Lions of Lydia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Overview of the game
  • A Turn
• Gate Actions
• Well Actions
• Landholdings
• Player Board Bonuses
• End of Game & Scoring
  • End of the Game
  • Scoring
• Expansions
  • Expansion I: King Croesus
  • Expansion 2: The Waters of the Pactolus
  • Expansion 3: The Craftsmen's Guild
  • Expansion 4: Courtyards
  • Expansion 5: The Tomb of Alyattes
  • Expansion 6: Royal Builders
  • Expansion 7: Chariot Race
  • Expansion 8: Estates
• Appendix A
• Appendix B

Components

• 1 City Board
• 4 Player Boards
• 1 Chariot Race Board
• 4 wooden Gates
• 40 Merchants (wooden figures)
• 16 Resource Markers (wood)
• 4 Influence Markers (wood)
• 48 wooden Coins
• 1 wooden figure of King Croesus
• 12 purple Landholding cards
• 8 gold Landholding cards
• 4 Well cards
• 20 silver Landholding cards
• 4 silver Starting Landholding cards
• 4 cloth Bags
• 1 Well tile
• 1 wooden Well tile (Kickstarter Edition)
• 4 Tomb/Estate tiles (Alyattes' Tomb)
• 4 Courtyard tiles
• 4 Builder tiles
• 1 scoring pad
• 1 rulebook

Setup

See Figure 1:

1. Place the City Board in the middle of the table.

2. Stand the four wooden Gates in the matching colored corners of the City Board.

3. Place a Well tile — either the normal tile or the wooden one — in the middle of the City Board.

4. Each player takes a Player Board, a set of four differently colored Resource Markers, and an Influence Marker. The Resource Markers and the Influence Marker are placed on the matching symbols along the left edge of the Player Board. (Unneeded markers go back in the box.)

5. Each player receives one starting Landholding card (with the upgraded side face down) that matches the resource in the lower right corner of their Player Board. (Unneeded starting Landholding cards go back in the box.)

6. Shuffle the Landholding card stacks (silver, gold, and purple) separately, then place two purple, one gold, and three silver cards (two silver cards in a two-player game) along each side of the City Board, upgraded side face down (see Figure 1). Unneeded cards go back in the box.

7. Place one Lydian merchant on each of the four gold cards.

8. Then place one blue, one green, one red, and one yellow merchant at the Gates, such that each Gate has a merchant of a non-matching color standing at it (e.g., a blue merchant at the red Gate).

9. Place one blue, one green, one red, and one yellow merchant at the Well.

10. Put one blue, one green, one red, and one yellow merchant into each bag; then each player takes a bag.

11. Now, on each Player Board, place one Lydian merchant on the space to the right of the Influence Marker (i.e., second column, bottom row). Unneeded merchants go back in the box.

12. Place the coins within reach of all players.

13. Choose one player to be the starting player.

Note: Components not mentioned in this section (e.g., Well cards, King Croesus, Courtyard tiles, etc.) are needed only for the expansions and stay in the box.

Gameplay

Overview of the game

In "Lions of Lydia," players take turns drawing merchants from their bags and sending them to various locations around the city. Merchants sent to the Gates gather and exchange resources and coins, while merchants sent to the Well buy and upgrade Landholding cards. As soon as a player has upgraded a certain number of landholdings (i.e., turned them to their upgraded side), the game ends and the players compare victory points to determine the most respected noble lord or lady of the kingdom!

A Turn

On each turn you carry out the following steps in order:

1. Draw a merchant face down from your bag.

2. Place this merchant at one of the Gates or at the Well; then carry out the actions available at that location (see the following sections "Gate Actions" and "Well Actions").

3. Then choose any merchant from the Well and place it in your bag. This ends your turn.

Note: If there is no merchant left at the Well that you can place in your bag to end your turn, take one from any Gate instead. At the start and at the end of every turn, your bag must contain four merchants.

Gate Actions

When you have placed your merchant at a Gate, carry out the following steps in order:

1. Collect resources from your Landholding cards (see page "Landholdings" below).

2. Collect resources from the Gate and from the merchants: Advance your Resource Marker in the color of the Gate one space. Then advance your Resource Markers in the colors of the merchants at the Gate one space each (that is, each merchant brings you one resource of its color).

