Nevada City Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Base Game Parts
• Description of the Parts
  • Board
  • Homestead Mats
  • Ranch Gates
  • Tokens
  • Property Tiles
  • Building Cards
  • Goal Cards
  • Event Cards
  • Character Cards
  • Skills
  • Contract Cards
  • Markers
  • Production and Market Value
• The Goal of the Game
• Game Summary
• Prepare for New Year
  • Events
  • Buildings
  • Workers
• Action Rounds
  • Check for Events
  • Take Actions
• Actions
  • Farm
  • Ranch
  • Mine
  • Use a Building
  • Use City Hall to Claim a Building or Property
  • Construction
  • Reserve a Contract
  • Work on a Reserved Contract
  • Complete a Contract
• Cleanup
  • Check for Buildings that have End-of-Year Abilities
  • Discard Any Remaining Event Cards
  • Check End-of-Game Conditions
  • Reset Production and Market Value Markers
  • Reset Start Player
  • Return Unused Action Markers
  • Release or Marry Current Workers
• End of Game
• Buildings Printed on the Board
  • Bank
  • City Hall
  • Trading Post
  • Hotel
• Building Cards
  • Start Buildings
  • Other Buildings
• Extended Play Example
• Two-Player Game
• Fine Points
• Basic Setup
• Advanced Game
  • Advanced Game Parts
  • Play The Advanced Game
  • Additional Building Cards
• Credits

Base Game Parts

• Four-panel Gameboard (the end panels are two-sided depending on the number of players)
• Sheriff's badge (first player marker)
• Deputy's badge
• 4 Homestead mats
• 24 Character cards representing 6 different families: 6 Pa, 6 Ma, 6 Son, 6 Daughter
• 26 Worker cards
• 8 Goal cards
• 23 Event cards
• 40 Contract cards in 5 colors
• 4 Reference cards (1 of each of 4 colors)
• 22 Building cards (4 for 1854 (Start), 6 for 1855, 6 for 1856, 6 for 1857)
• 72 Property tiles: 24 Mines, 24 Farms, 24 Ranches
• 1 Bag
• 90 Resource tokens: 30 Silver, 30 Crops, 30 Livestock
• 45 Money: 25 $1, 10 $5, 10 $10
• 115 Commodity tokens: 25 Iron, 25 Lumber, 25 Brick, 20 Spirits, 20 Entertainment
• 4 Pawns for the score track (1 of each of 4 colors)
• 112 Action markers (28 of each of 4 colors)
• 48 Ownership markers (12 of each of 4 colors)
• 14 Production Market Value cubes (4 Silver, 5 Crops, 5 Livestock)
• 4 Ranch gates, Support pieces for gates (8 pieces)
• 4 Damaged Building markers (2 parts)

Description of the Parts

Board

The Board represents the space available to build Nevada City.

1. The empty spaces are surveyed lots where buildings can be constructed.
2. Some of the essential civic and commercial buildings have already been constructed.
3. The Production Level/Market Value chart is where cubes are placed to indicate the number of each type of Resource that is produced by a Production action and the Market Value of each type of Resource when it is sold.
4. Around the edge of the Board are spaces for the different decks of cards in the game: 4a Events, 4b Contracts, 4c Workers, 4d Goals, and 4e Draw deck (Advanced Game only).
5. The center of the Board is the scoring track.
6. Building cards area
7. 3 spaces to hold the supply of Property tiles

Homestead Mats

Each player has a mat that represents their personal property. The parts of the mat are:

1. The upper portion of the Homestead mat represents an open plot of land where players will develop their properties: Mines, Farms, and Ranches. Each space on the mat can hold one Property tile.
2. The lower portion of the mat is where players store their Commodity tokens. There is no limit to the number of tokens that can be stored there.
3. The bottom of the mat is a holding area for cards. A player may hold up to three cards at their Homestead. These cards can be any combination of Workers or Contracts. If a player already holds three cards, they cannot pick up additional Workers or Contracts.
4. This indicates the cost to claim each type of property at City Hall. Each claimed property is worth 2 VPs.

Ranch Gates

Each player takes a Ranch Gate and markers of the same color during Setup.

The rulebook also shows two-step assembly diagrams — ASSEMBLE RANCH GATES and ASSEMBLE DAMAGED BUILDING MARKERS — which are pictorial only and carry no text beyond the step numbers 1 and 2.

