Overview

Babel is a two-player card game of temple construction set in the ancient Near East. Each player competes to build the most majestic temples across 5 construction sites, deploying Nation cards to gain construction and special ability privileges. Players move a building pawn between sites, deploy nation cards, construct temple levels, migrate workers, and trigger powerful nation-specific abilities to undermine their opponent. The game ends when one player achieves a significant temple value lead.

Components

• 1 board with 5 construction sites per player and a quarry for Temple cards
• 45 Temple cards (10x level 1, 9x level 2, 8x level 3, 7x level 4, 6x level 5, 5x level 6)
• 60 Nation cards (12 per nation): Assyrians, Hittites, Medes, Persians, Sumerians
• 2 building pawns

Setup

1. Place the board in the middle of the table.
2. Each player takes 1 level 1 Temple card (must be built on their first turn).
3. Shuffle remaining Temple cards; place face-down in the Quarry.
4. Each player places their pawn on their side of the Quarry.
5. Shuffle Nation cards. Determine a start player.
6. Start player draws 3 Nation cards; opponent draws 5 Nation cards.
7. Remaining Nation cards form the face-down draw pile.

Turn Structure

Each turn has 3 phases performed in order:

Phase 1: Draw 3 Nation Cards

Draw 3 Nation cards from the draw pile and add to your hand. If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new one.

Phase 2: Perform Actions

Perform any of the following actions in any order, as many times as you wish. Exception: Migration may only be performed once per turn.

Action	Description
A) Move pawn	Discard a Nation card matching the destination site’s colour to move your pawn there
B) Deploy Nation cards	Place Nation card(s) from hand at pawn’s current site (on top of existing cards)
C) Construct a temple	Take top Temple card from either stack and place at pawn’s site
D) Migrate	Move exactly 3 of your top Nation cards from one site to another (once per turn)
E) Use a nation’s special ability	Discard 1 card from a group of 3+ identical successive cards at pawn’s site

Phase 3: Draw 2 Temple Cards

Draw 2 Temple cards from the Quarry and place them on the temple stack closest to you, in descending order (lower value on top). If you have 4+ Nation cards in hand, announce the number to your opponent.

Actions

A) Move Building Pawn

• Discard a Nation card whose colour matches the target construction site.
• Both pawns may occupy the same site.
• First move is from the Quarry to a site.

B) Deploy Nation Cards

• Place Nation card(s) from hand on top of previously deployed cards at pawn’s current site.
• Cards must be visible to both players (stacked so names remain visible).
• Multiple cards may be deployed at the same site in one turn.

C) Construct a Temple

• Take the top Temple card from either temple stack.
• Place it at your pawn’s current construction site.
• Temples must be built in numerical sequence (1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6).
• Requirement: The number of your Nation cards at the site must be greater than or equal to the Temple card level being built.
• Once built, temple levels are not affected by removal of Nation cards.

D) Migrate

• Once per turn only.
• Move exactly 3 of your Nation cards from one site to another.
• Only the top 3 cards at the source site are eligible.
• Moved cards are placed on top at the destination site, maintaining their order.
• Your pawn does not need to be at either site.

E) Nation Special Abilities

Activation requirement: 3 or more identical, successive Nation cards at the same site where your pawn is located.

To use: Discard 1 card from the group. May use multiple times if 4+ cards exist (discard 1 per use).

Nation	Ability
Assyrians — Destroy a Temple	Destroy opponent’s entire temple at this site. Destroyed cards return face-down to top of Temple draw pile in descending order.
Hittites — Steal a Temple Level	Steal opponent’s highest Temple card at this site and place on your temple. Conditions: (1) stolen card must be higher than your current level; (2) you must have Nation cards ≥ stolen card’s level (the discarded Hittites card counts).
Medes — Desertion	Choose a nation. Opponent discards all cards of that nation at this site. Your cards are unaffected.
Persians — Skip a Temple Level	Build a Temple card 2 levels above current (e.g., level 2 on empty site, level 3 on level 1). Standard stack and Nation card count requirements still apply.
Sumerians — Change Camps	All of opponent’s Nation cards matching their most recently played nation at this site defect to your side, placed on top of your cards in original order.

Universal Ability (All Nations)

Instead of using a nation’s unique ability, you may force your opponent to discard half their hand (rounded down in opponent’s favour). Opponent chooses which cards to discard.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends when one of these conditions is met:

Standard ending: One player’s temples reach a combined value of 15 or more AND the other player’s temples have a combined value of 9 or less.

End phase: If when a player reaches 15+, the opponent has 10+, the game enters the “end phase.” It then ends immediately when:

1. One player’s temples reach a combined value of 20 or more, OR
2. One player’s temples drop to a combined value of 9 or less.

Temple card exhaustion: The game also ends immediately when the Temple card draw pile is empty.

Winner: The player with the highest combined temple value wins. Tiebreaker: Most Nation cards in hand.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• First turn obligation: Each player must construct their starting level 1 Temple card on their first turn. This is the only card with this restriction.
• Temple construction is permanent: Once a temple level is built, removing Nation cards from that site does not affect the temple.
• Migration precision: Exactly 3 cards must be moved; never more or less.
• Special ability card counts: For Hittites and Persians abilities, the discarded card counts toward the Nation card requirement.
• Destroyed temple cards: Return to the top of the Temple draw pile (not the discard pile), in descending order.
• Hittites steal on empty site: You may steal a Temple card even if your construction site has no temple yet.
• Hand disclosure: At the end of your turn, if you have 4+ Nation cards, you must tell your opponent how many cards you hold.

Player Reference

Turn Phases: 1) Draw 3 Nation cards → 2) Perform actions → 3) Draw 2 Temple cards to your stack

Temple Levels: 1-6 (ascending sequence required; need Nation cards ≥ level)

Temple Card Distribution: L1: 10, L2: 9, L3: 8, L4: 7, L5: 6, L6: 5

Nation Count: 12 cards per nation (Assyrians, Hittites, Medes, Persians, Sumerians)

Special Ability Trigger: 3+ identical successive Nation cards at pawn’s site; discard 1 per use

Game End Triggers:

• Player A ≥ 15 AND Player B ≤ 9 → immediate end
• Player A ≥ 15 AND Player B ≥ 10 → enter end phase (end at 20+ or ≤ 9)
• Temple draw pile empty → immediate end