cards represent the different parts of the city. In the base game every City card shows 2 elements. These indicate which Dream cards you may place next to it.
There are 4 elements: earth, water, fire and air.
2 Polarity cards
These cards are used in the team game. They determine which Dream cards you may place next to the City cards.
Expansions
The game includes 7 expansions. You can use them individually or in any combination together.
- 12 City cards (4x City Square, 4x Temple, 4x Hanging Gardens)
- 42 Dream cards (8x Meta, 10x Harmony, 16x Wizard, 8x Chromatic Chaos)
- 8 Book cards
- 6 Wise Chaos cards
- 24 Postcards
- 1 Emptiness figure
- 8 Emptiness cards
Base Game: Rules for the Solo Game
A. Setup
Shuffle the City cards and place them face down as the City deck. Draw 4 cards and lay them out face up in a vertical row below it.
Shuffle the Dream cards and place them face down as the Dream deck. For each City card in the layout, draw 2 Dream cards and place them next to that City card: Sognae cards on the left, Incubi cards on the right.
If you draw a Chaos card, place it on the same side as the other revealed card. Turn it so that it shows +5 if it lies on the left next to a Sognae card, and -5 if it lies on the right next to an Incubi card.
If you draw 2 Chaos cards for one City card, you must place them together on a side of your choice and turn them accordingly (left: both +5, right: both -5).
The elements of the City cards and the dreams do not matter during setup.
Then draw 4 Dream cards one after another into your hand. If you draw a Chaos card while doing so, you must immediately place it on the more influential side (positive or negative) of a City card of your choice and then draw a replacement card.
Notes:
- You cannot place a Chaos card next to a City card whose more influential side already holds 3 cards.
- If there is no more influential side, because the cards next to a City card show +1 and -1 or +2 and -2, you cannot place a Chaos card there.
- Very rare: if (for the reasons above) you cannot place a Chaos card next to any City card at all, set it aside for now and keep drawing. As soon as you have 4 cards in hand, shuffle the set-aside Chaos cards back into the Dream deck.
The play area consists of: the City deck, the Success pile, the Dream deck, the discard pile, the row of City cards with their dreams, and your hand.
B. Course of Play
On your turn you carry out these 2 phases one after the other:
- Phase I: Place or discard a dream
- Phase II: Draw
You take turns until the game ends (see "End of a Game").
Phase I: Place or Discard a Dream
Choose 1 Dream card from your hand. Either place it next to a City card or discard it for an action.
Placing a Dream
Observe these 3 placement rules:
- You may only place a dream next to a City card that shows the dream's element. Each City card shows 2 elements.
- You must place Sognae cards to the left of the City card, Incubi cards to the right of it.
- At most 3 dreams may lie on each side of a City card.
Discarding a Dream
Discard 1 Dream card from your hand and carry out 1 of these actions: Exchange or Census.
Exchange
Choose any 2 Dream cards in the layout and swap their positions. You may ignore the elements when doing so. However, both cards must lie on the same side, either both to the left or both to the right of the City cards.
Census
For each city in the layout, check whether the sum of the influences of all dreams on its left side (Sognae and possibly Chaos) and on its right side (Incubi and possibly Chaos) is exactly zero. If that is the case, the City card is in balance and you pacify that part of the city: place the card on the Success pile. Afterwards discard the dreams that lay to the left and right of it.
For City cards that are not in balance, you may discard any number of dreams from both sides as long as their influences add up to zero. You do not pacify the City card, though; it stays in the layout with the remaining dreams.
Note: a City card without a single dream is not in balance.
Perfect Balance
If you manage to pacify all 4 City cards in the layout at the same time with your action, you may immediately place the top card of the City deck on the Success pile as a bonus.
Then replace each pacified City card with a new one from the City deck and proceed as in setup: for each City card without dreams, draw 2 cards from the Dream deck and place them on the matching side, ignoring the elements.
