How to Play Elysium: Claim Your Place Among the Gods!

Welcome, aspiring demigod, to the world of Elysium! Prepare to recruit mighty Heroes, acquire legendary Artifacts, and undertake epic Quests as you strive to forge your own Legends. This guide will help you navigate the path to Mount Olympus and claim your rightful place among the gods!

Objective of the Game

Your ultimate goal in Elysium is to earn as many Victory Points (VP) as possible. How do you do that? Mostly by strategically building and then "destroying" powerful card combinations. You'll transfer these cards from your Domain to your Elysium to create glorious Legends. But beware, the path to glory is paved with tough decisions and clever plays!

Preparation (Setup)

Let's get your divine quest started! Here's how to set up your game:

1. Place the Pediment board (choose one side randomly) and the Steps board in the middle of your play area.
2. Below the Pediment, place the 4 Quests with the mark in ascending order from left to right. (For 2 players, only use the 2 Quests with the mark, placing each below 2 colors.)
3. Create a common reserve for all Gold tokens, Victory Point (VP) tokens, and Trigger rings.
4. Place the Epoch marker on the first space of the Epoch track.
5. Each player takes a Player Board and assembles it in front of them. The area above your board is your Domain, and the area below is your Elysium.
6. Give Disc #1 to a random player. This player is the start player for the first Epoch. Proceeding clockwise, give the other Discs to the other players in ascending order. Return any unused Discs to the box.
7. Each player takes 4 Gold tokens and places them on their board.
8. Each player takes one Column of each color and places them on their board. Return any unused Columns to the box.
9. Each player takes a number of VP tokens equal to the number on their Disc (e.g., Disc #1 takes 1 VP, Disc #2 takes 2 VP, etc.).
10. Now for the cards! Choose 5 of the 8 available Families. For your first game, we strongly recommend using: Athena, Hades, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Zeus. Return cards from the 3 unused Families to the box.
11. Take the 105 cards from the chosen Families and shuffle them carefully face-down to form the draw pile. Leave space for a discard pile.
12. Draw a number of cards equal to 1 plus 3 times the number of players (e.g., 3 players = 10 cards) and place them face-up in the middle of the play area to form the Agora.
13. Lay out the 3 Level Bonus tiles and the 10 Family Bonus tiles (2 for each of the 5 chosen Families).
14. If the Ares Family is in play, place all Prestige Point (PP) tokens in the common reserve. If the Apollo Family is in play, place the Oracle board above the Temple and place 4 face-up cards below the Oracle.

The Game Turn

Elysium is played over 5 Epochs, and each Epoch has 4 exciting Phases:

Phase I: Awakening

1. (Skip this step in the first Epoch) Remove any cards remaining in the Agora from the previous Epoch and place them face-up in the discard pile.
2. Draw cards from the draw pile and place them face-up in the Agora until there are 1 plus 3 times the number of players (e.g., 2 players = 7 cards; 3 players = 10 cards; 4 players = 13 cards).
3. If the Apollo Family is in play: After step 1, slide any remaining cards from the Oracle to the Agora. After step 2, add 4 new face-up cards from the draw pile to the Oracle. This gives you a peek at future cards!

Phase II: Actions

This is where the real fun begins! Players take turns in ascending order of their Discs. On your turn, you must:

• Take either 1 Quest tile or 1 Family card from the Agora.
• To take a Quest or Family card, you must have the matching Column(s) (indicated by the Acquisition Condition) on your board. Black means "any color."
• Immediately place any taken card in your Domain. Place any taken Quest beside your board.
• After taking a card or Quest, you must dismiss one (and only one) of your Columns by removing it from your board. You can dismiss any Column, not just one from the Acquisition Condition.
• Important: You cannot have two identical cards (same illustration) in your Domain.

Special Situations during Actions:

• If you cannot fulfill the Acquisition Condition of any remaining Family card, you must instead take a Citizen. Take the top card from the draw pile and place it face-down in your Domain. This card is now a Citizen for the rest of the game and will never be revealed.
• You cannot take a Citizen if you can still take a Family card or a Quest.
• If you cannot fulfill the Acquisition Condition of any remaining Quest, you don't take a Quest this Epoch. Instead, after taking your 3 cards, you must pass your turn. Once all players have completed their turns, you receive one of the remaining Quests, but must flip it to its Incomplete Quest side.