Example: If you place a green merchant at the blue Gate, where a red and a blue merchant are already standing, you receive one red, two blue, and one green resource (see Figure 2).

Note: You may never hold more than six resources of one kind. If you acquire more than six, the excess is not counted.

3. Exchange resources for coins: If you place a Lydian merchant at a Gate, or one is already standing there, you may additionally exchange resources in the color of the Gate for coins (at a rate of 1:1). You don't have to do this, but if you do, you may only exchange as many as will keep your total supply of coins at 12 or fewer.

If, in the example above, a Lydian merchant is also standing at the blue Gate, you can move your blue Resource Marker back two spaces and take two coins (see Figure 3).

Note: You may never hold more than 12 coins.

4. Move matching pairs of merchants to the Well: Finally, look at the Gate once more. If there are two merchants of the same color standing there, move both of them to the Well (see Figure 4).

Well Actions

On your turn, you may place your merchant at the Well instead of at a Gate. In this case, you may carry out the following actions:

1. Buy a landholding: You can acquire cards from one side of the City Board. The cost is shown at the top of the card (see Figure 5). To pay, simply move your Resource Markers back by the indicated amount and place the card(s) upgraded side down next to your Player Board.

You may buy as many cards from one side of the City Board as you can afford, but the total number of your cards may never exceed the Landholding Maximum on your Influence Track (see "Player Board Bonuses" below).

Note: If you buy a gold card, you must immediately move the Lydian merchant from that card to the Well.

Note: Empty card spaces are not refilled with new cards.

2. Upgrade a landholding: By paying, you may upgrade (i.e., flip) any number of your own cards. Upgrading a landholding costs the same as acquiring it. You move the Resource Marker on your Player Board back by the amount shown at the top of the card (see Figure 5) and turn the card over so that the upgraded side now faces up. (In other words: to obtain an upgraded landholding, you must pay its cost twice — once to buy it, and a second time to upgrade it.)

Important: Coins are "wild." You may use them in place of any resource (1 coin = 1 resource) when buying or upgrading landholdings!

Landholdings

Silver and gold Landholding cards can bring you bonus resources when you place your merchant at a Gate. Check the color of the merchant you placed during that turn and the color of the Gate where you placed it. For each of your Landholding cards that shows that pair of Gate and merchant, you receive the bonus resource(s) indicated on that card.

Example (see Figure 7): Naomi draws a blue merchant from her bag and places it at the blue Gate. Her starting card shows: a blue merchant at a blue Gate brings her one resource. Naomi also has a silver card that shows that a blue merchant at any Gate brings her one resource. So Naomi advances her blue Resource Marker on her Player Board three spaces and then ends her turn.

Note: After you have collected resources from your Landholding cards, you carry out the next step of your turn as usual (i.e., you collect resources from the Gate and from the merchants).

Purple cards bring no resources, but instead award victory points at the end of the game, according to the conditions shown on the card. For example, if you own the card in Figure 8, you receive three points for every two silver cards in your possession at the end of the game.

The symbols used on the cards are described in more detail in Appendix A.

Player Board Bonuses

Whenever one of your Resource Markers reaches the outer right-hand column on your Player Board ("space 6"), you immediately receive a bonus. You must choose one of the two bonuses described below:

1. Bonus 1 — advance on the Influence Track: Move your Influence Marker one space to the right on your Influence Track and receive the bonuses shown (see Figure 9). Here are the details for each level on the Influence Track:

   a. Level 0: At the start of the game, your Landholding Maximum is three (i.e., you may not have more than three Landholding cards, including your starting card).

   b. Level 1: Immediately move the Lydian merchant from this space to the Well (see Figure 9). Your Landholding Maximum increases to five.

   c. Level 2: You immediately receive two coins and your Landholding Maximum increases to eight.

   d. Level 3: You immediately receive three coins and may own any number of Landholding cards for the rest of the game.

   e. Level 4: You receive four victory points at the end of the game.

   f. Level 5: You receive ten victory points at the end of the game.

   g. Level 6: For the rest of the game, you may use the shown resource as if it were any of the four basic resources, and at the end of the game you receive 18 victory points.

