SILOS
SILOS Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview & Goal
Aliens have come to silo humans (brainwash, steer, and preserve human civilization) for their cosmic purposes! In SILOS, players control competing factions of aliens who abduct and brainwash humans and cows while secretly invading their community. Players tussle for majority influence in the key locations of this small town as they seek to exert location powers and control human specimens for societal power.
Players take turns repositioning their alien figures and activating an event card. The objective is to collect a complete set of humans — politicians, government operators, public influencers, and professionals. A complete set will earn a player a Societal Power Emblem, and the first player to earn five emblems wins the game. Cows are particularly valuable and thus count as wild tokens toward forming a complete set.
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 1 Cloth Bag
- 4 Player Aid Tiles
- 7 Alternate Location Tiles
- 60 Humans: 15 Government Operators, 15 Public Influencers, 15 Politicians, 15 Professionals
- 4× 7 Alien Figures (one set of 7 alien figures per faction color)
- 4× 1 Faction Disc
- 15 Cows
- 4 Leader Hats
- 10 Graduation Caps
- 1 UFO
- 1 Active Player Token
- 23 Societal Power Emblems
- 12 Common Cards: 1 All Powers Card, 2 One Power Cards, 4 Marked Specimen Cards, 5 UFO Advance Cards
- 12 Faction Cards: 4 Human Confluence Cards, 4 UFO Sighting Cards, 4 Your Powers Cards
Location Powers (Player Aid Tile / Alternate Location Tile summary)
- 0 TOWN HALL: MUST rearrange order of faction discs according to influence in Town Hall.
- 1 SHERIFF'S OFFICE: MAY move 1 or more alien figures of 1 color from any 1 location to Sheriff's Office.
- 2 UNIVERSITY: MAY move ALL your alien figures from University to Town Hall and distinguish one of your figures there.
- 3 SHOPPING MALL: MAY reveal and place new humans, 1 at a time, in any corresponding focus group. MUST stop after Mind Control Event.
- 4 NEWS STATION: MAY exchange ANY 3 of your humans and/or cows for 1 Societal Power Emblem OR draw 1 human from bag.
- 5 CHURCH: MAY take 1 human from another player OR take 1 human from any focus group.
- 6 BUS STATION: MAY reposition ANY of your alien figures.
Setup
- Lay out the board in the center of the play area.
- Experienced players may optionally place out any desired alternate location tiles onto their matching numbered locations on the board (see Location Powers on pages 10-11). Unused alternate location tiles are returned to the box.
- At each location, place one human of the corresponding color (match the color of the location's number) onto one of the three square spaces — this cluster of three square spaces is referred to as a focus group.
- Place the remaining humans into the cloth bag.
- Place one cow on each cow abduction space. Remaining cows are placed in a pile near the board.
- Place the UFO on the abduction space at location 4, the News Station.
- On each human abduction space, randomly draw and place one human from the bag.
- Place the graduation caps and Societal Power Emblems in a pile near the board.
- Each player takes the seven alien figures in the faction color of their choice as well as the matching colored faction disc and three Faction Cards. Faction Cards are placed face up in front of the player. Each player takes one leader hat and places it on one of their alien figures. Each player takes one player aid tile. Unused alien figures, player aid tiles, Faction Cards, and faction discs are returned to the box.
- Shuffle the 12 Common Cards and place them face-down near the board to form the Common Deck.
- The player who has most recently seen a cow is the starting player, or randomly choose a starting player. The starting player receives the active player token and places their faction disc on the highest ranked space (1) of the Town Hall track. Continuing clockwise, every other player places their disc on the next highest ranked space (2, then 3, then 4).
- If playing with two players, refer to the Two-Player Variant rules on page 12 for setup and gameplay changes.
Gameplay
Initial Positioning
Beginning with the starting player and continuing clockwise, each player places an alien figure on the board in any one of the locations. The alien figures are placed on the image of the location.
Continue placing alien figures until each player has placed all of their figures on the board.
There is no limit to the number of alien figures a single player can have at a location or to the total number of alien figures at a location.
