1906 San Francisco
1906 San Francisco Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- a 1 Year Board (scoreboard on the other side).
- b 1 Year Marker.
- c 18 Rubble Tokens.
- d 30 Money Tokens (13x $1, 9x $3, 8x $5).
- e 4 Development Tokens (1 per player).
- f 4 Action Pawns (1 per player).
- g 32 Buildings (8 per player).
- h 1 Development Board.
- i 99 Cards:
- 8x Plots of Land (double-sided)
- 42x Permits
- 25x Municipal Objectives
- 6x Action (face: 3-4 players, reverse: 1-2 players)
- 1x Solo Mode Aid (face: normal, reverse: hard)
- 17x Urbanism
Note: The game includes 2 extra Rubble Tokens as replacement in case of loss.
Setup
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In the centre of the table, place 4, 6 or 8 Plots of Land cards, depending on the number of players (2, 3 or 4), forming the map (2 players: 4 cards; 3 players: 6 cards; 4 players: 8 cards). You can use either side A or B of each card to create different rubble zones.
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Place a Rubble Token on each of the Plot of Land in the designated place. Return the remaining Rubble Tokens to the box as they won't be used.
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Place the Money Tokens within reach of the players.
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Place the Year Board to one side of the map with the year marker on "1906".
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Place 6 random Action Cards so they surround the map (see setup example image). Note that the Action Cards have a side for 1-2 player games and a side for 3-4 player games.
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Place the Development Board to one side and stack the players' Development Tokens on the bottom left space marked with "-7".
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Place the Urbanism cards next to this board, divided by type into several piles.
Note: The "Park" cards grant different rewards. You should place them in order so that the first card obtained is A, then B, and so on.
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Shuffle the 8 initial Municipal Objective cards (purple border) and place 3 of them face-up on the table so all players can see them. These are the common objective cards that everyone will score at the end of the game. Place the "Best Builder" card (orange border) next to them.
Then, shuffle the 5 unused initial Municipal Objective cards with the remaining 16 Municipal Objective cards (green border) and create a row of 3 objective cards face-up. Leave the deck to the side for later replenishment.
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Shuffle the Permit cards, create a face-up row of 3 cards, and leave the rest in a deck to the side for later replenishment.
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Place all players' Buildings to one side, in a common pool.
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Each player receives their Action Pawn and a hidden goal card from the deck, which they can look at.
The player who has most recently experienced seismic tremors (or a randomly chosen one) will be the starting player.
First Year: 1906
Beginning with the starting Player, each player places their Action Pawn on any space in the earnings area of the board and receive that amount of money (from $1 to $4).
Note that, as explained later, the turn order of the round will depend on the space where the Action Pawn was placed. Pawns placed to the right, with less earnings, play first.
After that, receive the benefit indicated for the first year (1906):
- Take one of the Buildings of your colour from the pool and place it in front of yourself.
- Choose one of the 3 available Permit cards and place it face-up in your play area. After that, replenish the row with a new card from the deck so the next player also has 3 options available.
In clockwise order, all the other players do the same, and when all Action Pawns are placed, the game can begin.
Types of Cards
PLOTS OF LAND: These have one or more plots identified by color and number where players' Buildings are constructed. There are construction spaces within the plots that have rubble that needs to be cleared to build.
ACTIONS: These allow players to carry out game actions by placing pawns on one of the available free spaces. Each card represents several actions and also a pass action (only available for games with 3 or 4 players).
PERMITS: These are the building and urban development permits for the city. Each card shows a number, a color, and two different urbanization icons.
MUNICIPAL OBJECTIVES: These grant points at the end of the game (see the Municipal Objectives section). There are eight initial Municipal Objective cards (purple border), from which three are used and affect all players, and one "Best Builder" card (orange border) is given to the first player to build their 8 buildings. The remaining cards (green border), along with the 5 unused initial cards, are personal Municipal Objective cards that only affect the player who obtains them.
URBANISM: These represent the promoters' efforts in developing the area and supplying essential services. They are obtained by building using two Permit cards and you will grant extra points at the end of the game (see the Urbanism Cards section).
Order of Play
The game order is always determined by the position of the pawns on the Action cards. The player with the pawn furthest to the right will be the first to take their turn, and once completed, the remaining turns progress in order from right to left.
Player's Turn
On your turn, you must move your pawn to a free space on the next Action card, always following clockwise order, and carry out one of these options:
- Carry out the action where the pawn is located or receive the money indicated at the bottom.
- Carry out any other action on that card. In order to do this, you must pay $2 for each step between the position of your pawn and the action you want to carry out.
- Pass (in games with 3 or 4 players). You only gain the advantage of being the second player in the next turn.