Note: Victory points earned on the Influence Track are not cumulative; that is, the maximum number of points you can earn on your Influence Track is 18 (not 32).

2. Bonus 2 — upgrade one of your landholdings for free: You may turn over one of your non-upgraded Landholding cards without paying for it.

After choosing your bonus, continue your turn as normal. The Resource Marker stays on "space 6" until you decide to spend that resource.

Note: A merchant that was moved to the Well during your turn may be chosen in the final step of your turn, so that you again have four merchants in your bag.

End of Game & Scoring

End of the Game

The game ends when a player has reached the required number of upgraded landholdings (shown in the table below) and all other players have taken one final turn. The player who first reaches the required number of upgraded landholdings takes the Well tile from the middle of the City Board.

Players	Upgraded landholdings required
2 players	8
3 players	7
4 players	6

Scoring

Final scores are made up of the following:

1. The victory points shown at the bottom of your silver (including your starting card) and gold cards,
2. The victory points shown on the space of the Influence Track where your Influence Marker sits,
3. The determined value of all your purple cards,
4. And — if you hold the Well tile — one victory point per coin in your possession.

The player with the most points wins!

In case of a tie, the tied player who is furthest ahead on the Influence Track wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player with the most resources and coins wins!

Expansions

This box contains eight expansions for "Lions of Lydia." Once you have mastered the base game rules, you'll find instructions for the expansions here. They are used modularly, meaning you can play "Lions of Lydia" with any number of expansions. We recommend playing with one to four expansions.

For every expansion, all of the base game's rules still apply. The rules and components described below are simply added, and you're ready to go.

Expansion I: King Croesus

Croesus was the last king of Lydia. During his reign, the world's first coins — the "Lions of Lydia" — were minted. In this expansion, King Croesus visits the city gates to grant his subjects a favor.

Additional components: 1 King Croesus figure

Setup: The King is placed at one of the four Gates.

Play: When you place a merchant at the Gate where the King is standing, you may immediately take one additional resource in the color of that Gate. Then move King Croesus to another Gate of your choice.

Strategy tip: Think carefully about where you move the King after receiving your bonus.

Expansion 2: The Waters of the Pactolus

The Pactolus flowed through the ancient capital of Lydia. According to legend, King Midas bathed in the Pactolus to free himself of the curse that everything he touched turned to gold. Ever since, the river carried gold, which the Lydians used to make their lion-head coins.

Additional components: 4 Well cards

Setup: Place one Well card of your choice along each side of the City Board.

Play: Well cards are acquired and upgraded in the same way as Landholding cards. When you move a merchant to the Well and it matches the color on a Well card you own, you receive the indicated number of coins shown on the card before you buy or upgrade landholdings as usual.

Scoring: Well cards are worth four victory points (eight if upgraded) and count as gold landholdings when scoring purple cards.

Expansion 3: The Craftsmen's Guild

Ancient Lydia was one of the wealthiest kingdoms of its time and attracted craftsmen from many neighboring realms. In this expansion, you can recruit special Craftsman merchants.

Additional components: 4 Craftsman merchants (purple)

Setup: Place one Craftsman merchant on the "4 victory points" space of each Player Board's Influence Track. Return any unneeded Craftsmen to the box.

Play: When your Influence Marker reaches the Craftsman space (that is, you advance your Influence Marker for the fourth time), the Craftsman is immediately moved to the Well. At the end of that turn, you may place it in your bag.

When you place a Craftsman at a Gate or at the Well, choose a merchant there to "copy." Carry out the actions as usual, as if your Craftsman were the same color as the merchant you copied (including gaining all resources and card bonuses).

Example: If you place your Craftsman at a Gate where a red and a blue merchant are already standing, you may choose to "copy" the red or the blue merchant and then carry out your turn as if it were a merchant of that color.

Note: At the end of your turn, the Craftsman and the merchant you copied move to the Well, since they count as the same color for this turn. So you always have the option of putting the Craftsman back in your bag to end your turn!

Strategy tip: The Craftsman is very helpful, but ultimately it can also be wise to leave it standing at the Well.

