Guilds of London
Guilds of London Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Components
- Setting up the game
- Overview of Guilds of London
- What's what on the tiles
- What's what on the action cards
- Sequence of Play
- Scoring victory points
- Start new round
- Player turns
- Common Icons
- End of round phase
- Growth phase
- Final scoring
- Credits
- The 2-Player Game
- Overview
- The Real Guilds of London
Components
- 40 guild tiles (square tiles)
- 2 Guildhall tiles (square grey tiles)
- 5 special building tiles (square tiles: Church of St Lawrence Jewry, Gog & Magog, Company Hall, Lord Mayor's Parade, University of London)
- 1 plantation tile (Ulster Plantation; Virginia Plantation)
- 1 double-sided scoreboard (2 players; 3-4 players)
- 64 liveryman pawns (16 pawns in each player colour, green, red, blue, yellow)
- 8 player markers (2 discs in each player colour)
- 8 neutral liveryman pawns (black pawns)
- 1 round marker (black disc)
- 1 beadle piece (silver pawn)
- 30 2nd place reward tokens and 1 compass rose token (cardboard chits)
- 105 action cards (with a coin on the back)
- 21 mayoral reward cards (with the Lord Mayor on the back)
- 1 rulebook and 1 reference sheet
Setting up the game
This is the setup for 3 or 4 players. For 2 player changes please see the 2-Player Game section.
- Put the 2 Guildhall tiles next to each other in the centre of the playing area to form a picture of the Guildhall. Put the compass rose token on the matching icon on the Guild Hall, pointing North.
- Put the Church of St Lawrence Jewry special building tile to the right of the Guildhall with its starting side up (with victory point symbol showing).
- Put the remaining 4 special building tiles and all the guild tiles together, mix them thoroughly and pile them in a few stacks. Then, taking each tile randomly from the stacks, put 1 tile to the left of the Guildhall, 4 tiles in a row above the Guildhall row, and 4 below it. Each tile should have its starting side up (with victory point symbol showing). Put the stacks next to the playing area.
- Mix the 2nd place reward tokens face down thoroughly. Then place a randomly drawn 2nd place reward token face up (with its reward showing) on each of the 10 guild and special building tiles, skipping the Guildhall tiles.
- Place the beadle piece onto the guild tile with the lowest guild number (the number is at the bottom right corner of each tile).
- Put the scoreboard conveniently next to the tiles, leaving some space for the playing area to expand.
- Choose one of the sides of the plantation tile and place it onto the scoreboard in the space with the ship, with the chosen side showing.
- Determine a player order at random. Place 1 of the starting player's markers (discs) in the 1st player space at the bottom left of the scoreboard, the next player in the 2nd space and so on. These spaces are used at the start of the game to show the initial turn order. The marker is used to record victory points scored. The other player marker shows the colour that player is using – keep it in that player's playing area.
- Shuffle the action cards and deal 6 face down to each player. Put the undealt action cards face down next to the playing area to form the action deck. Leave a space next to the action deck for a discard pile.
- Place the round marker in the 1 space of the round track.
- Put two neutral (black) liveryman pawns on the squares on the gameboard for each player in the game; 4, 6 or 8 pawns for 2, 3 or 4 players. Put any remaining neutral liveryman pawns back into the box. They won't be needed.
- Each player places 4 liveryman pawns of their colour onto the Guildhall. Put all remaining liveryman pawns into a general supply near the score board.
- Shuffle the mayoral reward cards and deal 3 face down to each player. After looking at their hand of 6 action cards and their 3 mayoral reward cards, each player chooses 1 mayoral reward card, in secret, to keep, and returns the other 2 to the mayoral reward cards pack. Keep the chosen mayoral reward card secret from the other players till the end of the game.
Once all players have returned their discarded mayoral reward cards, shuffle the mayoral reward cards again and place them face down in the indicated space on the scoreboard to form the mayoral reward deck.
