ERA

ERA Rulebook

Table of Contents

Goal of the Game

The first player to gain 15 progress tokens or give 3 destruction tokens to his opponent, wins.

Setup

Each player chooses one Era deck to play.

Each Era deck comes with 10 conflict cards that are specific to that Era. These cards are red-bordered. Once both players have chosen their Era deck, they should exchange the conflict cards contained in their Era deck with their opponent. These conflict cards are then shuffled into their own deck, so that a player's deck contains both his normal playing cards and his opponent's conflict cards.

A Conflict Card is identified by its red border.

To determine the first player, both players should simultaneously draw and reveal cards from their shuffled Era decks until a red-bordered conflict card is revealed. The first player to reveal a conflict card is the 1st player. If a tie occurs, repeat this process.

Both players then shuffle their decks again into a draw pile. Place the progress tokens, harvest tokens, and money tokens into separate piles where both players can reach them. The game is then ready to begin.

Card Layout

The card layout diagram labels the following parts of a card: card cost (in the circle in the upper-left corner), flourish cost (the smaller circle next to the card cost), conflict stars, card title, game symbols, number of copies in deck, defense (military or ruin), and the flourish dash.

Player Setup

The player setup diagram shows the following areas: draw pile, discard pile, build pile, conflict pile, money tokens, harvest tokens, resource cards (played horizontally), conflict cards (played into their own area), cards in play, and progress tokens.

Turn Overview

A player's turn is divided into 6 phases. These phases are:

Point Earning
Resource Gathering
Card Dealing
Card Committing (to the Build or Conflict pile)
Card Play
Card Conflict

Point-Earning Phase

At the beginning of his turn, a player receives progress tokens equal to the number of progress symbols he has in play. Progress symbols earn a player progress tokens at the beginning of every turn he takes.

Progress Symbol: compass icon.

If a player collects 15 or more progress tokens, that player is the winner and the game is over.

Note: Many cards are able to be stacked on top of each other by a process called "flourishing" (see the section, "Flourishing"). In these cases, only the topmost card on a stack of cards may contribute progress symbols. The progress symbols on the other copies below it are ignored.

Example 1: At the beginning of his turn, Player A earns 3 progress tokens, 1 for the progress symbol on his Temple card, and 2 for the progress symbols on his Pyramid card.

Example 2: At the beginning of his turn, Player A earns 1 progress token for the progress symbol on his Hamlet card. The progress symbols on his flourished Hamlet cards (the cards below the topmost one) do not contribute progress symbols (see section, "Flourishing"). The Church of Rome card does not contain any progress symbols, so it gives 0 progress tokens.

Note: Progress points are not earned when a card is played during the Card-Playing phase. Progress points are only earned during the beginning of a player's turn during the Point-Earning phase.

Resource-Gathering Phase

Resource cards are distinguished from non-resource cards because they are displayed horizontally.

During this phase, a player gathers resource tokens for each resource symbol that matches a symbol on a resource card. Two matching symbols are considered a set. A resource token is earned for each symbol set during a player's Resource-Gathering phase, and these tokens are earned every turn.

Once two symbols have formed a set to provide a resource, those same symbols cannot be used to help create another set.

There are 3 resource symbols in the game: harvest, money, and build.

Harvest: If a player has a harvest symbol on a card that matches a harvest symbol on a resource card in play, that player receives 1 harvest token.
Money: If a player has a money symbol on a card that matches a money symbol on a resource card in play, that player receives 1 money token.
Build: If a player has a build symbol on a card that matches a build symbol on a resource card in play, that player performs a special build move every turn, covered in the section ("Special Build Move"). No token is received.

Block symbols never block resource symbols on resource cards (see "Block Symbols").

Example 1: During their Resource-Gathering phase, Player A earns 1 harvest token because he has a matching harvest symbol set, and 2 money tokens because he has 2 matching money symbol sets.

