Archon: Glory & Machination

designed by Nikolas Sakaloglou and Sotiris Tsantilas

Solo Variant
designed by weyrbrat

Setup
Set up the game according to the rules for two players, with the changes listed below.

1. Do not give any resources to Player 2 (the AI). The AI ignores all resources. If the AI ever
removes resources from the board during play, or if the player pays the AI, the resources return
to the supply. If the AI needs to pay resources to the player during play (for the Tax Collector),
those resources come from the supply.

2. In order to determine the starting Magisters for the AI, deal out one of each Magister and
shuffle them together. Select two at random and add them to Player 2's Courtiers to form the AI
Play Deck. On the Magister Track, move Player 2's Markers forward one space each in the rows
corresponding to the two cards drawn.

3. Take the two unselected Magister cards and add 1 Tax Collector, 3 Clerics, 3 Scribes, and 3
Merchants. Shuffle all 12 cards together and place them face down near the Guild Hall. This is
the AI Guild Deck.

4. Place all duplicate Building tiles (the ones not used in a two player game) into a separate bag
for drawing. This will be used when the AI places a worker on the Builder's Guild during
Season 1.

5. At the beginning of each odd-numbered round, shuffle the AI Play Deck and divide the cards
randomly into two face-down stacks of 5 cards each. Use one stack for the odd-numbered
round, then use the remaining stack in the following even-numbered round.

6. At the beginning of each Season, give the AI one Science card and one Arts card. (For extra
challenge, give the AI two of each card, instead of one.)

7. At the end of each Season, before resolving the Attack, place one of the AI's Elite Warriors on
the wall. The Elite Warrior should be placed in a space that scores a VP if one is available;
otherwise, any space is fine.

This concludes the setup.

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Playing the AI
The AI starts the game as Player 2. However, the AI may become Player 1 if it passes. Follow all
passing rules as written in the rulebook.

At the beginning of the AI's turn, draw the top card from the AI Play Deck. Compare the card to the
Priority Reference Chart (below). Find the row corresponding to the card and check the location listed
in the 1st Choice column.

A) If there is an Action Slot available at that location, place an AI worker in the slot and resolve the
action as detailed below. Workers are placed in the left-most available slot, with the exception of
workers placed by the Tax Collector.

B) If there is no Action Slot available at that location, move on to the 2nd Choice column and again
check for an available Action Slot. Continue in this manner until either a worker can be placed or the
AI is forced to pass.

Once the worker has been placed and the action resolved (or the AI passes), the AI turn ends.

Special card instructions:

Courtier If you have gone through the entire Priority Reference Chart and there are no Action Slots
available for a single card, but there are Action Slots available that require two cards (i.e. the Palace),
draw a second card.

A) If the second card is a Courtier, play both Courtiers together and place the worker in the first
available Action Slot that requires two cards.

B) If the second card is a Magister, play the Magister card instead and put the Courtier back on the top
of the AI Play Deck.

C) If there is no card to draw (the Courtier was the 5th card), pass.

Cleric Follow the procedure for checking down the Priority Reference Chart to find an available
Action Slot, as with any other card. Do not utilize the Cleric's ability to ignore slot limitations.

Merchant When placed at the Repository, remove 3 cubes (instead of the usual 2) if possible.
If the AI has obtained the Chapel Building tile, place the worker in the right Action Slot of any location
(as with the Tax Collector) instead of the left.

Scribe Draw and play a second card from the AI Play Deck after resolving the Scribe's worker, if a
card is available. This ability only works once per turn.

Tax Collector Place the worker in the right-most available Action Slot, instead of the left.

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Priority Reference Chart

Card 1st Choice 2nd Choice 3rd Choice 4th Choice 5th Choice
Courtier Repository Guild Hall Builder's Guild Palace - 1st Card Palace - 2nd Card
Cleric Builder's Guild Academy Guild Hall Palace - 2nd Card Palace - 1st Card
Merchant Treasury Repository Barracks Marketplace Guild Hall
Scribe Planetarium Guild Hall Academy Royal Guard Repository
Tax Collector Marketplace Royal Guard Planetarium Treasury Barracks

Resolving Action Slots

Repository Remove 2 cubes. If the worker was placed in the left slot, remove the left-most cubes. If
the worker was placed in the right slot, remove the right-most cubes.

Marketplace Remove the 2 cheapest cubes. If there is a tie, start from the left if the worker was in the
left slot, or start from the right if the worker was in the right slot.

Guild Hall Draw the top card of the AI Guild Deck. Move the AI Marker corresponding to the drawn
card forward one space on the Magister Track. (The AI gains all VPs as a player would.)

A) If the worker was placed in the Guild Hall using a Courtier, replace that played Courtier with the
new Magister.

B) If the worker was placed in the Guild Hall using a Magister, look through the current round's discard
pile for a played Courtier, and replace that Courtier with the new Magister.

C) If the worker was placed in the Guild Hall using a Magister, and there is no Courtier in the discard
pile, look for a Courtier among the unplayed cards in the AI Play Deck (either for the current round or
the next round), and replace it with the new Magister. Then, shuffle any unplayed cards that were seen.

D) If the AI already has 10 Magisters, the AI cannot place a worker at the Guild Hall.

Royal Guard Place 1 Elite Warrior on the city wall. Place the card in a VP space, if possible.

Builder's Guild During Season 1, draw a random tile out of the Building draw bag (created during
setup). If the corresponding Building tile is still available on the board, take the tile from the board and
give it to the AI. (The AI gains all Building points as a player would.) If the corresponding Building tile
is no longer on the board (because the player purchased it), set the drawn tile aside and draw a new tile,
continuing in this manner until the AI obtains a Building tile. (Do not return any tiles to the draw bag
until the game is over.) During Seasons 2 and 3, simply take the top-most tile for the current Season.

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Academy The AI gains 2 Arts cards.

Planetarium The AI gains 2 Science cards.

Barracks Take no action.

Treasury Take no action.

Palace Take no action.

Scoring
Do not forget to place an Elite Warrior on the wall for the AI at the end of the Season (Setup #7).

Resolve each Attack as in a two player game, except that the AI does not lose any Victory Points if the
enemy raids the city.

Score Victory Points based on the King's Grant card as in a two player game.

After the third King's Grant card has been scored, add any points earned by Building tiles to the
Scoring Track.

If the player has more Victory Points than the AI, the player wins. (If it is a tie, the player loses.)

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