City and Guilds
City and Guilds Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
On their turn players place a tile, which may be a building or a market, and then "invest" in that guild and block. Each tile placed must be adjacent to a tile already placed, so the map fills up gradually from different starting points.
When a city block is full, a count is triggered for dividends awarded to the owners holding the majority of buildings in that block, and also to the owner who controls the guild that controls that block. Money is earned for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place among players, for both the blocks and the guild control. When all blocks are full, a final count begins based on ownership of the four guilds. The end-game value of the guilds depends on the length of their chains and on how many blocks each is connected to.
Components
- 1 Map (the city map surrounded by the score track, plus the investment tracks of the four guilds)
- 41 coloured cubes (5 each of red, yellow, blue, green and purple; 8 black and 8 white)
- 90 coloured men (18 each of red, yellow, blue, green and purple)
- 80 tiles:
- 44 building tiles (11 per guild)
- 28 market tiles (7 per guild)
- 4 Tavern bonus tiles (value £5, shown by a pewter tankard)
- 4 Minstrel's House tiles (value £5, shown by a harp)
Guilds: Candlemakers, Cloth makers, Bakers, Blacksmiths. Each guild has buildings and markets. The special tiles are the Tavern and the Minstrel's House.
Setup
-
Each player chooses a colour and:
- places their men in front of them (18, 13 and 10 men in a 3, 4 and 5 player game respectively),
- places 4 cubes on the guild investment tracks (one for each guild, on zero), and
- places one cube on the score track, on zero.
These colours, although they are the same colours as the guilds, do not correspond to the guilds; they are only the players' colours.
-
Separate the Tavern tiles from the others, then each player takes 4 random tiles. After looking at them, each discards one of these and returns it among the others. If any Minstrel's House is drawn, discard it and replace it with another before choosing the three to keep from the initial four.
-
Gather all the other city tiles (excluding the Taverns) into piles and turn 3 face up. When a tile is drawn, immediately replace it from any pile. There must always be three tiles face up.
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Choose a starting player.
-
Then each player, beginning with the first player, places one tile in this setup phase. The rules for this placement are:
- The tile must be placed in a new block;
- It cannot be adjacent to a tile in another block.
-
Each player then replaces the starting tile by drawing one from those face up.
All normal placement options (including investment points gained) apply to this first tile (see Player's Turn).
Game Definitions
1. Adjacent
Two buildings that are orthogonally next to each other, either in the same block or across the street (even if the street is long), are considered "adjacent". Diagonals are not adjacent. Note that two Candlemakers buildings are considered adjacent across the street even with a Fountain in the middle. Objects in the street such as fountains, or empty spaces, do not block adjacency.
2. Guild Chain
All buildings and markets of a guild that are adjacent and form a connected group are called a CHAIN. (The illustration in the rulebook shows a Candlemakers chain that is six tiles large, consisting of four buildings and two markets, and thereby connects three blocks.) The length of the chain and the connection between blocks are an important factor in the final count.
Player's Turn
On each turn a player places one of their three tiles on an empty space of one of the city blocks. The tile must be placed adjacent to a tile already placed previously. (Remember: adjacent means orthogonally, not diagonally, and adjacency also holds across a street of any length.)
A. If a tile is a GUILD BUILDING then:
- The player places a man on the tile and
- Either:
- increases their investment in that guild by 1 on the investment track, or
- places a second man on the tile and does not increase their investment in that guild.
Important: if a player has no men, they may still place a building and gain the single investment step.
B. If the tile is a MARKET then the player increases their investment on the track of that guild by 2 spaces and does not place a man on the block.
C. If the tile is a MINSTREL'S HOUSE then the player may add a single man (not two). They get no increase in any guild.
Then draw one of the three face-up tiles to bring the tiles in hand back to 3. Then turn a tile to bring the face-up tiles on the table to 3.
Guild Investment
When a player increases their investment in a guild, they move their cube forward one space, or two spaces (markets). However, if there is already a cube in the new space, they move theirs behind the one already present. If a third cube arrives, it goes below the first two. A fourth cube in a space is not allowed in any case.
Thus, 1st place in any space is top right, 2nd is top left and 3rd is bottom left (respectively green, red and blue on the Blacksmiths guild track in the rulebook illustration).
Example 1: On the Candlemakers guild track, if Red moves forward one space, Red goes below Yellow and is still third. If Red moves forward two spaces, Red goes below Blue in 2nd position.
Example 2: On the Blacksmiths investment track, Yellow cannot advance one space, since in the next space there are already three players' cubes. Yellow can still play a Blacksmiths building, but would not get the gain of the single space of investment. So if Yellow wants to increase investment on the Blacksmiths guild track, Yellow must advance two spaces, jumping into first position. Yellow can do this by playing a Blacksmiths market.
When a payout occurs, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place are determined by the positions on the investment track. The position within the space is decided as described above, so there will never be ties.
