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| 2-4 players, 30-45 minutes, 8 years and older |
| Author | Ryan Laukat (Ryanlaukat) |
| Illustrator | Ryan Laukat (Ryanlaukat) |
| Published by | Red Raven Games |
| Online since | 2024-02-18 |
| Developed by | Bart De Cock (be_com4) |
| Boardgamegeek | 267319 |
| Yucata.de owns a license for the online version of this game. A big "thank you" to the copyright owners (publisher and/or author and illustrator) who make it possible to have this game for free online here! |
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If you are reading these rules for the first time, ignore the text along the right hand side. These rules serve as a summary to help you quickly familiarize yourself with the game.
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Welcome to Arzium,
land of ancient civilizations, bizarre creatures, unexplained
wonders, and vibrant characters. A great sleeping sickness
has spread across the land, sending every type of creature to
wander for hundreds of miles in a dazed, incoherent march.
It’s your job to seek them out and wake them from their sleep,
recruiting them to help you find even more lost souls!
Arzium is the setting of other games, including Above and
Below, Near and Far, Islebound, and City of Iron.
Game Components
43 Land/Character Cards
12 Starting Cards (Starting cards have a flag)
96 Explore Markers (24 in each of 4 colors)
24 Artifact Tiles
36 Coin Tokens
Setup
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Give each player a set of 3 starting cards in one color
(starting cards have flags on them.) Place any remaining
in the box. Players take markers matching their flag color.
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Shuffle the land cards and place them in a pile (land
side up).
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Draw 6 land cards and place them in a 3x2 grid (land
side up) in the center of the table. This is called the
“map.” Place them so that their edges are adjacent, without much space between. The paper scrolls should be on
the outer edge of the map.
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Each player must line up their starting cards adjacent
to one edge of the map. Each player must choose a different edge.
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Choose a starting player. Give that player the player
aid that says “First Player” at the top. Turn order moves
in a clockwise direction. Give each of the other players
a player aid. Place the coins near the map. The second
and third players start with 1 coin each. The fourth player
starts with 2 coins.
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Artifacts: If you are playing the basic game, return
the artifact tiles to the box, else shuffle them
and place a row of four above the board.
Game Play
Refresh if all characters are used.
You may take early rest by paying one coin per character still face up.
Starting with the first player, players take turns in clockwise
order.
If at the start of your turn all of your character cards are face
down, turn them all face up. After this, take your turn as normal.
EARLY REST: At the start of your turn, you may flip all your
characters face up, even if some are still face up, but you must pay
to do so. The cost is one coin per character that is still face up. If
you do this, you must flip all of your characters face up (you cannot
choose to keep some of them face down).
Place explore markers
Flip 1 character, place explore markers on the map:
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The shape must fit completely within the edges of the map
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exception: “blank” markers on the pattern do not need to fit within the map
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You cannot rotate marker patterns
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Each square may hold only one marker; skip already occupied squares
Note that markers are a limited resource.
On your turn, use one of your available (face up) characters
to place explore markers on the map. To do this, flip the character
card face down and place your explore markers on the map in the
same shape and configuration that is shown on the character card,
and in the same direction that the card is facing.
The shape must
fit completely within the edges of the map (exception: “blank”
markers on the pattern do not need to fit within the map).
You cannot rotate marker patterns, and you must place all markers as
shown if possible.
If a square is already occupied by an opponent’s marker
or by one of your markers that was placed on a previous
turn, skip this square (while still placing the remaining
markers).
IMPORTANT: A square on a land card may
never contain more than one marker.
Note: You may not reclaim any of your markers from
the board until a card that they occupy is completed.
If you run out of markers to place, take your
turn as normal, but do not place any more markers than you have.
Coins
Take a coin for each coin symbol you cover.
You may pay 2 coins to place a “blank” marker.
Getting coins
If you place any explore markers on coin symbols, take a coin
for each symbol. Keep your coins next to your character cards.
Coins are open information (you cannot hide your coins from other
players).
Using coins
On your turn, when you place markers, you
may pay 2 coins to place a “blank” marker,
as shown on the character card you are using
this turn.
You may perform this ability for
each blank cube on the card, provided you
have enough coins (but remember that you
can only use one character card per turn, and
each square on the map can only hold one
marker).
You may use coins that you gain
during the same turn to place a blank marker.
Coins are also needed for an early rest.
In the full game, coins can be used to buy artifacts
at the end of your turn.
Claim cards
Resolve completed map cards if any:
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The player with the most explore markers on the completed
card claims the card.
