Manual — Mystic Lands

1
Introduction
Millennia ago, before the Blight had corrupted so much, powerful entities known as Druids shaped the lands. To them, many years were but a single day or night, and they invested this vast time into working with the land to create a world of unparalleled beauty. They drew mana from the land, the beasts, and the waters to weave magic and life back into the land. They balanced the sun and the rain to create harmony. And they journeyed to each other’s sacred places—or Vales—to enrich their spirits and learn of creation’s mystery. In Mystic Lands you are one of these Druids in the Age of Creation, seeking to bring to life the most beautiful land of the fledgling world.
Mystic Lands is a strategic Card Crafting game where players expand and enhance their land by upgrading cards using AEG and John D Clair’s Card Crafting System. Each round, you must decide whether to rest or push your luck—risking a withered land if too much sun appears without the mitigating rain.
Upgrades, or “Advances,” provide Mana (mana), Spirits (spirit), and Victory Points (vp), or reduce risk of too much exposure to the sun. mana allows you to buy Advances for your cards, and spirit lets you enchant mystical Vales for additional vp and effects. Craft your cards carefully to bring balance, life, and magic to your land.
Components
8 Arid Land cards
2 Fertile Land cards
2 Wild Land cards
1 Sacred Land card
1 Druid card
You can remove the protective layer on Advances before your first game, or you can wait for them to begin to peel on their own.
4 player decks with different color backs. Each deck contains:
(X) Card Sleeves
4 player boards in 4 colors
60 Vale cubes in 4 colors
4 Mana trackers
4 Spirit trackers
4 VP trackers
X Advances (X level 1 and X level 2)
X Advances (X level 1 and X level 2)
BEFORE YOUR FIRST GAME
There are 5 basic card types in Mystic Lands onto which the Advances (clear cards) are sleeved.
Each player has a deck of sleeved cards. Before your first game, create each starting deck by sleeving the following cards with the same color backs:PLACEHOLDER IMAGE

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Components
4 +50 markers
X Vale cards (X level 1 and X level 2)
2 double-sided Vale maps
X Rain tokens
2 Market board tokens
4 Wither tokens 1 Market board
STARTING DECK:
Your deck goes here with
the top card (on-deck card)
revealed.
MANA TRACKER mana, SPIRIT TRACKER spirit,
VP TRACKER vp AND VALE CUBES
Your Player Area
SET UP YOUR PLAYER AREA
Give each player a player board
in their color, a starting deck
in their color, 1 Mana tracker, 1
Spirit tracker, 1 VP tracker, and
15 Vale cubes in their color.
Each tracker has a normal
side and a +25 side to track a
player’s totals during the game.
Use this track to count the totals of your
mana, spirit, and vp.
DISCARD AREA

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Game Setup
Choose a Vale map for this game and place it in the
middle of the table. There are 4 maps represented
on each side of 2 boards. For your first game, we
recommend using the basic map, “Gateway Vale.”
Shuffle the level 1 and level
2 Vale cards separately to
form 2 decks beside the Vale
map.
Place 1 facedown level 1 Vale
card on each of the “1” spaces
and a level 2 Vale card on each
of the “2” spaces.
Shuffle the Druid Advances and deal 2 to each player
facedown. Use the boxes provided to conceal the decks
during play, if you wish.
Simultaneously and secretly, players choose 1 of the
Druid Advances to sleeve with their Druid card and return
the other to the Druid Advance deck.
When all players have chosen a Druid Advance, shuffle
the Druid Advance deck and place it near the middle of
the table.
1
2
2a
4
4b
3

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Randomly choose the 1st player to resolve their phases. The 2nd player sits to their left, and so on.
Based on play order, each player receives these starting resources, tracked on their player board:
1st player: Nothing
2nd player: 1 mana
3rd player: 1 mana and 1 spirit
4th player: 2 mana and 1 spirit

Game Setup
Place the Market board near the Vale map and shuffle the level 1 and level 2 Advances separately to form 2 decks on either end of the Market.
Place 1 faceup level 1 Advance on each of the “1” spaces (6 total) and 1 faceup level 2 Advance on each of the “2” spaces (3 total).
The 2 slots with both numbers need to start with a level 1 Advance (see page xx).
Reveal the Vale cards connected to the starting space.
Then, all players return their Druid cards to their decks and shuffle them in, placing their deck face-down on the “deck” space of their player board.
Place the Rain tokens and Wither tokens in a pile near the board.
2b
4c
3
3a
5
6

