Bella Vista Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Info
• Components
• Setup for 3 & 4 Architects
• Rounds
  • I • Offers
  • II • Construction
    • A • Place a Building
    • B • Earn Coins
    • C • (Optional) Take a Contract Card
  • III • Round End
• 2-Architect Games
  • During Setup
  • During the Offer Phase
  • During the Construction Phase
  • Round End
• End of the Game
• Example Town Layouts
• Reference: Zoning Cards
• Reference: Height Objective Cards
• Reference: Contract Cards
• Reference: Grouping Objective Cards

Game Info

• Players: 2–4
• Playing time: 35 minutes
• Age: 8+

Components

• Coins: 40 coins worth 1, 28 coins worth 3, and 20 coins worth 5.
• Offer Board.
• Zoning Cards (10 cards).
• Height Objective Cards (3 cards).
• Grouping Objective Cards (3 cards).
• Contract Cards (18 cards).
• Modular Town Tiles: 8 Neighborhood Tiles, 2 River Tiles, and 5 Park Tiles.

For each architect (4 colored sets — Red, Blue, Green and Yellow):

• 1 set of 8 Buildings.
• 1 set of 8 Construction Cards and 1 Starting Card.

NOTE: The Buildings are numbered by height with an indication on the roof and in each inside roof edge (thick stripes = 5, fine stripes = 1).

Additional components for 2-architect games (Red set and Blue set):

• 1 set of 8 Roof Tiles.
• 1 additional set of Construction Cards and 1 additional Starting Card (with an icon).

ORGANIZING TIP: Store the Roof Tiles in the drawer with the Buildings. You can slip the Construction Cards diagonally inside the #4 Buildings. For the best fit, follow the example shown inside the drawer.

Setup for 3 & 4 Architects

Set aside the Roof Tiles and the Red and Blue Construction Cards with the two-architect icon. These are for games with only two architects (see 2-Architect Games below).

• Create a unique Town each time you play! Assemble the 8 Neighborhood Tiles, 5 Park Tiles, and 2 River Tiles in any configuration you want, as long as all tiles are connected and there are no empty spaces within the Town. You can also use one of the example layouts shown on p. 7.
• Place the Offer Board next to the Town on the side showing the correct number of architects (3 architects or 2/4 architects).

THE OFFER BOARD changes depending on the number of architects:

• Side for 2 or 4 architects: 5 Offer Spaces, worth 0 to 7 Coins.

• Side for 3 architects: 4 Offer Spaces, worth 0 to 6 Coins, plus a space on the far right used as a reminder of the special rule for 3-architect games (see Rounds below).

• Shuffle the 10 Zoning Cards and place the deck face-down on the space at the left side of the Offer Board. Draw the top card and place it face-up on the right side.

• Randomly draw one of the 3 Height Objective Cards and one of the 3 Grouping Objective Cards. Place both cards next to the Town. The remaining 4 Objective Cards will not be used.

• Shuffle the Contract Cards and place the deck face-down. Draw the top four cards and place them face-up.

• Each architect chooses a color, and takes the corresponding components: 8 Buildings, 8 Construction Cards, and 1 Starting Card.

• Randomly place the Starting Cards beneath the Offer Board.

• In games with 3 architects, place the unused Starting Card on the top-right of the Offer Board. This card serves as a reminder for the special 3-architect rule (see Rounds below).

• Take 20 Coins each.

• Each architect shuffles their 8 Construction Cards, places their deck face-down, and draws the top 3 cards.

YOU ARE NOW READY TO PLAY!

Rounds

Each round has 3 phases:

• I • OFFERS: Pay to claim your spot in the construction order and play a Construction Card face-down.
• II • CONSTRUCTION: Show your Construction Card, place a Building, and collect rewards.
• III • ROUND END.

I • Offers

In the order defined by the cards beneath the Offer Board, each architect makes an offer.

Starting with the architect whose card is furthest to the left beneath the Offer Board, each architect selects an empty Offer Space above the board:

• they pay the cost of the chosen space immediately,
• then they place one of the 3 Construction Cards from their hand face-down on that space.

Multiple architects cannot choose the same space, so the last architect will have only two options.