Example 2: Player A earns 1 harvest token because he has a matching harvest symbol set. The other Kingdom Produce card does not have a matching harvest symbol, so it produces no harvest token. The Temple card does not have a matching money resource card in play, so it produces no money token.

Example 3: Player A earns 2 money tokens because he has 2 matching money symbol sets.

Card-Dealing Phase

In the Card Dealing phase, a player deals 8 cards to himself. (For the first turn of the game, the first player deals only 6 cards to himself, but thereafter 8.)

These cards are not looked at and are kept face-down. If a player has no more cards to draw from his draw pile, his discard pile is reshuffled and becomes his new draw pile.

From those 8 cards in front of him, a player may commit any number of those cards (including none, if they choose) to the build pile, face-down. To commit a card, a player puts it in that corresponding pile.

After a player has committed cards to his build pile, he may commit any remaining cards (including none, if they choose) to the conflict pile, face-down.

Finally, any remaining cards not committed to either the build pile or conflict pile are then kept by that player. These cards may be flipped over, looked at, and played in that player's upcoming Card-Playing phase. These cards may not be revealed to anyone else except that player.

If a player has no remaining cards after committing cards to their build or conflict pile, that player skips their Card-Playing phase. They should continue to the next phase, Conflict.

Note: In the following examples, cards are splayed out for numerical clarification. In a real game, they may be stacked neatly into one pile if desired.

Example 1: Player A deals 8 cards to himself, then decides to commit 3 cards to his build pile and 2 cards to his conflict pile, leaving him with 3 cards to flip over, look at, and play from during his Card-Playing Phase. The remaining cards are flipped over.

Example 2: Player A deals 8 cards to himself, then decides to commit no cards to his build pile and 1 card to his conflict pile, leaving him with 7 cards to flip over, look at, and play from during his Card-Playing Phase. The remaining cards are flipped over. (The build pile is empty.)

Tactics Option

At the end of their Card-Dealing Phase, if a player does not play any cards from their hand (including resource cards), they may put one of those cards face-down into their conflict pile. If a player chooses this option, they may not attack that turn.

Card-Playing Phase

During the Card-Playing Phase, a player may play any number of cards from their hand. To play a card, a player must be able to pay its build cost.

A card's build cost is shown in the circle in the upper-left hand corner. (Some cards have another smaller circle, called the flourish cost. See "Flourishing".) This cost must be paid for by discarding cards equal to that number from that player's build pile. Cards are discarded face-up, and either player may look through them at any time.

Example: Player A wants to play the Crusade Knight card from his hand. To do so, he must discard 3 cards from his build pile, since the Crusade Knight card has a build cost of 3. In this example, Player A currently has 6 cards in his build pile. He discards 3 cards in his build pile to pay for the Crusade Knight card and puts it into his main playing area.

Other Costs

Resource cards have no build cost. If they are revealed when a player turns over his remaining cards (after committing to his build pile and conflict pile), he may immediately play them. Play resource cards horizontally (see Player Setup).

Conflict cards are paid for no differently than other cards. Play conflict cards into their respective area (see Player Setup). For more information on Conflict cards, see the "Conflict Phase" section below.

Finally, at the end of a player's Card-Playing phase, all remaining cards in that player's hand that were not played are discarded.

IMPORTANT: At the end of their Card-Playing Phase, all remaining cards in a player's hand that were not played are discarded. They cannot be kept from turn to turn.

Conflict Phase

During the Conflict Phase, a player has the opportunity to attack and destroy his opponent's cards that are in play. If a card is destroyed in a conflict, it is discarded.

Conflict cards can be distinguished from other cards by their red border. At the beginning of the game, each player gives their opponent their Era's conflict cards and shuffles them into their deck (see section, "Setup").

Conflict can only happen between certain card types. In a conflict, a player may have his normal cards attack an opponent's conflict cards. Or he may have his own conflict cards attack his opponent's normal cards. However, a conflict card can never attack another conflict card (there is no "time travel" in Era), and a player's normal cards can never attack an opponent's normal cards (again, there is no "time travel" in Era).

