World Wonders Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• GAME COMPONENTS
• GAME SETUP
• GAME OVERVIEW and ROUNDS
• ACTIONS
• TURN ORDER
  • Example:
    • The turn order in the following round will be:
• PLACING PIECES ON THE MAP
• ADMINISTRATING RESOURCES
• LOANS
• MONUMENTS
• END OF GAME and SCORING
• ADVANCED PLAY
• SOLO PLAY
• A BIT OF HISTORY
  • Ziggurat
  • Giza Pyramid Complex
  • Obelisks
  • Trojan Horse
  • Ishtar Gate
  • Theater
  • The Parthenon
  • The Port of Carthage
  • Aqueduct
  • Petra
  • The Lighthouse of Alexandria
  • The Great Wall of China
  • Roman Bridge
  • The Colosseum
  • Hippodrome
  • El Castillo / Chichen Itza
  • Shitennõ-ji
  • Angkor Wat
  • Moai
  • Machu Picchu
  • Thien Mu Pagoda

GAME COMPONENTS

• 21 Wooden Monuments
• 5 Map Boards and
• 5 Resource Boards
• 1 Main and 2 Player Expansion Boards
• 3 Player Aids
• 10 Wooden Towers
• 25 Wooden Resource Markers
• 5 Player Markers
• 2 Turn Order Pedestals
• 21 Monument Cards
• 15 Public Objective Cards
• 14 Solo Play Cards
• 80 Building Tiles
• 5 Loan Tiles
• 35 Long Roads
• 20 Sets of Short Roads

GAME SETUP

A. Place the Main Board in the middle of the table, and add the necessary Player Expansion Boards and Building Tiles according to the number of players:

• For 1 to 3 players, use only the Main Board and its Building Tiles;
• For 4 players, add the 4th Player Expansion Board and its Building Tiles; and
• For 5 players, add the 4th and 5th Player Expansion Boards and their Building Tiles.

B. Shuffle the Building Tiles by shape and place each stack face down onto the position indicated on its board. Reveal the top tile of each stack and place it on the table directly below.

C. Place the 1st and 2nd Player Turn Order Pedestals onto their respective spaces on the Main Board.

D. Each player chooses their color. Draw their Player Markers randomly and position them in that order on the Turn Order track on the Main Board.

E. Place Long Road Tiles and Sets of Short Road Tiles below the revealed Building Tiles, according to the number of players:

• For 1 or 2 players, place 1 Long Road and 1 set of Short Roads;
• For 3 players, place 2 Long Roads and 1 set of Short Roads;
• For 4 players, place 2 Long Roads and 2 sets of Short Roads; and
• For 5 players, place 3 Long Roads and 2 sets of Short Roads.

Set the remaining Road Tiles aside for future rounds.

F. Place 1 Tower alongside the starting Road Tiles. Set the rest of the Towers aside for future rounds.

G. Shuffle the Monument Cards. Reveal 3 and put their respective Monuments onto each one. Leave the rest of the deck face down nearby with the rest of the Monuments.

H. Place the Loan Tiles in a pile face up next to the Main Board.

I. Place 1 Map Board in front of each player. All players must use the same side: Side A has a lake in the middle of the map; Side B has a different river on each.

J. Give each player 1 Long Road Tile. This tile must be placed on the player’s map during their first turn of the game – at no cost – at the same time as any piece(s) purchased with their first turn’s action.

Note: The first Road Tile placed on the map must be adjacent to the "Sidewalk" along the bottom of the map.

K. Give each player the Resource Board of their color to place next to their Map Board. All players must use the same side of this board, A or B.

L. Give each player 1 Gold, 1 Population, and 3 Resource Markers to place onto the starting position (0) of each track on their Resource Board.

GAME OVERVIEW and ROUNDS

Players begin each round with 7 Gold to spend on constructing their City. Each player performs 1 Action per turn, purchasing an item to place on their map in an attempt to obtain the most Victory Points at the end of the game (see page 5, END OF GAME and SCORING).

