Res Arcana

Prepare the table

Set out the eight magic items, essence supply and five Places of Power. Use the first-game sides pictured in the rulebook, or randomly choose one side of each for experienced play. Shuffle monuments, reveal two and leave the rest as a deck. Everyone receives one of each of the five essences, including gold. Choose a first player.

For a first game, use the rulebook's matching marked mage and three-card starting hand for each player, then deal five unseen artifacts as their deck. Otherwise deal each player two mages and eight artifacts: inspect all, shuffle the eight artifacts, draw three, then choose and reveal one mage. Remove unused cards. In reverse player order, choose one magic item each.

Play a turn

Begin each round by resolving Collect abilities and optionally taking essences from your components. If taking from a particular component, take all its essences; leaving them can preserve scoring or growth effects. Follow printed costs and restrictions. Everyone can collect together, or request player order.

Then take clockwise turns, one action each: pay to place an artifact from hand; pay to claim a visible monument or Place of Power; discard a hand card for one gold or any two non-gold essences; use one component power; or pass. Refill a claimed face-up monument. You may instead buy the top unseen monument at its standard cost. Placed components start upright.

A power requires every cost before its effect. Turning sideways is often a cost; a turned component cannot use ordinary powers until straightened. Powers without a turn cost may be used on later actions again. Printed abilities still apply while turned. React powers respond to their trigger outside your turn, but cannot pay a turn cost with an already turned component. Destroy means discard from play; discard means from hand.

For Life loss, pay the required Life from your pool, then two other essences for each missing Life if possible, unless you pay an offered prevention cost. Players who have passed ignore Life loss. When passing, the first passer takes the first-player marker; every passer exchanges their magic item for a different available one, flips it to Passed, and draws one artifact. Reshuffle your own discard when your deck runs out. Passing ends your actions for this round, although you still receive benefits granted by rivals.

Finish and score

After everyone passes, count points on all your components plus one for the first-player marker. If anyone has at least ten, highest score wins. Ties favor the largest essence pool, counting gold twice; an exact tie is shared. Some printed powers trigger an earlier victory check and the Golden Statue can react to a check. If nobody reaches ten, straighten all components, turn passed items upright, and begin another round.

Host the first game

The Reddit comparison with Race for the Galaxy includes players who find Res Arcana easier to introduce, but both use a substantial icon vocabulary. Demonstrate paying a complete power cost, turning a component and discarding a card for resources before starting. Your eight artifacts are a toolbox; you do not need to build all eight.

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Ideas & Twists

Choose a variation together before you start.