Expansion 4: Courtyards

Your luxurious residence in the center of the city has a courtyard where merchants regularly gather to seek your favor.

Additional components: 4 Courtyard tiles + 1 additional red, yellow, blue, and green merchant each

Setup: Take the Courtyard tile and the additional merchant in the color of your silver starting Landholding card, and place that merchant on your Courtyard tile. Return any unneeded additional merchants and Courtyard tiles to the box.

Play: At the start of your turn, after drawing a merchant from your bag, you may play your Courtyard merchant instead of the one you drew. The merchant from your bag is then placed on your empty Courtyard tile and can be used on a later turn. This gives you a reserve merchant in your Courtyard on every following turn, which you can use instead of the one you drew.

Strategy tip: Try to always keep a strong merchant in your Courtyard to use when you need it most.

Expansion 5: The Tomb of Alyattes

King Alyattes left instructions for the construction of a magnificent tomb after his death. Will you support the building of this ancient monument?

Additional components: 4 Tomb tiles

Setup: Place a Tomb tile beneath each gold Landholding card (one per side of the City Board).

Play: A Tomb tile can only be acquired once the gold card above it has already been bought. The cost of a Tomb tile is two coins; additionally, you must move a merchant of the indicated color from the Well onto the tile. This "retired" merchant is thereby removed from the game and may no longer be placed in the bag or used for any other action. If there is no merchant of the required color at the Well, you may not acquire this tile.

Next, you must also reset your corresponding Resource Marker. Place it, for the rest of the game, on the space provided for it on the Tomb tile. Any resources of that color you currently hold are lost, and you no longer receive the "space 6" bonus for that resource. Instead, for the rest of the game, you receive coins instead of resources of that color!

Example: If you own the red Tomb tile and place a red merchant at the red Gate, you receive two coins instead of two red resources.

Note: Since Tomb tiles give you coins instead of resources, your limit for that color is 12 (matching the coin limit) instead of 6 (the usual resource limit).

Expansion 6: Royal Builders

Some Lydian structures built more than 2,500 years ago still stand today at the excavation site of Sardis in Turkey. In this expansion, you gain access to the royal builders of Lydia, who assist you in buying and upgrading landholdings.

Additional components: 4 Builder tiles

Setup: Place a Builder tile at each corner of the City Board (see Figure 10).

Play: Place a Lydian merchant on a Builder tile (instead of at a Gate or the Well) to carry out a Well action with a special bonus: you may buy landholdings from both sides of the City Board adjacent to that Builder tile. Afterward, the Lydian merchant returns to the Well in the middle, from which you can take it again to end your turn.

Strategy tip: Consider how the cards on the adjacent sides of the City Board might form pairs.

Expansion 7: Chariot Race

The Lydians were famous not only for minting coins, but also for archery, the invention of dice games, and driving chariots. In this expansion, you take part in several races, each of which brings a nice reward.

Additional components: 1 Chariot Race Board

Setup: The Chariot Race Board is placed next to the City Board.

Play: Whenever two matching (non-Lydian) merchants are moved from a Gate to the Well, take one of the two merchants and place it on the next open space on the Chariot Race Board.

When all three spaces on the Chariot Race Board are filled, a "race" takes place immediately: all players, in turn order, have the opportunity to spend resources that match the three merchants on the Chariot Race Board, in exchange for a reward of first, second, or third place:

• 1st place: Spending one resource matching the first merchant earns one coin.
• 2nd place: Spending two resources (one of which matches the first two merchants) earns three coins.
• 3rd place: Spending three resources (one matching each merchant) allows you to advance your Influence Marker one space.

After the race, the three merchants return to the Well and the game continues as normal. When the Chariot Race Board later fills up again, another race takes place.

Strategy tip: Plan ahead so you have the resources ready that you need to win a reward!

Expansion 8: Estates

As your economic empire keeps growing, you decide to build a luxurious estate outside the city to increase your prestige.

Additional components: 4 Estate tiles (on the back of the Alyattes Tomb tiles)

Setup: Place an Estate tile beneath each gold Landholding card (one per side of the City Board).