Once a player has spent all their Gold (usually after several turns), they are automatically out of the current round. Once all players have spent their Gold, the current round ends and a new round begins. Follow these steps to update the table for a new round:

1. Discard all Building Tiles from the previous round that were not purchased;
2. Reveal a new Building Tile from each stack onto the table directly below;
3. Replace all Road Tiles that were purchased, according to the number of players;
4. Replace the Tower if it was purchased;
5. Rearrange the Player Markers according to the Turn Order rules on the following page, and, if purchased, return the Turn Order Pedestals to their respective spaces on the Main Board; and
6. Return all players’ Gold Markers to the (0) position on their Resource Boards. Population and Resource Markers remain where they are.

The game ends either after 10 rounds – when there are no more Building Tiles on the board(s) to reveal – OR at the end of the round in which any player reaches the last (purple) space on their Population track. There are 5 different ways to score points in the game: Population, least-produced Resource, Monuments, Natural Resources, and City Districts (Buildings on the map that are completely surrounded). The winner of the game is the player with the most Victory Points!

ACTIONS

On their turn, players must use their action to purchase one of the following items:

• 1 Long Road Tile, paying 1 Gold;
• 1 Set of Short Road Tiles, paying 1 Gold;
• 1 Building Tile, paying the cost in Gold indicated on its stack;
• The Tower, paying 2 Gold;
• The 1st Player or 2nd Player Turn Order Pedestal, paying 1 Gold; or
• 1 Monument, spending all their remaining Gold!

Note: With the exception of Monuments, purchased items are not replenished during the round!

In addition to their required action, players have the option to take out or pay off a Loan during their turn (see page 4, LOANS). In both cases this is a free action, and during that turn the player must also purchase an item from the list above (unless they spent all their remaining Gold in the act of paying off their Loan).

Note: If a player still has Gold but cannot purchase anything from the table during their turn, their round is over!

TURN ORDER

Each player is represented by a Marker on the Turn Order track matching the color of their Resource Board. Although turn order is determined randomly, we recommend putting less-experienced players at the front to begin the game.

It is important to keep each Marker in its position from the previous round until its new position has been determined. At the start of a new round, follow these rules to update the player turn order:

1. Players who purchased 1st and 2nd Player Turn Order Pedestals now occupy these positions on the Turn Order track.
2. Remaining players are arranged according to their Population, from lowest (first) to highest (last).
   • If two or more players have the same Population, these are arranged according to their number of Monuments, from least (first) to most (last).
   • If two or more players remain tied, their turn order from the previous round relative to one another is maintained.

Whenever a player purchases a Turn Order Pedestal, they should immediately place it underneath their Marker to indicate who it belongs to.

Tip: Once a player is out of the current round, their Marker can be moved to the side of the Turn Order track to make it easier to see who is next to play.

Example:

During their turn, the Yellow player buys the 1st Player Turn Order Pedestal, placing it underneath their Marker. Having spent the last of their Gold, they move their Marker and the Pedestal to the side of the Turn Order track to show that they are no longer participating in this round. During their turn, the Green player spends all their remaining Gold to buy a Monument, so they also move their Marker off to the side.

The turn order in the following round will be:

• Since Yellow purchased the 1st Player Turn Order Pedestal, they will occupy that position.
• Of the four remaining players, White and Red both have the lowest Population. Since White has fewer Monuments, their Marker is placed on the track ahead of Red’s.
• Of the two remaining players, Blue and Green both have the same Population and number of Monuments, so the relative order of their Markers is maintained at their new positions.

PLACING PIECES ON THE MAP

When purchasing pieces that go on the Map Board, they must be placed immediately onto unoccupied spaces and adhere to the following rules:

• A Road Tile must always be adjacent to another Road Tile, the Sidewalk running along the base of the map, or a Tower. Short Road Tiles placed on the same turn can be separate from one another if they observe these rules.
• A Long Road Tile can be placed over water spaces, but it must start and end on land spaces! In this case, flip over the tile to the illustration of a Bridge. Bridges continue to be treated as Road Tiles and the same adjacency rules apply.
• A Tower must always be adjacent to something the player has already placed on their map, and must always be placed on top of a land space.
• A Building Tile must always be adjacent to a Road Tile, or to a Building Tile of the same type (color). They can be rotated as desired, but must always be placed on top of land spaces.

Each Monument has its own unique placement rules (see page 5, MONUMENTS).

Natural Resources are treated as land spaces and items can be placed on top of them. Not covering them, however, can provide extra points at the end of the game!

Tip: To speed up the game, the next player can start their turn before the previous player has finished placing the piece(s) they purchased on the map.

