How to Play

Gentes

1-4 players 90-90 min 7.4 Board Game Geek Rating

In Gentes, players lead ancient civilizations developing around the Mediterranean by building monuments and founding cities. The innovative timing mechanism uses action markers and sand timers placed on personal time tracks, limiting actions per round. Players train different types of people to meet card requirements, balancing six population types with restricted spaces. Victory comes from accumulating points through monuments, cities, and matching achievement symbols across cards.

Published 2017

Gentes

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place the game board
Put the board in the center of the table; use the "2P" side if only playing with 2 players
2
Position training cost meeples
Place one of the 6 training cost meeples randomly in each space in the upper right corner of the game board
3
Sort action tiles
Place the 28 action tiles on matching spaces of the game board by color and picture; remove tiles whose player count indicator doesn't match current player count
4
Prepare bonus point tiles
Sort the 12 bonus point tiles by image and stack them with highest victory point value (8) on top; place on matching spaces in lower center of board
5
Place round marker
Put the purple round marker on the "1" space of the Round Track
6
Distribute indicator cubes
Place 40 brown indicator cubes in a general supply within reach of all players
7
Select player boards
Each player takes a player board of their chosen color
8
Place hourglass tokens
Put one hourglass token on the indicated space of each player's time track; place remaining tokens in general supply
9
Position lock tokens
Place one lock token on each space depicting a lock symbol on the player boards
10
Distribute coins
Give each player 20 total value in coins; place the rest (89 total: 36 ones, 32 fives, 21 tens) in general supply
11
Give city tokens
Give each player 6 city tokens matching their player color
12
Place victory point markers
Put one marker per player on the "0" space of the score track
13
Give excess victory point tokens
Give one token matching their color to each player
14
Prepare civilization cards
Sort 54 cards into three decks by Era number; shuffle each deck and place near the bottom of the game board
15
Deal civilization cards
Deal 8 cards from Era I deck face up along the bottom edge of the board
16
Set up population meeples
Place 24 population meeples (6 different types) on corresponding 0 spaces of population chart on each player board
17
Determine start player
Give the Start Player Marker to whoever last destroyed a civilization
18
First-time player setup
If first time playing, give each player 4 total population based on turn order: Starting Player gets 1 noble and 2 priests plus 1 merchant; 2nd Player gets 1 noble and 3 soldiers; 3rd Player gets 1 artisan and 3 merchants; 4th Player gets 1 artisan and 3 scholars
19
First-time card distribution
For first game, deal specific cards per position: Starting Player gets Treasure Chamber and Monument; 2nd Player gets Tenement and Training Ground; 3rd Player gets Marketplace and Shipyard; 4th Player gets Scriptorium and Road
20
Experienced player setup
If all players have played before, everyone takes 4 population in any combination and drafts 2 cards from 3 dealt per player
21
Advanced setup option
Experienced players may cover the first "Tax Collector" space with an hourglass token to make it unselectable

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Perform an action
If you have empty spaces on your time track, you must perform an available action
2
Take an action tile
Remove an action tile from the game board and place it into the first empty space on your time track
3
Pay the cost
Return coins equal to the number inside the circle on the action tile to the general supply
4
Place hourglass tokens
Put the required number of hourglass tokens shown on the action tile onto empty spaces on your time track
5
Perform the depicted action
Execute the action shown in the center of the action tile
6
Place indicator cubes
For actions with the indicator cube symbol, place a cube on the card or city token to show it was used this round
7
Use multiple-use actions
Actions with the double diamond symbol may be taken any number of times per round without taking an action tile or placing indicator cubes
8
Apply modifying abilities
Use abilities from civilization cards or hometown rows indicated by irregular borders to modify actions
9
Tax Collector action
Place 1 hourglass token and take 4 coins, OR place 2 hourglass tokens and take 8 coins
10
Leader action
Place the Leader action tile on your time track and gain 2 coins; become new starting player during Decline phase
11
Philosopher action
Train 1 or 2 of your population by advancing appropriate meeples on population track
12
Gain population bonus
When reaching 18 or more total population (not counting virtual), take the top Bonus Point Tile from appropriate stack
13
Scribe action
Take cards into your hand by choosing one option shown on the game board
14
Slide cards after Scribe
Close gaps by sliding remaining cards left; fill empty spaces with new cards from current Era deck
15
Check hand limit
You may hold any number of cards, but during Decline Phase you take 1 hourglass token for each card beyond 3
16
Navigator action
Pay coins shown on tile, place hourglass tokens, and place one city token on an empty space matching the tile's symbol
17
Activate cities
When placing in a colored region, immediately activate ALL your cities in that region and gain their benefits
18
Receive city benefits
Gain indicator cubes, coins, or victory points based on city rewards shown
19
Build all cities bonus
When all 6 city tokens are placed, take the top Bonus Point Tile of appropriate type
20
Move cities after building all
After placing 6th city, you may move previously placed cities to complete future Navigator actions
21
Use Hometown spaces
Placing a city on a Hometown space lets you activate all cities in ANY region and grants access to that row's actions once per round
22
Chronicler action
Select one civilization card from your hand meeting requirements and play it face up in front of you
23
Score synergy symbols
Choose one symbol at top of played card; score 1 point per matching symbol on all your cards in play including the new one
24
Gain 8 cards bonus
After playing your 8th civilization card total, take the top Bonus Point Tile
25
Use Additional Options
Return indicator cubes from below symbols on your player board to general supply for benefits
26
Pass
You may only pass if completely unable to perform any action (no empty spaces left on time track)
27
Reset action tiles
Return all action tiles from your time track to their spots on the game board
28
Remove hourglass tokens
Remove 1 hourglass token from each space on time track; slide remaining tokens left
29
Remove indicator cubes
Take all indicator cubes off the main game board and your civilization cards; return to general supply
30
Determine new start player
If Leader action tile was taken, that player takes Start Player Token; otherwise it stays with current holder
31
Advance round marker
Move the round marker one space to the right
32
Check for Era change
If round marker reaches a new Era space (I, II, III), remove previous Era cards from board and deck to discard pile
33
Deal new Era cards
Fill empty display spaces with cards from the new Era deck
34
Remove lock tokens
Upon reaching a new Era, each player removes one lock token from their player board if able
35
Check for game end
If round marker cannot advance past the 6th space, proceed to final scoring after this Decline Phase

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Complete six rounds
The game ends after 6 complete rounds (2 rounds per Era)
2
Score cards meeting requirements
For civilization cards in hand where you meet requirements, gain half the victory points printed (rounded up per card)
3
Lose points for unplayable cards
For civilization cards in hand that you cannot play, lose half the victory points printed (rounded up per card)
4
Score indicator cubes
Gain 1 victory point for every 2 indicator cubes remaining on your player board
5
Score coins
Gain 1 victory point for every 10 coins you have
6
Lose points for leftover hourglasses
Lose victory points based on hourglass tokens remaining on time track: 1 token = -2 VP, 2 tokens = -4 VP, 3 tokens = -8 VP, 4+ tokens = -16 VP
7
Determine the winner
The player with the most victory points wins
8
Break ties by cards
If tied, the player with most civilization cards in play wins
9
Break ties by coins
If still tied, the player with most coins wins
10
Declare shared victory
If still tied, players share victory

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