Special Buildings
Minstrel's Houses: these tiles may have one man played on them, but not two. Obviously there is no increase in any guild, since they do not belong to any guild.
Taverns: these tiles have no men played on them.
Both Minstrel's Houses and Taverns block the continuity of a guild chain.
Block Ownership
The player who has the majority of buildings in the block is the owner of the block. The players in second and third place are respectively second and third in the majority of buildings (buildings are counted, NOT markets). A man on a building indicates ownership. However, if players have the same number of buildings in the block, then the men that have been placed in the block become the tie-breaker. If the men are also tied, then the current owner in first position (white cube) and second place (black cube) remain in the same positions.
The rules for block ownership order are:
- Majority of buildings (not markets)
- If tied on buildings, then the majority of men
Every time a building and a man (or men) are played in a block, check 1st and 2nd place. Place a white cube on the building of the player in first position and the black cube on the building of the second player. If the player taking the turn creates a tie in both buildings and men, the cubes do not move. That is: the placing player must surpass the one already in the block if they want to change the position of first and second player.
If there is a tie for 3rd place no payments are made for third.
Scoring
When a block is complete it is scored. There are two counts for each block:
- Block Control and
- Guild Control
1. Block Control
It is based on who has the majority of buildings. The white cube indicates 1st place and the black cube 2nd place. Ties for 3rd place are not counted.
The value of the block is as follows:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Each block | £8 |
| Each market (bonus) | £2 |
| Each Minstrel tile (bonus) | £5 |
| Each Tavern (bonus) | £5 |
The payment for 1st place is half of the (total) block value, rounded up. 2nd place earns the player half of the value earned by the first (rounded up), and 3rd place earns half of the value of 2nd place (rounded up). Example: a block of value £21 yields £11 (1st), £6 (2nd) and £3 (3rd).
If a player is in 1st place and nobody else is present in the block, that player earns the whole value, i.e. £21. If only two players are present, they earn the normal score plus an extra money bonus. Example: block value £21, of which the first gets 11 + 1 = £12 and the second 6 + 1 = £7.
2. Guild Control
It is based on which Guild has the majority of tiles in the block (buildings and markets). These tiles need not all be in the same chain. There are no ties. To break ties over which Guild controls the block:
- The greatest number of tiles in the block
- The longest chain that runs in or through the block (number of tiles)
- The greatest number of blocks that the chain reaches (if a chain reaches a block twice, it is counted only once)
If the Guilds are still tied, no count takes place.
The payouts for all blocks are £4, £2 and £1. If there is only one player on the Guild track, that player earns £7. If there are only two players they earn respectively £4 and £2 without the extra money bonus.
Now the player who completed the block may take a Tavern tile (if any are still available) and place it immediately on any space, following the adjacency rules and normal placement. If placing the Tavern completes another block, a count occurs and another Tavern tile is taken and placed again, and so on.
Scoring Example
The two illustrations in the rulebook show a completed block and the state of the Candlemakers Guild track at that moment.
The value of the block is: £8 + 2 markets (£2 each) + 1 minstrel (£5) = £17.
Blue player completes the block with a Candlemakers building and places two men on it. So Blue now controls the block, since both Red and Blue have 2 buildings, but Blue has three men and Red two. Yellow is third.
Count:
- Blue 9 (17 divided by 2, rounded up)
- Red 5 (9 divided by 2, rounded up)
- Yellow 3 (5 divided by 2, rounded up)
The Candlemakers Guild controls the block, so Green earns £4 (1st on the guild track), Blue earns £2 for being 2nd and Red earns £1 for 3rd position.
| Total count | Block | Guild | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Red | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Green | 4 | 4 | |
| Yellow | 3 | 3 |
Blue now has a bonus Tavern tile to place.
End of the Game
The game ends when all the blocks of the city are complete (full).
Final Count
Two further counts are now made:
1. Guild Chains
For each guild the value of its longest chain is counted. This value is:
- the number of tiles in the largest chain (buildings and markets), then add
- a bonus for the number of blocks that the largest chain reaches:
| Blocks | Count |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 15 |
| 6 | 21 |
| 7 | 28 |
| 8 | 36 |
For payment to players in 1st, 2nd and 3rd position, use the block payment rules. (The payment for 1st place is half of the total value, rounded up. 2nd place earns half of the value earned by the first (rounded up), and 3rd place half of the value of 2nd place (rounded up).) Example: a chain of 13 tiles in five blocks would earn £28 (£13 + £15) and would pay £14, £7 and £4.
Important: buildings and markets that are not in the largest chain do not count. If, surprisingly, two chains of the same guild are of the same length, then the higher score is used for the count (the gain is not divided).
2. Unused Men
Finally, subtract from each player's count the number of unused men (e.g. 3 men left = -3).
Victory
The player with the most money is the winner!
Notes
This is version 3 of the rules. There have been no changes from the original version, except that some examples have been clarified and some rules explained in more detail and simplified.