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5
Gameplay Overview
As a Druid with an evolving domain, you must seize the ancient mechanisms of the land to shape its flora, fauna,
and magic, ushering in an era of fertility and growth. Earn the most
VP from Advances and Vales to win.
When you are the active player, you buy Advances to upgrade cards in your Land and enchant Vales
to access various effects and rewards. You will cycle through your deck of cards over the course of
the game, and it grows in power as you add Advances to cards and use Vales for their effects.
In general, you play cards to your Land area, add Advances to those cards, then put them in your
Discard area. When your deck runs out of cards, shuffle the cards in your Discard to form a new deck.
The first player to reach or exceed 25
VP or place 10 of their Vale cubes triggers the end of the game.
After other players play a final Day and Dusk phase, everyone counts the totals of
VP from their score track, Vale cards, and Advances. The player with the most VP wins!
Core Concepts
CARD CRAFTING
Cards can be upgraded with Advances in 4 ways and can never have 2 of the same position Advance.
The first Advance you sleeve on a card goes in front of the basic card itself. When sleeving an Advance
on a card with 1 or more Advances, sleeve the new Advance like so:
Background Advances are placed
behind any other advances
Background advances have
no tab. Place it behind
any other Advances so it is
against the basic card.
Foreground Advances are placed
in front of any other advances
If it is a foreground, (with the tab at the
top on the left side) place it in front of
any other Advances so it is against the
transparent front of the sleeve.
First Advance is placed in front
of your starter card
5

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6
Core Concepts Continued
ADVANCES WITH SUN
You may only sleeve Advances with a sun on cards without an uncovered sun.
Because you must sleeve background Advances behind any other Advances and foreground advances in front of
any other Advances, it is possible to sleeve an Advance with a
sun behind a cloud even if the cloud was already covering a
sun. However, you may never choose to sleeve an Advance in a different order than is required of background and
foreground Advances.

Background Advance Example

YOUR ON-DECK CARD
You always have a revealed card sitting on top of your
deck. This is your “on-deck” card. While it is not a part
of your Land and is not in play for the purposes of its
resources or effects, a
sun icon on this card counts toward
your total revealed
sun, which can cause you to Wither and
gain fewer resources. Your on-deck card is a part of your
deck for all purposes.
NIGHT AND DAY PHASES
During the Night phase, Grow your Land by
playing your on-deck card faceup to the right of
your deck or any cards in your Land, repeating
this until you decide to Rest (stop) or reveal a
4th
sun and Wither. You may perform your Night
phase during other players’ Day and Dusk phases,
so gameplay is partially simultaneous.
In your Day phase, gain resources from your cards,
resolve effects, enchant up to 2 Vale cards, and buy up
to 2 Advances.
A basic Card with no Advances
Card Anatomy
1. Top foreground and background
Advance position
2. Bottom foreground and
background Advance position
3. Sun Icon
4. Rain reward - Gain a Rain token when an
Advance covers this icon for the first time.
1. Name
2. Mana Cost - How much mana you must pay to
buy this Advance (not to play it).
3. Effect - Every effect is resolved at a specific
time, stated at the start of the effect.
4. End Game - VP - The value of this card in
VP, counted at the end of the game.
5. Mana - Gained from some Advances and
used mostly to buy Advances.
6. Spirits - Gained from some Advances and
used mostly to enchant Vales.
7. VP - Gained from some Advances.
8. r-blue r-green r-red r-yellow Aspects - Some card effects
reference Aspects either on this card or in your
Land. A card may have multiple Aspect icons,
which may or may not be the same Aspect.
You can sleeve an Advance with a sun behind
a
cloud even if the cloud was already covering a sun,
as long as the Advance is not sleeved in a
different order than is required of background
and foreground Advances.
You cannot sleeve an advance with a sun onto
a card that has an exposed sun on it already.
However, you can sleeve a
sun on a foreground over a
background advance with a
cloud that covers a sun.

