Concordia Venus

2018

Plan, strategize, and outpace your rivals in Concordia Venus! This standalone game offers a unique blend of economic development and strategy in the Roman era.

120
minutes

2 - 6
player(s)

12+

Medium Heavy

About the game

Concordia Venus is a standalone game in the Concordia series that thrusts players into the ancient Roman era. As prospective leaders of Roman dynasties, players will seek to expand their influence and accumulate wealth in a game that combines strategy, trading, and resource management.

The theme of the game is set around the Roman Empire’s expansion, with players representing the heads of influential families. They must utilize their resources efficiently and choose the best strategies to extend their power across the Mediterranean. The game board brilliantly portrays the ancient world, with different regions offering unique benefits and challenges.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Concordia Venus is a stand-alone game in the Concordia series with an added team play. The game includes various components, each with a specific function and interaction within the game. Here is a list of the components and their functions:

1. Game Board: The game board is a large, double-sided map that represents the regions where players will build their colonies. The board also includes areas for storing cards and resources, and a scoring track along the outside edge. Each region on the board has a specific resource associated with it.

2. Wooden Pieces: There are different types of wooden pieces in the game. Each player gets a set of pieces in their color which includes:

Colonists: These are used to establish a presence in the cities on the game board.
Stores: These represent the storage areas where players can keep their resources.
Trading Houses: These are buildings that players can construct in the cities on the game board.

3. Resource Tokens: These are small cardboard pieces that represent the different resources in the game: brick, food, tool, wine, and cloth. Players collect these resources to build trading houses and to purchase cards.

4. Coin Tokens: Representing money in the game, these are used for various transactions such as buying cards or paying for certain actions.

5. 110 Cards: The game includes several decks of cards. Each has a specific role to play:

Personality Cards: These are action cards that players use to perform various actions like moving colonists, constructing houses, or buying/selling resources. Each personality card can only be used once per round.
God Cards: These are special cards that give players unique abilities, and they are acquired by constructing temples.
Province Cards: These cards represent the different provinces on the game board. Players can gain these cards by building trading houses in those provinces.

6. Two Scoring Pads: These are used to keep track of players’ scores throughout the game.

7. Prefect Tokens: These are used to indicate which provinces are currently producing resources. When a player takes the “Prefect” action, they flip the Prefect token in a province of their choice and receive resources based on the cities they control in that province.

8. Rulebook: The rulebook provides detailed instructions on how to play the game, including setup, gameplay, and scoring.

Each component in Concordia Venus has been designed to work together to create a strategic and competitive gameplay experience. Understanding how each piece interacts with the rest of the game is key to mastering Concordia Venus.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Concordia Venus is a strategy-based board game where players take on the roles of Roman merchants, expanding their influence and building a trading empire. Here is a step-by-step guide to set up the game:

Step 1: Setting up the Board

Place the game board in the center of the playing area. The board should be selected according to the number of players: Italia for 2-3 players, Imperium for 4-5 players, and Hellas or Egyptus for the expansion.

Step 2: Assigning Player Roles

Each player picks a color and takes the corresponding player board, colonists, houses, and storehouses. Players also receive a set of personality cards with the same color back as their player pieces.

Step 3: Initial Resources

Each player starts the game with a set amount of resources. This includes 15 houses in their color, 2 colonists on their player board, and 1 in the city of Rome, 5 sestertii coins, and 1 each of the five types of goods: wine, cloth, food, tools, and bricks.

Step 4: Setting up the Personality Cards

Shuffle the personality cards and place them in a face-down deck next to the board. Flip the top card of the deck and place it face up next to the deck. This forms the card market. Repeat this until there are 7 cards in the card market. The rest of the deck forms the supply.

Step 5: Positioning the Colonists

Each player places one of their colonists in the city of Rome on the board. The rest of the colonists are placed in the player’s storehouse on their player board.

Step 6: Random Elements

Concordia Venus incorporates random elements through the use of the Prefectus Magnus card. At the start of the game, this card is given to the random player. This player will take the first turn. The card will then be passed to the player on the left at the end of each round.

Step 7: Preparing the Goods

Sort the goods tokens by type and place them next to the game board within easy reach of all players.

Step 8: Game Start

With all the components set up, the game can now begin. Starting with the player holding the Prefectus Magnus card and proceeding clockwise, each player takes one action on their turn. The available actions are determined by the personality cards in the player’s hand.

