Venice Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Game Contents
• Setup
• A Player's Turn
  • 1. (Optional) Play an Influence Card
  • 2. Move your Gondolier
  • 3. Move your boat, resolve meetings, and activate passed assistants
  • 4. (Optional) Complete a Mission
  • 5. Advance your assistant and/or activate the building
• Prologue Rounds
• Advancing Assistants
• Activating Buildings
• Gondola Meetings
• Building Bridges
• Gaining Missions & Paying Taxes
• Fulfilling Missions
• Favour Cards
• Influence Cards
  • Clarifications
• End of the Game
  • End Game Triggers
  • Scoring
• Two-Player Rules: The Smugglers
  • Additional Setup
  • How the Smugglers Work
• Solo Mode: The Doge
  • Introduction
  • Setup
  • How to Play
  • Scoring
• Gameplay Examples
• Building Actions
  • Communal Buildings
  • Building Tiles (grouped by resource)

Game Overview

In a game of Venice, players will:

Ride the canals - Each player has two gondolas, but only one gondolier - meaning they need to manage their paths around the city carefully to optimise their use.

Play politics - When you pass other boats, gossip and intrigue will spread - intrigue that can compound your success when you attend Major Council meetings, building your political career.

Employ assistants - When your gondola arrives at a building, you can place an assistant. The assistant will move and improve each time you stop at the building, and you'll be able to use their abilities each time you pass the building.

Manage intrigue - Intrigue will help your political career, but too much of it can damage your business - and, if you end the game with more Intrigue than anyone else, can lead to the Inquisition arresting you and taking you away, barring you from victory.

Complete missions - If you've collected the right resources from buildings, and ended your turn at the destination, you can complete a mission.

Game Contents

• 1 Main Board
• 5 Player Boards
• 26 Mission Cards
• 22 Influence Cards
• 27 Doge Cards
• 5 Favour Cards
• 12 Smuggler 'A' Cards
• 12 Smuggler 'B' Cards
• 66 Resource Cubes (22 of each of the three resource colours - ceramics/orange, cloth/purple, silver/grey)
• 12 Building Tiles
• Coins (30x value 1, 10x value 5, 5x value 10)
• 1 'Spy' Piece
• 1 Endgame Piece
• 4 Smuggler Markers

In each player colour (x5): 1 First Player Token, 1 First Movement Token, 2 Boats, 2 Bridges, 10 Assistants, 1 Gondolier, 4 Trackers.

If any of the above is missing or damaged when it arrives with you, please email [email protected] with your name, your full address and phone number, and where you bought the game.

Setup

1. Place the main board in the centre, choosing either the night or day side (the difference is only cosmetic).
2. Shuffle the building tiles and place them face-up randomly on the indicated spots.
3. Place the 'End Game Piece' on the Major Council track on the main board - space 10 in a 2 player game, 12 in 3P, 14 in 4P, 16 in 5P.
4. Give each player every component of their colour ensuring everyone has exactly 10 assistants (not 11) and a player board with the correct side up for the number of players (as indicated on the top-right corner of the board).
5. Create a random face-down deck of Mission cards, depending on the amount of players, and return any extra Mission cards to the box unseen (they won't be used):
   • 2 players: 9 cards
   • 3 players: 13 cards
   • 4 players: 17 cards
   • 5 players: 20 cards
6. Deal 3 Missions to each player. Each player chooses 2 to keep, and returns 1 to the bottom of the Mission deck, face-down.
7. Shuffle all the Influence cards and place them face-down in the play area.
8. Place 1 of each player's trackers on the starting positions (0) of the scoring and council tracks on the main board, space 0 of their Intrigue track on their player board, and space 1 of the Scroll track on their player board.
9. Each player takes 6 coins.
10. Randomly choose the 1st player and give them the First Player Token, which never moves during the game. Give each subsequent player +2 coins per player before them in order (2nd gets +2 coins, 3rd gets +4, and so on).
11. Give the 1st player the First Movement Token.
12. If this is any player's 1st game, give each player a Favour Card, colour-side up. (See Favour Cards.)

Note: The term 'X coin(s)' is used throughout these rules to mean 'coins in the value of.' E.g. If an effect gives a player '6 coins' this would be either 6 coin tokens with the value of 1, or coin tokens with the value of 1 and 5.

A Player's Turn

On your turn, perform these steps in order. Once completed, your turn is over and play passes to the next clockwise player.