Influence
A player is considered to have the most influence in a location if they have the most alien figures at that location. Having the most influence in a location will grant you significant benefits during UFO Abduction Events, Mind Control Events, and Power Events.
An alien figure with a leader hat is considered a leader figure. A leader figure counts as one and a half figures when determining influence.
An alien figure with a graduation cap is considered distinguished. A distinguished figure counts as two figures when determining influence. Your figures are not distinguished yet, but you will soon learn how to distiguish them...
Example: Blue has 2 influence and Yellow has 2.5 influence. Purple has 4 influence, and Yellow has 3 influence.
Town Hall Ranking & Resolving Ties
Over the course of the game, a player that has a higher rank in the Town Hall than another player will always break ties in their favor when determining who has the most influence at a location. The highest rank is the 1, and the lowest rank is the 4.
The initial Town Hall ranking is rearranged after the initial positioning (when all alien figures have been placed on the board). The faction disc of the player who has the most influence in the Town Hall is placed on the top spot (1). The faction disc of the player who has the second-most influence in the Town Hall is placed on the next spot (2), and so on.
When determining the initial Town Hall ranking, any ties are broken according to the relative position of the discs during setup.
It is not required to place any alien figures in the Town Hall during initial positioning.
From now on, the order of the Town Hall rankings will only change when the Town Hall's power is exerted during gameplay.
Example: After setup, Yellow is ranked first, Purple is ranked second, and Blue is ranked third. After initial positioning, Blue has two alien figures in the Town Hall while Yellow and Purple each have one. Blue's faction disc takes the first spot, while Yellow and Purple slide down to second and third, respectively.
Turn Overview
The player who was first to place an alien figure on the board remains the starting player for the actual game (they have the active player token), and play will continue clockwise, with the active player token being passed to the next player for their turn.
On your turn, perform the following actions in this order:
- You MAY use up to two total movements on your alien figures. Each movement is from one location to another using the connecting streets. You may move the same figure twice or move two different figures once each.
- You MUST activate one card by either: a. Turning over the top card of the Common Deck and carrying out the action on it OR b. Carrying out the action on one of your face-up Faction Cards.
When a card is activated, there are three possible events that can occur:
UFO Abduction Event
This occurs IMMEDIATELY when the UFO is advanced to the next location. The UFO always advances clockwise around the outer circle from one location to the next (locations 1-6). When a UFO Abduction Event is triggered at a location:
a. The player with the most influence in the location receives the cow from the cow abduction space. b. The player with the second-most influence in the location receives the human from the human abduction space.
If there is only one faction present in the location when the UFO Abduction Event occurs, then that faction receives the cow, and the remaining human is returned to the bag.
If no faction is present in the location when the UFO Abduction Event occurs, then no one earns the cow, and the human is returned to the bag.
The cow abduction space is now replenished with a cow (if vacant). Then, a new human is randomly drawn from the bag and placed on the human abduction space.
Cows act as a "wild" and can be used as any type of human when exchanging humans for a Societal Power Emblem (see Societal Power Emblems, page 12).
Mind Control Event
This occurs IMMEDIATELY when a focus group is full (all three square spaces at a location are occupied by humans). When a Mind Control Event is triggered at a location:
c. The player with the most influence at the location takes two of the three humans (of the player's choice) from the focus group. d. The player with the second-most influence at the location takes the remaining human from the focus group.
If there is only one faction present at the location when the Mind Control Event occurs, that player receives two humans, and the remaining human is returned to the bag.
If no faction is present at the location when the Mind Control Event occurs, all humans in the focus group are returned to the bag.
Note: Mind Control Events interrupt the placement of humans; the Mind Control Event must be completed before another human can be placed on the board.
Power Event
This occurs when the One Power, All Powers, or Your Powers card is activated. When a Power Event is triggered, all locations indicated on the activated card exert their powers (generally in numerical order). Location powers will be explained on page 10.
Card Effects
Whenever a player activates a card, the player places the card face-up in front of them until all effects on the card have been executed.