Overview of Guilds of London
In Guilds of London, you will place your liverymen in newly-forming guilds, building your power base so they can achieve the status of master. You will also have the opportunity to spread your power overseas to the lucrative Ulster or Virginia plantations. Control of each guild will provide victory points and additional actions that you can exploit, so you can control the future development of the City. The player with the most points at the end of the game will become the Lord Mayor of London and take their place in the history of this fabulous City!
What's what on the tiles
Majority: The minimum number of pieces, including players' liveryman pawns and the beadle piece, needed on the tile to resolve it.
Guild Name: The name of the guild.
Guild suit(s): The symbol needed on an action card to move a liveryman pawn onto this tile. With multiple symbols any one will do. Special building tiles have four of the five symbols.
1st place reward: When the tile resolves, the winner takes this reward.
Resolution bonus: The winner of this guild gets this bonus immediately.
2nd place reward: After the winner has taken the 1st place reward, the 2nd placed player takes the 2nd place reward token and any further 2nd place reward shown on the tile.
Guild precedence: The lower this number, the more senior the guild. This is used to determine where the beadle piece is placed at the end of each Growth phase. Special building tiles don't have a precedence number. The guilds numbered between 1 and 12 are significant for some game-end scoring.
Guild suit(s) (completed side): For end of game scoring and some action card abilities.
Armorial bearing: The heraldic sign of the guild.
Guild precedence (completed side): For end of game scoring (guilds numbered 1 through 12 only).
Each tile has a Starting side (as placed during setup, showing its majority, guild suit(s), 1st and 2nd place rewards, resolution bonus and guild precedence) and a Completed side (shown once the tile resolves and is flipped, showing the guild suit(s), armorial bearing and guild precedence for scoring purposes).
What's what on the action cards
Card quantity: Shows how many copies of this card are in the action deck.
Card identifier: Unique to the card.
Special ability cost: What you must pay, usually by discarding action cards from hand, if you want to use the card's special ability.
Guild suit: When moving a liveryman pawn to a tile, this symbol must match one of the symbols on the tile.
Special ability: An iconised description of what the card does, if you pay the special ability cost.
Action cards have a coin on the back, indicating that each card can be used to pay for a special ability cost.
Card colour: Also designates the suit - compasses are red; anchors are blue; crosses are green; scythes are yellow; crowns are purple.
Sequence of Play
Guilds of London has a number of rounds dependent on the number of players:
- 2 players – 16 rounds
- 3 players – 15 rounds
- 4 players – 12 rounds
In a single round each player will take one turn, then guild and special building tiles are checked and may resolve. After a number of rounds (four in a 2 player game, three in a 3-4 player game) there is a Growth phase, during which the plantation tile is resolved and, in a 3-4 player game, more tiles are added to the playing area. The sequence of play is summarised here, and then each part is explained in detail below.
Start new round
- Advance the round marker on the round track (skip this in round 1).
Player turns
- Each player takes one turn in descending order of victory points.
End of round phase
- Resolve tiles.
- If the round marker is on a grey space carry out a Growth phase, otherwise start the next round.
Growth phase
- Resolve the plantation tile.
- If this is the last round, go to final scoring. Otherwise add more tiles (3-4 players only) and continue with the next round.
Final scoring
- Score the bonuses on mayoral reward cards.
- Score points for adjacent masters.
The player with the most victory points is the winner. If there is a tie for first place, the tied player with the most mayoral reward cards is the winner. If there is still a tie, all tied players win.
Scoring victory points
Whenever you score victory points, add them to your current total, and move your marker on the scoring track to show your new score. If your marker ends up on a space with another player's marker, place your marker on top. For turn order purposes, your marker is ahead of the other player's marker, so you would take your turn before that player.
Start new round
Advance the round marker (skip on Round 1)
At the start of a new round, move the round marker one space forward on the round track.
