The quick version
Each round, secretly choose one Region from your hand and reveal together. Add it to the right of your previous cards. If its unique exploration number exceeds the Region immediately to its left, gain a Sanctuary selection: draw one Sanctuary plus one for each clue symbol on all your played Regions and Sanctuaries, including the newly played Region.
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Prepare the table
Shuffle Regions and give everyone three cards face down. Reveal one more Region than the number of players as the shared offer. Separately shuffle the Sanctuary deck. Each player needs space for an ordered row of eight Regions and a separate Sanctuary area. Read the supplied icon aid together: biome colors, night symbols, clues, resources, prerequisites and point conditions matter.
Play a turn
Each round, secretly choose one Region from your hand and reveal together. Add it to the right of your previous cards. If its unique exploration number exceeds the Region immediately to its left, gain a Sanctuary selection: draw one Sanctuary plus one for each clue symbol on all your played Regions and Sanctuaries, including the newly played Region. Nobody earns a Sanctuary on round one.
In ascending order of the numbers just played, each player first chooses one Region from the shared offer to restore their three-card hand. Then, if they drew Sanctuaries, choose exactly one to place face up and put the others under the Sanctuary deck. Do not refill between players. Remove the one unchosen Region from the game and reveal a fresh offer. On round eight skip the Region draft; still earn and choose Sanctuaries normally.
Finish and score
After eight rounds, turn every Region face down while leaving Sanctuaries face up. Reveal and score Regions one at a time from right to left. At each reveal, only that card, already revealed Regions to its right, and all your Sanctuaries can meet its prerequisite or supply its scoring symbols. Hidden cards to its left do not yet exist for scoring. Resources are not spent and may satisfy several quests.
Keep each scored card face up. Once all eight are revealed, score Sanctuary quests with the complete tableau. Sum the fame; highest wins. Ties go to the player with the lowest exploration number anywhere in their Region row. The deck's numbers are unique, so this separates tied players.
Host the first game
Score a pretend three-card row backward before dealing. On the publisher's page, a player describes repeatedly expecting left-to-right scoring even after enjoying the game; a recent Reddit recommendation also singles out its chained scoring. Covering unscored Regions prevents most accidental use of unavailable icons.
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Ideas & Twists
Choose a variation together before you start.
Faraway · See main rules
Published advanced variantChoose the starting hand
Deal five Regions instead of three. Each player secretly keeps three; shuffle all rejected cards back into the deck before revealing the offer.
Faraway · See main rules
Original STUDplay house twistFour-card hand
Deal four Regions and restore to four after each draft. You still play eight Regions and skip the final draft; the extra unplayed card has no value.
Faraway · See main rules
Original STUDplay house twistPublic expedition hands
Keep hand Regions face up beside the route. Choose the next card behind a small paper screen and reveal simultaneously, so everyone can consider opponents' possible draft priority without changing reveal timing.
Faraway · See main rules
Original STUDplay house twistLimited Sanctuary search
When earning a Sanctuary, draw at most three cards even if clues would permit more. Keep exactly one and return the rest normally. Clues still count for any printed final scoring.
Faraway · See main rules
Original STUDplay house twistOne route exchange
Give everyone one paper token. Once, before choosing their card for a round, a player may discard it and one Region from hand face down out of the game, then draw one random replacement. Complete all exchanges before anyone commits a card; the token scores nothing.
About this guide
Requires the named physical game and its supplied components. Rules are paraphrased teaching guidance; keep the box's cards and reference diagrams beside the table. Original STUDplay house twists are optional, untested suggestions rather than publisher rules. Agree one before setup; unchanged rules still apply.
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