Welcome to the Akrotiri Game Rules

Hello there! I’m here to guide you through the exciting world of Akrotiri. Are you ready to embark on a thrilling adventure? Great! Let’s dive right in and learn everything you need to know to play the game.

Object of the Game

The goal of Akrotiri is to become a successful ancient Greek explorer. As you explore the Aegean Sea, you will discover hidden islands and collect resources. Your ultimate aim is to uncover ancient temples and claim their hidden treasures.

Setting Up the Game

To begin, each player receives a Player Board and two Starting Tiles, which represent the home islands. These two islands are placed on the corner docks of their Player Board.

Next, the Discovery Tokens are shuffled and placed face-down in the designated area, forming the Discovery Token draw pile. The Resource Cubes and Mainland Tiles are also placed nearby.

Now it’s time to create the Mainland. The Mainland Tiles are shuffled and placed face-down. Six tiles are drawn and arranged in a 2×3 grid in the middle of the table. One of these tiles is flipped face-up, revealing a temple at a specific location.

Playing the Game

Akrotiri is played over a series of turns. On your turn, you can perform three actions in any order:

1. Reveal a new Mainland Tile: Draw the top tile from the Mainland Tile draw pile and add it to the Mainland grid.

2. Take an Action: Choose one of the following options:

– Sail: Move your ship to a new island on the Mainland grid.

– Explore: Collect resources from the island your ship is currently on.

– Level Up: Spend resources to upgrade your explorer level.

3. Sell Resources: Turn in sets of resources to earn credits. Credits can be used to acquire special abilities.

As you play, you will uncover new islands, gather resources, and interact with the ancient Greek gods. Make strategic decisions, manage your resources wisely, and keep an eye out for valuable temples to increase your chances of victory.

Game End

The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:

– All the Discovery Tokens have been revealed.

– All the temples have been revealed.

At this point, the final round is played, and players tally up their victory points to determine the winner. Victory points are earned by discovering temples, exploring islands, leveling up, and selling resources.

In Conclusion

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to set sail and begin your journey in Akrotiri. Uncover ancient secrets, amass wealth, and become the greatest ancient Greek explorer!

Enjoy the game and may the gods of Akrotiri smile upon you!

So here’s how it all started. I stumbled upon this old map, supposedly leading to an ancient Minoan temple. Naturally, my curiosity got the best of me, and now I find myself embarking on a grand adventure across the Aegean Sea. And guess what? I’m not the only one on this quest for glory.

But here’s the thing: these expeditions and excavations can be pretty expensive. That’s where you come in. We need to gather resources from the neighboring islands and bring them back to Thera, a place that’s desperately lacking in resources. It’s like a treasure hunt, using landmarks to guide us to hidden temples before they fade away into oblivion, taking our chance at making history with them.

What You’ll Need

You will find the following components in the box:
1 Market board
32 Resource cubes (8 x 4 different colors)
15 x 1-Drachma coins
10 x 5-Drachma coins
1 Thera board
1 First Player marker
12 Easy maps
12 Medium maps
12 Difficult maps
36 Land tiles
6 Action markers
12 Goal cards
2 Player boards
2 Boats
12 Temples

Welcome to Thera

Let’s embark on an exciting adventure and explore the captivating islands surrounding Thera. Our mission is to gather the necessary resources to fund our archaeological excavations. To achieve victory, we must excavate temples and earn fame points. But wait, there’s more! Don’t forget about our secret Goal cards, which can turn the tides and grant us victory.

Remember, the player with the most points at the end emerges as the ultimate champion!

Getting Set Up

First, put the Thera board in the center of the table, leaving enough space around it.
Next, place the Market board where you can easily reach it. Take all 32 Resource cubes and put them on the board, making sure each cube covers a square of the same color.

You and your friends are about to embark on an exciting journey! In this game, each of us will choose a color. I’ll grab my favorite color, of course. Along with that, we’ll each get 2 Drachmas, and our color-coded tools: 1 boat, 6 temples, and 1 player board.

Now, it’s time to decide who goes first. We can use any method we want to determine the lucky player. Maybe we’ll flip a coin or play rock-paper-scissors. Either way, the chosen player will proudly hold the First Player marker.

When you begin playing the game, you should put your temples over the squares on the lower part of your player board. Make sure the first square (3) is still visible to you.

Next, take the Land tiles and shuffle them. Place the shuffled tiles in a face-down pile. Starting with the first player, each player will draw a tile from the pile and add it to the board. Then, put 2 resources on that tile.

First, you need to place a resource that matches the color of the Terrain icon on the tile. Put the resource near the icon.
Then, choose any resource you want and place it on the same tile, but on a different island than where you placed the first resource.

I’ll start by rewriting this part:

How to play Akrotiri Official Rules UltraFoodMess

Shuffle each set of Map cards separately and give each player 1 Easy and 1 Medium Map card. Place the remaining Map cards in 3 face-down piles off to the side: Easy (Bronze), Medium (Silver), Hard (Gold).

Rewritten:

First, shuffle the Map cards separately and distribute one Easy and one Medium Map card to each player. Then, create three additional piles of Map cards, sorted by difficulty: Easy (Bronze), Medium (Silver), and Hard (Gold). These piles should be placed face-down and to the side.

