Ora et Labora

In Ora et Labora, players are set up with a personal Heartland player board featuring various districts for building structures. Each player also receives initial basic resource tokens representing the six basic types (clay, peat, wood, stone, grain, and water), three regular clergymen plus a special prior, and a set of starting settlement cards. Additional landscape tiles, building cards, and settlement cards are organized in stacks around the central production wheel according to the chosen game variant (France or Ireland) and the two-player specific rules.

The main objective of Ora et Labora is to build a prosperous medieval settlement by managing a production wheel, acquiring terrain landscapes, felling trees, cutting peat, and constructing various buildings. Players aim to convert basic resources into higher-tier goods, build cloisters and special structures, and strategically expand their land to maximize victory points from goods, buildings, and dwelling values by the final round.

A player's turn begins by rotating the central production wheel clockwise by one space, which increases the production value of the six basic resources. The player then takes two actions, which can be repeated. The primary actions include placing a clergyman onto a building to activate its production or conversion ability, felling trees or cutting peat to clear land and gain resources, or purchasing and constructing new buildings or landscape tiles from the available supply. Players can also utilize the unique prior for special abilities or trade with opponents.

Final scoring involves a comprehensive tally across multiple categories. First, players score victory points based on the high-quality goods tiles they have produced. Second, they score points for all built buildings and settlement cards located on their board. Finally, players score the dwelling values of their settlement cards based on orthogonally adjacent landscape tiles and neighboring cards, with bonus points awarded for specific combinations and set collections.

The game progresses through a series of rounds dictated by the movement of the production wheel and periodic settlement phases where players must choose and place settlement cards. The game officially concludes when the building supply deck dwindles down to a single remaining building tile. After that final building is taken, the current player completes their final action, and the game proceeds immediately to end-game scoring to determine the winner.