Noria
Noria Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Overview - What am I actually supposed to do in this game?
- Components - What's in the box?
- Set-up I - How do I set up the game?
- Set-up II - With what do I start?
- Basic principles - What should I explain first?
- Investments & Politics - How do I earn Victory Points?
- The Wheel - How do I execute actions on my Wheel?
- Game flow - How does a game run?
- Game turn - What happens in which phase of the game?
- I) Influence phase - How can I influence available actions on my Wheel?
- II) Action phase - What happens when I activate Disc actions?
- III) Politics phase - How can I make my Investment more valuable?
- IV) Administration phase - What happens at the end of my turn?
- Turn example - What can happen in one turn?
- End of the game - How do I win?
- Final scoring - How many points did I score in the game?
- Expert Rules - What's different?
- Quick Reference
- Turn overview
- Credits
Game Overview - What am I actually supposed to do in this game?
A new era is looming on the horizon. The future of Noria is right in front of you. It's up to you to guide your flourishing trading empire into prosperity. Discover flying islands, buy ships, and build factories. Invest in prestigious projects and secure their success by passing on secret knowledge to politicians. For even above the clouds there is still room for improvement. Find out more about the history of Noria at www.noria.cloud
Rulebook layout
The basic rules are explained from page 2 to page 12. You can find the expert game on page 13. A glossary of terms and questions can be found on page 13.
Before the first game: Carefully punch out all the pieces from the punch sheets. Take particular care with the twelve Rings.
Components - What's in the box?
- 1 double-sided game board (back shows the illustration without game elements)
- 24 Politician cubes (Politicians)
- 66 Discs: 10 Obsidian, 10 Energy, 10 Mycelium, 10 Journey, 10 City, 10 Tool, 6 Bonus
- 20 Representatives cylinders, 5 per player (four colors)
- 57 Ship tokens (Ships) — 19 each of Energy, Mycelium, and Obsidian Ships
- 90 Resource tokens (Resources) — 30 each of Energy, Mycelium, and Obsidian
- 4 sets of action Wheels — 1 large, 1 medium, and 1 small Ring each
- 1 Start Player token (Smokestack)
- 4 Player Aids
- 4 plastic pyramids (bases)
- 16 Round markers/Multiplier tokens
- 9 Islands, various
- 4 Factory Tableaus (Tableaus)
- 54 Warehouse tokens (Warehouses) — 12 each of simple Warehouses, 9 each of complex Warehouses
- 26 Knowledge tokens (Knowledge)
- 28 Factory tokens (Factories), 7 per player (four colors)
- 6 letters — They are not used in the base or expert game, go to www.noria.cloud to learn more about them.
Set-up I - How do I set up the game?
- Put the game board in the middle of the table.
- Shuffle the Islands face-down and put 5/6/7 Islands, in a game of 2/3/4 players, face-down on the designated space on the game board. Put any remaining Islands unseen back into the box. They are no longer needed in the game. (2 player - 5 Islands, 3 player - 6 Islands, 4 player - 7 Islands)
- Place a set of 4 Politicians on each of the 6 Chambers of the Town Hall.
- Place 1 round marker (these show multiplier tokens on the front) on each space of the round track; starting with the topmost space and including the space corresponding to the number of players. Put the remaining round markers back into the box.
- Place 4/5/6 Discs, in a game with 2/3/4 players, of each of the 7 types on the market (Obsidian, Energy, Mycelium, Journey, City, Tool, Bonus).
- Stack the Obsidian, Mycelium, and Energy Discs, separated according to their types, on the 3 spaces in the upper half of the market. Stack the City, Journey, Tool, and Bonus Discs, separated according to their type, from right to left on the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th space on the lower half of the market. From the second game of Noria onward place the stacks with the City, Journey, Tool, and Bonus Discs at random on the 4 spaces of the lower half of the market.
- Each player takes 1 of each type of the Discs not placed on the market, apart from the Bonus Discs, then put the remaining Discs back into the box.
- Sort out all Resources, Warehouses, Ships, and Knowledge, placing them in a common supply next to the game board.
- The player who needs to let off the most steam becomes the start player and receives the Smokestack (Start Player token). The start player does not change during the game.
Set-up II - With what do I start?
- Each player: Take 1 Tableau, 5 Representatives, and 7 Factories in one color. Place 4 Representatives into the Cave and 1 onto the small island. The Representative on the small island is called Ambassador. Place the 7 Factories on your tableau and 1 Obsidian, Mycelium, and Energy Ship next to your tableau.
- Each player: Take 1 player aid, 1 base, and 1 small, medium, and large Ring each. Assemble them by placing the large Ring onto the base, the medium Ring on top of the large Ring, and the small Ring on top of the medium Ring (from now on called the Wheel).