In summary, a conflict card must always attack a normal card, and vice versa. (Another way to say it is that a card must always attack a card from its own Era deck.)

The rulebook's diagrams show four matchups: a normal card attacking an opponent's conflict card is allowed, a conflict card attacking an opponent's normal card is allowed, a conflict card attacking a conflict card is not allowed, and a normal card attacking a normal card is not allowed.

Conflict Attacks

There are two types of conflict: military and ruin. The military symbol represents military attacks or physical damage, while the ruin symbol represents calamity, political intrigue, or alternative tactics.

Military symbol: Only cards with military symbols may attack other cards with a military defense symbol.
Ruin symbol: Only cards with ruin symbols may attack other cards with a ruin defense symbol.
Might symbol: A card with this symbol in its bottom right corner cannot be attacked.

To make an attack during their Conflict Phase, a player announces which card or cards of his will be attacking an opponent's card. A card can make only 1 attack per turn, but an opponent's card can receive any number of attacks during the Conflict Phase.

During an attack, each military or ruin symbol on a card represents how many cards may be flipped over from that player's conflict pile. That player may use all or some of the symbols on each card, and must announce which symbols, and how many, they will use, before the attack begins.

When the cards are flipped over, their conflict stars, shown on the side, are totaled. The total conflict stars are then compared to the number inside the military or ruin defense symbol. If the conflict stars are equal to or greater than the defense number, that card is destroyed and removed from the game.

Example: Flipping 1 card from the conflict pile reveals 6 conflict stars against a defense of 5. The attacker wins.

The cards that were used from the conflict pile are then discarded, regardless of the outcome.

If an attack fails and does not equal or exceed the number above, the defender's card remains in play, and the cards flipped over from the conflict pile are still discarded. The defender does not attack the attacker after a conflict is made. Battle is one-sided.

When a card is flipped over, its stars are always counted, regardless of whether that card is locked or unlocked.

Finally, a player may never rearrange the cards in their conflict pile.

Targeting a Single Card with Multiple Attackers

Attacks can be made against one card with multiple attackers, if desired. To do so, a player must discard 1 additional card from their conflict pile in between each additional card they want to attack with.

Example: Player A wants to complete a combined attack with 3 cards. To do so, he must discard 2 additional cards from his conflict pile because he is attacking with 2 additional cards in this conflict. The conflict stars on the 3 revealed cards are totaled together and compared to the defense value of the targeted card (like a normal conflict attack).

Destruction Tokens

If a card containing progress symbol(s) is destroyed, a destruction token is placed on it. The card should be left out, but it can no longer be used, just as if it were discarded. If a player ever receives 3 destruction tokens, the other player immediately wins and the game is over.

It does not matter how many progress symbols are on a card. If it is destroyed, the defending player will always receive 1 destruction token.

A destroyed card with locked progress symbols does not receive a destruction token, unless those symbols were unlocked at the time of the attack (See Key Symbols).

Flourishing

Some cards have the ability to be flourished. Flourishing a card makes it more resistant to attack or provides it with extra symbols for each time it is flourished.

When a card is flourished, it is played on top of a card of the same name that is already in play. The bottom card plus all additional cards on top of it are considered one unit.

If a card can be flourished, it will show its flourish cost in the smaller circle next to the card's build cost.

To flourish a card, a player must be able to pay its flourish cost. This cost must be paid for by discarding cards equal to that number from that player's build pile.

Flourished cards should be splayed against the card they are laid on top of, to indicate how many cards have been flourished.

Example: Player A has a Hamlet card in his hand, and wants to flourish a Hamlet card he already has in play. Since the flourish cost of the Hamlet card is 2, Player A discards 2 cards from his build pile. After Player A has paid the Hamlet card's flourish cost, he may place that card on top of the existing card in play. This card is now flourished and considered one unit. On the Hamlet card, the +3 next to the ruin defense symbol means the card's ruin defense is increased by 3 (for a total of 5).

