A game by Emanuele Ornella – Illustrations by Arnaud Demaegd – Design by Cyril DemaegdFAQ & forum: http://www.ystari.com

Contents ●1board ●40hutsin4colors ●16zigguratbases(A)in4colors ●16zigguratcenters(B)in4colors ●16zigguratroofs(C)in4colors ●16discsin4colors ●16smallgreydiscs(wells) ●54cards(40xFood,9xExpansion,1xBonus,4xPlow) ●Thisbooklet

Once upon a time...2000BC.AnewempireisabouttoemergeinthenorthofMesopotamia.Nomadic tribesgatherunder the leadershipofAssur, a city-state dedicated to the cult of thepowerfulmountaingod.Butlifeinthedesertisprecarious,andbeforerulingtheworld,onemustfirstlearntosurvive...

PreparationAdvice: Before playing your first game, read the game board description on page 2.Note: These rules are for a 4-player game. Adjustments for 2 and 3 players can be found at the end of this leaflet. ●Placetheboardinthemiddleofyourplaysurface,thenplacethe16wells(greydiscs)tothesideoftheboard.●Eachplayerchoosesacolorandtakesallofthecorrespondingly-coloredpiecesaswellasaPlowcard.Theplayerplacesadiscoftheircoloratthestartofthescoretrack(A),adiscatthestartofthecameltrack(B),andadiscatthestartoftheofferingstrack(C).Shuffletheremainingdiscsandplacethemrandomlyontheturnordertrack(D).●ShuffletheFoodcardsandplacethemfacedownbesidetheboard.PlacetheBonuscardbesidethecard.PlaceoneExpansion cardwithavalueof4inthefirstexpansionspace(E),thenshuffletheremainingExpansioncardsandplacethemfacedownbesidetheboard.ThefirstplayersetsupFoodcardsasdescribedunder«Farming–Sowing»(see«GameTurn»onpage3),thenfinishsettingupasfollows:●Eachplayer,followingtheturnorder,choosesastartingspaceamongthe4availablespaces(M)andplacesoneoftheirzigguratbases.●Initial draft:Thelastplayerinturnorderdraws4Foodcardsfromthedeck,choosesoneofthem,placesitface-upinfrontofthem,thenpassestheremainingcardstothethirdplayer,whodoesthesame,andsoon.Thefirstplayerwillreceivethefinalcard.Continuethefirstturnasdescribedunder«Farming–Harvest».

Object of the gamePlayers taketheroleof thechiefsofnomadic tribes.Theytravelthedeserttofindfoodandbuildwellsandziggurats.Duringthethreereignswhichmakeupthegame,theytrytospreadthedominationoftheirtribeoverAssyria.Attheendofthegame,themostprominenttribewins...

ASSYRIA

Barbara Pivetta, Ignazio De Guglielmi, Michele Zannoni, Stefano Rampazzo, Massimo Biasotto, Davide Bernardo, Davide Fauri, Brad Keen, Mike Troxell, Dan Tekely and Tom Powers, Lucio Bonetto and Cinzia, Andrea «Liga» Ligabue & Club TreEmme, Nicola Motterle and Tiziano Stona, as well as all test players at Faidutti’s Gathering (in particular Christwart Conrad, Marcel-André Casasola Merkle, Sonso and Jesus), 2008 Buckeye Games Fest.

Acknowledgements

Grapes Palm Barley DatesSalt

Food symbols

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

Board

A) Score trackB) Camel trackC) Offerings trackD) Turn order trackE) Expansion space 1F) Expansion space 2G) Expansion space 3

H) Bonus spaceI) Higher dignitaryJ) Middle dignitaryK) Lower dignitaryL) Plow cards spaceM) Starting spaces for the zigguratsN) Farming spaces

Cards

Expansion Food Plow Bonus

K

I

L

M

M

M

M

Food (Wild card)

N N N N N

Agameisseparatedinto3 Reigns.Thefirst Reignlasts2 turns,andthefollowing Reigns each last 3 turns.

Order of Play

Game turnI - Farming

A) SowingThefirstplayerdraws5Foodcardsonebyoneandplacesthemunderthe5farmingspacesinalinefollowingthein-structionsbelow:●Cardsarearranged from left to right inascendingorderaccordingtothenumberofsymbols(1to3)onthem.● If several cards have the same number of symbols onthem,theyarearrangedbydrawingorder.●Wild cardsarealwaysplacedon the right.Oncethisfirstlineisarranged,thefirstplayerdraws5newcards and places a new line under the first, following thesamerules.Thus,5columnsof2cardshavebeenformed.

