Goal of the Game

The year is 2010 and the world is changing drastically. In World Order, you take control of one of the four great global powers: the United States of America, the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, or the European Union. The goal is to achieve global hegemony through diplomacy, economic strength, and military power. The player with the highest number of Victory Points (VPs) at the end of 6 rounds wins the game.

Setup

Follow these steps to set up the game:

1. Place the Main Board in the center of the table.
2. Separate the Map Country Cards by region. Shuffle each region separately and place them in face-up stacks to the left of the corresponding space on the board. Take the top card from each stack and place it to the right of the stack (creating a second stack), so that two cards are visible per region.
3. Place the Influence Cubes in each region as indicated by the colors on the board spaces and place the Round Marker on the first space of the round track.
4. Place the 3 Majority Tokens on the board with the side corresponding to the number of players facing up.
5. Shuffle the Market Ability Cards and place them face-down below the board. Reveal the first 6 cards and place them face-up in a line next to the ability deck (this set is the Market).
6. Separate the Growth Cards into stacks by name and place them above the board in numerical order. (In 3-player games, remove one of each Level 1 card; in 2-player games, remove one of each Level 1–4 card).
7. Prepare the Supply (stacks of coins, Military Base Tokens, and FDI Tokens) next to the board.

8. Each player chooses a power and receives their Player Board, Starting Ability Cards, Starting Country Cards, Trade Agreements Card, Strategic Asset Cards, Trade Cards, Production Cubes, Influence Cubes, Army Tokens, Engagement Tokens, Focus Marker, Prosperity Marker, Player Guide, starting money, and one of each Resource Marker.
   • 2-player restriction: One player must choose between USA or EU, and the other between Russia or China.
9. Place the Production Marker on the starting space of each track on your board.
10. Place your Focus Marker on the Domestic Focus space.
11. Place your Prosperity Marker on the first space of the prosperity track.
12. Place the 6 Resource Markers on the resource track, each on the number equal to your initial production. Place the appropriate number of Army Tokens on top of your player board.
13. Place your Starting Country Cards face-up above your board (your Ally Countries).
14. Place your Trade Agreements Card next to the board and your Trade Cards face-up next to it.
15. Shuffle your Starting Ability Cards and form two stacks of 6 cards. Choose one to be your starting hand and the other will be your deck. (For the first game, it is recommended to use the fixed starting hand indicated in the manual).
16. Shuffle your 5 Strategic Asset Cards and draw 3. Choose 2 to keep and return the rest to the box. Place your Scoring Marker on the VP track corresponding to the sum of the initial VPs of the two chosen cards.
17. Place your starting money near the board.
18. Place the 4 Turn Order Markers on the turn order track based on VP order (whoever has more VPs goes first). In case of a tie, the player with less starting money goes first.
19. If playing with 4 players, return the Self-Influence Cards to the box. If there are fewer than 4 players, shuffle the Self-Influence Cards, draw 2, and place them above the main board.
20. For powers not chosen by players, place Influence Cubes and Army Tokens as indicated on the cards.

Gameplay

The game lasts 6 rounds. Each round is divided into 3 phases:

1. Preparation Phase

This phase is skipped on the 1st round. Players perform the following steps (can be done simultaneously):

• Draw Cards: Draw 6 cards from your deck.
• Reveal Country Cards: In each region, move the top card from the left deck to the top of the right deck.
• Determine Turn Order: The player with the fewest VPs chooses their position on the turn order track. Follow in reverse VP order. In case of a tie, the player with less money chooses first.
• Produce Primary Resources: Produce Energy, Raw Materials, and Food as indicated by your Production Cube.
• Choose Focus: Choose between Domestic Focus, Diplomatic Focus, or Military Focus. Follow the instructions on your board according to the chosen focus.

2. Action Phase

In this phase, players play cards to affect the board. Each player has 4 turns per round. The first player on the turn order track starts. After everyone has completed 4 turns, move to the Research step.

3. Aftermath

In this phase, action results are resolved and scoring occurs:

• Return on Investment: Gain money for each FDI Token in ally countries and gain points for discarded Engagement Tokens.
• Increase Prosperity: Spend Consumer Goods to advance on the prosperity track and gain VPs and money.
• Resolve Threat: Each player checks for opponent military presence in their Zone of Interest. If an opponent has more Threat than your Defense, you lose 2 VPs.
• Scoring: Occurs according to the region scoring rules.

Actions and How to Play

During the Action Phase, you may use a Ability Card from your hand. When playing a card, it stays in front of you to indicate how many turns you have already taken in the round. If you do not want to play a card, you may Pass (placing a card face-down and gaining 10 money).

Available Actions:

• Improve Relations (Diplomatic): Choose an available Country in a region. Spend Diplomacy equal to the country's value to make it an Ally Country (flip the card face-up). You may spend Ally Countries from the same region (flipping them face-down/exhausting them) to reduce the cost.
• Engage (Diplomatic): Choose a region where you have at least one Ally Country. Spend the region's cost to add 1 Influence Cube and one Engagement Token. You can also exhaust ally countries to reduce the cost. If you have Diplomatic Focus, the engagement cost is 2 lower.
• Trade (Economic): Perform Export transactions (selling resources to gain money) or Import transactions (buying resources from other players or the supply). The number of transactions is defined by your Trade Agreements Card.
• Invest (Economic): Choose a ready Ally Country and spend the indicated amount of money to exhaust it, place an FDI Token, and add 1 Influence Cube to the region.
• Move (Military): Spend 5 money to move an Army Token to a region in your Zone of Interest or where you possess a Military Base.
• Build a Base (Military): Choose an Ally Country with the Military Base symbol and its flag. Spend 5 to build the base and 5 for each Army Token sent to the region. This adds 1 Influence Cube to the region.
• Obtain a Growth Card (Domestic): Choose an available Growth Card, pay the cost, and gain the indicated VPs. You must follow a level order (1, 2, 3...).
• Produce (Domestic): Choose types of resources to produce. Primary resources follow your production; secondary resources require the expenditure of specific resources as indicated on your board.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends after the conclusion of the 6th round (the Research step is skipped on the last round).

Scoring Criteria:

• The player with the highest number of Victory Points (VPs) accumulated throughout the game is the winner.
• Scoring is based on actions performed, Growth cards, Prosperity, and control of influence in regions.

Tips for Winning

Consult the manual for details regarding this section.