City of Spies: Estoril 1942
City of Spies: Estoril 1942 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Duration and Victory Conditions
2-4 players, 45/60 min.
The game lasts 4 rounds. At the end of the 4th round the player with the most Victory Points (VP) is the winner of the game.
The medal symbol, with a number inside, shows the victory points offered by Missions and Character Tiles.
Game Components
- This rule book
- 4 player aids
- 30 cubes (6 of each colour)
- 2 dice
- 1st player tile
- 12 mission tiles
- 27 character tiles — of which 24 are starting Character tiles. These tiles have a colour symbol on the top right corner. There are 6 tiles of each colour. There are 4 available colours for the starting tiles: red, green, blue, and yellow.
- 8 Location Boards
Overview of the Game
This section gives a general idea of the flow of the game. A detailed explanation is available in the sections below.
#1 Each player has 6 Character tiles and some cubes based on the number of players in the game. See Game Setup.
#2 Taking turns in clockwise order, each player will place one tile marked with one of his colored cubes on an available Deployment Space of one of the 6 Locations (abiding by placement rules). See Player Turn.
#3 Once all the cubes have been placed, the players resolve each Location Board in numeric order to determine the player with the highest total strength. The strongest player at each Location wins the available Reward tile and adds it to his hand. See End of Each Round.
#4 Players who have more than 6 tiles in their hands, discard down to 6. See End of Each Round.
#5 After 4 Rounds, players add up the Victory Points from: the 6 Characters in their hand, any accomplished Mission Tiles, and the number of discarded tiles (1 VP per tile). See End of Game and Victory Points (VP).
Game Setup
#1 Players choose one of the available 4 colours (red, green, blue or yellow). Give each player all 6 Starting Character tiles of that colour. Depending on the number of players give each player a specific number of cubes in their colour:
- 3 cubes in a 4 player game;
- 4 cubes in a 3 player game;
- 6 cubes in a 2 player game;
#2 Randomly place 4 Mission Tiles face up on the table where everyone can see them. Return the others to the box.
#3 Shuffle all Character tiles (excluding Starting Character tiles) into a single facedown pile and place it near the mission tiles.
#4 Roll to see who is the 1st player. Give that player the 1st player tile. Place a Round marker (a white cube) on the 1st Round spot.
Before explaining in detail how players play on their turn, it's important to explain the Location Boards and important concepts about the Location Board Grid. And also explain the symbols in the Character tiles.
Location Board Explanation
- Some Location Boards have symbols that indicate they have special rules. These rules are explained in the Location Boards section below. Each board has a Portuguese name of the location.
- REWARD SPACE. The red area indicates where the Reward tile is placed.
- DEPLOYMENT SPACE. Areas surrounded by square lines, where players can place their own tiles. There can never be more than ONE tile per Deployment Space.
- If the space has "Top Secret" written on it, any tile placed in here must be face down. Otherwise place it face up.
- This Roman numeral indicates the order in which each Deployment Space is resolved.
- This number in the center of the board shows the order in which each Location Board is resolved.
- These symbols award the player who places a tile here a special power:
- This symbol allows the player, immediately after placing a Character tile in this Deployment Space, to look at a face down tile in this Location Board (can be the Reward tile).
- This symbol allows the player, immediately after placing a Character tile in this Deployment Space, to look at a face down tile on this Location Board or on an adjacent Location Board (can be a Reward tile).
- This symbol allows the player, immediately after placing a Character tile in this Deployment Space, to look at a face down tile in ANY Location Board (can be a Reward tile).
Important Concepts About the Location Board Grid
At the start of each Round, 6 Location Boards are placed in a 2x3 grid (see Start of Each Round).
The grid formed by these Location boards is made up of spy deployment and Reward Spaces. The spatial relationship between Location Boards and Deployment Spaces is important for the understanding of the rules.
- OUTER SPACE — all the Deployment Spaces that a player can place a tile in that are on the edge of the grid.
- INNER SPACE — all the Deployment Spaces that a player can place a tile in that are inside of the grid.