- Place the City, Journey, and Tool Disc on the displayed spaces of the Wheel. Place the Obsidian, Mycelium, and Energy Discs randomly on the remaining 3 displayed spaces. The order of the Obsidian, Mycelium, and Energy Discs on the 3 spaces has to be different for every player. Always place the Discs with the normal (single-color) side up into your Wheel.
- Take 1 Knowledge and 1 Resource of your choice.
- Put any remaining Wheels, Factories, Representatives, and Tableaus back into the box if you are playing with 2 or 3 players.
Designer's hint: For your first game, I recommend the set-up as described above, so that you can learn the actions of the individual Discs step by step. In later games you can try different set ups or in the expert game each create your own set up. More about that in the Expert Rules.
Example: Kyra, Johann, Mateja, and Nele are meeting up to play Noria. Initially they do the general game set up as described and determine the start player before assembling their Wheels. Then they take 1 Knowledge each and 1 Resource of their choice.
Basic principles - What should I explain first?
It's important to first comprehend the following two chapters before skipping ahead to the rest of the rules. These chapters will help you to understand foundational elements of the game.
Investments & Politics - How do I earn Victory Points?
The future of Noria is dependent on the progression of 4 great projects. Each of these projects is represented by 1 Path in the Town Hall. Each Path will reward points factoring values denoted in their corresponding Chamber. Move your Representatives on these Paths upwards if you invest in 1 project. In addition to the 4 Chambers with a Path there are 2 additional Chambers which score based on your progress on all 4 Paths. Pay Knowledge to move Politicians and this way influence the Victory Point value of these 6 Chambers.
At the end of the game you gain Victory Points for the position of your Representatives on the 4 Paths. For this, multiply the number of the Level on which your Representative stands with the Victory Point value of the corresponding Chamber. This results in the number of Victory Points that this Representative scores. Repeat this process for each of your Representatives. The 2 Chambers that have no dedicated Path assigned to them will score you additional Victory Points based on the highest and lowest progress Level of your Representatives on all 4 Paths. Sum up these 6 Victory Point numbers to gain your final Victory Point score.
Attention! Only your 4 Representatives in the Town Hall are going to gain you Victory Points at the end of the game. Even though you might prefer to explore Islands, buy Ships, build Factories, collect Resources, and produce Goods. What counts in the end are only your Investments!
The Paths
There are 4 different Paths: the Refinement Path, the Settlement Path, the Exploration Path, and the Research Path. Each Path consists of 9 Levels. Each Level has 1 Price and 1 Number. The Price consists either of Resources or of Goods. It is preset whether they have to be the same or different Resources/Goods. On every Path can be a maximum of 1 of your Representatives. During the game move 0 to 4 of your own Representatives from the Cave onto the Paths.
Activate 1 City Disc and use the Investment action to move 1 Representative to the first Level of 1 Path or up 1 Level on 1 Path. Pay the Price that is indicated on the Level to which your Representative is moving. In addition pay 1 Resource of your choice for every Representative of another player which was ahead of your Representative on the same Path before moving.
The Chambers
The Refinement Path, the Settlement Path, the Exploration Path, and the Research Path are each assigned 1 Chamber with the same name. 2 Chambers do not have a Path assigned to them, they are called Specialization Chamber and Division Chamber.
Each Chamber consist of 2 sections. In the top section of each Chamber there are 4 Politicians at the beginning of the game. In the bottom section there are 4 light seats and 1 dark seat with Victory Point values.
Pay Knowledge to move 1 Politician from the top section of 1 Chamber onto 1 light seat in the bottom section of the same Chamber, and then remove 1 Politician from the top section of any 1 Chamber of your choice and put it back into the box. Move that Politician to the leftmost free light seat. The dark seat is always to remain empty. A Politician in the bottom section of a Chamber cannot be moved or removed. If there is no longer any Politician in the top section of a Chamber, you can no longer move any into this Chamber or remove any from there.
Example: Johann pays 1 Knowledge to move 1 Politician from the top section of the Research Chamber into the leftmost light seat in the bottom section. He then removes 1 Politician from the top section of the Exploration Chamber.
At the end of the game to calculate your Victory Point Score, multiply the Level of your Representatives by the Victory Point value of the Chamber that belongs to their respective Paths. The value of a Chamber is the leftmost visible number in each Chamber. In the same way, calculate the Victory Points for the progression of your highest and your lowest Representative. The Specialization Chamber gains you Victory Points for your highest, the Division Chamber Victory Points for your lowest Representative. Sum up the Victory Points for your 4 Representatives to calculate your final scoring. The winner is the player with the most Victory Points.
Attention: A Representative in the Cave is considered on Level 0 and therefore scores no Victory Points.
