How to Play (Basics)

Below are the basics of getting a game started. For a detailed look at the rules go to the Rules Detailed page

Getting Started

In order to play Terra Indomita you will need 2 decks and their associated tiles, the game board, a decent amount of dice and a large clear playing surface such as a table.

Building a Deck

A deck in Terra Indomita consists of a minimum of 60 cards with no more than 4 copies of any single card. You will also need game pieces to represent the units, buildings, research and harvesters on the game board. The tiles that come with the game typically serve this purpose but custom figures could also be used if needed, as long as it is clear to both players what each figure represents.

In general, we recommend roughly half the deck being unit cards, but depending on your strategy it could be far more or less.

Setup

Place the board in the center of the play area and each player places their deck beside it in an open space. Leave room for a discard pile, an area to track your gold and mana totals and an area to play cards.

Next each player draws 5 cards from their deck. Terra Indomita does not allow mulligans, but in friendly games you may decide if/how you would like to handle redraws.

Next each player places 3 workers on open Gold or Mana nodes within 3 squares of their base.

Turns

Players roll to see who goes first and play begins. Turns happen in several phases.

  1. Restore Phase – Active Player restores depleted units and cards.
  2. Draw Phase – Active player draws 1 card.
  3. Collection Phase – Active player gains Gold and Mana based on their # of Workers and Modifiers.
    1. Gold: Add gold collected to remaining gold.
    2. Mana: Reset mana to zero before collecting mana.
  4. Action Phase – During the action phase the player performs various actions. Below are the actions that can be performed.
    1. Activate units that are not depleted: When a unit is activated they may move and/or use an action, in any order. After which the unit is depleted.
      1. Move: You may move the activated unit X squares where X is its total movement.
      2. Action: There are 3 types of actions a unit can perform: Activate Ability, Use an Ability/Spell Action Card or use its attack on available target.
    2. Play an equipment, ability, spell, building or research card.
    3. Activate the ability of an Equipment, Building or Research card.
    4. Place a worker. (once per turn)
  5. Cleanup Phase – Discard down to 8.
  6. Next Player Begins Turn

Victory

The game ends when a player’s Base is destroyed or they surrender. If you are playing with Victory Points, the player who first reaches the agreed upon total wins the game.