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2-player playthrough · New Discoveries

Underwater Cities: setup guide

Build a productive connected underwater network and finish with the most victory points. Cities, tunnels, building combinations, metropolises and scoring cards interact. Construction helps only when its costs, connection and production timing fit your plan.

Open the interactive tutorial →

Setup 01

Select the two-player Quick Start game

Use the two-player main-board side and the New Discoveries components for this route. Museum B is active and seven symbiotic domes are used. Metropolis Race, Metropolis Choice, promos and Data Era are not combined into the saved lesson.

Setup 02

Lay out each building network

Give each player a board with room for city domes, tunnels, farms, desalination plants and laboratories. Keep upgraded buildings distinguishable from ordinary ones. Locate each metropolis connection so later network growth has a visible destination.

Setup 03

Prepare markets and the Museum

Separate the era decks and add the expansion cards used by this scenario. Set out the special-card market, discovery tiles, Museum B and the resource supplies. A hand card, a displayed special card and a Museum reward are different sources of effects.

Setup 04

Resolve the Quick Start choices

The second player chooses a Quick Start tile before the first player in this recorded opening. Apply the selected networks and resources completely, inspecting each component type and placement. These tiles replace the ordinary first round rather than adding a free extra round to it.

Setup 05

Check connection and turn order

Confirm which cities and buildings are connected to each starting network, then inspect the Federation order and remaining cards. Begin round two only after both Quick Start positions are complete. The next production is after round four, giving early construction a concrete deadline.

Before your first move

Place an action tile on an available slot and play a card. A matching colour can give the card’s effect as well as the slot; a mismatched card is discarded without its effect. Resolve the complete card before or after the complete slot. Production follows rounds four, seven and ten.

This is a setup companion for the scenarios below, not a replacement for the publisher’s complete setup diagrams. Open the guided table to inspect the exact locations and the recorded deal.

Sources and scope

The source tutorial checked publisher rules and component references on 11 September 2026. This authored route uses two players, Quick Start and Museum B; other player counts, the ordinary round-one opening and alternative expansion modes are outside its scope.

Reading guide reviewed 2026-09-15; based on tutorial v1.0.3. This date records an editorial review of the existing tutorial, not a new rules edition. Strategic suggestions are conditional interpretations, separate from official rules.