Example: Johann has got his Representative on Level 2 of the Refinement Path. Each Level is currently worth 2 VPs. So he will receive 2x2 = 4 VPs altogether. On the Settlement Path his Representative is on Level 7. As each Level on this Path is worth 6 VPs, Johann will receive 7x6 = 42 VPs. On the Exploration Path his Representative has reached Level 3. As the Chamber is full, he receives 3x12 = 36 VPs. Each Level on the Research Path is worth 8 VPs. Unfortunately, Johann does not have any Representatives on this Path and therefore receives no VPs here. The Specialization Chamber rewards the highest Representative with an additional 4 VPs per Level. In Johann's case this is 7x4 = 28 VPs. The Division Chamber is empty, but Johann would not receive VPs for it anyway as his lowest Representatives is still in the Cave on Level 0. To sum up for Johann: 4 + 42 + 36 + 0 + 28 + 0 = 110 VPs.
The Wheel - How do I execute actions on my Wheel?
The actions you take each turn are driven by your Wheel and the Discs that are distributed in it. Each Disc allows a specific action. On each of your turns you activate up to 3 Discs. You can only activate Discs located on the lower active half of your Wheel. At the end of your turn, all 3 Rings of your Wheel will rotate clockwise. This way there will be different Discs in every round on the active half of your Wheel.
Your Wheel consists of 1 player aid that you connect with 1 base, on which you place 3 Rings. The player aid marks the active half of your 3 Rings. The Rings contain locations in which to place the Discs. There are seven different varieties of Discs, which all can perform different actions. Each Disc can be flipped to it's normal or upgraded side.
On each of your turns activate 0 to 3 Discs in any order of your choice. They have to be located in the active half of the Rings. Each of the Discs has to be located in a different Ring. There are 4 different options, which Discs you can activate.
- 1a) Left large Ring - left medium Ring - small Ring
- 1b) Middle large Ring - left medium Ring - small Ring
- 2a) Right large Ring - right medium Ring - small Ring
- 2b) Middle large Ring - right medium Ring - small Ring
Empty spaces in your Wheel cannot be activated.
Use 1 action of each activated Disc. If 1 or more Discs that you activate in your turn is an upgraded Disc, you can use 2 actions with exactly 1 of these Discs. If the Disc offers 2 action possibilities, you can either use 1 of them twice or both once. Use all actions of 1 Disc before you activate the next Disc. You can never use more than 4 actions in 1 turn.
Rotate each of the 3 Rings at the end of your turn in a clockwise direction by exactly 1 space. This way, the Discs are moving out of the active into the inactive half of your Wheel and vice versa.
Example: Mateja plans to activate the following 3 Discs: Upgraded City Disc, upgraded Tool Disc, Energy Disc. Even though she has 2 upgraded Discs, she can only use 1 of them as upgraded. She starts with the Tool Disc and decides to use it as upgraded. Only after she has used 2 actions enabled by the Tool Disc, can she activate the Energy or City Disc. The City Disc can only be used once as you can never use more than 1 Disc as upgraded.
Before the first round
Every player: Starting with the start player in clockwise order, move 1 of your Representatives from the Cave for free onto the first Level of a Path of your choice. 1 Path can be chosen by several players.
Example: Kyra is start player and places her Representative on the Refinement Path. Johann puts his Representative on the Research Path. Mateja and Nele, one after the other, choose the Exploration Path and put their Representatives on the first Level of this Path.
Game flow - How does a game run?
A game for 2/3/4 players takes 16/15/14 rounds. A round always begins with the start player, then it's the next player's turn in clockwise order, and so on until all players have had 1 turn. Then they start the next round.
At the beginning of each round the start player takes the respective bottommost round marker off the round track and places it multiplier side up next to the game board. The start player does not change during the game.
As soon as you take the last round marker from the round track, each player receives one final turn after which the game ends and you count up your Victory Points. The winner is the player with the most Victory Points.
Multiplier tokens
Use multiplier tokens when Resources in the common supply are starting to run out. Exchange 10 pieces of a Resource for 1 Resource on which you place 1 multiplier token. The multiplier token indicates that you own this Resource 10 times. If you use it to pay, take the difference in Price out of the common supply. Also use multiplier tokens in case Knowledge is starting to run out.
Game turn - What happens in which phase of the game?
Each turn consists of 4 phases that are executed 1 after the other. The order is as follows:
- I) Influence phase: Influence the position of your Discs
- II) Action phase: Activate up to 3 Discs on your Wheel
- III) Politics phase: Move and remove Politicians
- IV) Administration phase: Rotate the 3 Rings, take Knowledge and position acquired Discs on your Wheel
Paying and Taking
Paying: In Noria you pay Resources, Knowledge, and Goods. If you pay Resources or Knowledge, you return them to the common supply. If you pay Goods, turn the Warehouses corresponding to the Goods from the full side (shows the Good) to the empty side (shows the production costs). Warehouses are not put back into the common supply.