Determine player turn order
Players take their turns in descending order of victory point totals. The first player is the one with the most victory points, the second is the next highest, and so on. If more than one player has the same total, the player with the marker on or closer to the top of the stack of markers takes his or her turn before players with markers lower down the stack. This order does not change during player turns, even if players score points during their turn. Turn order may change as points are scored during the resolution of tiles (including the plantation tile), after all players have had their turn.
Example: Blue is first player, yellow second and the green player is last.
Player turns
In player turn order each player takes one turn per round.
On your turn you may play any number of action cards, zero or more, from your hand. You can play them in any order, but you must finish playing one card before playing the next one.
You can play an action card for one of three different kinds of action: hiring a liveryman, moving a liveryman or using the card's special ability. Hiring or moving a liveryman doesn't have a cost, but using a card's special ability requires you to pay the cost shown in the top left corner of the card.
When you play a card, place it face up in front of you. Keep the cards you have played in front of you until you have finished your turn, so that you can refer to any abilities that will affect your play during the turn. When you no longer wish to play any more cards, put the played cards in the discard pile and draw new ones from the action deck. The number of cards you draw depends on the cards you played during your turn.
After each player has taken one turn, move on to resolving tiles.
A) Hire a liveryman
Play any action card from your hand and place one liveryman pawn of your colour from general supply onto the Guildhall.
Whenever the term 'hire a liveryman' is used in the game, it refers to placing one of your liveryman pawns in this way.
B) Move a liveryman
Play any action card from your hand and move one liveryman or master pawn of your colour from the Guildhall or from any guild or special building tile to any other face up guild or special building tile that matches the suit of the played card. To move to the tiles with more than one symbol, play an action card with any of the suits on the card.
Whenever the term 'move a liveryman' is used in the game, it refers to moving a liveryman or master pawn in this way.
Example: play a Scythe card to move a liveryman pawn from the Guildhall or from any guild or special building tile to a Scythe face up tile.
C) Use a special ability
Players can use the special ability described on an action card, instead of using the card to hire or move a single pawn. Play the card and announce its ability, then pay any cost indicated in the top left corner of the card. Most costs require you to discard action cards from your hand, a few require you to remove pawns and put them back into general supply. Put any discarded action cards in the discard pile. If you cannot pay the cost, then you cannot play the card for its special ability.
Once you have paid the cost, which in some cases may be nothing, carry out the ability stated on the played card. Action card icons are described in the separate reference sheet.
Example: To use the special ability of this action card, the player has to discard 2 other action cards from hand.
Draw action cards
If you have played no cards this turn, draw 4 cards from the action deck at the end of your turn. Otherwise draw 2 cards from the action deck, modified by any special abilities you have paid for during your turn.
Most action card abilities that involve drawing extra cards happen at the end of your turn after you have finished playing cards. Some card drawing abilities resolve immediately when the card is played. These differences are explained through the card icons.
Most abilities that you play, from cards or tiles, have effects that happen immediately. Some card effects have a duration: for example "Whenever you move a liveryman pawn this turn…". All effects that have a continuous effect will stop at the end of your turn, with the exception of the Gog & Magog and University of London special building tiles; these two cards have permanent effects (see icon descriptions in the separate reference sheet).
In the final round of the game, you do not draw action cards at the end of your turn. You may still gain action cards as a reward for a resolving tile.
Discard cards
The maximum hand size is seven action cards (increased to eight if you are the master of the University of London special building tile). If you have more than this limit in your hand at the end of your turn after you have drawn new action cards, you must choose and discard down to the limit. Mayoral reward cards do not count against your hand limit.
Note: If you gain further action cards during tile resolution, you do not need to check your hand size until the end of your next turn!
