You are one of the Colossi who seeks to rule over this dangerous island. Your goal is to prove your might and become the most renown Colossus. As a Colossus, you will create new Acolytes to do your bidding, control territory around the island, and gain Gold and Cards. But beware: Colossi also control Beasts, and will kill your Acolytes in a heartbeat. Outsmart and overpower your opponents over the course of 3 Ages to become the most renown Colossus.
The island has 27 spaces. The island starts empty, but will eventually be filled with tiles that grant you rewards at Harvest.
You are a Colossus, and you lead a fleet of Acolytes. Colossi cannot die, and remain on the island for the entire game.
Acolytes move like Colossi, but die frequently.
- Any time an Acolyte is pushed off the edge of the island, it dies. Some cards, Beasts, and tiles will kill your Acolytes.
- When your Acolytes die, they return to your hand, and can be played again on future turns.
Beasts are monsters who haunt this island. Each has a passive effect and a special Lair Environment that causes a big action.
The player with the most Gold at the end of the game wins. Track how much Gold you have on the Gold tracker. Gain Gold from cards and by harvesting spaces to claim the rewards from Environments, Loot, and Gold cubes. Any time you gain or lose Gold, update the Gold tracker.
Environments are special tiles with potentially big rewards. Control an Environment at Harvest to claim its rewards.
Grass tiles simply grant you rewards at Harvest. Control a Grass tile to claim its rewards.
Types of Loot on Grass tiles:
- Gold: gain 1 Gold.
- Cards: draw 1 Colossus Card.
- Traits: gain 1 Trait.
These tiles are essentially empty spaces, and you treat them just like you treat the borders of the board. Colossi, and Beasts cannot move onto them. If Acolytes are pushed onto them, they die. Each Age will instruct you where to place Water tiles, and these can shift throughtout the game.
Some Environments and Beasts will leave Gold cubes on the board. If you Harvest a space with Gold cubes, you will gain them. Gain a Gold on the Gold tracker, and return the Gold cubes to the bank.
Colossus Cards allow you to get Gold, move Acolytes around, and gain advantages over opponents. You have a hand limit of 6 Cards, and must immediately discard down to 6 if you ever have more. There are 4 types of Colossus Card:
- Action: Move pieces around the board, get more cards, and more.
- Beast: Control Beast movement. These also give you +1 Action, and so are essentially free to play.
- Divine Gift: Reward Colossi based on their position. These gifts go to all Colossi, so good timing is crucial.
The game takes place over 3 Ages. Each Age comes with a card that includes special scoring at the end of the age, instructions for where to place Water tiles, and other unique events.
The Mantle simply indicates who is the first player for the Age. At the end of each Age, the Mantle goes to the player in first place.
Traits are cards that give your Colossus a boost. You can only have 2 Traits in play at a time. You may discard one of your Traits at any time. At any given time there will be 3 face-up Traits and a Trait deck. When you select a Trait, you may draw from the deck, or choose 1 of the face-up Traits. If you choose a face-up Trait, replace it with another face-up Trait from the deck before the next player chooses. Traits continually give your Colossus a boost.
Designer note: For your first game, do not play with Traits. They make the game much more interesting, but it's best to learn the basics without them.
- Shuffle the Age deck, and draw an Age card for Ages I, II, and III. Set them face-down at the top of the board. Reveal Age I, locate its Beast Lair and Beast, and place them in the center space of the board. Place each player's Colossus on that same space.
- Each player chooses a color, and receives a set of 1 Colossus and 10 Acolytes of that color.
- Shuffle the Colossus Card deck and place it near the board. Deal each player 2 Colossus Cards.
- Set aside 16 Grass Tiles face-down. Shuffle the Lair tiles and put 2 face-down with the Grass tiles. Shuffle the remainder of the Environment Tiles, draw 8 and put them face-down with the 18 other tiles. Shuffle these 26 Tiles and keep them face-down. Return all other Environments and Lairs back to the box.