Using Card Powers in Phase II:

During your turn, you can use the powers of cards in your Domain. You can use multiple card powers in a single turn, but not during another player's turn. Each power has a specific activation symbol:

• Instantaneous: Use at the exact moment you take the card.
• Eleusis: Only activate if you have at least 1 other Eleusis card in your Domain.
• Permanent: Always active as long as the card is in your Domain.
• Trigger: Can be used once per game. Place a Trigger ring on the card when you take it. Remove the ring and return it to the common reserve when you use the power.
• Activate: Can be used once per Epoch. Turn the card 90° when used. Straighten it up during the next End of Epoch Phase to make it available again.

Remember, if a card's power conflicts with general rules, the card's specific power takes precedence!

Phase III: Writing the Legends

Once all players have completed their 4 turns (taking exactly 1 Quest and 3 cards, and dismissing all their Columns), it's time to write some legends!

1. Allocate Order of Play Discs: Reallocate the Discs based on the Quests taken. The player with Quest #1 receives Disc #1, and so on. Players with an Incomplete Quest automatically get the Disc with the highest number. (If multiple players have Incomplete Quests, use their current Discs to break ties.)
2. Receive VP and Gold: All players receive the VP and Gold shown on their Quest.
3. Transfer Cards: Following the new turn order, each player may transfer cards from their Domain to their Elysium.
   • The number of cards you can transfer is limited by the Lyre symbol on your Quest.
   • Each transfer costs Gold equal to the card's Level (1, 2, or 3). Return spent Gold to the common reserve.
   • Every card transferred to your Elysium must follow the Rules of Legends:
     • You must choose to either start a new Legend or add the card to an existing one.
     • There are two types of Legends: Level Legends and Family Legends.
       • Level Legends: Contain cards of the same Level but different Families. Max 5 cards (one from each Family).
       • Family Legends: Contain cards of the same Family but different Levels. Max 3 cards (one of each Level).
     • You can add Citizens to a Legend only if it already contains at least 2 cards. A Citizen takes the place of a missing Family card in that Legend. The cost to transfer a Citizen is equal to the Level of the missing card it replaces.
     • Once a card is added to a Legend, it cannot be moved or discarded.
     • You can transfer a card with a Trigger ring; return the ring to the common reserve.
4. Place all Quest tiles back in the Temple, face-up below the Pediment, in ascending order.

Phase IV: End of Epoch

Time to prepare for the next round!

• Place your 4 Columns back on your board.
• Straighten up any Activate cards in your Domain.
• Move the Epoch marker one space along the Epoch track.
• Begin the next Epoch with Phase I: Awakening.

End of Game and Scoring

The game concludes at the end of the fifth Epoch. Then, it's time for final scoring!

1. First, remove all cards remaining in players' Domains and any single cards in players' Elysiums (only Legends with at least 2 cards are worth VP). These cards are removed from the game, not discarded.
2. Chronos Powers: If you have any Chronos cards in your Legends, use their powers to gain bonus Victory Points now.
3. Legend Scoring:
   • Each Family Legend: 2 cards = 3 VP / 3 cards = 6 VP
   • Each Level Legend: 2 cards = 2 VP / 3 cards = 4 VP / 4 cards = 8 VP / 5 cards = 12 VP
4. Prestige Points (PP): If the Ares Family was in play, score Prestige Points:
   • Player with the most PP: 16 VP
   • Next player: 8 VP
   • Next player: 4 VP
   • Next player: 2 VP
   • (Players with no PP score no extra VP. In case of a tie, share the cumulative VP of the tied positions.)
5. Citizen Penalty: Discard 2 VP for each Citizen in your Legends.
6. Add all points from Chronos powers, Legends, and PP to the VP you gained during the game.

The player with the highest total score wins! In case of a tie, the player with the most remaining Gold wins. If still tied, tied players share the victory.

Tips for Winning

Ready to dominate Olympus? Here are a few pointers to get you started:

1. Plan Your Legends Early: Don't just grab cards randomly! Think about which Level Legends and Family Legends you want to build. Remember, you need different Families for Level Legends and different Levels for Family Legends.
2. Manage Your Columns Wisely: You only have 4 Columns per Epoch, and you dismiss one every time you take a card or Quest. This means you have to be strategic about which cards you can acquire and in what order. Don't get stuck unable to take a crucial card!
3. Don't Underestimate Citizens: While they cost 2 VP at the end, Citizens are powerful "jokers" that can complete your Legends when you're missing a specific card. Sometimes, taking a small VP hit to complete a high-scoring Legend is absolutely worth it!

Now you're ready for your first game of Elysium! May your legends be grand and your victory points plentiful!