Foreground Advance Example

4
3
1
2
A Card with 4 Advances
5
8
7
4
2
1
3
6

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7
Icons
MANA:
Gained from some Advances and used mostly to
buy Advances.
SPIRIT:
Gained from some Advances and used mostly to
enchant Vales.
VP:
Gained from some Advances.
RAIN:
Gain a Rain token.
CLOUD:
Advances with this icon cover sun when sleeved
so it no longer counts toward Withering or any
other effects looking for sun. cloud has no effect of
its own.
ASPECTS:
Some card effects reference Aspects
either on this card or in your Land.
A card may have multiple Aspect icons,
which may or may not be the same
Aspect.
AN ASPECT ICON WITH THIS SHAPE:
This type of aspect icon is asking you to
look at how many advances with this
aspect icon are on the card on which it is
sleeved
AN ASPECT ICON WITH THIS SHAPE:
This type of aspect icon is asking you to
look at how many cards in your land have
at least 1 of this aspect icon on them.
WILD:
Counts as any Aspect, but only 1 Aspect
until the end of your Dusk phase. You
may choose what Aspect a
WILD is at any
time during your Night or Day phases.
After you have chosen, you cannot
change which aspect a
WILD represents until
a Day or Night phase on a future turn.
ADVANCE EFFECT TIMING
Resolve when you place this card
in your Land.
Resolve once at any time of your choice
during your Night Phase while this effect
is in your land.
Resolve once at any time of your choice
during your Day Phase while this effect is in
your land.
A modification which is always in
effect. These effects are not optional.
Resolve once at any time of your choice
during your Dusk Phase while this effect
is in your land.
Resolve once when you
acquire this Advance.
Vale Cards
THERE ARE 3 MAIN TYPES OF VALE EFFECTS:
NIGHT OR DAY - Resolve this effect once at any time of
your choice per Night or Day phase.
IMMEDIATE - Resolve the Vale effect once when you
enchant the Vale and place a cube on the [*] space.
ACTIVATION - Unless otherwise stated, these are effects
you activate during your Day phase. These are indicated
by an arrow connecting the VP square to 1 or more
squares, which either contain an immediate reward or
activate the Vale’s effect (indicated by an empty box).
REFRESHING VALE EFFECTS - Some Advance
effects allow you to refresh an Activation Vale
effect. This means you move 1 of your cubes on
an Activation Vale effect 1 space to the right if
possible, allowing you to activate this effect again
immediately or in the future.
1.
Some day effects say “Repeatable” and can be
resolved any number of times as long as you meet
their conditions.
All of these effects are optional except
ongoing
effects and resource icons on the left edge of cards
and Advances.
VP Spot - When you enchant a Vale, your
Vale cube goes on 1 of these spots to track the
VP you will earn at the end of the game.
Effect - Some Vales
have unique effects.
Spirit Cost - The cost in
spirit
to enchant this Vale and
place a cube on it.

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8
Phases Overview
You have a Night phase, a Day phase and a Dusk phase.
NIGHT PHASE
Your Night phase occurs during other players’ Day phases, so you should begin each Night phase as soon as you
end the previous Dusk phase. At the start of the game, all players should begin their Night phases simultaneously.
In your Night phase, you play your on-deck card to your Land and resolve
wp} and night} effects.
Follow these steps during your Night phase:
At any time, you may:
• Resolve
night} effects on cards in your Land,
and/or Vales you have a cube on. Each
night} effect
may be used once per Night phase. These may be used
in any order, including in between playing cards while
Growing or Overgrowing.
The only time you may not resolve a night}
effect is between playing your on-deck card and
revealing your new on-deck card.
• Place Rain tokens on Advances to cover
sun}, including
after revealing a 4th
sun} to prevent Withering.
You will discard all Rain tokens at the start of your
Day phase, so you cannot save them for future
Night phases.
While players are encouraged to resolve their Night phase
during the Day and Dusk phases of other players, you
may choose to resolve part or all of your Night phase after
the player to your right finishes their Dusk phase so you
have more information on which to make choices.
Play your on-deck card faceup to the right of
your deck or any cards in your Land. You may
immediately resolve
wp} effects on
that card in any order.
1. Grow
Reveal your new on-deck card. If your deck is empty,
shuffle your Discard to form a new deck.
If there are 4 or more uncovered sun}
between your on-deck card and your Land
and you cannot or do not want to place
a Rain token on a
sun}, you Wither (see
"Withering" on page 9) and end your Night
phase. Rain tokens can be gained during
Dusk (see page 11) or from card effects.
2. Reveal
If you did not Wither (your land consists of
4 or more uncovered suns), choose to Rest
(end your Night phase) or Grow (step 1).
OVERGROW: If you already have
3 uncovered
sun} between your Land and
on-deck card, you Overgrow by playing
your on-deck card, though this is risky
as you could Wither. You may Overgrow
any number of times until you Wither or
choose to Rest.
3. Rest