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All other players with at least one cube on the card get a coin.
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If there is a tie for most cubes, each tied player may bid coins
to attempt to claim the card.
At the end of your turn, if all six squares of any land card are
occupied by explore markers, the lost character there is found!
The player with the most explore markers on the completed
card claims the card.
If there is a tie for most cubes, each tied player may bid coins
to attempt to claim the card, starting with the active player (the
player whose turn it is) and going in clockwise order.
Example: Cid places his third marker on a card, tying with Zoey. Cid starts
the bid at 0. Zoey has no coins, so she cannot bid higher than Cid. Cid wins
the card.
Each player
may only bid once, and each bid must be at least one coin
greater than the last (although players may choose to “pass”
and not bid). The tied player who bids the most coins claims
the card.
Only the player who wins the bid needs to pay their
coins. Paid coins are returned to the supply.
A player may not
bid more coins than they have. A bid of zero coins is allowed.
Example: Cid places his third marker on a card, and now all six spaces are
occupied. Cid has the most markers there, so he claims the card. The three other
players each have one marker on the card, so they each collect a coin.
When you claim a card, place it character-side up next to
your other cards, in the same direction they are facing. Return
all markers that were on the card to their owners. Replace the
missing card from the map with a new card from the top of the
deck (place it in the same orientation as the card it replaces).
If another player claims a card, but you have at least one
explore marker on it, you gain one coin. You never gain more
than one coin for a claimed card (even if you have two or three
explore markers on the card). Note: Multiple players can claim
a coin if they have a marker on the card but do not claim the
card.
At the end of your turn you can purchase 1 artifact.
Artifacts give special abilities. You can use any amount
of them in your own turn.
When using an artifact ability, flip the artifact face down.
Whenever you flip your characters back up (including on early rests), also flip your artifacts back up.
At the end of your turn, you may purchase one of the artifact tiles
for the coin cost listed. If you purchase an artifact, place it near your
character cards and refill the artifact row with a new artifact from the
top of the pile (so that there are always four showing).
You can own
any number of artifacts but can only purchase one per turn.
Artifacts give special abilities.
- To use a special ability on an artifact that you own, turn the artifact face down.
- You may use these abilities only on your turn.
- There is no limit to the number of artifacts you can use on your turn.
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Whenever you flip all of your character cards face up, also flip
any face-down artifacts face up (so that you can use them again).
Do this even when using the early rest.
- You do not need to pay a coin for each artifact that is face up if you use an early rest.
At the end of the game, count points on the artifact tiles you own
and add them to your final score.
For specific artifact ability descriptions, see Artifacts.
Game End
The game ends at the end of the round in which at least 1 player has 10 cards.
The player with the most points is the winner
If tied, the player with the most coins wins. If still tied, the players
share the victory.
Play until one player has ten cards (including the three they start
with). When a player has ten cards, finish the round so that all players
have an equal number of turns.
Then, each player counts the points
on cards they own. The player with the most points is the winner.
If tied, the player with the most coins wins. If still tied, the players
share the victory.
Variants
5 additional animal cards with different patterns are shuffled among the character cards.
Instead of playing with a limit of one marker per square, each
square can hold up to two markers (you place one on top
of the other). The player with the most markers on the card
(when complete) claims the card as normal. Resolve any ties as
normal.
Appendix
When you use this ability, you may place one
blank for free (instead of paying 2 coins). This
does not allow you to place a marker without
using a character card.
When you use this ability, you may replace
another player’s marker with your own (as long
as you are using one of your characters to place
the marker). This does not allow you to place a
marker without using a character card. If you replace a marker on a square with one or more coin
symbols, you collect the coins for those symbols.
When you use this ability, gain 1 coin.
When you use this ability, you may rotate one of
your search patterns 90 degrees clockwise when
placing markers on the map.
When you use this ability, you may slide any one
marker on the map (even one owned by another
player) to an empty vertically or horizontally
adjacent square. Do not collect any coins for this.
When you use this ability, you may flip one of
your character cards (face up or face down). You
may use this ability at the very start of your turn.
For example, you could flip your last face-up card
face-down at the very start of your turn in order to
be able to flip all of your cards face up.
To place a pattern on the map, hover over the map to find the best location which fits on the map according to the rules.
After you decided where to place it, you see all fields of the pattern with a green border and the single active field with a red border. The system will guide you to choose your options field by field (mandatory fields first followed by blanco fields)
All players are automatically assigned a side of the central map.
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