A Decade of Reconstruction
The San Francisco earthquake was far more devastating than official figures initially indicated. While the official death toll was 700, the reality was much grimmer, with final estimates around 3,000 deaths. The earthquake ravaged many poor and immigrant neighborhoods, including Chinatown, and destroyed 80% of the homes, leaving 300,000 people homeless. These survivors lived in large areas of tents and huts built by the army in places like Golden Gate Park, the Presidio area, and some beaches. Despite these harsh conditions, the survivors' spirit remained strong, and they soon began clearing rubble.
Fundraising and reconstruction planning started almost immediately. Although the ambitious plan developed by the urban planner Daniel Burnham for the city council before the disaster could not be fully executed, some of his key ideas—such as wider streets, an underground metro, and a large neoclassical civic center—were implemented and are now part of modern San Francisco. Remarkably, San Francisco was almost completely rebuilt by 1915, just in time for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, which celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal and the city's resurgence.
Actions
EARNINGS Receive the indicated amount of money.
MATERIALS Take a Building of your color from the pool and place it in your playing area.
OBTAIN PERMIT Take 1 Permit card from those available, or take the top card from the deck and place it face-up in your play area. You can never have more than 5 Permit cards in your area. If the deck runs out, create a new one by shuffling the discard pile.
SIGN OBJECTIVE Take 1 Municipal Objective card from the available row, or take the top card from the deck and place it face-down in your play area. You can look at these cards as often as you like. If there are no Municipal Objective cards left, you cannot perform this action.
Note: Unlike when Permit or Objective cards are obtained as a yearly benefit (see "First Year: 1906"), taking a card through these actions does not immediately refill the rows. The rows are only refilled at the end of the turn when the last Action Pawn is placed on the card.
CLEAR UP Pay $2 to move your Development Token one space up on the board. If it is already at the top, move it one space to the right as indicated by the printed arrow.
Alternatively, you may pay $3 instead to move the Development Token and also remove a Rubble Token from a plot space. Keep the removed Rubble Token in your play area.
Note: If the Development Token is already at the top right, each time you level up through "Clear up" or "Urban development," you receive $1.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT Pay $2 to move your Development Token one space to the right on the board. If it is already at the far right, move it one space up as indicated by the printed arrow.
Note: The Development Board has a green column and an orange row that show a score that only applies at the end if the corresponding Municipal Objective cards have come into play.
BUILD To carry out this action, you need:
- A Building in your play area.
- The amount of money shown on the year board according to the current year being played ($0, $1, $2, or $3).
- Discard 1 or 2 Permit cards.
Then, move your Development Token one space to the right as if you had carried out a "Urban development" action for free.
Building with 1 Permit card: Place a building from your play area on a free space of a plot where the number and color match those of the discarded Permit card.
Building with 2 Permit cards: Alternatively, you can make an extra effort and build a building with infrastructure. To do this, discard two Permit cards and place a building from your play area on a free space of a plot where the number of one card matches and the color of the other matches.
If you build this way, you can receive an urbanization reward.
First, check the urbanization icons on the 2 Permit cards used. If at least one icon matches between them, you can take an Urbanism card of that type and place it in your play area. If both icons of one card match the two of the other, you must choose which Urbanism card you receive. If they do not match or the card you should take is exhausted, you don't take any and don't move your Development Token.
Note: Even if you could build with just one Permit card, you can always voluntarily discard any other card to receive the urbanization reward.
Plot with rubble: As part of the build action, if the plot where you want to build is occupied by a Rubble Token, you can carry out the "Clear up" action before building (pay $3, move the Rubble Token to your play area, and move your Development Token one space up on the board).
Building Grants: There are two Permit cards that allow you to choose any color or number you want. Additionally, there is an Action card that allows you to carry out the "Build" action, immediately granting you a color or number of your choice.
Note: This plot does not exist — building here is not possible.
Example of turn: According to their placement on the previous Action card, the game order is Orange, Black and Blue.
- Orange places their pawn on "Materials" and takes one of their Buildings from the pool.
- Black receives $3 with the "Earnings" action.
- Blue has the option to play first in the next turn but prefers to get a Building. So, they place their pawn on "Build" and pay $2 to carry out the adjacent "Materials" action.
The game order for the next turn will be Black, Orange, then Blue.
A Golden Fire Hydrant
The destruction of San Francisco was not primarily due to the massive earthquake but because the gas lines broke, causing a huge fire that spread quickly, and the water lines broke, making it difficult to extinguish.
Most homes caught fire, although one neighborhood was saved.
