How to Play Skyrise

Game Objective

Welcome to Skyrise: a magnificent city in the sky dedicated to art, science, and beauty! The objective of Skyrise is to gain the most Prestige by the end of 2 Eras. You prove your genius by winning locations to build, gaining favor on islands and factions, fulfilling public and secret objectives, courting mysterious patrons, and constructing your own unique Wonder. The player with the most Prestige at the end of the game is declared the winner.

Preparation (Setup)

1. Place the Game Board in the center of the table. It has a Prestige Track that runs along the outside of the board.
2. Take a number of Outer Islands equal to the player count and place them randomly onto the board landscape.
3. Place the Central Island in the middle of the Outer Islands so its bridges fit into the Outer Island spaces.
4. Remove the following discs, depending on player count, and return them to the box:
   • 4 Players: remove nothing.
   • 3 Players: remove one Wild Disc, one Commissions Disc, and 3 of each District Disc.
   • 2 Players: remove 2 of each Patron Disc and 5 of each District Disc.
5. Shuffle the remaining District, Patron, Commissions, and Wild Discs and place them into the Draw Bag.
6. Randomly draw and place 1 disc onto each Colored District area of each island. It is suggested to start in one corner of an island and move clockwise, placing discs until each District has a disc.
7. Shuffle the 20 Wonder Cards and deal 3 face down to each player (5 cards each in a 2-player game). Return the remaining cards to the game box without looking at them.
8. Shuffle the 4 Secret Objective Cards and deal 1 face down to each player. Return the remaining cards to the game box without looking at them.
9. Place the Island Control Card face up near the game board.
10. Shuffle the 5 Panorama Cards, draw 2, and place them face up next to the Island Control Card. Return the other Panorama Cards to the box.
11. Shuffle the Patron Value Tiles and place one randomly face down onto each Patron space (A, B, C, and D) on the game board.
12. Place the Large City Key near the game board.
13. If playing with 3 or 4 players, place the Small City Key near the game board.
14. Player Setup: All players perform the following:
    1. Choose a Player Board and place it in front of you with your chosen visionary face up.
    2. Take the Scoring Disc that matches your color and place it on the “0” space of the Prestige Track.
    3. Take the 12 Buildings and Wonder that match your player color. In a 2-player game, each player gets 2 Wonders. Each player should take one Wonder of an unused player color and the corresponding Scoring Disc to later score the Wonder Card associated with it.
    4. Each of your Buildings has a number on the bottom representing its Bid Value. Some Buildings feature a dot below the number; place these and your Wonder to the left of your Player Board, indicating they are not yet available.
    5. Place your remaining Buildings (without a dot) to the right of your Player Board in ascending order, number side up.
    6. You may now discreetly view your Secret Objective and Wonder Cards.
15. Starting Player: Randomly determine which player will start the first Auction of the game.

Game Flow

Skyrise is divided into two halves, called Eras. Each Era is played in a series of Auctions. After each Auction, a Structure will be built.

• Era 1 ends when a player builds all of their Era 1 Buildings.
• Era 2 begins when Era 1 ends. At the start of Era 2, each player gains access to their Wonder figure and chooses one of their Wonder Cards, which provides their Wonder with a special effect.
• Era 2 ends when all players have built all of their Buildings and Wonders.

The game advances through a series of Auctions.

Actions and How to Play

The game is played in a series of Auctions, where players take turns choosing to outbid the current Bid or pass. Once everyone has passed or can no longer outbid, the highest Bid wins the Auction and that Structure is built. You can never outbid your own Bid. If the Auction comes back to you and you are still the highest bidder, it means everyone else has passed and the Auction ends.

An Auction consists of the following steps:

1. Determine the Starting Bidder: An Auction is always started by the player who won the most recent Auction, with the following exceptions:
   • Start of Era 1: the first Auction is started by a random player determined during setup.
   • Start of Era 2: the first Auction is started by the player whose Wonder Card has the lowest Initiative Value.
   • When a player builds their last Structure in Era 2: the next Auction is started by the remaining player whose Wonder Card has the lowest Initiative Value.
2. Make the Opening Bid: The player who starts an Auction places any of their available Bids number-side up onto an Unoccupied District that is:
   • Located on the Central Island, or
   • Adjacent to any already built Structure belonging to any player on any island.

   Once placed, all Bids must remain number-side up. You may not start an Auction with a Wonder unless it is your last remaining Structure.