B) HarvestThefirstplayertakestheirturnorderdiscandplacesitaboveoneofthe5columnsof2cards.Theplayertakesthe2cardsofthecolumnandthediscremainswhereitis.Thesecondplayer(followingtheturnorder)doesthesameandsoon.Note: Selected cards are placed face-up, in the player’s area. The 2 cards of the unselected column remain untou-ched for the whole duration of the turn.

C) New turn order Anewturnorderisdetermined.Theplayerwhosediscisthefarthestontheleftbecomesthefirstplayer,andsoon.Theplayerwhosedisc isthefarthestontherightbecomesthelastplayer.

Harvest: Red, the first player, places their disc on the third column and takes the two corresponding cards (2 Barley, 3 Grapes). Following the turn order, the other players choose a column and take cards accordingly...

New huts: The Expansion card has a value of 4. Red places 4 new huts on A, B, C and D. From C, Red can’t place a hut on X (which is not adjacent), nor can they place one on Y (which is occupied by another player’s hut).

II - ExpansionFollowingthenewturnorder,eachplayerexpandstheirter-ritorybygoingthroughallthephasesbelow:A) New hutsTheplayertakesanumberofhutsfromtheirstockequaltothevalueoftheExpansioncardforthecurrent turn.Iftheplayerdoesn’thaveenoughhuts,theytakealltheremaininghutsfromtheirstock.Then,theplayerplacesthosehutsontheboardaccordingtothefollowingrule:Huts must be placed on a empty hexagon adjacent to one of the player’s own huts or ziggurats. Note: You can expand progressively by putting a hut next to another you have just placed. Huts can be placed on river hexagons.

Advice: To make the next phase easier, you should place your huts at the bottom of hexagons rather than in the middle of them.

New turn order: The new turn order is determined.

Sowing: The first player draws 5 cards (1 Wild card, 1 Date, 2 Barley, 1 Grape, 3 Grapes) and arranges them. The cards with 1 symbol are arranged following the draw order. They are fol-lowed by the card with 2 Barley and the one with 3 Grapes. The Wild card is placed on the right.

B) ResupplyingEachplayernowusestheirFood andPlowcardstoresupplytheirhuts.Zigguratsneednoresupplying.Eachsymbolonacardallowsyoutoresupply1 hut locatedonahexagonfeaturinga symbol corresponding to the card.So,cardswith2or3symbolsallowyoutoresupply2or3hutswithcorrespondingsymbols.Plow cards and Food Wild cards allowyoutoresupply1 hut, whatever its symbol.Theplayerdiscardstheircardsonebyoneandchoosesthehut(s) theywant to resupply.Theplayerplaces thehutontopofthesymbolcorrespondingtothecard(thatis, inthemiddleofthehexagon)toshowthatresupplyinghastakenplace.Ofcourse,aplayermaydiscardacardfeaturingsev-eralsymbolstofeedasinglevillage.Insuchacase,extrasymbols are lost.Plow cards that are played are not dis-carded,butplacedontothededicatedspaceforthemontheboard.Note: Resupplying is mandatory. A player can’t choose to sacrifice a village if they have the means to resupply it. Iftheplayerhascardsleftaftertheresupplying(becausetheplayerhadasurplusorsomeofthesymbolsfeaturedonthecardsdonotcorrespondtothehexagonswheretheplayer’shutsaresettled), thecards remain in theplayer’sposses-sionforsubsequentturns.

C) FamineNow theplayer removesall their huts that havenot beenresupplied(thatis,hutswhicharenotatthecenteroftheirhexagon)fromthegameboard.Placethesehutsbackintheplayer’sstock.

D) WellsTheplayermaynowchoosetoplacewells.Wellsareplacedat the intersection of 3 hexagonsonwhichtheplayercur-rentlyownsa hut.Furthermore:

●Youcan’tbuildawellnexttoaziggurat.●Wellscan’tbeplacedbetweenthetworivers.●Wellscan’tbeplacedontopofotherwells.Notes: - Building a well is not mandatory.- A player may build several wells in the same turn.- Once a well is built, it remains in place until the end of the game.- The stock of wells is limited, so you cannot build more wells than what the stock contains.

