1. Set up the duel
Choose a bot, an online friend or a shared-device game. You can change your name and avatar before starting; heroes do not affect gameplay. A dice roll determines who chooses a great structure first and starts the first era. Once both players have chosen their structures, play begins with the shared card layout.
2. Select an available card
On your turn, select a face-up card that is not covered by another card in the layout. Choose one of three actions: build the building, sell the card, or use it to construct an unbuilt great structure. The interface shows the available actions and their cost.
3. Build a building
To construct a building, pay the coins and resources shown on its card. Your city’s resources can be used every turn and are not consumed. If you are short of a resource, the game calculates the purchase cost using your opponent’s production and your discounts. A matching construction-chain symbol lets you build for free. You cannot have two copies of the same building in your city.
4. Sell a card
Discard the selected card and receive two coins, plus one coin for each yellow building in your city. Selling does not apply the discarded card’s building effect.
5. Construct a great structure
Choose one of your unbuilt structures, pay its cost and place the selected layout card underneath it as construction material. Apply the structure’s effects. At most seven great structures can be built across both cities, so the eighth becomes unavailable. A replay effect grants another turn when the current effects are resolved.
6. Develop science
Green buildings provide scientific symbols. A matching pair lets you choose an available progress token. Six different scientific symbols give immediate scientific victory. Read each token’s description: its effect may change your income, construction options or end-game score.
7. Strengthen your army
Each shield moves the conflict marker towards your opponent. Entering a penalty zone makes your opponent lose coins if that penalty has not already been applied. Reach the final space on their side to win immediately. Otherwise, the marker’s position contributes to the final score.
8. Move between eras
When an era runs out of cards, a new layout appears. Before the next era, the game prompts one player to choose who starts. Face-down cards are revealed as the cards covering them are removed.
9. Finish the game
If neither player wins through military or scientific supremacy, the match ends after era III. The game counts points from buildings, great structures, progress tokens, guilds and the conflict marker. Every three coins left over add one point. The results screen shows how each player earned their score.
10. Optional With Gods mode
During the first era, mythology tokens let you choose gods and place them on the board. From the second era, you can pay for a god’s help instead of taking a card from the layout. The cost depends on the card’s position and your side of the board; offerings and discounts reduce it. Some cards let you call on a god for free as early as the first era.
Board controls
Drag empty space to move the board. Use the mouse wheel or pinch with two fingers to zoom. A short click or tap selects a card; dragging does not select it. Open settings to change sound, background and zoom. Inspect a component when you need its exact effect.
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