1. (Optional) Play an Influence Card

In the game, certain actions allow you to draw Influence cards. Up to 1 may be played at the start of your turn, before anything else happens.

2. Move your Gondolier

A gondolier piece is placed on one of your boats, to mark it as your 'active' boat. Each turn, you must choose whether or not to move your gondolier.

You may move the gondolier to your other boat (that they are not currently on) for free, or keep the gondolier on the same boat, and pay 3 coins into the supply.

3. Move your boat, resolve meetings, and activate passed assistants

During your turn, the active boat (the one with your gondolier on it) must move. Your active boat may move as far as you can afford.

First Movement: The active boat must move along at least one canal (i.e. over 1 cost icon) to a new dock (a space highlighted with a light blue rectangle). This first movement is free, and you can place the First Movement Token on the cost icon to show you have ignored it. If you move beneath a bridge with your first movement (which removes the cost of that canal) this still counts as your first movement, so you do not carry the benefit of a free movement onto subsequent moves.

Stopping or Passing: When you arrive in a new dock, declare whether you are passing through, or mooring there.

When you move past a building where you have an assistant, you may activate it (see Activating Buildings). You may not activate a building as you pass if your other boat is currently docked there. If you pass by a dock where another boat (whether it belongs to yourself or another player) is docked, you must resolve a meeting before the activation (see Gondola Meetings). You must resolve each of these before continuing your movement.

Note: Communal buildings never have assistants on them, so can't be activated in passing (see Activating Buildings).

If you moor (or 'stop') at a building, your movement ends. Go to step 4.

Sharing spaces: You can't moor in the same dock as your other boat, but you may stop where other players' boats are moored. In this case, place boats perpendicularly so that it is clear which order people arrived in. When a new boat arrives, award VP to each player there, equal to the amount of boats that have arrived after it. (e.g. When a 3rd boat arrives, the first player earns 2 VP, the 2nd player earns 1 VP, and the 3rd gets 0 VP.)

Subsequent Movements: If you pass by a building, you may continue to move once you have resolved meetings and activations.

Move along a connected canal (but not the one you arrived via) and pay the cost indicated on that canal from your supply onto the icon on the board (unless there's a bridge there, see Building Bridges). Doing this helps remind you where you've travelled in your turn, and stops you using the same canal or dock twice.

You may only pass each building once in a turn (including the one you started on). You must not end your turn on the same building you started, or use a canal more than once in a turn.

When you arrive at a new dock, declare whether you're passing or mooring, and resolve meetings and activate buildings accordingly. Once moored, go to step 4.

4. (Optional) Complete a Mission

When you moor at a building, before you activate the building, you may complete 1 Mission (see Fulfilling Missions).

5. Advance your assistant and/or activate the building

If the building is not communal (i.e. is a tile, not printed on the board), you must advance your assistant on it if possible (see Advancing Assistants). Then, the building is activated (see Activating Buildings) whether it's a communal building or not.

Cleanup: Pass the First Movement token (not the First Player token) to the next player, and remove any coins you paid for movement from the board and pay them into the supply. It is now the next player's turn.

Prologue Rounds

Before the game begins properly, all players must place their boats.

• Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player simply places 1 of their boats onto the board, in any dock space (if there's already a boat there, award the player who owns the boat points as detailed under Stopping and Passing above). They advance their assistant if it's not a communal building (in this case, placing one of their Assistants on the 1st space of the building), and then the building is activated whether it's communal or not.
• Then, starting with the last player and going anti-clockwise, this is repeated with their 2nd boat. As with the rest of the game, boats of the same colour may not share a space.
• The game then starts. On each players' first turn, they will choose which boat to place their gondolier in, and pay no cost for this.

3-Player Example: 1st player places their 1st gondola. 1st player places their 2nd gondola. 2nd player places their 1st gondola. 2nd player places their 2nd gondola. 3rd player places their 1st gondola. 3rd player places their 2nd gondola.

Advancing Assistants

When you advance an assistant:

• If you don't have an assistant on the building already, place 1 in the first space (at the top) of the building.
• If you do have an assistant there already, move it to the next clockwise space. Assistants don't advance past the 4th space.
• If your assistant would move into a space (other than the 4th) that contains another player's assistant, push theirs into the next one, and so on.
• If your assistant's already on the 4th space, skip this step.

Each space except the last can hold 1 assistant at a time. The 4th can have any number. Each player can only have 1 assistant per building. Assistants are limited: once a player has placed all 10, no more new ones can be placed. Skip this step if all 10 of your Assistants are placed. The first player to place all 10 Assistants on the board receives 8 VP.

