Terra Mystica (2012)

How To Play Terra Mystica

Faction board setup

The game board for Terra Mystica is divided into land masses of 7 different types separated by a river. Along the side of the main game board, place the Cult board. Players choose one of the 14 factions and take all the game components associated with that faction.

The Faction board displays all of your resources and game action abilities during the game. Onto the Faction board, place the faction’s Structure tokens. Players also receive 7 Priest tokens and 3 bridge tokens. Lastly, there are 7 cylindrical markers in the faction color that are placed at various points to indicate your progress and abilities with certain game actions: the Shipping Track, the Exchange track, one on the “0” spaces for each cult track on the Cult board, and finally one on the “20” space on the Victory point track that outlines the main board.

On the upper right of each Faction board are the starting resources for that Faction; this may indicate a number of Workers, Coins, Priests, or any combination of these. Also the specific faction will begin with some influence in one or more of the Cults. Move the players’ tokens on the Cult track up one space for each matching Cult symbol on their Faction board. Lastly on the upper left of the Faction board are the “Bowls of Power.” 12 purple tokens are placed here divided between Bowls I and II as indicated on the Faction board.

Main board setup

Once the Factions boards are set for each player, the main board is set up. This includes setting up the Favor Tiles, Bonus cards, Action tokens, Town tokens, extra workers and Coins. Most importantly, the Scoring tokens are shuffled and 6 are chosen and placed on each of the game turn track spaces. Place the Game End token on the right side of Scoring token on the topmost space.

Now the players are ready to place their starting Dwellings on the board. Choose a starting player randomly and that player chooses an existing home terrain space (matching their faction) and places on of their Dwellings on that space. This continues in clockwise order until the last player has placed a dwelling. Then beginning with that last player, and in counterclockwise order, place a dwelling on another existing home terrain space. Each player then begins with 2 Dwellings on the board. Beginning with the last player, and going counterclockwise, all players choose a Bonus tile from those available. Terra Mystica is about to begin!

Phases in Terra Mystica

Terra Mystica lasts six turns and each turn has three phases that all players must complete in player order before the next turn begins. The Phases are Phase I: Income, Phase II: Actions, and Phase III: Cult Bonuses and Cleanup.

Phase I: Income

Simply put, each faction in player order gains new Workers, Coins, Priests, or Power: the game’s four resources. There are many things that can generate income for a turn. Most come from the buildings you have built thus far in the game. Gain Workers depending on the number of Dwellings you have built. Generate Coins and Power depending on the number of Trading houses you have built. Priests are generated depending on the number of Temples and Sanctuaries you have built. And also gain Power by building Strongholds. Bonus cards and Favor tiles can also generate income.

Once players collect all Income from all sources, the Actions Phase begins.

Phase II: Actions

Beginning with the starting player and going clockwise, all players take one action. This continues until all players pass. There are 8 possible actions a player can take:

Transform and Build

You can only build dwellings on the home terrain for your faction. So this action allows you to terraform any unoccupied space into your home terrain. After which, you may build a dwelling on this space. To Terraform a space on the board, determine the cost on the Transformation Cycle on the Faction board.

Each step between the source and destination space will cost one Spade. Spades are acquired by Power actions and trading workers at a rate determined by the Exchange track also on the Faction board, (It begins at 3). Once the cost to Transform the space is paid, a new tile is placed on the space of the players home terrain type.

To Build a Dwelling, pay the building cost (1 Worker and 2 Coins) and remove the Dwelling counter from the leftmost box on your faction board to the space on the game board.

Advance Shipping

Expansion in the game requires that Structures and terrain spaces be adjacent or indirectly adjacent to each other. To shorten this distance using the river hexes on the main game board, the Shipping track can be advanced as an action for a cost (1 Priest and 4 Coins). Victory Points are awarded immediately as displayed on the Shipping Track each time you take this action.

Spade Exchange Rate

Spades used for terraforming terrain cost 3 Workers at the start of the game. By paying the cost (2 Workers, 5 Coins, and 1 Priest) you can move the marker up one space. This lowers the cost of Spades and awards 6 Victory Points.

