Antiquity Quest Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Contents
• Setup
  • Key Terms
• Card Types
  • Antiquities and Treasures
  • Characters
• Rules
  • On Your Turn
  • Phase 1. Draw
  • Phase 2. Play
  • Phase 3. Discard
  • The Discard Pile
  • End of Round
• Collections
  • Mixed Collections
  • Standard Collections
  • Perfect Collections
  • Starting a Collection
  • Adding to Your Collections
  • Adding to Other Players' Collections
  • Completing a Collection
• Scoring
• End of Game
• Advanced Rules
  • On Assignment: Civilization Bonus
  • Additional Character Abilities
• Playing in Pairs
  • Setup and Seating
  • Changes for Basic Rules
  • Changes for Advanced Rules

Overview

Your goal in Antiquity Quest is to earn the most points at the end of the game by having the most prestigious collections of antiquities and treasures. You can choose to play a single round (20-30 minutes) or three rounds (60-90 minutes). During each round, you'll attempt to use your entire hand and cache by taking turns drawing, playing, and discarding cards as you work on creating your collections and sabotaging the collections that belong to other players.

To earn points you'll be building collections of Antiquities and Treasures. The six suits of Antiquity cards represent ancient civilizations. Treasures are a different suit and rarer. The more challenging a collection, the more it's worth. A round ends once a player has completed at least five collections and has no cards left in their hand or cache.

Your score at the end of each round is the combination of your collections, bonus points, played cards, and lastly negative points for cards left in your hand at the end of the round. The player with the highest score wins the game!

The standard rules are for 2 to 6 players or you may play in pairs with 6 to 8 players. For playing in pairs, read the standard rules and then see the Playing in Pairs section.

Contents

• Numbered Antiquities (150)
• Wild Antiquities (18)
• Treasure Cards (35)
• Remington Cards (8)
• Tess Cards (6)
• Blank Cards (3)
• Player Aids (6)

Setup

1. Each player is given a player aid. For your first game, we suggest using the side with the basic rules.
2. After shuffling, deal two piles of 10 cards to each player, face down.
3. Place the deck in the center of the table as the draw pile (make sure to leave a space on either side for the discard and character piles).
4. Each player picks up one of their piles as their hand.
5. Each player's other pile, which is called their cache, remains face down (no peeking!) in front of them.
6. Whoever donated to a museum most recently is the first player (or the person to the left of the dealer).
7. Play moves clockwise.

The table is arranged with the character pile and the draw pile and discard pile between them in the center, your hand in front of you, and your cache in front of you as well.

Key Terms

• Antiquities: There are six suits of Antiquity cards in the game, each a different color, representing one of six different ancient civilizations.
• Treasures: These have a black background. They can be collected separately or combined with Antiquities from one civilization to create a collection.
• Collection: A set of Antiquities and/or Treasures meeting certain requirements.
• Civilizations: These are the suits. There are six of them.
• Character Pile: These cards will be placed in their own pile on the opposite side of the draw pile from the discard.

Card Types

Antiquities and Treasures

Numbered Antiquities: (25pts each) There are 150 Numbered Antiquity cards, made up of six different colored suits (civilizations). There are 25 cards in each suit, numbered 1-5, with 5 copies of each numbered card.

Wild Antiquities: (25pts each) There are 18 Wild(W) Antiquity cards, 3 of each suit (civilization). These can be used in place of any other Antiquity card of the same suit. Wild Antiquities are never considered duplicates.

Treasures: (50pts each) Treasure cards are rare and more valuable than Antiquities. There are 35 Treasure cards: 7 each of the 5 different types.

Characters

Prof. Remington (8): When you play a Remington card, you must draw 2 cards from the deck. Then, discard Remington's card face-up in the character pile. He'll be most upset if he isn't used and you'll lose 100 points for each in your hand or cache at the end of the round.

Tess Wynter (6): My last assistant went rogue! Tess cards are discarded rather than played. When discarded, Tess "steals" all cards from the discard pile, removing them for the round. Stolen cards are moved to the character pile, with the Tess card on top. If you have any Tess cards in your hand at the end of the round, Remington will know you've been in contact with her and you'll lose 100 points for each!

