Overview
Deus is a civilization-building card game where players explore unknown lands, found cities, and construct buildings to exploit natural resources, establish trade routes, conquer barbarian villages, and increase scientific knowledge. On each turn, players either construct a building (play a card and place a wooden piece on the map) or make an offering to a god (discard cards for divine aid). The game ends when all barbarian villages are attacked or all temples are built. The player with the most victory points wins.
Components
- 4 small player boards
- 96 Building cards (16 each of 6 types: Civil, Scientific, Maritime, Military, Production, Temple)
- 100 wooden Buildings (25 per player): 5 each of Civil, Scientific, Maritime, Military, Production
- 7 wooden Temples (neutral color)
- 7 double-sided Continent tiles
- Gold coins (63 x1, 12 x5, 9 x10)
- Victory Point tokens (24 x1, 9 x3, 9 x5, 17 x10)
- 80 resources: 20 each of Wood, Stone, Clay, Wheat
- 1 First Player card
Setup
- Form the gameboard from Continent tiles based on player count: 4 tiles (2 players), 6 tiles (3 players), 7 tiles (4 players). Orient freely but never place 2 barbarian villages adjacent to each other.
- Place VP on each barbarian village equal to the number of adjacent regions.
- Form general supply: Temples equal to number of Continent tiles, 5 resources of each type per player, VP tokens, gold.
- Each player takes 1 player board and Building pieces in their color. Place 2 pieces of each type on the corresponding column of the player board. Remaining pieces form personal supply.
- Each player takes 5 gold, 4 resources (1 of each type), and 5 VP.
- Shuffle all 96 Building cards, deal 5 to each player, form draw pile.
- Choose first player, give First Player card.
Turn Structure
Each round, players take turns clockwise starting with the First Player. On your turn, choose exactly 1 of 2 actions:
A. Construct a Building or B. Make an Offering to the Gods
Actions
A. Construct a Building
Standard Buildings (Civil, Scientific, Maritime, Military, Production)
- Verify availability: Must have at least 1 wooden piece of that type on your player board.
- Play the card: Place it at the top of the matching color column above your player board (all card effects must remain visible).
- Pay construction cost: Shown in upper-left corner. Each resource can be replaced by 4 gold.
- Place wooden piece: Move from player board to a region on the gameboard following placement rules:
- First building must be at the edge of the board. First buildings of different players must be separated by at least 2 empty regions.
- Subsequent buildings go in a region you control or an empty adjacent region.
- Each building in a single region must be a different type.
- Cannot build in barbarian village regions.
- Maritime buildings (ships) go in sea regions only. Other buildings cannot go in sea regions.
- You may place in a non-adjacent edge region by paying 3 VP.
- Activate card effects: Resolve all cards in that column from bottom to top.
Temples
- Place card in temple column on player board.
- Prerequisite: 1st temple = free; 2nd temple = need 1 card of each color on player board; 3rd temple = need 2 cards of each color; etc.
- Cost: Always 1 of each resource type (each replaceable by 4 gold).
- Place a wooden temple from general supply in one of your regions (not empty). Each scores up to 12 VP at game end per its condition.
- Can still play a Temple card if supply is empty (just don’t place the piece).
Attacking Barbarian Villages
Happens immediately when both conditions are met:
- Players occupy all regions adjacent to the village.
- At least 1 army is in those adjacent regions.
The player with the most armies adjacent wins the VP on the village. Ties broken by most total buildings adjacent; if still tied, VP split (rounded down).
B. Make an Offering to the Gods
- Discard at least 1 card from your hand face-up to the discard pile.
- Invoke the god matching the topmost discarded card. Power scales with number of cards discarded.
- Draw cards to refill hand to 5. (Max hand size: 10 cards.)
| God |
Color |
Power |
| Neptune |
Blue/Maritime |
+2 gold per discarded card; +1 wooden maritime building |
| Ceres |
Green/Production |
+1 resource of your choice per discarded card; +1 wooden production building |
| Minerva |
Yellow/Scientific |
+1 wooden scientific building; draw 1 extra card per discarded card in step 4 |
| Vesta |
Brown/Civil |
+1 VP for 1 discarded card, +2 VP total for 2+; +1 wooden civil building |
| Mars |
Red/Military |
+1 wooden building of your choice per discarded card |
| Jupiter |
Purple/Temple |
Use the power of any other god (wild) |
Note: If you run out of cards in hand, automatically draw 5.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
Game End Triggers
The game ends when either:
- All temples from the general supply have been constructed, or
- All barbarian villages have been attacked.
Finish the current round (equal turns), then play 1 final round (each player takes 1 action).
Final Scoring
- VP earned during the game
- VP from constructed temples (max 12 VP each)
- Resource/Gold majorities: For each of the 5 categories (wheat, wood, stone, clay, gold), the player with the most gets 2 VP. Ties: each tied player gets 2 VP. Must have at least 1.
Highest total VP wins.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
- Each resource can substitute for 4 gold only when paying construction costs.
- Resources in the general supply can run out; you cannot gain a resource that is depleted. VP and gold are unlimited.
- You cannot have more than 10 cards in hand. Stop drawing at 10.
- Maritime buildings: cannot place 2 in the same sea region. If no sea access, you cannot play blue cards.
- Military units are the only buildings that can be moved (via card effects). They can pass through enemy regions and barbarian villages but cannot end there.
- Two military units can never occupy the same region at end of turn.
- A military unit can enter a sea region only if your maritime building is there. Never enter a sea region with an enemy ship.
- You cannot abandon a temple (unlike armies).
- Players’ VP are hidden during the game.
Player Reference
Building Types:
| Color |
Type |
Wooden Piece |
Placement |
Focus |
| Brown |
Civil |
Building |
Land |
VP and gold based on development |
| Yellow |
Scientific |
Building |
Land |
Draw cards, gain wooden pieces |
| Blue |
Maritime |
Ship |
Sea only |
Trade, buy/sell resources |
| Red |
Military |
Army |
Land |
Attack opponents, steal VP/gold, movable |
| Green |
Production |
Building |
Land |
Produce resources from terrain |
| Purple |
Temple |
Temple (neutral) |
Your land region |
End-game VP (max 12 each) |
Terrain Resources:
| Terrain |
Resource |
| Fields |
Wheat |
| Forests |
Wood |
| Swamps |
Clay |
| Mountains |
Stone |
Key Numbers:
- Starting hand: 5 cards
- Starting resources: 1 of each type + 5 gold + 5 VP
- Construction cost substitute: 4 gold = 1 resource
- Max hand size: 10 cards
- Max temple VP: 12 per temple
- Majority bonus: 2 VP per resource/gold category