Once all architects have placed a card, the Offer Phase ends.

EXAMPLE: Following the order beneath the Offer Board, ANNE goes first and pays 3 Coins to take the 3rd Offer Space. BRUNO plays next and pays 5 Coins to take the space before ANNE. ANDREA wants to build first, so he pays 7 Coins. SOFIA goes last, and since she will be last in the construction order regardless of her choice, she takes the remaining free space.

WARNING: If an architect cannot pay the cost of any remaining available Offer Spaces, they will play last, and must place their Construction Card to the right of the Offer Board, after the space that costs 0 Coins.

II • Construction

Following the order of the Construction Cards ABOVE the Offer Board, each architect places a Building.

Starting with the architect who paid the most (whose card is furthest to the left above the Offer Board), each architect completes the following steps A, B, and C (optional) before the next architect plays:

• A • PLACE A BUILDING
• B • EARN COINS
• C • (OPTIONAL) TAKE A CONTRACT CARD.

The Construction Phase ends once all architects have played.

A • Place a Building

The architect flips their Construction Card face-up and places the corresponding Building on available spaces in the Town, following the restrictions of the Zoning Card. Buildings cannot be placed on Parks or Rivers.

NOTE: For practical and aesthetic reasons, Buildings are slightly smaller than the board spaces. A Building occupies a space even if it does not cover it completely.

Several types of Zoning Cards exist (see reminder on p. 8):

• SUBSIDIZED NEIGHBORHOODS (6 different cards): The entire Building must be placed in one or more of the designated Neighborhoods Tiles. It may span multiple adjacent Neighborhood Tiles, as long as they are all on the Zoning Card.
• COMMUNITY PARKS: The Building must be adjacent to a Park.
• NO PARKS: The Building must not be adjacent to a Park.
• NO RIVERS: The Building must not be adjacent to a River.
• NO BORDERS: The Building must not be on the border of Town.

ADJACENT: A Building is considered adjacent to another element if it occupies at least one space directly next to that element. Diagonal spaces do not count as adjacent.

ON THE BORDER: A Building is considered on the border of Town if it occupies at least one space with an edge that is not adjacent to any other element (Neighborhood, River, or Park).

EXAMPLE: ANDREA must place his Building on one or more striped Neighborhood Tiles. He chooses to place it in both the striped Flower Neighborhood and the striped Butterfly Neighborhood.

WARNING: If an architect cannot place their Building while respecting the Zoning Card, they MUST place the Building on the border of Town. In this case, their turn ends immediately: they do not earn Coins (B) or take a Contract Card (C).

B • Earn Coins

The architect earns Coins based on the Buildings adjacent to the one they just placed.

The architect earns:

• 1 Coin for each adjacent Building that is strictly shorter.
• 3 Coins if the newly placed Building is strictly taller than all adjacent Buildings (or if it is isolated).

EXAMPLE: ANDREA places his red Building #6 adjacent to a Building #2 and a Building #1. He earns 5 Coins: 2 Coins for the adjacent shorter Buildings and 3 Coins because his Building is the tallest of the three.

BRUNO places his Building #4 in an isolated location, and earns 3 Coins.

ANNE places her Building #6 adjacent to a Building #6 and a Building #2. She does not earn 3 Coins because her Building is not the tallest, but still earns 1 Coin for the shorter Building.

C • (Optional) Take a Contract Card

If the architect's Buildings meet the requirements on a Contract Card, the architect may take the card and place it face-down in front of themselves.

At the end of the game, they add the number of Coins indicated on the card to their total. Each architect may take only one Contract Card per round. Contract Cards are not replaced until the end of the round (see Round End below).

EXAMPLE: ANDREA meets the requirements of two available Contract Cards. He has four Buildings on the border of Town and two Buildings spanning two adjacent Neighborhood Tiles. He may only take one Contract Card and picks the one that will earn him the most Coins.