Common Cards
Once a Common Card has been activated, it is placed face-up in an empty slot on the corresponding side of the board. This helps players to easily track which cards are still remaining in the Common Deck.
UFO Advance
The player who activates this card moves the UFO clockwise to the next abduction location. This will trigger a UFO Abduction Event in the newly visited location.
Marked Specimen
Beginning with the active player and continuing clockwise, each player MUST draw one human from the bag and place it on any corresponding focus group of their choice. The corresponding locations (designated by color) are as follows:
- Politicians — Any location
- Government Officials — Sheriff's Office or Bus Station
- Professionals — University or Shopping Mall
- Public Influencers — News Station or Church
If, at any time, the placement of a human results in a focus group being full (having three humans in it), a Mind Control Event IMMEDIATELY occurs before the placement of the next human. If, after the Mind Control Event occurs, there are still players who have not placed a human, then they may place a human in the location that just had a Mind Control Event.
Since each player places one human, it is possible that more than one Mind Control Event occurs during the activation of this card.
All Powers
Beginning with the Town Hall and progressing through all the locations in numerical order, the Power Event in each location is exerted. The powers of the locations are explained in detail on pages 10-11, Location Powers. If a location has no alien figures in it, the Power Event is not exerted in that location.
The player with the most influence in the location exerts the Power Event in that location. Once the opportunity to exert the Power Event in the Bus Station has passed, it is the next player's turn.
One Power
Beginning with the active player and continuing clockwise, each player exerts the Power Event in ONE of the locations in which they have the most influence. If a player does not have the most influence in any location, then they are skipped. Each location may only have its Power Event exerted one time during the activation of a single card, meaning that two players may not choose to exert the same location even if the influence in that location changes during the activation of this card.
Once each player has had the opportunity to exert one Power Event in a different location, it is the next player's turn.
Exhausting the Common Deck: If the Common Deck gets exhausted, then gather all of the discarded cards around the border of the game board and shuffle them to create a new Common Deck.
Faction Cards
Once a Faction Card has been activated, it is flipped face down in front of the player and cannot be activated again for the remainder of the game.
UFO Sighting
The player who activates this card either:
a. Moves the UFO clockwise to the next UFO abduction space (this will trigger a UFO Abduction Event in the newly visited location) OR b. Repositions any of their alien figures on the board.
Human Confluence
The player who activates this card draws four humans from the bag, then places them, one at a time, on any corresponding focus group of their choice (see the Marked Specimen card on page 8).
If, at any time, the placement of a human results in a focus group being full (having three humans in it), a Mind Control Event IMMEDIATELY occurs before the placement of the next human. If there are still humans to place after a Mind Control Event occurs, they can be placed in a location that just had a Mind Control Event.
Your Powers
The player who activates this card exerts, in numerical order, the Power Events of the locations where they have the most influence.
Once the player has had the opportunity to exert the Power Event of each of the appropriate locations, it is the next player's turn.
Location Powers
In order to exert the Power Event in a location, a player must have the most influence there. Remember that ties for influence are always broken in favor of the higher ranked player in the Town Hall.
Both standard location powers and alternate location tile powers (designated by an * after the location number) are described below. During setup, you may place any desired alternate location tiles onto the board.
0 — Town Hall
You MUST rearrange the order of faction discs according to influence in Town Hall.
When this Power Event is exerted, the order of the faction discs is rearranged according to the order in which players have the most influence there. The player with the most influence in the Town Hall moves their faction disc to the highest ranking in the Town Hall (1), the player with the second-most influence in the Town Hall moves their faction disc to the second highest ranking (2), and so on.
In the event that multiple players have the same influence in the Town Hall when its power is exerted, their order relative to each other remains unchanged. The effects of this new order are immediate.
0* — Town Hall
You MUST rearrange the order of the faction discs in the Town Hall according to the influence in the Town Hall. You (the highest ranked player) MUST then move all your alien figures in the Town Hall to the Shopping Mall.