Communal buildings (printed on the board, rather than placed as tiles) never have assistants.

Example: If you have no Assistant on the building, place it on this top space. It always produces 1 of the 3 resource cubes. If you have an Assistant on the building, move it to the next clockwise space. Only the last space can hold multiple Assistants. 'Push up' Assistants if another would take their place.

Activating Buildings

When a communal building is activated, perform the effect (see Building Actions).

When you activate a building tile, you may perform any of the effects on it both in the space where your assistant is currently, and in spaces before the assistant. The more the assistant has advanced, the more capabilities they have. Once they've advanced to the last space, activating the building means choosing from all the effects on the building.

Each effect must be performed in full or skipped in its entirety - i.e. if a listed effect is 'Gain 1 Intrigue and 4 coins' you must do both.

Abilities that manipulate resource cubes (giving, spending, converting) can only affect resources in the boat that's activating the building (whether by docking there or passing by). Each boat may not carry more than 5 resource cubes - any excess resource is discarded (you may discard to make space for ones gained).

Example: When activating this building: Purple may add 1 Silver cube to their boat. Blue may perform any of the actions on the building. Green may: Gain 1 Silver and/or Lose 1 Intrigue. Orange may: Gain 1 Silver, Lose 1 Intrigue, and Exchange 1 Intrigue for 1 VP.

Gaining and losing Intrigue: Whenever 'Gain Intrigue' is listed, move the Intrigue tracker on your player board right the relevant number of spaces. You can't have more than 8 Intrigue in a 1-3 player game, and 10 in a 4-5 player game. For every point of intrigue gained past the limit, lose 2 VP. You cannot have less than 0 VP. When 'Lose Intrigue' is listed, move the Intrigue tracker to the left the relevant number of spaces. If you'd lose more Intrigue than you have, set your tracker to 0 (the icon space).

Gaining and losing Scrolls: Whenever 'Gain a Scroll' is listed, move the Scroll tracker on your player board right. A player can have max 10 Scrolls. When you lose Scrolls, move it to the left. If you'd lose more than you have, set it to 0 (the icon space).

Gondola Meetings

When a boat moves through a dock where another boat is moored, it's considered a meeting. There are 2 types of meetings:

• Meeting your own boat: at this time you may move cubes between their boats.
• Meeting with another player's boat: both players must independently choose to either lose 1 Scroll, or gain 1 Intrigue.

If there are multiple boats in a location the player's boat moves through, resolve each meeting separately.

Ending your turn on the same space as another player's boat is not a meeting.

Building Bridges

Some actions let you build Bridges. Bridges are placed on a canal between 2 building docks, over the cost icon. Each canal can only have 1 Bridge. Each player is limited to 2 Bridges. Bridges can be placed anywhere regardless of where their boats are.

Bridges enforce the following rules:

• Travel over that cost icon is now free for all.
• When the player who placed it passes, they gain 1 coin (regardless of prior cost).
• When other players pass it, they gain 1 Intrigue. This isn't a meeting, and the passing player can't pay a scroll instead.

Gaining Missions & Paying Taxes

During the game, you can draw new Missions by visiting 'St Mark's Square' and 'The Doge's Palace.'

When you do, you must pay taxes: 1 coin for every Mission card you already have, completed or otherwise. In the case of St. Mark's Square (where you can gain coins) you can use these coins towards your taxes.

Then, you may draw 2 Missions, keep 1, and return the other to the bottom of the Mission deck. You may have, at most, 3 uncompleted Mission cards in your hand at any one time, and may not draw a 4th if your hand is full.

You may gain a new Mission via an Influence card, in which case you don't pay taxes, but you only draw 1 Mission instead of choosing.

Fulfilling Missions

In step 4 of your turn (after stopping, but before advancing or activating) you may complete a mission. To do so, you must reveal a mission card bearing the name of the building you're stopped at from their hand, pay the indicated cubes from the active boat, and pay scrolls if applicable. You then gain the coins and VP shown on the card.

Ongoing Effects: Missions have ongoing benefits listed at the bottom of the card, that are available to you once they're completed.

When the mission is completed (and only then) you may slot it under 1 of the 3 slots on your player board. If a slot is already filled, you may replace the existing card with the one you're handing in, archiving the older ability, or archive the one you're completing.

Ongoing effects are active from the time the mission is completed.