1. Put down your Land tile – I’ll walk you through it. You start by placing your Land tile on the map. Just make sure to put it next to another tile or the Thera board, lining it up nice and snug against one side. Remember, when you place a new tile, it always has to be connected to at least one other tile. Keep it straight, though – no diagonal connections.

Important information: Each Land tile has shipping routes on all four sides and one Terrain icon.

2. Placing resources on the tile: When you play a tile, you need to immediately put two resources on it.

Start by placing one resource cube of the same color as the tile’s Terrain icon next to that icon. If there are no cubes of that color left, then don’t place a cube.

After that, choose a second resource cube of any color and place it on a different island on the tile.

Make sure the Terrain icons are not covered by the resources, as they need to be visible at all times.

In both cases, take the required resource cubes from the leftmost spaces on the Market board.

Here’s an example:

When I play a Land tile, I put a green resource next to the Tree icon and then pick an orange resource to place on a different island on that tile.

3. Action Phase – Before I start playing my first action, I look at the rightmost visible number on my player board. That number tells me how many actions I can take this turn. I can do any combination of the actions listed below, unless the action specifically says otherwise.

Hint: I can use the Action tokens to keep track of my actions.

The number of actions I have will increase once I start excavating Temples.

For example:

What to Do Next

So, the first thing I can do is move my boats. I can move them from one dock to another. If there’s a Shipping Route available, I can use that to move my boats. Or, I can use Portage. Either way, I can’t stop at a dock that’s already occupied by another boat. Gotta keep it clear and flowing.

Explore

If I’m feeling adventurous, I can explore the uncharted territories. Who knows what I might find out there? It’s like a treasure hunt! But, I need to be careful. Exploring can be risky sometimes.

Create

Okay, next up is creating stuff. I can build temples, houses, and markets. It’s like playing with Legos! I just need to make sure I have the resources and enough spaces available to build. Oh, and I can only build one thing per turn.

Influence

Last but not least, I can try to influence the locals. I can either make them like me more or make them hate me. It’s a bit like being a politician. But remember, influencing can have consequences, so I need to think carefully before taking any actions.

So, those are my options for this turn. I can move my boats, explore new territories, create buildings, or try to influence the locals. Decisions, decisions…

If you’re looking to navigate your boat in the game, there are a few options available to you:

Move via Shipping Route: You can simply follow the white lines on the map to move your boat along a predetermined shipping route. At any intersection, you have the freedom to make turns without stopping at the docks along the way.
Move via Portage: Another option is to move a boat overland, from one dock to another on the same island. This allows you to bypass the shipping route and take a direct path.

If your boat isn’t carrying any resources, you have the advantage of being able to move up to 2 times per Move action. These moves can be a combination of shipping route and portage. However, it’s important to note that if you stop to perform a non-moving action, your Move action will come to an end.

There may be instances where you need to pass through a dock that is already occupied by another boat. In such cases, you can still move via Portage, but it will require an extra movement. This can either be in the form of an action or an additional move if you have an empty boat.

Load Boat (up To 3 Resources)

Hey there! Ready for an adventure? Let me show you how to load up your boat with some awesome resources! You can pick up to 3 resources from anywhere on the island where your boat is docked. Cool, right? And the best part is, you don’t have to load your boat to its limit. You get to choose!

Get Ready to Unearth a Temple

Now, let’s talk about something even more exciting – excavating a temple! Here’s what you need to do:

Dock your boat at the island where you want to excavate the temple.
Play a Map card from your hand that matches a temple you can excavate. Each Map card shows the location of a temple relative to multiple Terrain icons A. Place the Map card face up on the table, oriented so the cost is at the top B. Pay that cost by returning the required drachmas to the supply.
Locate the temple on the island where your boat is docked by proving that one quarter of at least one tile of this island meets all the requirements of the revealed Map card. It does not matter how far away the docked boat is from the proposed location of the temple.

So, here’s what you need to do if you want to find and excavate a temple on an island:

First, dock your boat at the island where you want to dig.
Next, play a Map card from your hand that matches one of the temples you can dig. You can find the temple’s location on the Map card, in relation to different Terrain icons. Place the Map card face up on the table, making sure that the cost is at the top. Then, you’ll need to pay that cost by returning the required drachmas to the supply.
Finally, you’ll need to locate the temple on the island where your boat is docked. To do this, you need to show that at least one quarter of one tile on the island meets all the requirements shown on the revealed Map card. It doesn’t matter how far your boat is from the proposed temple location – as long as the conditions are met, you can start excavating!

If you’ve met all the requirements, just put the leftmost temple from your player board on the excavation site you chose. Keep the Map card you played next to your board. When you remove a temple from your player board, you’ll uncover a bonus: either you’ll have more actions on your next turn or you’ll get to draw 2 Goal cards right away. Choose one to keep and put the other one back at the bottom of the deck.

Important Rules for Finding a Temple

You can’t excavate a temple on the island of Thera.
You can’t excavate a temple on an island that already has a temple on it (but you can connect islands with temples by placing tiles in the future).

