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Terra Mystica
#36BGG8.0RATING
Updated Sep 11
2–5
PLAYERS
60–150
MINUTES
4
BEST WITH
4.0
HEAVY
ERRATA3
Cultists gain 1 Power when every opponent refusesdesigner
- RULING
- "This is an official rules update for the cultists: Ability: Whenever at least one of your opponents decides to take Power due to your building activity, advance 1 space on a Cult track of your choice. (You only get to advance 1 space in total regardless of the number of opponents taking Power. New Rule: If all of your opponents refuse to take Power, do not advance on a Cult track, instead gain exactly one Power.)"
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(38 replies, 112 thumbs)DATE: 2013-07-21Spade Scoring tile is banned from rounds 5 and 6publisher
- RULING
- "Shuffle the Scoring tiles and place them face-up on these spaces one after another, beginning with space 6. If you draw the Scoring tile with a Spade on its left side for spaces 5 or 6, put it aside and draw another one instead. Then shuffle it back in." The stated reason is to close an exploit of the transforming bonus in the final rounds.
AUTHOR: nan3000 (Frank Heeren, publisher — Feuerland Spiele)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(13 replies, 27 thumbs)DATE: 2013-01-22Official map-balanced starting victory pointsdesignerlinked official source
- RULING
- "Map Balanced VPs will be simplified and published in the rules and become the new official starting VPs for each map. These are with or without any expansion material from either Fire and Ice or Merchants of the Seas or any mini-expansion/promo materials. They are also for all player counts." For the base game map, the base-game factions start at: 30 VP Fakirs, Giants; 25 VP Auren, Alchemists; 20 VP Nomads, Dwarves, Mermaids, Swarmlings, Halflings, Chaos Magicians, Witches; 15 VP Engineers, Cultists, Darklings. This supersedes the earlier 2017 starting-VP list.
AUTHOR: JamesWolfpacker (James Ataei, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(33 replies, 35 thumbs)DATE: 2019-06-27
DESIGNER CLARIFICATIONS16
Tunneling and carpet flight only apply to non-adjacent spacesdesigner
- CONTEXT
- Players asked whether Dwarves and Fakirs could claim their bonus victory points when the target space happened to already be directly adjacent to one of their structures.
- RULING
- "No, you can't get VP's when you build directly adjacent. Tunneling/carpet flight is meant for expansion to not directly adjacent terrain spaces, which means if you have any structures directly adjacent to the traget space, you don't use tunneling/carpet flight."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(15 replies, 12 thumbs)DATE: 2012-10-27Dwarves score tunneling points even without terraformingdesigner
- RULING
- "Yes, he gets points for tunneling [...] when taking the terraform and/or build (a dwelling) action. So for: a) when he tunnels + terraforms + builds or b) when he just tunnels + builds or c) when he just tunnels + terraforms."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(20 replies, 6 thumbs)DATE: 2012-11-25A Priest may join a cult order he cannot fully advance ondesigner
- CONTEXT
- A player wanted to place a Priest on a cult order when the spaces remaining on that track were fewer than the advance the order grants.
- RULING
- "It is allowed to send a priest to an order of a cult, even if you can't advance the full range."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(18 replies, 6 thumbs)DATE: 2013-01-22Halflings' Stronghold: spend every Spade before buildingpublisher
- CONTEXT
- A Halflings player wanted to spend two of their three Stronghold Spades, build a Dwelling, and then spend the third Spade on a space adjacent to that brand-new Dwelling.
- RULING
- "when you get more than 1 spade, you first have to use them all, and then you may build 1 dwelling. as a halfling when building your stronghold you can not use 2 spades, build a dwelling on that terrain, and then use the third spade on a field that is adjacent to that new dwelling, but not to your buildings you had by the beginning of that action."
AUTHOR: nan3000 (Frank Heeren, publisher — Feuerland Spiele)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(24 replies, 5 thumbs)DATE: 2012-11-12A Power action may be taken without using its benefitdesigner
- CONTEXT
- All Priests were already taken from the supply, and a player wanted to spend the Power to block the Priest action anyway.
