Big Cityz
Big Cityz Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Aim of the Game
There are always four statements on the game board, and you have to place your drawn city cards on the board accordingly: In your opinion, which statement is the most accurate about the city? If you guess right, you earn points. But be careful not to risk too much because the other players can object at any time. And if you guessed wrong, the points will go to the player who put in his veto. The first player to reach 36 points wins.
What You Need to Do Before You Can Play
Unfold the game board and place it in the middle of the table. Shuffle the city cards. Put approximately half of them into a pile with the city name facing up and place it on the wind rose in the middle of the game board. Put the remaining city cards back into the game box for later. Shuffle the statement boards and put them into a draw pile, face down. Turn over four statement boards and lay them onto the four large placeholders on the game board in any order. Each player chooses a player color and takes a playing piece in that color, placing one of them onto the game board on the gray space with the arrow on it. This is the starting position. Put the other two playing pieces in front of you so that everyone can see them. These are your veto markers. Put any remaining playing pieces back into the game box. Now the game can begin!
How to Play
Whoever has gone on the longest trip in terms of distance goes first. Then take turns in a clockwise direction. Is it your turn? Then draw a city card and read the city name out loud. This is the city about which you have to guesstimate in this round. Do not turn over the city card and make sure that no one can see the details on the backside of the card. Look at the statement boards on the game board and consider which ones are an accurate statement about your city and which ones are not. Then lay your city card on a free point square of one of the statement boards and make your wager. When laying your city card on the statement board you must consider the following:
On the statement boards there are green and red point squares.
- Lay your city card on a green point square if you think the corresponding statement is true of your city.
- Lay your city card on a red point square if you think the corresponding statement is not true of your city.
Each point square shows a number on it. This represents the number of points you will win if you are right. If you are wrong, you will not get any points.
Example: Martin draws the city card "Kiev". Among others, the statement boards showing on the game board are: "Has a population of 1 million or more" and "Is located south of the equator". Martin is certain that the statement "Has a population of 1 million or more" is true of Kiev. So he lays the city card on a green point square of this statement board. He is right. Alternatively, Martin could have also laid the city card on a red point square on the other statement board because the statement "Is located south of the equator" is not true of Kiev. In this case, he would have been right, too.
What the point squares 8/-2 mean?
In addition to the point squares on the statement boards, there are also an additional 8 special point squares on the game board with the number combination of 8/-2. These are risk fields. They are always between two statement boards and they apply to both at the same time. The following rules apply to the risk fields:
- Lay your city card on a green risk field if you think both statements of the adjacent statement boards are true of your city.
- Lay your city card on a red risk field if you think both statements of the adjacent statement boards are not true of your city.
If you are right, you will get 8 points. If you are wrong, you will get 2 negative points.
Note: There are no risk fields for a combined guesstimate such as: "Statement A is true, but statement B is not true of my city." In such a case, you cannot lay your city card on a risk field.
Note: Players should choose wisely when to lay their veto markers because the veto markers are taken out of the game after being placed. That means each player can raise an objection exactly two times throughout the entire game.
What the Veto Markers Are For?
Have you placed your city card and made your wager? The other players now have the opportunity to raise an objection. Give them a few seconds to think it over. If one of them thinks you are wrong, he calls out, "Objection!" and puts one of his veto markers on the respective city card. Multiple players can raise an objection at the same time with each one laying his veto marker on the city card. However, one player may not lay two of his veto markers on the city card at the same time.
Then the correct answers are checked and points are recorded.
How Many Points Each Player Gets?
If no one else wants to place his veto marker, then turn over your city card. All the relevant details of the city are on the back of the city card. There is a small symbol in front of each statement. The same symbols are also on the statement boards. This makes it easy to quickly identify if your answers are correct. Look for the symbol on your city card that matches the one on the statement board.
Example: The statement board "Has a population of 1 million or more" shows a population symbol (a small figure of people). This symbol is also on the city cards. The population of the respective city is next to this symbol.
Now you have two options:
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If you were right? You get the number of points that are indicated on the point square. If your city card is on a risk field, you even get the highest possible score of 8 points. Move your playing piece forward on the scoring track accordingly. Have one or more players vetoed your guesstimate? Then their objection was not justified and they each receive 3 negative points and have to move their playing pieces back on the scoring track accordingly. If a playing piece is still on the starting position, nothing happens and it stays where it is. Remove the veto markers from the game.
