Cyclades
If two players both have two or more metropolises at game end, does a player with three metropolises beat a player with two?
The designer ruled on this directly on BGG, which settles it against the rulebook's gold-only tiebreak.
Yes. The player with three metropolises wins outright, even if the rival has more gold. Gold breaks a tie only when the metropolis counts do not settle it, and the designer ruled this way in 2010.