Guilds of London: Solo Rules
Guilds of London: Solo Rules Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
You play against "Boris". You will always be the first player, and Boris will be the second. Set up the game as for a 2-player game, but place only 2 neutral guild member pawns on the score board. Do not deal cards to Boris.
All of Boris's guild member pawns start the game on the Guildhall tile. (For reasons of space you may place them elsewhere, but they count as if they were on the Guildhall.) Boris has an unlimited supply of guild member pawns. If at some point you have already placed Boris's 12 guild member pawns, take pawns of another colour.
Placing the additional neutral guild member pawns
Place neutral guild member pawns on the guild tiles as follows:
- If the starting side of the plantation tile is Virginia, place 1 pawn on each of the 6 guild tiles with the lowest guild precedence.
- If the starting side of the plantation tile is Ulster, place 1 pawn on each of the 6 guild tiles with the highest guild precedence.
These neutral guild member pawns increase the activation threshold of the tiles they are placed on by 1.
Example: a tile with an activation threshold of 4 and one neutral guild member pawn will have an activation threshold of 5.
Players' Turns
The players' turns follow the same steps as in the 2-4 player rules. Boris always takes the last turn. On his turn, Boris draws 3 action cards and places 3 guild member pawns on tiles. The steps you must follow when playing as Boris are:
- Draw an action card.
- If the tile on which the beadle is located is of the same colour as the action card you have just drawn, place 1 guild member pawn on that tile. Otherwise, identify the next tile of the same colour as the card and place on it a guild member pawn of Boris's colour. To do this, starting from the tile where the beadle is located, follow the direction of activation of the tiles shown on page 8.
- Repeat this process 2 more times. That is, during each turn Boris draws 3 action cards and places 3 guild member pawns on tiles of the same colour as the card. Then discard the 3 action cards drawn.
Note: If the colour of the action card drawn does not match the colour of the tile where the beadle is placed, and while searching for the tile on which to place Boris's guild member pawn you reach the lower right corner of the play area, start the search again from the upper left area of the play area. If you cannot find any tile of the colour of the action card, discard it and do not place the corresponding guild member pawn.
Activation Phase
This phase takes place only in even-numbered rounds (2, 4, 6 ...), just as in 2-player games. Remember that the neutral guild member pawns placed at the start of the game increase the activation threshold of the tiles on which they are placed by 1. Once the tile is completed, return the neutral guild member pawns to the game box. The neutral guild member pawns you may place during the game do not increase the activation threshold of tiles.
When a tile is activated, if Boris and you have pawns on the tile, you gain the points corresponding to the 1st and 2nd place rewards. However, Boris receives only the point reward and ignores any additional reward (for example, sending pawns to the plantation tile). In addition, Boris does not place master pawns on tiles on their completed side. This means he cannot win ties thanks to masters on tiles adjacent to the activated tile, nor can he receive bonuses for masters orthogonally adjacent to them at the end of the game.
At the end of each round, even if there was no activation phase, identify the tile on which the beadle is placed and flip that tile from its starting side to its completed side. Then Boris receives the victory points of the "1st place reward" shown on the tile. You receive no reward, and you must move the liveryman pawns of your colour that were on the tile back to the Guildhall. Finally, move the beadle to the corresponding tile, that is, the tile with the lowest guild precedence.
Growth Phase
As in 2-player games, during growth phases you do not add new tiles to the play area. During each growth phase (rounds with a grey square on the round track), that is, every 4 rounds, you must resolve the plantation tile as follows:
- If there are no guild member pawns on the tile, Boris wins the tile. If the visible side of the tile is Virginia, Boris gains 7 points. If it is Ulster, Boris gains 3 points. Then flip the tile over.
- If you have 1 guild member pawn on the tile, Boris gains 3 points. Then move your pawn to the general supply and flip the tile over.
- If you have 2 or more guild member pawns on the tile, you gain the "1st place reward" and Boris gains nothing. Then move your pawns to the general supply and flip the tile over.
Final Scoring
As in the 3-4 player rules, you must check at the end of each round whether the game has ended. The game ends at the end of round 10, but it may end earlier if there are no tiles with a guild precedence left to which the beadle can be moved (that is, all tiles are on their completed side, or only special building tiles remain to be activated).
Follow the 2-4 player rules to count your score. Add the victory points from the mayoral reward cards and the bonuses for masters orthogonally adjacent to them. Boris's score is already calculated, since Boris has no mayoral reward cards and no masters on completed tiles that he could gain, so he gets no additional points.
Expert Solo Mode
If you have mastered the solo game and want a greater challenge, try the following rules.
More resources: For more difficulty, draw 4 action cards for Boris instead of 3 each turn.
The Guild of Solo Boardgamers:
During setup, place this card on the table, near the play area. Place on this card all the 2nd place reward tokens you gain during the game. At any time during the game you may discard 3 of these tokens; in exchange, you may move one of your guild member pawns from the Guildhall onto a guild tile on its completed side (on which there was none of your masters). This pawn becomes the "master" of the guild tile. Then you gain the victory points of the "1st place reward". The tile remains on its completed side and can no longer be activated.
(Card title as printed on the card illustration. The card text is translated from the French booklet.)