Taking: You always take Resources and Knowledge from the common supply and put them into your own supply. Ships and Goods/Warehouses you only take from the Islands. Warehouses are always empty if you take them from an Island.
I) Influence phase - How can I influence available actions on my Wheel?
This phase is optional. There are 2 different special actions which allow you to change the position of the Discs in your Wheel. You do not have to use a special action.
Special action - Night Shift
Pay 1 Knowledge to rotate the medium or the large Ring by 1 space in a clockwise direction. You cannot rotate the small Ring with this special action.
Special action - Modification
Pay 2 Knowledge to exchange the position of Discs already on the Wheel. Exchange the positions of 2 Discs or place 1 Disc on 1 other free space in your Wheel. You can exchange Discs within 1 Ring or between 2 Rings.
Price increase and repeated use
In a game of 2/3/4 players, the Price for these 2 special actions increases in round 11/10/9 permanently by 1 Knowledge. From this round on Night Shift has a Price of 2 Knowledge and Modification a Price of 3 Knowledge.
You can use these special actions several times in a row during your Influence phase. If you use a special action for a second time within 1 round, you have to pay double the Price. For a third time you pay 4 times the Price, for a fourth time 8 times the Price, and so on. This increase in Price only applies to your current turn and is applied to each special action separately.
Designer's hint: The special actions Night Shift and Modification are going to help you with activating your Discs at the right moment. With these special actions you can make your turns more efficient. But be careful not to spend all your Knowledge so you can also influence Politics.
Example: Nele is unhappy with the Discs on the active half of her Wheel. She would like to activate the Journey Disc and the Mycelium Disc in her turn. But currently these are in the Inactive half of her Wheel. In the Influence phase she uses the special action Night Shift and pays 1 Knowledge to rotate the medium Ring clockwise by 1 space in a clockwise direction. Then she would also like to rotate the large Ring. As she has already used the special action Night Shift, she has to pay double the amount of Knowledge to use it again. She pays 2 Knowledge and rotates the large Ring clockwise by 1 space in a clockwise direction. Finally, she uses the special action Modification to exchange the City Disc from the small Ring with the Tool Disc in the large Ring. The special action Modification Nele has not yet used in this round, which is why she pays the normal Price of 2 Knowledge. Nele has to pay 5 Knowledge altogether.
II) Action phase - What happens when I activate Disc actions?
There are 7 different types of Discs: Energy, Mycelium, Obsidian, City, Journey, Tool, and Bonus. When you activate 1 Disc, you use the corresponding action. If a Disc has 2 different actions, you use 1 of them. In addition, you can exchange Goods for Knowledge and/or Knowledge for Resources at the Black Market.
The actions of City, Journey, and Tool Discs are all executed in separate areas. The City actions are used on the game board. The Journey actions are used on the Island. The Tool actions are used directly in front of you.
Activating upgraded Discs
Each Disc has 1 normal and 1 upgraded side. Initially, all your Discs are positioned normal side up in your Wheel. In the course of the game, you can upgrade them with the Tool Disc (by turning them over).
When you activate 1 upgraded Disc, you can choose to use its action 2 times in a row. If the Disc offers 2 action possibilities, you can use the same action twice or both actions once.
You can only use 1 upgraded Disc in your turn in this way. You need to decide before activating the Disc if you want to use it 2 times. After you have used 1 upgraded Disc 2 times, you can use other upgraded Discs only 1 time after activating them. For exceptions see Bonus Disc.
Bonus Disc
Bonus: Choose 1 Disc you activated this turn. Use 1 action of the chosen Disc although it has been activated before.
If you activate an upgraded Bonus Disc either use 2 actions of 1 activated Disc or use 1 action each of 2 activated Discs.
Example: Johann activates his upgraded Bonus Disc. He uses the already activated Energy Disc and City Disc again, so he used the Discs 2 times each in the current turn, even though none of them are upgraded.
Example: Mateja activates her Bonus Disc. She uses the activated, upgraded Mycelium Disc again, so she uses its action 3 times in her turn.
Resource Discs (Obsidian, Energy, Mycelium)
Per Ship of the chosen Resource, take 1 Resource.
Resource: For every Ship in your supply showing the chosen Resource, take 1 Resource of this type.
Example: Mateja has 3 Energy Ships in her supply. She activates the Energy Disc and takes 3 Energy.
City Disc
Take 1 new Disc from the Market or move 1 of your Representatives 1 space on 1 Path.
Market: Take 1 Disc from the Market and pay the indicated Price in Resources of your choice.
Resource Discs are free, the other Discs cost you 1–4 Resources of your choice, depending on their position on the Market. Put the Discs on the center of your Wheel. Position them into your Wheel during the Administration phase. If you cannot pay the Price, you are not allowed to take the Disc.
