Known for roads and monumental architecture! - AEG
Children of the Sun, your time has just begun... well, it was quite a while ago, but the impact of the ancient Incan civilization will still have great impact, on a card game that has violent grandmas and dinosaurs with laser guns. Seriously, we might owe history better... anyway, our Ancient Incas rock! Just like the real Incan empire built massive buildings and long highways with advanced engineering techniques, ours will build up your bases like never before!
- - World Tour: Culture Shock rulebook
The Ancient Incas are one of the 5 factions from the World Tour: Culture Shock set.
They focus on playing and replaying play-on-base actions with most of their cards triggering or getting better the more actions you have or play on the same base.
Other factions from the same set: Anansi Tales, Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Polynesian Voyagers, Russian Fairy Tales.
Name[]
This faction is called "Ancient Incas" in the rulebook and on the divider included in this set. However, AEG's product page for this set calls this faction "Inca Empire".
Cards[]
The Ancient Incas have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is the usual 30 or an average of 3 per minion.
Among their actions, there are:
- 0 play-on-minion actions,
- 7 play-on-base actions: Armory (2x), Fortress Walls (2x), Royal Highway, Signs in the Stars, Temple of the Sun,
- 3 standard actions (0 that affects one or more minions, in bold): Ashlar Masonry, Golden Condor, Quipu Strings,
- 2 actions that directly increase a minion's power: Fortress Walls (2x).
Minions[]
1x Sapa Inca - power 5 - Search your deck and/or discard pile for an action that can be played on a base, and add it to your hand. Ongoing: After you play an action on a base, place a +1 power counter on one your minions there. FAQ
2x Child of the Sun - power 4 - Ongoing: After the first time you play an action on this base each turn, you may play an extra action. FAQ
3x Incan Engineer - power 3 - Reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal an action that can be played on a base. Add it to your hand. Shuffle the rest into your deck. FAQ
4x Llama - power 2 - You may return one of your actions played on another base to your hand and play it here as an extra action. FAQ
Actions[]
2x Armory - Play on a base. Ongoing: You have +2 power here for each of your other actions on this base. FAQ
1x Ashlar Masonry - Special: Play after a base scores. You may return one of your actions on that base to your hand and shuffle the rest of them into your deck instead of the discard pile. FAQ
2x Fortress Walls - Play on a base. Place a +1 power counter on one of your minions here. Ongoing: After you play another action on this base, you may place a +1 power counter on one of your minions here. FAQ
1x Golden Condor - Return any number of your actions on bases to your hand. You must play each of them as an extra action. FAQ
1x Quipu Strings - Choose an action in your discard pile that can be played on a base and play it as an extra action. FAQ
1x Royal Highway - Play on a base. You may move one of your minions to or from here. Ongoing: After you play an action on another base, you may move one of your minions from here to there or from there to here. FAQ
1x Signs in the Stars - Play on a base. Ongoing: Turn the top card of the base deck face up. While the top base card is face up this base also has its abilities. At the start of each player’s turn they may turn the top base card down until the end of the turn. Talent: Place the top card of the base deck on the bottom of the deck. FAQ
1x Temple of the Sun - Play on a base. Draw a card. Ongoing: After you play another action on this base, draw a card. FAQ
Bases[]
Clarifications[]
Here are the official clarifications as they appear in the World Tour: Culture Shock rulebook:
Golden Condor, Quipu Strings: Cards that specify how to choose the extra card require you to play it immediately.
Signs in the Stars: If the top base card changes – because of this card’s controller using its talent, or another card’s ability, or another base scoring – the previous top base card’s ability stops being applied, but any of its effects that have already happened (e.g. "+2 power until the end of the turn") are not undone; the new top base card is face up if the previous card was.
Mechanics[]
The Ancient Incas have several abilities that trigger each time you play a play-on-base action. If you have more than one such card on the same base, those abilities will all trigger from a single play-on-base action play. To keep triggering your abilities, they also have several cards that allow you to search for, retrieve or replay your play-on-base actions.
The big power cards of the faction are Child of the Sun, Fortress Walls, and Armory. Child of the Sun allows you to play an extra action after playing an action on its base for the first time in a turn. Fortress Walls places a +1 power counter on one of your minions after you play it and after each subsequent action you play on that base. Armory gives you +2 power on that base for every other action you have played on it. With one Child and both copies of Walls and Armory, you can hit 23 on a single base.
Incan Engineer will draw a play-on-base action off the top of your deck, helping you assemble the pieces of this combo faster. Ashlar Masonry lets you return one of your play-on-base actions to your hand and shuffle the rest into your deck after a base scores, helping you set up this power combo time and again. Quipu Strings lets you play an extra action on a base from your discard pile. Sapa Inca can fetch the play-on-base action you need right out of your deck or discard pile, and produces +1 power counters in a manner similar to Fortress Walls.
