Teotihuacan Strategy: Worker Growth, Cocoa & Pyramid Timing
Editorial analysis: Worker power is both strength and a timer. High-value dice produce better actions but approach Ascension and cost more cocoa at Eclipse salary.
Plan a route, not isolated actions
A resource action is best when it positions the die for your next technology, pyramid or temple action. Look two or three moves around the rondel before choosing the current stop.
Collect cocoa before being forced to
Cocoa pays crowding costs, worship unlocks and Eclipse salaries. A proactive cocoa turn can prevent an entire scoring plan from stalling at a crowded action board.
Technologies need repetition
Technology tiles are most efficient when purchased early enough to enhance several future uses of the matching action. Late technologies should deliver immediate scoring or solve a specific final-Eclipse plan.
Ascension is not a punishment
Plan for power-5 workers to Ascend when the Avenue step and chosen reward are useful. A controlled Ascension can produce temples, cocoa, VP or the fourth worker while resetting an overpowered die.
Pyramid track points decay by Eclipse
Pyramid-track steps score more in the first Eclipse than later ones. Early construction can therefore compound through immediate points, track scoring and temple-symbol matches.
Final era: count salary and Temple Bonus qualification
Before the third Eclipse, ensure you can pay high-power workers and check whether one more temple step would unlock a valuable final Bonus tile.