How to Play

Inventions: Evolution of Ideas

1-4 players 60-150 min 7.9 Board Game Geek Rating

Players guide civilizations through history by developing groundbreaking inventions using card-based mechanics. Transform ideas into technologies that advance your society's progress across multiple eras. Share innovations with others to boost effectiveness while building tactical moves around long-term strategic planning. Victory goes to whoever accumulates the most Intellectual Property Points.

Published 2024

Inventions: Evolution of Ideas

Get Ready

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

1
Place Chronos marker
Put the Chronos meeple on the leftmost space of the Era Track
2
Populate regions
Place 1 Sage Meeple and 1 random Knowledge Token (face-up, points side down) in each Region
3
Set up Common Knowledge Display
Separate Milestone Tokens by letter and place 1 random Milestone A face-up in each space on the leftmost side of the board
4
Create Private Displays
Place 1 random Milestone B face-up in each space to the right of the Common Knowledge Display, even for absent players
5
Prepare Eureka Display
Place 3 Milestone C tokens on the Milestone Display Board and stack decks D, E, and F face-down separately above them
6
Add Specialist Tokens
Place 1 random Specialist Token face-up in each Region Display
7
Organize Idea cards
Separate Idea/Invention cards by Era (1-6), stack decks 3-6 with Idea side up in numerical order on the Idea Card Board (6 on bottom, 3 on top)
8
Distribute player components
Each player takes:
9
Place initial Citizens
Each player places 5 Citizens as Specialists: 2 Academics in Academy, 1 Merchant in Economy, 1 Artisan in Culture, 1 Thinker in Technology
10
Assign starting Diplomat
Place 1 Citizen on your Private Milestone B as "Diplomat"
11
Set up Economy Tokens
Place 2 on corresponding hexagons on Progress Map, 1 in lower-right corner of Society Board
12
Two-player setup
Choose a color for Chronos, create supply of his Citizens, Influence Tokens, Turn Order Marker, 1 Season Pillar, and Era Marker
13
Determine turn order
Randomly assign first player; turn order proceeds clockwise
14
Assign starting Ideas
Each player places the Era 2 Idea card matching their Private Milestone name to the right of their Society Board
15
Draft Era 3 Ideas
In turn order, each player draws 1 Era 3 Idea card and places it right of their Society Board
16
Reveal Idea display
Draw top 3 Idea cards and place face-up on the Idea Card Board
17
Place Region Ideas
Randomly place 1 Era 2 Idea card face-up in each Region Display except those with the two specified Specialist Tokens
18
Distribute Wealth Tokens
Separate by letter, stack 1 type face-up per Region; for A-D stack equal to player count, for E-G varies by count (4 players: 3 pieces, 3 players: 2 random, 2 players: 2 random)
19
Prepare Progress Tokens
Separate Economy, Culture, and Technology tokens; sort each by number and place face-up in corresponding displays
20
Two-player Chronos placement
Place Chronos's Season Pillar in Africa (1) unless occupied, then next available Region
21
Two-player Influence setup
Place 3 Chronos Influence Tokens face-down on Era Track between Eras 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Unlock Chain Actions
Move Chain Action Tokens from "unavailable" to "available" based on your Influence Track position
2
Place a Pillar
Move 1 Pillar to an accessible Action space and execute that Action; you may perform Chain Actions using available tokens
3
Gain Influence bonus
Each player with an Era Pillar (or Season Pillar) on the same Action space gains 1 Influence
4
Convert Aspiration Tokens
Replace each Aspiration Token at bottom of Society Board with any Progress Token of the same type from display; wildcards replace any type
5
Build Progress Pieces
Pay Influence cost based on tokens in display (1 piece = 3 Influence, 2 = 2, 3 = 1, 4 = 0); build up to your Private Milestone Era minus 1
6
Place on Progress Map
Put piece on empty space and gain that space's benefit immediately
7
Pay Specialist cost
Exhaust Specialists matching piece type (or Academics); Wealth pieces accept any type
8
Move Idea card
Transfer 1 Idea card from right of your Society Board to an empty Region Display
9
Send Specialists
Move required Citizen Specialists (or Academics) matching the Idea from your board to the Specialist Token; gain the Specialist Token benefit
10
Draw replacement
After presenting, select 1 Idea from Display, place right of your board; slide cards right and draw to fill
11
Access a Milestone
Choose any Idea card in a Region where you have Milestone access (Private Display yours, opponent's with your Citizen, opponent's from earlier Era than Chronos, Common Knowledge Display, or open discard)
12
Place Aspiration Token
