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How to Play

Medici

2-6 players 60-60 min 7.2 Board Game Geek Rating

Players bid points on commodity cards revealed each turn, with highest bidders claiming the cards to fill their cargo ships. After three rounds, points are awarded to whoever holds the most of each commodity type and the most valuable overall cargo. Victory goes to the player accumulating the most points across all rounds.

Published 1995

Medici

Get Ready

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

1
Each player takes a ship mat and 6 wooden player markers in their chosen color
2
2 players only:
Also take a smaller ship mat to extend the main one
3
Place a player marker on the bottom (8th) level of each of the 5 commodity tracks (cloth, fur, grain, dye, spice)
4
Place the 5 red commodity scoring markers on the matching red circles in the center of the board
5
Place the 2 blue day markers stacked on the blue center symbol with 1 fleur-de-lis on top
6
Place a player marker on the florins track
**2-4 players:** 40 florins | **5-6 players:** 30 florins
7
Shuffle all 36 cards into a face-down deck, then remove cards based on player count
8
Card composition
5 commodities with 7 cards each (values 0,1,2,3,4,5,5) plus 1 gold card (value 10)
9
Pick a start player and play clockwise

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Drawing cards:
The active player draws 1-3 cards from the deck, placing them face-up in a row (can stop at 1, 2, or 3)
2
Auction:
The card lot is auctioned in a single round, starting left of the active player going clockwise
3
Winning bid:
Take the cards, place on your ship, pay by moving down the florins track
4
Pass the start player token left for the next auction
5
End of Day:
When all but one player have full ships, the last player draws free cards to fill their ship (or ends with empty holds if deck runs out)
6
Scoring Day:
7
Prepare Next Day:
Reshuffle all 36 cards, remove standard number, player with least florins becomes start player

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
The game ends after the 3rd day is scored
2
The player with the most victory points (florins) wins
3
Ties
No tiebreaker (shared victory)

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

How to Play Medici Board Game in 5 minutes

How to Play Medici Board Game in 5 minutes

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The Purge: # 4219 Medici: Learn How to Play

The Purge: # 4219 Medici: Learn How to Play

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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