- ADJACENT SPACE — all the Deployment Spaces that a player can place a tile in that are side by side (orthogonally) in the grid. Doesn't matter if they are in different Location Boards. There are NO diagonals in the grid!
- ADJACENT LOCATION — Locations that are side by side (orthogonally) in the grid. There are NO diagonals in the grid!
Character Tiles Explanation
- Symbols show the Character abilities. Detailed rules explanation is in the Characters Abilities section below.
- VP that this Character awards at the end of the game.
- If the tile has a colour symbol (red, yellow, blue or green), it indicates this is one of the player's specific starting Characters.
- The strength of the character.
- The nationality of the character.
- Name of the character.
Start of Each Round
#1 — Shuffle Locations. Shuffle all the 8 Location Boards.
#2 — Place Locations on the table. Randomly choose 6 of the 8 Location Boards and place them randomly (face up) in the center of the table — with random orientation — in a 2x3 grid. Leave the remaining Location boards aside for the next Round.
#3 — Place Reward tiles. Randomly place a new Character tile (face up), from the top of the pile, in each Reward Space. These tiles become the Reward tiles. Don't forget to place them face down if the Reward Spaces have "Top Secret" written on them.
#4 — 1st player begins. The game starts with the 1st player's turn and then proceeds clockwise.
Player Turn
On his turn a player MUST place ONE Character tile from his hand with one cube in ONE free Deployment Space.
The player must choose one of the following options:
Option #1
- Place one Character tile from your hand in a free Outer Deployment Space.
- If the space has "Top Secret" written on it, place the tile face down. Otherwise place it face up.
- Place ONE of your available cubes on top of it.
- If you have no remaining cubes, you cannot place tiles for the remainder of the round.
In a very rare situation, when a player cannot place a tile in an Outer space and also cannot place adjacent to his own tile in an Inner space, the player can place it in any free Deployment Space.
OR
Option #2
- Place a Character tile from your hand in a free Inner Deployment Space. That tile MUST be adjacent to a Character tile that you control (has one of your cubes on top of it).
- If the space has "Top Secret" written on it, place the tile face down. Otherwise place it face up.
- Place ONE of your available cubes on top of it.
- If you have no remaining cubes, you cannot place tiles for the remainder of the round.
After the player has placed ONE tile with one cube, his turn ends. The player on his left begins his turn. Repeat this process until all players have placed all their cubes.
End of Each Round
Round ends when all players have placed all their cubes.
#1 — Resolve Location. In this step, players will resolve each Location Board. Resolving means using the Characters' abilities, determining who is the strongest player and award the Reward tile. To see the detailed rules about the Character abilities, see Characters Abilities below.
The Locations are resolved in the order of their central numbers, starting with the lowest.
When resolving a Location, turn face up all Character tiles (including the Reward tile) from that Location ONLY. Then resolve each Character's abilities according to the order (I, II, III).
Players are not forced to resolve their own abilities.
#2 — Receive Reward tile. The player with the highest total strength takes the Character tile in the Reward Space and places it in his hand. Note that a player adds up all strengths from his Characters in the Location Board. IMPORTANT: DO NOT remove the other Character tiles from that Location Board.
In case of a tie, the player with a Tile located in the lowest numbered Deployment Space wins the Reward tile. The zero strength also counts. So, if a player is the only one with a zero strength Character tile he still wins the Reward tile. In case of a tie with zero strength, he may still win the Reward tile (it depends on the space it occupies).
In case there are no player controlled Characters, the Reward tile is placed facedown at the bottom of the draw pile.
#3 — Retrieve tiles. ONLY after ALL Locations have been resolved, players take their Character tiles back into their hands and take back their cubes.
#4 — Discard tiles. Players discard tiles face down into a pile in front of them, until they have 6 tiles in hand. If a player has 6 or less tiles, he discards nothing. After all Players have discarded down to 6, all players simultaneously reveal their discarded tiles. They remain face-up in a single pile and CAN be consulted anytime by any player.
Note: Keep in mind that these discarded tiles will award VPs at the end of the game. See End of Game and Victory Points (VP).
#5 — New 1st player. The Player to the left of the 1st player becomes the 1st player (give the 1st player tile to him). Advance the white cube to the next Round spot. Begin a new Round. Please refer to Start of Each Round.
