Lungarno Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Beginning Play
• On Your Turn
  • Buy a Tile
  • Play a Tile
  • Merchants
• Closing a District
  • Privilege Token
• The End of the Game
• Final Revenues
• Building Tiles
  • Palaces (38 in the game: 30 with two shields, 8 with one shield)
  • Tower Houses (8 in the game: 2 of each color)
  • Plazas (4 in the game)
• Special Tiles
  • Shops (7 in the game)
  • Graveyard (2 in the game)
  • Church (2 in the game)
  • Office (4 in the game)
• Two-Player Variant

Overview

Using tiles, you will build the various districts of Lungarno, sending your merchants to trade with the four great families (represented by shields of different colors). When a district is complete, you will earn profits for your merchants, based on the prestige of the families in that district.

At the end of the game, the player with the most gold is the winner!

For 2 to 5 players, ages 8 and up.

Components

• 13 Special board pieces: 4 River Sections, 6 Streets, 3 Bridges
• 65 Building tiles:
  • 30 Palaces with two shields (5 each of 6 family groups)
  • 8 Palaces with one shield (2 for each family)
  • 4 Plazas (1 for each family)
  • 8 Tower Houses (2 for each family)
  • 7 Shops (Special Building)
  • 2 Churches (Special Building)
  • 2 Graveyards (Special Building)
  • 4 Offices (Special Building)
• 25 Merchants (5 of each color)
• 55 Florins coins: 20 Yellow coins (valued 5 Florins), 35 Grey coins (valued 1 Florin)
• 12 Privilege tokens

Beginning Play

1. Assemble the board pieces as shown on the next page. You now have the River Arno spread before you, with the three main bridges crossing it. The bridges define the three major streets, which combine with the river to divide the Lungarno into eight districts (empty spaces big enough to contain 6 building tiles).
2. Turn the privilege tokens face down and mix them. Place one face down by each district. Return the leftover privilege tokens to the box, without revealing them.
3. Mix the building tiles face down, then create a single face-down draw stack near the river (point A).
4. Give each player five merchants of one color and 14 Florins (two coins of value 5 and four of value 1).
5. Deal each player two tiles. These tiles form your starting hand. Keep the tiles in your hand secret from the other players.
6. Turn over the first three tiles from the draw stack and place them in a row (point B), next to the draw stack with the tile closest to the stack being in the "two Florin" space.
7. Sort the coins by value to create the "bank" of the city.

The player who lives closest to the Leaning Tower of Pisa plays first. The game is played in rounds, with each player acting in turn. Play proceeds to the left.

Board layout: the three bridges are spaced along the river, each with a street running north and south across the river, giving eight districts (four on each side of the river).

On Your Turn

Each turn, you must perform at least 1 action. This first action has no additional costs. If you wish, you may perform a second action on your turn. If you choose to take a second action, you must pay one Florin to the bank. You may not perform more than two actions on your turn!

You have two choices for each action:

• Buy a Tile
• Play a Tile

If you take two actions, you can combine these options in any order, or even perform the same option twice. After you have completed all of your actions for your turn, the player to your left begins his turn.

Buy a Tile

You can use an action to purchase a tile and add it to your hand. The price you pay depends on the position of the tile in the row of face up tiles. The tile farthest from the draw stack is free. The middle tile costs one Florin. The tile closest to the draw stack costs two Florins.

When you purchase a tile, immediately shift any other tiles down to fill the empty space. Then turn over the top tile from the draw stack and place it in the two Florin space. As tiles move down, the cost for those tiles will decrease, based on their new location in the row. The cost for the newest tile is always two Florins.

Example: Eli decides to purchase the tower-house tile. She pays one Florin to the bank, and adds the tile to her hand. The plaza tile (two Florins) is moved down to fill the opening (1 florin), and the top tile from the draw stack is turned over to fill the two Florin space.

You may have a maximum of five tiles in your hand at any time. If you already have five tiles in hand, you may not choose this action.

Note: If you start your turn with five tiles in hand, you must choose the "place a tile" action as your first action for the turn.

If there are no tiles left in the draw stack, then continue to play with the remaining face up tiles. Once all the face up tiles have been purchased, you will no longer be able to buy any tiles, and every action you take may only be to place a tile.