Designer's hint: Try, in the fourth round at the latest, to buy a second Disc for the empty space in your small Ring.
Example: Nele activates the City Disc and uses the Market action. She pays 2 Obsidian, 1 Energy, and 1 Mycelium, takes the Bonus Disc and puts it on the center of her Wheel. The new Disc is positioned into the Wheel during the Administration phase.
OR
Investment: Pay the indicated Price of the next Level and additionally 1 Resource of your choice for each Representative of another player that is ahead of you on the same Path. The indicated Prices either demand payment with the same Resources/Goods or, if indicated, a mixture of at least 2 different Resource/Good types. Afterwards move 1 of your Representatives from the Cave onto the first Level of 1 Path, or move 1 Representative 1 Level up on 1 Path. You can only make this movement if you are able to pay for it.
Example: Mateja activates the City Disc and uses the Investment action. She wants to advance on the Settlement Path with her Representative. She pays 3 Energy and 1 Mycelium, as for the next Level at least 1 different Resource is required, and then moves her Representative to that Level.
Equal/Unequal
- No symbol indicates that you have to pay with Resources/Goods of the same type.
- The "unequal" symbol indicates that you have to pay with at least 2 of the required different Resources/Goods. All combinations are possible. For example, if a Level costs 3 different simple Goods, you can pay 1/1/1, 2/1/0, 1/0/2, 1/2/0, 0/1/2, 0/2/1 or 2/0/1 in Propellers/Sails/Compasses.
Goods payment
Through the Factory action you gain empty Warehouses. All Warehouses are double-sided. The empty side shows the Resources required for production and a depiction of the Good. The full side shows a large picture of the Good.
When you produce Goods with the Production action, you pay the Resources indicated on the empty side and afterwards turn the Warehouse over to the full side. If you pay 1 Good, you turn this Warehouse from the full side back to the empty side. Never put a Warehouse back into the common supply.
Journey Disc
Place your Ambassador on 1 Island and take 1 Ship from there or place 1 Factory there.
Place your Ambassador on 1 Island. If not all the Islands have been revealed yet, you can reveal 1 new Island and place him on this Island or you can place him on 1 already revealed Island. You can never stay on the same Island. If you are travelling several times in 1 turn, you are allowed to land again on the Island where you started your turn. If you decide to reveal a new Island, you must place your Ambassador on this Island.
Pay 1 Resource of your choice to the common supply for every opponent's Ambassador already present on the Island. If you cannot pay, you are not allowed to place your Ambassador on this Island.
Example: Johann wanted to go to the revealed Island with the Energy Ships. As Mateja's and Kyra's Ambassadors are already on this Island, he would have to pay 2 Resources of his choice. Currently, he cannot afford to do so. He therefore tries his luck and reveals 1 new Island.
When you reveal 1 new Island, place Ships with the depicted Resources on the designated spaces. Place Ships to the amount of player number +1 on the space with the single up-arrow symbol, player number -1 on the space with the single down-arrow symbol, and player number -2 on the space with the double down-arrow symbol. 2-player game: Always place at least 1 Ship on each space.
Afterwards use 1 of the following 2 actions:
Example: Mateja reveals the following Island: As this is a 4-player-game, she places 2 Obsidian Ships (4 - 2) and 3 Mycelium Ships (4 - 1) on the designated spaces. She places her Ambassador on the Island and then uses either the Ship or the Factory action.
Ship: Take 1 Ship off the Island and into your own supply. If there are no more Ships on an Island, you cannot use the Ship action on this Island.
Designer's hint: Try to have at least 6 Ships by the time you have played halfway through the game. More Ships make it easier for you to make Investments. But be careful not to only collect Ships, leaving no actions to generate points at game's end.
Example: Kyra activates the Journey Disc and places her Ambassador on the Island with the Obsidian Ships. As Nele is already present on the Island, Kyra pays 1 Resource of her choice to the common supply. Then she uses the Ship action and takes the last Obsidian Ship off this Island.
OR
Factory: Place 1 of your Factories on 1 empty building space on this Island. Pick the topmost Factory off your Factory tableau. Dependent on the building space, take 2 or 1 corresponding Warehouse(s) and put it/them with the empty side up next to your Factory tableau. If there is no empty building space on an Island, you can no longer use a Factory action on this Island. When you have built all 7 Factories, you can no longer use any Factory action.
Designer's hint: Factories not only enable you to produce Goods later on, they also generate Knowledge which you can use to trigger special actions in the Influence phase and the Politics phase.
Example: Nele activates the Journey Disc. Nele places her Ambassador on 1 empty Island and then uses the Factory action. She places her topmost available Factory on the Compass building space and takes 2 Compass Warehouses. She places the Warehouses empty side up next to her Factory tableau.