When a completed mission is archived, its ability is no longer used. Tuck it beneath the edge of your player board face down - you'll still need to know how many missions you have completed for taxes and certain abilities.

Favour Cards

If it's your first game, we recommend giving each player a Favour Card (text-side up). A Favour card can be flipped (only once) at any time during the game to award the player 5 Coins or 2 Scrolls. If unflipped at game end, they're worth 4 VP.

If an experienced player desires a handicap, they may play without a Favour Card.

Influence Cards

Some abilities let you draw Influence cards. When instructed to "Gain an Influence card", draw 2, keep 1, and place the other at the bottom of the deck. There's no hand limit for Influence cards.

One card may be played at the beginning of your turn. Played Influence cards are discarded. When the draw deck empties, shuffle the discard pile and create a new deck.

Clarifications

Bribe the Foreman (x2): Move 1 Assistant that you've already placed onto the 4th space of the building they're on. Gain 3 Intrigue. This doesn't advance other Assistants on the same building. Don't activate the building.

Organise Stocks (x2): When you play this, but before the rest of your turn, you may move cubes between your boats, regardless of their locations. Additionally, gain 1 cube of any colour in either boat.

Work Overtime (x2): As Influence cards must be played at the start of your turn, Work Overtime can only be used for one of the buildings your boats are next to at the start of your turn.

Bid for Contracts (x2): You may gain a Mission card or 2 VP. If you choose a Mission, don't pay taxes, and only draw 1. If you already have 3 uncompleted Missions in hand, you must choose the points.

Bribe Councillors (x2): When you play this card, immediately move up 1 space on the Major Council track. Do not move further if you have more Intrigue than others. Optionally gain 1 Intrigue to move your tracker 1 more space up the track.

Conduct Research (x2): Increase the Scrolls tracker on your player board by 3. Scrolls gained past 10 are lost.

Trade Information (x2): Immediately gain 2 coins and 1 Influence card (drawing 2, keeping 1, and returning the other to the bottom of the deck).

Give Testimony (x2): Lower the Intrigue tracker on your player board by 3. You may not reduce your Intrigue amount past 0.

Build a Bridge (x2): Build a bridge according to the rules above. Alternatively, you may gain 2 VP for each Bridge in your colour that's already built (i.e. on the main board.)

Hire the Spy (x2): The Spy lets you use all the abilities on a building as you pass. You can't activate an Assistant on the same building. The Spy is discarded at the end of your turn whether you used it or not.

Promote Workers (x2): Choose 1 Assistant you've already placed and advance it 1 space, pushing up any assistants above it (unless it's moving into the last space.) Don't activate the building.

End of the Game

End Game Triggers

The end of the game is triggered when the last mission card in the deck is drawn, or when a tracker on the Major Council reaches the end game marker space. When either happens:

• Finish the current round (i.e. play until the player to the right of the 1st player has finished their turn).
• Play 2 additional rounds.

Move the End Game Marker from the council track to the 'End Game Triggered' spot on the board, and progress it one space each round (to 'Penultimate Round' and 'Last Round') to keep track of this.

Scoring

At game end, perform these steps in order:

1. Score Major Council: Players earn the rewards listed at the bottom of the Major Council track according to their position (if tied, players all score the average of their positions, rounding down where necessary - i.e. if 2 players tie for 1st in a 2P game, they'd each score 5 (from 9+2=11/5.5)). A player on space '0' of the council track can't score regardless of their position. (Scoring by position: places 1-6 score 0, places 7-8 score 1/2 the Major Council place rounded up, places 9+ score their Major Council place.)
2. Score Assistants' Influence: Everyone who placed 7 or 8 assistants scores VP equal to half (round up) their Major Council track value. Everyone who placed 9-10 assistants scores equal to their Major Council track value.
3. Reduce Intrigue: Players may spend Scrolls & Coins to reduce their Intrigue level (2 Scrolls / 4 Coins per 1 Intrigue removed). Players can do this while observing other players - if a player can't reduce their Intrigue further, others will only need to reduce their Intrigue 1 point lower to avoid arrest (and can score their remaining coins).
4. Measure Wealth: Each player converts every 4 coins they have into 1 VP (any spare coins or leftover scrolls do not score VP).
5. Doge's Favour: If playing with Favour cards (see Setup), award 4 VP to each player who hasn't flipped their Favour card.
6. Arrest: The player with the most Intrigue (if it's more than zero) is arrested by the Inquisition and eliminated. If 2+ players share the most (non-zero) intrigue, the one further behind in turn order (farthest from the starting player) is eliminated. Regardless of points, an arrested player can't win.
7. Declare a Winner: The player with the most VP wins. If tied, the one further behind in turn order wins.

