Goal in the Game

In Terra Mystica players get to govern one of the 14 playable factions in the game with the sole objective of trying to develop their empire more successfully than their opponents. According to the game’s Lore, the inhabitants (factions) are fighting over acquisition of the land and transform the terrains to their own benefit. Each faction is bound to a specific type of terrain from which they can only build their dwellings. This is why each faction is racing towards terraforming the lands to expand.

A faction either lives in the Plains, the Swamp, the Lakes, the Forest, the Mountains, the Wasteland, or the Desert – and each of them strives to transform the terrain according to its needs. In the game, the players are bound by the need to terraform lands to not only expand but more importantly to build their Dwellings (from which you may upgrade later on to become different structures including sanctuaries and strongholds and earn the different resources of the game).

However, it becomes tricky as building dwellings adjacent to other factions’ structures, may gain you Power (another important resource in the game). That said, each player has to face the challenge of finding the right time and balance between building dwellings adjacently to other players (in order to earn Power Tokens), or choosing a free space for expansion (in order to earn other resources and win victory points through expansion).

Existing dwellings can be upgraded in multiple steps: to a Trading house at first, then to a Stronghold or Temple. Dwellings basically provide you with Workers. Upgrading a structure gives you a variety of resources as income. They are in the form of Coins, Power, or Priests. At the same time, if a Dwelling is built adjacent to other factions’ structures, it will earn you Power Tokens in the amount equivalent to each structure adjacent to it.

Each round in the game presents a unique goal (from the Scoring Tiles) that players can try to achieve. When the condition is met, it rewards bonuses and additional victory points. The goal is to earn as much victory points in the entire six rounds of the game, while at the same time trying to outwit the competition for any plausible advantage that they have. To help you, you may check each of the opponents' unique abilities and advantages by clicking on the faction’s icon (at the bottom part of the screen) and when the actions menu pop-up, click the green “i” icon at the bottom part of the screen at the left of the faction icon.

Besides geographic expansion and upgrading Structures, players can also develop four Cults: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Progress in these will be displayed on the Cult board. Developing them provides an increase in Power and a chance to best the cult expansion, which will reward higher victory points at the end of the game.

In the end, the player who developed their faction the best (highest victory points earned) wins the game.