The Mission District, located on a large hill, was not protected from the flames. Accessing it was difficult because the horses pulling the heavy fire trucks (which carried steam boilers to pressurize the water) were exhausted from climbing the steep slope. The neighborhood residents themselves pushed the trucks uphill and discovered a fire hydrant that, unlike most in the city, still had water!
For seven hours, the residents and firefighters fought fiercely with the fire and managed to save the neighborhood's homes. Therefore, every April 18 at 5:12 AM (the time the earthquake started), that providential fire hydrant receives a coat of golden paint.
Urbanism Cards
The reconstruction of San Francisco allowed for a great urban study to provide the city with services and improve infrastructure.
- Electric lighting: At the end of the game, you earn 1, 3, 6, 10, or 15 points depending on whether you have 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cards of this type.
- Cable car: To obtain this card, you must pay $1. At the end of the game, you earn 3 points.
- Fire hydrant: You earn 2 points at the end of the game.
- Parks: You earn the points indicated on the card (2, 3, 4, or 5) at the end of the game.
End of the Year
When all players have completed their turn and are on the sixth Action card, the year ends.
- Move the Year Marker one position forward. If it reaches the year 1915 (the inauguration of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition), the game ends.
- The player placed first on the Action card moves their pawn to a space in the earnings area of the board. They receive the indicated money and the benefit of the new year. The other players do the same in strict order.
Note: Remember that if a player takes Permit or Municipal Objective cards as a benefit (and not as an action), they must refill the row to leave 3 cards available for the next player.
Year Benefits
- 1907 (Building cost: $1): Carry out a "Sign Objective" or "Obtain Permit" action.
- 1908 (Building cost: $1): Carry out a "Materials" action or receive $2 for each Building you have already constructed.
- 1909 (Building cost: $2): Carry out an "Obtain Permit" action or a free "Urban development" action.
- 1910 (Building cost: $2): Carry out a "Materials" action or receive $3.
- 1911 (Building cost: $3): Carry out an "Obtain Permit," "Sign Objective" action, or receive $1 for each Building you have already constructed.
- 1915 (Building cost: $3): Carry out a "Build" action or receive $2.
Note: If, with the action of this benefit, a player is the first to build their eighth Building, they receive the "Best Builder" objective card.
End of Game and Scoring
The game ends when one of the following situations arises:
- A player builds their 8th Building. They receive the "Best Builder" Objective card, adding it to their other Objective cards. The remaining players who still have actions to carry out can do so, and the game ends.
- The year marker reaches 1915. In this case, players do not place themselves in the earnings area but, in turn order from the 6th Action card, choose one of the benefits indicated for the year 1915.
After this, scoring begins. Flip the Year Board to show the Scoreboard, and each player places their pawn in the "0" position.
Players add their points according to these categories:
- Common Municipal Objectives: All players receive the indicated score.
- Personal Municipal Objectives: Reveal the Municipal Objective cards in your play area and sum the received score. There is an explanation of all objectives in the Municipal Objectives section.
- Development: Add or subtract the indicated amount in the space of your Development Token.
- Urbanism cards.
- Money: Add 1 point for every $3.
The player with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player who has built the most Buildings wins. If the tie persists, share the victory.
Solo Mode: The Committee of Fifty
The Committee of Fifty was founded in 1906 to manage the earthquake crisis. It was composed of civic leaders, businessmen, journalists, and politicians. Will you be able to manage the reconstruction better than they did?
Setup
- Prepare the game the same way as for two players.
- Remove the two Permit cards with building grants from the deck. They will not be used in this game mode.
- Add the Solo Mode Aid card over the Permit and Municipal Objective rows. This card serves as a reminder of where the Committee will place its Action Pawn and which cards it will take from the row.
- If you want to increase the difficulty of the game, you can use the blue side of the aid card.
- Block the "$1" position on the Year Board with an Action Pawn of an unused color. This position will not be available throughout the game.
- If you want to increase the difficulty of the game, block the "$4" position.
- Choose another color for the Committee and leave its Buildings and Action Pawn in its play area.
- Place its Action Pawn in the "$3" position and put that money in its play area. As the benefit for the year 1906, take the top card from the Permit deck and place it in its play area. This will be the first card in a row that will be used for the "Build" action.
- Place your Action Pawn, receive the money, and the benefit for 1906.
Committee's Turn
Each time it is the Committee's turn, discard the top card from the Permit deck and place the Action Pawn in the space indicated by the Solo Mode Aid card according to the value of the discarded card. If the space is occupied, follow the arrows on the Solo Mode Aid card to place it in an adjacent space.
Then, carry out the action of the indicated space, and if that is not possible, carry out the "Earnings" action at the bottom.