Play: An Estate tile can only be acquired once the gold card above it has already been bought. The cost of an Estate tile is three coins; additionally, you must cover one of your upgraded (!) gold or silver cards so that only its prestige points remain visible (see Figure 11). The covered Landholding card no longer produces resources or coins for you, but is worth double its point value at the end of the game.

Note: The combination of a Landholding card and an Estate tile counts as a single landholding for the purposes of the final Landholding Maximum.

Appendix A

• All (non-Lydian) merchants: shown as the merchant icon.
• Lydian merchant: shown as the Lydian merchant icon.
• All Gates: shown as the Gate icon.
• Coin: shown as the coin icon.
• All four basic resources: shown as the four resource icons.
• Victory points (e.g., "3"): the point value.
• Arrow icon: If you meet the condition to the left of the arrow, you immediately receive the reward to the right.
• Upgraded side of a Landholding card: shown as the upgraded-card icon.
• Any upgraded Landholding card: shown as the upgraded-card icon.
• "Upgrade a card for free, or advance one space on the Influence Track" icon.
• Resource-substitution icon: You may use the resource shown on the left (to pay with, or to exchange for a coin) as though it were one of the resources shown on the right.

Purple Landholding cards: This legend shows how the points you receive from the various purple Landholding cards are calculated.

• You receive at the end of the game 1 point for each space you have advanced on the Influence Track (2 per space, if upgraded), so a maximum of 6 points (12, if upgraded).
• You receive 3 points for every 2 green resources you possess at the end of the game (6 for every 2 green resources, if upgraded), so a maximum of 9 points (18, if upgraded).
• You receive 3 points for every 2 yellow resources you possess at the end of the game (6 for every 2 yellow resources, if upgraded), so a maximum of 9 points (18, if upgraded).
• You receive 3 points for every 2 red resources you possess at the end of the game (6 for every 2 red resources, if upgraded), so a maximum of 9 points (18, if upgraded).
• You receive 3 points for every 2 blue resources you possess at the end of the game (6 for every 2 blue resources, if upgraded), so a maximum of 9 points (18, if upgraded).
• You receive 1 point for every 2 resources (not coins) produced at the end of the game by all of your Landholding cards combined (2 for every 2 resources produced, if this card is upgraded).
• You receive 3 points for every pair of merchants of the same color (6, if upgraded) in your bag at the end of the game, so a maximum of 6 points (12, if upgraded).
• You receive 2 points for every Lydian merchant (4, if upgraded) in your bag at the end of the game, so a maximum of 8 points (16, if upgraded).
• You receive 1 point for every gold Landholding card you own at the end of the game (2 points for every gold card, including this one, if it is upgraded).
• You receive 3 points for every 2 silver Landholding cards (upgraded or not) you own at the end of the game (6 for every 2 silver landholdings, if this card is upgraded).
• You receive 3 points for every gold Landholding card (upgraded or not) you own at the end of the game (6 per gold landholding, if this card is upgraded).
• You receive 2 points for every purple Landholding card (upgraded or not), including this one, that you own at the end of the game (4 per purple landholding, if this card is upgraded).

Note: The non-upgraded sides face up. The points earned always double on the upgraded side.

In short: Add up all the resource symbols on your silver and gold cards and divide the result by 2. If the relevant card is upgraded, multiply the result by 2 again.

Example, silver Landholding card: If you place a red, yellow, green, or blue merchant at the green Gate, you receive one green resource. This card is worth 3 points at the end of the game.

Example, gold Landholding card: If you place a Lydian merchant at the red or green Gate, you receive two red and two green resources. This card is worth 6 points at the end of the game.

Appendix B

A Turn

1. Draw a merchant from your bag!
2. Place this merchant at a Gate or at the Well and carry out the corresponding actions!
3. Take a merchant from the Well and place it in your bag!

Gate Actions

1. Collect Landholding-card resources!
2. Collect Gate and merchant resources!
3. Receive "space 6" bonuses!
4. Exchange resources for coins!
5. Move matching pairs to the Well!

Well Actions

1. Buy landholdings!
2. Upgrade landholdings!
3. See page "End of the Game"!

Remember: Coins are "wild"!