Two-Player Rules: The Smugglers

Always keep the A and B decks separate.

Additional Setup

As well as the regular rules for setup, in a 2-player game:

• Give each player 1 of the 2 Smuggler decks (A or B), and shuffle them.
• Take the boats of a 3rd colour. Place an 'A' token in one and a 'B' token in the other.
• Keep the 10 Assistants of the 3rd colour nearby. These are the Smugglers' assistants.

How the Smugglers Work

After each turn (excluding the Prologue rounds), the active player:

• Draws 2 cards from their Smuggler deck.
• Chooses 1 to play, and returns the other to the top of the deck.
• Moves the Smuggler boat with the corresponding token (A/B) to the location shown on the card (when first drawing from the deck, simply place the boat there). Ignore this information in a 2-player game.

Smuggler movement rules: Smugglers move using the cheapest path in coins (Bridged canals are free, but the first move for Smugglers isn't) to the building on the card. If there are multiple paths of equal cost, the active player chooses. Number of meetings do not affect the cost of the path.

If the Smuggler boat meets either players' boat(s), it's a meeting, and only the met player must gain Intrigue or spend a Scroll.

If the Smuggler boat ends its movement on either players' boat, it awards VP as usual. If it finishes movement on the other Smuggler boat, the active player's opponent gets the VP.

After finishing movement the Smuggler advances a Smuggler Assistant, placing 1 if there isn't one already. As with regular advancement, this can 'push up' other players' assistants. Once all 10 Smuggler assistants have been placed, it no longer places new ones.

Smugglers don't:

• Activate locations.
• Gain resources, VP, Intrigue or Scrolls.

Meeting Smugglers' Boats: If either player meets a Smuggler boat during their turn, it's a normal meeting where only the active player must gain 1 Intrigue / spend 1 Scroll.

When the Deck Runs Out: When 1 card remains in a Smuggler deck, it must be picked. Afterwards, shuffle it together with the cards in the discard to form the deck, and continue play.

Abilities & Smugglers: Abilities referring to "meeting other players' boats" work against Smuggler boats as well, but the player moving the Smuggler boat is never forced to pay Scrolls or gain Intrigue.

Solo Mode: The Doge

Solo rules by Dávid Turczi and Xavi Bordes.

Introduction

In the 16th century, The Doge acted as the head of state for Venice, dealing with everything from the economy to the military. Doges varied in how they benefitted Venice. Some oversaw great military victories, while others used their power and influence to amass their own fortune.

While historical records skew in favour of positivity, Doges were easily corruptible. Their small allowance meant they were allowed to continue to operate private businesses. Lifetime terms meant they didn't need to maintain favour with the public, and while the Inquisition kept a watchful eye over everyone else, Doges were only ever investigated after they'd died.

In the Venice solo mode, you play against a Doge using everything in his power to crush rival merchants and build a fortune for his family. At game end, only you are at risk of arrest - meaning you must be the better merchant and the better person in the eyes of the Inquisition.

Note on the text: Throughout these rules, 'you' is used to refer to the lone human player, while 'it' or 'The Doge' refers to the solo opponent.

Setup

1. You'll play with the pieces of 1 colour (10 assistants, 2 boats, etc.), while the Doge will use the pieces of 2 colours (the Doge's fleet, 20 assistants, 4 boats etc.).
2. Setup a player board for the Doge. Set Intrigue to 0, and Scrolls to 2. Place the End Game Marker on space '6' of the Scrolls track - he can't have more than 5.
3. Shuffle both Smuggler decks, and add 'A' and 'B' tokens to the corresponding gondolas.
4. Place 2 counters (1 per Doge colour) on the Major Council track, and 1 counter for the Doge (1 of the 2 colours) on the VP track.
5. Perform the 'Prologue' rounds, starting with you: Place a boat and activate it as normal. Then reveal 2 cards from each Smuggler deck (in alternating order), placing all 4 Doge boats on the revealed locations. Place their assistants but don't activate the buildings. If one of the Doge boats is placed on yours, you receive VP as normal. If one of the Doge boats is placed on another, the Doge receives the VP. Then, you place your 2nd boat and activate it as normal. (If at any point you place your boat on a Doge boat, the Doge receives the VP.)
6. Randomly remove 3 cards from each Smuggler deck. Return them to the box without looking. Shuffle the revealed cards back into their decks (both decks should now have 9 cards in them).
7. Shuffle both the Mission and Influence decks and place them face-down nearby (no need to remove cards from the Mission deck).
8. Shuffle the Doge deck, and remove 2 random cards. Return them to the box without looking.
9. Reveal 3 cards from the Doge deck and put them in a row somewhere in the play area.
10. Give yourself 6 coins and 1 Scroll, as usual. Setup your player board / point trackers as in a regular game.