This bonus is added every time an additional Hamlet card is flourished on top of the first one. For example, 1 Hamlet card with 3 flourished Hamlet cards on top of it gives it a ruin defense of 11 (a base ruin defense of 2, plus +3 for each of the 3 flourished Hamlet cards).

A player can flourish as many cards onto a card or set of existing flourished cards as they want.

Unless a card has a flourish dash (see The Flourish Dash), only one card in a flourish pile contributes its symbols. Symbols, including progress points, on all other cards in the flourish pile are ignored.

When a card is destroyed, all cards flourished on it are destroyed as well.

The Flourish Dash

Some cards contain a dash between symbols. This means that the card gains the symbol(s) to the right of the dash when that card is flourished, and for each time that card is flourished.

The symbols to the left of the flourish dash show what the card contributes when there is only one copy. The symbols to the right of the flourish dash show what the card contributes every time it is flourished.

Example 1: Player A has the Storehouse card in play. Since there are no flourished cards on it, the card is considered as having only 1 harvest symbol and the progress symbol is ignored.

Example 2: Player A has 3 copies of the Storehouse card in play. The bottommost Storehouse card produces 1 harvest symbol, and the 2 flourished cards on top of it produce 1 progress point each, for a total of 2.

Example 3: Player A has 3 copies of the Storehouse card in play. Since none of these cards have been flourished, each card produces 1 harvest symbol (for a total of 3), but no progress tokens.

Unique Cards

A card that contains the cross symbol shown in its title is considered unique. Only one copy of a unique card can be in play at any time. However, a unique card can be flourished if the card has a flourish cost.

If a unique card is destroyed, it cannot be played for the remainder of the game. All copies of the unique card remain in that player's deck, but they cannot be played.

Exception: If a player has a card with a unique block symbol in play, then none of their cards are considered unique. These cards, since they are no longer unique, can be played any number of times, even if a copy is destroyed.

Note: if the unique block symbol was on a conflict card, it applies only to conflict cards within that Era deck. If the unique block symbol was on a normal playing card, it only applies to normal playing cards within that Era deck.

Money Tokens

During the Resource-Gathering phase of a player's turn, if a player has a money symbol on a card that matches a money symbol on a resource card in play, that player receives 1 money token. (To see examples of how a player can collect a money token, see the "Resource-Gathering" section).

A money token has 2 uses. It can be used as a resource when paying a card's build cost, or it can be used to aid in conflict.

Money as a Resource

When paying a card's build cost, a player may discard 1 money token instead of discarding 1 card from his build pile. Money tokens can be combined with other resources to pay a card's build cost.

Example: Player A wants to play the Pharaoh card from his hand. The card's build cost is 4, so he will have to discard 4 cards from his build pile. Instead of discarding 4 cards, though, Player A discards 2 cards from his build pile and discards 2 money tokens.

Money as an Aid in Conflict

During a conflict battle, a money token can be discarded to increase an attacker's conflict stars by 1, if the attack is by a normal playing card. (Conflict cards cannot use money in an attack.) This decision is made after the card(s) from the conflict pile are revealed, and there is no limit to how many money tokens can be used for this benefit.

Example: Player A's Crusade Knight card attacks Player B's Arab Empire conflict card. Because Crusade Knight has 1 military symbol on it, Player A flips over 1 card from his conflict pile. It is the Village Goods resource card which has 1 conflict star on it. Since the total amount of conflict stars is less than the 4 military defense of the Arab Empire card, the card remains undefeated. Player A then discards 3 money tokens to increase his conflict star total to 4. Since this equals the Arab Empire card's military defense total, that card is now destroyed.

Harvest Tokens

During the Resource-Gathering phase of a player's turn, if a player has a harvest symbol on a card that matches a harvest symbol on a resource card in play, that player receives 1 harvest token. (To see examples of how a player can collect a harvest token, see the "Resource-Gathering" section).