Play a Tile

The Lungarno is divided into eight "districts." There are four districts on each side of the river, separated by the three bridges. Each district has room for a total of six building tiles (two rows of three tiles each). Each major street has eight adjacent tiles (four on each side of the river). When you use an action to play a tile, you may choose any tile from your hand and play it in any district of your choice. You must play your tile adjacent to the river or another tile already in play. You may only play tiles in empty spaces, and you may never play a tile in a district that is already completely full.

Example: The palace is a legal play since it is adjacent to the river. The tower-house is a legal play since it is adjacent to another tile. The shop is not a legal play since it is not adjacent to the river or any other tile.

Merchants

After you play a building tile in the city, you may be able to place one of your merchants, so he can "trade" with one of the great families. You may only place a merchant on the tile just played, and only if that tile has one or more family shields. If the tile has two shields, then you may place a merchant on either shield, but you may not place merchants on both shields. You must have a merchant in your supply in order to place one on the tile.

There can only be one merchant per family in each district. If there is already a merchant (regardless of who owns it) on a matching shield in that district, then you may not place your merchant on that shield. In other words, each family will trade with only one merchant in each district. So, if you place a merchant on a shield in a district, you will block all other players from trading with that family in that district.

If you choose to place one of your merchants on a tile, you may also secretly examine the privilege token next to that district. Keep the identity of the privilege token secret from the other players!

Note: Shields are blocked only within that district. Matching shields in other districts are not blocked.

Example: The brown family is trading with Fede (white). The blue family is also trading with Fede. The purple family is trading with Eli (black). Stephano (green) adds a new palace to the district. Since blue is already trading with Fede, Stephano cannot place his merchant on that shield. He may place a merchant on the red shield, since there is no trading with the red family in this district.

Closing a District

If you play the sixth tile in a district, then that district is "closed." After you complete your action (by possibly playing a merchant), but before taking a second action that turn (if you choose to do so), the game is temporarily paused while the district is scored and revenues are paid.

Important: You may never play any tiles in a closed district! (Exception: See "Office.")

Each player who has one or more merchants on palace tiles in that district will receive revenues based on the total privilege of the families they are trading with. The more privilege the family has in that district, the higher the revenues will be.

Important: The revenue for merchants on Tower Houses and Plazas are not determined until the end of the game (see "Final Revenues").

Note: Because merchants on Tower Houses and Plazas are not counted until the end of the game, if you place a merchant on a tile of this type it will not be returned to your supply during the game! If you place too many merchants on these buildings, you will not be able to score revenues for many palaces!

The base revenue for a merchant trading at a palace is equal to the total number of shields for that family in that district. Each shield is worth 1 Florin. Some special buildings (churches and graveyards), shop tiles, and the prestige token for that district can raise or lower the base revenue. (See "Building Tiles.")

After revenues are paid, return any merchants on palaces in that district to their owners. You can reuse these merchants on future turns to earn more revenues in other districts.

Privilege Token

As soon as a district is closed, turn over the corresponding privilege token. The token will show three shields. They are treated the same as normal shields printed on building tiles, adding revenue for any merchant trading at a palace with that family in that district. Each shield on the privilege token adds 1 Florin to the revenue of these merchants. After revenues are paid, remove the privilege token from the game.

Example: This district has been closed and the merchants are ready to receive their revenue. The prestige token is turned over, and reveals two red shields and one blue shield. Marina (white) receives a total of 8 Florins: 2 Florins for the red family palaces plus 2 for shields on the prestige token, (merchant A) and 3 Florins for the blue family palaces plus 1 for the shields on the prestige token (merchant B). Michele (black) receives 1 Florin: there's only one purple family shield. Will (green) receives no Florins: the revenue will be calculated at the end of the game, because his merchant is on a tower-house. All the white and black merchants are returned to their owners to be used again in other districts. The green merchant remains on the board until the end of the game.

The End of the Game

When the last district is closed (the eighth district), the game ends immediately. Calculate and pay out the revenues for the last district normally. Then, award the final revenues.