Example of turn: The Committee draws the Yellow 5 card, so according to the Aid card, it places its pawn in the left space to carry out the "Build" action.
Committee Actions
EARNINGS The Committee receives the indicated amount.
MATERIALS Committee starts with all its Buildings, so when it carries out this action, it does an "Obtain Permit/Sign Objective" action as indicated below.
OBTAIN PERMIT / SIGN OBJECTIVE These actions are resolved in the same way. First, check how many Permit cards are in the Committee's play area:
- If it has 0, 1 or 2 cards: Take a Permit card and place it visible in its play area, accumulating it in a row from left to right.
- If it has 3 or more cards: Take a Municipal Objective card and place it face-down in its play area.
When the Committee needs to take a card from the rows, look at the value of the top card of the discard pile and check the Solo Mode Aid card to know which one to take. If the position it should take is empty, follow the arrows on the Solo Mode Aid card and take another.
Note: The Committee never pays for building or obtaining a Cable Car. For it, the Building Grant Actions are considered normal Building Actions.
CLEAR UP The Committee removes a Rubble Token without paying, places it in its play area, and moves its Development Token one space up on the board. When selecting the Rubble, choose the one that is highest and furthest to the left. If none are available, continue moving its Development Token.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT The Committee moves its Development Token one space to the right without paying.
BUILD The Committee always builds for free. To do this, it selects the card on the far left of its Permit row and follows these steps in strict order:
- It finds a plot that matches in color (the number does not matter) and builds a Building in the first free space (without Building or Rubble Token), following the order from top to bottom and left to right.
- If there is no free space, it selects the first one with Rubble. It clears the Rubble for free and moves its Development Token one space up.
- Then, it compares the Urbanism icons on the used card with those on the top card of the discard pile. For each matching icon, the Committee moves its Development Token one space to the right on the board and receives the corresponding Urbanism card (it can receive up to 2 cards at once).
- After building, it discards the used Permit card.
If it cannot build with the color of the first card in its row, it selects the second, then the third, etc.
Example of Build action: The card on the far left of the Committee's row is Yellow, so since Yellow plot 1 is already occupied, it builds on plot 4.
End of Year
When the year changes, the Committee always chooses the benefits located furthest to the right on the Year Board.
Scoring
The Committee scores common Objectives, Development, and Urbanism cards in the usual way. Additionally, it scores differently in the following ways:
- 1 point for every $4 in its play area. If you want to increase the difficulty, it can be for every $3.
- 3 fixed points for each personal Objective card in its play area, ignoring the value indicated on the card.
The player with the most points is the winner.
Credits
1906 San Francisco
- Author: Perepau Llistosella
- Illustration & Design: Pedro Soto
- Rules: Pedro Soto
- Translation: Ferran Renalias
- Solo Mode: Ferran Renalias (based on the solitaire of "sus2010")
- Published by: Looping Games S.L. (www.loopinggames.com)
Dedication: A l'Elisabet i a totes les dones que han lluitat fins el final.
Municipal Objectives
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1 point for each building constructed.
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3 points for each pair of your own buildings constructed adjacently. Note that the same building cannot contribute to scoring a second pair.
Example: Orange scores 3 points because the corner building can only be used to form one pair.
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2 points (or 3 in 2-player games) for each building constructed adjacent to a rival's building.
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2 points (or 3 in 2-player games) for each building constructed on a corner surrounded by rival or own buildings.
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2 points for each building constructed that is not adjacent to another.
Note: Buildings on "1" plots score for this objective.
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2 points for each building constructed in the color indicated by the plot.
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8 points for each group of 4 buildings constructed on plots of different colors.
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2 points for each rubble token.
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2 points for each urbanism card of the indicated type.
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9 points for each group of 4 different urbanism cards.
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Earn points equal to the number indicated in the orange row of the board that matches your development token.
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Earn points equal to the number indicated in the green column of the board that matches your development token.
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Compare with the rest of the players the number of buildings constructed in the indicated color, rubble tokens removed, or money left. Receive points according to your position (depending on the number of players): 6/2 in a 2-player game, 6/4/1 in a 3-player game, 6/4/2/1 in a 4-player game. In case of a tie, the tied players sum the points of the positions and divide equally (rounding down).
Scoring example: In a 3-player game, Black has 3 buildings on green plots of land and scores 6 points. Orange and Blue tie with 1 building each and score 2 points (resulting from adding 4+1 and dividing equally, rounding down).
Note: If any of these initial objective cards for comparing scores are not in the common area but you have it hidden, you still compare your number of buildings, rubble tokens, or money with the other players. However, only you receive the points based on your position (splitting ties if necessary).