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WITHERING sun
If you Withered, you only gain 1 of the 3 resources
during your upcoming Day phase, including resources
gained from Day effects. However, you may resolve
effects that would cause you to gain any resources by
resolving as much of the effect as you are able and
reducing the amount gained of all but your chosen
resource to 0.
Remember, if you have 4 or more sun revealed during
your Night phase, you Wither.
If this Advance were in your Land on a turn when you
Withered, you may resolve this effect but can only
gain your chosen resource type from it. If you chose
to gain mana this Day phase, you would gain
1
mana, 0 spirit, and 0 vp.

You do not lose any resources gained during your Night
phase. Some cards specify that you still gain a resource
even if you Withered.
Otherwise, you perform your Day and Dusk phases the
same as if you did not Wither.
DAY PHASE
During your Day phase, you gain (or sometimes lose) resources in numbered icons on the left edge of cards in your Land.
Then, in any order, resolve Day effects and buy Advances and enchant Vales. Ongoing effects are non-optional and are
always active.
AT THE START OF YOUR DAY PHASE

Return all your used and unused Rain
tokens back to the pile near the Vale
Board.
Choose only one resource of your choice.
If you Withered, choose a resource type. You may
gain this resource during your Day phase from cards
and effects but cannot gain the other 2 resources.
1. Discard 2. Choose
Gain mana, spirit, and vp. (or only your chosen resource if you Withered) from numbered icons on the left edge of
cards in your Land (not your on-deck card) and move the corresponding tracker for each.
3. Gain

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DAY (CONTINUED)
Then, perform any of the following in any order:
• Resolve day effects on any cards in your Land and Vales you have a cube on.
Each day effect may be used once per Day phase.
• Buy an Advance by spending mana or enchant a Vale by spending spirit.
When you cannot or do not want to perform more actions, your Day phase ends. If you Withered during your Night phase, flip the Wither token.
You cannot Wither during your Day phase, so any effects that add sun to your Land and put you at 4 or more revealed sun do not cause you to Wither.

EXTRA LEVEL 2 ADVANCES
The first time any 1 player has 5 vp during their Day phase, they follow these steps:

BUYING ADVANCES
When you buy up to 2 Advances during your Day phase, choose from any faceup level 1 or level 2 Advances in the Market for which you have enough mana.
Buy Advances one at a time, reducing your mana according to the cost of each Advance. Immediately replenish the Market from the appropriate deck and place the Advance below your player board—do not sleeve it yet (sleeving happens in your Dusk phase).
Remember that you must set your mana to 0 during your Dusk phase if you buy any Advances.
If any Day effect causes you to play additional cards, immediately gain mana, spirit, and vp (or only your chosen resource if you Withered) from numbered icons on the left edge of those cards as you would at the start of the Day phase.

TIP: In general you should perform actions in this order:
1. Resolve day effects.
2. Enchant Vales.
3. Buy Advances.
You may occasionally have reason to perform them in a different order.
For example, you might buy 1 Advance, then resolve some day effects, then enchant 2 Vales, resolve the rest of your day effects, and then buy 1 more Advance.
You may buy at most 2 Advances and enchant 2 Vales per Day phase.

Remove any level 1 Advance from the Market
Refill the space with a level 2 Advance from the deck.
Shift any level 1 Advances to the right of this space one space to the left.
Place one of the “level 2” tokens above this space.
For the rest of the game, refill this space with a level 2 Advance when it is empty.
This happens a second time when any 1 player reaches or exceeds 15 vp (so there will be 5 level 2 Advances in the Market for the rest of the game).

