How To Play: AuZtralia

Overview

If you’ve ever wondered how to outsmart evil gods while farming sheep, AuZtralia is your game. I’ve wrangled my mates for many hilarious, tense games and lived to tell. This guide covers the basics—yes, even how to play AuZtralia—plus the best strategies for winning. I promise clear steps, bad jokes, and no actual sheep were harmed in the making of this post.

What’s in the box

• 1 Game board
• 4 Player boards
• 92 Wooden cubes
• 16 Wooden discs
• 36 Farm tokens
• 20 Port tiles
• 20 Personality cards
• 41 Revelation cards
• 19 Old One tiles
• 78 Old One tokens
• 36 Railroad track pieces
• 24 Military unit counters
• 40 Resource tokens
• 4 Player aids
• 28 Event tiles
• 1 Time track marker
• 1 Combat marker
• 1 Rulebook

How To Play AuZtralia: Rules Summary

Setup

1. Pick a player color and grab your pieces, farms, ports, and army tokens. Don’t worry, you can trade later if you hate your color.
2. Build the modular board, randomly placing Cthulhu’s minions (Old Ones), resources, and ports.
3. Deal each player their lovely starting cards, resource cubes, and gold. Keep your gold safe from grabby hands.
4. Everyone puts their player marker on time track’s zero and places their starting port.
5. Shuffle all decks, stack the event cards, and prepare for the madness. You’re ready!

Gameplay

1. Players take turns, but watch the time track. Sometimes you’ll take extra turns if you’re furthest behind. It’s like being last in Mario Kart, but you actually get help.
2. On your turn, pick an action: build rails, farm, port, mine, recruit, fight, or explore. Each action moves you on the time track.
3. After enough time passes, the Old Ones wake up and start taking their own turns. Suddenly, you are NOT alone.
4. Collect resources, build stuff, fight monsters. We all know it’s really about the sweet gold.

Winning

1. Game ends when time runs out or when a player runs out of sanity (just kidding, your sanity is gone by round two).
2. Count up victory points from connected mines, farms, and defeating Old Ones.
3. If the Old Ones have the most points, they win and you can blame your friends for your loss.
4. But if you—or any player—outscore the Old Ones, you win! Celebrate with sheep noises.

Special Rules & Conditions

1. Certain Old Ones have nasty effects: ambushes, poison, or just general rudeness. Read their cards and brace yourself.
2. Event cards trigger at certain times, adding even more chaos. Sometimes the world just hates you, it’s not personal.
3. You can trade with others, but make sure you get the better deal. Or just look innocent when you don’t.
4. If your port is destroyed, you’re not out, but you’ll have a rough time. Always be ready to run.

Now you know How To Play auztralia! Grab your friends, set up the board, and watch as Cthulhu ruins all your careful plans. That’s the real magic of this game – and why I love it even more every time I play.

Best AuZtralia Strategies

Keep Your Pockets Full: Secrets to Efficient Resource Management

If you want to win at AuZtralia, you must master your resources! Every turn counts, and you’ll want to use each coin, coal, and steel wisely. Below, I’ll share my favorite tricks from the many times I’ve scrapped with my friends and, more often than not, lost my last sheep to a well-placed Cthulhu attack. Let’s see how to keep your operation running like a well-oiled train track and get ahead in this wild game. Here’s How To Play auztralia and not go broke:

Plan Ahead and Budget

1. Before you act, check your stockpile and spend only on what you need.
2. Set small goals for each round, so you don’t waste cash or time.
3. Always save some energy for a rainy, monster-filled day.

Use Farms and Mines Smartly

1. Place farms near water for the best yield, but not too close to Old Ones.
2. Upgrade your mines early to get more gold with each dig.

Don’t Ignore the Market

1. Sell extra resources when prices peak; buy when things are cheap.
2. Snatch bargains before your friends realize you’re running the show.

Efficient resource use is the heart of victory in AuZtralia. Remember, slow and steady (and a bit sneaky) wins the race!

Mastering Combat and Defense Timing in AuZtralia

Know When to Strike

1. Always watch the Old Ones’ movement. Wait for a moment when they are weak or isolated to attack.
2. Keep an eye on the clock—late game attacks often backfire because Cthulhu wakes up cranky.

Prep Your Defenses Early

1. Place your armies and trains near weak points on your map. I lost an entire turn once by ignoring this, so don’t repeat my mistake!
2. Upgrade weaponry before trouble arrives. Your tanks are only scary if they don’t run out of fuel.

React Quickly

1. When a monster pops up, respond fast. Panic a little if you need to—yelling helps your morale and confuses your foes.
2. Sometimes, retreat is the best move. No shame in running away if it saves your resources for a better fight.

For those learning How To Play auztralia, getting combat and defense timing right is the difference between sweet victory and a tentacled defeat.

Explore or Perish: Picking Your Path in AuZtralia

Spotting the Best Starting Locations

When the game begins, I always squint at the board looking for easy resources and safe spots. My advice:

1. Pick a spot near coal and iron—no one likes hiking for nothing.
2. Keep away from obvious monster nests unless you enjoy early nightmares.

Branching Out Wisely

Next, I never scatter my farms and rails like confetti. Instead, I:

1. Expand along resource lines for easy hauling.
2. Link farms close together, so defenses cover more ground.

Timing Your Gambles

Finally, don’t rush everywhere. Instead:

1. Plan moves right after others, grabbing leftovers.
2. Watch the Old Ones’ moves before exploring risky zones.

With practice, your “How To Play auztralia” skills will get sharper and you’ll be raking in more victory points than you can count!

Final Thoughts: Surviving the Outback Mayhem

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from playing AuZtralia, it’s that cows can’t save you from a Cthulhu. Only clever planning and a little bit of luck will keep your farms intact and the monsters at bay. Every game, my group ends up laughing, sheep are misplaced, and someone always yells, “I thought you were guarding that port!” Try different tactics, adapt when the Old Ones surprise you, and don’t forget to check the coal supply. Good luck out there, mate—may your sheep stay safe and your rails run true!

Want to know what we think of AuZtralia? Read our detailed review of AuZtralia here