Gold River Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Round Overview
  • 1 - Drawing Cards
  • 2 - Auctions
  • 3 - Payment
  • 4 - Choosing Cards
  • Example (3 players: Bruno, Jonathan, Olivier, and the other Bruno)
• Mayors
  • 5 - Strike Gold!
  • I'm Broke!
• End of the Game
  • Endgame example (Bruno)
• Poker Expert Variant
  • Poker Hands - Reminder
• 2-Player Game Rules

Setup

1. Each player starts the game with 15 gold nuggets. Players can make change throughout the game if they need to.
2. For your 1st game: if it is the first time you play, remove the four Building cards (i.e. the Bank, Post Office, Saloon and Train Station cards).
3. Shuffle all cards except the Mayor cards. In a 2- or 3-player game, 15 cards are removed without revealing them. Remove the Train Station card if you are not playing with the Poker Expert Variant.
4. Place the remaining cards face down in a pile, in the middle of the table; this is the deck players will draw from. The five Mayor cards are set aside for now.
5. Place the two dice, the remaining gold nuggets and the Mayor cards in the middle of the table.
6. The first round can now begin.

Round Overview

The first player of the first round is decided at random. In the following rounds, the first player is the winner of the auction of the previous round.

Rounds are divided into the following steps:

1. Drawing Cards
2. Auctions
3. Payment
4. Choosing Cards
5. Strike Gold!

1 - Drawing Cards

Draw as many cards as there are players, plus one. Place them side-by-side and face up in the middle of the table. These are the cards that will be put up for auction during this round.

Note: During the first round, all revealed cards must be Claim cards. If other cards are drawn, place them back in the deck. Replace them by drawing the first Claim cards, then shuffle the deck.

2 - Auctions

The first player starts the auction. Players can bid one or more nuggets or pass. Then, going clockwise, each player can either outbid the previous player or pass. Players can never bid more nuggets than they have. Players who passed can no longer bid in the auction. The auction continues until all players, except one, have passed.

Note: If all players pass, the first player is the winner of the auction.

3 - Payment

4- or 5-player games: The highest bidder pays the entire amount of the bid to the player to their right, who keeps half of the amount, rounded up to the nearest whole number if needed. Then, the player to the right passes the rest to the next player to their right, who also keeps half of the amount they receive, once again rounded up to the nearest whole number if needed. Then, the remaining amount gets passed on again to the next player to their right. This continues until a player has no nuggets left to pass on.

Note: The highest bidder cannot receive a part of what they paid. Consequently, if the player to their left receives two or more gold nuggets, that player keeps all the nuggets.

3-player games: The highest bidder pays the entire amount of the bid to the player to their right, who keeps half of the amount, rounded up to the nearest whole number if needed. The remaining amount is passed to the next player to the right, who also keeps half of the amount they receive, once again rounded up to the nearest whole number if needed. The remaining gold nuggets are discarded.

4 - Choosing Cards

You will find a detailed description of the cards in the separate booklet.

The highest bidder chooses one of the cards up for auction and discards another card. If it is a Claim card or a Building card, the player places it face up in front of them. If it is an Action card, the action is applied. It is then the turn of the player to the left of the highest bidder, and the round continues clockwise until all players have chosen a card.

Exception: A player might have to choose an Action card which they cannot use. In this case, the player keeps the card in front of them, but it only takes effect when its effect can be applied.

Example (3 players: Bruno, Jonathan, Olivier, and the other Bruno)

Payment: Bruno, winner of the auction, pays 14 nuggets to the other Bruno, on his right. The other Bruno keeps 7 nuggets and passes the other 7 to Jonathan. Jonathan keeps 4 nuggets and passes 3 to Olivier. Olivier takes the last 3 nuggets.

Choosing cards: Bruno chooses a card first and discards another one. At Bruno's left, Olivier chooses a card second. Jonathan chooses a card third. The other Bruno gets the last remaining card.

Mayors

All players must keep their Claim and Building cards face up in front of them and visible to other players.

The first player to have two Claim cards in the same town (same color Claim cards) becomes the Mayor of the town and takes the appropriate coloured Mayor card.

From now on, any time a player takes a Claim card in a town where another player is the Mayor, they must pay the Mayor a number of gold nuggets equal to the number of Claim cards the Mayor has in this town.

Exception: This rule also applies to Claim cards acquired by playing the One-Armed Bandit card, but not to Claim cards swapped by playing the Judge card.

Bonus = +5 victory points at the end of the game.

At any point, if a player has as many or more Claim cards as the Mayor of a town, either by purchase or by any triggered Action card effect, this player becomes the new Mayor of that town and takes the Mayor card from the old Mayor. If the player becomes the new Mayor by purchasing a Claim card, they must still pay the old Mayor for this purchase before becoming the new Mayor.

Exception: If two players have as many Claim cards as the Mayor of a town after a triggered Action card effect, the Mayor keeps their Mayor card.

5 - Strike Gold!

The winner of the auction rolls both dice to determine which mine(s) strike gold.

If the number at the top left of the Claim card is equal to the sum of both dice, the player receives the number of gold nuggets on the Claim card.

The Whiskey River Claim cards are not mines, but spots along the riverbank. They strike gold when the total of both dice is even, odd, or if both dice land on the same number (as shown on the card).

Then, the next Round begins. The winner of the auction becomes the first player.

I'm Broke!

If a player must pay another player more gold nuggets than they have (e.g. if they must pay the Mayor of a town, or if they must discard nuggets due to an Action card such as the Raid), they must pay what they can. Players cannot go bankrupt or be in debt.

End of the Game

The game ends when there are not enough cards left in the deck to start a new round. Each player adds up their points as follows:

• Number of gold nuggets they own.
• Number of gold nuggets on their Claim cards.
• Value of their Mayor cards.

The player with the highest total is the winner.

Endgame example (Bruno)

1. 21 gold nuggets = 21 VP
2. 25 nuggets on Claims = 25 VP
3. Mayor of San Narciso = 10 VP
4. Bank: 15 nuggets + Bonus (5) = 20 VP

Score: 76 Victory Points

Poker Expert Variant

+10 bonus points for the strongest poker hand achieved with the cards that the player possesses.

All the cards (except for the Gold! card) have a value and a suit in the top right corner of the card, for this specific purpose. In the unlikely case of a tie, the points are shared.

Poker Hands - Reminder

• Royal Flush: The strongest poker hand. This is a straight flush from 10 to Ace.
• Straight Flush: A straight where the cards are the same suit.
• Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same value.
• Full House: A combination of three cards of a same value with two cards of a same value.
• Flush: Five cards that are all the same suit.
• Straight: A series of five cards that follow each other, but that are not the same suit.
• Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same value.
• Two Pairs: A combination of two Pairs.
• Pair: Two cards of the same value. The weakest hand.

2-Player Game Rules

Follow the basic rules except for the changes below.

1. Randomly remove 15 cards, including the Mustang card.

2. Place 3 cards face up during each turn.

3. Both players continue to bid until one of them passes.

4. The player who wins the auction takes a card of their choice, places their bid in the spot of the card they have taken, and removes one of the two remaining cards from the game.

5. The player who lost the auction can either:

   • take the last remaining card
   • or win half (rounded up) of the amount of the bid.

   Once their choice is made, the remaining gold nuggets are discarded.

6. Strike Gold! (Follow basic rules)