I'm not a very good player at this...
Here are nonetheless some tips.
These are mostly for the base game at 2 or 3 players.
4 players team-play is a different beast.
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RULES
R1) Know the rules
Basic.
Details can matter. For instance :
R2) Understand the timing of things intimately
Timing can be important, especially if you hesitate to use a card with shared dogmas : people who shares your dogma apply the dogma before you and do so in turn order starting from the player to your left (the player below you in BGA's implementation).
For instance, players who shares your "The Wheel" dogma get to draw before you, which mean that you get to draw higher level cards if they empty a deck before you get to draw...
R3) New edition(s)
Once edition 4 becomes available, be aware that there are some important rules differences between edition 3 (the one implemented as of june 2026) and edition 4. Especially for the extensions.
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GENERICS
G1) Observe what the other players are doing
For instance:
Experience will tell you what cards are often important but that is not enough, you need to remember what level they are and what icon is their dogma. Their color can sometimes (less often) be important too.
For instance, imagine:
* you know that "Vaccination" (level 6, leaf) will wreck you if an opponent draws it and uses it
* and you have not seen it yet (not been revealed, not in your hand, not in your score pile, not in any player's board including in the middle of non splayed colors)
* and there is only 1 or 2 level 6 card left to draw
* and very few level 6 cards have been scored by opponents directly from draw pile or from their hand
* You should really consider drawing those last remaining level 6 cards or get a majority of "leaves" icons (or make it impossible for your opponent to draw level 6 cards.)
* And if your opponent *just* drew a level 6 card and you have a way to steal it, that might also save you.
G3) Expansion cards
Knowing the expansion cards by heart is less important because you will rarely empty an expansion deck so you will rarely be in a situation where some particular expansion card is very likely to be drawn or played. Still, it can help.
More importantly, you should know how they can impact the dynamics of the game in general and the dynamics of specific cards when those cards are active. For instance, having echo cards can influence the results of the base card "Currency" (level 2, crown, green) : if the base deck 2 is empty, returning an echo card of rank 2 is not equivalent to returning a base card of rank 2.
G4) Know the early game key vulnerabilities
For instance:
Some new players tend to put out of their mind their active cards with dogmas that their opponent can share.
Don't be too quick to ignore them.
When you are on the losing side, it can often be a good idea to increase chaos. "Fission" (lv 9, clock, red) is an obvious chaotic card but there are plenty others who can create chaos to some extent. Any card that makes you play a random card is chaotic, any card that makes an opponent do so is even more chaotic.
Consider a card like "Domestication" (lv1, castle, yellow) or "Experimentation" (lv4, lamp, blue) :
Sometimes, in 3 or more players game, helping another player can be a good idea. Letting a player with 1 achievement get another achievement so as to deprive another opponent who already has 4 of them from getting it can be a good idea.
G8) Recycling cards
When someone recycles cards, the order can sometimes be important and remembering exactly where those cards ends up in the decks can be important.
For instance, if "optics" is a top card (or might become one) and pile 3 is (nearly) empty and age 3 cards are recycled, you should remember which ones have "Crown" symbols and were they are in the age 3 deck so that you can use "optics" at just the right moment.
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LATE GAME
Many games won't go to level 9 or more meaningfully.
Still, it can happen, especially say if it is a 3 players game with just the base game and with the option "extra achievement needed".
L1) Know the "you win" cards
Starting from level 8, there are cards with extra winning conditions.
Here is the complete list from the base set (3rd edition):
(I don't give here the full effects of the cards, look them up)
ONGOING
Here are nonetheless some tips.
These are mostly for the base game at 2 or 3 players.
4 players team-play is a different beast.
------------------------
RULES
R1) Know the rules
Basic.
Details can matter. For instance :
- Who shares the dogmas of a card is determined when you start using that card, it is never re-evaluated in the middle of the card.
- Things like "Exchange all you cards with your opponent" do work if you have 0 card in hand
- For dogmas of type "do A and then B", you do get to do B if you cannot do A. ( "Classification" (lv6, green) is an exception because the second part requires implicitly that a card was revealed as there wouldn't be any color to act upon if you did not reveal a card)
- if the game ends, it ends immediately and brutally so : you don't complete ongoing actions or let other players do the current dogma if it was shared. (For instance, if the first dogma of "Collaboration" ends the game by someone trying to draw a 11, you do not get to execute the second dogma.)
- (Unless the game ends,) you do get to execute all the dogmas of your card even if it's no longer an active card in the middle of the action (this can happen, for instance, with "Road Building" (lv2,castle,red) )
- ...
R2) Understand the timing of things intimately
Timing can be important, especially if you hesitate to use a card with shared dogmas : people who shares your dogma apply the dogma before you and do so in turn order starting from the player to your left (the player below you in BGA's implementation).
For instance, players who shares your "The Wheel" dogma get to draw before you, which mean that you get to draw higher level cards if they empty a deck before you get to draw...
R3) New edition(s)
Once edition 4 becomes available, be aware that there are some important rules differences between edition 3 (the one implemented as of june 2026) and edition 4. Especially for the extensions.
-----------------------
GENERICS
G1) Observe what the other players are doing
For instance:
- Always know what their active cards do.
- Always see what opportunities they have to get achievements.
- Remember what cards they have revealed because of some dogmas: They will show up in the log and you can click on them in the log to see what they are. Because of a bug, the lookup won't work if you did a refresh or logged in after the reveal happened, so do use an online list of cards in that case to look them up if you don't know those cards by heart
Experience will tell you what cards are often important but that is not enough, you need to remember what level they are and what icon is their dogma. Their color can sometimes (less often) be important too.
