SET UP

1. Unfold the set up board and place it in the center of your play space.

Above image: Example set up for a 3-player game.

2. Choose your building set. Each building set tray contains one set (see Building Sets for more information). Put the other building set trays back in the box.

Choosing the buildings to play with

• For your first game it's recommended to start with the purple side of the building cards found in Set 1: Essentials.

• For your second game you can try flipping to orange sides of Set 1, or move onto Set 2: Commerce.

• Once you get the hang of things, you can create your own building sets! The Game Guide has space reserved so you can write down your own favorite sets! (see Building Sets and Curated Building Sets).

3. Place each building card in the space at the bottom of the board with the gear icons that match the icons on the top right of the card. These tell you the power of the building tiles you’ll place in your community, and they stay on the board as you play. Each side has a different power, so make sure the side with the power you’d like to use for each building is faceup! You can’t change which side you’re using later.

For your first game, use the purple side of the building cards.

HOW TO READ THE BUILDING GARDS

Amount of points the corresponding building tile is worth.

Picture of the building, which matches the image on building tiles of this type.

Name of the building.

Power of the building when placed in your community.

The segment of gear spaces required to place this building in your community.

MAKE SURE EVERYONE TAKES A LOOK AT THE BUILDINGS’ POWERS!

4. Fill the spaces above each building card with the card’s corresponding building tiles.

If you’re playing with less than 4 players, you won’t use all the building tiles— only fill as many spaces as the board tells you, based on the numbers next to the spaces. Put any extra tiles back in their storage tray.

5. If the building powers you’re using involve junk or relics, place the junk/relic tokens in piles next to the set up board. If not, keep them in their storage tray.

For your first game, you’ll only use the junk side of the tokens. When you’re ready to try the other sets, you’ll use the relic side!

6. Place the inhabitant pawns next to the set up board.

7. Find the 4 land tiles with the LIFE IN RETERRA logo on them. These are the starter land tiles—the first piece of your communities! Place 1 random tile faceup in front of each player and put away any extras.

8. Shuffle the rest of the land tiles and give 3 to each player. These are your secret land tiles, and you only get these 3 for the whole game. You may look at them, but keep them secret!

9. Place 5 random land tiles in a row next to the set up board, faceup. Stack the remaining land tiles beside them facedown.

YOU WON’T USE THE SCORE PAD UNTIL THE GAME ENDS, BUT KEEP IT HANDY TO REFERENCE AS YOU PLAY!

THE PLAYER MOST LIKELY TO THRIVE IN AN APOCALYPSE GOES FIRST, AND PLAY MOVES TO THE LEFT.