World Order · Board game rules
What are the starting cards for World Order?
Quick answer
Each player starts with 4 Starting Country cards, 6 Starting Ability cards (chosen from two randomly-dealt piles of 6, or a fixed set for first-time players), and 2 chosen Strategic Asset cards.
Details
During setup, each player takes a set of Starting Ability cards and shuffles them into two random piles of 6; you look at both piles and pick one to be your starting hand of 6 cards, while the other pile becomes your face-down deck [p.9 — Game Setup]. If it's your first game, the rulebook suggests skipping the random draw and instead taking the 6 Starting Ability cards marked with an arrow before their name as your fixed starting hand, shuffling the rest into your deck [p.9 — Game Setup].
You also place your 4 Starting Country cards face up above your Player board — these count as your allied Countries from the very start of the game [p.9 — Game Setup].
Finally, you shuffle your 5 Strategic Asset cards, draw 3 at random, and choose 2 to keep face up beneath your Player board (the rest are returned to the box) [p.9 — Game Setup]. Your starting VPs are then set based on the sum of the VPs listed on those 2 chosen Strategic Asset cards.
Watch out: The "fixed starting hand" option (using the arrow-marked cards) is only a suggestion for first-time players — by default, and in all later games, you form two random 6-card piles and choose one as your hand [p.9 — Game Setup].