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If you were wrong? You don't get any points. However, if your city card is on a risk field, you get 2 negative points. In this case, move your playing piece back on the scoring track accordingly. If your playing piece is still on the starting position, nothing happens. Have one or more players vetoed your guesstimate? Then their objection was justified. They each receive 3 points and move their playing pieces forward on the scoring track accordingly. Remove the veto markers from the game. Regardless of whether you were right or wrong, leave your city card on the point square. This point square is now occupied and cannot be used anymore. Now it's the next player's turn in a clockwise direction.
Example: Multiple playing pieces can be on the same square. If the square becomes too crowded, simply stack the playing pieces on top of one another.
When to Replace the Statement Boards?
You can take a statement board from the game board after drawing a city card and replace it with a new one from the draw pile.
However, one of the following conditions must be met to do this:
- At least 3 city cards are already on the statement board, or
- 2 city cards are already on the statement board and at least 2 other city cards are on the adjacent risk fields.
Carefully consider if you really want to replace a statement board because doing so involves a risk: After replacing a statement board, you have to place your city card on a point square of the new statement board.
Do you want to replace a statement board? Put all the city cards that are on the statement board, as well as all the city cards that are on the adjacent risk fields back into the game box. Lay the statement board face up on a discard pile next to the draw pile. Turn over a new statement board from the draw pile and place it on the free placeholder of the game board. Then lay your city card on one of the point squares of the new statement board.
Is the draw pile used up?
Then shuffle the discard pile and then lay it face down as a new draw pile.
Special case
While highly unlikely, it is possible that your city card cannot be placed on any of the free point squares (because none of the free statements would be true of your city) and at the same time, you cannot replace any of the statement boards (because the required conditions are not met). In this extremely unlikely case, call out: "There's no free square," and lay your city card next to the game board. The other players have the option of vetoing. Then turn over the city card and check if you are right. Scoring is treated the same as for a risk field. That means you can win 8 points or lose 2. The other players can win or lose 3 points by raising an objection depending on whether or not their veto is justified.
End of Game
The game is over once a player has at least 36 points. Should you have more than 36 points, move your playing piece the corresponding number of spaces past the starting position. Finish the round. Once the round is over, the player with the most points wins. There can be more than one winner.
What the Statements on the Statement Boards Mean
This table provides a further explanation and definition of the statements of the statement boards. It is recommended to read them all before playing for the first time so that you will be able to make a more informed decision.
- Has a population of 1 million or more: Many cities have an extended metropolitan area that goes beyond the actual borders of the original city. For example, the area of the city of Paris is only a little over 100 km2; however, its urban core encompasses over 17,000 km2. For comparison purposes, the values in the game do not refer to the metropolitan area, but only the original city core.
- Was founded before year 1700: If an official founding date does not exist for a city, the first written record of a permanent settlement is taken as its founding date. Some cities are so big that there have been multiple settlements at different times within its borders. In such cases, the founding date applies to the original settlement that developed into the modern city, which has engulfed the other settlements over time.
- Has a greater area than Munich (310 km2): The area of the city refers to the city core, but not to its extended metropolitan area. In a few cases, in which there were no official numbers to go by, the area was calculated on a precise map by the author.
- Has a higher elevation than Garmisch-Partenkirchen (708 m above sea level – NHN): The values correspond to the city's elevation above sea level that are generally cited. As there are different methods of measurement throughout the world and no international standards available, the numbers can vary slightly from source to source. However, such deviations are of no consequence in the game. In a few cases, the elevation had to be calculated on a topographical map.
- Has an international airport: According to our definition, this statement is true if there is at least one regular international flight route to and from this airport.
- Is separated from Berlin by 5 or more time zones: The values always refer to standard time (not daylight saving time).
- Has an average temperature equaling that of Freiburg im Breisgau (11°C) or higher: The value is based on the average annual temperature in the recording period of 1961 to 1990. This corresponds to the current standard period. In a few cases, a different recording period had to be taken. For the purposes of comparison, the values were always rounded to the nearest full degree.
Although all values were carefully considered and reviewed, no guarantee can be given to their accuracy. Depending on the region, different standards sometimes apply in the collection of geographic and sociological data. Because of this, slightly deviating values may be found elsewhere depending on the source. We kindly ask you to ignore this. We have not included any cities in the game for which such deviations could influence the outcome of the game.