Cyclades: Legendary Edition

To set up Cyclades: Legendary Edition, place the auction board and randomize the god tiles based on the player count. Shuffle the creature deck and place the top four cards face-up alongside their standees. Shuffle the hero deck and place two cards face-up for each space on the board. Set up the priestess and philosopher card decks, and gather gold, prosperity tokens, and basic buildings. Assemble the map tiles according to the rulebook guidelines for your specific player count, and distribute player screens, control tokens, troops, fleet pieces, and starting gold.

The main objective of Cyclades is to be the first player to control three metropolises. Players can build metropolises by collecting four different basic building types (port, fortress, temple, university), collecting four philosopher cards, sacrificing heroes, or capturing them from opponents.

A round in Cyclades is divided into six phases: Income, Offerings, Action, Maintenance, Creature, and Cycle Preparation. During the Offerings phase, players bid gold on different god tiles in turn order. In the Action phase, players resolve the actions of the gods they successfully bid on, starting with the highest god down to the lowest. Players must perform mandatory actions, such as building structures or recruiting troops/fleets, and may also perform optional actions like buying creatures or moving forces.

Scoring in the game is primarily tracked through the accumulation of gold and the control of metropolises and land areas. During the Income phase, players collect gold for each prosperity icon and controlled land or sea area. Additionally, certain achievements and card effects can provide bonuses.

The game ends during the end-of-cycle phase if any player controls three or more metropolises. If there is a tie, the player with the most hidden gold wins. The game can also end if a player is eliminated by losing all their land areas and being unable to participate.