1. Objective of the Game

In Gentes: Deluxified Edition, you are the leader of a city‑state or ethnic group in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean. Your goal is to guide your people through the three Eras of history, building cities, training population (priests, soldiers, merchants, artisans, noblemen, scholars), and playing Civilization Cards to earn Victory Points. The player with the most Victory Points at the end of the sixth round wins.

2. Setup

1. Game Board: Place the board in the center. If playing 1–2 players, flip the board so the side with the “1‑2P” icon beside the score track is face up (see additional rules on page 13).
2. Training Cost Tokens: Randomly place one in each of the upper‑right corner spaces.
3. Action Tiles: Place all tiles on the board matching their color and picture. Remove any tiles whose player‑count indicator does not match the current number of players.
4. Bonus Point Tiles: Separate out tiles that do not match the player count. Sort the remaining tiles by image and stack them on the lower‑center spaces, highest value (8) on top.
5. Round Marker: Put the purple marker on the “1” space of the Round Track.
6. Indicator Cubes: Place 40 brown cubes in a general supply.
7. Player Boards: Each player chooses a color and takes one board. Return any unused boards to the box.
8. Hourglass Tokens: Place one on each Player Board’s time track. The rest go in a supply beside the board.
9. Lock Tokens: Place one on each lock space on the Player Boards; return unused ones.
10. Coins: Give each player 20 total value (e.g., 2×10, 1×5, 1×1). Place the rest in a supply. Coin totals are always public.
11. City Tokens: Give each player 6 tokens of their color. Return extras.
12. Victory Point Markers: Place one marker on the “0” space of the score track for each player color. Return unused markers.
13. Excess Victory Point Tokens: Give each player one matching token. Return extras.
14. Population Tokens: Place one on each “0” space of the population chart on each Player Board. Return unused tokens.
15. Era I Deck: Shuffle any leftover Civilization Cards into the Era I deck.
16. Initial Hand: Deal 8 cards from the Era I deck face up along the bottom edge of the board (8 slots). Players will later draw from this display.
17. Start Player Marker: Place on the player who last destroyed a civilization.
18. City Tokens (again): Each player receives 6 tokens of their color (already done above).
19. Additional Setup (optional): Experienced players may cover the first “Tax Collector” space with a lock token to prevent its use.

3. Flow of the Game

The game lasts six rounds, divided into three Eras (Era I, Era II, Era III). Each Era contains two rounds; each round has two phases:

1. Heyday Phase: Players take turns clockwise starting with the Start Player Marker. On a turn, if you have an empty space on your time track, you must perform an available action (take an Action Tile or place an Indicator Cube). You cannot select an action you cannot afford in coins or time, or that violates any other requirement.
2. Decline Phase: Return all Action Tiles to the board, perform maintenance (e.g., discard cards, slide cards, move Training Cost Tokens), and prepare for the next round.

After the sixth round, the game ends and final scoring is performed.

4. Actions and How to Play

During the Heyday Phase you can perform the following actions. Each action is described in detail on page 6 of the manual; the information below summarizes the mechanics that are explicitly stated in the context.

Taking Action Tiles

• Pick an Action Tile from the board and place it in an empty space on your time track.
• Pay the coin cost shown on the tile by returning coins to the supply.
• Place the required number of Hourglass Tokens onto empty spaces of your time track.
• Perform the action depicted on the tile.
• If you cannot meet all requirements, you may not take the tile.

Placing Indicator Cubes

• Some actions require placing an Indicator Cube on a City Token in a Hometown row or on a Civilization Card (Altar, Shipyard, Monument, Frieze).
• Pay the coin cost (if any), place the required Hourglass Tokens, and perform the action.
• After use, place an Indicator Cube on the card or City Token to mark that it cannot be used again this round.
• Actions that can be taken multiple times per round do not require a cube.

Hourglass Tokens

• When an action shows two or more hourglasses, you may place each token in a separate empty space or combine them in the same space.
• You cannot add a token to a space that already contains something.

Passing

• You may pass only if you have no empty spaces on your time track and cannot perform any action.
• After passing, you cannot take further actions for the rest of the Heyday Phase.

Modifying Abilities

• Some Civilization Cards and Hometown rows have Modifying Abilities indicated by an irregular border.
• Use them by placing an Indicator Cube on the card or City Token; the cube shows it has been used this round.
• Abilities with a symbol may be used once per round; abilities with a plus may be used every time the situation applies.

Specific Action Types (examples)

• Tax Collector: Place 1 or 2 Hourglass Tokens and gain 4 or 8 coins.
• Leader: Place the Leader tile, gain 2 coins, and become the next Start Player during the Decline Phase.
• Philosopher: Train 1 or 2 population units, paying coins based on the Training Cost Tokens and the amount spent.
• Merchant/Noble/Scholar/Soldier/Priest/Artisan: (details not fully provided in the context; consult the manual).
• Navigator: Build a City Token on a map space matching the tile’s symbol, activate all cities in that region, and gain benefits.
• Hometown: Place a City Token on a Hometown space to activate all cities in a chosen region and gain the row’s actions/abilities.
• Chronicler: Play a Civilization Card from your hand if you meet its requirements.

5. End of Game and Scoring

After the sixth round, perform the following final scoring steps:

1. Score any Civilization Cards in your hand that you meet the requirements for. For each such card, gain half its Victory Points (rounded up). Ignore all other rewards or disadvantages. Do not receive Bonus Point Tiles from this play.
2. Lose half the Victory Points (rounded up) for any Civilization Cards in your hand that you cannot play.
3. Gain 1 Victory Point for every 2 Indicator Cubes on your Player Board.
4. Gain 1 Victory Point for every 10 coins you have.
5. Lose Victory Points for any remaining Hourglass Tokens on your time track: 1 token = –2 VP, 2 tokens = –4 VP, 3 tokens = –8 VP, 4 or more = –16 VP.

The player with the most Victory Points wins. In a tie, the player with the most Civilization Cards in play wins; if still tied, the player with the most coins wins. If still tied, it is a tie.

6. Tips for Winning

• Manage your time track wisely: Place Hourglass Tokens strategically so you can keep taking actions in each Heyday Phase. Avoid filling your track too early, which forces you to pass.
• Use Indicator Cubes efficiently: Place cubes on Hometown rows or Civilization Cards that give you the most benefit for the round, and remember that each cube can only be used once per round.
• Track population carefully: Training population not only increases your population count (for Bonus Point Tiles) but also unlocks new Civilization Card requirements. Pay attention to Training Cost Tokens and use the optional “Additional Options” to swap or train population as needed.