The Guild of Merchant Explorers

Overview

In The Guild of Merchant Explorers, players simultaneously explore a shared map by placing explorer cubes on terrain tiles matching revealed explore cards. Players establish trade routes, discover villages, and build settlements to earn coins and victory points. Each era resets most explorers, but established settlements remain, creating an expanding network across multiple eras.

Components

• 4 Double-sided map boards (Sea/Desert sides)
• 90+ Explorer cubes (in 4 player colors)
• Explore cards (terrain types: Grassland, Sea, Desert, Mountain, Village)
• Era cards
• Coin tokens
• Discovery tokens
• Settlement pieces
• Treasure cards
• Objective cards
• Investigate cards
• Rulebook

Setup

1. Each player takes a map board (all using the same side) and explorer cubes in their color.
2. Place one explorer cube on the starting city.
3. Shuffle explore cards and create the era deck.
4. Lay out objective cards for the game.
5. Prepare discovery tokens, coins, and treasure cards.
6. Determine first player.

Turn Structure

The game plays over 4 eras. Each era:

1. Explore Phase

Reveal explore cards one at a time. When a card is revealed, all players simultaneously place 1 explorer cube on a space matching the card’s terrain type. The new cube must be adjacent (orthogonally) to an existing cube or settlement.

2. Special Cards

Certain cards allow placing on any terrain or provide bonus placements.

3. Village Discovery

When an explorer cube is placed on a village space, the player discovers it and gains the village’s bonus (coins, treasure cards, or other benefits).

4. Era End

At the end of each era:

• Score connected regions (groups of cubes connected to the starting city).
• Collect coins for trade routes (connecting two cities).
• Remove all explorer cubes from the board (return to supply).
• Settlements remain on the board and serve as starting points for the next era.

5. Settlement Building

Between eras, players may place a settlement on any space occupied by their cubes before removal. Settlements persist across eras.

Actions

The primary action is placing explorer cubes when explore cards are revealed. Additional actions include:

• Discover Villages: Place on village spaces to gain bonuses.
• Build Settlements: Convert explored spaces into permanent settlements between eras.
• Complete Objectives: Earn bonus points for meeting objective card requirements.
• Use Treasure Cards: Play collected treasure cards for special placement abilities.
• Investigate: Use investigate cards for unique exploration options.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Points are earned from:

• Connected Regions: VP for each cube in a connected group touching the starting city or a settlement.
• Trade Routes: Coins for connecting pairs of cities.
• Village Discovery: Bonus coins and VP from discovered villages.
• Objectives: VP for meeting public objective requirements.
• Treasure Cards: Bonus VP from collected treasures.
• Coins: Each coin = 1 VP at game end.

After 4 eras, the player with the most VP wins. Ties broken by coins remaining.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Adjacency: Only orthogonal (not diagonal) adjacency counts for placement.
• Starting Points: In era 1, only the starting city is available. In later eras, settlements also serve as starting points.
• Simultaneous Play: All players place cubes simultaneously; no turn order within an era.
• Map Variety: The double-sided boards and different map configurations provide high replayability.
• Solo Mode: Includes a solo variant with scoring targets.
• Cube Limit: Players have a finite supply of cubes. If they run out, they cannot place more until the next era.
• Settlement Limit: There is a maximum number of settlements per game.
• Terrain Matching: Cubes can only be placed on the exact terrain type shown on the revealed card.

Player Reference

Era Phase	Action
Explore	Place 1 cube on matching terrain, adjacent to existing
Village	Discover villages for bonuses
Score	Count connected cubes touching start/settlements
Reset	Remove cubes, keep settlements
Build	Place settlement on explored space

Scoring: Connected cubes + Trade routes + Villages + Objectives + Treasures + Coins