Harvest tokens are placed above the card that generated them. Once per game, during the Resource-Gathering phase, a player may "harvest" (spend) all the harvest tokens in front of a particular card. Each spent harvest token allows that player to draw 2 additional cards during their Card Dealing phase.

Once a card's harvest tokens have been spent, that card can no longer generate harvest tokens for the rest of the game, even if they have a matching resource card. To show that a card can no longer collect harvest tokens, flip over a harvest token to its grayed side and place it on the card.

Example: Player A has 2 harvest tokens in front of a Settler card. Player A decides to spend the harvest tokens in front of that card during their Resource-Gathering phase, and discards both tokens. They then draw 4 additional cards during their Card Dealing phase, two for each harvest token discarded. That player then flips a harvest token to its grayed side and places it on the card. This indicates the card is considered as having no harvest symbols, and cannot produce new harvest tokens.

Special Build Move

During the Resource-Gathering phase of a player's turn, if a player has a build symbol on a card that matches a build symbol on a resource card in play, that player may do 1 special build move during his Resource-Gathering phase. No token is received.

A matching build symbol set contributes 1 special build move for a player every turn.

To use a special build move, a player may draw one card from their deck and flip it over into their build pile, face-up. That card's discard value is now equal to the conflict stars shown on the card.

Cards drawn as a special build move do not count towards the 8 cards a player draws during their Card-Dealing Phase.

No "change" is given if a player discards more conflict stars than needed. Also, multiple flipped up cards can be discarded to pay for several cards at once, in any combination desired. (For example, a player can discard 2 flipped up cards with 4 stars and 2 stars each, to pay for a 5-cost card and 1-cost card, since the total stars being discarded are 6). Finally, a player also does not have to spend the flipped up cards on the turn they were created.

Example: Player A has two matching build symbol sets at the beginning of his turn and so earns 2 special build moves. In his Resource-Gathering phase, he draws 2 cards from his deck and flips them over into his build pile. If Player A decides to discard all 5 cards, their actual value is equal to 7 discarded cards, not 5. Each conflict star on the Sheriff and Settler card counts as a discarded card, so the flipped cards are worth 7 discarded cards in total.

Key Symbols

A key symbol allows restricted cards and symbols (indicated by a lock symbol) to be played or activated. Keys always show a letter inside them, which corresponds with the specific lock they can activate or "unlock."

For example, the "A" key unlocks all locks with an "A" on them, and the "B" key unlocks all locks with a "B" on them.

If a card's name has a small lock next to it, that card is locked and cannot be played until a card with the corresponding key is in play.

If a card has a lock next to its flourish cost, that card cannot be flourished until a card with the corresponding key is in play.

If a symbol has a small lock underneath it, that symbol is locked and ignored until a card with the corresponding key is in play.

If a player has a card in play that contains a key of the same letter, all cards with that lock with the same letter can now be played. Also, all symbols with that lock of the same letter are no longer ignored and immediately take effect.

If a card with a key symbol is destroyed, all cards that have that corresponding lock symbol still remain in play.

Example 1: Player A wants to play the Crusade Knight card, which has an "A" lock symbol next to the card title. He cannot play it, since he has no cards currently in play with the "A" key symbol.

Example 2: Player A wants to play the Crusade Knight card, which has an "A" lock symbol next to the card title. He may play it, since he has a card in play with the "A" key symbol.

Example 3: Player A wants to attack with his Heavy Artillery card, which has 2 "A" lock symbols next to 2 attack symbols. Since he has no "A" key symbol in play, those 2 attack symbols are ignored, and the card contributes only 1 attack symbol.

Example 4: Player A wants to attack with his Heavy Artillery card, which has 2 "A" lock symbols next to 2 attack symbols. Since he has a card in play with the letter "A" key, those 2 attack symbols may now be used. Altogether, the card now offers him 3 attack symbols.

Effect Arrows

Some symbols in the game may have a small upward or downward arrow next to them. This is a visual alert to let the player know who will receive the effect of the symbol. Usually, this is used where the application would not be expected, such as a key that benefits an opponent, or a block symbol that targets the player who played the card.