Notes:
- You must draw 2 cards for every City card without dreams — no matter whether you have just drawn it or whether it was already in the layout before the Census.
- If there are not enough cards left in the City deck, you continue playing with fewer than 4 City cards in the layout.
General note: you must always carry out actions completely! With Exchange you may not move only 1 card. With Census you must pacify all City cards that are in balance. You may, however, discard cards from your hand at any time and forgo the action entirely.
Phase II: Draw
Draw the top card of the Dream deck:
- If it is a Sognae or Incubi card, take it into your hand, replacing the card you placed or discarded this turn.
- If it is a Chaos card, you must carry out 1 of the following 3 options:
- Place the Chaos on the more influential side (positive or negative) of a City card of your choice. Note that at most 3 cards may lie on each side.
- Choose a City card that is in balance and discard all of its dreams from both sides. Then discard the Chaos card.
- Reveal the top 4 cards of the Dream deck and discard all Sognae and Incubi cards among them. Then resolve all drawn Chaos cards one after another, carrying out 1 of the 3 options above for each of them. Then discard the Chaos card.
After you have resolved the Chaos card, you draw 1 more card from the Dream deck. Repeat this if necessary until you have 4 cards in hand again. Then your turn ends.
C. End of a Game
If all 12 City cards lie in your Success pile, you have won.
If you have to draw a Dream card but there is none left in the Dream deck, you have lost.
Team Variant
In the two-player game you try together to restore the balance of the city. The rules for the two-player game are the same as those of the solo game, with the following adjustments:
Setup
You each receive 4 Dream cards in hand as well as 1 Polarity card. Lay the Polarity cards out in front of you. They stay there until the end of the game. You always take your turns alternately. Whoever has the Sognae Polarity card begins.
Course of Play
Placing a dream
You can only place dreams that match your polarity. If your Polarity card shows Incubi, for example, you may only place Incubi cards, not Sognae cards.
Discarding a dream
Regardless of your polarity, you may discard any card to carry out 1 action. You may apply actions to all cards in the layout, regardless of your polarity.
If you draw a Chaos card and decide to place it on the more influential side of a City card, you may ignore your polarity and choose any more influential side.
At any point during your turn you may put 8 cards from the discard pile back into the box and then swap polarities with your partner. You may look at the removed cards at any time. If there are fewer than 8 cards in the discard pile, you cannot swap your polarities.
Expansion: City Squares and Metas
Components
- 4 City Square cards
- 8 Meta cards (2x fire, 2x water, 2x earth, 2x air)
Setup
Shuffle the 4 City Squares into the City deck and the 8 Meta cards into the Dream deck.
The City Squares
These City cards show all 4 elements. You may therefore place any dream next to them. The remaining placement rules still apply (see "Placing a Dream").
Additional victory condition: to win, you must pacify the 4 City Squares in addition to the 12 City cards of the base game.
The Metas
These Dream cards are Sognae on one half and Incubi on the other half. You may freely decide whether you place them next to a City card as a Sognae or as an Incubi. This applies equally during setup, when placing them from your hand, and at the end of a Census.
Note: if during setup or at the end of a Census you draw 1 Meta card together with 1 Chaos card for a city, you must place the Chaos on the same side that you choose for the Meta card.
Team Variant
Your Polarity card determines whether you must place Metas from your hand as Sognae or as Incubi cards.
Expansion: The Chromatic Chaos
Components
- 8 Chromatic Chaos cards
Setup
Shuffle the 8 Chromatic Chaos cards into the Dream deck.
Course of Play
Whenever you draw a Chromatic Chaos in Phase II (Draw), you must place it on a side and a City card of your choice. Turn the card accordingly (left: +4, right: -4). Note that at most 3 cards may lie on each side.
Then reveal the top card of the Dream deck and immediately place it next to a City card. Follow all placement rules, as if you were placing it from your hand.
Then continue drawing cards for your hand according to the usual rules.
