Catham City
Catham City Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game components
120 game cards (15 cards of each faction), 42 point tokens (12 tokens of 5 points and 30 tokens of 1 point), a travel box.
Goal of the game
Be the first to get 16 points of influence (with 2-3 players) or 13 points of influence (with 4-6 players).
Game Setup
Choose 5 faction decks and put the rest three decks into the box. In one game you can use only 5 factions. For the first game, we recommend using the following factions: the council of Scientists, conglomerate of Robocats, brotherhood of Detectives, Mafia and Hackers.
Pick the first player. Thoroughly shuffle all the decks to form one. Give 6 cards to the first and second players; 7 cards to the third and fourth; finally, 8 cards to the fifth and sixth players.
Put 7 cards from the deck on the table and group them by factions. If some of them are the same — group them together, like with a purple (detectives) faction on the picture. (Layout: the deck, the discard pile and the market of factions (7 cards) sit in the middle of the table, with the players around it.)
Rules
The first rule. Remember, there should always be 7 faction cards on the table. If a player takes cards from the table, then s/he needs to add the missing number of cards from the deck.
The second rule. On their turn, a player can do only one of the following actions:
- Take card from the market of factions. A player can take as many cards as s/he wants but only of one faction. A player cannot take cards directly from the deck, only the ones that are open on the market. One more thing, a player cannot have more than 10 cards in his hand at the same time. Extra cards should be discarded.
- Play cards from your hand. A player can play cards only of one faction, following the rules of this faction.
Remember — if the deck of factions is over, and none of the players gains the necessary points of influence, then a new deck is formed from a shuffled discard pile.
Factions
Union of Journalists
Play 2 cards of Journalists and take 2 points of influence. All other players can give you 1 card of any faction (to your hand) so they will be able to discard 1 card of the same faction and take one point of influence. Cards that were played should be discarded.
Brotherhood of Detectives
Play 3 Detective cards plus 1 extra card of your choice. Get 3 points of influence. All other players can discard one card that matches the faction of your extra card to get 1 point of influence. Cards that were played should be discarded.
Officials
Play X (any number) of Official cards. From the deck open the same number of cards. Now put 1 card of each faction into points of influence and get as many points as factions were opened. For example, if you get a Scientist, another Scientist, Mafia and Official, you will get 3 points. Cards that were played are discarded.
Council of Scientists
To play this faction, you need 3 cards of Scientists. Take 2 points of influence and take 2 cards from the deck without showing anyone. Cards that were played should be discarded.
Conglomerate of Robocats
You can play 2 Robocat cards and take 5 cards from the deck face down. Or you can play 4 Robocat cards and take 3 points of influence. Cards that were played should be discarded.
Mafia
Play 4 Mafia cards, take 2 points of influence, other players either discards 2 cards or discards 1 point of influence. Cards that were played should be discarded.
Police Officers
Play X (any number) of Police officers plus 1 card of any other faction. The player against whom you played the faction of Police officers must shuffle his hand and lay out randomly X (the same number) of cards from his hand. For each card this player drawed that is matched with the one that you played as extra, you take one point of influence. For each opened police officer, the victim-player gets 1 additional card face down from the deck. Cards that were played should be discarded.
Example. Max has 5 cards of Police officers and 2 cards of Journalists. He chooses an opponent for a search and lays in front of him 5 cards of Policecats and one card of the wanted faction: Journalist. The opponent shuffles his cards and randomly lays out 5 cards. We can see 2 Journalists, 1 Hacker and 2 Mafia cards. Max takes 2 points of influence (for 2 Journalists that were found in opponent's hand). Cards that were played should be discarded.
Hackers
To play Hackers give a player of your choice from 1 to 4 cards of Hackers. The key condition: the opponent must have as many or more cards as the number of Hackers you infiltrate him/her. After receiving the cards, s/he shuffles his/her hand and lays out the same number of cards as you gave him/her on the table. If there is a Hacker among those cards, take 1 point of influence. Other cards take into your hand. If there were Hacker cards — after giving you points of influence they must be discarded.
Example. Michael has 2 Hackers, which he cannot play against his opponent on the left because he has only one card. Remember that the number of infiltrated Hackers should be equal or less than the number of cards an opponent has in his hand. So, Michael turns to another opponent on the right. He gives two Hackers to the opponent. The player takes these cards and shuffles them together with the rest of his cards, then randomly lays out two cards (equals the number of given Hackers). If it is a Hacker, Michael takes one point of influence. If it is another faction, he adds it to his hand. This time the opponent laid out 1 Hacker and 1 Official. Thus, Michael gets 1 point of influence and takes Official into his hand. Hacker card is discarded.
Gameplay - Example
Jack has four cards: 2 Journalists and 2 Scientists. He cannot play Scientists because he needs 3 of them to make a move. But he can take cards from the market: there are 3 scientists and for the next turn he needs just one. Another option is to play Journalists since he has exactly 2 cards. After he either takes Scientist or plays Journalists the turn goes to another player.
End of the Game
The game immediately ends as soon as one of the players gets the necessary points of influence. Its 16 points of influence for 2-3 players or 13 points of influence for 4-6 players.
Version for Advanced Players
If you are an experienced board game player, you can try making two moves within one turn, instead of one move. Moves could be made according to the basic rules: either take cards from the market or play the ones you have.
Symbols on Cards
- Points of influence: a place where a player keeps his/her Victory Points designated by tokens.
- Faction card.
- Specific faction card: this symbol is used to notify that other players should play the same card as you do.