Solo Mode — The Competition

Set up and run the Competition opponent, with Normal, Advanced and Expert difficulty.

Set up the Competition

Use the Solo side of the Main Board. Set up as a two-player game, except do not place blockers, use eight Plates, eight Jugs and eight Pots, and randomly place the Action Tiles so First Player and Play a Card are in the same row. Reveal two Starting Wheel/Resource combinations. The human player takes one as usual and is first in round one.

Choose an unused player color for the Competition. Return its other components to the box; it uses seven Craftswomen, its Donkey, +50 VP token and open Shop Card. Give it the nine Competition Cards. Put its Turn Order Marker opposite yours as shown in the rulebook setup image. Rulebook §12.1, pp. 16–17.

Shuffle the Competition deck and reveal cards until one directs where to place its Donkey in the Draft Area. Shuffle the cards again to form its deck. The Competition does not use the Main Board actions or gather resources; its cards direct worker placement, Donkey movement and pottery production/sales.

The Competition’s turn

On its turn, reveal a Competition Card and resolve its instructions in order:

1. Place a worker. Use the indicated Action Space. If it is empty, place one Competition Craftswoman. If it contains your worker, place two Competition workers, return yours to your supply and give the Competition 3 VP. If the Competition cannot return enough workers to bump yours, place one of its workers on the Special Action Space instead. If it has no available worker, it closes its Shop and gains 1 VP; on each later turn that round, it gains 1 VP.
2. Move the Competition Donkey. Follow its card’s preferred position and fallback. If the card shows a discard symbol, discard and refill the indicated adjacent Draft Area cards, except cards beneath your Donkey. Some cards leave the Competition Donkey in place and discard nothing.
3. Resolve piece actions. Use the cardback row for the current round. For each indicated piece type, the Competition takes one from supply if it has none; paints it if it has an unpainted one; or sells a painted one for normal market value, lowering the marker as usual. It never has more than one piece of each type and only sells painted pieces.

If the Competition runs out of cards, it closes its Shop and gains 1 VP; each later turn it gains 1 VP. When you bump workers back to an open Competition, they return to its available supply. When its Shop is closed, returned workers go onto its Shop Card and it gains 1 VP per worker.

Your turns and round end

Play your turns using the normal rules. Only one space is open for your marker on the right side of the Turn Order Track; using it costs two Perra Gorda tokens. If you do not take the First Player action in a round, the Competition is first next round. When the Competition is First Player during Market Update, roll the dice but do not reroll.

At round end, open the Competition’s shop, return its Craftswomen and put one in the box (it starts rounds 1/2/3 with 7/6/5), then shuffle its nine cards into a new deck. It does not play Endgame Scoring Cards. Final scoring is otherwise normal for you.

Difficulty

• Normal: use the rules above.
• Advanced: whenever the Competition returns one or more Craftswomen to you, it gains 5 VP instead of 3.
• Expert: use Advanced and increase certain penalties to 2 VP: when it cannot take a turn because it has no worker or no card; when you bump a worker from its closed Shop; or when it cannot take a piece because that type has run out. You may inspect revealed Competition cards to anticipate its placements.

The Competition gains endgame VP for the First Player Token and its remaining pieces, but does not score its own Endgame Scoring Cards, Esparto set, remaining resources or Cracks. Official rules §§12.2–12.10, pp. 17–19.