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ENCHANTING VALES
When you use spirit to enchant up to 2 Vales during your Day phase, you place cubes on Vale spots to earn vp at the end of the game and sometimes gain access to an effect. A “spot” is a square or row of squares that give rewards, VP, and effects. Vales with your cubes on them are Vales you have enchanted by shaping the land with your magic. Multiple players can enchant the same Vale, and Vale cards remain on the board at all times.
Vale cards cost spirit to enchant, but their cost is reduced by 1 per other player with a cube already on the Vale. To enchant a Vale, spend spirit equal to its cost and place 1 of your cubes on an empty vp spot on any Vale, as long as you meet these conditions:
• You do not already have a cube on the Vale.
• It is connected by a path to another Vale you have a cube on or to the starting space.
• You may only choose to enchant a spot on a row where another player does not already have a cube on that row.
Then, reveal any connected facedown Vale cards. This occurs immediately, so you might enchant a Vale, reveal a connected Vale, then enchant the newly flipped Vale.

DUSK PHASE
When you are finished with your Day phase, move to your Dusk phase, in which you may sleeve any Advances, resolve dusk effects, and discard all cards in your Land.
During your Dusk phase, perform the following in any order:
• USE EFFECTS
Set your mana to 0 if you bought any Advances using mana. Using effects to gain Advances does not count as buying an Advance, even if the effect required you to pay mana.
• RESOLVE DUSK EFFECTS
Resolve dusk effects on cards in your Land, including those from Advances sleeved this phase.
• SLEEVE ADVANCES
Sleeve any Advances from below your player card on cards in your Land one at a time. You may choose not to sleeve any number of Advances and sleeve them during a future Dusk phase.
If you cover any previously uncovered rain, gain 1 Rain token for each.
You may sleeve Advances on the same card in any order as long as you follow background and foreground Advance placement rules (page X).
To end your Dusk phase, clean up your Land by gathering your played cards and placing them faceup in your Discard. The player to your left becomes the active player.
This player can enchant any of these Vales if they have enough spirit. They choose to enchant Spirit Cave for 4 spirit (because 1 opponent has a cube on it) and place a cube on the upper 1 vp spot.
Pay your enchantment cost by subtracting the number of spaces equal to the Vale's cost (minus any opponent cubes) with your Spirit Tracker token on your player track. Spirits do not go to zero at the end of the turn like mana does.
Enchant a Vale by placing your cube on an open VP spot, on a row where another player does not already have a cube.
Reveal any Vale cards connected to the enchanted card, if they haven't already been revealed by another player.
Sleeving an Advance to cover a Rain icon
You may resolve dusk effects in any order (for example, if you have multiple cards with an effect that lets you place the card at the bottom of your deck, you resolve these in an order of your choice).
Vale spots tend to have stronger rewards toward the top of the card, but you may place your cube on any empty spot when enchanting.

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Game end
As soon as any player ends their Day phase with at least 25 vp on their board or with
their 10th Vale cube on the Vale map, they finish their Dusk phase, and then gain 5
vp
for ending the game. Regardless of who was the first player, the other players complete
their upcoming Night, Day, and Dusk phases, then the game ends. The person with the
highest total wins.
Count your
vp from your vp track, Advances, and the Vale map.
Fine Points
SHUFFLING YOUR DECK:
Any time you resolve an effect that references your deck and you do not have enough
cards in your deck, resolve as much of the effect as you can, then shuffle your Discard,
then resolve the rest of the effect.
Because it is possible to feel the difference between cards with and without Advances,
you may wish to have a random cut of your deck after shuffling. This could be done with
a die, or having another player give you a number to indicate the point where your deck is
cut after shuffling.
RUNNING OUT OF CARDS IN YOUR DISCARD AND DECK:
If you ever run out of cards in your Discard and deck during your Night phase, your Night
phase ends immediately. You may resolve an effect that references your on-deck card or
cards in your Discard or deck but must treat the effect as if you have no remaining cards.
PLAYING CARDS DURING THE DAY PHASE:
If you play any cards during the Day phase (as a result of
day
effects), you may resolve
any
wp
effects on them.
SEARCHING YOUR DISCARD:
You may look through your Discard at any time, but not your deck. Other players may
also look through your Discard. The order of cards in your Discard does not matter.
EXCEEDING 25
mana, spirit, OR vp:
There is no limit to the amount of each resource you may have. If you exceed 25 of
any resource, flip its tracker to the “25” side. If you exceed 50 of any resource, place
a “50” token under the tracker for that resource with its normal side faceup.
Vale maps
While each Vale map has unique features, they all follow
the same principle:
Enchanting a Vale gives you rewards on the Vale
card and sometimes the Vale space itself.
Whenever you place a cube on a Vale that has rewards that
align with the Vale spot you claimed, gain that reward.
You only put Vale cards on spaces with “I” or “II” on them
during setup. Follow any additional setup steps printed on
each Vale map.
Some Vale maps have spaces generally smaller than Vale
cards with spots you can place cubes on, but you never put
Vale cards on these spaces. As with any Vale, you can only
enchant these spaces by paying their spirit cost if you have
a cube on an adjacent Vale. These spaces count as “Vales” for
all purposes.
Additional rules for each Vale map are printed on the boards
themselves. discRrd decR
01
2425
2
23
3
22
4
21
5
20
6
19
7
18
8
17
9
16
10
15
11
14
12
13
Quick Reminders
If you placed a cube on this spot, you would gain both the rewards on the Vale card
and the rewards on the Vale space that align with the spot with your cube.
Some Vale boards have icons
adjacent to specific slots on the Vale
card. Players choosing to enchant
these spots gain both the benefit of
that spot on the Vale card, and any
benefits from the Vale board text that
applies to such spots.