Like attacking, effect arrows from a normal playing card interact only with an opponent's conflict cards, and vice versa.

Example: Player A plays a Port card. It has a "B" key with a small arrow above it, pointed towards his opponent. Although the Port card provides a progress symbol very cheaply for Player A, the "B" key now allows his opponent to play the very powerful Bubonic Plague conflict card, since it has a "B" lock on it.

Other Examples

Effect arrows in the rulebook illustrate these cases: a symbol that gives 1 ruin symbol to your opponent to use during attacks; a symbol that gives your opponent 1 military block; a symbol that blocks 1 of your progress symbols; and a symbol that blocks all unique symbols on cards you play (see "Unique Cards").

Vision Symbol

The vision symbol allows a player to put aside 1 normal playing card from his hand and save it for a later turn. (Conflict cards may not be selected.) The card is put face-down underneath the card that provided the vision symbol. It stays there until it is "drawn back" into a player's hand during his Card-Playing phase on a later turn.

Each vision symbol creates one "slot" that can be filled or emptied at any time with one card. If a card is withdrawn from this slot, it may be replaced with a new one.

If a card providing vision symbols is discarded, the cards tucked underneath it are discarded as well. If a card's vision symbol(s) becomes blocked, the card(s) tucked underneath it are immediately discarded.

When a player adds a card from a vision pile into his hand during the Card-Playing phase, he must show to his opponent that it is not a conflict card. For all other times, a player may "peek" at his stored cards without having to reveal them.

Example 1: Player A plays his Architect card. Since the Architect card has 2 vision symbols on it, Player A may take 2 cards from his hand and tuck them underneath the Architect card. (It does not have to be during this turn, but Player A decides to do it now.) Player A puts a Slaves and Pyramid card underneath the Architect. Player A may draw the Slaves or Pyramid card into his hand on any later turn.

Example 2: Player A has a Pyramid and Slaves card underneath his Architect card. During his Card-Playing phase, Player A draws the Pyramid card into his hand, opening up a "slot" underneath the Architect. Player A replaces the Pyramid with a Charioteer from his hand, and places it face-down underneath the Architect.

Block Symbols

A block symbol cancels out 1 opponent's symbol of the same type (except the unique block symbol, discussed below). An opponent's symbol that is blocked has no effect. Note that a block symbol never blocks a resource symbol on a resource card, such as money, harvest, or build.

The receiver of the effect of the block symbols may choose which cards he wants those blocks to be applied to, and may change it each turn.

Like attacking, a block symbol on a conflict card must cancel a symbol on a normal playing card from that same Era deck, and vice versa.

The unique block symbol blocks all unique symbols on the cards controlled by that player, not just one.

The rulebook illustrates a 1 build symbol, a 1 harvest symbol, and a 1 money symbol each being ignored by a block.

Example: Player A has a Spoilage card in play, blocking 1 harvest symbol of Player B. Player B decides to apply the block effect to his first Storehouse card, rather than his second Storehouse card, which is flourished. The first Storehouse card can no longer collect harvest tokens.

Exhaustion Token

A player receives an exhaustion token if they do any of the following:

Puts 7 or more cards into their build pile on a turn (does not include special build moves or harvest).
Flips over or discards 7 or more cards when attacking with conflict cards (not normal playing cards).
Chooses the tactics option from a hand of 7 or more cards.

A player with an exhaustion token cannot do any of the 3 previously mentioned actions. Once a card has been played with a progress symbol on a later turn, the exhaustion token is discarded. (It does not matter if the progress symbol is locked or unlocked.)

Example A: Player A flips over and discards 10 cards when he makes an attack with his conflict cards, and therefore receives an exhaustion token. On his next turn, Player A wants to place 7 cards into his build pile, but cannot because it is one of the 3 restricted actions. He puts 6 cards into his build pile instead.