Tokens

Resource tokens: Silver, Crops, Livestock.

Commodity tokens: Iron, Lumber, Brick, Spirits, Entertainment (may be used as a substitute for any other commodity).

The number of tokens is not meant to be a limit. If you run out of tokens, please use a substitute.

Property Tiles

There are three types of Property tiles that can be claimed and placed on a player's mat: Mines produce Silver, Farms produce Crops, and Ranches produce Livestock.

Building Cards

The parts of a Building card are:

• Cost in goods to construct the building.
• Name of the building.
• The year the card comes into play.
• VPs scored when the building is completed.
• Action spaces (and their cost): Do not use any space with the brown number in a 2 or 3-player game.
• The effect of taking an Action at the building.
• Contract space.

Goal Cards

During Setup, each player is dealt two goal cards. They choose one card to add to the stack of cards that will be scored at the end of the game. The other card is discarded. These cards represent end-of-game goals for all of the players. The card shows the Name of the card.

Event Cards

The event cards represent outside effects on the city. When a card is revealed, it is either immediately resolved, or it has a continuous effect that lasts as long as the card is in play (these cards say ". . . for the remainder of the year"). The card shows the Name of the card.

Character Cards

There are two types of Character cards: Family and Workers. Family characters are selected at the beginning of the game. Workers are hired during the game.

The parts of a Family card are:

• Actions: The octagons represent the number of actions a character may take on their turn.
• Skills: These are the character's special abilities. Each character has skills that can include Mining, Farming, and Ranching as well as Blacksmithing, Carpentry, and Masonry.
• This symbol indicates that the Character is female.
• Character Name / Family Name.

The parts of a Worker card are:

• Hiring Cost.
• Actions: Each worker starts with two or three actions.
• Skills: These are the character's special abilities. Each character has skills that can include Mining, Farming, and Ranching as well as Blacksmithing, Carpentry, and Masonry.
• This symbol indicates that the Character is male.
• Character Name.

NOTE: The Gunslinging ability is only used in the Advanced game.

Skills

Each character has skills shown on their card.

1. Mining allows a character to mine silver in one additional Mine when used along with the placement of an Action marker.
2. Farming allows a character to grow crops on one additional Farm when used along with the placement of an Action marker.
3. Ranching allows a character to add livestock on one additional Ranch when used along with the placement of an Action marker.

These actions are described on Page 8.

4. Blacksmithing adds one Iron token from the pool to the construction of a building when used with the placement of an Action marker.
5. Carpentry adds one Lumber token from the pool to the construction of a building when used with the placement of an Action marker.
6. Masonry adds one Brick token from the pool to the construction of a building when used with the placement of an Action marker.

These actions are described on Page 9.

Contract Cards

The Contract cards represent ways to improve the city. The parts of a Contract card are:

• Cost in Goods to complete the contract.
• The type of contract.
• The Building associated with the contract, and the VPs earned by the owner of the Building if it has already been constructed.
• VPs earned when the Contract is complete. The first number is scored if the Building has already been constructed; the second number is scored if the Building is not yet in play.
• Name of the card.

Markers

There are two specific sets of markers: Action markers and Ownership markers.

1. Action markers are placed on the character cards and represent the actions those characters will take when activated. When a character is activated, the action marker is moved from the character card to the space where the character takes their action.
2. Ownership markers are placed on the VP circle of a Building card when it is placed on the Board to indicate which player owns that building.

Production and Market Value

The Production and Market Value charts represent the variations in the economy. The economy in Nevada City is based on supply and demand. Commodities that are more abundant are less valuable while those in short supply are worth more.

1. The Production Chart shows five spaces. Three of these spaces are always filled with one cube of each commodity type (silver, livestock, and food). The other two spaces are filled by randomly pulling cubes from the bag during the Cleanup Phase (as described on Page 11).

   Each cube present on the track represents one unit of production for the appropriate commodity. For the example shown of Page 8, there are two crops cubes on the Production Chart. Therefore, each farm will produce two crops tokens if harvested this year.

2. The Market Value chart shows eight spaces. Three of these spaces are always filled with 2 silver cubes and 1 livestock cube. The other spaces are also pulled randomly from the bag during the Cleanup Phase (as described on Page 11).

   Each cube present on the chart represents a value of $1 for each unit sold of the appropriate commodity. In the example shown on Page 8, there are 2 crops cubes on the Market Value Chart. Therefore, each crops token sold this year is worth $2.