Notes:
- If you cannot place the Dream card normally (every possible side already holds 3 cards, or no City card in the layout shows the matching element), ignore its element when placing it. The remaining placement rules still apply (see "Placing a Dream").
- Very rare: if all City cards already hold 3 cards on the required side, discard the Dream card.
- If you reveal a Chaos or another Chromatic Chaos, resolve it exactly as if you had drawn it for your hand.
If you draw a Chromatic Chaos during setup or at the end of a Census, set it aside for now and draw a replacement card. After you have finished the setup or the Census, you must resolve each set-aside Chromatic Chaos one after another as described above.
Team Variant
Ignore your polarity in all steps when resolving a Chromatic Chaos.
Expansion: Temples and Harmony
Components
- 4 Temple cards
- 10 Harmony cards
Setup
Shuffle the 4 Temple cards into the City deck and the 10 Harmony cards into the Dream deck.
The Temples
These City cards each show only 1 element.
Additional victory condition: to win, you must pacify the 4 Temples in addition to the 12 City cards of the base game.
Harmony
These Dream cards are Sognae on one half and Incubi on the other half. You may freely decide whether you place them next to a City card as a Sognae or as an Incubi. This applies equally during setup, when placing them from your hand, and at the end of a Census. All 4 elements are shown on the Harmony cards. You may therefore place them next to any City card.
Note: if during setup or at the end of a Census you draw 1 Harmony card together with 1 Chaos card for a City card, you must place the Chaos on the same side that you choose for the Harmony card.
Team Variant
Your Polarity card determines whether you must place Harmony cards from your hand as Sognae or as Incubi.
Expansion: Hanging Gardens and Wizards
Components
- 4 Hanging Gardens cards
- 16 Wizard cards
Setup
Shuffle the 4 Hanging Gardens cards into the City deck and the 16 Wizard cards into the Dream deck.
The Hanging Gardens
These City cards show no element. You therefore cannot place any cards from your hand next to them.
Additional victory condition: to win, you must pacify the 4 Hanging Gardens in addition to the 12 City cards of the base game.
The Wizards
These cards work like the Dream cards of the base game, with the following exception: you may discard a Wizard from your hand to carry out either up to 2 base game actions (instead of 1) or 1 special action (see below).
Course of Play
In addition to the Exchange and Census actions there are the 2 special actions "Rebuild" and "Change Sides". To carry out a special action you must discard from your hand either 1 Wizard or 2 Dream cards that have at least 1 element in common.
Rebuild: choose 2 City cards in the layout and swap their positions. Dreams stay where they are.
Change Sides: move 1 Chaos or Chromatic Chaos card from one side of a City card to the other side of the same City card. Turn the Chaos card over (positive influence becomes negative or vice versa). You cannot move a card to a side that already holds 3 Dream cards.
Note: if you discard 2 cards from your hand for a special action, you draw 2 cards one after another in Phase II (Draw).
Expansion: The Books of Power
Components
- 8 Book cards
Setup
Shuffle the 8 Book cards and put 4 random ones back into the box without looking at them. Then reveal as many Book cards one after another as you like. When you no longer want to or can reveal another Book, lay the drawn Books out face up next to one another and put the rest back into the box. Then draw 4 cards from the Dream deck for each Book in the layout. Discard all Sognae and Incubi cards and shuffle Chaos and Chromatic Chaos cards back into the deck.
The actions of the Books in the layout are available to you for the whole game.
The Power of the Books
Each Book card shows an action. If you discard a dream from your hand in Phase I, you may carry out the action of a Book in the layout instead of a base game action.
The Book of Flying Sognae
Move 1 Sognae card from one City card to another City card, without changing sides. Ignore the elements when doing so. You cannot move a card to a City card that already has 3 dreams on its left. You cannot move a Chaos or Chromatic Chaos.
The Book of Flying Incubi
Move 1 Incubi card from one City card to another City card, without changing sides. Ignore the elements when doing so. You cannot move a card to a City card that already has 3 dreams on its right. You cannot move a Chaos or Chromatic Chaos.
