The 7th Continent · Board game rules
Gameplay instructions
Quick answer
Gameplay follows a repeating turn sequence: pick an active player, resolve one available action (Item → Cost → Result → Skill → Discard → Consequence → Hand size limit), then start a new turn.
Details
Each turn, the group first agrees on an "active player" (or the player to the left of the last active player if no agreement is reached) [p.10 — Turn sequence]. Any player whose figure shares the same Terrain card may get involved and help by using their hand/inventory cards, if the active player agrees [p.10 — Turn sequence]. The active player then chooses one available action shown on the Terrain card, an attached Exploration/Permanent/Temporary event card, a card in hand, an Item, or a Quest item card [p.10 — Turn sequence].
Resolving an action follows seven steps: (1) Item – involved players may spend item durability for effects; (2) Cost – determine and pay the number of cards drawn from the Action Deck, possibly modified by cards, items, or splitting cost/difficulty among multiple players; (3) Result – reveal drawn cards, tally successes (full stars, combined half-stars, bonus icons) to see if the action succeeds; (4) Skill – one revealed Skill card may be kept by an involved player; (5) Discard – unused cards go to the Discard Pile/Past; (6) Consequence – apply the success (white) or failure (black) effect; (7) Hand size limit – discard excess Skill/Bonus cards over the limit [p.11-12 — Action resolution].
Consequences can include taking numbered Adventure cards (Terrain, Permanent Event, Temporary Event, Item, Quest item, or State cards), moving figures, discarding/banishing cards, or lowering item durability — each type of card is handled differently once revealed [p.14-17 — Consequences of actions and events]. Exploring the continent works by resolving foggy Exploration cards to reveal and place new Terrain cards, then placing new Exploration cards on every open adjacent arrow [p.18 — Exploring the continent].
The Action Deck represents the group's shared life force: cards are drawn/discarded normally while it has cards, but once empty, the Discard Pile is shuffled and used instead — drawing a Curse card from it ends the game in a loss [p.17 — Life force – Action Deck and Discard Pile]. Players may save at any time (if all figures share a Terrain card and no action is in progress) by boxing up the Board, hands, inventories, Action Deck, and Discard Pile using Save cards, and resume later by reversing the process [p.21 — Saving the game / Resuming the game].
Watch out: Some actions have special icons (e.g., all-players-required, locked cost, or "already performed" markers on Permanent Events) that restrict who can take them or whether the cost can be changed — always check the action's icons before resolving it [p.10-11 — Turn sequence / Action resolution].