1
Assemble the game board
Select any 4 game board sections from base game and expansions, then arrange them into a contiguous rectangular map
2
Place location summaries
Put the summary tiles for location actions next to their matching location hexes on the board
3
Distribute location tiles
Place 2 corresponding location tiles on each location hex
4
Prepare terrain deck
Shuffle all terrain cards and create a face-down draw pile
5
Deal starting cards
Each player draws one terrain card and keeps it hidden from other players
6
Select Kingdom Builder cards
Shuffle the Kingdom Builder cards, randomly draw 3 cards, and place them face-up next to the game board
7
Handle red-bordered cards
These score immediately during gameplay when conditions are met after building each settlement
8
Scouts setup (if in play)
Reveal the top terrain card, remove all cards of that terrain type from the game, then reshuffle the deck
9
Capitol setup (if Harbor/Oracle in play)
Replace one castle on these boards with the capitol tile
10
Caves setup (if Tavern in play)
Place one cave tile on each quadrant on any mountain hex not within two hexes of a location hex
11
Island setup (if Harbor/Lighthouse in play)
Place the island board next to the main game board
12
Crossroads setup (if in play)
Shuffle task cards and draw one random card per Crossroads section, placing them next to Kingdom Builder cards
13
Nomads setup
Randomly draw and place one nomad tile pictogram-side-up on each nomad location hex
14
Marshlands terrain cards
If showing swamp and another terrain, player chooses to build 2 settlements on swamp OR 3 on the other terrain type