Put 1 token Technology-side up in your Token Display
13
Commit Specialists
Move 1 available matching Specialist (or Academic) to upper Invention space right of card; exhaust additional if shown on card
14
Flip the card
Turn Idea card to Invention side
15
Place Aspiration Token
Put 1 token Economy-side up in your Token Display
16
Return Citizens
Move 1+ Citizens from 1 Map Region to corresponding available Specialist spaces on your board (specialty determined by Region card or rightmost Idea Display card)
17
Chain Action option
Move Chain Action Token to an Invention card left of your board and perform its Chain Action (only once per Invention if multiple Call actions in a turn)
18
Place Aspiration Token
Put 1 token Culture-side up in your Token Display
19
Move Citizen
Move 1 of your Citizens on Map to adjacent Region following blue rope (North America 6 connects to Asia 4)
20
Sage Chain Action
If Sage present in new Region, move Sage to your Academy area, then:
21
Move Specialist
Transfer any Specialist or Academic from your Society Board to any Milestone Token with free space on left where you have no Citizen
22
Grant Influence
If Milestone belongs to opponent in more advanced Era than yours, that opponent gains 1 Influence
23
Receive benefit
Perform the action/benefit shown on the Milestone Token
24
Select eligible card
Choose an Invention card on Game Board where you have at least 1 adjacent Citizen
25
Presenter scores
Player with Citizens left of Invention card gains points equal to Era × their Citizens there; move all adjacent Citizens to the Map Region
26
Inventor claims
Move Invention card to left of their Society Board
27
Innovator places
If present, place 1 Citizen from stock in that Map Region
28
Gain reward
Take 1 Wealth Token from Region (letter you don't have) OR 1 wildcard Aspiration Token in leftmost empty Display space
29
Restriction applies
You may only Innovate on Inventions created by other players
30
Commit Specialist
Move 1 available matching Specialist (or Academic) to lower Innovate space right of an Invention card in a Region
31
Gain Specialist
Receive 1 available Specialist of same type from stock
32
Chain Action option
Move available Chain Action Token to Invention card and perform its action
33
Choose Region
Select Map Region where you have majority of Citizens and no Influence Token (only 1 token per player per Region)
34
Select Influence Token
Choose token from your Society Board with number equal to or greater than your Citizens in that Region
35
Return Citizens
Move number of Citizens shown above token from Map Region to corresponding Specialist spaces
36
Place Influence Token
Put in leftmost empty Influence space in Region Display; gain points below it; gain Influence equal to your face-up Influence Tokens on board
37
Chain Action option
Use 1 of your face-up Influence Tokens in any Region; flip it face-down and place Chain Action Token on it
38
Prerequisite
Only available if Eureka board pieces are from Era later than your Private Milestone
39
Move old Milestone
Remove bottommost piece from Common Knowledge Display to discard; move your Private Milestone (with Citizens) to Common Knowledge Display above same or earlier letter pieces
40
Select new Milestone
Take Milestone from Eureka Display, move to your Private Milestone space; place 1 Citizen from stock on left side (don't perform action)
41
Advance Era Marker
Move to new Milestone's Era as shown on Milestone Display; receive benefit on chosen space if applicable
42
Return Citizen
Move 1 of your Citizens from a Milestone Token back to your Society Council as Academic
43
Receive benefit
Perform the action/benefit shown on the Milestone Token
44
Gain minimal benefit
Play your Season/Era Pillar following usual rules and gain only 1 Influence
45
Reverse turn order
In Era 1, each player acts in reverse turn order
46
Choose Region
Select a Region with an Idea card
47
Send Specialists
Move required matching Citizen Specialists (or Academics) to corresponding Specialist Token
48
Gain benefit
Receive the Specialist Token benefit
49
Place Influence
Put your +1 Influence Token in leftmost Influence space of that Region (don't gain covered points)
50
Deploy Citizen
Place 1 Citizen from stock in that Map Region
51
Clean up
After all players act, discard all unclaimed Idea cards from Regions
52
Complete Era
Each player plays 1 turn placing Era Pillar on Action space; advance Chronos to Era 2 and execute first 2 Era Change steps
53
Place Influence
Without moving Season Pillar, place 1 Chronos Influence Token in leftmost space of next numerical Region without his token; move Pillar there
54
Update Milestone (Eras 2-4)
Move Chronos's Private Milestone to Common Knowledge Display; take rightmost Eureka Display Milestone as new Private; move Chronos Era Marker accordingly
