Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery

Overview

Players lead European colonial powers competing to explore, colonize, and exploit the New World. Over three ages (8 rounds), players place colonists and specialists in event boxes on the board to perform actions: discovering new regions, colonizing territories, trading goods, building capital infrastructure, and waging war. Victory points come from colonies, capital buildings, discoveries, trade, and merchants. The player with the most victory points wins.

Components

• 1 Gameboard (map of the Americas with 9 regions + event boxes)
• 30 Colonists per player color (5 colors)
• Specialists per color: 5 Captains, 5 Merchants, 10 Missionaries, 10 Soldiers
• 10 Merchant ship miniatures (Caravels)
• Capital Building tiles (Age I, II, III)
• Trade Goods tokens (gold, silver, cattle, cocoa, fish, sugar, fur, coffee, tobacco, rice, indigo)
• 16 Discovery counters
• 16 Discovery Deck cards
• Money: silver ($1) and gold ($10) coins

Setup

1. Each player takes a color, receives $10 and 5 basic colonists.
2. Place 1 colonist per player randomly in Turn Order area.
3. Place 1 random discovery counter face-down in each region (except Caribbean).
4. Place 1 matching trade good face-up in each region.
5. Separate capital buildings by age. Draw 5 Age I buildings face-up.
6. The game plays over 8 rounds across 3 ages.

Turn Structure

Each round:

1. Place Colonists: Starting with first player, players take turns placing 1 colonist or specialist in an event box.
2. Resolve Event Boxes: Resolve each event box from left to right.
3. Age Advancement: After specific rounds, advance to the next age and reveal new capital buildings.

Actions

Event Box Actions

Initiative: Claim turn order for next round.

Colonist Dock: Gain additional colonists/specialists from your unused supply.

Trade Goods: Acquire trade goods from discovered regions.

Merchant Shipping: Place merchant ships for trade income.

Capital Buildings: Purchase capital buildings for special bonuses and VP.

Discovery: Send colonists/specialists to discover new regions. Flip discovery counter to determine outcome (success, natives encountered, plunder).

Colonize: Place colonists in discovered regions to control them.

Warfare: Use soldiers to attack opponents’ colonies.

Specialist Abilities

Specialist	Ability
Captain	+1 VP per discovery; naval combat bonus
Merchant	Extra income from trade goods
Missionary	Convert natives; extra colonists in regions
Soldier	Combat bonus; can attack other colonies

Scoring / Victory Conditions

After 8 rounds, score:

Source	Points
Colonies in regions	VP based on majority
Capital buildings	VP as printed
Discoveries	VP from discovery bonuses
Trade good sets	VP from merchant ship + goods combinations
Merchant fleet	VP from ships
Money	VP conversion

Highest VP total wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• The Caribbean is available from the start (no discovery counter needed).
• After all regions are discovered, the Discovery Deck provides additional exploration opportunities.
• Capital buildings are sorted by age and become available as the game progresses.
• Trade goods form sets with merchant ships for income generation.
• Warfare can displace opponents’ colonists from regions.
• Each event box has limited spaces for colonists.

Player Reference

Ages and Rounds

| Age | Rounds | Capital Buildings | |—–|——–|——————| | I | 1-3 | 5 Age I buildings | | II | 4-5 | Age II buildings added | | III | 6-8 | Age III buildings added |

Starting Resources

• $10
• 5 basic colonists
• Full specialist supply