Simple and complex Goods
The game differentiates between simple and complex Goods. Propellers, Sails, and Compass are simple Goods and cost 2 Resources each to produce. Lamp and Piston are complex Goods and cost 3 Resources to produce.
You need simple Goods to progress on the Exploration Path. Complex Goods are used for the Research Path.
You can also pay Goods during the Action phase to take Knowledge. On the Black Market, simple Goods are worth 2 Knowledge and complex Goods 3 Knowledge.
Tool Disc
Upgrade 1 Disc or produce Goods in your Factories.
Upgrade: Turn 1 other normal Disc located in your Wheel onto its upgraded side. You cannot activate the Disc you have just upgraded in the current turn. You can upgrade a Disc that was already activated this turn. A Tool Disc cannot upgrade itself, but can be upgraded by other Tool Discs.
Designer's hint: Upgraded Discs enable you, just like Bonus Discs, to use more actions in your turn. But do not forget that you can never use more than 4 actions in 1 turn.
Example: Mateja uses the Tool Disc and chooses the Upgrade action. She turns the Mycelium Disc onto its upgraded side. She cannot upgrade the Journey Disc she has purchased before as it will only be positioned on the Wheel during the Administration phase.
OR
Production: Produce 1 Good by paying the Resource costs on the empty side of its Warehouse and then turn it onto the full side. With one Production action you may either produce several Goods of the same type or a maximum of 1 Good of each different type. You may only produce Goods whose Warehouse you have and you can never produce more Goods than you have empty Warehouses of this type.
Example: Kyra has 3 empty Compass, 1 empty Sail, and 1 empty Lamp Warehouse. She activates the Tool Disc and uses the Production action. She decides to produce 1 Compass, Sail, and Lamp each. For this she pays the required Resources (in total 3 Mycelium, 2 Obsidian, and 2 Energy) and turns the Warehouses onto their full side. She could have decided to produce 3 Compasses instead.
Substitute action - Inspection
Instead of activating 1 Disc, you can also choose to skip the activation of the Disc and take 1 Knowledge. You can only skip 1 Disc per Ring. This Ring cannot have a Disc that was activated in the current round and no further Disc in that Ring can be activated afterwards. You cannot skip empty spaces. Whether you skip a normal or an upgraded Disc, you only receive 1 Knowledge.
Exchange action - Black Market
Before, in between, and after you activate your Discs you can exchange Goods for Knowledge and/or Knowledge for Resources at the Black Market. You can exchange all 3 of these as many times as you want in 1 turn.
- Pay 1 simple Good of your choice and take 2 Knowledge.
- Pay 1 complex Good of your choice and take 3 Knowledge.
- Pay 3 Knowledge and take 1 Resource of your choice.
III) Politics phase - How can I make my Investment more valuable?
This phase is optional. You do not have to use the special action Intrigue.
Special action - Intrigue
Pay Knowledge corresponding to the number of visible cogwheels on the round track to place 1 Politician from the top section of 1 Chamber to the empty, leftmost light seat in the bottom section of this Chamber. Then remove 1 Politician that has not been placed yet from the top section of 1 Chamber of your choice permanently from the game. The Politicians placed in seats in the bottom section of a Chamber cannot be removed. If there is no longer any Politician in a Chamber, you can of course remove none.
You can use this special action several times in a row during your own Politics phase. If you are using this special action for the second time in a round, you have to pay double the Price. For the third usage you have to pay 4 times the Price, for the fourth usage 8 times the Price, and so on. This increase in Price only applies to your current turn and is applied to each special action separately.
Example: In the Politics phase of her 4th turn in a game of 4, Mateja wants to use the special action Intrigue to make her Representative more valuable. According to the round track, the Intrigue action costs 2 Knowledge. She pays 2 Knowledge to place 1 Politician from the top section of the Settlement Chamber to the leftmost empty light seat in the bottom section. She removes 1 Politician from the top section of the Research Chamber. Mateja wants to use another Intrigue. She has to pay 4 Knowledge for it. Again she makes the Settlement Path more valuable and now removes 1 Politician from the top section of the Refinement Chamber. Overall the 2 Intrigues have cost Mateja 6 Knowledge. Each Level on the Settlement Path is now worth 6 Victory Points.
IV) Administration phase - What happens at the end of my turn?
In this phase you gain Knowledge for the Factories you have built, you rotate the Wheel clockwise, and position new Discs onto the Wheel.
- For every cogwheel visible on your Factory tableau, take 1 Knowledge.
- Rotate every Ring 1 space in a clockwise direction. Start with the small Ring, then the medium Ring, and finally the large Ring.
- Position the Discs bought with the Market action into your Wheel. You can position new Discs onto empty or occupied spaces. If you choose an occupied space, the Disc already in this space is put back into the box.
Note: The cogwheels become visible when you use the Factory action, because you are removing Factories top down from the Factory tableau and placing them on the Islands.