Synergy[]
- Steampunks: Steampunks follow a slightly different strategy - they prefer to group minions together on bases with actions played on them - but their respective support for play-on-base actions makes it easy for one to advance the other's gameplan.
- Dragons: Aside from most of their actions also being play-on-base, Dragons are good at stalling opponents while Incas set up. Flank Attack is an immensely useful fetch card for any play-on-base faction deck.
- Kaiju: Kaiju also love to build up actions on one base, and they sport two copies of Kaiju Conflict, which lets you play two extra actions, to boot.
- Knights of the Round Table: Knights can use the +1 power counters generated by Sapa Inca and Fortress Walls to make clearing the Green Knight a lot easier. Temple of the Sun likewise helps with The Fisher King. Quipu Strings can replay one of the Knights' VP actions.
- Action Heroes: Gracie Brones doesn't mind the +1 power counters.
External Strategy Guides[]
FAQ[]
Questions on Sapa Inca[]
Q: It's so broken! It doesn't tell me to prove that I picked an action that can be played on a base, so I can cheat, put any action or even a strong minion in my hand and nobody can check if I did it, right?
A: Actually, when you search your deck for a card, it is now part of the rules that you have to reveal the searched card.
Rule: If you “search” a deck or discard pile for a card you must reveal the card chosen.
Q: It doesn't say to shuffle my deck, so I don't have to shuffle it at all, right?
A: No, you have to shuffle your deck because you searched through it. That's now an integral part of the rules.
Q: Its Ongoing ability tells me to place a +1 power counter on "one of my minions". Can I place it on a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: After playing this card, I (somehow) have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: If I reveal a card I don't own, what happens?
A: It goes to its owner's hand. That's because the other players can see who owns the card and the card changes location.
Q: If Sapa Inca's ability is cancelled, are the +1 power counters placed by its own ability removed?
A: No. When you place a +1 power counter, it's a definitive effect, so the +1 power counters remain even if the card that placed them has its ability cancelled (like drawing cards, if you play Enchantress, you're not going to discard the card you drew if Enchantress's ability is cancelled). Besides, how are you going to keep track of which +1 power counters were added by Sapa Inca's ability and which ones were not (e.g. placed by Fortress Walls)? That would be very cumbersome.
Rule: Cancelling (or losing) an effect does not necessarily undo what it did.
Q: If I play an action on a minion, do I get a +1 power counter?
A: No. Sapa Inca only triggers from playing actions on bases, not on minions on bases.
Q: I play an Argonaut. Do I get a +1 power counter from Sapa Inca?
A: Yes. When you play an Argonaut, whether it's normally or instead of an action play, it counts as if you played an action as well, but the Argonaut is also played on the base, so you also treat it as if you played on action on its base.
Questions on Child of the Sun[]
Q: If I play an action on a minion on the same base, do I get an extra action?
A: No. Child of the Sun only triggers from playing actions on bases, not on minions on bases.
Q: I play an Argonaut on its base. Do I get an extra action?
A: Yes. When you play an Argonaut, whether it's normally or instead of an action play, it counts as if you played an action as well, but the Argonaut is also played on the base, so you also treat it as if you played on action on its base.
Q: If I have a Child of the Sun, Temple of the Sun and a Fortress Walls on the same base, and I play one play-on-base action there, do they all trigger or do I only choose one of them to trigger for my action play?
A: All of them trigger since they all respond to you playing an action on their base.
Questions on Incan Engineer[]
Q: What kind of action can I get from Incan Engineer?
A: Only action cards with the words "play on a base" as part of its ability. Action cards with abilities that let you "choose a base", or more generally actions that do something to a base without having to be played on it, don't count.
Q: After playing this card, I (somehow) have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: If I reveal a card I don't own, what happens?
A: It goes to its owner's hand. That's because the other players can see who owns the card and the card changes location.
Q: If I go through all my deck and revealed no eligible action, what happens? Do I shuffle my discard pile to make a new deck and continue revealing from there?
A: You stop revealing immediately, don't put any action into your hand and shuffle all those revealed cards to reconstitute your deck.
Questions on Llama[]
Q: It tells me to return "one of my actions". Can I return an action I own that I don't control? For example, if an opponent used Mass Enchantment to play one of my play-on-base actions. I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" action, right?
A: No. "Your actions" are actions you control, whether or not you own them. An action you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: I suppose I can return one of my play-on-minion actions and replay it, right?
A: No, Llama's ability only applies to play-on-base actions. Play-on-minion actions are only played on minions, not on bases and as such are not considered as being "on a base".
Q: After playing this card, I (somehow) have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Questions on Armory[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I have one or more actions on the same base, I get +2 power for each of them, right?.