- RULING
- "'You may' doesn't mean 'you must', so if you want to spend three power and use the action without taking the priest (and this is posssible for all other power actions [...]), you may do so."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(10 replies, 7 thumbs)DATE: 2013-06-17Fakirs' Stronghold cannot split its two-space skipdesigner
- RULING
- "Fakirs with Stronghold can skip up to two spaces, when using their carpet flight, but they can't split it into a double one space skip. So, when Fakirs use the double shovel poweraction, they either spend both shovels on the target space they are flying to or they spend one shovel on the target space and one directly adjacent to an existing building."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(16 replies, 4 thumbs)DATE: 2013-02-26Only your single largest settlement scores at game enddesigner
- CONTEXT
- A player asked whether one player could take both the 1st-place and 3rd-place area majority award by having two separate large settlements.
- RULING
- "It is a gap in the rules, but every player can only score his largest settlement."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(8 replies, 4 thumbs)DATE: 2013-04-29The Mermaid river skip can join three structure groups at oncedesigner
- CONTEXT
- A single River space touched three separate groups of the Mermaid player's structures rather than the usual two.
- RULING
- Using the Mermaids' special ability, that one River space makes a direct connection between all three structure groups, forming a single Town; the Town marker is placed on the River space itself. Helge Ostertag confirmed this reading with "Correct!", and reconfirmed it in a later thread: "Yes, it is allowed to do so!"
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(5 replies, 5 thumbs)DATE: 2013-04-20Abilities start from your structures, not from bridged terraindesigner
- CONTEXT
- A Dwarf player wanted to build a Bridge to an empty space and then tunnel onward from that space to reach a further one.
- RULING
- "Tunneling, carpet flight and shipping start from your buildings, not from the landscape you reached via a bridge."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(71 replies, 4 thumbs)DATE: 2013-06-11Leeching resolves between the build and all other effectsdesigner
- CONTEXT
- A Chaos Magicians player built a Sanctuary that also founded a Town, and needed to know whether opponents leech before or after the favor tile and Town tile are chosen.
- RULING
- "If there is need for a leeching order, it is build, leech and then all other effects. This favours the active player and is meant as clarification for rules lawyers in face to face games."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies, 4 thumbs)DATE: 2015-07-21Leeching order in variable turn order gamesdesigner
- RULING
- "Variable turn order: leech in the variable turn order!"
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies, 4 thumbs)DATE: 2015-07-21Power may be converted at any time during your own turndesigner
- CONTEXT
- Players asked whether converting Power into Coins, Workers or Priests is itself an action, and whether it must happen before the turn's main action.
- RULING
- "I may perform this ANY TIME during MY TURN - not only before I perform the 'normal' action - so I may convert power into coins after my action, too [...] And remember: Passing is an action, too! So I may convert power directly before I pass, too! (And finally, it is explicitly allowed to convert as often as you [like])."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(15 replies, 5 thumbs)DATE: 2013-12-31Free Spades never have to be spentdesigner
- CONTEXT
- A player proposed that leftover Spades from a Transform and Build action must be spent on further terraforming whenever that is possible.
- RULING
- "Wrong. [...] From the rules (page 17): 'If these Spades do not suffice to transform a given Terrain space into your Home terrain, you may exchange Workers for the missing Spade – at the current Exchange rate on your Exchange track. If you only need one Spade to transform a Terrain space into your Home terrain, you may spend the second Spade on another Terrain space. However, you may not place a Dwelling on this other space.)' There is no must!"
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(36 replies, 4 thumbs)DATE: 2013-04-12Halflings' three Stronghold Spades may affect three spacesdesigner
- CONTEXT
- Asked whether the three Spades from the Halflings' Stronghold are limited to two terrain spaces.