Example: Johann has not built any Factories yet. Therefore no cogwheel is visible on his Factory tableau. He rotates the small Ring, the medium Ring, and the large Ring 1 space clockwise. Then he positions the Journey Disc bought with the Market action onto the large Ring. Johann wants to place the Disc on 1 occupied space and therefore puts the Mycelium Disc back into the box.
Turn example - What can happen in one turn?
It's Nele's turn. She has 2 Knowledge, 3 Obsidian Ships, 1 Mycelium, 1 Obsidian, and 1 full Lamp Warehouse.
In the Influence phase, she uses the special action Modification for 2 Knowledge. She exchanges the Journey Disc from the inactive half with the Mycelium Disc on the medium Ring. She does not want to make any more changes to her Wheel.
In the Action phase, she first activates the Journey Disc. She places her Ambassador on 1 unoccupied Island, uses the Ship action, and takes 1 Obsidian Ship from this Island.
For the large Ring she can choose between the Obsidian Disc and the Tool Disc. She decides on the Obsidian Disc and takes 4 Obsidian for the Obsidian action.
Then she activates the upgraded City Disc on the small Ring, which allows her to use 2 actions. First, she uses the Investment action, pays 5 Obsidian, and then progresses 1 step up on the Refinement Path. As Kyra was on that Path ahead of her, Nele then has to pay 1 Resource of her choice. She pays 1 Mycelium.
Using the Market action she takes 1 free, new Obsidian Disc from the Market, and places it on the middle of her Wheel.
Nele wants to use the special action Intrigue, but she currently has no Knowledge. On the Black Market she pays 1 Lamp to take 3 Knowledge. This ends her Action phase.
In the Politics phase, she pays 3 Knowledge to move 1 Politician to the leftmost empty light seat in the bottom section of the Refinement Chamber and removes 1 Politician from the top section of the Division Chamber.
In the Administration phase, Nele rotates the 3 Rings 1 space in a clockwise direction, takes 2 Knowledge for the Factories she has built, and then places the new Obsidian Disc into the free space on the small Ring. Nele's turn is now over. As she is the last player in the turn order, a new round begins. Kyra, as the start player, removes the bottommost round marker and begins her turn.
End of the game - How do I win?
Depending on the number of players, the game ends after 14/15/16 rounds if you are playing with 4/3/2 players. If there are still Politicians in the top sections of the Chambers, remove them now. Then sum up the Victory Points of your Representatives. The player with the most Victory Points wins. In the case of a draw between 2 or more players, sum up your Warehouses (empty and full) and your Ships. The player with the lowest sum has played the most effectively and is therefore the winner. In case of another draw, you have a shared victory.
Final scoring - How many points did I score in the game?
To calculate your Victory Point Score, multiply the Level of your Representatives by the Victory Point value of the Chamber that belongs to their respective Paths. The Victory Point value of a Chamber is the leftmost visible number in this Chamber.
Attention: A Representative in the Cave is on Level 0 and therefore does not score any Victory Points.
In the same manner, sum up the Victory Points for your highest and your lowest Representative. To do this, compare the number of the Levels where your Representatives are placed.
Multiply the number of the Level where your highest Representative is placed with the Victory Point value of the Specialization Chamber. You can only claim this Victory Point value 1 time, no matter how many "highest" Representatives you have.
Multiply the number of the Level where your lowest Representative is placed with the Victory Point value of the Division Chamber. Representatives in the Cave always count as lowest Representative. You can only claim this Victory Point value 1 time, no matter how many "lowest" Representatives you have.
Sum up the Victory Points for all your Representatives to calculate your final Victory Point score.
Example: After round 14 the game ends with the following result. Points for Kyra, Johann, Mateja and Nele are listed in a table:
| Kyra | Johann | Mateja | Nele | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refinement Chamber | 7x6=42 | 0x6=0 | 2x6=12 | 2x6=12 |
| Settlement Chamber | 1x8=8 | 1x8=8 | 6x8=48 | 2x8=16 |
| Exploration Chamber | 0x0=0 | 0x0=0 | 1x0=0 | 3x0=0 |
| Research Chamber | 1x8=8 | 5x8=40 | 0x8=0 | 2x8=16 |
| Specialization Chamber | 7x2=14 | 5x2=10 | 6x2=12 | 3x2=6 |
| Division Chamber | 0x8=0 | 0x8=0 | 0x8=0 | 2x8=16 |
| Victory points | 72 | 58 | 72 | 66 |
Nele is the only one to gain Victory Points through the Division Chamber. The draw between Kyra and Mateja is solved by taking into account the number of Warehouses and Ships. Mateja has 8 Ships and 4 Warehouses, Kyra has 6 Ships and 5 Warehouses. Kyra is the winner of this game of Noria.
Expert Rules - What's different?
