Imperium: Horizons

To set up Imperium Horizons, each player first chooses a unique nation, taking all associated cards. They then assemble their player organizer, placing their chosen Power Card (A or B side up) and any additional nation-specific cards below it. A State Card (Barbarian side up initially, or nation-specific if applicable) is placed above the Power Card, along with three action tokens and five exhaust tokens. Development cards are placed face-up above the player board, and the Accession Card is placed face-up in its designated spot. All cards with a moon symbol are shuffled and placed face-down sideways on the Accession Card. Any nation-specific Unrest cards are set aside. Players then take a King of Kings token, three material tokens, two population tokens, and one progress token, placing them on their board. The remaining nation cards (without symbols) are shuffled to form the draw deck, and players draw five cards into their hand. For the main area, remaining tokens are placed within reach. The Market Board is assembled in the center, ensuring the side without the trade route symbol is face up (unless playing with the expansion). Common cards are sorted by banner color, removing any 3+ or 4-player cards if playing with fewer players, and any path symbol cards if not using the Trade Routes expansion. Unrest cards are placed at the right of the Market Board, adding any nation-specific Unrest cards. The King of Kings card (side A up) is placed above the board. Six, seven, or eight Fame cards (for 2, 3, or 4 players respectively) are randomly selected, shuffled, and placed face-down sideways on the King of Kings card, with the rest returned to the box. Region, Uncivilized, and Civilized decks are created by randomly selecting and shuffling six, seven, or eight cards each (depending on player count), placing them face-down above their market board spaces. The remaining common and tributary cards are shuffled to form the Main Deck, placed sideways above the Market Board. One card is drawn from each Region, Uncivilized, and Civilized deck, and two from the Main Deck, to be placed face-up below the Market Board. Each non-region card below the Market Board receives an Unrest card beneath it, and each white-bannered card receives a progress token. Finally, a first player is chosen, and the Solstice token is placed between the first and last player.

The primary objective in Imperium Horizons is to lead your chosen nation to supremacy by accumulating the most victory points. This is achieved through strategic deck building, hand management, and leveraging your nation's unique asymmetric abilities. You'll gain victory points by developing your nation, acquiring powerful cards, and fulfilling specific scoring conditions on various cards in your hand, discard pile, play area, draw deck, power card, and history. If the game ends in a collapse (due to too much unrest), the objective shifts, and the player with the fewest unrest cards in their hand, deck, and play area wins, emphasizing the importance of managing negative effects.

A game of Imperium Horizons proceeds in rounds, with each player taking a turn, followed by a Solstice round after the last player, and then a new round begins. On your turn, you choose one of three actions: Activate, Innovate, or Revolt. The most common action is Activate, where you play cards from your hand or activate cards in your play area by spending action tokens (from your state card) or exhaust tokens (from cards with the 'Exhaust' keyword). Playing a card resolves its effects from top to bottom, then the card is placed in your discard pile, unless it has an Infinity symbol, in which case it goes into your play area. Cards with Barbarian or Empire symbols can only be played if your state card matches. Paying costs (materials, population, cards, etc.) is mandatory, and if you cannot pay, you cannot play the card. Exhaust abilities can only be used once per round unless the token is removed by another effect. If you choose to Innovate, you discard your entire hand and then 'break through' for a new card (Region, Uncivilized, Civilized, or Tributary). A 'break through' allows you to gain a card without taking an Unrest card. If you choose to Revolt, you return all Unrest cards from your hand to the Unrest pile. After your action, you clean up: choose one card in the market and add a progress token to it, retrieve all action and exhaust tokens to your state card, and then you may discard any number of cards from your hand before drawing back up to your hand limit (usually five). If your draw deck is empty when you need to draw, you shuffle your discard pile to form a new draw deck. When shuffling, you may add a card from your Nation Deck (if available) to your discard pile before shuffling, provided you have an exhaust token remaining. If your Accession Card is added to your discard pile, you flip your State Card to its Empire side. If you have no Nation Deck cards, you may develop a Development Card by paying its cost. If a card says 'draw cards if able', you draw as many as possible without reshuffling. Play then passes to the next player.

The game ends in one of two ways: a scoring ending or a collapse. A scoring ending is triggered if the main deck runs out, a player develops their last development card, the King of Kings card is flipped face down, or a player activates a trigger end-game effect. After the end-game is triggered, the current round finishes, a Solstice round occurs, and then one final round is played, followed by another Solstice round. All players then calculate their victory points. Points are scored from cards in your hand, discard pile, play area, draw deck, your Power Card, and your History (cards placed under your Power Card). Cards may be worth a fixed number of points, points based on a met condition, or a variable amount depending on specific scoring conditions on the card. Some cards may also be worth negative points. Each progress token a player possesses is worth one victory point. The player with the most victory points wins. If there's a tie, tied players compare their total points, and the one with the most points wins the tie.

The game concludes either with a scoring ending or a collapse. A scoring ending is triggered by several conditions: the main deck becoming empty, a player developing their final development card, the King of Kings card being flipped face down, or a player activating a specific end-game trigger effect. When a scoring ending is triggered, the current round is completed, a Solstice round is played, and then one final round is played, followed by another Solstice round. After this, all players proceed to score their victory points. A collapse ending occurs immediately if the Unrest pile becomes empty at any point during the game, even if a scoring ending has already been triggered. In a collapse, all players count the total number of Unrest cards they have in their hand, deck, and play area. The player with the fewest Unrest cards wins. If there's a tie in a collapse, tied players count their normal victory points, and the player with the most points among them wins.