How to Play

River of Gold

2-4 players 60-90 min 7.6 Board Game Geek Rating

Players control merchant clans competing for dominance along a prosperous river trade route. Choose between developing riverside infrastructure like ports and markets, or focusing on river transportation through delivery contracts and noble interactions. This mid-weight Euro game combines strategic decision-making with minimal downtime, offering multiple paths to victory through wealth, influence, and divine favor accumulation.

Published 2024

River of Gold

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 where all players can reach it
2
Set up region tiles
Place 1 random region scoring tile on each of the 6 region influence tracks, flipped to the correct side for your player count (2 players or 3/4 players)
3
Prepare mastery cards
Shuffle the 6 mastery cards, deal 3 faceup next to the board on the correct side for player count, and return the rest to the game box
4
Create the supply
Shuffle the customer deck and place it facedown next to the board; pile the Koku and trade goods (silk, rice, porcelain) nearby
5
Place Imperial Markets
Randomly place the 3 Imperial Market building tiles on the 3 Imperial Market spaces on the board
6
Add starting building tiles
Shuffle the 6 starting building tiles and place 1 random tile on each shore space marked with the starting tile icon based on player count (4 players: 0 tiles, 3 players: 3 tiles, 2 players: 6 tiles)
7
Prepare the building row
Place the building board near the main board
8
Determine first player
Randomly choose which player goes first
9
Choose clan components
Each player selects a clan board and takes 2 matching standard ships, 1 royal ship, 22 clan markers, 1 score marker, 1 divine favor moon marker, 1 divine favor sun marker, 1 custom die, and 1 player aid card
10
Place score and influence markers
Each player places their score marker on 0 of the score track and 1 clan marker at the start of each of the 6 region influence tracks
11
Position standard ships
Each player places 1 standard ship on the top river starting space and 1 on the middle river starting space
12
Roll for initial ship movement
Each player rolls their die and moves their ship from the top starting space downriver by that many river spaces, then repeats for the middle ship
13
Set divine favor markers
Each player places their sun marker on 2 and their moon marker between 3 and 4 on their divine favor track (showing a maximum of 3 favor)
14
Keep royal ship nearby
Each player places their royal ship near their clan board
15
Collect starting trade goods
Each player takes 1 of each trade good (silk, rice, porcelain) and places them on the appropriate spaces of their clan board
16
Draw customer cards
Each player draws 2 customer cards to keep in hand (may look at them at any time)
17
Distribute starting Koku
Each player takes Koku based on turn order: 1st player gets 7, 2nd gets 8, 3rd gets 9, 4th gets 10
18
Initial die roll
Each player rolls their die to get the result they will use on their first turn

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Spend Divine Favor (Optional)
Before taking an action, you may spend divine favor to change your die face by 1 for each favor spent
2
Take one action
Choose one of three possible actions: Build a Building, Sail a Ship, or Deliver to a Customer
3
Select a shore space
Choose an empty shore space anywhere in the region that matches the icon/number on your die; you cannot build if no empty spaces remain in that region
4
Pay the Koku cost
Discard the Koku amount printed on the chosen shore space; you cannot build if you lack sufficient Koku
5
Choose a building tile
Select any tile from the building row and place it on the chosen space; if you choose the row's end tile, immediately gain 1 divine favor
6
Place your clan marker
Put 1 of your clan markers on the building tile you just placed
7
Gain influence
Advance your marker on that region's influence track by the building's build bonus amount, collecting any rewards you reach or pass
8
Refill the building row
Slide remaining tiles down and add a new tile from the Era 1 stack to the first space
9
Choose a ship
Select 1 of your ships on the river
10
Move downriver
Move the ship downriver by the number of river spaces shown on your die (count only gold river spaces)
11
Collect visitor rewards
Gain the visitor reward (shown on pointed end of tile) from each building on the 4 shore spaces adjacent to where your ship ends
12
Trigger owner rewards
Owners of buildings your ship touches collect owner rewards (shown at flat end of tile)
13
Complete journey bonus
If your ship moves off the map, gain 3 Koku or 1 of any trade good, then discard the end-of-river building tile, refill the row, place your ship back on the top starting space, and continue moving with remaining movement
14
Select a customer card
Choose 1 customer card from your hand whose region number matches the icon/number on your die
15
Pay the order request
Discard trade goods equal to the customer's order request; you cannot deliver if you lack the required goods
16
Place the customer
Put the completed customer card faceup near your clan board and gain any customer delivery rewards
17
Activate ongoing abilities
If the customer has an ongoing ability, it remains active for the rest of the game
18
Draw and discard
Draw 2 cards from the customer deck, then discard 1 card from your hand faceup; if the deck is empty, reshuffle the discard pile
19
Monks delivery ability
Increase your divine favor limit by advancing your moon marker 1 space
20
Merchants delivery ability
Gain 3 influence in that merchant's region; if this is your first merchant, place a clan marker on the merchant space at river's end
21
Nobles delivery ability
If this is your first noble, replace 1 of your standard ships with your royal ship and gain 2 influence in that noble's region
22
Artisans delivery ability
Gain 2 influence in that artisan's region and place a clan marker on the artisan space in that region
23
Elders delivery ability
Place a clan marker on the elder space in that region
24
Check mastery requirements
After your action, if you meet or exceed any mastery card's requirements, you may claim it
25
Place clan marker
Put 1 of your clan markers on the highest unclaimed value reward at the bottom of that mastery card
26
Score immediately
Gain the points shown on that reward space immediately
27
One mastery per player
You can claim each mastery only once per game, but may claim multiple different masteries in the same turn
28
Roll your die
Roll your die to get the result for your next turn
29
Exchange trade goods
You may trade 2 of the same trade good for 1 of any other trade good (can do multiple times)
30
Buy divine favor
You may exchange 5 Koku to gain 1 divine favor (can do multiple times)
31
Sun marker tracks current favor
The sun marker shows your current divine favor amount
32
Moon marker sets maximum
The moon marker shows the maximum favor you can store; your sun marker can never exceed your moon marker
33
Excess favor is lost
If you would gain favor beyond your limit, the excess is lost
34
Maximum Koku
You may not have more than 25 Koku; excess is lost
35
Maximum trade goods
You may not have more than 6 of any single trade good type; excess is lost
36
Trigger condition
When the last Era 1 tile moves to the building row, the Emperor's Visit occurs at end of the active player's turn
37
Collect owner rewards
All players gain owner rewards for all buildings they own as though a ship visited each one
38
Continue play
After all players collect rewards, continue with the next player; all new building tiles come from Era 2

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Game end trigger
When the last tile from the Era 2 stack moves to the building row, the active player triggers game end at the end of their turn
2
Bonus for triggering player
The player who triggers game end scores 5 points immediately
3
Final turns
Each other player gets 1 additional turn, then the game ends
4
Score regional influence
Award points from each region's scoring tile to players in 1st, 2nd, and (in some regions) 3rd place in influence
5
Score customer card count
Each player scores points based on total customers delivered: 1 customer = 2 points, 2 = 5 points, 3 = 9 points, 4 = 14 points, 5 = 20 points, 6+ = 27 points
6
Score customer endgame bonuses
Players who delivered merchants, nobles, or artisans score those customers' endgame victory points
7
Determine the winner
The player with the most total points wins
8
Tiebreaker
If tied, the player with the most leftover divine favor wins
9
Shared victory
If still tied, the victory is shared

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