55
Adjust Turn Order
If any Era Marker is on Turn Order Change space, rightmost player moves their Turn Order Marker to chosen space; others fill gap maintaining order
56
Adjust Influence
Based on Influence Track position: 0 = +1, 1-3 = 0, 4-7 = -1, 8-10 = -2
57
Skip remaining if Era 1
If still in Era 1, skip steps below
58
Recover Specialists
Return all exhausted Specialists to available
59
Recover Pillars
Retrieve 2 Season Pillars; Era Pillar remains on board
60
Process Sages
For each Sage on your Society Board, place 1 Citizen from stock as Academic (max equals your Milestone Era); return Sages to empty board spaces
61
Return Economy Tokens
Move Economy Tokens from Progress pieces to lower-right Society Board spaces
62
Shift Milestones
Move remaining Eureka Milestones to Common Knowledge Display (push others down); discard any pushed off bottom, returning Citizens as Academics
63
Reveal new Milestones
Draw next Era's Milestone set
64
Refresh Ideas
Discard previous Era Ideas from display; in turn order, players discard previous Era Ideas right of board, replacing each from Idea Display
65
Remove old Ideas
Discarded previous Era Ideas are removed from game
66
Move and act
Move Chronos's Season Pillar to next Region numerically; attempt 1 action in priority: Present an Idea > Invent > Share > Innovate
67
End turn
Once Chronos performs 1 action, his turn ends
68
Chronos restrictions
Performs no Chain Actions; all his Citizens are Academics (no Academy limit); always takes Ideas from Display; accesses all Private, Common, and discarded Milestones
69
Skip if occupied
If Region has Idea, skip this step
70
Place Idea
Take rightmost Idea from Display, place in Region Display
71
Deploy Citizens
Place required Chronos Citizens on Specialist Token (no bonus gained)
72
Skip if occupied
If Region has Invention, skip this step
73
Commit Citizen
Move 1 Chronos Citizen to upper Invention space (ignore additional requirements)
74
Gain Progress
Take Progress Token matching Idea type and Region number; if unavailable or duplicate, take next Region number; place beside stock
75
Skip if unable
If Chronos cannot share here, skip this step
76
Chronos shares only his work
Only Inventions he Presented, Invented, or Innovated; he doesn't score
77
Take Wealth
Take highest Wealth Token from pile; if none, take Progress Token matching shared Invention type and Region number
78
Complete share
Inventor moves card left of their board (discard if Chronos invented); if Chronos Innovated, place 1 new Citizen in Region; move all adjacent Citizens to connected Region
79
Skip if unable
If Chronos cannot Innovate, move Pillar to next Region and restart action list
80
Innovate condition
If Region has Invention by another player with free Innovation space, place 1 Chronos Citizen in lower Innovation space
81
Available Citizens
Located in upper space of Specialty area on Society Board
82
Exhaust Citizens
Move from upper to lower space and lay down
83
Renew Citizens
Move from lower to upper space and stand up
84
Specialties
Merchants (Economy), Artisans (Culture), Thinkers (Technology)
85
Academics
Wild Citizens that can work any Specialty; maximum equals your Private Milestone Era; when exhausted, permanently commit to chosen Specialty
86
Activation
Each provides benefit once per Era by placing available Economy Token on it
87
Piece 1
Send 1 Citizen from supply to any Map Region
88
Piece 2
Add 1 Academic from supply to Academy
89
Piece 3
Gain 1 Economy or Culture Progress piece to your display
90
Piece 4
Discount 2 Specialists when building (cannot discount this piece)
91
Piece 5
Discount 1 Influence when building (cannot discount this piece)
92
Piece 6
Swap positions of 2 Progress pieces on your Map even without building this turn
93
Piece 7
+1 Academic limit for rest of Era
94
Permanent improvements
Each enhances represented Action
95
Piece 1
Auto-gain majority when "Gain Influence" but still need minimum Citizens
96
Piece 2
"Call Specialists" from any number of Regions, any number of Specialists
97
Piece 3
"Travel" to any Map Region
98
Piece 4
"Gain Influence" with 1 Citizen discount
99
Piece 5
"Travel" moves up to 2 Citizens or same Citizen twice; Sage only from 2nd Region
100
Piece 6
Build Progress pieces equal to Era (instead of Era-1)
101
Piece 7
"Eureka" Era advance applies effect of any current or earlier Era space (except Turn Order)
102
Usage limit
1

Winning

How to claim victory.

Victory conditions coming soon

We're working on adding win conditions for this game.

View the official rulebook

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Game in a Nutshell "live teach" - Inventions (How to Play)

Game in a Nutshell "live teach" - Inventions (How to Play)

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