Tips innovation

Dominations

Remember that the main goal of the game is to gain dominations, which, in turn, require scoring. For this reason, make sure you keep an eye on the prize and score points if you can. There are a few cards early on that are very good for that:

• Clothing[green-1] - assuming you have color that the opponents doesn't have
• Metalworking[red-1] - a bit of a lottery, but can pay off well in ages 1/2
• Oars[red-1] - very powerful if you have castle domination and your opponent has a lot of cards
• Agriculture[yellow-1] - not very powerful, but may become if you advance in age without covering that card
• Currency[green-2]

Even a few points can make a difference, because some cards allow you to return cards from your score pile in exchange for powerful stuff (Education[purple-3] / Printing Press[blue-4]).

If you can not score, be aware that a few cards give you achievements: Masonry[yellow-1], for playing 4 cards with castles in one go, Construction[red-2] for being the only player with 4 colors.

If you are unlucky and do not draw scoring cards, try advancing in age, as this will give you in edge, with more powerful cards as time goes. Blue cards are good for that: Mathematics / Printing Press / Experimentation / Physics / Atomic Theory / Evolution. Or you can aim for cards with leaves (mostly yellow) which allow you to steal or at least destroy opponents points.

If you are way behind in achievements, there are many alternative ways to win when you advance in age. On one hand, special achievements can be obtained without scoring, i.e. Empire / Wonder / ... (just hover over the cards which are at the bottom of the screen)

Splaying

Splaying is one of the most powerful actions you can do, but do not abuse it. The goal is to dominate the opponent, not to have high counts of icons for the sake of it. It's possible to win games 6-0 unsplayed, against an opponent with massive splays.

Defense and catchup

In terms of defense, always make sure you are not vulnerable to an attack. Every time the opponent places a card, check to see if it allows them to steal points or take cards off your active zone or your hand. When it is the case, try improving your icons count to be immune to 'demand' dogmas, or use the cards that could be stolen, or grab a domination before your score goes down.

If the opponent is a few ages behind, and you are able to get cards in the Ages 8/9/10, you may be able to catch up scoring wise (and therefore grab achievements before the opponent), or simply finish the game by alternative conditions. Very often I have been leading against a strong opponent, and they just teched up and found a way to beat me with powerful cards.

Card list

For a view of all the cards in one screen, see the Isotropic card list.