Skip this step in the 4th round.
End of Game and Victory Points (VP)
After performing the "End of the Round" procedure of the 4th Round, the game ends.
Then, all Players add up VP from:
#1 — Discarded tiles. Each tile the player discarded during the game counts as 1 VP.
#2 — VP from Character tiles. Add up all VP's from the 6 Character tiles. IMPORTANT: Only tiles in your hand count. DO NOT count the discard tiles for this purpose.
#3 — Accomplished Missions. Each player will check if he has accomplished any mission(s) and adds those points to his score. All tied players in a mission divide the VP's (round down). Please refer to Mission Tiles below. IMPORTANT: Only tiles in your hand count. DO NOT count the discarded tiles for this purpose.
Then, the player with the most total points, is the winner of the game! In case of a tie, the player with more accomplished missions wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most total points from Character tiles in his hand is the winner. If there is still a tie, players share victory.
Example: the Red player did get 13 VP from his 6 Character tiles. During the game the Red player discarded 7 tiles, so he gets 7 VP. He also accomplished two missions. One of them he did alone, so he adds +6 VP to his score. The other mission was also accomplished by the Yellow player, so they divide the points: 3 for each player. The Red player gets a total of 9 VP from the Missions. The Red player did get in this game a total of 29 VP (7+13+9).
Characters Abilities
Almost all the Character tiles have one or two special abilities. They may be used when resolving the Location Board at the end of the Round. For each symbol on the Character tile, the controlling player may use the following abilities:
ASSASSIN
Choose a Character tile (not a Reward tile) from this Location and return it to the controlling player's hand. It's removed from this Location, but NOT from the game.
Example: Location 3 is now going to be resolved. In Deployment Space I, the Red player placed a Character with the ASSASSIN ability. Because it is in Space I, it is the 1st to use its ability. The Red player chose to remove the C. Lucky Luciano character. The C. Lucky Luciano Character is returned to the Yellow player's hand. Now the Red player and the green player are tied. The green player can still use his ability.
CONSPIRACY
Secretly look at the top tile from the draw pile and the Reward tile from this Location. Place one on the bottom of the draw pile facedown and the other in the Reward Space (face up).
Example: continuing to use the previous example, after Deployment Space I is resolved, now it's time to resolve Deployment Space II. The green player can use his ability. He will see the top tile of the draw pile and the Reward tile and, if he wants, he can exchange them. The Red Player wins the Reward tile, but probably will not get the Reward tile that he wished for!
NATIONALISM
This Character gets +1 strength for each other flag on this Location Board or adjacent Location Board, that is equal to its own flag. The flag can be on a Character that the player doesn't control or even on the Reward tile (if face up). The flag can be on a Character that is on a Location Board that has already been resolved.
Example: Deployment Space II in Location Board 3 is resolved. The Character benefits from the flags of Great Britain from two Characters that are in adjacent Location Boards. This way, that Character gets 4 Strength: 2 from his own and 1 from each adjacent tile that has the Great Britain flag. In conclusion, the Yellow player wins the Reward tile with: Character in Deployment Space I gives 2 Strength; Character in Deployment Space II gives 2 Strength plus 2 (1+1) from the Great Britain flags in adjacent Locations. The Yellow player gets a total of 6 Strength.
SEDUCTION
Choose any Character (face up or face down) from an adjacent Location Board (not a Reward tile) and place it with its cube in a free Deployment Space at this Location. The Character can be on a Location Board that has already been resolved. VERY IMPORTANT: Ignore all abilities on that tile, it will only count its strength for its owner.
Example: we are resolving Deployment Space II, from Location Board 2. Looks like the Yellow player has secured the Reward tile, because he is alone there. But he wants to stop the Red player from winning the Reward tile from Location Board 5 (since he is also alone there). So he chooses to bring 2 Character tiles (he can do this because his Character tile has 2 Seduction symbols) from two adjacent locations. One comes from Location Board 3 and it's a Character he owns. The other is from the Red player in Location Board 5. The Red player Character is revealed and has 5 strength. The Yellow player also has 5 strength in total (the sum of his two Character tiles). They are tied. But since the Yellow player is in a Deployment Space with a lower value (I), he wins the Reward tile. Note the special abilities from the Characters that were pulled from the adjacent Location Boards cannot be used. This way, the Yellow player prevented the Red player from winning the Reward tile from Location Board 5.