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "you" means "they" (i.e. your opponent) and "your other actions" means "their other actions".
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Q: Do I get +2 power from my actions on minions on the same base too?
A: No. Armory only gives you +2 power from your actions on its base, not on minions on its base.
Q: Do I get +2 power from Armory itself?
A: No, one Armory only gives you +2 power for each of your other actions on the same base.
Q: If I have two Armories on the same base, as well as other play-on-base actions, how much power do I have?
A: +2 power per Armory (since one Armory gives you +2 power for the other Arrmory), then +4 power per your non-Armory play-on-base actions (+2 power from each of your two Armories).
Q: When the base scores, if I have more than 0 total power from my Armory but no minions, do I still get any VPs?
A: Yes, you are still eligible for VP since you have at least 1 power there.
Q: I play an Argonaut on its base. Do I get +2 power from Armory for that Argonaut?
A: No. Armory only grants you +2 power for actions you control and Argonaut only triggers abilities that trigger from you "playing" an action, not "controlling".
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
Rule: Definition of "standard".
Questions on Ashlar Masonry[]
Q: What does "the rest of them" mean? The rest of my cards, actions, minions and all?
A: "the rest of them" just means the rest of your actions attached to that base. The card tells you to return one of those actions of yours attached to that base and shuffle the rest of those actions.
Q: It tells me to return or shuffle "my actions". Can I return or shuffle an action I own that I don't control? For example, if an opponent used Mass Enchantment to play one of my play-on-base actions. I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" action, right?
A: No. "Your actions" are actions you control, whether or not you own them. An action you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: I suppose I can return or shuffle my play-on-minion actions, right?
A: No, Ashlar Masonry's ability only applies to play-on-base actions. Play-on-minion actions are only played on minions, not on bases and as such are not considered as being "on a base".
Q: After playing this card, I (somehow) have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: Can I play it from stasis after a base scores?
A: No, while in stasis, the only abilities that can do anything are the ones that explicitly state that they do something there.
Rule: Abilities of cards in stasis do not work unless they refer to stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied.
Questions on Fortress Walls[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I play an action on the same base, I can place a +1 power counter on one of my minions, right?.
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "you" means "they" (i.e. your opponent) and "your minions" means "their minions".
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Q: It tells me to place a +1 power counter on "one of my minions". Can I place one on a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: If Fortress Walls is removed from play (e.g. destroyed, returned, etc.) or has its ability cancelled, are the +1 power counters placed by its ability removed?
A: No. When you place a +1 power counter, it's a definitive effect, so the +1 power counters remain even if the card that placed them has its ability cancelled (like drawing cards, if you play Enchantress, you're not going to discard the card you drew if Enchantress's ability is cancelled). Besides, how are you going to keep track of which +1 power counters were added by Fortress Walls's ability and which ones were not (e.g. placed by Sapa Inca)? That would be very cumbersome.
Rule: Cancelling (or losing) an effect does not necessarily undo what it did.
Rule: Removing a card from play does not necessarily undo what it did.
Q: If I play an action on a minion on the same base, do I get a +1 power counter?
A: No. Fortress Walls only triggers from playing actions on bases, not on minions on bases.
Q: Since when I play a Fortress Walls I'm also playing an action (Fortress Walls itself) on a base, does Fortress Walls also trigger from being played? So I get to place two +1 power counters from playing a single Fortress Walls?
A: No. Fortress Walls only triggers "after you play another action on this base", so not for itself being played.
Q: If I have a Child of the Sun, Temple of the Sun and a Fortress Walls on the same base, and I play one play-on-base action there, do they all trigger or do I only choose one of them to trigger for my action play?
A: All of them trigger since they all respond to you playing an action on their base.
Q: I play an Argonaut on its base. Do I get a +1 power counter?
A: Yes. When you play an Argonaut, whether it's normally or instead of an action play, it counts as if you played an action as well, but the Argonaut is also played on the base, so you also treat it as if you played on action on its base.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
Rule: Definition of "standard".
Questions on Golden Condor[]
Q: It tells me to return "my actions". Can I return an action I own that I don't control? For example, if an opponent used Mass Enchantment to play one of my play-on-base actions. I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" action, right?
A: No. "Your actions" are actions you control, whether or not you own them. An action you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: I suppose I can return my play-on-minion actions and replay them, right?
A: No, Golden Condor's ability only applies to play-on-base actions. Play-on-minion actions are only played on minions, not on bases and as such are not considered as being "on a base".
Q: After playing this card, I end with more than 10 cards in hand before having to play them, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: Why does it say that I "must play" the returned actions? Aren't extra card plays always optional?
A: Normally yes, they are optional, but since the card tells you that you must play them, then the card overrules that rule.
Rule: Often, card text and rules text will conflict. When there's a fight, card text wins.
