How to Play: Spyrium

BGG  Amazon

Hi! This is Ambie from Board Game Blitz, and today I'm gonna show you how to play Spyrium.

The goal of the game is to get the most points. The game will last 6 turns.

On a turn, players will take turns performing actions in order until everyone has passed. The first player starts and play goes clockwise. On your action, you choose one of the available actions depending on which phase your disc is in - Phase I or Phase II.

In both Phases, you can use the event pictured on the Turn event space as your action. You can only do this once per turn. To do the action, place your colored disc onto the card and perform the action pictured. Any token on the event remains there the whole turn for all the players.

If you’re in Phase I, you can also choose from the following two other actions:

Place Worker [0:40] - 1 - Take a worker from your start card and place it between two adjacent cards in the market, or between a card and an empty card slot. There’s no limit to the number of workers in a spot.

Start Phase II [0:49] 2 - start Phase II by moving your disc to the Phase II spot and immediately performing a Phase II action. Once you’re in Phase II, you cannot go back to Phase I, so you cannot place workers anymore.

If you’re in Phase II, you can choose from the following 4 actions in addition to the event space action - get money, activate a card, use a building, or pass.

To get money or activate a card from the market, take one of your workers in the market and place it next to your Start card. Choose a card that was adjacent to that worker.

If you’re getting money, get 1 pound from the bank for each other worker adjacent to that card. For example, If I take this worker, there are 4 other workers around this card, so I’d get 4 pounds. If there are no cards left next to the worker, then you take the worker and don’t get any money.

If you’re activating a card, you pay the cost in the upper right corner, plus 1 additional per worker that’s still adjacent to the card. For example, here I’d pay 4 pounds plus 3 extra because these workers are still here, and then I’d get to activate this card. There are three types of cards: characters, buildings, and techniques.

For character cards, when you activate it you get to use the character power once. The card remains in the market and can be used multiple times. If the character has a token symbol, its power can only be used if there are still tokens remaining on it - you choose a token and discard it when you activate the card.

For building cards, when you activate it you get to take the building and build it by placing it to the right of your Start card. You have to pay a cost to build the building in addition to the activation cost. New buildings cost 1 pound for each building you already own, or nothing if you replace an existing building. For example, if I take this card, I will have to pay 5 lbs for the activation, plus 2 lbs for building in this new space. I can also choose to build over the existing building by discarding it and replacing it with the new building, and I wouldn’t have to pay an additional building cost, just the 5 lbs for activation. If you replace a building that has a symbol in common with the new building, the price of the new building is reduced by 3 lbs, to a minimum of 0.

For technique cards, when you activate it you place it to the left of your Start card. You can have as many techniques as you want, and it doesn’t cost anything extra to place them.

The third action is using a building. If you own a building, you can incline it in order to gain one of the effects on it. Some effects require you to spend workers by placing them on the card or spyrium by paying it to the bank. An inclined building cannot be used again, but it can be replaced when you build a new building.

The last action you do is pass. You can only pass if you’re in Phase II and you have no workers left in the market. Once you pass, you cannot take actions again in the current turn. When everyone passes, the turn ends.

At the end of a turn, leftover market cards are discarded, the turn event is discarded, and the market and workers are refreshed. Each turn, players get revenue from the bank, a new future event is revealed, the market is refreshed, and workers for each player become active again.

When you reach or pass 8 victory points, you get a bonus of your choice - Either 5 lbs from the bank, or an extra worker that’s placed active on your Start card. Discard the token corresponding to your choice. When you reach 20 victory points, you get the other bonus and discard that token.

After the 6th turn, the game ends. In addition to the victory points earned during the game, players get points based on their existing buildings, and points from their techniques, which are each maxed at 7 points. The player with the most points wins. There are no tie breakers.

Here are the different character cards you can activate. The blue circle means you put tokens on the cards equal to the number of players minus one when you bring it out. The value of the token you choose when activating it indicates the amount of the shown thing you get or pay. This symbol means you get a number of spyrium crystals. This symbol is victory points. The arrow means you have to spend something to get the reward on the right. This means you spend spyrium crystals. This means you spend money. This symbol is the Residence symbol. This means you can do one of two things - either move your disc on the residence track up one space, or gain the amount of victory points as your current position on the residence track.