Example B: Player B chooses to do the tactics option from a hand of 8 cards and therefore receives an exhaustion token. On his next turn, Player B then plays a card with a locked progress symbol, and then discards his exhaustion token.

"Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos." (Will Durant)

Multiplayer Rules (3-4 Player)

The multiplayer version of Era introduces 6 bonus cards that players compete for at the end of each round, initiative tokens, and a new way to play the conflict cards. These new elements both accelerate gameplay and create surprise and uncertainty between the rounds.

It is recommended that players familiarize themselves with the 2-player version of Era before playing the multiplayer game.

The first player to score 15 points in a 3-player game, or 12 points in a 4-player game, wins. (Giving an opponent their third destruction token does not provide a win to the attacker, as it would in a 2-player game. Instead, that player is just removed from the game.)

Player Order

In a multiplayer game, a round consists of every player completing a turn, which is the same as a 2-player game (See rule section "Turn Overview").

However, turn order will vary from turn to turn. To determine player order for the first round, grab 1 progress token and 2 money tokens for a 3-player game, or 1 progress token and 3 money tokens for a 4-player game. One player should shake these tokens together in their covered hands, allowing each player to pick a random token without looking at it. The player who drew the progress token is the 1st player.

For the 2nd round onwards, the player with the highest number of initiative tokens becomes the first player (see the rule section, "Initiative Tokens"). In the event of a tie, the player with the most cards in play, including resource cards, goes first. If there is still a tie, the player who is the closest in a clockwise direction from the previous player, goes next. Play proceeds to the player with the next highest amount of initiative tokens, until all players have taken their turn.

First Round Card Draws

For the 1st round of a 3 player game, each player draws this many cards:

1st player = 6 cards
2nd player = 6 cards
3rd player = 8 cards

For the 1st round of a 4 player game, each player draws this many cards:

1st player = 6 cards
2nd player = 6 cards
3rd player = 8 cards
4th player = 8 cards

Conflict Cards in the Multiplayer Game

Once player order has been determined for the first round, each player removes the 10 red-bordered conflict cards from their chosen Era deck. Instead of giving their deck's conflict cards to their opponent (as they would in a 2-player game), each player shuffles these 10 conflict cards into a separate pile, face-up, in front of their playing area. These "community" conflict cards will be available for any opponent to pay for and play on their turn.

Note: A player's community conflict card pile is separate from their conflict card pile.

Example 1: In this example between 3 players, each player has a face-up community conflict card pile, which contains all 10 of their Era's conflict cards.

During their Card-Playing Phase, a player may choose to play the face-up conflict card from any opponent's community conflict card pile. When a conflict card is selected by a player, they must pay the resource cost of that card to play it. That card is then removed from the top of their opponent's community conflict card pile, and put next to it, face-up. Additional community conflict cards should be arranged side by side to each other.

Example 2: Player A decides to pay 2 resources to play Player B's topmost community conflict card, Central Powers, and places it next to Player B's community conflict card pile. Player A receives 1 initiative token for doing this (see the section, "Initiative Tokens"). Note that a new community card is now available underneath, which Player A could choose to pay for as well.

Any player may now use Central Powers during their Conflict Phase, just as if they controlled it personally.

Cascading Effect

When a player pays for a community conflict card, the top community conflict card of his other opponents, equal to or less than the cost of the card he just played, are also put into play, at no cost to him. This process is completed only once, and newly revealed community conflict cards do not continue to be played this way.

Example: (The community conflict piles in this example are shown all next to each other for ease of viewing, but in a real game they would be in front of each player's respective playing area.) Player A plays Player B's Persian Army for a cost of 3, and receives 1 initiative token. Because the cost of that card is 3, Player C's Central Powers community conflict card is also played, at no cost, since its cost is 2, which is equal to or less than 3. However, Player D's U2 Spy Plane is not played, because it is greater than a cost of 3. Finally, Player A's Bubonic Plague community conflict card is not played because it is from his own community conflict card pile.