Common Icons
- Circle arrow: every time
- End of turn icon
- White pawn: your pawn
- Robed white pawn: your master
- Question mark: (if this has been done this round)
- Guild hall
- Pawn supply icons
- +(pawn) = hire
- Move pawn icon
- Select 1 card from X (mayoral reward cards)
End of round phase
Tiles are resolved after all players have had a turn. At the start of each negotiation stage when resolving individual tiles and the plantation tile, player turn order is in descending order of victory point totals at that moment. As before, if more than one player has the same total, the player with the marker on or closer to the top of the stack of markers takes his or her negotiation turn before players with markers lower down the stack.
Resolve tiles
Resolving tiles happens at the end of every round in 3-4 player games. For 2 player games resolving tiles happens at the end of every two rounds; these rounds are shown with a laurel leaf edge on the track on the 2 player board.
Tiles are resolved in order from the top left of the playing area to the bottom right, from left to right on each successive row downwards. The order is important, because resolution of one tile might affect the later resolution of another tile.
Each face up tile with a total number of pieces on it equal to, or exceeding, its majority value (in the top left corner of the tile) must be resolved. Pieces counting towards the majority value include player liveryman pawns and the beadle piece.
For each tile in turn that resolves, carry out the following 'negotiation', 'voting' and 'rewards' stages, completing all three stages for one tile before moving on to the next.
Stage 1: Negotiation
In current turn order, each player may choose to replace 0, 1 or more coloured (player) liveryman pawns on the currently resolving tile with the same number of neutral liveryman pawns from their personal stock or pass. Replaced liveryman pawns are returned to the Guildhall. When all players have had a single chance to do this, continue to the voting stage.
Example: In this example for the Dyers, the blue player swaps out a green pawn for one of her black pawns. There is now a 1-1 tie between green and purple for winning the guild. If green had any black pawns, that player might wish to swap out a blue one at this point to put them in the lead again (1-0).
Stage 2: Voting
Count the number of liveryman pawns in each player's colour on the currently resolving tile. You win the vote if you have more liveryman pawns of your colour on the tile than any other player.
Example: with no Negotiation (swapping of pawns), the Green player would win the Dyers guild. If there is a tie for first place, each tied player adds 1 to their total for each orthogonally adjacent tile with their master pawn on it. The totals are then checked again and the winner determined. If there is still a tie, then the tile does not resolve this round, and all pieces remain on the tile.
In the example above, the swapped black-for-green pawn would leave a 1-1 tie with no adjacent tie-breaker so the Dyers guild would remain unresolved. The Lightermen's guild would be won by yellow, because although the guild is tied (1-1-1), yellow has won an adjacent guild and wins on the tie-break.
If there are no player liveryman pawns on the tile after negotiation, the tile will not resolve this round.
Return all the neutral liveryman pawns on the tile to general supply.
Stage 3: Rewards
When a tile has resolved, carry out the following steps in this order:
- The winner of the tile scores the 1st place reward and the resolution bonus.
- The winner may choose to carry out all or part of the 1st place abilities on the tile. The abilities are resolved immediately. If a tile awards multiple abilities, resolve them in order from left to right.
- The player with the second highest number of liveryman pawns on the resolving tile gains the 2nd place reward. Keep the token in your playing area. Some guilds have an additional 2nd place bonus, for example dual-symbol guilds give a neutral liveryman pawn, the Merchant Importers give an extra 3 victory points.
- In the event of a tie for 2nd place, or if there is no second player on the tile, no-one gains anything for 2nd place.
- Remove all pieces from the tile, and flip the resolved tile face down. The winner, if possible, must place one of their liveryman pawns that had been on that tile onto the face down tile. This piece is now referred to as a 'master'. It indicates that that player controls the tile. Place all other liveryman pawns that were on the tile onto the Guildhall. If the beadle piece was on the tile, move it to the lowest numbered face up guild in play (see below).
Moving pieces during resolution of a tile may cause other tiles to resolve later in the round.