Q: Do I have to play all play-on-base actions on the same base?
A: There's no such restriction, so no.
Q: Do I have to play each play-on-base action on a different base than the one they each come from?
A: There's no such restriction, so no.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play, even though returning and replaying those actions may indirectly affect minions, and so its effect can't be copied.
Questions on Quipu Strings[]
Q: What kind of action cards can Quipu Strings It get from the discard pile?
A: Only action cards with the words "play on a base" as part of its ability. Action cards with abilities that let you "choose a base", or more generally actions that do something to a base without having to be played on it, don't count.
Q: Can Quipu Strings be used to pull Rampage from the discard pile?
A: No. Rampage isn't an action that is played on a base.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied.
Questions on Royal Highway[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I play an action on another base, I can move one of my minions between the two bases, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "you" means "they" (i.e. your opponent) and "your minions" means "their minions".
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Q: It tells me to move "one of my minions". Can I move a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: If I play an action on a minion on another base, do I get to move one of my minions?
A: No. Royal Highway only triggers from playing actions on bases, not on minions on bases.
Q: I play an Argonaut on another base. Do I get to move one of my minions between the two bases?
A: Yes. When you play an Argonaut, whether it's normally or instead of an action play, it counts as if you played an action as well, but the Argonaut is also played on the base, so you also treat it as if you played on action on its base.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
Rule: Definition of "standard".
Questions on Signs in the Stars[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so now I can use its talent when it's my turn, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the talent can only be used by them.
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: A card's talent can only be used by that card's controller.
Q: I don't get its ability.
A: Basically, you keep the top card of the base deck visible. That base's abilities is added to abilities the base where Signs in the Stars is on, but just the ability, not the breakpoint or the VP rewards. At the start of ANY player's turn, that player may choose to "cancel" the added base abilities by turning the top card of the base deck face down until the end of their turn. The controller of Signs in the Stars has the added ability to change the top base card for the next one using Signs in the Stars's talent.
Q: If I use a card to cancel a base's ability, e.g. Jammed Signal, Shrug it Off, Raze, does it just cancel the base's original ability or the additional base ability as well?
A: Both the base's printed ability and the ability added by Signs in the Stars are cancelled.
Q: Can Signs in the Stars add an ability to Jungle Oasis?
A: Absolutely.
Q: If one of my minions gets a power boost from the additional base ability, does it keep it if the top base of base deck is changed or turned face down?
A: It depends. Basically, consider what would happen if that specific base ability was cancelled. If the minion got +1 power counters from that base ability (e.g. Laboratorium, Castle Blood), the minion keeps them. If the minion got +N power for an undefined amount of time from that base ability (e.g. The Central Brain, Monkey Lab), then it loses it because the ability doesn't apply anymore. If the minion got +N power with a set deadline from that base ability (e.g. Moot Site, Wooden Horse), the minion keeps it until the defined deadline.
Rule: Cancelling (or losing) an effect does not necessarily undo what it did.
Rule: Removing a card from play does not necessarily undo what it did.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
Rule: Definition of "standard".
Questions on Temple of the Sun[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I play an action on the same base, I draw a card, right?.
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "you" means "they" (i.e. your opponent) and "(you) draw" means "they draw".
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Q: After playing this card, I (somehow) have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: If I play an action on a minion on the same base, do I get to draw a card?
A: No. Temple of the Sun only triggers from playing actions on bases, not on minions on bases.
Q: Since when I play a Temple of the Sun I'm also playing an action (Temple of the Sun itself) on a base, does Temple of the Sun also trigger from being played? So I get to draw two cards from playing a single Temple of the Sun?
A: No. Temple of the Sun only triggers "after you play another action on this base", so not for itself being played.
Q: I play an Argonaut on its base. Do I get to draw a card?
A: Yes. When you play an Argonaut, whether it's normally or instead of an action play, it counts as if you played an action as well, but the Argonaut is also played on the base, so you also treat it as if you played on action on its base.
Q: If I have a Child of the Sun, Temple of the Sun and a Fortress Walls on the same base, and I play one play-on-base action there, do they all trigger or do I only choose one of them to trigger for my action play?
A: All of them trigger since they all respond to you playing an action on their base.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
Rule: Definition of "standard".
Trivia[]
- The artist is Francisco Rico Torres, who also designed the art of many other factions, including the Polynesian Voyagers in this very set.
- Within the World Tour series, this faction represents Western South America.
- Their divider features Incan Engineer.
- Golden Condor is a reference to The Mysterious Cities of Gold.
- A Penguin can be seen in the crowd in Royal Highway.
In other languages[]
| Language | Name | Translation (if different) |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 古印加人 | |
| French | Anciens Incas | |
| German | Historische Inkas | Historical Incas |
| Russian | Древние инки |
| ||||||