The gameplay symbols on conflict cards that have been played are now available for any player to interact with on their turn. For example, if a card has attack symbols on it, any player may attack with it on their turn. Of course, the target of those attacks must be directed at the player whose conflict cards come from that respective Era deck.

Initiative Tokens

Whenever a player plays a conflict card of a cost of 1 or greater, they gain 1 initiative token. They do not, however, gain extra initiative tokens for additional "cascaded" cards (See section, "Cascading Effect.").

A player may play any number of conflict cards of a cost of 1 or more, and from any number of community conflict card piles, gaining 1 initiative token each time they do so.

Conflict cards with a cost of 0, however, do not provide an initiative token. Each turn, a player may play only 1 community conflict card of a cost of 0 from each opponent's community conflict card pile. Zero-cost cards that were "cascaded" do not count towards this limit.

Example: (The community conflict cards in this example are shown all next to each other for ease of viewing, but in a real game they would be in front of each player's respective playing area.) Player A pays for Player B's Central Powers community conflict card and puts it into play. Player A receives 1 initiative token for this. Because it was a cost of 2, Player C's Bubonic Plague card is also played, at no cost, because it is less than 2. (This assumes Player C had the correct key symbol already in play, in order to be able to play the Bubonic Plague card.) He does not receive an initiative token for this "cascaded" card. Player D's community conflict card is not played because it is greater than 2.

After Player A plays Central Powers and Bubonic Plague, the Red Baron and Arab Empire cards are revealed underneath their respective community conflict card piles. Player A decides to also pay for the Red Baron, and receives a 2nd initiative token. Because the cost of the Red Baron was 3, the Arab Empire card is played at no cost, since it is equal to or less than 3. A new community conflict card is revealed for Player B, and Player A pays for it, receiving a 2nd initiative token, and a new community conflict card is revealed for Player C, which Player A plays at no cost, since it is equal to or less than 3. Player D's community conflict card is not played, because it is greater than 3.

Player A has earned 2 initiative tokens this round.

Cycling Cards

During their conflict phase, a player may pay 1 resource to discard the top card of a player's community conflict card pile. (There is no limit.) Put the cycled card on the bottom of the pile.

The Bonus Cards

At the start of each game round, the player with the most initiative tokens draws cards from the shuffled bonus card pile equal to the number of players, plus one. (For example, if there are 3 players, 4 bonus cards are drawn). That player secretly chooses one of the bonus cards and places it face-down in front of them. The remaining bonus cards are then passed to the player with the next highest amount of initiative tokens. In the event of a tie, the player with the most cards in play (including resource cards), goes next. If there is still a tie, the player who is the closest in a clockwise direction from the previous player, goes next. This repeats until all players have secretly chosen a bonus card. The final unchosen card is discarded.

If there are no players with initiative tokens, the player who went first the previous round, goes first again, and turns proceed clockwise.

Players then simultaneously reveal their bonus card choices, and follow the action listed on them.

At the end of the round, all 6 bonus cards are shuffled together for the next round.

Multiplayer Bonus Cards

Defense: When this card is revealed, slip it under a non-conflict card you control. In place of that card's defense values, it gains: a pillar icon (transcriber note: the source prints this as an icon only and does not name it; it is shown as the card's defense value in place of the defense numbers).
Extra Effort: Draw 2 extra cards during your Card-Drawing Phase.
Glory: Gain 1 progress token (compass icon) at the start of your turn.
Plot: Add 2 conflict stars to any 1 card you flip over from your conflict pile this turn.
Reorganize: At the start of your turn, take any 2 cards from your discard pile and shuffle them back into your deck.
Search: At the start of your turn, search your deck for any 1 non-resource card, then shuffle your deck. That card is available for you to play this turn. During your Card-Drawing Phase, draw 3 fewer cards.

End of Rules

The source document continues with an expansion advertisement page and a Game Log page, which are not rules and are not transcribed. A Symbols Guide quick-reference page follows; its icons are the Progress, Vision, Lock and Key, Attack, Money, Harvest, and Build symbols already described above.