If the current resolving tile is the last unresolved one in play, then immediately move the round marker to the next grey circle on the round track and continue with the Growth phase. In a 2 player game, if the current resolving tile is the last unresolved one in play, then resolve the plantation tile once more, and end the game immediately with final scoring, even if this is not otherwise the last round on the track.
The final round at the end of the game is shown by the symbols for the number of players on the track.
1st place ability icons, described:
- Move 1 of your liveryman or master pawns from any guild, special building tile or the Guildhall to any other face up guild or special building tile. You may move a liveryman pawn from the currently resolving tile, if desired.
- Draw the stated number of cards from the top of the mayoral reward deck. Choose 1 and put the remaining cards at the bottom of the mayoral reward deck in any order. For example draw 2 keep 1, draw 3 keep 1. Keep the chosen mayoral reward card face down in your play area.
- Take the stated number of your pawns from general supply and put them onto the Guildhall. If there are not enough of your pawns in general supply, then take as many as you can.
- Take 1 of your liveryman or master pawns from any guild or special building tile or the Guildhall and put it on the plantation tile. You may use a liveryman pawn from the currently resolving tile, if desired.
- Draw the stated number of cards from the action deck into your hand. It is possible to end up with more cards in hand than the normal hand limit after resolving tiles. Extra cards are not discarded, as hand size is only checked at the end of a player's turn, not at the end of a round.
Growth phase
At the end of rounds with a grey space on the round track, there will be a Growth phase. Carry out the following activities:
- Resolve the plantation tile.
- Add new tiles (3-4 players only).
- Move the beadle piece.
- Check for end of game.
Resolve the plantation tile
Stage 1: Negotiation
In turn order, each player may replace 0, 1 or more coloured (player) liveryman pawns on the plantation tile with the same number of neutral liveryman pawns from their personal stock or pass. Replaced liveryman pawns are returned to the Guildhall. When all players have had a single turn to do this, return all the neutral liveryman pawns on the tile to general supply and continue to the voting stage.
Stage 2: Voting
Count the number of liveryman pawns in each player's colour on the currently resolving tile. You win the vote if you have more liveryman pawns of your colour on the tile than any other player.
Stage 3: Rewards
After the negotiation the player with the most liveryman pawns on the plantation tile gains the reward on the left side of the slash (/) on the tile. The player with the second most scores the reward on the right side. Other players receive nothing. If only one player has pawns on the plantation tile, that player gains the left side reward only. If there is a tie for 1st place, the tied players all gain the right-side reward and other players get nothing. Players tied for 2nd place get nothing.
The player with the most liveryman pawns on Ulster takes 3 mayoral reward cards, chooses 1 to keep, then puts the others on the bottom of the mayoral reward deck in any order.
Players who gain rewards are required to return a number of liverymen pawns from the plantation tile to general supply, as shown next to the reward on the tile; if they do not have enough then they must return as many as they are able. Otherwise, liveryman pawns remain on the plantation tile.
Check for end of game
The game ends if the round marker has reached the end of its track or, in the 2 player game, if all tiles have been resolved. The length of the track depends on the number of players:
- 2 players – 16 rounds
- 3 players – 15 rounds
- 4 players – 12 rounds
If the game is ending, calculate final scores. Otherwise, continue with adding new tiles from the stacks, then move the beadle piece and start the next round.
Add new tiles (3-4 players only)
During each Growth phase (skip in the last one of the game) take more tiles randomly from the stacks and put them round the tiles already in the playing area.
- In the 3 player game, take 5 new tiles.
- In the 4 player game, take 6 new tiles.
Put these tiles around the tiles already in the playing area as follows:
- Spot the Guildhall tile with the compass rose token on it. More tiles are added in a direction linked to the round number:
- Round 3: go 'North' from the Guildhall tile and place the first new tile above the tile furthest North.
- Round 6: go 'East' from the Guildhall tile and place the first new tile to the right of the tile furthest East.
- Round 9: go 'South' from the Guildhall tile and place the first new tile below the tile furthest South.