The Goal of the Game

The players represent leaders of fictional families from the Old West. The player who has accumulated the most Victory Points (VPs) by the end of the final year becomes the new mayor of Nevada City!

Nevada City is usually played across 4 years. Each year consists of multiple of rounds of play. The number of rounds of play is variable. It depends on the number of family and worker cards that each player has in play.

The game starts in 1855, with just the start buildings on the board to represent the fledgling town. The game usually ends in 1858 after the fourth (or fifth in the case of a 2-player game) year has been completed.

Game Summary

Prepare for the New Year:

1. Prepare the Event cards for the current year. (Events – Page 6)
2. Add the current year Building cards to available Buildings. (Buildings – Page 6)
3. Discard Worker cards that were not hired in the previous year.
4. Reveal new Worker cards equal to the number of players plus one. (Workers – Page 7)

Action Rounds:

For each Action Round:

1. Check for Events: If needed, reveal and resolve the Event. (Check for Events - Page 7)
2. Take Actions: a. Holder of Sheriff's badge (Start Player) goes first. b. Take Actions for one character card per player. (See Action Rounds – Page 7)

Action Rounds continue until all players have used the Action markers for all of their available character cards.

Cleanup: (See Page 11)

1. Check for the effects of buildings that have end-of-year abilities (e.g. Soup Kitchen.)
2. Discard any remaining Event cards
3. Check for End-of-game conditions.
4. Reset the Production Level and Market Value markers.
5. Reset Start Player.
6. Return Unused Action Markers a. Return used Action markers to character cards. b. Return remaining used Action markers to the appropriate player's supply.
7. Release or Marry Hired Workers.

Prepare for New Year

Events

During the Preparation phase, one Event card is placed face-down on each Event space marked with the current year. At the beginning of the first year (1855), all six spaces are filled; at the beginning of years two through four (1856-1858), spaces 1, 3, 5, and 6 are filled. In a 2-player game, a fifth year (1859) is played and Event cards are added using the same method as years two through four.

Buildings

After the setup, the The Building deck is divided into three years − 1855, 1856, and 1857.

A. The current year's Building cards should be added to any buildings remaining from the previous years. There are no new cards available in 1858 (or 1859 in the case of a 2-player game).

B. The Building deck may be inspected and any card selected from those available from this year or prior years.

Workers

New Workers arrive in town:

A. Any Workers who were not hired in the past year leave town (put them in the discard pile).

B. Reveal new Worker cards equal to the number of players plus one and place them face up on the appropriate spaces next to the game board.

Action Rounds

Each year is played out in a series of action rounds. An action round consists of each player having the opportunity to use all of the action markers from one of their Character cards.

Check for Events

A. At the beginning of each Action round, an Event card (if there is a card on the space) is revealed and resolved.

NOTE: It is possible that there are more Action rounds than Event cards; if this occurs, the Reveal an Event step is skipped.

B. If an event requires the use of one of a character's actions, players take an Action marker that has not yet been assigned off of a character card and place it on their Homestead. The Action marker will be available again next year.

C. If an event requires a payment that exceeds a player's money reserves, that player must immediately take an Action marker that has not yet been assigned from any character and place it on the Bank in order to take out a loan (See Bank on Page 10).

D. In either case (B or C), if a player does not have any Action markers remaining, they are not affected by the event.

Take Actions

After resolving any events, the Action Round begins. Starting with the holder of the Sheriff's badge and continuing clockwise, each player uses all of the available Action markers of one (and only one) character. (Available actions are described in detail starting on Page 8.)

After all players have used all the Action Markers for ONE of their characters, this completes an action round. After an action round has been completed, check to see if any player has a Character card that still has available action markers. If they do, then start a new action round, checking for possible Events as described above.

Players are free to pass any or all actions by simply removing the Action markers from the Character card they are currently using.

The available actions each around are (See Pages 8 - 10):

• FARM
• RANCH
• MINE
• USE A BUILDING
• USE CITY HALL TO CLAIM A BUILDING OR PROPERTY
• CONSTRUCTION
• RESERVE A CONTRACT
• WORK ON A RESERVED CONTRACT
• COMPLETE A CONTRACT

Actions

Farm

FARM: A character may use one action to activate a Farm tile. A character does not have to have the Farming skill in order to harvest a farm. The Farm tile chosen must not have any action markers on it. Each Farm tile can be worked once per year. In order to perform the action, the player should follow the steps below:

1. Take an action marker from the Character who is performing the harvest and move it to the Farm tile.
2. Place crop tokens from the supply equal to the current Production level of crops (green cubes) on the Farm tile. The production level of crops is indicated by the number of green cubes on the Production Chart on the game board.

