Overview

Heaven & Ale is a strategy game where players manage ancient monasteries, competing to brew the best ale. Players move around a common circular track to acquire resource tiles, monk tiles, and scoring discs, placing them on their personal player boards in sunny or shady garden spots. Shady spots yield money; sunny spots advance resource production markers. The game’s central tension is balancing tile purchases, scoring disc timing, and advancing all five resource markers evenly, since final scoring multiplies the lowest resource marker by the brewmaster’s unlocked victory point value.

Components

• 1 main board (circular common track with resource spaces, monk spaces, scoring disc spaces, barrel spaces, and starting area)
• 4 player boards (with sunny/shady garden spots, 7 shed spots, production track, brewmaster track, 10 tile scoring spots in 5 privilege pairs)
• 100 resource tiles (20 per color — wood, yeast, hops, water, barley — with fertility numbers 1-5)
• 24 monk tiles (6 of each of 4 types, split into I and II sets of 12)
• 49 shed tiles (double-sided, 5 types)
• 36 scoring discs
• 12 large barrels (4 VP each) and 12 small barrels (2 VP each)
• 20 privilege cards (4 sets of 5)
• 4 brewmasters (1 per player color)
• 20 resource markers (4 of each resource color)
• 27 “1 ducat” coins, 14 “5 ducat” cards, 10 “10 ducat” cards
• 4 player figures and 4 scoring markers

Setup

1. Place main board centrally. Place ducats and scoring discs as reserves.
2. Separate resource tiles by back (I and II). Place 1 resource tile (I-backed) face-up on each of 15 resource spaces.
3. Sort and place shed tiles in 5 piles by type.
4. Separate monk tiles by back (I and II). Shuffle I-monks; place stacks of 4 on center spaces. Handle II-monks based on player count (2p: remove all; 3p: stack of 4 on leftmost space; 4p: stacks of 4 on all spaces).
5. Place 1 monk tile face-up on each of 4 monk spaces. Place 1 scoring disc on each of 6 scoring disc spaces. Place barrels (large on small) on each barrel spot.
6. Each player takes: player board, 5 privilege cards, player figure, brewmaster (on starting spot), 1 of each 5 resource markers (on starting spots), 25 ducats.
7. Determine starting player. First player places figure on “First player starting space.” Others place counterclockwise, taking immediate rewards (2 ducats, or 1 brewmaster step, or 2 resource marker steps).

Turn Structure

The game lasts 3 rounds (2p), 4 rounds (3p), or 6 rounds (4p). Starting player begins, then clockwise.

On your turn: Move your player figure forward (clockwise) any number of spaces on the common track, but not past the starting area. You MUST take the action of the space you land on. You may never move backward or stay in place. You cannot land on a space whose action you cannot perform.

When you enter the starting area, you are out for the remainder of the round. The last player to enter MUST take the “First player starting space” if it is still empty.

After all players are in the starting area, prepare the next round (refill tiles, monks, scoring discs). After the final round, proceed to final scoring.

Actions

Resource Spaces

Buy at least 1 resource tile from the space (may buy multiple if affordable).

• Shady side placement: Pay ducats equal to the tile’s fertility number.
• Sunny side placement: Pay ducats equal to TWICE the fertility number.
• Resource tiles may never be placed on shed spots.
• If placement encloses a shed spot (all 6 adjacent spots filled), immediately resolve the shed procedure.

Monk Spaces

Buy at least 1 monk tile from the space.

• Shady side: Pay ducats equal to the monk cost number on the space.
• Sunny side: Pay twice the monk cost number.
• Monks cannot be placed on shed spots.

Scoring Disc Spaces (A, B, C, A/B/C)

Take 1 scoring disc and place it on the corresponding empty tile scoring spot on your player board:

• Space A → x-tile scoring spot: Nominate a fertility number (1-5). Activate all resource tiles of that number. Shady tiles grant ducats equal to fertility; sunny tiles advance that color’s resource marker by the fertility number.
• Space B → monk tile scoring spot: Triggers all monks of that type. Each triggered monk activates adjacent resource tiles (granting usual rewards). Triggered monks also activate adjacent monks (each activated monk advances brewmaster 1 step).
• Space C → resource tile scoring spot: Activate all resource tiles of the matching resource color (granting usual rewards).
• Space A/B/C: Choose any empty scoring spot and perform the corresponding procedure.

After placing a scoring disc, check if a privilege pair is completed.

Barrel Spaces

Claim all remaining barrels whose goals you have achieved. Take the large barrel first if available; take the small only if you don’t already have its large counterpart. Large barrels = 4 VP; small barrels = 2 VP.

Barrel Goals (12 goals including)

• Placed 3+ privilege cards, placed 4+ different shed types, placed 3+ same shed type, resource marker at 20, filled all 15 sunny spots, filled all 15 shady spots, placed 6+ fertility-1 tiles, placed 6+ fertility-5 tiles, all resource markers at 1+, brewmaster at 1+, scoring disc on all 4 monk spots, scoring disc on all 5 resource spots.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Final Scoring

1. Check your brewmaster’s position to determine your resource exchange rate and victory point multiplier:
   • Early track: 5:1 rate, 2x multiplier
   • Mid track: 4:1 rate, 3x multiplier
   • Advanced: 3:1 rate, 4x multiplier
   • Further: 2:1 rate, higher multiplier

2. Even out resource markers: Use the exchange rate to move resource markers closer together (move other markers backward to advance the lowest marker forward). Also, spend 10 ducats to advance any marker 1 step.

3. Calculate production score: Find your LOWEST resource marker position. Multiply that number by your brewmaster’s unlocked VP multiplier.

4. Add barrel points (4 per large, 2 per small). Add 1 VP per barrel if barrel privilege card is placed.

5. Add 1 VP if your figure is on the First Player starting space.

Highest total wins. Ties are shared.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Shed enclosure: When all 6 spots around a shed spot are filled, sum fertility numbers of adjacent resource tiles. Consult the reward table for brewmaster advancement (0-6 steps based on sum ranges: 0-7=0, 8-11=1, 12-17=2, 18-23=4, 24+=6). Place the appropriate shed tile; it immediately activates 0-4 adjacent tiles depending on type.
• Privilege pairs: When both scoring spots of a pair have discs, you may place a privilege card for its reward (12 ducats, 5 brewmaster steps, or various resource marker advancements). This is optional but cannot be done later. Unplaced privilege cards can be returned to the box for 3 ducats at any time.
• Resource marker cap: When a marker reaches 20, each additional step grants 1 ducat instead.
• Monk activation reward: Each activated (not triggered) monk moves brewmaster 1 step forward.
• Cannot skip actions: You must be able to perform the action of the space you move to.
• In the final round of 2-3 player games, extra scoring discs are placed on certain spaces.

Player Reference

Action Space	What You Do
Resource	Buy tile(s), place shady (1x cost) or sunny (2x cost)
Monk	Buy monk tile(s), same pricing as resources
Scoring Disc A	Activate all tiles of chosen fertility number
Scoring Disc B	Trigger monks of chosen type → activate adjacent tiles
Scoring Disc C	Activate all tiles of chosen resource color
Barrel	Claim achieved barrel goals

Final Scoring: Lowest resource marker × brewmaster VP multiplier + barrels + bonuses

Key Insight: All 5 resource markers must advance evenly — your score is based on the LOWEST one!