Teach the Game

A five-round building race for resources, Rituals, and pyramids.

How you win

Grow your city across three valleys, then turn its production into pyramids, religious standing, and fulfilled Rituals. After five rounds, the player with the most points wins.

The boards

The main board has three regions, each split among Plains, Hills, and Forests. Building spaces also specify a type: Cornfield, Temple, or Village. Your player board holds a 3-by-3 grid where the Building tiles you collect generate future income.

A round

Everyone chooses an Action card at the same time. Its top symbol selects the matching row or column on your income grid, its middle property limits where you may build, and its number sets turn order. In order, each player collects the chosen income, performs Capital actions, constructs buildings, scores the current bonus property, and takes a replacement Action card (not in round five).

How the game ends

The game ends after the fifth round. Before play, set aside map spaces and tiles marked for higher player counts. In a two-player game the marked 3+ and 4 spaces stay empty; with three players, the 4 spaces stay empty.

Ways to score

During a round, you score 2 points for each House that matches the round’s bonus property. At the end, score the top three positions of the Sacrifice track, the conditions on Ritual cards you claimed, and Houses matching each Pyramid’s Scoring tile. Each level of a completed Pyramid adds a five-point bonus to its owner.

What each resource is for

Wood, Brick, and Stone pay for buildings and Pyramid levels. Corn fuels Sacrifices; Gold buys Trade tiles and pays the extra cost to join a contested Ritual; Priests are used for Sacrifices, Rituals, and Pyramid levels. Cornfields generate Corn, Villages Gold, and Temples Priests, with each also yielding one basic resource.

Teaching tips

Explain the Action card’s three jobs before teaching the action menu. Then walk through one turn in order: income, Capital actions, construction, bonus scoring, and card draft. Show how a Building tile moves from the map to an open space on a player’s grid.