Game flow Round and round we go

Concordia Venus is a strategy board game where players take on the roles of Roman dynasties trying to expand their influence across the Mediterranean. The game is played over multiple rounds until the end game conditions are met. Below is a detailed rundown of the game’s structure.

Round Structure: Unlike some board games, Concordia Venus does not have a strict round structure. Instead, players take turns in clockwise order performing one action per turn until the game ends. There are no phases or stages within a round; each turn, a player may choose to perform any one of the available actions.

Actions: On a player’s turn, they may choose to perform one of the following actions:

Play a Card: The player plays a card from their hand and executes the corresponding action. This could be producing resources, buying a card, building houses, or moving their colonists.
Buy a Card: The player pays the cost in coins to add a new card to their hand from the card display. The card is replaced immediately from the deck.
Produce Resources: The player chooses a province where they have at least one house. All players (including the active player) who have houses in this province can produce the corresponding resource.
Build: The player pays the cost in resources to place a house on the board in a city where they have a colonist.
Move Colonists: The player moves their colonists around the board, potentially setting up for future building actions.

Game End: The game ends when either the card deck runs out and a player chooses to buy the last card, or a player builds their last house. Players then count up their points based on the cards in their deck and the houses they’ve built. The player with the most points is the winner.

Concordia Venus is a game of strategic planning and careful resource management. The open structure of the rounds allows for a high level of strategic depth, as players must carefully choose which actions to take and in what order to maximize their point gain.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

The game Concordia Venus is a strategy-based game where players take on the role of Roman merchants, expanding their influence and trading network across the Roman world. Each player’s turn consists of playing one card from their hand, then performing the action associated with that card. There are many possible actions to take, each affecting the gameplay in unique ways.

Cards and their actions:

Prefect: This card allows the player to choose a province, activate its production, and collect resources from all cities in that province where they have a house. Alternatively, they can choose to gain money based on the number of provinces that are currently active.
Architect: When a player uses this card, they can move their pawn up to two spaces on the board. They can also build houses in cities they pass or end in, if they have the necessary resources. Building houses helps to establish a presence and claim resources in future turns.
Colonist: Playing this card allows the player to add new colonists to the board and move existing ones. Similar to the Architect action, this allows for more opportunities to build houses and expand the player’s influence.
Senator: This card allows a player to buy up to two new cards from the card display, adding them to their hand. This not only provides more options for future turns, but also can earn the player important end-game victory points.
Merchant: The Merchant card allows a player to sell one type of good and buy one type of good from the market. This is a key way to manage resources and keep a balanced supply for building and buying actions.
Diplomat: This card is unique in that it allows a player to copy the action of a card that another player just played. This can offer a wide range of strategic choices based on the current state of the game.
Consul: The Consul card allows a player to buy one card from the card display at its minimum price. This can be a game-changing moment, allowing a player to acquire a powerful card at a reduced cost.
Tribune: The Tribune allows a player to take back all of their played cards into their hand. They also get a bonus colonist for every three cards they take back, and gain some money.

At the end of a player’s turn, they draw a card from the deck to refill the card display, then the next player takes their turn. Strategic choices involve deciding which actions to take based on current resources, the state of the board, and the actions of other players. The game ends when a player builds their 15th house, or the card deck runs out, and the player with the most victory points wins.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

The game of ‘Concordia Venus’ ends when one of the following conditions is met:

The last card is bought: This means that any player purchases the last card available in the card market.
All houses have been placed: When a player places their last house on the game board.

Once either of these conditions has been met, the game will end after the current round. This means all other players will get one last turn before final scoring begins. It’s important to note that the player who triggered the end of the game does not get an additional turn.

Before final scoring occurs, all players must:

Reveal all cards from their hand and their personal supply.
Sort the cards according to their type.
Count the number of each type of card.

Now, players are ready for final scoring. The scoring system in ‘Concordia Venus’ is unique as the value of each player’s cards determines the scoring method for each of the game’s different resources. The victory points are awarded as follows:

God Cards: Players earn points based on the number of God Cards they have and the corresponding scoring condition on each card.
Colonist points: Players earn points for each colonist they have on the board. The value of each colonist is determined by the number of Prefectus Magnus cards a player has.
House points: Players earn points for each house they have on the board. The value of each house is determined by the number of Architect cards a player has.
Resource points: Players earn points for resources left in their storehouse. The value of each resource is determined by the number of Mercator cards a player has.
Money: For every 10 sestertii (currency in the game), players earn 1 victory point.