As a reminder, each location may only have its Power Event exerted one time during the activation of a single card. So, although the influence can change after one player exerts and vacates the Town Hall, this Power Event cannot be exerted again until the activation of a future card.
1 — Sheriff's Office
You MAY move one or more alien figures of one color from any one location to the Sheriff's Office.
The alien figures can be from your own faction or another player's faction but must all be from the same faction.
1* — Sheriff's Office
You MAY move UP TO three alien figures of any players from any location to the Sheriff's Office.
The alien figures can be from your own faction or any other player's faction and can be from multiple different factions and locations.
2 — University
You MAY move ALL your alien figures from the University to the Town Hall to distinguish one of your alien figures there.
Place a graduation cap on the distinguished alien figure's head. A distinguished alien figure counts as two when determining the influence in a location.
The newly distinguished alien figure need not have been in the University prior to receiving the distinction but instead may have already been in the Town Hall prior to moving all the alien figures from the University to the Town Hall.
Alien figures that are currently distinguished cannot be distinguished again. Leader figures cannot be distinguished — they already have an impressive hat!
2* — University
You MAY distinguish one of your alien figures in the News Station.
Place a graduation cap on the distinguished alien figure's head. A distinguished alien figure counts as two when determining the influence in a location.
Alien figures that are currently distinguished cannot be distinguished again. Leader figures cannot be distinguished.
3 — Shopping Mall
You MAY draw new humans and place them in any corresponding focus group, but you must stop when a Mind Control Event occurs.
Humans are drawn one at a time from the bag and placed before drawing a new human.
A player may place as many humans as they wish in this manner and can stop at any time but MUST stop after a Mind Control Event occurs.
3* — Shopping Mall
You MAY draw four humans from the bag and then place them, one at a time, in any corresponding focus group.
This is resolved in the exact same manner as a Human Confluence card (see page 9).
4 — News Station
You MAY exchange ANY three of your humans and/or cows for one Societal Power Emblem OR draw one human from the bag.
The humans and/or cows exchanged can all be of the same type or different types.
During a single Power Event, only one group of three humans and/or cows can be exchanged this way for one Societal Power Emblem. The player cannot exchange more groups of humans/cows for more Societal Power Emblems in a single Power Event.
Humans are returned to the bag, and cows are returned to the pile near the board.
If the player chose to draw a human from the bag instead, the player places that human in front of them.
4* — News Station
You MAY draw three random humans from the bag and then return any three of your humans to the bag OR draw one human from the bag.
5 — Church
You MAY take one human from another player OR take one human from any focus group.
You may only take a human from another player or a focus group, never a cow.
5* — Church
You MAY draw one card from the Common Deck and add it to your Faction Cards for later use.
This newly acquired Common Card is treated like a Faction Card in the player's possession until it is activated. After it has been activated, it is placed face-up in an empty slot on the corresponding side of the board.
Note that the Common Deck will become and remain smaller as long as Common Cards are in the possession of players.
6 — Bus Station
You MAY reposition ANY of your alien figures on the board.
6* — Bus Station
You MAY downgrade one of your distinguished alien figures in the Bus Station. Then, draw three random humans from the bag.
You must have a distinguished alien figure in the Bus Station, and you must downgrade it (remove its graduation cap), in order to take three random humans from the bag.
You cannot downgrade your leader figure.
Societal Power Emblems
When a player obtains new humans or cows, they must check whether they possess a complete set of one politician, one government official, one public influencer, and one professional.
Cows are wild and can be used as any of the four humans and MUST be used to make a complete set wherever possible (i.e., when a player has an incomplete set but enough cows to substitute for each missing human type).
When a player has a complete set, which may include one or more cows, they must IMMEDIATELY exchange the set for one Societal Power Emblem. Cows are returned to their place near the board, and humans are returned to the bag.
A cow = WILD (must be used whenever possible)
Game End
The game ends at the end of the turn where at least one player has five or more Societal Power Emblems. (For a shorter game, play to four Societal Power Emblems.)
The player with the most Societal Power Emblems wins the game.