Several types of Contract Cards exist (see reminder on p. 8):

• You must have 2 Buildings built entirely on the Neighborhood Tile shown (3 Buildings in a two-architect game). (8 different cards)
• For each of the two Neighborhoods shown, you must have at least one Building built entirely on the Neighborhood Tile. (4 different cards)
• For each of the four Neighborhoods shown, you must have at least one Building built entirely on the Neighborhood Tile. (2 different cards)

WARNING: A Building spanning two adjacent Neighborhood Tiles is NOT built entirely on EITHER tile and does not meet the above Contract Card requirements.

• You must have 2 Buildings spanning any 2 adjacent Neighborhood Tiles.
• You must have 4 Buildings on the border of Town.
• You must have 2 Buildings adjacent to one or several River(s). (3 Buildings in a two-architect game).
• You must have 2 Buildings adjacent to Park(s). (3 Buildings in a two-architect game).

III • Round End

There are two possible scenarios:

• 8th round: All Construction Cards have been played and the game ends. Skip to the End of the Game section.
• 1st–7th round: Make the following adjustments:

ONLY FOR GAMES WITH 3 ARCHITECTS: Once the Construction Phase is over, the architect who played last places a Building of the color not in play. These Buildings must be placed in ascending order from shortest to tallest (Building #1 during the 1st round, Building #2 during the second, etc.) and must meet the Zoning Card requirements. Placing these Buildings ensures that 3-architect games have the same strategic tension as a 4-architect game.

A • Move the Construction Cards from the top of the Offer Board to the bottom, placing them in ascending order from left to right. If two cards are equal, the card from the more expensive Offer Space is placed first. This ensures that architects who played shorter Buildings will have first choice in the next Offer Phase.

EXAMPLE: The lowest card is the Green #4, so this card is placed on the leftmost space beneath the Offer Board. Next, there are two cards of equal value, a Red #6 and a Blue #6. Since Red paid more, the order remains Red before Blue. Lastly, the Yellow #8 is the highest card and is placed on the remaining space to the right of the others.

B • All architects draw a Construction Card from their decks so they have 3 cards in hand. Once the decks are empty, the game continues with the remaining cards until the last card is played during the 8th round.

C • Replace any Contract Cards that were taken with new cards. There should be 4 face-up cards.

D • Draw a new Zoning Card and place it face-up on top of the previous one.

2-Architect Games

During Setup

• Place the Offer Board on the 2/4 architect side.
• Each architect takes 1 set of Construction Cards (Blue or Red) and another set of the same color with the two-architect icon, shuffles them, and places their 16 cards face-down. Then, each draws a hand of 5 cards.
• Each architect takes 8 Buildings of their color (Blue or Red).
• Each architect also takes 8 Buildings of another color (Green or Yellow) and places the 8 Roof Tiles of their color on the corresponding Green or Yellow Buildings. Each architect will play 16 Buildings during the game.
• Randomly choose one of the four Starting Cards (Blue or Red). Place the architect's two Starting Cards in positions 1 and 4 beneath the Offer Board. Place the opponent's cards in positions 2 and 3.
• Each architect takes 30 Coins.

During the Offer Phase

The Offer Phase will be done twice by each architect, following the order of the cards beneath the Offer Board.

EXAMPLE: ANNE completes her first Offer Phase, choosing to pay 1 Coin. BRUNO takes the free space. They continue following the order of the cards beneath the Offer Board, so BRUNO then has his second Offer Phase. He pays 3 Coins to place his card in the space before ANNE's card. ANNE then completes her second Offer Phase, paying 5 Coins.

During the Construction Phase

The Construction Phase will also be done twice by each architect, following the order of the cards above the Offer Board. During each Construction Phase, an architect places a Building, earns Coins, and may take a Contract Card.

EXAMPLE OF A CONSTRUCTION PHASE WITH 2 ARCHITECTS: In this Construction phase, according to the Zoning Card, architects must place their Buildings adjacent to a Park.

ANNE shows her Construction Card and places her Building #4. There are no adjacent Buildings, so she earns 3 Coins but does not meet the requirements of any Contract Cards.

Next, BRUNO places his Building #6 next to ANNE's, earning 4 Coins. With this new Building, he now meets the requirements for a Contract Card requiring 3 Buildings in the striped Leaf Neighborhood.

Then, ANNE plays her second Building #4. She earns only 1 Coin and takes a Contract Card, as she now has 3 Buildings in the unstriped Leaf Neighborhood.