Final Revenues

Some buildings do not award revenues until the end of the game. Merchants on Tower Houses and Plazas receive their revenues only during the final phase of the game. The revenues for each type of building are explained in the "Building Tiles" section. After final revenues are paid, all players count their Florins. The player with the most Florins is the winner! If there is a tie for the most money, then the tied player with the most tiles left in hand is the winner.

Building Tiles

There are 3 different types of building tiles. You can place merchants on these tiles.

Palaces (38 in the game: 30 with two shields, 8 with one shield)

Merchants are placed on palaces to "trade" with one of the great families. The revenue for a merchant in a palace is equal to one Florin for each shield from that family in that district, plus any matching shields on that district's prestige token.

If a palace shows two shields, you must choose only one to place your merchant on.

Note: Each family will only trade with one merchant in each district. If another merchant is already trading with a family in a district, you may not place your merchant on any of that family's shields in that district.

Merchants placed on palaces are returned to your supply when that district is closed and the revenues for that merchant are paid.

Tower Houses (8 in the game: 2 of each color)

Merchants placed on a tower house do not earn any revenues until the end of the game. Any merchant placed on a tower house remains there for the rest of the game, and is not removed when that district is closed. During the final revenues phase at the end of the game, a merchant on a tower house receives revenues based on the prestige the matching family has over the street closest to the tower house.

Note: if there are two streets equally distant from a tower house with one of your merchants, you choose which of the two streets to collect revenues from during the final revenue phase.

A merchant on a tower house receives one Florin for each matching shield on all tiles adjacent to that street (a maximum of 8 tiles).

Example: This tower house is equal distance from two streets. Schar, the owner of the brown merchant placed here chooses to score the right street. She will receive 1 Florin for each tile along that street which has a shield that matches the one on the tower house (4 Florins).

Plazas (4 in the game)

Merchants placed on a plaza do not earn any revenues until the end of the game. Any merchant placed on a plaza remains there for the rest of the game, and is not removed when that district is closed. During the final revenues phase at the end of the game, a merchant on a plaza receives revenue based on the prestige the matching family has within the entire row that the plaza is a part of. A merchant on a plaza receives one Florin for each matching shield on all tiles within the same row as the plaza (a maximum of 12 tiles).

Example: The purple plaza will award revenues based on all the tiles in the same row, in this case 4 Florins.

Special Tiles

The special tiles are played just like other building tiles. You can never place a merchant on any special tile. There are four different types of special tiles.

Shops (7 in the game)

The revenue a merchant receives is increased by one Florin for each shop located in the same district and adjacent (orthogonally) to the tile the merchant is standing on. Tiles that touch only at a corner are not considered adjacent and receive no bonus.

The shop bonus is applied to all merchants, whether they are located in palaces, tower houses, or plazas. It is possible to receive this bonus from multiple shops, if they are all adjacent to the same merchant.

In the illustration, the three tiles marked with a star all receive the shop bonus.

Graveyard (2 in the game)

Denizens of graveyards tend to do very little business. Every merchant in the same district as a graveyard has his total revenues reduced by one Florin. If there are two graveyards in the district, then every merchant in that district has his total revenue reduced by two Florins.

Note: The total revenue for a merchant can never drop below zero! Treat any negative revenues as zero instead.

Church (2 in the game)

In fourteenth century Pisa, the church was a very powerful and important force. Though merchants would often compete for the favor of the church, these contributions did drain revenues tremendously. A merchant on a tile adjacent to a church has his revenue decreased by two Florins. Tiles that touch only at a corner (diagonally) are not considered adjacent.

Note: The total revenues for a merchant can never drop below zero! Treat any negative revenues as zero instead.

Office (4 in the game)

A clever merchant can use a well-located business office to have a direct affect on the influence of the various families in Pisa. When you play an office tile, you must choose another tile that is already in play. Remove your chosen tile and add it to your hand (to use again later). Place the office tile in the same space your chosen tile was removed from.

Important: You may not choose any tile that has a merchant on it.

Note: You may choose a tile from a district that has already been closed!

Two-Player Variant

If you are playing with only two players, all of the rules above are used. The only change is during the setup phase. Place only two bridges (instead of three) and three river sections. There are only six districts now instead of eight.