For instance, imagine:
* you know that "Vaccination" (level 6, leaf) will wreck you if an opponent draws it and uses it
* and you have not seen it yet (not been revealed, not in your hand, not in your score pile, not in any player's board including in the middle of non splayed colors)
* and there is only 1 or 2 level 6 card left to draw
* and very few level 6 cards have been scored by opponents directly from draw pile or from their hand
* You should really consider drawing those last remaining level 6 cards or get a majority of "leaves" icons (or make it impossible for your opponent to draw level 6 cards.)
* And if your opponent *just* drew a level 6 card and you have a way to steal it, that might also save you.
G3) Expansion cards
Knowing the expansion cards by heart is less important because you will rarely empty an expansion deck so you will rarely be in a situation where some particular expansion card is very likely to be drawn or played. Still, it can help.
More importantly, you should know how they can impact the dynamics of the game in general and the dynamics of specific cards when those cards are active. For instance, having echo cards can influence the results of the base card "Currency" (level 2, crown, green) : if the base deck 2 is empty, returning an echo card of rank 2 is not equivalent to returning a base card of rank 2.
G4) Know the early game key vulnerabilities
For instance:
- If you have multiple "Crown" cards in hand and someone get to play "Oars" (lv 1, castle, red) and has more castle than you, they might score a lot of early points
- If you have active "Castle" cards and at least 4 Castle icons, and not the "crown" majority, someone with "City States" (level 1, crown, purple) and more crowns than you can steal them one by one. (You do draw a card as compensation)
- If your opponent has a "Castle" majority and has no cards in color X but you do have cards in play of that color, he can score your cards of that color one by one if he gets to play "Monotheism" (lv2, castle, purple)
- If you have active "Castle" cards but not "Castle" majority, someone with "Engineering" (lv 3, castle, red) and more castle icons than you can score them all in a single action
- If you have active "Castle" cards but not "Industry" majority, someone with "Gun Powder" (level 4, industry, red) and more industry than you can score them 1 by one and score extra cards along
- If you have scored level 1 cards and the low level piles are empty, someone playing "Mapmaking" (level 2, crown, green) with more crowns than you might score a lot of points not so much because of the steal itself but because of the extra "if you did steal one, draw and score a level 1 card" which would actually score them say a level 4 card if decks 1 to 3 are empty.
- ....
Some new players tend to put out of their mind their active cards with dogmas that their opponent can share.
Don't be too quick to ignore them.
- just because the opponent has a majority on the relevant icon, doesn't mean that they can actually share the dogma (it might require to have cards in hand or a color splayed in some direction etc...)
- even if they can actually share, they might not want to. And getting an extra card in exchange might be worth it (especially if it is a 3 or more players game and only one is sharing. Or if you get to draw an higher level card earlier because of the sharing).
- Once in a while, they might be forced to share (cards with a "you must") and get screwed in the process. Either because the card is rather chaotic (see G6) or because you know precisely how things will pan out (possibly thanks to points G1 and G8)
When you are on the losing side, it can often be a good idea to increase chaos. "Fission" (lv 9, clock, red) is an obvious chaotic card but there are plenty others who can create chaos to some extent. Any card that makes you play a random card is chaotic, any card that makes an opponent do so is even more chaotic.
Consider a card like "Domestication" (lv1, castle, yellow) or "Experimentation" (lv4, lamp, blue) :
- You might hesitate to use them if the dogma is shared but that sharing can actually help you beyond the extra card if you are currently losing because there is a chance that the sharing opponent will have to play a card that will cover the card that really annoys you. Only a small chance, but better a small chance than no chance at all.
Sometimes, in 3 or more players game, helping another player can be a good idea. Letting a player with 1 achievement get another achievement so as to deprive another opponent who already has 4 of them from getting it can be a good idea.
G8) Recycling cards
When someone recycles cards, the order can sometimes be important and remembering exactly where those cards ends up in the decks can be important.
For instance, if "optics" is a top card (or might become one) and pile 3 is (nearly) empty and age 3 cards are recycled, you should remember which ones have "Crown" symbols and were they are in the age 3 deck so that you can use "optics" at just the right moment.
-------------------------
LATE GAME
Many games won't go to level 9 or more meaningfully.
Still, it can happen, especially say if it is a 3 players game with just the base game and with the option "extra achievement needed".
L1) Know the "you win" cards
Starting from level 8, there are cards with extra winning conditions.
Here is the complete list from the base set (3rd edition):
(I don't give here the full effects of the cards, look them up)
- lv8 Empiricism (lv 8, lamp, purple) : Can win with 20 lamp icons visible (rare)
- lv9 Collaboration (lv9, crown, green : Can win with 10 or more green cards (even if not splayed) (relatively rare)
- lv10 Bioengineering (lv10,clock, blue) Player with most visible "leaves" icons wins if someone has less than 3. And first part of the card can help with that (one of the more common "you win" effects)
- lv10 Self Service (lv 10, crown, green) If you have more achievements than anyone else, you win
- lv10 Globalization (lv10, industry, yellow) If no one has more "leaves" icons visible than "industry" (and first part of the card can help with that), player with the most points win (relatively rare because player with the most points can often win more simply than with this at this stage)
- lv10 AI (lv10, lamp, purple) if "Robotics" (lv10, industry, red) and "Software" (lv10, clock, blue) are both top cards, player with the LEAST score wins (very rare but do remember this before playing Robotics or Software as a top card...)
ONGOING
