Description

A card game for 2-4+ players. A game of social advancement in 17th century France in which players, by means of the purchase of ennobling offices, advance their bourgeoisie families into the aristocracy.

Each player builds up 1 family at a time. Once a family has been ennobled and has an income of 30+ silver per turn from investments, it is retired and the player must start a new family.

Players share a common deck comprising card types: Families, Trade, Bonds, Land, Offices, and Events. The Land, Bond, and Office types are collectively called Investments. Most cards have a value and may also have special characteristics.

The opportunity track has a place for the deck and 10 cards to be laid out:
Discard | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | Deck
A card’s position on the track is the cost in opportunity tokens to take it.

There are 4 different types of Common Markers: silver coins, gold coins upgrade markers and opportunity tokens

Each player starts with 1 random family card in play and with 1D10 Silver.
10 cards are laid randomly to each of the 10 spaces on the opportunity Track.

Players take turns with each turn divided into 9 phases:
1. Family Phase
- If you have no family card in play you may put one in play from your hand at no cost. You may have a max of 1 non-retired family card in play at a time. Cards in play are placed face up in front of you.
- You may put a trade card in play for gold equal to its value. You may not put a trade card into play if you don’t have a family card in play.

2. Revenue Phase
- Gain Silver equal to the combined value of every card you have in play for your most current family.

3. Fate Phase
- Gain 1D6 Opportunity Tokens (OT). OT can be saved from turn to turn.

4. Opportunity Phase
- You may buy cards on the Opportunity Track using your OT. Place these cards into your hand. A card’s position on the track is the cost in OT to take it. Some Event cards are resolved as soon as you buy them.

5. Capital Phase
- You may discard one or more cards from your hand. Gain silver equal to the value of the discarded cards.

6. Conversion Phase
- Convert silver to gold. Every 10 silver converts into 1 gold. Keep the change.

7. Investment Phase
- If you have a trade card in play with your current family, you may buy Land and/or Bond cards from your hand. These cost gold equal to their value. A family may have multiple Land and Bond cards in play.
- If your current family has at least one Land in play, you may buy an Office card for gold equal to its value. A family may not have more office cards in play than land cards.

8. Noblement Phase
- If your current family has at least 1 office and is making 30+ Silver per turn, it may retire.
- If it is making 50+ Silver per turn, you must retire it, even if it has no office.
- Set the retired Family aside in its own stack.
- When retiring, you must discard all your gold.
- Next turn you may start a new family.

9. End Phase
- Max hand size is 7 cards. Discard excess cards.
- If there is a card in the 1 spot on the Opportunity track discard it. Then slide all the remaining cards down from 10 to 1 filling in all empty spaces on the Track. Flip over cards from the deck to fill in empty spots (starting with the 10)

The game ends when a turn ends and there are no cards left in the deck.

Score Prestige Points (PP) for each of your families. A family gets PP equal to the value of its Lands and Offices. If a retired family has no Offices it gets -5 PP. Get an extra +5 PP for each retired family you have after the first.

The player with the most Prestige Points at the end of the game wins.