Upgrade a Structure

You can upgrade each structure step by step. That is, a Dwelling may be upgraded to a Trading House. A Trading house can be upgraded to a Temple or a Stronghold. And you can only upgrade a Temple to a Sanctuary.

When upgrading, you must pay the cost of the upgrade in Coins and Workers. Then remove the structure token from the board and replace it on your Faction board. Replace that structure in its same space with the left-most new structure token.

Building a Temple and /or a Sanctuary will give you a Favor tile, and building a Stronghold will reveal a Special Action icon. But there may be a drawback. Build next to an opponent and they can gain Power, in exchange for Victory points. Which may give them the upper hand later in the game.

Send a Priest to an Order of a Cult

There are four spaces below each order on the Cult track and as an action you may place your Priest on any one of them, and advance your Faction marker up the track that number of spaces. Not only do you score more points at the end of the game the higher you are on the track, but also advancing along the track will award you Power. However, Priests stay on the Cult board for the rest of the game.

Use a Power Action

If there are any Power tokens in Bowl III on your Faction board you may spend that power for a Power Action. Power actions are listed at the bottom of the main game board and once used, cannot be used by another player from the remaining round. For a cost in Power, they provide Spades, Workers, Gold, and Priests and it’s the only place a player may buy and build a bridge to span the river.

Use a Special Action

Indicated by an orange octagon, Special powers (like Power actions) can only be used once per round. They will be accessible in a variety of ways; most commonly building a Stronghold reveals a Special action on your Faction board. Special Action icons also appear on a Bonus tile and a Favor tile.

Pass

The first player to pass will become the starting player in the next round. They also return their Bonus card and are the first to choose a new one from those that remain from the previous round. Once all players have passed, Phase III begins.

Phase III: Cult Bonus and Clean Up

All players are awarded Cult bonuses, (if applicable) depicted on the right side of the current Scoring tile. Then Clean up begins. All Action tokens are returned or removed from the Action spaces if they were used. Place one Coin on all the “unchosen” Bonus cards. And turn the current Scoring tile face down to indicate the next round is about to begin.

End of Terra Mystica and Scoring

Players first determine their Cult Scoring. You score 8 points if you are the player highest on any track, 4 points if you are second highest, and 2 points for being the third highest. Any lower and you’re out of luck. Ties divide the points between the players.

Next you determine your Area scoring. Simply count the number of structures that are adjacent or indirectly adjacent to each other. The player with the highest number of connected structures is awarded 18 Victory points. Second highest receive 12 Victory points and third highest receives 6 Victory Points. If there is a tie, divide these points between the tying players. Total all points and determine the ruler of Terra Mystica.

Terra Mystica Review

“Terra Mystica is a really unique and fun game, one I’m glad I own. I’ve found the game to be a lot easier to get to the table with seasoned players vs new players. Teaching this game is somewhat cumbersome and be prepared for a lot of glazed over looks. It’s not something you’ll look forward too. But once players have a game under their belts, it ends up being a lot of fun. The 14 different races help the games replay value and I really want to try each and every one.”

Tony Mastrangeli, boardgamequest.com

“I don’t think of Terra Mystica as a fun game. If I’m looking for a good time it’s not even on a short-list of contenders. I feel the same way about chess though because fun is only one of the end-goals for which games can aim. Terra Mystica’s values are somewhat more substantive than anything as ephemeral or as light-hearted as mere frivolous entertainment. It’s complex, deeply replayable, and challenging in all the right ways if you’re willing to make developing mastery an end-goal of your own.”

Michael Heron, meeplelikeus.co.uk

“Terra Mystica is one of my favourite ‘heavier’ eurogames to come out over the past few years. The balance between sticking to yourself (to maximize expansion space) while leeching off others (which means you want neighbours) is sometimes tricky to navigate, and nothing makes you feel more annoyed than letting your neighbour take the power she needs to grab the power action you wanted just before you can…”

Patrick Korner, opinionatedgamers.com

The content of this article is originally from Board Game Geek and boardgaming.com. For more information and a better understanding of the game, you can watch the videos below.