
- BGG rank
- BGG #9,063
- BGG rating
- 6.9
Merchants of Muziris
- 2–4 players
- 10–30 min
- Complexity 1.9/5
- 2017

2013
Rules assistance for Shadow of the Sun
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 3 players

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Shadow of the Sun is a board game released in 2013 for 3–4 players and 30 minutes per game. It was designed by John Clowdus.
Shadow of the Sun takes place in the city of Hemloch. The long day is drawing to a close, and the scramble for power before the endless night has begun. Each player will play Minion Cards, in a variety of ways, to add his markers, or attempt to remove is opponent's markers, from the city's 4 districts. Shadow of the Sun takes place over 8 (or sometimes fewer) Days (or Rounds). During each Day, a Day Card is revealed, each player receives a turn, and there is a Struggle of the revealed Day card. Each player's Markers represent his House's level of influence across the 4 Districts of Hemloch. Through the use of Minion Cards, players are able o add and remove Markers. The games ends at the end of any Day when there are no Day card remaining in the Day Deck, or 1 or more players have no Makers left to place. Each Day, beginning with the Supreme Player, and continuing clockwise, each player takes 1 turn. Each player's turn is broken up into several steps, taking in this order: DRAW - The player draws 2 card from the Minion deck and adds them to his hand. There is no maximum hand size. BONUS - The player may draw 2 additional cards OR he may add 1 of his Markers to any District that does not yet have 1 of his Markers on it. SPECIAL ABILITY - The player has access to 4 different Special Abilities. In order to us a Special Ability, the player must discard the appropriate cards from his hand. A player may use 1 Special Ability per turn. ACTIONS - The players has a choice of performing 1 of the following 3 Actions: Bolster, Usurp, or Preen. DRAW - Player draws 1 additional card. THE STRUGGLE At the end of each Day, after each player has taken his turn, there is a Struggle. The winner of the Struggle will be able to place a Marker, or Markers, on the District indicated on the current Day card. Each player, beginning with the player to the left of the Supreme Player, and continuing clockwise choose to participate in the Struggle or pass. Each player who participates chooses a Legion to play and they are revealed simultaneously. The player with the highest Legion Strength takes the current Day card and places it in his play area and places the Markers indicated on the Day card on the District also on the Day card. All Legions are discarded. After the struggle, the game ends if there are no Day cards left or if any player has no Markers remaining. If the game does not end after the Struggle, each player discards down to 3 cards and then the discard pile and Minion deck are shuffled together. The Supremacy Card passes to the next player and a new Day begins. Players score points based on the placement of their Markers within the Districts. The player with the highest score wins.
Shadow of the Sun supports 3–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Shadow of the Sun is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
Shadow of the Sun has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Shadow of the Sun belongs to these categories: Card Game. Categories describe the theme, setting and style of a game rather than its rules. Filter the catalogue by the same category to find similar games when you enjoyed Shadow of the Sun and want something comparable for your next game night.
The credited designers of Shadow of the Sun are: John Clowdus. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Shadow of the Sun as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.