How to Fulfill the Requirements of a Map Card

Note: Each tile is divided into 4 parts, as shown by the dotted lines.

Pick one of the 4 parts on one of the tiles of the island where your boat is docked. That will be the excavation site for the temple.

Each Map card is enclosed on three sides by 1, 2, or 3 Terrain icons. Start from the Terrain icons above the temple shown on the Map card and prove that there are at least as many Terrain icons of that type on the played tiles above the excavation site.

“Above a temple” means away from the direction you’re sitting. “Above” also refers to the farthest to the right or left, as long as it’s above the excavation site.

Continue proving that the excavation site is valid by showing how the Terrain icons to the left, right, and below meet all the requirements of the Map card.

Example: With the Map card above, we can see a legally placed temple below: the Volcano Terrain icon on the board is above the line that’s directly above the Temple (no matter how far to the left). The Tree icon is to the right of the temple, and the Mountain is below it.

Get Map Cards in Thera

When I’m docked in Thera, I can buy new Map cards. I can choose how many cards to buy and their difficulty level by spending an action. There’s no limit to the number of Map cards I can have in my hand.

Here are the costs to buy Map cards with one action:

1 Map card: 1 Drachma
2 Map cards: 3 Drachmas
3 Map cards: 7 Drachmas

For example

Let’s say I’m Oliver. I decide to spend 1 action and buy 2 cards for 3 Drachmas. Later, when I have extra actions, I choose to spend 3 actions and buy 3 cards for a total of 3 Drachmas. In this case, I use each action to buy 1 card for 1 Drachma.

Seek Advice from the Oracle (once per turn)

Hey there! Let me explain how this works. When it’s my turn, I can ask for a specific tile with a certain Terrain icon. All I have to do is say out loud which icon I want and then flip Land tiles, one by one, until I find one with the requested icon.

If I find a Land tile with the icon I asked for, I keep it and put the rest of the revealed tiles in a discard pile. But if I can’t find a tile with the icon I want, no worries – I just keep the last tile that was flipped over.

Oh, and one more thing – I can only have one Land tile in my hand at a time. Gotta keep it fair, right?

Now, let me tell you about the free actions I can take. These actions don’t cost me anything and I can do them as many times as I want!

Selling Resources (at Thera Only)

Hey there! So, when I’m hanging out at Thera with my boat, I can totally sell my resources. It’s pretty easy – I just sell them one at a time and put each one on the far-right spot of its color on the Market board. And you know what’s even better? I get paid in Drachmas! I just grab the right amount of Drachmas from the bank for each resource I sell. It’s a great way to make some extra cash while I’m chilling in Thera!

Check it out:

I’m selling 2 Blue and 1 Gray resources this turn. I’ll put those cubes on the circled spaces and grab (3+3+2) 8 Drachmas from the bank.

If I’m on any island except Thera, I can unload as many resources as I want. I just need to take them off the boat and place them on the island where my boat is docked.

Once I’ve finished my actions, it’s time to end the turn. I’ll draw a tile, unless I already drew one using the Consult the Oracle action. Either way, it’s then the other player’s turn.

If we run out of Land tiles at the end of a turn, we’ll shuffle the discarded pile to create a new pile of Land tiles.

Finally, when the game is over, wow, what a ride!

Once you’ve dug up your 6th temple in the game, it’s almost over. Make sure everyone has had the same number of turns by finishing the round (with the non-first player going last), and then it’s time for the final scoring. The person who has the highest score is the winner.

Let’s talk about how scoring works. You earn points in three ways: Map cards, Goal cards, and Drachmas.

First, let’s look at Map cards. Add up the points for all the Map cards you’ve played. Each Map card has a value in the top right corner that represents the points it’s worth. These points correspond to the temples you’ve excavated. Keep in mind that Map cards still in your hand don’t count for anything.

Next, we have Goal cards. These special cards give you points for completing certain objectives. Each Goal card has its own criteria, so be sure to check the details on each one. Fulfill the requirements and you’ll earn the points indicated.

Lastly, we have Drachmas. These are the coins in the game. Count up the total number of Drachmas you have, and each one is worth 1 point. Keep in mind that any leftover Drachmas at the end of the game don’t count for anything.

Remember, the player with the highest total score from Map cards, Goal cards, and Drachmas is the winner. Good luck!

When you play Akrotiri, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. First, you have your Goal cards. These cards show you what you need to do to earn points. Your temples count for each of your Goal cards, but only once per card. So make sure you pay attention to that. If you want more information about the Goal cards, you can look at page 8 of the rule book.

Next, you have Drachmas. These are the currency in the game. At the end of the game, you’ll score 1 point for every 10 Drachmas you have left. So try to collect as many as you can throughout the game.

Now, let’s talk about ties. If there is a tie in the game, it’s broken based on who has the most Drachmas. If there is still a tie after that, then all the tied players celebrate together. It’s a shared victory!

Finally, I want to mention the Strategist Variant. This is an optional rule that you can play with if you want an extra challenge. It’s a variant of the game that adds some additional strategic elements. If you’re interested in trying it out, you can find more information in the rule book.