Welcome to THEBES!

In THEBES, you get to be an archaeologist in the 1900s. Your goal is to become the most renowned archaeologist by studying in major European cities and going on exciting excavation missions. Your hope is to find valuable artifacts and showcase them in prestigious exhibitions.

Getting Started

Here’s what you need to do:

• Grab your archaeologist pawn, time marker, and time wheel in your chosen color.
• Place your archaeologist pawn in Warsaw.
• Put your time marker on the start square of the time track (if there are 3 players, it goes on square 16).
• Get one excavation permission per area and place them in front of you with their valid side up.

Now, let’s prepare the game board:

The year marker is placed on the 1902 square for 4 players, otherwise on 1901.

An artefact token of value 1 is placed on the excavation area of the same colour. The other artefact tokens go into the bag of the same colour, with the other tokens of that colour.

The 5 cards describing the values of the artefact tokens are placed near the board.

Preparing the cards:

Set aside the 10 Exhibition cards.

Place 4 researcher cards face up on the game board in the spaces provided.

Separate the remaining researcher cards into 3 piles.

With 2 players, mix the 10 exhibitions in pile n02.

With 3 and 4 players, mix the 5 small exhibits in pile n02, and the 5 large ones in pile n03.

Place pile n01 on pile n02 to form the draw pile. Set pile n03 aside.

Let’s Play!

Alright, listen up! The order of turns in this game is determined by the time track. The higher up you are on the track, the later your turn will be. But watch out! If two players are on the same spot, the one on top gets to go first.

Now, when it’s your turn, you have four actions to choose from:

• Buy a researcher card
• Swap out your researcher cards
• Go on an excavation
• Put on an exhibition

Most of the time, your action will require you to move your pawn to a specific location. Here’s how the moving works:

• If you’re going from one spot to an adjacent spot, it’ll cost you 1 week.

Hey there! Let’s talk about some interesting things in the game. First off, did you know that multiple pawns can occupy the same spot? It’s true! If more than one pawn ends up in the same place, the last one to arrive lands on top of the others. Pretty cool, huh?

Now, let’s chat about the Auto card. This little gem allows you to reduce the duration of a journey by one whole week. But there’s a catch – the trip has to be at least 3 weeks long. So make sure you save it for those longer journeys!

Now, onto the Zeppelin card. This nifty card lets you make a trip in no time at all – zero weeks, to be exact. But here’s the thing: it’s a one-time use card, so once you use it, you have to discard it. So choose wisely when to use it, my friend!

Next up, let’s talk about what happens when a player’s pawn reaches week 52. Once that happens, all their search permissions get flipped to their valid side. It’s like starting fresh each year!

Speaking of years, when all of the players’ pawns have changed years, the Year marker moves to the next Year square. It’s like turning the page on a calendar – new year, new adventures!

Now, here’s a little nugget of info. In the year 1903, there’s a rule that players can’t do anything that would cause them to pass square 1. It’s a year of reflection, I suppose.

Alrighty then, let’s move on and talk about buying a researcher card. This is an important step, so pay attention. When you buy a researcher card, you get access to extra research opportunities. It’s like having a secret weapon in your pocket! So keep an eye out for those researcher cards, my friend, they can really give you an edge.

When I move my pawn to the location shown on the card I bought, I also have to spend some time, as written on the card, to get it (and the knowledge that comes with it). Then, I place the card face up in front of me and draw a new one to fill the gap on the game board.

Step 2: Replacing researcher cards

Once I move my pawn to Warschau, I spend one week getting rid of the 4 researcher cards on the board, and then I draw new cards to replace them. If I do this multiple times before the next player’s turn, the cost goes up by 1 week each time.

Step 3: Performing an excavation

In order to search a place, I have to meet the following conditions:

• Move my pawn to the place where I want to dig

Here’s how to properly search:

• Make sure you have a valid permission. The Special Permission card allows you to make one invalid search, but after that, it must be discarded.
• You need to have at least one point of specialized knowledge in front of you. You can get these points from different sources:
  • Use closed books that match the color of the place you want to search. Each book gives you 1 point, and you can use them multiple times.
  • Use local characters that match the color of the place you want to search. These characters are single-use, so once you use them, discard them. Each character gives you 1 point.
  • Use assistants. Having 2 assistants gives you 1 point, and having 3 assistants gives you 2 points. You can also discard a single assistant for 1 point.

Let’s start by setting the timer to the total amount of knowledge used. Next, choose the number of weeks you spent searching and grab the corresponding number of tokens from the bag, which are highlighted in red. You can increase this number by using Shovel cards. If you play 2 shovels, you’ll get 1 extra token, and if you play 3 shovels, you’ll get 2 extra tokens. Remember, you can also discard a single shovel to receive 1 token.

Once you’re done with the search, here’s what you need to do:

• Put the empty tokens back into the bag.
• Place the other tokens in front of you.
• If this was your first excavation in the area, take the token with a value of 1 that is placed on the area.
• Flip your permission card to its crossed face, indicating it’s now invalid.

4. Putting on a Show

Once I move my pawn to the exhibition city, I need to make sure I have the artifact tokens that are required, which are shown on the Exhibition card. Then, I have to spend the amount of time specified on the card. After that, I can take the Exhibition card and put it in front of me, face-up.



How to Draw an Exhibition Card

When I draw an exhibition card, I place it on square a and draw another card. I then shift the exhibitions that are already on the board: from a to b, from b to c, and from c to the discard pile. The first time I run out of cards in the draw pile, I need to shuffle the pile that was set aside at the beginning of the game with the discard pile to create a new draw pile. After that, I simply shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw pile.

How to End the Game

When the game reaches the end of 1903, it’s time to count the points using the time track. Here’s how to do it:

• For each artifact, you earn 1 to 7 points (the number is indicated on the artifact’s token).
• You earn 4 to 5 points for each exhibition you have.
• You earn 0 to 28 points depending on the number of Congress cards you have.

Let me break it down for you. I’ll give you 5 points if you’re the one who knows the most about a specific color in the game. If multiple players are tied for the most knowledge, then I’ll give each of them 3 points. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score is the winner.