Overview

Arkadia is a tile-placement and worker-management game where players build a town including a central castle. Players place buildings, deploy workers, and collect seals from four noble families. The value of each family’s seals fluctuates based on their contribution to the castle. Players choose when to convert their seals to gold, and the player with the most gold wins.

Components

• 1 game board
• 1 building lot for the castle (10 squares)
• 4 player screens (yellow, orange, green, violet)
• 16 architect banners (4 per player)
• 40 building cards
• 40 buildings in 7 forms (residential, farm, tavern, mill, smithy, trade centre, monastery)
• 88 seals of 4 families (red=cloth, olive=spice, black=carpenter, silver=silversmith; 8 with value 5)
• 44 workers (11 per player color)
• 24 neutral workers (beige)
• 28 castle pieces (with seal tiles)
• Gold coins (values 1, 5, 10)

Setup

1. Place game board centrally. Position castle building lot so no tent camp squares are covered.
2. Each player takes a screen, 4 architect banners, and 3 workers of their color. Place remaining workers and neutral workers in the general pool.
3. Distribute 12 castle pieces on first floor pool, 12 on second floor pool (stacking same colors), 4 on third floor colored squares.
4. Sort buildings by form. Place seals and gold beside the board.
5. Shuffle building cards; deal 4 to each player face down. Place 3 face up next to board. Stack the rest face down.

Turn Structure

The youngest player starts; play proceeds clockwise. Each turn:

1. MUST do one of:
   • A) Play a building card and place the corresponding building, OR
   • B) Deploy one or more workers
2. CAN optionally use one architect banner.

Actions

A) Place a Building:

• Choose a card from hand, take the matching building tile.
• Place it on the board, horizontally/vertically adjacent to an existing building or the castle lot.
• Cannot overlap other buildings or the castle lot.
• After placing, check if any buildings are now completely surrounded (all adjacent squares occupied). Surrounded buildings are “completed.”

Completing a Building: When a building is surrounded by other buildings, workers, or the board edge:

• Each worker adjacent to the completed building earns its owner 1 seal matching the family color shown on the building card.
• Neutral workers also earn seals, which go to the player who completed the building.
• After earning seals, remove workers from around the completed building and return them to owners.
• Then place 1 castle piece on the castle lot (continuing castle construction). The family color on the castle piece affects seal values.

B) Deploy Workers:

• Place 1 or more workers from behind your screen onto empty squares adjacent to buildings.
• You may also place neutral workers from the pool (1 neutral for every 2 of your own workers placed).

Architect Banner:

• After your mandatory action, you may place 1 architect banner on the board.
• When used, you may convert any number of your seals to gold at their current exchange rate.
• The exchange rate = number of castle pieces of that family’s color currently visible on the castle.
• Each banner can only be used once per game (4 total per player).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• When converting seals to gold, each seal is worth gold equal to the number of castle pieces of that seal’s color currently visible on the castle.
• The game ends when all castle pieces have been placed or a specific trigger occurs.
• Final scoring: all players convert remaining seals at end-game exchange rates.
• The player with the most gold wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Workers behind your screen are hidden; opponents don’t know how many you have.
• The castle has 3 floors; higher floors cover lower ones, changing visible colors and thus seal values.
• Timing of seal conversion is critical – seal values change as new castle pieces are placed.
• Each architect banner may be used only once per game.
• Neutral workers can be deployed alongside your own workers.
• Buildings come in 7 different shapes/sizes, affecting board coverage.

Player Reference

Action Type	Description
Place building	Must be adjacent to existing building/castle
Deploy workers	Place own workers (+ neutrals at 2:1 ratio)
Architect banner	Convert seals to gold at current rate (once each)

Seal Family	Color
Cloth merchants	Red
Spice merchants	Olive
Carpenters	Black
Silversmiths	Silver

Seal Value

= Number of visible castle pieces of that color