3. Continue Bidding: Bidding then moves clockwise around the table. The next player must do one of the following actions:
   • Outbid: Place a higher value Bid onto an Unoccupied District adjacent to the most recent Bid.
   • Pass: Say "pass." This player may not participate in the remainder of this Auction.
   • Place Wonder (Era 2 only): Place their Wonder onto an Unoccupied District adjacent to the most recent Bid.
4. End the Auction: The Auction ends when one of the following situations occurs:
   • All players except the most recent bidder have passed, or
   • There are no Unoccupied Districts adjacent to the most recent Bid, or
   • A player places their Wonder. (Some Wonders may break this rule and allow Wonders to be outbid.)

   When the Auction ends, perform the following steps:

   1. The winning Bid is flipped face down to become a Built Building – its number will now be face down. Wonders are not flipped.
   2. Return all unsuccessful Bids to their owners' available Bid pool.
   3. If there is a disc on the District with the newly built Structure, the winning player collects it.
   4. If a Wonder was built, activate its effect.

   The next Auction then begins. Return to "1 Determine the Starting Bidder," unless the end of an Era has been triggered.

Game Concepts

• Buildings and Bids: Each player has 12 Buildings with numbers on the bottom, representing their Bid Value. A Building with the number side up is a Bid. When an Auction is won, the winning Bid is flipped face down and becomes a Built Building. Its height (short, medium, tall) matters once built.
• Islands: The play area consists of up to 5 Floating Islands: 1 small Central Island surrounded by up to 4 Outer Islands.
• Wonders: At the start of Era 2, each player gains access to their Wonder figure and chooses one of their Wonder Cards, which provides their Wonder with a special effect. Wonders do not have a number on the bottom because they automatically win an Auction when placed. They are not "buildings," but they are considered "structures." Wonders have no height and do not contribute to Island Control scoring. Wonders cannot start an Auction unless you have no other Bids remaining.
• Wonder Cards: Each Wonder Card has an Initiative Value and an effect described on the card. Wonder Card effects are resolved immediately when the Wonder is built.
• Districts: These are regions of an island where players will place Bids and build Structures. Each District can only hold 1 Bid or Structure. There are 4 colors of Districts, populated by 4 factions of creatives: Yellow (philosophers), Green (naturalists), White (artists), and Brown (inventors).
• Unoccupied Districts: A District that does not contain a Bid or a Structure is considered unoccupied.
• Adjacent Districts: A District is adjacent to another if they share a border (an edge, not a corner or an airship). Districts connected by a bridge are also considered adjacent.
• Secret Objectives: At the start of the game, you will receive a Secret Objective Card to provide a long-term secret goal. At the end of the game, if you have completed your objective, score the Prestige shown on the card.
• Panorama Cards: Panorama Cards reward players for building their Structures near specific island features. Panorama Cards are scored at the end of each Era. When scoring, a player can gain Prestige multiple times for each instance of fulfilling the card's objective.
• Collecting Discs: Whenever you build a Structure on a District with a disc (district, patron, wild, or commissions), you collect that disc to your Player Board.
  • District Discs: Come in four colors, corresponding to the color of each faction's District. When collecting a District Disc, place it on the leftmost empty space of its row on your Player Board. This will usually increase the Prestige Value of all your built Structures of that color. Avoid collecting exactly 4 District Discs of a single color to maximize Prestige. If you collect a District Disc when you already have 4 of the same color, place the disc on your visionary's illustration. Each of these discs will be worth 10 Prestige at the end of the game.
  • Patron Discs: These are black discs with a letter in the center. They represent your visionary creating commissioned work for one of the famous Art Patrons. When collecting a Patron Disc, place it on your Player Board's visionary illustration. The Prestige Value of your collected Patron Discs is equal to the secret value printed on the bottom of that Patron's tile (determined during setup). At any time during the game, you may secretly peek at the value on the bottom of any Patron Value Tiles that match the letters of your collected discs.
  • Wild Discs: These are District Discs that can be used for any faction. At the time they are collected, they must be assigned to a color and placed on your Player Board in the appropriate spot. Once assigned to a color, they cannot be moved.
  • Commissions Discs: When collected, place Commissions Discs on your Player Board's visionary illustration. Each Commissions Disc you have at the end of Era 2 will increase the value of every item on your visionary's illustration by 1 Prestige. This includes Patron Discs, the City Keys, excess District Discs, and even the Commissions Disc itself.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when all players have built their Final Structure in Era 2. After Era 2, scoring is performed in several steps:

End of Era 1

Once any player has built their Final Era 1 Building, perform the following steps:

1. Score Island Control: For each island (including the Central Island), the player(s) with control of the island score 5 Prestige. Island Control is determined by:
   • Which player has built the most Tall Buildings on the island.
   • If there is a tie (even for 0), compare the number of Medium Buildings on the island among the tied players.
   • If there is still a tie, compare the number of Short Buildings on the island among the tied players.