The Book of Invisible Sognae
Discard 1 Sognae card from the layout. You cannot discard a Chaos or Chromatic Chaos.
The Book of Invisible Incubi
Discard 1 Incubi card from the layout. You cannot discard a Chaos or Chromatic Chaos.
The Book of Freedom-Loving Dreams
Pacify 1 City card in the layout that has no dream at all next to it: place it in the Success pile. Then replace it (if possible) with a new card from the City deck and draw 2 cards from the Dream deck for each City card in the layout without dreams (as at the end of a Census).
The Book of Perfect Balance
Carry out a Census according to the rules of the base game. If you achieve a perfect balance while doing so (all 4 City cards are in balance), you may (if possible) place the top 2 cards of the City deck on the Success pile as a bonus (instead of only the top one).
The Book of Prophecies
Look at the top 2 cards of the Dream deck and put them back on the deck in any order.
Note: the Book of Prophecies exists twice. If both are in the layout, their effects add up: you may look at the top 4 Dream cards.
Important: this is the only way to trigger the effects of 2 Books by discarding 1 dream.
Note: if you play with the "Hanging Gardens and Wizards" expansion, you may discard a Wizard from your hand to carry out either 2 Book actions (including the same one twice) or 1 Book action and 1 base game action.
Expansion: Postcards to the Oniverse
Components
- 24 Postcards
- 6 Wise Chaos cards
Setup
If you use this expansion only with the base game, lay 3 Wise Chaos cards out in front of you and put the rest back into the box. If you play with the "City Squares and Metas", "Temples and Harmony" and/or "Hanging Gardens and Wizards" expansions, lay out 1 additional Wise Chaos for each of these expansions (up to 6 cards).
Shuffle the 24 Postcards and place them face down as the Postcard deck above the City deck. Leave room for an Inhabitant pile. At the start of the game it is empty. In addition to the 2 Dream cards for each City card, draw 1 Postcard and lay it face up crosswise on the first Dream card that you drew for that City card.
Note: Postcards always move with their dream and stay on it until either it or the Postcard is discarded.
Course of Play
At the end of every Census: in addition to the 2 Dream cards for each City card without dreams, draw 1 Postcard and lay it face up crosswise on the first Dream card that you drew for that City card.
The Wise Chaos
Whenever you draw a Chaos or Chromatic Chaos card in Phase II (Draw), you may put 1 Wise Chaos back into the box to ignore the Chaos. Instead, put it back into the Dream deck as the fourth card from the top.
Then continue drawing cards for your hand according to the usual rules.
The Postcards
Most Postcards show an inhabitant of the Oniverse and a condition. When you pacify a City card, check for each Postcard lying next to it whether its condition is fulfilled. If it is fulfilled, place the card upright in the Inhabitant pile with its positive number (+1) face up. Otherwise place it with the negative number (-2) face up.
If a dream with a Postcard is discarded for any other reason, place the Postcard in the Inhabitant pile with its negative number face up.
Some Postcards have a special rule instead of a condition. If you pacify the city next to which such a Postcard lies, place it in the Inhabitant pile with its positive number face up. Some events, however, also send Postcards to the Inhabitant pile early with their negative number face up.
Additional victory condition: after you have pacified all City cards, you must add up the (upper) numbers of all Postcards in the Inhabitant pile. If the sum is zero or greater, you win. If it is less than zero, you lose.
The Dreamcatcher
Condition: the dream on which this Dreamcatcher lies is the only dream on that side of the City card.
The Doves
Condition: you pacify all 4 City cards ("Perfect Balance").
The Seer
Condition: all 4 elements can be seen on the Dream cards lying next to the pacified City card. Each Harmony card counts as 1 element of your choice.
The Magicians on Holiday
Condition: at least 2 Chaos cards in total lie next to City cards in the layout (Chromatic Chaos cards do not count).