ADMINISTRATING RESOURCES

Players spend Gold whenever they purchase an item on their turn. Each player’s Gold Marker must record their expenses during the round, advancing along its track on the Resource Board until reaching the maximum value of 7 (or 9; see LOANS). When this happens, the player’s round is over and they cannot perform further actions until the next round.

When a player purchases a Building or Monument, they must immediately increase their City’s production by advancing the markers of the Resources pictured on its tile or card one space to the right for each symbol. There are 3 types of Resources in the game: Food, Ceramics and Gears.

Whenever any of a player’s three Resource Markers lands on or passes over a Population symbol on its track, their Population Marker moves one space to the right: as a city’s production increases, so does its population! If any player’s City reaches maximum occupancy (the final space of the Population track), the game ends at the conclusion of the current round!

LOANS

A player may take out a loan on any turn before they have spent all of their Gold. This is a free action – in addition to the turn’s compulsory action – and provides 2 extra Gold: over the course of the current round they can spend up to 9 Gold rather than 7! A loan can be paid off in a later round at a cost of 3 Gold. This is a free action as well, but if the player still has Gold they must also use their turn’s compulsory action to purchase an item. Anyone unable to repay their loan before the end of the game is penalized 2 Victory Points!

Players receive a face-down Loan Tile when they take out a loan; the tile is returned face up to the pile when repaid.

Note: A player may only take out one load at time - to take out another load, they must first pay off the loan they currently have!

MONUMENTS

While supplies last, 3 Monuments Cards must be face up and available for purchase at all times. When a player buys a Monument they acquire both the card and its piece(s), so immediately reveal a new Monument Card from the deck and place the corresponding Monument on top of it. To purchase a Monument, a player must fulfill all the placement requirements indicated on its card and they must spend all their remaining Gold! As a consequence, whenever someone buys a Monument their round ends.

Monument Cards are separated into three parts:

1. The Resources, Population and/or Victory Points gained by purchasing this Monument;
2. The spaces and type(s) of terrain the Monument must be placed onto, and the orientation of its components; and
3. The adjacencies required to place the Monument on the map – each feature shown on this part of the card must be laterally adjacent to at least one side of the Monument at the chosen location.

When a Monument has multiple components, one or more of them can be used to fulfill its adjacency requirements. Monuments with multiple components can be arranged as the player sees fit, as long they are adjacent to one another or in some cases, with a space or piece of any type between its components.

Some Monuments CAN OR MUST be placed on water spaces, but note whether or not its piece must start and end on land spaces. In the case of an Aqueduct, its must also be adjacent to a water space.

END OF GAME and SCORING

If any player’s Marker reaches the final space on their Population track, the game ends at the end of the current round. Otherwise the game ends after completing ten rounds, as there will be no Building Tiles left on the board to reveal. In either case, flip the Main Board to its reverse side and use each player’s Marker to tally the final scores:

1. Population: Players earn 1 Victory Point for each Ring their Marker reached or passed on the Population track.
2. Least Produced Resource: Players earn Victory Points for the lowest value on their three Resource tracks. For example, if a player’s Food, Ceramics, and Gear Markers are at values 8, 9, and 11, he earns 8 points.
3. Monuments: Players earn 1 Victory Point for each Ring on their Monument Cards.
4. Natural Resources: Players earn 1 Victory Point for every visible Natural Resource that is adjacent to at least one piece placed on their map.
5. City Districts: Players earn 1 Victory Point for each Building Tile that is surrounded on all sides by any feature other than green spaces. All its sides must be adjacent to other Building Tiles, Road Tiles, Monuments, Towers, Natural Resource spaces, Water spaces, the Sidewalk, or an edge of the map.
6. Loans: Players lose 2 Victory Points if they have an unpaid load.

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner! In case of a tie, the player with the most Monuments is declared the winner.

ADVANCED PLAY

For Advanced Play, simply include the Public Objective Cards. During game setup, shuffle this deck and place the top 3 cards face up alongside the Main Board. The rest of the deck can be returned to the box.

Public Objective Cards are separated into two parts:

• A. The depiction of the objective; and
• B. The quantity of Victory Points earned by the players who best complete the objective.