In the case of a tie, the player with the higher number of remaining humans and cows combined is the winner. If there is still a tie, then the victory is shared.
Two-Player Variant
Use this variant when playing with two players.
Setup Changes
After completing setup, you will also use one non-player faction color. Place one alien figure of this color at each location (0-6). Also place this color's faction disc at the highest ranked space (1) on the Town Hall track and slide the other two players down to spaces 2 and 3.
Gameplay Changes
The non-player faction stays permanently locked at the highest ranked space (1) on the Town Hall track. This means that it always wins ties against the two players.
If this faction has the most influence at a location when a power card is activated, the location power is simply not exerted.
If this faction has the most (or second-most) influence when a UFO Abduction Event is triggered, then it does not claim the cow (or it causes the human to be discarded and replaced). In other words, it acts as a competing player over the rewards but does not keep score for itself.
If this faction has the most (or second-most) influence when a Mind Control Event is triggered, then the humans that it takes are simply discarded back to the bag. If this faction has the most influence and there are two different types of humans in the focus group, then it takes one of each type of human.
SILOS: Crop Circles Expansion
This expansion can be purchased directly from the publisher's shop at www.BitewingGames.com.
Some of my fellow comrades have become bored with the secrecy of our invasion. They say that our interloping should be more "splashy" and "fun." One of them had the idea of vandalizing human crops and fields with large scale graffiti when nobody was looking, and the trend has caught on like wildfire within our siloing community. The reactions of the farmers never ceases to amuse us, and so far, these "crop circles" appear to be helping our cause by further pushing the human municipality into a state of vulnerability and panic.
Meanwhile, our faction leaders have become increasingly agitated by our competitive hunger for spectacle. They call our methods "careless" and "risky," despite our impressive results. They seem eager to be finished with this trial invasion and return to the mothership before things get out of hand. So, they have redoubled their efforts in a restless frenzy to quickly gain full control of the earthling town.
Overview
This expansion features two new modules. The Crop Circles Module introduces another element of long-term strategy. The Permanent Skill Tiles Module features diverging asymmetry. You may decide to include one or both modules in your plays of SILOS, but we recommend the Permanent Skill Tiles Module only for experienced players — it increases the complexity and playing time of the game.
Components
- 1 Crop Circles Power Tile
- 4× 3 Crop Circle Tokens
- 7 Permanent Skill Tiles
- 4 Player Aid Tiles
Crop Circles Module
Setup
- While setting up the game board, place the crop circles power tile on any of the locations 1 to 6 (this replaces the Power Event in that location). For your first play of this module, we recommend you place this tile on location 6 (Bus Station).
- Give each player the three crop circle tokens of their faction color.
Gameplay
When a player exerts the crop circles power tile, the player may position one of their crop circle tokens in any one location which does not yet have a crop circle token. Note: There is a dark space next to each location where a crop circle token can be placed.
If the player has already positioned all three of their crop circle tokens, then the power allows the player to reposition one of their tokens — or to replace one opponent's token if all locations already have a token.
If all the locations already have a crop circle token, then the power allows the player to return one opponent's crop circle token and to replace it with one of their own tokens.
The crop circle token increases the player's influence in a location by 1.
Permanent Skill Tiles Module
Setup
- While setting up the game board, place each permanent skill tile next to its corresponding location.
- Give each player a player aid tile.
Gameplay
When a player exerts the Power Event of a location with their leader figure present, the player additionally receives that location's permanent skill tile and displays it face up in front of them. This tile can be claimed from the board or from another player who had claimed it previously.
When this module is included, a player's turn now consists of three phases:
- Move your alien figures (as before).
- Use your skill tiles (in the order outlined below). Each skill tile can only be used once per turn.
- Activate one card (as before).
After concluding phase 1 (movement), when you progress to phase 2 (skill tiles), you must use your skill tiles in this order:
- Alien figure movement tiles (1, 2, 6).
- Human tiles (3, 4, 5).
- Town Hall tile (0). This tile is used after revealing a Common Card in phase 3.