Please note the following after harvesting:

1. During the Cleanup Phase at the end of the year, the action marker will be removed from the Farm so it can be harvested again in future years.
2. If the character has a Farming ability, additional farms may be harvested. One additional farm may be harvested for each Farming ability icon on the character's card. Use Action markers from the player's reserve to indicate that the Farm tile(s) have been harvested.
3. The same character may take additional actions to harvest additional Farm tile(s).
4. There is no limit to how many crop tokens each Farm tile may hold at any time.

Ranch

RANCH: A character may place one Action marker on a Ranch tile to activate it. A character does not have to have the Ranching skill in order to work a ranch. The Ranch tile chosen must not have any action markers on it. Each Ranch tile can be worked once per year. In order to perform the action, the player should follow the steps below:

1. Take an Action marker from the Character who is doing the work and move it to the Ranch tile.
2. Place livestock tokens from the supply equal to the current Production level of livestock (brown cubes) on the Ranch tile. The production level of livestock is indicated by the number of brown cubes on the Production Chart on the game board.

Please note the following after working a Ranch tile:

1. During the Cleanup Phase at the end of the year, the Action marker will be removed from the Ranch so it can be worked again in future years.
2. If the character has a Ranching ability, additional ranches may be worked. One additional Ranch may be worked for each Ranching ability icon on the character's card. Use Action markers from the player's reserve to indicate that the ranch tile(s) have been worked.
3. The same character may take additional actions to work additional Ranch tile(s).
4. There is no limit to how many livestock tokens each ranch tile may hold at any time.

Mine

MINE: A character may place one Action marker on a Mine tile to activate it. A character does not have to have the Mining skill in order to work a mine. The Mine tile chosen must not have any action markers on it. Each Mine tile can be worked once per year. In order to perform the action, the player should follow the steps below:

1. Take an Action marker from the Character who is doing the action and move it to the Mine tile.
2. Place silver tokens from the supply equal to the current Production level of silver (silver cubes) on the Mine tile. The production level of silver is indicated by the number of silver cubes on the Production Chart on the game board.

Please note the following after activating the mine:

1. During the Cleanup Phase at the end of the year, the Action marker will be removed from the Mine so it can be activated again in future years.
2. If the character has a Mining ability, additional mines may be worked. One additional Mine may be worked for each Mining ability icon on the character's card. Use Action markers from the player's reserve to indicate that the Mine tile(s) have been worked.
3. The same character may take additional actions to work additional Mine tile(s).
4. There is no limit to how many silver tokens each Mine tile may hold at any time.

This Mine example may be applied to Farm and Ranch action as well: A. Character can always work a Mine using an Action marker from their card. B. Character with one Mining ability works an additional mine using an Action marker from the player's reserves. (With silver production = 2.)

Use a Building

USE A BUILDING:

A. Place an Action marker on an empty Action or Contract space on the Building and take the action as described on the Building card. Some buildings require paying a fee to the owner of the building. Each building is described in detail on Pages 12-14.

B. Each character may take only one action at each Building − a character may not take two or more actions at the same Building. However, a player may have two different characters take actions at the same Building.

C. The large octagonal spaces on a Building may be occupied by any number of Action markers.

D. If a player uses a building owned by another player, they must pay the owner any fee that may apply; the fee may be paid out of the proceeds from the action. If a player uses a character in a building that they own, they do not pay any fees.

NOTE: In a 2 or 3 player game, the Action spaces with brown numbers cannot be used.

Use City Hall to Claim a Building or Property

USE CITY HALL TO CLAIM A BUILDING OR PROPERTY:

NOTE: This is technically a "Use a Building" action, but its description is special.

A. A character must place an Action marker on a space at City Hall to claim one of the available Building cards or a Property tile from City Hall.

B. The cost for this action is the amount listed at City Hall next to the space that was claimed.

C. The large octagonal space ($4) on the Building may be occupied by any number of Action markers.

D. The player may EITHER claim a Building card OR claim a Property tile:

1. If a Building card is claimed:

   • Any available Building card may be taken from the deck. Only buildings from the current and prior years are available.
   • The card is placed on any empty building plot on the Board with the construction cost showing. The player places one of their Ownership markers on the bottom right corner of the card.