Victory Points are awarded at the end of the game to the players who do the best job of fulfilling the conditions on each Public Objective Card. If two or more players tie for 1st place, sum all the Victory Points (rings) the objective offer for 1st and 2nd place and distribute them evenly among these players (rounded up to the nearest whole number). If two or more players tie for 2nd place, each receives 1 Victory Point.

1. Have the largest green area surrounded by pieces placed on the map, Natural Resources and/or Water. The edges of the map and the Sidewalk are not valid for this objective!
2. Have the longest continuous Road (number of connected spaces).
3. Have the most Monuments.
4. Have the most Building Tiles adjacent to Natural Resources.
5. Have the most Building Tiles adjacent to Water.
6. Have the most Building Tiles of the type indicated.
7. Have the highest value on the track of the Resource indicated.
8. Have the most adjacent Building Tiles of the type indicated.
9. Have the most Building Tiles adjacent to the edge of the map. The Sidewalk is not valid for this objective!
10. Have a City District for each type of Building Tile. (If more than one player completes this objective, distribute its 4 Victory Points evenly among them.)

SOLO PLAY

For a single-player game, include the Solo Play Cards to simulate an Automaton opponent’s purchases. During setup, shuffle this deck and place it face down on the table within reach.

Prepare the table for a two-player game (see page 2, GAME SETUP) with these important differences:

• While supplies last, 2 Monuments Cards must be face up and available for purchase at all times, rather than 3.
• The Automation always takes the first turn of the round and the player always takes the final turn, so the Turn Order Pedestals can be left in the box.

Reveal 1 card from the deck on the Automaton’s turn. Each card is divided into sections and, starting with the uppermost, shows the item or items available for purchase that must be immediately discarded. When the player’s round comes to an end so does the Automaton’s, and a new round begins.

At the end of the game, the player tallies their Victory Points as usual. To find out if they defeated the Automaton:

• In easy mode: Sum the values of the 3 Resources on the player’s board.
• In hard mode: To this total add the Victory Points on the Automaton’s Monument Cards.

If you scored more points than the Automaton, you win!

A BIT OF HISTORY

Ziggurat

Ziggurats are temples in the form of terraced pyramids with ramps erected by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia. Dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE, it was believed that they were dwellings of the gods, being closer to heaven because of their height. Some modern scholars believe that the biblical Tower of Babel was a ziggurat.

Giza Pyramid Complex

Located on Egypt’s Giza Plateau, the complex – likely built during the 26th century BCE – is one of the world’s oldest constructions. Dominated by the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure that this trio of pharaohs had commissioned for their tombs, it is the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that remains intact.

Obelisks

Appearing in ancient Egypt around 2000 BCE, obelisks are commemorative pillars with a four-sided base and pyramidal tip. Originally monolithic (made from a single stone), they represented protection against negative energies and natural phenomena capable of triggering catastrophes.

Trojan Horse

Synonymous with the mythical Trojan War, the Trojan Horse was a large wooden horse constructed circa 1200 BCE by the Greek army as a tactic to conceal several dozen of their warriors. As legend has it, after it was brought inside the city of Troy as a war trophy, the Greek warriors hiding within came out during the night and opened the city’s gates for the rest of the army.

Ishtar Gate

King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon constructed the Ishtar Gate circa 575 BCE as a tribute to the goddess that bears its name. Finished with blue glazed bricks and decorated with extremely rich artistic embellishments, the gate was one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Theater

The first theater appeared in ancient Greece prior to 550 BC. Initially intended for temporary open-air performances, stages were made from wood so they could be assembled and disassembled. In ancient Rome they began to take on a permanent nature, built from brick and mortar.

The Parthenon

Constructed in the 5th century BCE, the Parthenon is a temple in Greece dedicated to the mythological goddess Athena. Symbolic of classical Greek architecture with its fluted columns, the Parthenon is still viewed today as one of the most beautiful cultural monuments in the world.

The Port of Carthage

Strategically located on the African coast in modern-day Tunisia, Carthage was the most important commercial center of the ancient Mediterranean and one of the most prosperous cities of the time. With the dual objectives of serving as both the navy’s seat of command and as a commercial harbor (trade being the Carthaginians’ principal economic activity), construction of the port began circa 300 BCE. Its circular structure allowed large vessels inside for inspection and repair before returning to the open sea.