E) Revenue & PrestigeTheplayernowcountstheirrevenueandprestigepoints.1) RevenueFor each river, the first hut placedbytheplayeryields3 camels.Subsequent hutsplacedonthesameriveryield2 camels each.Theplayeraddsupthecamelstheyhavereceivedandad-vancestheirdiscbytheappropriatenumberofspacesalongthecameltrack.Note: Revenue is limited to 10 camels.Advice: The camels will be spent in order to expand your empire, so it is important to earn camels each turn !

Resupplying: Red discards their 2 Barley card to resupply hut B, discards their Plow card to resupply hut A and finally discards their 3 Grapes card to resupply hut D. Red’s 1 Palm card is use-less for the time being, so the player keeps it for another turn.

Wells: Blue may build a well at the intersection of huts A, B and C; the player places a grey disc there.

Famine: Red has not resupplied hut C, which is consequently removed from the board and returned to the player’s stock.

Revenue: Green owns 2 huts on the upper river and 1 on the river at the bottom. As a consequence, Green has a revenue of 8 camels (3+2+3).

2) PrestigeTheplayerscorespointsonthescoretrack:●Eachhutplacedbetween the two riversyields2 points.●Eachhutplacedoutside the two riversyields1 point.Note: Huts placed on a river yield no points.●Eachziggurat tile(base,center,roof)ontheboardyields1 point.●Wells yield a number of points depending on the reignduringwhich theywere built.During the1st Reign,wellsyield6 points; during the2nd Reign, theyyield5points;andduringthe3rd Reign,theyyield4 points.Note: Wells yield points only during the turn in which they were built!

Once all the players, in turn order, finish the expansionphase,proceedtothenextphase.

III - ActionsEachplayerinturnordermaythenspendcamelstoperformactions:

Possibles actions

A) Build / extend a ziggurat B) Create intrigue in Assur C) Make an offering to the gods D) Buy a Plow / Food card

A) Build / extend a ziggurat 1) BuildTheplayermaybuild anewziggurat on theboard if theyfollowthebuildingrulesbelow:●Azigguratmustbebuiltonahexagonwhichisoccupiedbyoneoftheplayer’shuts.●Azigguratcan’tbebuiltonariverhexagon.●Azigguratcan’tbebuiltonahexagonnexttoawell.Tobuildaziggurat, theplayermustspend6 camels, thenreplace1oftheirhutswith1zigguratbase(returnthehuttotheplayer’sstock).

2) Extend Theplayermayextendoneoftheirpre-existingzigguratsiftheyfollowthebuildingrulesbelow:●A ziggurat can only be extended by one level per turn(however,addingaleveltoseveralzigguratsisallowed,aswell as building a ziggurat and extending other zigguratswithonetileinthesameturn).●Aplayermayextendazigguratonlybyplacingaboveitatileofthesizewhichisdirectlyinferiortoit(so,arooftilecanonlybeplacedonacentertileandacentertilecanonlybeplacedonabasetile).

Toextendaziggurat,theplayerspendsanumberofcamelsdependingonthetiletobeplaced:●3camelsforacentertile●2camelsforarooftile

Prestige: Blue scores 11 points.- 2 points for hut A - 1 point for hut B- 1 point for hut C- 1 point for Blue’s ziggurat base- 6 points for the well that was constructed during this turn.

Build / extend: In the turn, Yellow builds a new ziggurat and ex-tends another. So, Yellow spends 9 camels and places a base tile (the hut goes back to the player’s stock) and a center tile on the base tile located in the south.

B) Create intrigue in AssurTheplayermayattempttowinthefavorsofthedignitariesofAssur for thenextFlood. Inorder todo that, theplayerspendscamelsandplaceshutsfromtheirstockonavailablespacescorrespondingtothedignitariestheychoose.Therearethreedignitarieswithincreasinginfluence:●Thehigherdignitarycosts4camels●Themiddledignitarycosts3camels●Thelowerdignitarycosts2camels

Whenaplayerplacesahut,theyautomaticallyplacethem-selves on the highest space available for the dignitary oftheirchoice.Note: You can place several huts in the same turn.