   IMPORTANT: A player may never have more than two buildings under construction at the same time.

2. If a Property tile is claimed:

   • Any type of Property may be selected.
   • The additional cost shown on the tile must be paid to the Bank ($1 for a Mine, $2 for a Farm, and $3 for a Ranch).
   • The Property tile is placed on the player's Homestead mat and the 2 VPs indicated on the tile are scored.

Construction

CONSTRUCTION: A Character may place an Action marker at an unfinished Building that they own to begin or continue construction. As part of the action, the Character may add tokens to the Building for each of their skills (an Iron token for each Blacksmithing skill, a Lumber token for each Carpentry skill, and a Brick token for each Masonry skill). They may also bring with them any number of tokens stored at the Homestead that are required to complete the construction of the building.

NOTE: When the currently active character uses an action to complete a Building, their marker remains on the card. Therefore, that character cannot then take a second action at that location by using the building.

Construction examples: A. Construct a Building without the Blacksmith ability. B. Construct a Building with the Blacksmith ability.

CONSTRUCTING A BUILDING:

A. A Building may take a number of different character actions and possibly a number of rounds or years to construct. However, a character may only use a Construction action on an individual building once per year.

B. As soon as the required tokens are at the site, the Building is constructed:

1. The tokens are returned to the pool and the card is turned over. The Building is now active and its abilities may be used except as noted above.
2. The owner receives the VPs listed on the card and places one of their Ownership markers over the VP circle.
3. Action markers used to construct the Building are placed on the bottom of the card. They do not use any of the newly-constructed building's action spots.

Reserve a Contract

RESERVE A CONTRACT: Some buildings have a Contract space. (See Page 3 – Building Cards) Placing an action marker on one of these spaces allows a player to reserve an available face-up contract that is next to the game board. The Contract space on a Building Card is labeled and color-coded to indicate which type of contract the player is permitted to reserve.

A. A player taking an action on a Contract space of a Building takes an appropriate Contract Card from the Contract area of the game board. The reserved Contract Card is placed in one of the open slots at the bottom of their Homestead mat. A new Contract Card is immediately drawn from the deck to replace the card that was just taken.

B. A player may not take this action if they already hold three cards (any combination of Workers or Contracts) on their Homestead mat or if no Contract cards of the appropriate type are available to be reserved.

C. IMPORTANT: Each character may only reserve, complete or work on a single contract during each year.

D. Contracts may not be discarded once reserved. They must be completed in order to be removed from a player's Homestead mat.

Work on a Reserved Contract

WORK ON A RESERVED CONTRACT: A character may place an action marker on their Homestead mat and place any goods required by one of their reserved Contracts by placing the tokens on the Contract. Note that when taking this action, the action marker used is placed on the Homestead mat, not on a contract space on a building. Contract spaces on a building card are only used when taking a Contract card from board.

A. A Character's skills may be used to fulfill a Contract.

B. IMPORTANT: A character may not work on a the same contract more than once in a single year.

C. If the action does not complete the Contract, the goods remain on the card until it is complete. If the action completes the Contract, it is immediately scored (see SCORING THE CONTRACT below - Item C under COMPLETE A CONTRACT).

Complete a Contract

COMPLETE A CONTRACT: A character may take an action on the Contract space of a Building and complete an appropriate face-up Contract card immediately by paying all of the resources required to fulfill the Contract:

A. A Character's skills may be used to fulfill a Contract.

B. IMPORTANT: Each character may only reserve, complete or work on a single contract during each year.

C. SCORING THE CONTRACT: When a Contract is completed, the player scores the points (and possibly goods) listed at the bottom of the card.

1. If there are two numbers for VPs listed on the Contract, the larger number is scored if the listed Building has already been completely constructed and the smaller number is scored if the Building has not.
2. Some Contracts have a Building listed on them. If the Building listed on the contract has already been completely constructed, the owner of the Building scores 2 VPs (this may be the same player who completed the Contract).
3. If a player completes a Contract that gives a character a new skill, the card is placed under the character card so that the new skill is showing.

D. Completed contracts are held by the player along with their Character cards (the Contract is no longer taking up space at their Homestead).