DIPLOMACY
Choose any Character (can be himself) from this Location Board or an adjacent Location Board (face up or face down tile). Place a white cube on it. During this Round, this Character cannot be the target of Assassin and/or Seduction. The Character can be on a Location Board that has already been resolved.
Example: we are resolving Deployment Space I, from Location Board 3. The Yellow player used the ability of his Character to place a white cube on an Adjacent Location Board, on a Character that he owns. This way he protects his Character from Assassin or Seduction abilities, increasing the chance to win, when this Location Board 8 is resolved.
WOMEN
This symbol doesn't give any special ability. It is only important for one of the Mission tiles.
Location Boards
Besides the general rules that are the same for all Location Boards (see Location Board Explanation and Start of Each Round above), each of them has a special rule.
#1 Church
At this Location, Assassin abilities CANNOT be triggered. Although you can still place tiles that have the Assassin ability at this location.
#2 Hotel Palácio
When resolving at this Location, Character tiles with the Great Britain flag gain +1 strength.
#3 Tamariz Beach
At this Location there's no TOP SECRET sign in any Deployment Space or in the Reward tile space. It means ALL the tiles must be placed face up.
#4 Hotel Atlântico
When resolving this Location, Character tiles with the German flag gain +1 strength.
#5 Muchaxo
At this Location, ALL Deployment Spaces are considered Outer spaces. (About Outer and Inner space, please refer to Important Concepts About the Location Board Grid.)
Example: because ALL the Deployment Spaces in this Location Board are considered Outer spaces, the Red player can immediately place a Character tile in Deployment Space II. It doesn't have to have any adjacent tile.
#6 Casino
At this Location Board and AFTER resolving abilities, all players must roll 2 dice for each Character they control here. The difference between the 2 dice is added to the character's strength.
Example: the blue and the Yellow players are fighting for the Reward tile. Blue has a strength of 5. Yellow has a total strength of 2 (1+1). Abilities are resolved, so it's time to roll the dice. Blue rolled the two dice for his Character in Deployment Space I. The result is zero, so nothing is added to his strength — he still has a strength of 5. Yellow rolled the two dice for his Character in Deployment Space II. The result is 1. Yellow rolled for the other Character in Deployment Space III. The result is 4. So, Yellow adds 5 (4+1) to his strength, giving him a total of 7 (5+2). With this result, the Yellow player gets the Reward tile.
#7 "Hell's Mouth" Rock
At this Location Board and AFTER resolving abilities, if there are at least two players with Characters at this location, the player with the lowest strength in this location must discard one of those Characters that he controls (player's choice). The discarded tile is removed from the game. Return it to the box.
In case of tie the player with a tile located in the lowest numbered Deployment Space wins.
Example: again, blue and Yellow player are fighting for the Reward tiles. Blue has 5 strength. Yellow has a total of 2 strength (1+1). Abilities are resolved, so it's time to see who's the player with the lowest strength in this location — it's Yellow. So he must decide which Character will be removed from the game. Yellow chooses to discard from the game his Character from Deployment Space III, since it only gives 3 VP and the other one gives 4 VP at the end of the game.
This Location, in a 2 player game, can cause a player to have more cubes than tiles in the next Round. In this very rare situation, the player plays only the tiles he has.
#8 Museum Conde Castro Guimarães
This Location Board has 4 Deployment Spaces instead of the normal 3. Note that if a player places a tile on Deployment Space IV, he can see one tile on ANY Location Board. It is the only Deployment Space where he can do that. Please refer to Location Board Explanation.
Mission Tiles
Each Mission tile has a symbol. At the end of the game, the player with the highest amount of this symbol on tiles in his hand is the winner and receives 6 VP. In case of a tie, all tied players divide the VP (round down). A Character tile which has the same symbol twice, counts as 2 symbols for that mission. A Character tile can count for multiple Missions.