Lastly, BRUNO places his Building on the border of Town. He earns 3 Coins and takes a Contract Card requiring 4 Buildings on the border of Town.

Round End

Each architect draws 2 Construction Cards from their deck so they have 5 cards in hand.

All other game rules remain unchanged!

End of the Game

Each architect earns Coins from the Objective Cards they drew at the beginning of the game (see reminders on p. 8).

There are two types of Objectives:

• HEIGHT OBJECTIVES (3 different cards): Earn Coins for the sum of the heights of your Buildings adjacent to Parks, Rivers, or on the border of Town.

If several Park Tiles are adjacent to one another then they are considered as a single Park. Likewise, if the two River Tiles are adjacent to one another, then they are considered as a single River.

• GROUPING OBJECTIVES (3 different cards): A Group of Buildings is a collection of at least two adjacent Buildings belonging to the same architect.
  • Earn 2 Coins for each space occupied by your Group of Buildings that occupies the most spaces.
  • Earn 10 Coins for each of your Groups of Buildings.
  • Pay a 5-Coin penalty for each of your Buildings that is not part of a Group of Buildings.

Each architect adds the value of their completed Contract Cards to their total.

The architect with the highest total wins the game! In case of a tie, the architect with the largest Group of Buildings that occupies the most spaces wins. If the tie persists, the tied architects share the victory.

EXAMPLE: The largest Group of Buildings of ANNE is made of 9 spaces, she earns 18 Coins (9 x 2).

The Buildings #6, 5 and 3 of ANNE are adjacent to a River, she earns 14 Coins (3 + 6 + 5).

Example Town Layouts

The rulebook shows several example Town layouts, each named after a real city (London, New York, Rome, Bangkok, Berlin, Paris), to help architects assemble the Neighborhood, Park, and River Tiles into a connected Town during setup.

Reference: Zoning Cards

• SUBSIDIZED NEIGHBORHOODS: Your Building must be built entirely on one or more of the Neighborhood Tiles shown.
• NO PARKS/NO RIVERS: The Building must not be adjacent to a Park or a River.
• COMMUNITY PARKS: Your Building must be adjacent to a Park.
• NO BORDERS: The Building must not be on the border of Town.

Reference: Height Objective Cards

RAPPEL: If several Park Tiles are adjacent to one another then they are considered as a single Park. Likewise, if the two River Tiles are adjacent to one another, then they are considered as a single River.

• For each Park, earn Coins equal to the sum of the heights of your Buildings adjacent to that Park.
• For each River, earn Coins equal to the sum of the heights of your Buildings adjacent to that River.
• Earn Coins equal to the sum of the heights of your Buildings on the border of Town.

EXAMPLE: Anne's Building #8 is adjacent to two Park Tiles. She earns 8 Coins for each Park, for a total of 16 Coins.

Reference: Contract Cards

• You must have 2 Buildings built entirely on the Neighborhood Tile shown (3 Buildings in a two-architect game).
• For each of the two Neighborhoods shown, you must have at least one Building built entirely on the Neighborhood Tile.
• For each of the four Neighborhoods shown, you must have at least one Building built entirely on the Neighborhood Tile.
• You must have 2 Buildings spanning any 2 adjacent Neighborhood Tiles.
• You must have 4 Buildings on the border of Town.
• You must have 2 Buildings adjacent to one or several River(s) (3 Buildings in a two-architect game).
• You must have 2 Buildings adjacent to one or several Park(s) (3 Buildings in a two-architect game).

REMINDER: A Building spanning two adjacent Neighborhood Tiles is NOT built entirely on EITHER tile and does not meet the above Contract Card requirements.

Reference: Grouping Objective Cards

RAPPEL: A Group of Buildings is a collection of at least two adjacent Buildings belonging to the same architect.

• Earn 2 Coins for each space occupied by your Group of Buildings that occupies the most spaces.
• Earn 10 Coins for each of your Groups of Buildings.
• Pay a 5-Coin penalty for each of your Buildings that is not part of a Group of Buildings.

NOTE: For this Objective, smaller Buildings earn more Coins, unlike for Height Objectives.