C) Make an offering to the godsTheplayermayoffercamelstothegodstowintheirgoodwillforthenextFlood.Todothat,theplayerspendsfrom1to3camelsandadvancestheirdiscbyasmanyspacesalongtheofferingstrack.

D) Buy a Plow / Food card TheplayermaybuyoneoftheFoodcardsthatarestillavai-lableaftertheharvest,andaPlowcardifoneisstillavailableandiftheplayerdoesn’thaveoneyet.Todothat,theplayerpays the price indicated on the card (1 or 2 camels) andtakesthecard.Note: You can’t buy two Food cards in the same turn. You also can’t own two Plow cards at the same time. A playermay keep camels from one turn to the next.When all players have performed their actions, the gameturnisover.

FloodFloodsmarktheendofaReign.ThefirstReignendsafter2gameturns.ThesecondandthirdReignsendafter3turns.Thefollowingactionsarecarriedout:I) FloodingAllthehutslocatedonariverhexagonareremovedfromtheboardandgobacktotheirowner’sstock.II) AssurTheplayersaregrantedrewardsaccordingtotheirinfluencewiththedignitaries:●Thehigherdignitarygrants3influencesperhut●Themiddledignitarygrants2influencesperhut●Thelowerdignitarygrants1influenceperhut

Players are ranked according to the influence they havebeengranted. Incaseofa tie, theplayerwhohasplacedmorehutswinsthetie.Ifplayersarestilltied,thenthetiedplayerwiththehighesthutontheboardwinsthetie.Note: A player who hasn’t placed a single hut on any digni-tary is not ranked and can’t score points.

Intrigue: Red spends 4 camels and places a hut on the first avai-lable space of the higher dignitary.

Flooding: Huts located along the river are removed from the board.

End of turnTheturn isnowover. If itwasthefinal turnof thereign,afloodnow takesplace.Otherwise, the firstplayerdrawsanewExpansion cardandplacesitintheslotbelowthepre-viouscard.Allplayersput theirhutsbackat thebottomoftheirhexagonssothattheywon’thidetheresources.Anewturnbegins.

Offering: Blue spends 2 camels and advances their marker by two spaces along the offerings track.

Buying cards: Green spends 2 camels and buys the 3 Dates card.

End of turn: A new Expansion card is placed under the previous one.

End of gameThegameisoverattheendofthe3rdReign(aftertheflood).Playersscoreacertainnumberofbonuspoints:●Eachplayerscores1pointperziggurattiletheyhavebuilt●Eachplayerscores1pointperPlowcard●Eachplayerscores1pointforeachgroupoftworemainingcamelsThe most advanced player along the score track takescontrolofAssurandwinsthegame.Incaseofatieforfirstplace,alltiedplayerswin.Theywillsharethenascentem-pire!

Theplayerwiththehighestinfluencetotalscoresanumberofpointsequal to thesumofExpansion cardsbeforedis-cardingthehighestExpansioncard.Thenextplayerscoresanumberofpointsequaltothenewtotalbeforediscardingthehighest remainingExpansion card, and soonuntil nocardsremain.Note: If a player isn’t placed on any dignitary, they score no points and the remaining cards are discarded.

III) Dignitaries In addition to granting players points, each dignitary pro-videsabonustotheplayerssupportinghim.1) Higher dignitaryTheplayersscoreapointbonusdependingonthenumberofhutstheyhaveplacedonthisdignitary:●1hutgrants1point●2hutsgrant4points●3hutsgrant8pointsOncethebonuseshavebeencounted,everybodygetstheirhutsback.2) Middle dignitaryAlltheplayerswhohaveplacedatleastonehutononeofthisdignitary’sspacesgetaPlowcardfromthePlowcardsdeck.Reminder: A player can’t own more than one Plow card.3) Lower dignitaryForeachhutplacedononeof thisdignitary’sspaces, theplayers advance their disc by one spacealong the cameltrack.

IV) OfferingsThe players score points depending on their offerings tothegods.Eachplayerscoresanumberofpointsequal tothenumberofzigguratsitestheyownontheboard,multi-pliedbythenumberindicatedbytheirdiscontheofferingstrack.Eachplayer’sofferingdiscthengoesbacktotheinitialspaceofthetrack.Note: All ziggurat sites are counted even if the building is unfinished (no center or no roof).

