How to Play Tapestry: Advancement Tracks, Income Turns & Eras
Tapestry is a civilization game where every turn is one of two choices: take an Advance turn on one of four tracks, or take an Income turn to begin your civilization’s next era. Each player takes exactly five Income turns, but the number of Advance turns between them varies.
Your first turn
Your first turn is an Income turn. It establishes your starting resources and begins the first era of your civilization.
Advance turn
Most turns are Advance turns. Choose one of the four tracks:
- Science
- Technology
- Exploration
- Military
Pay the resource cost for the next space, move your token one space forward, gain that space’s benefit, and then—if the space offers one—you may pay the optional bonus cost once.
Track tiers and landmarks
Each track is divided into tiers. The first player to enter certain new tiers can claim the corresponding landmark and place it in their capital city. This makes timing on tracks important even when another track would give a similar immediate benefit.
Income turn
An Income turn ends your current era and begins the next. Depending on which of your five Income turns this is, you resolve the steps shown on your income mat. These can include:
- Activate relevant civilization abilities.
- Play a Tapestry card for the new era when applicable.
- Upgrade a Technology card and score exposed victory-point income.
- Gain resources, territory tiles and Tapestry cards from exposed income icons when applicable.
Why buildings matter
Farms, Houses, Markets and Armories begin on your income tracks. As you gain and place those Buildings into your capital city, you uncover stronger income and scoring icons on the income mat.
Your capital city also rewards completed rows and columns during relevant scoring steps.
Tapestry cards
Tapestry cards shape an era. Most are played during an Income turn and can provide an immediate effect or a rule that applies during that era. Since you normally play only one into each applicable era slot, timing and synergy matter.
Technology cards
Technology cards can be upgraded over time. Their benefits improve as they move through upgrade levels, and some scoring on the income mat rewards your technology collection.
Exploration and conquest
The central map develops through Exploration and Military effects. You can add territory tiles, expand your civilization with outposts and conquer spaces under the relevant rules. Map control can also contribute to income scoring.
When does your game end?
Your personal game ends after you complete your fifth and final Income turn. Players may finish at different times. The overall game ends when every player has completed that fifth Income turn.
For the exact Income sequence and final-era differences, see Tapestry Income Turns, Tracks & Endgame.
Common beginner mistakes
- Taking another Advance turn after completing the fifth Income turn.
- Forgetting that Advance costs increase as tracks move into higher tiers.
- Taking Income only when completely empty instead of considering timing bonuses and tempo.
- Leaving income Buildings on the mat instead of placing them into the capital city when gained.
- Assuming all players enter eras at the same time.
Related Tapestry guides
See the Tapestry game guide for the overview. Continue with Tapestry Strategy for track efficiency, income timing and capital-city planning.