Gameplay
The map, corporations, game modes, auctions and four-phase turn.
Edition note
This guide follows the Version 12, September 2025 first-print rules available for reference. The designer later described a substantial rewrite and changes to cards and gameplay before the crowdfunding release. Until that final rulebook and components are available for comparison, check uncertain card wording against the physical copy and treat the BGG clarifications on this guide as applying to that first-print ruleset.
The board and regions
The Middlesea map contains Europe and Africa. Europe has three regions and nine mining territories; Africa has five regions and fifteen territories. Each region contains three territories. 
Territories have gold, silver or bronze tiers: higher tiers provide greater output but usually cost more to exploit. The board marks ports and sea routes, but the printed sea lines are not vessel movement routes: vessel-marker placement is irrelevant, and a 
Vessel can reach any port (designer clarification).
Africa’s remote regions may require a 
Road, a 
Water Pipeline, or both to operate at full value. European mines do not need those links, and may qualify for a limited 
Government Incentive when activated.
Corporations
Each player chooses one corporation and takes its Dashboard, structures, Character Guide and Action deck. The four asymmetric corporations are:
| Corporation | Market Advantage |
|---|---|
| ARDEVUR Commodities | Explores without a License card. |
| G.R.E.A.T. Mining | Exploits without a  Workforce card. |
| Machine Corp | Exploits without a  Machinery card. |
| Africa Mining Union | Explores without a  Geologist card. |
Your permanent Market Advantage counts as one of your 
Development cards for the four-card hand limit and prevents holding a duplicate of that card type.
Game modes
Choose a mode and apply its changes from Modes & Variants before setup.
Round and turn order
A round is a full cycle in which each player takes one turn. On your turn, resolve these phases in order; if you skip a phase, you lose it:
- Extraction — collect output from eligible
Active Mines, subject to storage and regional limits. - Strategy — you may pass, take one or two available Development cards, draw one Action card, or take a
Phone Call card for this turn only. If you choose Development cards while at the four-card limit, return the excess before moving to Development; you cannot hold extra cards temporarily for use later in the turn (designer clarification). - Development — take one development action, including exploring, exploiting, building, upgrading, or selling locally. A global sale replaces the Development action.
- Reward — collect one eligible
Strategic Target or Government Incentive, exchange a held card for its reward, or use a Phone Call to shift the Target Grid.
You may use at most one Action card on your own turn. An Action card may instead be played against another player’s turn if its timing allows and no other player has already played an Action card against that turn.
Territory auctions
At the opening auction, reveal Territory cards equal to the number of players. Everyone rolls; the highest result chooses one revealed Territory, then refill the display. Repeat until everyone has two. A player cannot own all three territories in one region unless a specific Action card allows it.
After every player has at least two Active Mines, a player may call the second auction before their turn. Players then bid for enough Territories to reach four each; a player who already has three takes one, while a player with one can take three. The second auction also refreshes the Development-card selection order. If an Action card has left a player short of the ordinary trigger, the designer says to treat their lost mine as developed for this eligibility so the auction is not locked; this clarification is for the first-print ruleset (BGG ruling).
Action cards
Each corporation has a separate 16-card deck. Shuffle it once at setup; used cards are not returned to play. Keep cards secret, with a maximum of two in Standard mode. A card’s timing label governs when it may be used. An effect can accompany an action or replace the action for its named phase. Continuous effects stay face up until they end. Local sales cannot be disrupted by Action cards.
See Targets and Rewards for the Phone Call card and Cards & Components for the complete face inventory and its outstanding scan gaps.