- Round 12 (3 players only): go 'West' from the Guildhall and place the first new tile to the left of the tile furthest West.
- Then lay out the remaining tiles in a clockwise direction, following the edges of the existing tiles (leaving no gaps).
- Add a randomly drawn 2nd place reward token to each new tile.
Why not rotate the compass rose token so it points to real North instead, rather than just the North of the playing area!
Move the beadle
Find the face up guild tile with the lowest guild number on it and move the beadle piece onto it.
Final scoring
Remove all pawns and chits from unresolved tiles. Then in turn order players reveal all their mayoral reward cards and add the bonuses to their current score.
Important Note: You are allowed to use the guilds you control on multiple scoring cards, for example a guild with two symbols can be used to score either or both symbols across multiple bonuses!
Additionally, each player scores 1 victory point for each pair of orthogonally adjacent tiles in which they have a master pawn. For example, 4 adjacent tiles in a square will score 4 additional victory points.
The winner is the player with the highest total of victory points. If there is a tie for first place, the tied player with the most mayoral reward cards is the winner. If there is still a tie, all tied players win.
Credits
Game Design: Anthony Boydell
Game Development: Jon Challis, Jimmy Chung, Alan Paull, Richard Clyne, Iain Shirley, Carl & Elizabeth, Paul Allwood, Hanno Girke, Klemens Franz
Play testers: Si from Into the Gamescape, Ben & Becky Bateson, Sebastian Bleasdale, Karen Boydell, David Brain, Richard Breese, Nicolas Guibert, James Lee-Hynes, Ray Fong, W. Eric Martin, Charlie Paull, Peter Piggott, Steve Walker, Steve Wright, Rob Fisher, Phil Pettifer, Claire Baker, Ian Vincent, Paul Grogan, Surya (who's pure Eurosnoot and proud of it) & Myriam (!), Richard 'Rahdo' Ham, Neil Yates, David Studley, David Minken, Doug Garrett, Garry Rice, Jimmy Hensel and Chris Dickinson. Apologies, again, to DAAAN.
Need replacement parts? Email: [email protected]
The 2-Player Game
When playing Guilds of London with only 2 players use the following changes:
During Setup:
- Use the single Guildhall tile (reverse side).
- Place four special building tiles around the Guildhall tile; do not use Gog/Magog in the 2 player game.
- Create a 5 x 5 grid with 20 randomly-selected guild tiles.
- Put 2nd place tokens, chosen at random, on each guild and special building tile.
- Use the 2 player side of the score board.
During play:
- Skip the new tiles in the Growth Phase.
Overview
Sequence of Play
- 2 players – 16 rounds
- 3 players – 15 rounds
- 4 players – 12 rounds
Start new round
- Advance the round marker.
Player turns
- Each player takes one turn in descending order of victory points.
- Actions:
- Hire a Liveryman.
- Move a Liveryman.
- Use a special ability.
- Draw 4 or 2 cards (modified by cards played).
End of round phase
- Resolve tiles.
- If the round track is on a grey space or all tiles now resolved, Growth happens, otherwise start next round.
Growth phase
- Resolve the plantation tile.
- If this is the last round, go to final scoring. Otherwise add more tiles (3-4 players only) and continue with the next round.
Final scoring
- Score the mayoral reward cards.
- Score points for adjacent masters.
- The players with the most VP is the winner.
The Real Guilds of London
All through the design and development life of Guilds of London, I used the names and the Armorial Bearings of forty of the most important guilds. When the final production process began, I contacted each and every one of those guilds to make sure that it would be okay to use them in the game. Only three said "yes", so I had to re-imagine thirty seven guild names and shields! I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Worshipful Company of Paviors, The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and The Honourable Company of Master Mariners for their permission - the shields you see are their own and I am extremely proud to have them in Guilds of London.
Tony Boydell, Summer 2015