Before the game starts, you assemble your own Wheel. The Islands are positioned face-up in a circle and you can only travel to adjacent Islands. The Price of the Discs on the market is determined randomly. At the beginning you do not receive any Resources, Knowledge, and also no steps on the Paths.
Before the game - How can I customise my Wheel?
Execute the following steps in the following order:
- Determine the start player.
- Shuffle the Islands face-down and place 5/6/7 Islands in a 2/3/4 player game face-up in 1 circle. Put the remaining Islands back into the box.
- Randomly determine the spaces of the City, Journey, Tool, and Bonus Discs on the market.
- According to the following rules, each player builds 1 personalized display for their Wheel:
- Use the 6 Discs from the base game.
- Place 1 Disc on the small, 2 on the medium, and 3 on the large Ring.
- 4 Discs have to be placed on the inactive half of the Wheel.
- 2 Discs have to be placed on the active half of the Wheel.
All players build their personalized display at the same time. Alternatively you may determine your personalised displays in player turn order.
You receive no Resources, no Knowledge, and no free step on one of the Paths. Take 1 of each of the Ships (Energy, Mycelium, Obsidian).
Travel restrictions - How do I get to the next Island?
The Islands are positioned face-up in a circle. When you activate a Journey Disc for the first time, place your Ambassador on an Island of your choice. If necessary, pay with Resources of your choice if other Ambassadors are already on this Island. In the following actions, move your Ambassador with your Journey Disc onto the Islands adjacent to the left or to the right. The other Islands are not reachable.
Quick Reference
Energy, Mycelium, & Obsidian - How do I get Resources and how do I use them?
Take Resources if you
- use the Resource action.
- exchange 3 Knowledge for 1 Resource of your choice.
Pay Resources if you
- buy new Discs with the Market action.
- produce Goods with the Production action.
- progress on the Refinement Path or on the Settlement Path with the Investment action.
- place your Ambassador on Islands with Ambassadors of other players.
- move your Representatives on 1 Path that already has Representatives of other players ahead of you.
Knowledge - How do I get Knowledge and how do I use it?
Take Knowledge if you
- exchange Goods at the Black Market during the Action phase.
- execute an Inspection during the Action phase.
- get Knowledge through your Factories during the Administration phase.
Pay Knowledge if you
- change the position of Discs in your Wheel during the Influence phase.
- exchange it for Resources on the Black Market in the Action phase.
- influence the Chambers in the Politics phase.
Goods - How do I get Goods and how do I use them?
The game has simple Goods (Propellers, Sails, Compass) and complex Goods (Lamp, Piston). Produce simple Goods for 2 Resources and complex Goods for 3 Resources.
Take empty Warehouses when you build 1 Factory on 1 Island with the Factory action.
Turn empty Warehouses to their full side when you use the Production action and pay the required Resources.
Turn over full Warehouses to pay Goods:
- when you exchange them for Knowledge on the Black Market.
- when you progress on the Exploration Path and on the Research Path.
Never put your Warehouses back into the common supply.
Victory points - For what do I receive Victory Points at the end of the game?
You only receive Victory Points for your Representatives on the 4 Paths. The number of the Level you reach on each Path are multiplied with the Victory Point value of the corresponding Chambers. 2 of the 6 Chambers score points for your highest or lowest Representative, respectively.
Please note: As long as one of your Representatives is still in the Cave, your lowest Representative is considered to be Level 0 and does not score you any points. There are no other ways to score Victory Points.
In case of a draw you win if the sum of your Ships and Warehouses is smaller than the sum of all other players involved in the draw.
Turn overview
- Influence phase — Optionally use the special actions Night Shift and Modification several times by paying Knowledge to influence the position of the Discs in your Wheel.
- Action phase — Activate up to 3 Discs in your Wheel to use up to 4 of the related actions.
- Politics phase — Optionally use the special action Intrigue several times by paying Knowledge to move and remove Politicians from the Chambers in order to make your Investments more valuable.
- Administration phase — At the end of your turn rotate the 3 Rings of your Wheel, take Knowledge for your built Factories and position newly bought Discs into your Wheel.
Credits
Designer: Sophia Wagner. Illustration: Michael Menzel. Graphics: Andrea Kattnig, Klemens Franz | atelier198. Development & Realisation: Julian Steindorfer. Editors: Rolf Raupach, Roman Rybiczka. Animated rule video: Holger Zimmermann. Translation & Copy: Board Game Circus. 3D-Rendering & Rule Video: Holger Zimmermann. Localisation: T.R. Knight, Paul M. Incao, William Bricker. Special thanks to: Klaus Ottmaier, Sebastian Rieneckert, Sebastian Runge, Jessica Naumann.
© 2018 Edition Spielwiese, Kopernikusstr. 24, 10245 Berlin, Germany — www.edition-spielwiese.de