Note: check this condition before you discard the Dream cards of pacified City cards.
The Repentant Hourglass
Special rule: at the end of every turn you must turn the Hourglass 90 degrees clockwise. If, after a full rotation, it is back in its starting position and you would have to turn it once more, instead place it in the Inhabitant pile with its negative number face up.
The Flagship
Special rule: at the start of every turn, move the Flagship together with its Dream card one row down, next to the next City card. Ignore the elements when doing so. If it is already at the bottommost City card, move it to the topmost City card. If you would have to move the Flagship to a City card that already has 3 dreams on the corresponding side, instead place it in the Inhabitant pile with its negative number face up. Its Dream card stays where it is.
The Resting Rocket
Special rule: as soon as the Dream card under the Resting Rocket moves, place the Postcard in the Inhabitant pile with its negative number face up.
The Planbot
Condition: next to each of the 4 City cards lies at least 1 dream with a different influence value. Read from top to bottom, the values of these dreams must form a continuous ascending or descending sequence of numbers. Ignore the signs (+ and -) when doing so. The sequence may begin anywhere; the topmost and bottommost rows count as adjacent. Ignore the other dreams in the layout.
Examples: an ascending sequence (1, 2, 3, 4) beginning at the topmost City card; an ascending sequence (1, 2, 3, 4) beginning at the second City card from the top; a descending sequence (5, 4, 3, 2) beginning at the bottommost City card.
Team Variant
You have a shared Inhabitant pile. The Wise Chaos cards are available to both of you.
Expansion: The Emptiness
Components
- 1 Emptiness figure
- 8 Emptiness cards
Setup
Place the 8 Emptiness cards as a pile next to the City deck and stand the Emptiness figure on top of it.
Course of Play
At the start of every turn you must move the Emptiness once.
- If the Emptiness stands on the Emptiness pile, move it onto the topmost City card in the layout.
- If the Emptiness stands on a City card, move it 1 row down onto the next City card.
- If the Emptiness stands on the bottommost City card, move it onto the topmost City card in the layout.
During a Census you first ignore the City card with the Emptiness. After you have resolved all other City cards, check the City card with the Emptiness:
- The City card is in balance: you do not pacify it. Instead, put the top card of the Emptiness pile back into the box. If it was the last card of the pile, also put the Emptiness figure back into the box and place the top card of the City deck on the Success pile. If there are still cards in the Emptiness pile, stand the Emptiness figure on it.
- The City card is not in balance: discard all Dream cards from both sides of the City card.
- There is not a single Dream card next to the City card: you lose the game immediately.
Besides Exchange and Census there is one further action:
Ally against the Emptiness
Discard 1 Sognae and 1 Incubi card from your hand and put the top card of the Emptiness pile back into the box. If it was the last card of the pile, also put the Emptiness figure back into the box and place the top card of the City deck on the Success pile. Otherwise lay the figure flat on the Emptiness pile. At the start of the next turn you stand the figure up on the pile instead of moving it.
Note: you may not choose the City card with the Emptiness for the "Rebuild" special action (from the "Hanging Gardens and Wizards" expansion).
Player Aid
Phase I: Place or discard
Placing — placement rules: elements / side (+/-) / max. 3 dreams per side.
Discarding — 1 action:
- Exchange
- Census
- Rebuild (discard 2 cards or 1 Wizard for it)
- Change Sides (discard 2 cards or 1 Wizard for it)
- Book action
- Ally against the Emptiness (discard 1 Sognae and 1 Incubi card for it)
- Team variant: remove 8 cards from the discard pile and swap your Polarity cards
Phase II: Draw
Chaos:
- Place on the more influential side (max. 3 dreams per side), OR
- discard all dreams of a City card that is in balance, OR
- discard the top 4 cards of the Dream deck (resolve Chaos).
Chromatic Chaos:
- Place next to any City card (max. 3 dreams per side), THEN
- draw and place the top card of the Dream deck.