- RULING
- "They can modify up to three spaces."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(36 replies, 4 thumbs)DATE: 2013-04-12Two free Spades cannot be split across two hexes that each need onedesigner
- RULING
- The two Spades from the double-Spade Power action must be spent on a single terrain space unless one of the spaces needs only one Spade to become your Home terrain; a Mermaid player, for example, may not use the double-Spade action to affect two separate Blue-adjacent hexes that each require a Spade. Helge Ostertag confirmed the constraint with "That is correct!"
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(36 replies, 4 thumbs)DATE: 2013-04-12Dwarves and Fakirs may take Shipping bonus and Scoring tilesdesignersticky
- CONTEXT
- Dwarves and Fakirs have no Shipping track, so players asked whether they are barred from the tiles that reference Shipping.
- RULING
- "Dwarves and Fakirs may also take shipping +1 and can't use the shipping bonus... (or the new shipping scoring tile, just to get the power and/or to deny some other player the scoring)."
AUTHOR: Horologiom (Helge Ostertag, designer)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(41 replies, 54 thumbs)DATE: 2014-09-12
Q&A6
The Transform and Build action sequencecommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- In what order do the steps of a Transform and Build action resolve, and when may the Dwelling be placed?
- ANSWER
- Choose an unoccupied terrain space that is directly or indirectly adjacent to one of your structures, spend Spades at your current Exchange rate to transform it into a terrain type of your choice, and then — only if that space is now your Home terrain — you may build a Dwelling there.
Chaos Magicians' double-turn is two full turnscommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Does the Chaos Magicians' Stronghold special action double a single action, or grant two separate turns?
- ANSWER
- It grants two separate consecutive turns, resolved one after the other — it is not a multiplier on one action. Passing counts as one of the two.
The +1 Shipping bonus tile can start a separate towncommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Since the +1 Shipping from the bonus tile is temporary, can a structure built using it become the seed of a new town unconnected to your existing network?
- ANSWER
- Yes. A structure placed via the temporary Shipping increase can be the start of a potential new town, separate from any town formed by your existing chain of buildings.
Building across an opponent's bridgecommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- May a player terraform or build on the far side of a Bridge that an opponent built, when the opponent has not yet built there?
- ANSWER
- Yes. A Bridge on the board creates direct adjacency for anyone whose structure sits at one of its ends, regardless of who paid for it.
Leeching from builds connected only by an opponent's bridgecommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Do you gain Power when an opponent builds or upgrades on the far side of a Bridge you are connected to?
- ANSWER
- No. Power is only gained from structures that are directly adjacent to your own.
Upgrading the same building more than once in a roundcommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Can a single Dwelling be upgraded to a Trading House and then further in the same round?
- ANSWER
- Yes. Each upgrade is a separate action and advances one level only, so the same building may be upgraded several times in a round provided each step uses its own action.
EDGE CASES1
Terraforming a space you are not adjacent tocommunity high-engagement
- SITUATION
- A player wanted to transform a distant terrain space purely to obstruct opponents, without building a Dwelling there, and the rulebook's adjacency requirement is stated under building rather than under terraforming.
- RULING
- Not allowed. Even when transforming a Terrain space without building a Dwelling, the space must be directly or indirectly adjacent to one of your Structures (rulebook page 11). Direct adjacency means sharing a hexagon edge, or being separated by a River but connected via a Bridge; indirect adjacency means being reachable across River spaces at your current Shipping value.
Last researched: 2026-08-09
CATEGORIES
Civilization·Economic·Fantasy·Territory Building
MECHANICS
ChainingEnd Game BonusesHexagon GridIncomeIncrease Value of Unchosen ResourcesNetwork and Route BuildingTech Trees / Tech TracksTurn Order: Pass OrderVariable Player Powers
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An opponent's settlement blocks your road network — your road cannot be built through or past an occupied intersection.
◆ Catan — Roads & Building, p. 7
At the end of each round, the player with the most of the goal trait scores points equal to their amount; the player with the second most scores fewer.
◆ Wingspan — End of Round, p. 11
Null cards deal 0 damage regardless of base value or any bonuses applied.
◆ Gloomhaven — Attack Modifier Deck, p. 23
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