7 Wonders: Cities
7 Wonders: Cities Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 2 Wonder boards (Byzantium and Petra)
- 42 Cities cards (14 per Age)
- 4 Diplomacy tokens
- 26 Debt tokens (22 worth -1 and 4 worth -5)
- 6 Coins worth 6
- 1 score pad
- 3 Description of New Effects sheets
- This rulebook
Overview
Debt, pillaging, diplomacy… with this expansion to 7 Wonders, discover another aspect of the great cities of Antiquity.
42 new Age cards along with 2 new Wonders will introduce never before seen effects.
The Cities expansion brings new rules to the 7 Wonders base game, but the victory conditions remain the same.
This expansion also offers a variant for playing in teams (4 or 6 players).
Game Elements
Wonder Boards
Byzantium and Petra are only used if playing with this expansion.
Cities Cards
Black cards are a new category of Building. They are added to the Age cards from the base game.
Notes:
- To help with sorting, Age cards from the Cities expansion all have the Cities expansion symbol in the bottom-left corner.
- For colorblind players, Black cards all have the colorblind symbol.
Debt Tokens
These tokens represent Debts contracted by players during the game. They have a negative value (-1 and -5).
Diplomacy Tokens
These tokens represent the new Diplomacy effect.
Coins
New Coins worth 6 are added to the reserve.
Note: In these rules, when you see "x Coins," the "x" corresponds to the total value of your Coins. In other words, "Take x Coins" means you take coins worth a total of x.
Score Pad
This score pad assists you in counting victory points gained through the Cities, Leaders, and Armada expansions.
Description of New Effects Sheets
These sheets provide a complete explanation of all the new symbols in the game.
Setup
Setup follows the normal 7 Wonders rules with the exception of the following adjustments:
- Prepare the Age cards:
- Separate the Black cards into three decks (Age I, Age II, and Age III), then shuffle each deck.
- For each Age, randomly take as many Black cards as the number of players. The remaining cards are put out of play; they will not be used during the game.
- Shuffle the Purple cards from the base game, then draw as many cards as the number of players +2.
- Add the selected Black and Purple cards to the corresponding Age decks from the base game, then shuffle each deck of Age cards.
- Place the Debt and Diplomacy tokens in the middle of the table.
Gameplay
Gameplay follows the normal 7 Wonders rules with the exception of three new rules:
A. Extra Turn B. Losing Coins and Debts C. Diplomacy
A. Extra Turn
At the beginning of each Age, each player receives 8 cards (instead of 7 as in the base game). During each Age, you will therefore play an extra turn.
B. Losing Coins and Debts
Certain Black cards trigger a loss of Coins (coin-loss symbol) for all other players. Players always lose these Coins at the end of the turn, after everyone has played a card and paid any construction costs.
Each time you must lose Coins (by putting them back in the reserve), you must take 1 Debt token worth -1 for each Coin you do not lose. You can choose to take Debts even if you have enough Coins in your Treasure. It is possible to resolve a loss by both losing Coins and taking Debts.
Important:
- Debts you gain can never be paid back.
- Losing Coins always happens after gaining Coins.
At the end of the game, you will lose the victory points shown on each Debt token you have.
C. Diplomacy
Certain Black cards, as well as the Byzantium Wonder, grant a Diplomacy token.
With this token, during the Resolution of Military Conflicts, you do not participate in Conflicts. You do not take any Conflict tokens (neither Defeat nor Victory). Your neighbors are therefore considered to be adjacent to each other and their militaries will enter conflict following the normal 7 Wonders rules.
You are required to use the Diplomacy token during the Military Conflict of the same round you acquired it, even if your military strength is higher than your neighbors'. Discard the Diplomacy token after you use it.
Clarification: You can accumulate multiple Diplomacy tokens, but you are required to discard 1 Diplomacy token at the end of each Resolution of Military Conflicts.
If there are ever only 2 players participating in the Resolution of Military Conflicts, they only face each other once and only take a single Military Conflict token each.
Example: At the end of Age II, you have a military strength of 2. The neighbor to your left has a strength of 5 and the one to your right has a strength of 4. You have 1 Diplomacy token; you do not participate in any Conflicts and do not take any tokens. The neighbors to your left and right compare their military strengths and take the corresponding Conflict tokens.
(Diagram: Neighbor to your left / Your City in Age II / Neighbor to your right, with Victory and Defeat tokens.)
End of the Game
The game ends at the close of Age III, after the Resolution of Military Conflicts.
Proceed to scoring victory points following the normal base game rules.
Note: To make things simple, count your Debts in the "Coins" line of the score pad.
On the score pad, note on the Black cards line the total victory points provided by your Black cards. (The score pad also has lines for the Leaders expansion, the Armada expansion, and the total for team play.)
Clarification on Green Cards
In this expansion, it is possible to have more identical science symbols than in the base game.
| Number of identical symbols | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victory points | 1 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 36 | 49 | 64 | 81 | * |
- You gain victory points equal to the number of identical symbols multiplied by itself (10 identical symbols means 10 x 10 for a total of 100 victory points).
Rules for Team Play
During 4- or 6-player games, you have the option of playing 7 Wonders in teams. Make teams of 2 and sit next to your teammate.
Gameplay follows the normal Cities rules with the exception of the following adjustments:
Overview of an Age
During the game, you can freely talk with your teammate and show each other your hand of cards (including Leader cards, if playing with that expansion).
Restrictions for Each Team
- You must always use your own resources before buying from your neighbors.
- When constructing, you must always use chains if you have the corresponding symbol.
- You cannot lend each other Coins.
- You cannot exchange cards with each other.
- When constructing a Building that triggers a loss of Coins, your teammate is also affected.
Resolution of Military Conflicts
During team play, you do not enter into conflict with your teammate. Compare your military strength with your opposing neighbor and gain double the Military Conflict tokens:
- If your military strengths are equal, do not gain any tokens.
- If your military strength is lower, take 2 Military Defeat tokens.
- If your military strength is higher, take 2 Military Victory tokens that correspond to the current Age.
Example: At the end of Age II, you have a military strength of 2 while your opposing neighbor has a strength of 5. You take 2 Military Defeat tokens and your opposing neighbor takes 2 Age II Military Victory tokens.
(Diagram: Your opposing neighbor / Your teammate / Your City in Age II, with Victory and Defeat tokens.)
Diplomacy (Team Play)
During the Resolution of Military Conflicts, if you have a Diplomacy token, you must use its effect on yourself only, separate from your team, and then discard it. In this case, you still compare your military strength with your opposing neighbor, but you take only 1 Military Victory or Defeat token each (instead of 2).
If both you and your opposing neighbor use a Diplomacy token during the same Resolution of Military Conflicts, neither one of you takes any tokens.
Example: At the end of Age II, you have a military strength of 2 while your opposing neighbor has a strength of 5. You have 1 Diplomacy token; you still participate in the Conflict, but you and your opposing neighbor only take 1 Military Defeat and Victory token respectively (instead of 2 each).
(Diagram: Your opposing neighbor / Your teammate / Your City in Age II, with Victory and Defeat tokens.)
End of the Game (Team Play)
The game ends at the close of Age III, after the Resolution of Military Conflicts. Proceed to scoring victory points following the normal base game rules. Add your and your teammate's scores. The team with the highest combined score wins the game. In case of tie, the team with the most total Treasure wins. If there is still a tie, tied teams share the victory.
Further Clarification
Need clarification on the rules of Cities? Simply look up the publisher's FAQ at www.7wonders.net/faq.