Tigris & Euphrates - FAQ Back to FAQ

 
Tigris & Euphrates™
It is your responsibility to see that your dynasty grows and prospers in this land.
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Players: 3-5, Ages: 10+
Playing Time: 30-60 minutes

MFG0491
$35.00

  

 
  Conflicts:
  Q: In an external conflict between two merchants, one merchant is supported by 3 green tiles, and the other has 4. The two combatants add 2 tiles to their totals. The second merchant wins, but how many victory points does he earn?
  A: When you have a conflict between two leaders, you earn 1 victory point (of the appropriate color) for each piece that is removed from the board. So, the losing leader, and all supporting tiles which are removed from the board will each score 1 victory point. The tiles played from your hand do not score any victory points, because they were not removed from the board. In your example, the victorious player would earn 4 green victory points: 1 for the leader, plus 3 for the supporting tiles that were removed.
  Q: How do I figure out what order to resolve conflicts when there are more than 2 players involved? For example, I trigger an “external conflict” between a kingdom with my leaders and a kingdom with leaders from 2 other players. I choose to resolve my conflict with the Bull first, and he wins, so my leaders are not involved in any more conflicts. But the Bull and the Potter still have matching leaders in the new kingdom. Since I’m no longer involved, I know that the Bull is the “attacker,” but who chooses which order the other conflicts are resolved in?
  A: The ACTIVE player always chooses the order that all conflicts are resolved, even if he isn't involved in any of them! In fact, on your turn, you can trigger conflicts between kingdoms that you don't have any leaders in at all! This could trigger as many as 4 separate conflicts, none of which involve you. Yet, you still choose which order the conflicts are resolved.
  Leader Actions:
  Q: I understand that as an action I can place a leader, or pick one up. If I want to move a leader to a new location, is that one action, or do I need to use an action to pick him up, and then another action to put him down again?
  A: As a single action, you may do any of the three following things with a leader:

1. You may take a leader that is not on the board, and place him in an empty space.
2. You may take a leader that is already on the board, and remove him, putting him back in your supply.
3. You may take a leader that is already on the board, and move him to another empty space on the board.

You do not have to spend to actions to remove the leader, and then place it again. You can move it from one space to another as a single action.
  Q: I know that a leader cannot be used to connect 2 kingdoms, but what happens if, during a “move leader” action, a kingdom is split in two, but after the move, it is again only 1 kingdom? In other words, the leader that joined the two parts of the kingdom at the beginning of the turn is still connecting the same two parts at the end of the move?
  A: In order for that move to be legal, the kingdom would have to stay unified through the entire move. A kingdom is separated INSTANTLY if the connection between parts of the kingdom is broken because of a leader's movement.
  Q: When you join 2 kingdoms with treasure cubes, you’re supposed to take the treasures from the “corner” temples first. What does this mean?
  A: At the beginning of the game, you placed a number of temple tiles on the board. Each temple tile was given a treasure cube. Four of those temples are closer to the four corners of the board than any of the others. These four temples are called "corner temples."

When a kingdom has a green leader in it, the player who controls that leader may choose to remove all but one of the treasure cubes in that kingdom. Usually, that player may choose which cubes to remove. So, for example, if a kingdom joins the 2 temples south of the Euphrates in the center board panel, then the green leader could take either treasure cube.

But, the four "corner temples" are a little bit different. Since these temples are farther from the sacred centers of the valley, their treasures must be removed if possible. So, if our hypothetical southern kingdom extended to the west to include the temple on the bank of the Euphrates (2 spaces from the west board edge, and four spaces from the south edge), then that green leader could choose to remove the treasure from the "corner temple," but he could not choose to remove the cube from the other temples instead.
  Monuments:
  Q: If I have a leader in a kingdom with two monuments that match his color, do I get 2 victory points or only 1?
  A: Each turn, every monument has an opportunity to create victory points for you. In order to collect that victory point, you need to have a leader in the same kingdom that matches one of the colors in the monument. If you have two leaders that match both colors, then both leaders can earn a point. Similarly, if you have two monuments of the same color, then a single leader can earn points from both of them! The victory points for each monument are treated separately from each other. There is no limit to the number of monument points you can earn each turn.
  Q: When I play a tile that creates a monument, do I still score points for playing that tile (assuming that I have the matching leader in that kingdom)?
  A: When a tile is played, you must follow these steps in order:

First, look to see if this tile joins two kingdoms. If it does, then cover it with the handshake tile. A tile covered by the handshake does not score any points. Then, look to see if there are any conflicts caused by the joining of the kingdom and resolve them.

Second, if there is no handshake tile, check to see if there is a matching leader (or a black leader if there is no matching leader). If there is a matching leader, he earns one point in the tile's color.

Third, remove the handshake token if it was used.

Fourth, the player who placed the tile may choose to create a monument if the tile is part of a square of four identical tiles. If the tile in question does not join two kingdoms together, then the leader would earn his point BEFORE the monument can be created. (in which case that leader would probably also receive a bonus point at the end of his turn for being in a kingdom with a matching monument).
  End of Game and Victory:
  Q: What happens if two players are perfectly tied for the high score at the end of the game? For example, what if both leaders have exactly 10 points in all four colors? Who wins?
  A: There is no official rule about how to break a tie at this point. It is truly a tie. And a very rare one at that. In all the games I have seen, I have never heard of a game that was that close.

If you really wanted to break the tie, you could consider using one or more of these possible tie-breakers:

Who has the most (or fewest) treasures?
Who has the most leaders still on the board?
Who controls the most monuments?
Who has the most "followers" in their kingdoms?
  Q: The rules say that if I try to draw tiles from the bag, the game ends “instantly.” Does that mean that I would no receive any points for monuments that I should earn at the end of my turn?
  A: The answer to your question depends on why the tiles are being drawn. Basically, there are two times that you might be drawing tiles during the game:

- if you discard tiles as one of your actions, you draw back up to six tiles again. If you can not draw enough tiles to fill your hand, then the game ends immediately. You would not be able to take a second action that turn, and monuments would not pay out for you.

- if you use any tiles during your turn, or if another player uses tiles in response to a conflict that you created, then you will need to draw tiles (and your opponents will also) at the end of your turn. This would happen AFTER the monuments paid out. If you can't draw enough tiles to fill your hand, then the game ends before the next player starts his turn. Since you draw new tiles after the monuments pay, then they would score in this case.