Rules

On Your Turn

A turn consists of the following three phases, in order:

• Phase 1. Draw (or pick up discard pile).
• Phase 2. Play.
• Phase 3. Discard.

Phase 1. Draw

You must do one of the following:

• Draw 2 cards from the draw pile, or
• If possible, pick up all the cards in the discard pile (we'll explain this later).

Phase 2. Play

You may play as many cards as you like, including none at all. They are played in the following ways:

• Start a collection (requires at least 3 cards) in your play area. This is how you score points during the game. We'll discuss this in detail later.
• Add 1 or more cards to one or some of your existing collections.
• Add 1 or more cards to other players' existing collection(s).
• Play a Remington card and draw 2 cards. Remember any Remington cards in your hand or cache at the end of the round loses you 100 points! Remington cards go face up in the character pile after playing.

If the last card from your hand is played, immediately pick up your cache. Play will now continue with this as your new hand.

Phase 3. Discard

To complete your turn, discard an Antiquity, Treasure, or Tess card face up.

• When a Tess card is discarded, the entire discard pile is moved into the character pile (with the Tess Card on top, face-up). Tess cards may still be discarded if the discard pile is empty. Remember, you'll lose 100 points for each left in your hand at the end of the round.
• If the last card from your hand is discarded, immediately pick up your cache. You may look at the cards but may not play them until your next turn.
• Remington cards cannot be discarded. How ungrateful would that be?

You may review the cards in the discard pile at any time on your turn.

Note: The last card from your cache can only be played after you've completed five collections or if, by playing your last card, you complete your 5th collection.

Remington's Note: Tip for your first time. Start one collection to get things going but try to hang on to pairs and other antiquities or treasures that could make your collections more valuable.

The Discard Pile

At times, you may be able to pick up the cards in the discard pile instead of drawing 2 cards to start your turn.

To do this, you must have:

• Already started at least one of your collections on a previous turn, and
• Have at least 2 to 4 cards in your hand of the same suit as the top card of the discard pile. You may not use a treasure card to pick up the discard pile.

Next: You may now reveal the 2 to 4 cards from your hand, add the top card from the discard pile, and start a new collection. All remaining cards in the discard pile are added to your hand and your turn continues as normal.

Example: A green Antiquity is on top of the discard pile. You reveal 2 green Antiquity cards from your hand to pick up the discard pile and start a collection and then add the remaining cards from the discard pile to your hand. You hold onto the Wild green for a future round.

Remington's Note: Picking up the discard pile can be a key advantage in this quest. Extra cards can be quite useful for both creating and sabotaging collections. Just remember, any cards left in your hand at the end of the round have a negative value towards your total score.

End of Round

End the round by doing both of the following:

• Have 5 or more complete collections of any type, and
• Play or discard the last card from your cache.

The first player to go out triggers the end of the round. They may earn a bonus of 500 points if they have completed at least one Mixed, one Standard, and one Perfect collection. If they have not, all other players that have one of each collection type earns the bonus instead. Just because you're fast, does not mean you'll be hired as my assistant.

After a player goes out, all other players may take one final turn in clockwise order. Each player will be able to take all the same actions as they would in any other turn. After this, the round ends.

Remington's Note: This would be a good time to make sure there are no character cards left in your hand. Be a shame if I discovered you'd been in contact with her or not taken advantage of my offer to help.

Collections

Before we get to scoring, let's discuss collections. Collections are your primary goal in Antiquity Quest. Your objective is to create the most valuable collections to send to the museum while looking for opportunities to sabotage opponents.

Mixed Collections

Mixed set of five or more cards including Antiquities (same suit) and Treasures.

• Antiquity cards in a Mixed collection must all be the same suit.
• Additional cards may be added to Mixed collections after completion.
• They are the only kind of collection that can exceed 5 cards.

Mixed Collection (250 pts): Any mixture of Antiquity and Treasure Cards.

Standard Collections

Set of five cards of only Antiquities (same suit) or only Treasures.

• As in Mixed collections, duplicates are allowed.

Standard Antiquity (500 pts): Set of any 5 Antiquity cards of the same suit.

Standard Treasure (750 pts): Set of any 5 Treasure cards. Duplicates allowed!

Perfect Collections

Complete set of five unique Antiquities (same suit) or unique Treasures.

