Innovation

Overview

A civilization-building card game where 105 unique cards represent innovations from the Stone Age through the Information Age. Players meld cards to their board, activate dogma effects, score points, and claim achievements. The first player to claim enough achievements wins immediately. Alternatively, if the game reaches beyond age 10, the player with the most points wins.

Components

• 105 Innovation cards (ages 1-10, 5 colors each: blue, red, green, yellow, purple)
• 5 Special Achievement cards (Monument, Empire, World, Wonder, Universe)
• Reference cards (1 per player)

Setup

1. Split cards into 10 supply piles by age, arranged in a clock pattern.
2. Randomly set aside 1 card (without looking) from each of ages 1-9 as normal Achievements (9 total). Place them in the center.
3. Place the 5 Special Achievements nearby.
4. Each player draws 2 age-1 cards. Simultaneously, each player chooses 1 to meld (place face up as their first card) and keeps the other as their starting hand.
5. The player whose melded card is closest to A alphabetically goes first.
6. First player (or first 2 in 4-player) takes only 1 action on their first turn.

Turn Structure

On your turn, you must take 2 actions (any combination, same action allowed twice). In a 4-player game, the first two players take only 1 action on their first turn; in 2-3 player games, only the first player is restricted.

Actions

Draw

Take the top card from the supply pile matching the age of your highest-value top card on your board. Add it to your hand. If that pile is empty, draw from the next higher non-empty pile. If you must draw above age 10, the game ends immediately.

Meld

Play a card from your hand onto your board, on top of any existing cards of that color. If the color is already splayed, continue the splay. Any card value can be melded regardless of existing top card values.

Achieve

Claim a normal achievement. Two conditions required:

• Your total score (sum of all card values in your score pile) must be at least 5x the age number of the achievement.
• You must have a top card of equal or higher value than the achievement. Points are NOT spent when claiming. Achievements, once claimed, cannot be taken away.

Dogma

Choose one of your top cards to activate. Execute all effects on it in order:

Demand effects (darker boxes, start with “I demand”):

• Each opponent with fewer of the featured icon than you must follow the demand, clockwise.

Non-demand effects:

• Opponents with equal or more of the featured icon than you execute the effect first (clockwise), then you execute it.
• If any opponent shared a non-demand effect (and something changed), you take 1 free Draw action after the dogma resolves.

Icon counts are checked once at the start of the Dogma action; do not recount between effects.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Winning by Achievements

Players	Achievements to Win
2 (or 4-player teams)	6
3	5
4	4

Winning by Score

If a player must draw a card of age higher than 10, the game ends immediately. The player with the highest score wins.

Special Achievements

These can be claimed at any time their conditions are met:

• Monument: Tuck 6 or score 6 cards during a single turn.
• Empire: Have 3+ icons of all six types.
• World: Have 12+ icons on your board.
• Wonder: Have 5 colors on your board, each splayed up or right.
• Universe: Have 5 top cards, each of value 8+.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Splaying: When a color is splayed (left, right, or up), covered cards reveal additional icons in the splay direction. Splaying is triggered by card effects.
• Score pile: Cards placed face-down. Each card is worth its age number in points.
• Empty supply piles: Always draw from the next higher non-empty pile.
• Drawing above 10: Game ends immediately; highest score wins.
• Partial effects: If you can only do part of an effect, do as much as you can.
• Board: Your board consists of up to 5 stacks (one per color). Only the top card of each stack is active for dogma.
• Icons: Cards have 4 icon positions. One is always a card image (no benefit). The other 3 provide icons for sharing/defense.
• Transferring vs. scoring: Cards transferred from opponents via demands do not count toward the Monument achievement.
• You may dogma a card that causes nothing to happen.

Player Reference

Actions per turn: 2 (any combination of Draw, Meld, Achieve, Dogma)

Achieve requirements: Score >= 5 x age number AND top card >= age number

Achievement Age	Min Score Required
1	5
2	10
3	15
4	20
5	25
6	30
7	35
8	40
9	45

Dogma sharing: Featured icon count comparison determines sharing/demand eligibility.