How to Play

On your turn, perform actions as normal. Then, after each of your turns:

1. Draw 2 cards from the 'A' Smuggler deck, and choose 1 (returning the other to the top).
2. Move either (you choose) of the 'A' Doge boats to that location.

Doge movement rules: The Doge uses the cheapest path in coins (bridged canals are free, the first move isn't) to the building on the card. If there are multiple paths of equal cost, the player chooses.

If during this movement the Doge meets the player's boat(s), it's a meeting, and the player (but not Doge) must gain 1 Intrigue or spend 1 Scroll. If the Doge meets his own boat(s), it doesn't count as a meeting. If the Doge ends its movement on your boat, it awards VP. If the Doge lands on another Doge boat, he gains VP. Two Doge boats of the same colour may share a space, and score him 1 VP.

3. Advance a Doge assistant (the same colour as the boat) on the location.
4. The Doge scores 0/1/2/4 VP according to the assistant's position on the location, after advancement (0 for the 1st space, 1 for the 2nd space, and so on). Ignore the building effect. Keep the resolved card visible.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 with the 'B' Smuggler deck.
6. Each resolved Smuggler card shows 1 of the 3 Doge cards to ignore. Resolve the 1 or 2 Doge cards that aren't ignored by these icons.
7. Discard the resolved Doge card(s). Refill the row with cards from the Doge deck.
8. Discard the resolved Smuggler cards to their respective discard piles.

How the Doge gains Intrigue: The Doge tracks Scrolls and Intrigue. He may have up to 5 scrolls. Scrolls above 5 are lost.

During Smuggler activations, the Doge doesn't gain Intrigue (you must still pay scrolls to avoid Intrigue from meetings). During your turn, for each Smuggler boat you meet (either colour) the Doge must spend 1 Scroll, or otherwise gain 1 Intrigue.

If the Doge reaches 8 intrigue, he loses 2 VP and 4 Intrigue.

The Doge doesn't gain Intrigue from Bridges, but does when you perform actions that give Intrigue to "all other players."

Additional rule: When you draw a mission, return the top card of the Doge deck to the box unseen.

Mission effect clarifications:

• Mission 3: Works on Bridges built by the Doge.
• Mission 7: Works on the Doges' boats.
• Mission 14: The Doge now must spend 1 Scroll or gain 1 Intrigue when a Doge boat meets you on their turn.
• Mission 20: Ignore the Doge card effect that unconditionally gives you Intrigue.
• Mission 21: You may spend cubes on Smugglers' turns. You may spend cubes instead of scrolls for the Doge card that requires you to pay Scrolls or gain Intrigue.

Scoring

The game ends when you can't refill the Doge's row to 3 cards. Take 1 more turn, which isn't followed by the Doge. Then:

1. Score the 3 markers on the Major Council as in a 3-player game. The Doge scores for both his markers.
2. The Doge doesn't score for influence of the assistants, but you do (see End of the Game, Scoring).
3. You may pay to reduce your Intrigue (see End of the Game, Scoring).
4. If you have more or equal Intrigue to the Doge (as long as it is more than 0) you lose.
5. Gain 1 VP for every 4 coins you have remaining.
6. If you have more VP than the Doge, you've won!

Difficulty scaling: Play with the above rules for your 1st solo game. If you want an additional challenge, try these:

• Draw 1-2 extra Smuggler cards from each deck during the Prologue, and add Assistants to those buildings.
• Give the Doge 1VP (not 0) for Assistants on the 1st position.
• Start the Doge with 3 scrolls.
• Don't play an additional turn at game end.

If you find it too hard, try these adjustments:

• Don't add Smuggler assistants in the Prologue.
• Give the Doge 3VP (not 4) for Assistants in the 4th position.
• Give the Doge 1 scroll at the start of the game.
• Play 2 additional turns when the game ends.

Gameplay Examples

Here are some examples of how the game plays, taken from the middle of a hypothetical 3-player game.