- Determine which player has played this game the most, and give them the Mantle.
- Place a random tile face-up in the center of the board. Place all Colossi on that tile.
If this is your first game, skip the following step.
- Shuffle the Trait deck, and lay out 3 face-up. Take turns selecting either a face-up Trait, or the top card of the Trait deck. If you take a face-up Trait, replace it with another face-up Trait from the deck before the next player chooses. Once each player has a Trait, leave 3 face-up Traits beside the Trait deck.
Each Age has two phases: Action Phase and Harvest Phase.
The Action Phase simply consists of player turns. On your turn, you will do the following in order:
- Actions: Take 4 Actions. With your Action, you may either play a Colossus card, or move your Colossus or an Acolyte (see full Movement rules in the next section). Some cards will give you extra Actions. When you play those cards, use those extra Actions immediately on this turn.
- Draw: Draw 1 Colossus Card.
The Harvest Phase is where you gain rewards from the board. This happens at the end of each Age. First, read the special scoring instructions on the Age card. Distribute rewards as instructed.
Then, beginning with the player with the Mantle, take turns harvesting. On your turn, you will Harvest just one space that you control. If you do not control any spaces, or prefer not to harvest, you may pass, meaning that you are done Harvesting for the Age.
Note: This means that two different player could Harvest the same space at Harvest. Suppose Mitch has three Acolytes, and John has one. Mitch Harvests the space, and gains his rewards. Now John has control of the space, and he can Harvest it on his next turn.
When you Harvest a space, return all of your Acolytes on that space to your hand. If your Colossus is on that space, lay it on its side to indicate that you have already harvested that space. Then gain the space's rewards:
- Gold cubes: Gain any Gold cubes from the space, and return them to the bank. Gain one Gold for each cube.
- Grass Tiles: If the space has Loot, gain it immediately.
- Environments: If the space is a special environment, follow the environment's rules.
Once all players have passed, pass the Mantle to the player in first place, and begin the next Age.
Reveal the next Age and read it aloud. If the Beasts from this next age are the same as the Beasts from the previous Age, begin immediately. Otherwise:
- The player with the least Gold (if this is a tie, roll to determine) gathers the new Beast Lair(s). They may select any empty space to place them. If there are no empty spaces, they may select a tile to discard and replace with the new Beast Lairs, leaving all Acolytes and Colossi in place on this new Lair. Place the corresponding Beasts on their Lairs.
- If it is still on the board, discard the Lair and Beast from the previous Age. If any Colossi or Acolytes were on that space, immediately replace that Lair with a new random tile, and leave the Colossi and Acolytes in that same space.
Do the "Setup" step from the new Age if necessary, pass the Mantle to the left, and begin taking turns, starting with the player with the Mantle.
At the end of the third Age, the game ends. The player with the most Gold wins.
You have 4 Actions on your turn, and it costs 1 Action to move your Colossus or an Acolyte 1 space in any direction. Colossi and Acolytes follow the same rules for movement.
- Exploring: When moving into a space that has no tile on it, you will discover what is there. Draw an Environment tile from the deck you built during Setup. If it is a Beast Lair, immediately put the corrosponding Beast on that space.
- Road Movement: When moving into a space that already contains your Colossus or 1 of your Acolytes, you may continue onward to any adjacent space for free. If you have your Colossus or Acolytes in multiple adjacent spaces, move long distances using just 1 Movement.
- Spawn an Acolyte: For the cost of 1 Movement, place an Acolyte from your hand onto your Colossus’s space. You may immediately move that Acolyte to an adjacent space for free using Road Movement.
You must control spaces in order to harvest them at the end of each Age. How do you control a space?
| # of Colossi on the space | Who controls the space (in case of a tie, neither player has control) |
|---|---|
| No Colossus | The player with the most Acolytes on the space. |
| 1 Colossus | The Colossus supersedes all Acolytes. |
| Multiple Colossi | The Colossus on the space who has the most Acolytes on the space. |