OBJECT OF CARPE DIEM: The objective of Carpe Diem is to be the player who has the highest score at the end of the game.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 4 players
MATERIALS: 84 Light Green Tiles, 39 Dark Green Tiles, Tokens, 4 Figurines, and Instructions
TYPE OF GAME: Strategic Board Game
AUDIENCE: 10+
OVERVIEW OF CARPE DIEM
As patricians your goal is to better your city districts. Better buildings and beautiful landscapes will ensure that your portion of the city will prosper and grow. Make sure to seize the day as you play the game! Gather grapes, harvest fish, and sell items to make money.
Gain more prestige by building a nice home for you and nice homes for your servants. They will appreciate it as well.
SETUP
Setup begins with the removal of all the pieces from the boards. Place the board in the middle of the table where all players can easily access it. Next, give each player four frame parts, one building board, nine banderoles, one overview board, one patrician in the color they choose, and five wooden disks.
After everyone has their pieces, the scoring cards may be divided into piles depending on the color of their backs. Each deck will need to be individually shuffled and then placed near the game board.
The number of cards used depends on the number of players that are involved. All of those cards are then shuffled well and then placed face up on the card spaces located on the left-hand side of the board. The rest of the cards can be placed back in the box.
The fountain cards are then shuffled and placed beside the gameboard. The victory cards are placed into five piles depending on their point value. The building tiles are then separated by color, shuffled, and placed next to the gameboard.
Place four light green tiles on the large squares of the blueprint tile space. All of them should be facing up. Put one dark green tile on all of the square seal spaces found on the bottom portion of the board. Face all of them up.
Place the twenty wares, coins, and bread tokens beside the board. The player born the farthest from 1 B.C. earns the starting player token. One of their discs will be placed on the banderole bar at the top of the board. The rest of the players will continue clockwise around the group.
GAMEPLAY
The game has four phases with seven rounds in each phase. There is a scoring period after each phase. After the last scoring period, there is a final scoring period, in which the winner is determined.
After every player has had a turn, the round ends, and after seven rounds have been completed, the phase ends. During their turn, the player will move their meeple onto an opposite space. They choose a building tile in the adjacent blueprint space and add it to their district.
Opposite spaces are connected to the original space through black lines. The player will move their meeple along the black line to another space. Meeples are moved exactly seven rounds or until all building tiles have been used and the first phase comes to an end.
Rules for Building
The beginning tile for each player has to be put on the shovel space. The rest of the tiles that are placed are placed adjacent to a preexisting tile. All of the sides must match with the tile that it is adjacent to. Tiles may be rotated however is more convenient.
Landscape Types
Landscapes are made up of two to four tiles that are of the same type. When a landscape is completed, the player is rewarded with a bonus of wares depending on the landscape. This bonus is the number of tiles that are used minus one.
Dwelling Types
Merchant: When a player completes a merchant dwelling, they trade all of their obtained wares for that many coins plus an extra coin from the supply. The coins are placed in their storage space.
Baker: When a baker dwelling is completed, they may take two bread tokens and keep them in their storage space. Brad may be used to move a meeple to any space, even against the rules, or three tokens may be used to meet the requirements of two scoring cards.
Administrator: When this dwelling is completed, the player may move their disc two spaces ahead on the banderole.
Craftsman: When the craftsman dwelling is completed, the player may choose any of the building tiles on the bottom of the board and add it to their district.
Markets
After placing a market, you earn one coin and may put it in your storage space.
Bakeries
After you put a bakery down, you earn one bread that you may then store in your storage space.
Fountains
When placing a fountain, examine the two cards on top of the fountain card pile. Choose one and place it next to your storage space. Place the other card underneath the fountain card pile.
Scoring
The player who is the farthest on the banderole bar will begin scoring. When it is your time to score, put a disc on an empty circle space to initiate both scoring cards. There are numerous types of scoring cards.
When scoring with green cards, you have to own all of the things shown on the top half of the card to earn the rewards. When scoring with red cards, you have to pay the amount in the top half of the card to earn the rewards in the bottom half. If you own multiple of what is needed to receive the reward, then you may receive that many of that reward.
When A and B cards are used, you must pay a certain quantity of wares. Coins may be used in place of wares. C cards, on the other hand, are determined by your villas. Each card will prompt you to either count your chimneys or your completed villas. D cards are scored by your landscapes and dwellings.
END OF GAME
After four rounds of gameplay the game comes to an end. Players earn points for chimneys, wares, coins, bread, fountain cards, and their position on the banderole track. Players then score their frame achievements. The player who has the most points at the end of the scoring process wins the game!
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