V) Next Reign Beforethestartofthe2ndand3rdReigns,placetheBonus cardinitsspotontheboard.DuringthenextFloods,additsvaluetothesumoftheExpansioncardsondisplay.Note : The Bonus card is used only for 4-player games.ThefirstplayerdrawsanewExpansion cardandplacesitinthefirstExpansionslot.Allplayersputtheirhutsbackatthebottomoftheirhexagonssothattheywon’thidethefoodsymbols.Anewturnbegins.

Dignitaries: The players count their bonuses. Green has 2 huts on the lower dignitary and consequently earns 2 camels. Yellow has 1 hut on the middle dignitary and earns a Plow card. Red has 2 huts on the higher dignitary and 1 hut on the lower digni-tary; the player scores 4 points and earns a camel.

Offerings: Yellow has 3 ziggurats on the board and their disc is on the x3 space of the offerings track. Yellow thus scores 9 points.

Assur: The players count their influence. Red comes first with 7 (3+3+1). Green (1+1) and Yellow (2) are tied with 2 points, but Green, having placed 2 huts, comes first. Red scores 10 points and discards the highest card (a 4). Green scores the 6 remai-ning points and discards the highest card (a 4). Yellow scores the 2 remaining points and discards the last card.

Assyria with 3 playersThegameisthesameasinthe4-playerversionexcept:●Theplayersplayonacroppedversionofthegameboardwithdifferentstartingplaces(thelocationsmarkedwithazig-guratinthepicturebelow).●Theplayersuse12wellsinsteadof16and3Plowcardsinsteadof4.●Duringthepreparation3Foodcards(insteadof4)areusedfortheinitaldraft.●Duringthefarmingphase,theplayerdraws4Foodcardstwiceforthesowing.

Assyria with 2 playersThegameisthesameasinthe4-playerversionexcept:●Theplayersplayonacroppedversionofthegameboardwithdifferentstartingplaces(thelocationsmarkedwithazig-guratinthepicturebelow).Fromthe4startingplaces,eachplayermaychooseone.●Theplayersuse8wellsinsteadof16and2Plow cardsinsteadof4.●Duringthepreparation2Foodcards(insteadof4)areusedfortheinitaldraft.●Duringthefarmingphase,theplayerdraws3Foodcardstwiceforthesowing.●WhencountinginAssur,theplayerwiththemostinfluencewinsallthepoints.Thesecondplayerwinsnothinginthe1stReign,andthevalueofthelowestcardintheother2Reigns.

Assyria with 3 players Assyria with 2 players

Summary of the gameGAME TURN

I - Farming: A)Sowing:thefirstplayerdraws5Foodcardstwiceandplacestheminorder B)Harvest:inturnorder,eachplayerchoosesoneofthe2-cardcolumns C)Newturnorder:dependingonthecolumnsthatarechosen,anewturnorderarises

II - Expansion:eachplayer,inturnorder,performsalloftheactionsbelow. A)Newhuts:theplayerplacesanumberofhutscorrespondingtothevalueoftheExpansionofthecurrentturn B)Resupplying:usingtheircards,theplayerresuppliestheirhuts C)Famine:unsuppliedhutsareremovedfromtheboard D)Wells:theplayermayplacewellsontheintersectionof3hexagonsonwhichtheyhavehuts E)Revenue&prestige:theplayerearnscamelsandscorespoints

III - Actions:eachplayer,inturnorder,spendstheircamels(totallyorinpart) A)Build/extendaziggurat B)CreateintrigueinAssur C)Makeanofferingtothegods D)BuyaPloworFoodcard

End of turn:IfthisisnottheendofaReign,placeanewExpansion card.Otherwise,aFloodtakesplace.

FLOODI) Flooding: eachhutlocatedontheriverisremovedII) Assur:theplayerscounttheirinfluenceandscorepointsdependingontheExpansioncardsofthecurrentReignIII) Dignitaries: theplayersscorebonusesdependingonthedignitariesonwhosespacestheyareplacedIV) Offerings:theplayersmultiplytheirpositionontheofferingstrackswiththenumberofzigguratstheyownontheboardV) Next reign : placetheBonuscard(4-players);placeanewExpansioncard.

END OF GAMEAttheendofthe3rdReign,playersscore1pointperziggurattile,1pointperPlowcardand1pointforeachgroupof2remainingcamels.