For building cards, the cost to activate them is in the top right corner. The top left is the amount of victory points you get at the end game for having those buildings. Some buildings have the token symbol on the top left - when you construct these buildings you immediately get the amount of victory points or crystals indicated by the token, and then discard it. The symbols in the top middle are used for cost reduction when replacing buildings with those same symbols. They also can combo with technique cards.

The buildings with arrows are effects you can use as actions - you spend what’s on the left of the arrow, crystals or workers, and get what’s on the right - crystals or victory points. This line means you choose which of the actions to take - you cannot do both. This symbol is spending a worker or two by placing them on the building card when you use it.

The buildings without arrows give you benefits only right when they’re built. This means you get an extra worker or two, which are immediately active on your Start card. This gives you a residence action, either moving up the track or scoring points.

These are the technique cards. Each of them has a special power in the upper box and an end game scoring bonus in the bottom box. The end game scoring is a max of 7 points for each technique card. If you have this card, each time you use a building with this symbol, you don’t have to use a worker. You get 1 point for each spyrium crystal you have at the end of the game. For this card, each time you remove a worker for money, you get 2 lbs more, and at end game you get 1 point for each 2 lbs you have. With this card, whenever you use a building with this symbol, you get one more point for each worker used. At the end of the game you score the value of those buildings with this symbol again. This card lets you activate a card without paying extra for the workers around it once per turn. For example, I could activate this card for just the 6 lbs and not an extra 5 for the workers around it. At the end of the game you score the amount of victory points shown by your position on the residence track. This one lets you pay 3 lbs less to a minimum of 0 for each new building space. For example, I would normally have to pay 4 extra to build a building here, but the technique would let me only pay 1. The end game is 1 point for each building you own. This one lets you straighten an inclined building and use it immediately once per turn. You have to pay the costs again. You get one point per each worker you own at the end of the game. If you have this card, you keep the tokens from cards that you activate instead of discarding them. Also, once per turn you can choose what the value of a token is - 1, 2, or 3 - when you’re using it. For example, if I’m using this event, I could say this is a 3 instead of a 1. You get 1 point for each token you have at the end of the game.

These are the event cards. With this one, a token is placed on it when it’s revealed, and it isn’t discarded when people use it. Whoever does the event gets money, spyrium, or victory points equal to the value of the token. These actions are similar to the building actions - pay something to get a reward. This event lets you spend 1 lb to straighten an inclined building and immediately use it again, paying the costs again. This one lets you spend 1 lb for each worker you have to get a new worker on your Start card. This one lets you place a worker into the market when you’re in Phase II.

And that's how you play Spyrium. Check out the link for setup instructions. Thanks for watching Board Game Blitz!

Place the board on the table.

Separate the A, B, and C cards and shuffle them into three separate face-down decks.

Shuffle the event cards and make a face up deck on the Future event space on the board.

Each player gets their start card and 3 workers - the other 4 are set aside. They also get 2 spyrium crystals, 8 money, and a disc of their color. The other discs go on the board - the starting space of the score track, the residence track, and the Phase I space. Place each player’s bonus tokens next to the 8 space on the score track.

Shuffle the number tokens and place them face down near the board. If the top event card needs a token, randomly draw one and place it face up on the event card.

Place the rest of the spyrium crystals and money in piles on the table. These resources are unlimited.

Randomly determine the first player and give them the first player card. Play goes clockwise.

At the beginning of each turn, each player gets revenue based on where they are on the residence track. Then take the top card from the Future event pile and put it on the Turn’s event space, so the next Future event is showing. If this new event needs a token, randomly draw and place a token on it face up.

Set up the market by drawing 9 cards from the current period deck, A, B, or C, and placing them in a 3x3 grid. The first three turns are period A, turns 4 and 5 are period B, and the last turn is period C. Place tokens face up on any cards that have the Token symbol. Buildings need one token. Characters need tokens equal to the number of players minus 1.

Each player places their workers on their Start card, making them active.

At the end of each turn, discard all the leftover cards in the market and the Turn’s event card. Players get their discs back. Straighten any inclined buildings and techniques. The first player passes the first player card to the left.

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