The effects of each permanent skill tile are explained below:
- 0 — Town Hall: On your turn, you may reject the first Common Card you reveal. Discard it to the board and reveal a second card.
- 1 — Sheriff's Office: On your turn, you may move any one alien figure of any player from any location to the Sheriff's Office. This is done in addition to your regular alien figure movements.
- 2 — University: On your turn, you may move any one of your alien figures from any location to the University. This is done in addition to your regular alien figure movements.
- 3 — Shopping Mall: On your turn, you may draw one human from the bag and place it on any corresponding focus group.
- 4 — News Station: On your turn, you may return any two of your humans to the bag. Then, take one cow from the supply.
- 5 — Church: On your turn, you may reposition one human from any one focus group to another corresponding focus group.
- 6 — Bus Station: You now have one additional alien figure movement, for a total of three regular movements per turn.
Note from the Publisher (Nick Murray)
Out of all the 100+ Knizia games that I have tried, Municipium might be the one that has surprised me the most. I went into this game having heard nothing (except for the enthusiastic recommendation of one friend who just so happens to be the editor of this game — thanks, Scott). I especially didn't expect anything of the design, judging by its appearance and public perception (sorry, Scott). But as soon as it hit my table, I was blown away by how much I loved this area majority game.
Speaking of area majority games, many hobbyist gamers (myself included) consider El Grande to be one of the all-time greatest games of this genre. It is a bona fide classic that has stood the test of time. And to me, Municipium felt like Reiner Knizia's response to El Grande. Yet it wasn't just El Grande with a twist ... it was El Grande completely turned on its head in a wonderfully refreshing way.
So why didn't Municipium reach the same level of success as El Grande? Well, El Grande certainly had a major first-mover advantage by releasing 13 years earlier. But the bigger issue was that Municipium didn't seem to excite people with its presentation. And it didn't set the right expectations for folks who sat down to play it.
Most notably, the original instructions and game structure do not emphasize how important it is to count cards coming out of the deck. If players do not have a firm grasp on which card types (and how many) remain in the draw pile, then much of the fun of the game has its legs cut right out from underneath it. Rather than analyzing the possibilities, weighing the probabilities, and taking calculated risks, naive players were left with a feeling of random chaos every time they revealed the next card from the draw pile. This was a key issue that we needed to address when bringing the game back to life. All it took was a simple change in how the discarded cards are displayed.
While the exterior of the game had some significant issues, the interior was rock solid. Rather than push for any significant redevelopment, we simply asked Reiner to give us more modular variety — more ways to tailor the game to various moods and preferences.
SILOS is a remastered edition of Reiner Knizia's cult-classic area majority game, Municipium.
Much like the previous titles in the Crown Jewel Selection, Bitewing Games has collaborated with Reiner Knizia to preserve the essence of Municipium while helping it to evolve and reach its full potential. SILOS introduces many innovations by:
- Restructuring the player psychology via clear, public, and easy card counting
- Increasing the gameplay variety and strategies with modular location power tiles
- Enhancing tactical considerations with powerful leader figures
- Broadening the appeal of the theme and presentation with wacky alien conspiracy art by Kwanchai Moriya and Brigette Indelicato
- Enlivening the production with disguised alien figures, abductable cows, and a roaming UFO
SILOS is also making its debut alongside the Crop Circles Expansion. This expansion introduces more elements of long-term strategy through the Crop Circles Module. It also features diverging asymmetry through the Permanent Skill Tiles Module.
We hope you enjoy this remastered edition of a truly hidden gem. Happy invasion!
Acknowledgements
Reiner Knizia expresses his thanks and gratitude to the numerous play testers involved in the development of the game, in particular to Sebastian Bleasdale for his many contributions and to Iain Adams, Chris Boots, Chris Bowyer, David Farquhar, Ross Inglis, Kevin Jacklin, and Greg Walker.
© Dr. Reiner Knizia, 2025. All rights reserved. © Bitewing Games LLC, 2025. All rights reserved.