Age of Innovation

Set up the main board with score tiles and round bonuses. Place the ordering board, science board, and innovation board matched to player count. Distribute scoring tiles, book action tiles, and skill tiles. Each player takes their chosen faction board, colored wooden components, students, and bridges, placing markers and status stones correctly, then places starting work-places on the map.

The goal of Age of Innovation is to expand your faction's living area and develop its capabilities across six rounds. Players manage resources like students, coins, tools, power, and books to transform terrains, build structures, and advance on science and knowledge tracks to maximize victory points.

Each round begins with an income phase where players collect visible resources and power. During the action phase, in player order, participants perform one action per turn until everyone passes. Actions include transforming empty terrain, building structures, upgrading buildings from dwellings to schools, universities, or palaces, advancing research tracks, or developing innovations.

Points are awarded throughout the game via round bonus tiles, building structures, founding towns, and claiming innovation tiles. At the end of the game, additional victory points are distributed based on the largest groups of connected buildings and final rankings on each of the science tracks.

The game ends after the sixth round. Final scoring evaluates the largest connected building groups, awards points for majority rankings on each of the five science tracks, and converts remaining power and resources into coins and points to determine the ultimate winner.