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How to play
Grounded in Thebes's rulebook — cite-checked answers, not guesses.
Get a straight answer with the exact rulebook passage to back it up.
The easy-to-forget bits, straight from the rulebook.
Game end trigger
The game ends when all players' time markers have reached space 1 after year 1903.
Starting year 2 players
With 2 or 3 players, the year marker is placed on space "1901".
Starting year 4 players
With 4 players, the year marker is placed on space "1902".
Year end
When a player's time marker crosses space 52, a new year begins for that player, and they turn all excavation permissions to valid.
Tie-breaker special knowledge
If players tie for the most special knowledge in an area, each scores 3 points.
Congress card max points
A player may not score more than 28 points for congress cards.
Player order tie
If several time markers are stacked on the last space on the time track, the player whose time marker is on top of the stack takes his turn.
Bonus first excavation
The first player to excavate in an area gets the value 1 artifact token that was placed on the game board for that area during preparation.
To set up the game of Thebes: **Each Player Takes:** * A set of excavation permissions. * 1 archeologist. * 1 time marker. * 1 time wheel in the color of their choice. (Time wheels should be assembled before the first game). * Each player places their excavation permissions and time wheel in their play area. **Game Board and Component Placement:** * Place the value 1 artifact tokens that were set aside earlier on the appropriate excavation areas on the board. * Place all archeologists on Warschau. * Place the five summary cards next to the board. * Place the time markers for all players in a stack on the start space (with 2 or 4 players). With 3 players, place the time markers on space 16. * Place the year marker on space "1901" with 2 and 3 players, and on space "1902" with 4 players. * Place 4 researcher cards in their designated spaces to begin the game. **Card Deck Setup:** * Remove the 10 exhibition cards from the card deck. * Shuffle the remaining cards. * Draw 4 cards from this deck and place them face up in the space provided for them on the board. * Divide the remaining cards into three equal face down stacks. * Shuffle the 5 small exhibition cards into the second stack and the 5 large exhibition cards into the third stack. * *Note:* With 2 players, shuffle all exhibition cards into the second stack. * Place the first stack on top of the second stack to form the card supply. * Place the third stack aside; it will be used later in the game. **Excavation Tokens:** * Set aside one value 1 artifact token from each excavation area. * Place all remaining excavation tokens into their corresponding colored cloth bags. To start, each bag will have 14 of the 15 items to find and 16 worthless debris tokens. **Player Order:** * Players choose a starting player and place their time marker on top of the stack of time markers on the game board.
On your turn, a player must always execute one of the following actions: * Take a researcher card from Berlin, London, Moskau, Paris, Rom, or Wien. * Exchange the four cards displayed in Warschau. * Execute an excavation in Griechenland, Ägypten, Kreta, Palästina, or Mesopotamien. * Execute an exhibition in Berlin, London, Moskau, Paris, Rom, or Wien.
Rules summaries are AI-generated from the official rulebook and may contain mistakes — check the manual for anything critical.
You win the game by scoring the most victory points. Victory points are summed at the end of the game and can be earned from: * Artifacts, scoring points shown on each artifact. * Exhibitions, scoring points shown on each exhibition. * Congress cards, which award points based on the total number of cards you have, up to a maximum of 28 points for 7 cards. * Having the most special knowledge in each area, which scores 5 points. If there's a tie for the most, each tied player scores 3 points.
Scoring in Thebes works as follows at the end of the game: Each player sums their victory points from several categories: * **Artifacts** Each artifact scores the points shown on it. * **Exhibitions** Each exhibition scores the points shown on it. * **Congress Cards** The total points depend on the number of congress cards a player has. A player may not score more than 28 points for congress cards. The points are awarded as follows: * 1 card: 1 point * 2 cards: 3 points * 3 cards: 6 points * 4 cards: 10 points * 5 cards: 15 points * 6 cards: 21 points * 7 cards: 28 points * **Special Knowledge** For the most special knowledge in each of the five color-coded areas, the player scores points. * The player with the most special knowledge in an area scores 5 points. * If players tie for the most in an area, each tying player scores 3 points. * Assistants, rumors, and cards with general knowledge are not counted when determining the most special knowledge. Special knowledge works for a specific excavation site and is not discarded when used. The player with the most victory points is the winner. Final scores are calculated when all players' time markers have reached space 1 after year 1903.
The game ends when all players' time markers have reached space 1 after the year 1903. More specifically: * When a player's time marker moves across week 52 in the year 1903, they stop it on space 1 and can no longer execute actions. * If a player has nothing more they wish to do in 1903, they can move their time marker directly to space 1. * The overall game length depends on the number of players: 3 years with 2 players, about 2 1/2 years with 3 players, and 2 years with 4 players.