Concordia is a Rio Grande Game from designer Mac Gerdts. The BGG description is: "Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire ruled the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. With peace at the borders, harmony inside the provinces, uniform law, and a common currency, the economy thrived and gave rise to mighty Roman dynasties as they expanded throughout the numerous cities. Guide one of these dynasties and send colonists to the remote realms of the Empire; develop your trade network; and appease the ancient gods for their favor-all to gain the chance to emerge victorious!"

Concordia is a peaceful strategy game of economic development in Roman times for 2-5 players. Instead of looking to the luck of dice or cards, players must rely on their strategic abilities. Be sure to watch your rivals to determine which goals they are pursuing and where you can outpace them! In the game, colonists are sent out from Rome to settle down in cities which produce bricks, food, tools, wine, and cloth. Each player starts with an identical set of playing cards and acquires more cards during the game. These cards serve two purposes:

• They allow a player to choose actions during the game
• They are worth victory points (VPs) at the end of the game

Concordia is a strategy game which requires advance planning and consideration of your opponent's moves. Every game is different, not only because of the sequence of new cards on sale but also due to the modular layout of cities. (One side of the game board shows the entire Roman Empire with 30 cities for 3-5 players, while the other shows Roman Italy with 25 cities for 2-4 players.) When all cards have been sold or a player has built in 15 cities, the game ends. The player with the most Victory Points from the Roman gods (Vesta, Jupiter, Saturnus, Mercurius, Mars, and Minerva) wins the game.

We will use the Italia side of the game board rather than the Empire side. Heat setup will be aimed at 4-player tables with the possibility of some 3-player tables depending on the number of entrants in each Heat. In the hopefully rare case of a 5-player game, we will use the Empire side of game board. Please bring a copy of the game to the Heats. Each year we have people running back to the rooms to get their gmes.

Sixteen players will advance to the Semifinal which will consist of four 4-player games. Advancement will be based on the Heats Most Wins-Points standard tie-breakers listed below. If sufficient qualifiers are not available to fill the 4 tables within 15 minutes of the start time, tables will be filled to the next multiple of 4 (12, 8, or 4) and the lowest ranked qualifiers will be eliminated until the field is reduced to the appropriate multiple of four.