Blue needs a purple cube to complete a mission. They won't be able to complete it this turn, but the last cube is within reach. They:

• Move their Gondolier into the boat they have docked at the Market.
• Move to the Minor Council. As it's their 1st movement, they don't need to pay the cost of the canal.
• Declare that they're passing the Minor Council. As they've placed an assistant there previously, they can activate it, taking an orange cube as they pass.
• Spend 2 coins to then move to the Docks, decide to dock: first advancing (in this case, placing an assistant on the 1st space, as they don't have one there already) and activating it to gain a purple cube.

Purple wants to pursue the Major Council strategy this game, so that's where they're headed - passing by Blue on the way to ensure they have enough Intrigue.

• Moving over the first canal doesn't cost them anything as it's their 1st move.
• When they get to the Docks, they declare they're passing. This triggers a meeting: Blue pays a scroll to avoid Intrigue, but Purple takes it. Purple has no assistant on the Docks, so they cannot activate it.
• Purple pays one coin to move to the Major Council, and declares they're docking.
• As it's a communal building, the Major Council can't have assistants on it. Purple simply activates it, gaining 1 space on the council track, +1 for each person with less Intrigue than them (2). They pay 4 coins to build a bridge, and place it on the canal next to the Major Council (though they could build it anywhere).

Orange realises they can complete their 1st mission this turn if they get the requisite cubes and take them to the Storehouse. They:

• Move their Gondolier into the boat they have docked at the Court.
• Move it to the Library, where their 2nd boat is docked. As it's their 1st move, they don't need to pay the cost. It's a meeting with their own boat, so there's no Intrigue - but, they have the opportunity to move cubes between boats. They take the purple cube from their docked boat, and place it in their active boat.
• As they've placed an assistant there previously, they can activate it, and take a purple cube as they pass.
• They spend 2 coins to move to the Storehouse, and declare they're docking. Before advancing the building, they hand in their mission - paying 2 purple cubes, 1 silver cube and a scroll from their active boat, and gaining 5 Victory Points, 5 Coins, and placing the card beneath their player board to gain its ability.
• Then, they advance the building - placing an assistant on the first space and taking an orange cube.

Blue realises the destination for their mission is 1 free move away - so they pay the 3 coins required to keep their gondolier in the same boat, and move.

• They need a Scroll to complete their mission, and they spent their only Scroll to avoid Intrigue when Purple passed them. Luckily, they still have their Doge's Favour card - so they flip it to receive 2 Scrolls.
• They complete their mission at The Mint - before advancing on the building. They hand in 2 orange cubes, 1 purple cube, and a Scroll, and gain 5 points and 5 coins.
• They put the Mission card beneath their player board, then place an assistant on the building and activate it. Purple already had an assistant there, and it is pushed up.

Purple continues to focus on Intrigue. They move their gondolier to their other boat, and move it to the Council of 10 - past the Mint, where, thanks to Blue, they now have an assistant on a 2nd spot.

• The 1st move doesn't cost them anything.
• At the Mint, they declare they're passing. This triggers a meeting - Blue sees Purple's strategy, and decides they can afford to take the Intrigue, so both players gain 1.
• As they pass the Mint, Purple activates it - gaining a silver cube from the 1st space, and an Intrigue and 4 coins from the 2nd space.
• Purple pays a coin to move to the Council of 10, and declares they're docking. They haven't got an assistant on the Council of 10 yet, so they place one, and gain a Silver cube. Blue has a boat docked there, so Blue gains a point. Blue's assistant is pushed up by Purple. As Purple is docking, this doesn't count as a Meeting.

Orange sees that both Blue and Purple are ahead of them in Intrigue - and wants to keep it that way! By moving to the Court, they can begin to give the others more Intrigue with the building's 2nd action, making it more likely that one of the other players will be arrested at game end. This also takes them closer to the 4th space on the Court, where they can sell Scrolls for points - a useful ability to have next to the Library! Setting up synergies like this early on in the game is a crucial part of success.

• They move their Gondolier to their unoccupied boat for free and make the free movement from the Library to the Court.
• They declare they're docking, so they can advance on the building. They already have an assistant here, so they move them to the 2nd space, and then activate the building - gaining a silver cube, and giving all other players 1 Intrigue.

Blue wants to also begin setting up synergies, and work towards their next mission in the mean time. By having assistants higher up on the Docks and Market tiles, they'll be able to get cubes and coins easily, and turn them into points.