Perfect Antiquity (1000 pts): Complete set of the 5 Antiquity cards (1-5). Wild Antiquities of the same suit may be substituted for any Antiquity.

Perfect Treasure (1500 pts): Complete set of the 5 Treasure cards.

Starting a Collection

You must lay down at least 3 cards to start a collection. The cards must fit one of the following criteria:

1. They are all Antiquities of the same suit (civilization).
2. They are all Treasures.
3. They are a combination of Treasure and Antiquities. If there is more than one Antiquity, it must be of the same suit.

Collections with 3 or 4 cards in them are called incomplete collections. Cards in incomplete collections are arranged vertically, allowing everyone to see their contents. Incomplete collections are placed next to each other in a row at the bottom of each player's collection area.

Collections with Treasure and Antiquity cards are Mixed. Collections with duplicates are Standard. Collections so far with no duplicates are Perfect.

Adding to Your Collections

When adding cards to your collections, follow these rules:

• Treasure cards may only be added to: incomplete Treasure or Antiquity collections, or any Mixed collection (complete or incomplete).
• Antiquity cards may only be added to: incomplete Antiquity or Mixed collections, but not to incomplete Treasure collections.

Example: You start a red Antiquity collection by laying down a 1, 3, and 5. On your next turn, you add a red 2 and a red Wild Antiquity, thus completing a Perfect Antiquity Collection. Jolly well done!

Adding to Other Players' Collections

Once you've started your first collection, you're permitted to add cards to incomplete collections of your rivals, following the rules on the previous page. Reminder: You may not add Antiquities to incomplete Treasure collections.

There are two reasons why you'd add cards to other player's collections.

• Sabotage those collections and lessen their potential value, or
• Get rid of cards you can't or don't want to use.

Example: Eliza's incomplete Antiquity collection contains a 1, 2, 5, and W. If she adds a 3 or 4 she'll make a Perfect Antiquity collection, worth 1,000 points! You play an orange 1 on her collection, completing it and changing it to a 500-point Standard Antiquity collection, cutting its value in half.

Completing a Collection

Completed collections are compiled, as indicated below, for easy reference. After they're compiled, move them up to your completed collection row.

Treasure cards are stacked under the Antiquity Cards for a complete Mixed collection. Standard collections are simply stacked into a tidy pile. Complete Perfect collections are stacked with the top card separated from the bottom cards.

Complete collections may be played straight from your hand directly to your completed collection row.

Remember: Mixed collections may exceed 5 cards. Additional Antiquity cards (of the same civilization) or Treasure cards may be added to them after they are completed. Very handy for offloading unwanted cards!

Remington's Note: You don't have to start a collection right away. Sometimes it may be better to complete collections in your hand before laying them down to prevent other players from sabotaging them.

Scoring

Calculate your score by following these steps:

1. Give a 500-point bonus to the player(s) that earned it.
2. Record the total value of all your completed collections.
3. Record the total value of each individual cards played into your collection area (25 points per Antiquity and 50 points per Treasure).
4. Record any negative points. The combined value of any cards left in your hand and/or cache is subtracted from your card score.
   • Negative 25 points for each Antiquity card.
   • Negative 50 points for each treasure card.
   • Negative 100 points for each character card.

Remington's Note: You earn points for ALL of the cards played in your collection area, including those in both your completed collections and incomplete collections.

Example: Robert was the first to go out. He completed 6 collections. His score is broken down like this: Since Robert went out first and had one of each collection, he earned the bonus. Also, since he played all his cards, he did not have to subtract any points from his score.

	Robert
Bonus	500
Collections	3500
Played Cards	1425
Unplayed Cards	0
1st Round Score	5425

End of Game

If you wish to play a single round, the highest score at the end wins. For a full game, tally the scores and then thoroughly shuffle all the cards, deal, and start again. The player with the lowest score at the end of each round goes first. The player with the highest score at the end of three rounds wins and is named Professor Remington's assistant!

Congratulations on your achievement! Future generations will enjoy these priceless Antiquities and Treasures in museums like ours around the world thanks to your efforts. The real work begins now as my assistant!

Run along now and fetch me some tea. I take two lumps! Oh, and a bit of toast with apricot marmalade, if it's not too much of a bother.