Aqueduct

Many civilizations in antiquity used aqueducts, channels that carried water for a multitude of purposes such as public baths and fountains. Dating back to 312 BCE, Roman aqueducts are notable for their durability: even today it is still possible to find some that are partially in use.

Petra

The city of Petra is located in modern-day Jordan and was built by Arabs as early as the 5th century BCE. Constructed to be both a fortress and commercial center, it is famous for having been carved directly out of rock and also for its advanced water conduit system. Petra has, in addition to numerous monuments, a theater, museums, temples, tombs built into rock and altars for religious sacrifices. It is a World Heritage Site and was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World in 2007.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria

Erected between 280 and 247 BCE on the island of Pharos, the lighthouse of Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. A reference point for navigators measuring well over 100 meters in height, for centuries it was one of the tallest manmade structures in the world. With a square base, octagonal middle section and cylindrical peak housing a flame lit at night, the monument was topped by a statue of Poseidon, mythological Greek god of the sea (and ironically, the earthquakes that eventually led to its destruction).

The Great Wall of China

Another of the New 7 Wonders of the World, the Great Wall of China is one of that country’s top tourist attractions. Started in the 5th century BCE, the mostly-connected network of 21,196 kilometers of wall was expanded by latter dynasties until the 17th century CE. Its main objective was to protect the country from future invasions, in addition to increased border control and commerce.

Roman Bridge

Romans built arch-shaped bridges with stone and concrete, a revolution in ancient engineering: this construction method is among the most durable in the world. The first bridge of this type was constructed in Rome in the 2nd century BCE and some are still in use today.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum, completed in the year 80 CE, is an oval amphitheater in Rome and one of its most recognizable monuments. Representing all the grandeur of the Roman Empire, its construction allowed as many as 80 thousand people to gather in one place to watch spectacles, presentations, gladiator contests and even brutal forms of christian martyrs execution. Such was the ingenuity of the Colosseum’s oval structure that – in addition to offering good shade, visibility and acoustics – it could be evacuated in just three minutes.

Hippodrome

Hippodromes were structures designed by the Greek specifically for horse and chariot races, the latter a sport very popular in antiquity that dates back to at least the 7th century BCE when it was an Olympic event. Races were a part of several Greek and Roman religious festivals, but for the most part a hippodrome’s function was to provide entertainment with betting and spectacles.

El Castillo / Chichen Itza

Construction of the Maya temple synonymous with Chichen Itza began in the 6th century CE. Its square pyramidal shape served as a calendar by marking solstices and equinoxes, and its rectangular top section was the location of horrific ritual human sacrifice.

Shitennõ-ji

Established in 593 CE by Prince Shõtoku, Shitennõ-ji translates to Temple of the Four Heavenly Kings and is regarded as the first and oldest Buddhist temple in Japan. Including a Golden Pavilion, five-story pagoda and a covered corridor with three access gates, the temple’s central infrastructure has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries; it was last fully reconstructed in 1963.

Angkor Wat

Built between the 9th and 15th centuries CE, the city of Angkor in Cambodia is considered one of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures. A World Heritage Site covering 400 km², the complex – home to approximately half a million residents – was constructed as the political and religious center of the Khmer Empire and includes the temple of Angkor Wat and the royal palace.

Moai

Moai are monolithic statues only found on Easter Island, a remote Chilean possession in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Researchers estimate that approximately 900 of these huge figures were carved between 1250 and 1500 CE by the island’s native inhabitants, the Rapa Nui. It is believed that these giant monuments – the largest standing 10 meters tall and carved from tuff, a rock comprised of volcanic ash – were of religious and social significance due to their placement at sacred and ceremonial sites.

Machu Picchu

One of the New 7 Wonders the World, Machu Picchu is often referred to as The Lost City of the Incas. Constructed in the mid-15th century CE, its site high in the Peruvian Andes among sacred geographical features was likely chosen for its function as a religious site or royal estate.

Thien Mu Pagoda

This Buddhist temple was built in 1601 CE, and its iconic status in the region stems from a local legend about its construction. The most striking structure on its grounds today is the octagonal seven-story Phuoc Duyen Pagoda. Measuring 21 meters in height, it is the tallest structure of its kind in Vietnam and is considered the unofficial symbol of Hue, the imperial capital of the last Vietnamese dynasty.