In the beginning of a game each player gets a hand of 7 cards and place a draw pile made up of the 7 remaining cards to the right of the Border card. Player 1, to the right of the Free city, adds to their hand the Free city card. On the first turn of the game, Player 2 chooses one card from their hand to play. Player 1 takes the first card of the Free city draw pile and adds it to their hand, then choosing one card for the Free city and one for their own City. The players reveal their chosen cards, starting with the Free city and play them. Then they take the stack of cards on the other side of the Border card, so Player 2 winds up with the Free city card for the second turn of the game.