Oh, and please be sure to lock up the silverware before you return. I hear Tess is in town and may want to take your lovely new contributions to our museum for herself!

- Prof. Nigel Remington

Advanced Rules

Once you've played several games and feel you have got the core strategies and rules locked down, you may try some or all of the rules for advanced play. It's up to you!

On Assignment: Civilization Bonus

Each player aid has a different symbol in the corner on the side for basic rules. These unique symbols represent the six different civilizations. Before starting a round, place the player aids with the basic rules side down (in secret). Each player selects a player aid and peeks under the corner to see which civilization they've been assigned. Place any extra player aids back in the box without viewing them.

At the end of the round, you'll earn bonus points for each complete (Perfect, Standard, or Mixed) collection created that incorporates Antiquity cards from your assigned civilization. The bonus for your first collection is 250 points, your second will earn you an additional 500 points, your third an additional 750, and any more will earn you 1000 points each!

Example: You're randomly assigned the green civilization. By the end of the round, you've completed 3 collections containing green Antiquities. You earn 250 bonus points for the first collection with green Antiquities, 500 for the second, and 750 for the third. Your total Civilization bonus is 1500 points.

Remington's Note: Assigning each of you to find specific civilizations for the museum is an excellent way to test your fieldwork skills.

Additional Character Abilities

Tess and Remington still carry the same abilities from the basic game (Tess destroying the discard pile, and Remington causing you to draw 2 cards), but in the advanced rules, both are granted a second ability, which may be used instead of their primary ability.

Reassigned: Professor Nigel Remington — The professor knows best. Play his card to swap any of your completed Antiquity or Mixed collections with a collection of the same kind (e.g. Standard collection for another Standard collection, or Perfect collection for a Perfect collection) in another player's possession.

Remington's Note: Using one of my cards in this manner will help you to secure an additional collection of your assigned civilization (see "on assignment" section above).

Lost Shipment: Tess Wynter — Your collection went missing on the way to the museum! Play a Tess card on top of another player's incomplete Antiquity or Mixed collection to remove it from the game. The cards are placed in the stolen cards pile underneath the Tess card you just played. You cannot use this ability on incomplete Treasure collections or any completed collections. Note that when used in this manner, Tess is played in the 2nd phase (play a card) of your turn and does not count as a discard.

Revoked Visas: Going Out — Unfortunately, when one player goes out, the other players don't get an additional turn. Instead, they are only permitted to play cards from their hands into their collection area. All players do this simultaneously. Players cannot add cards to other players' collections during this final round. They also may not pick up their cache if they have not already done so.

Remington's Note: This rule adds additional strategy and intensity to the game as you never know when a player could go out, potentially leaving others with a load of unplayed cards that hurt their score!

Two heads are better than one! Work has been difficult and to be honest I'd rather have two assistants instead of one. Perhaps one of you could get me some scones while the other makes the tea? If you're willing to work together, why not pair up and go into the field. Be sure to work well together or Tess might find a way to ruin things once again. Get out there before she does!

-Prof. Nigel Remington

Playing in Pairs

Antiquity Quest works equally well when played in pairs (4 to 8 players). And, since fewer cards are used in a partner game, you can increase the maximum player count to 8. While the core game remains the same, there are a few essential differences to be aware of. Be sure to decide if you wish to use the advanced or basic rules before you begin to play.

Note: You may not discuss strategy or ask for advice from your partner.

Setup and Seating

Partners sit opposite the table from each other, with the other set(s) of partners between them to either side.

Changes for Basic Rules

• Three piles of 10 cards are dealt face-down to each partnership. Each player will choose one as their hand, and the remaining pile will act as a joint cache.
• You are building your collections as a partnership, so decide between yourselves who will manage them. They will only be placed in front of one of you and that player will keep the cache in their area.
• Once one player in a partnership has started a collection, both may pick up the discard pile or play to other partnerships' collections.
• The first player in a partnership to finish their hand picks up the cache.
• Neither partner can play, or discard, their final card until they have completed a combined 7 collections between the two players.
• End of Round (going out) rules stay the same.

Changes for Advanced Rules

• All basic rules apply; however, when playing with the Civilization bonus rule, both partners share the same assigned civilization. As well, when a player goes out, players take turns instead of playing simultaneously (different than outlined in "revoked visas: going out").