Mesopotamia, around 1500 BC: Mesopotamia on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers is home to a melting pot of different cultures and is developing magnificently. Fertile soils and modern irrigation systems allow agriculture to flourish. Religion and scholars are held in high esteem, and important achievements such as writing and the wheel lead to the construction of the first major cities and lively trade. A coveted commodity can be found in the mountains: the precious “blue stone” Lapis lazuli (Lapis).
In Papyria, you control the destiny of your people. Explore the region with wanderers and ships and create an extensive network of canals. Build temples, sanctuaries and cities, create inventions and build mines for Lapis. This precious stone and the valuable writing medium, Papyrus, will lead your emerging civilization to glory and victory.
During your turn, you move your wanderer or your ship. On the target space, you choose two of the three possible actions. This can be a new tile for the display or a multiplier for a later scoring; the construction of a city, a temple, or a mine; or the production of Lapis or papyrus, which you need for buildings, special actions, or additional scorings.
The game ends as soon as the last good has been taken from several spaces and a certain number of end-of-game tiles have been revealed and fulfilled.
As you win the game with the most points after the scorings during the game and some final scorings, timing is very important.