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13
Glossary
TERMS
ACQUIRE:
To take an Advance by spending mana or gain it with an effect.
DISCARD:
To place a card onto your Discard area on your board or return a token to the supply.
ENCHANT:
To place a cube on an empty spot on a Vale, usually by spending spirit.
GAIN:
To take an Advance without paying its cost, collect resources, collect a Rain token, or temporarily add an Aspect to a card.
GROW:
To play your on-deck card to your Land during your Night phase when you have fewer than 3 revealed sun.
MARKET:
The row of faceup Advances available to buy.
ON-DECK:
The top card of your deck, which should always be faceup. Your on-deck card is a part of your deck.
OVERGROW:
To play your on-deck card to your Land during your Night phase when you have 3 uncovered sun, which risks Withering.
PAY:
To spend a resource, usually to gain another resource, an Advance, or a Vale.
PLAY:
To place a card faceup in your Land.
VALE:
To place a card faceup in your Land.
RANDOM:
From the top of the corresponding deck.
REFRESH:
To move 1 of your cubes on a Vale to a square to its right in an Activation effect.
REMOVE:
To take a component out of the game permanently. Place it in the box.
RESOURCES:
mana, spirit, and vp generally collected in your Day phase.
REST:
To stop playing cards to end your Night phase before you Wither.
SLEEVE:
To put an Advance in a sleeve with a card.
WITHER:
To reveal a 4th sun during your Night phase without putting a Rain token on it, which ends it immediately and causes you to choose only 1 resource type to gain during your Day phase.
ADVANCE CLARIFICATIONS
ENT GUARDIAN, SEQUOIA FOREST:
If you placed your cube on an Activation effect with an opponent’s cube, your cube and your opponent’s cube may occupy the same Activation spots moving forward. You may place your cube on the vp spot of an Activation effect with an opponent’s cube in an Activation spot.
HIBISCUS DRYAD:
After playing a card from this effect, reveal your new on-deck card. You may choose not to play a card even if you have enough [green in Land] to do so.
MANGROVE FOREST:
The position the unsleeved Advance would occupy may be empty or occupied.
SUN PARROT:
This card replaces your previous on-deck card, which you should place facedown on your Deck.
SUN PRIESTESS:
You cannot reduce the cost of this action below 0.
TURTLE NESTING GROUND:
When you swap another card with your on-deck card, you may resolve any wp abilities on that card.
VALE CLARIFICATIONS
GRASPING VINES:
You do not lose any resources previously gained from the card you remove, but you do lose any [Ongoing] abilities on that card as well as endgame vp.
GREAT TABLE:
This effect may be used once either during your Night or Day phase.
SATYR HOME:
You may resolve any day, ongoing, and dusk effects on the sleeved Advance, but not wp effects.
SUN PRIESTESS:
This must be a Vale you could otherwise enchant following normal rules. Its spirit cost must be from 1–5 before reducing the cost for each other player with a cube there.
SUNLIGHT VALLEY:
This counts sun on all of your cards whether they are in your deck, Discard, or Land, unless they are covered by cloud.

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