River of Gold

In River of Gold, players start by selecting their clan boards and receiving initial resources, including currency (koku), divine favor tokens, and a hand of customer cards. Starter buildings are placed on the board according to player count, and masteries are set up along the side to serve as public objectives.

The primary goal is to accumulate the highest victory point total by the end of the game. Players achieve this by constructing buildings along the river, sailing ships to collect resources and trigger building rewards, fulfilling customer orders, and claiming mastery bonuses.

A player's turn consists of rolling their clan's six-sided die to determine their available action region. Players may optionally spend divine favor tokens to adjust the die value up or down. They then choose one of three main actions: building a structure, sailing a ship down the river, or delivering goods to satisfy customer cards. Various anytime actions are also available.

Victory points are scored throughout the game and during final scoring. Players score influence points in six distinct regions, earn bonuses for specific building types, complete customer orders, and compete for mastery objectives. Tie-breakers favor the player with the most remaining divine favor.

The game's timer is driven by building tile stacks. When the final building tile from the second era is placed onto the board, the active player finishes their turn, and an emperor's visit triggers final scoring across all built locations before tallying end-game points.