Century: Spice Road (2017)

How to Play Century: Spice Road

Setup

1. Shuffle the Point Cards and draw 5 face-up. Place gold tokens (2 per player) above the leftmost card, and silver tokens above the second.
2. Shuffle Merchant Cards and lay out 6 face-up next to the deck. Each player starts with two basic cards: Create 2 and Upgrade 2.
3. Set out the 4 bowls filled with spice cubes, sorted by color from Yellow > Red > Green > Brown.
4. Give each player a Caravan card, randomly assign the first player token.
5. Distribute starting cubes based on turn order:

• • 1st player: 3 yellow
  • 2nd & 3rd players: 4 yellow
  • 4th & 5th players: 3 yellow + 1 red

Turn Overview

1. Play a Merchant Card

Play a card from your hand and resolve its effect:

• Spice Cards: Gain cubes as shown (e.g., +1 red, +1 yellow)

• Upgrade Cards: Upgrade cubes up the chain (Yellow → Red → Green → Brown)

• Trade Cards: Exchange specific cubes for others (as many times as you can afford)

2. Acquire a Merchant Card

Take one of the 6 face-up cards by paying cubes:

• Place 1 cube on each card to the left of the one you want.

• Collect any cubes already on the card you acquire.

3. Claim a Point Card

If you have the required cubes, return them and take the Point card. Gain bonus gold/silver if claiming the first two cards in the row (worth 3 and 1 points respectively).

4. Rest

Retrieve all cards you’ve played to your hand.

💡 Important note: Your caravan can only hold a maximum of 10 cubes. You can gain cubes or trade more than 10 during your turn. But at the end of your turn, you have to discard cubes of your choice down to 10.

Game End & Scoring

• The endgame is triggered when a player claims their 5th Point card (or 6th in 2–3 player games).
• Finish the round so all players get equal turns.
• Tally up:
  • Points from Point cards
  • Gold (3 pts each) and Silver tokens (1 pt each)
  • Non-yellow cubes (1 pt each)

Whoever has the highest score wins. In a tie, the player who acted last wins the game.

Why You Can Learn Century: Spice Road in Minutes, But Still Enjoy It for Years

At first glance, Century: Spice Road impresses with how fast it welcomes new players: rules can be taught in under 5 minutes, the components are intuitive, and the first turns feel smooth and natural. But behind that simplicity lies a deeply strategic engine-builder that continues to reveal new layers the more you play.

Century is a game of timing, optimization, and smart resource conversions. While the ruleset is easy to digest, the strategic depth emerges as players begin to understand card synergies, tempo control, and efficient engine construction. Do you build a lightning-fast combo to grab low-cost point cards quickly, or invest in a powerful engine to dominate the endgame with high-value turns? What seems like a simple choice of trade card can cascade into a long-term tempo shift — especially in expert hands.

A core beauty of Century lies in its “value-per-action” tension: every move must count. Whether you’re crafting the perfect loop between combo cards or managing risk to deny your opponent a key upgrade, the game consistently rewards planning, foresight, and adaptability. High-level play transforms into an elegant dance of efficiency — and it’s this mastery curve that keeps veteran players returning game after game.

And just when you think you’ve seen it all, Century expands your journey with Eastern Wonders and A New World — standalone sequels that also serve as modular expansions. You can combine any two or all three games for a richer, more complex experience, seamlessly evolving your spice-trading empire across new mechanics and challenges.

Beyond Spice Road: A Modular Century Experience

What makes the Century series truly special isn’t just the elegant gameplay of each individual title — it’s the way they’re designed to connect. While Spice Road shines on its own with its streamlined, card-driven engine-building, it also serves as a core piece of two unique combined games within the Century universe.

With Eastern Wonders, Spice Road transforms into From Sand to Sea — a seamless blend of hand management and pick-up-and-deliver strategy. Your merchant cards from Spice Road don’t just stay in your hand; they now help navigate sea routes, manage outposts, and build intricate trade networks across a modular ocean board.

Then with A New World, the combination becomes A New World: The Final Frontier. Here, the familiar trading engine of Spice Road intertwines with worker placement in the rugged wilderness of the Americas. You’ll explore new lands, manage resources through strategic card play, and optimize every action to stay ahead in this complex frontier.

Each of these combined games offers more than just a mashup — they’re carefully balanced experiences that retain the charm of Spice Road while expanding the depth and scope of gameplay. For longtime fans, they’re a refreshing evolution. For newcomers, they’re an invitation to see how simple mechanics can grow into something truly epic.

A Special Variant: Century – Golem Edition

Beyond Spice Road, there’s a vibrant alternate version known as Century: Golem Edition will please your magical eyes. While the gameplay mechanics remain exactly the same, the theme is completely reimagined — replacing spice trading with the collection of magical crystal souls to awaken powerful golems.

Instead of wooden cubes, you’ll find beautifully sculpted gems in rich colors. Each point card in Golem Edition features a unique golem illustration, making it easier to visually connect the required resources with the creature depicted — especially helpful for newer or younger players.

While Spice Road appeals with its historical and elegant look, Golem Edition offers a whimsical, fantasy-inspired aesthetic that reminds many of Studio Ghibli films. It’s a feast for the eyes and a favorite among players who value visual immersion.

Final Thoughts

Century: Spice Road is a timeless gateway into the world of strategic board gaming — beautiful in its mechanics, rewarding in its depth. With just a handful of rules, it opens up a marketplace of choices where every decision feels meaningful, every trade could tip the scales, and every round builds toward a satisfying crescendo.

The game’s fast-paced rhythm, smooth engine-building, and rich replayability make it a perfect fit for both casual nights and competitive game sessions. Whether you’re playing with newcomers or fellow strategists, Spice Road always finds a way to surprise — and delight.

At its heart, it’s not just about collecting cubes or scoring points. It’s about timing your plays, reading your opponents, and building something out of nothing — one clever trade at a time.