The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is declared the winner of ‘Concordia Venus’.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

In Concordia Venus, points are awarded based on players’ strategic abilities to expand their civilization, construct buildings, and collect valuable resources. The scoring system is multi-faceted and is calculated at the end of the game.

Scoring Points:

Prefectus Magnus Card: The player with the Prefectus Magnus card scores 7 victory points.
God Cards: Points are awarded based on the number of God cards each player has. Different types of God cards give points in different ways:
- Mercury: 1 point for every type of good in the player’s storehouse.
- Venus: Points for each province where the player has at least one house.
- Mars: Points for each colonist the player has on the game board.
- Jupiter: Points for each house the player has in a non-brick city.
- Saturnus: Points for each region where the player has at least one house.
Personality Cards: Each personality card is worth the number of points shown on the card.

Tie-Breaking Rules:

In the event of a tie, the following rules are used to determine the winner:

The player with the most leftover sestertii (money) wins.
If there is still a tie, the player with the most leftover resources wins.
Finally, if there is still a tie, the player with the highest total value of buildings (based on the building cost) wins.

Understanding the scoring system is crucial as it will dictate your strategy throughout the game. Remember, in Concordia Venus, it’s not just about winning, but how you win that counts!

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

The board game Concordia Venus has some special rules and exceptions that are unique to it. It’s important to understand these rules to get the most out of the game.

Playing with the Venus expansion:

When playing with the Venus expansion, two players can form a team and can play together against other teams or single players.
Both players in a team share the same color and will play one after another. The second player of a team cannot perform the same action as the first player of the same team.
During the scoring phase, the team’s score is the sum of both players’ individual scores.

Diplomat card exception:

When a player uses a Diplomat card, they can copy the action of the last played card from another player. However, the Prefect and the Mercator card are exceptions. If the copied card is a Prefect card, the player may not choose to take goods instead of activating a province. If the copied card is a Mercator card, the player does not get the 3 sestertii bonus.

Special case with Forum cards:

While the Forum card allows players to take a personality card from the card display, it’s important to note that the card chosen must be of the lowest cost available. If multiple cards share the lowest cost, the player may choose among them.

Rule clarification on ‘Venus’ cards:

The ‘Venus’ cards introduced in the Venus expansion are not included in the basic game. They can only be obtained by using a Forum card and choosing a ‘Venus’ card as the bonus, or by building in a city that has a ‘Venus’ symbol.

Building rules:

While the building rules remain largely the same, it’s important to note that a player cannot build in a city where their team partner has already built.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Advanced Strategies for ‘Concordia Venus’

Focus on diversification: Instead of focusing on only one type of card, it is beneficial to diversify your card deck. This will allow you to have more options and be more flexible in your strategy.
Use your Prefect wisely: Timing is key when using your Prefect. Use it when you can maximize your production and when other players can benefit the least.
Plan your actions ahead: Always try to plan your actions a few turns ahead. The best players are those who are able to predict their opponents’ actions and plan accordingly.

Beginner Tips for ‘Concordia Venus’

Understand the scoring system: It is crucial to understand how the scoring system works in ‘Concordia Venus’. Make sure to read the rules thoroughly and ask questions if you’re unsure.
Start building early: The earlier you start building, the more options you’ll have later in the game. It’s usually a good idea to start building in the first few turns.
Don’t forget about resource management: Resources are very important in ‘Concordia Venus’. Make sure to always keep track of your resources and plan your actions accordingly.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in ‘Concordia Venus’

Ignoring the bonus points: Bonus points can make a big difference in the final score. Don’t ignore them and try to take advantage of them whenever possible.
Not using the Diplomat: The Diplomat is a powerful card that allows you to copy the action of another player. Not using it effectively can be a big mistake.
Not planning ahead: ‘Concordia Venus’ is a game of strategy and planning. Not thinking about your future moves can lead to a loss.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay in ‘Concordia Venus’

Take your time: ‘Concordia Venus’ is not a game to be rushed. Take your time to think about your actions and plan your moves carefully.
Study your opponents: Understanding your opponents’ strategies can help you make better decisions. Try to predict their moves and counter them effectively.
Use your cards effectively: Each card has a unique ability. Make sure to use them effectively to gain an advantage over your opponents.