Example (Assassin mission): in this Mission, only the Assassin symbols on the Character tiles are counted. The Red player ended the game with 6 Character tiles. In this example, the Red player has 5 symbols. Note that 2 of them came from just one tile!
Example (Strength mission): in this Mission, only the Strength symbol on each Character tile is counted. The player who has the most total Strength, wins the 8 VP. In this new game, the Yellow player ended the game with 6 Character tiles. In this example, the Yellow player has a total Strength in his hand of 16 (5+3+2+0+4+2). If the other players' networks were weaker, he gets 6 VP.
Example (Flag mission): in this Mission, only one flag from each country that is shown in the Mission tile is counted. Repeated flags don't count. In another game, the Red player ended the game with 6 Character tiles. In this example, the Red player has 4 different flags. Note that the second French Character tile doesn't count for this Mission.
Game Variants
Players may choose to play the game with these variants.
Secret Missions (this is a 3 or 4 player variant only)
During step #2 of the setup, players should use this rule instead: randomly place 1 Mission tile face-up on the table above the area where the Location Boards will be placed. Place additional Mission tiles face-down on the table in between each player (players may secretly look at the 2 facedown Mission tiles which are adjacent to them). The number of face-down mission tiles should be equal to the number of players in the game. Return the other Mission tiles to the box.
At the end of the game, before scoring the one common face-up Mission tile, all facedown Mission tiles are turned face-up and placed next to the already face-up Mission tiles. Then players score Mission tiles as normal.
NOTE: A player can score any of the now face up Mission tiles on display.
This variant is best for players seeking more direct player interaction.
Secret Recruiting Agenda
After step #2 of the setup, each player is secretly dealt one of the remaining mission tiles. If one of them is the "Highest strength Mission tile" remove it and secretly deal another Mission tile to that player.
At the end of the game, each player is awarded 1VP for each symbol of that type that he has in his hand and/or discard pile. The multi flag mission tile scores a maximum of 1VP per flag type recruited. Starting Character Cards do not score points towards a player's secret recruiting goal.
This variant is perfect for players that prefer a more advanced scoring system with less emphasis on Mission tiles scoring.
Mission Scoring Variant
At the end of the game, 3 VP is rewarded to second place on the Mission tiles (reward the first place with the normal 6 VP). If there is a tie for first, tied players split the 9 points (rounded up) and no second place reward is collected. If there is a tie for second place, tied players split the 3 points (rounded up).
This variant will balance between players the scoring from the Mission tiles.
Credits
MEBO GAMES LDA.
Any matters regarding this game please contact: [email protected] / www.mesaboardgames.pt
MEBO games 2016 © All rights reserved.
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© 2016 Stronghold Games LLC, under license from MEBO games. All Rights Reserved.
Development team: (USA) Paul M. Incao — (Portugal) Miguel Seruya, Rodrigo Trocado, Iago, Francisco Freire de Andrade.
Thank you to all game testers: In Estoril / Cascais: Gonçalo Freire de Andrade, Pedro Sousa Lara, Maria Franco de Sousa, Marta Vilhena, João Barquinha, Bruno Ribeiro, Pedro, Bernardo and João Teixeira de Abreu, Paulo Maia. In LeiriaCon event 2015: Mariano Iannelli, Verónica Casà, Ricardo Jorge Gomes, João Martins. In Lisbon Boardgamers events: Hélio Andrade (many thanks), Sandrina Fernandes, Hugo Agostinho, Paulo Terça, Paulo Vicente, Pedro Sequeira. In Stahleck castle 2015 event, Uwe Schmidt, Sandra Schmidt (many thanks), Cyril Buches, Lukas Melad, Cristi, Fili, Heidi, Thosten, Christian, Wolfgang, Mathias, Láda, Thomas, Ferdi, Danny, Andi, Nici, David and many others.
English rules review by Cindy Nowak and Paul M. Incao.
Thanks to Hotel Palácio and City Hall of Cascais for the photos.
This game was inspired by historical events that occurred during World War II in the town of Estoril. Most of the Locations that we show in this game still exist and are worth a visit.