• They move their Gondolier to their unoccupied boat for free.
• They make the free movement from the Council of 10 to the Minor Council, and gain an orange cube as they pass.
• They pay 1 coin to move to the Market, and declare they're docking.
• They advance their assistant to the 2nd space, and activate - gaining 1 Orange cube, and spending 1 coin to gain the 2 cubes they need (a purple and a silver).

Purple sees an opportunity to get themselves some quick coin at the Mint so they can begin investing in Bridges.

• They move their Gondolier to their unoccupied boat for free.
• They make the free movement from the Major Council to the Church, passing under their Bridge and gaining a coin from it, and gaining a Silver cube as they pass the Church. If it were another player's bridge, they would gain 1 Intrigue. Either way, the canal is now free to pass over, regardless of whether or not it is your 1st movement.
• They pay 1 coin to move to the Mint, and declare they're docking.
• Blue gets a point again as they already have a boat here. As Purple is docking, this doesn't count as a meeting.
• They advance their assistant to the 3rd space, and then activate - gaining 1 Silver cube from the 1st space. Purple decides that 1 Intrigue and 4 coins is quite enough, so they decide to activate the 2nd action on the Mint but not the 3rd (identical) action.

Building Actions

Communal Buildings

St Mark's Square: Draw a mission (draw 2, keep 1, return the other to the bottom of the deck) and gain 2 coins. A player is limited to 3 missions in hand at any given time. If you draw a mission, you must pay taxes: 1 coin per Mission you already have, whether or not you've completed it. You may draw a mission but not gain coins, and vice versa.

The Doge's Palace: Draw a mission (draw 2, keep 1, return the other to the bottom of the deck) and gain 1 scroll and 1 VP. A player is limited to 3 missions in hand at any given time. If you draw a mission, you must pay taxes: 1 coin per Mission you already have, whether or not you've completed it. You may draw a mission but not gain scrolls / VP, and vice-versa.

The Major Council: Advance your piece on the council track once, then once more for each player with less intrigue than you. Tracker pieces may share spaces on this track. You may also pay 4 coins to build a Bridge. You may advance on the track but not build a bridge, and vice-versa.

Building Tiles (grouped by resource)

The Market:

1. Gain ceramics (orange)
2. Spend 1 coin to gain any 2 resource cubes from the supply
3. Spend any 1 resource from the activating boat to gain 4 coins
4. Lose 5 coins to get 5 VP

The Monastery:

1. Gain ceramics (orange)
2. Gain 2 scrolls
3. Gain an Influence card (draw 2, keep 1, return the other to bottom of deck)
4. Gain 2 VP

Minor Council:

1. Gain ceramics (orange)
2. Advance on the Council Track by 1
3. Lose 1 Intrigue
4. Score 1 VP for each completed Mission you have

The Storehouse:

1. Gain ceramics (orange)
2. Convert any of the resources in the activating boat into any other resources
3. Gain 3 coins
4. Gain 2 VP

The Docks:

1. Gain cloth (purple)
2. Gain 2 coins
3. Gain 1 coin and 1 VP
4. Spend resources from the active boat to gain 1 VP / cube spent

The Consulate:

1. Gain cloth (purple)
2. Lose 1 coin and gain 1 intrigue to get an Influence card (draw 2, keep 1, return the other to bottom of deck)
3. Gain 1 VP
4. Gain 4 VP if you have 4+ Influence cards in hand

The Library:

1. Gain cloth (purple)
2. Gain 2 scrolls
3. Lose 2 Intrigue
4. Gain 2 scrolls and 1 VP

The Senate:

1. Gain cloth (purple)
2. Gain 1 Intrigue and 2 scrolls
3. Gain 1 scroll and every other player gains 1 Intrigue
4. Gain 3 VP

The Church:

1. Gain silver (grey)
2. Lose 1 Intrigue
3. Lose 1 Intrigue to gain 1 VP
4. Lose 1 Intrigue to gain 2 VP

The Court:

1. Gain silver (grey)
2. Every other player gains 1 Intrigue
3. Gain an Influence card (draw 2, keep 1, return the other to bottom of deck)
4. Spend 3 scrolls to score 5 VP

The Mint:

1. Gain silver (grey)
2. Gain 1 Intrigue and 4 coins
3. Gain 1 Intrigue and 4 coins
4. Gain 2 coins and 1 VP

Council of 10:

1. Gain silver (grey)
2. Gain 1 VP for each player with more Intrigue than you
3. Build a bridge or gain 2 VP
4. Lose 3 Intrigue