Biblios is a card-drafting and auction game in which players compete as abbots of medieval monasteries, vying for the greatest collection of sacred books. The game is played in two phases: the Gift phase (card drafting) and the Auction phase. Players collect cards in five categories and play Church cards to manipulate category values. At game end, the player with the highest total in each category claims its Victory Points (shown on dice). The player with the most total Victory Points wins.
Components
1 Scriptorium (category value board)
5 six-sided dice (one per category)
87 cards (category cards, Gold cards, and Church cards)
Setup
Place all 5 dice on the Scriptorium, each showing the value 3.
Remove cards based on player count:
2 players: Remove 27 cards
3 players: Remove 15 cards
4 players: Remove 7 cards
Removed cards are returned to the box unseen.
Shuffle the remaining deck and place it face-down.
Turn Structure
The game has two sequential phases:
Phase 1: Gift Phase
Players take turns as the active player.
The active player draws cards one at a time (number drawn = number of players + 1).
For each card drawn, the active player must immediately assign it to one of three locations:
Their hand (keep for themselves) – exactly 1 card per turn
Public space (face-up, available to other players)
Auction pile (face-down, saved for Phase 2) – exactly 1 card per turn
After all cards are allocated, other players (clockwise) each take one card from the public space.
This continues until the draw deck is exhausted.
Phase 2: Auction Phase
Cards from the auction pile are revealed one at a time.
Players bid to acquire each card:
For non-Gold cards: Players bid using Gold cards from their hand.
For Gold cards: Players bid using any cards from their hand.
The highest bidder pays by discarding their bid cards and takes the auctioned card.
If all players pass, the card is discarded.
Actions
Church Cards
When a player acquires a Church card (in either phase), it is played immediately.
Church cards modify the dice on the Scriptorium:
+1: Increase one category die by 1
-1: Decrease one category die by 1
Cards with two dice symbols: Affect two separate categories
Dice values range from 1 to 6. A die at 1 cannot decrease further; a die at 6 cannot increase further.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
After the Auction phase, players group their cards by category and sum the values.
For each category, the player with the highest total wins that category’s Victory Points (the current die value on the Scriptorium).
Tiebreaker for a category: The player holding the alphabetically earliest card name wins.
The player with the most total Victory Points wins.
Final tiebreakers: Most Gold cards, then highest value in the Monks category, then alphabetically earliest card.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
Church cards are always played immediately upon acquisition – they are never kept in hand.
During the Gift phase, the active player sees each card before deciding its destination, adding an element of information control.
Players should track which cards go to the auction pile, as this information helps during bidding.
Gold cards serve dual purpose: bidding currency and potential Victory Points (if a Gold category die is high).
With 2 players, the active player draws 3 cards per turn (players + 1).