E. Contracts that are discarded because of events are placed face down at the bottom of the Contract Deck.

Cleanup

Check for Buildings that have End-of-Year Abilities

Some buildings in the game have effects that are triggered at the end of a game year. These include the Soup Kitchen and the Boarding House. If these buildings have been constructed during the game, be sure to check to see if those effects apply at the end of each game year.

Discard Any Remaining Event Cards

Discard any remaining Event cards. These may either be unrevealed events or those with ongoing effects that expire at the end of the year.

Check End-of-Game Conditions

If all of the plots on the Game board have Building cards on them, even if the buildings have not been fully constructed, the game ends. Go immediately to End of Game Scoring as discussed on Page 12.

Reset Production and Market Value Markers

1. Remove all of the cubes from the Production and Market Value charts and place the appropriate cubes on the colored spaces. The Production chart always begins with one token each of Silver, Crops, and Livestock and the Market Value chart always begins with two Silver and one Livestock. This is indicated on the chart on the board.
2. Any remaining cubes are returned to the bag.
3. Two cubes are drawn randomly from the bag and placed on the empty spaces of the Production chart.
4. Five cubes are drawn randomly from the bag (leaving one in the bag) and placed on the empty spaces of the Market Value chart.

Reset Start Player

1. The Deputy takes the Sheriff's badge and returns the Deputy's badge to the Board next to the Sheriff's office. They become the Start Player for the next year of the game.
2. If the Deputy badge has not been taken, the Sheriff's badge remains with its current holder.

Return Unused Action Markers

1. Players take all of their Action markers that were used during the previous year and return the markers to the appropriate character cards.
2. Extra markers that were placed as a result of character abilities or other actions should be returned to the reserve of the appropriate player.
3. A marker placed on the loan space on the Bank may not be retrieved unless $5 is paid back to the Bank. A marker that is placed on the Contract space at the Bank is free to return to the character cards.

NOTE: Players may choose which action spaces are left empty due to the markers remaining at the Bank.

Release or Marry Current Workers

All current Workers must be released (remove the Action markers and put the card in the discard pile) or married into the family:

1. In order to marry a Worker into the Family, players must have a single son or daughter available to be married.

   NOTE: This is the Old West and it is only acceptable to marry a man to a woman or vice versa. Therefore, the maximum number of workers that can be married into the family is two.

2. The wedding costs two Spirits tokens plus any two Resources (Silver, Livestock, and/or Crops).

3. After being married, the card is moved next to the other character cards and is now considered a family member. The space at the bottom of the Homestead mat is now available to hold another card.

End of Game

The game will end at the completion of the fourth year (or fifth year in the case of a 2-player game) or at end of the current year if all of the plots on the board have Building cards, even if the buildings have not been constructed.

1. All of the end-of-game Goal cards are revealed and scored. a. In case of a tie, evenly divide the VPs of the respective levels among the tied players (rounded down if necessary). b. In order to score for any goal, a player must have at least one of items that is mentioned in the goal. If they do not, they do not score any points for that goal.
2. The player who has the highest number of VPs is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most remaining resources is the winner. If still tied, the players share victory.

Buildings Printed on the Board

Bank

This building is used to take loans. Players may use the Bank, even if they are not forced to. Loans may be repaid at any time; however, if a loan is repaid any time before the "Reset Action markers" phase, the marker is returned to the player. If a loan cannot be repaid, the marker stays at the Bank and its owner must leave one of the Action spaces of their Characters empty. There is also one space where players can either immediately complete or reserve a Civic Contract. A marker placed in this space is freely returned to a character at the end of the year.

City Hall

New buildings or Properties are claimed by using the spaces on this building. The cost on the space is paid to the Bank, then: 1) take a Building card with no additional payment; or 2) purchase a Property (Mine, Farm, or Ranch) by also paying the appropriate fee (as shown on your Homestead) and scoring the VPs for the Property. There is also one space where players can go to either immediately complete or reserve a Civic Contract.

Trading Post

Players may purchase up to three Commodities shown on the card for their listed price. Players may purchase any of the Commodities shown regardless of the space that they chose. Each Commodity costs $2. Note that there are a limited number of actions available at the Trading post.

Hotel

Players may hire a Worker by paying the fee on the space plus the salary as shown on the Worker card to the Bank. The "Decide Events" space is used by a player to draw the top card from the Event deck. They then pick up any remaining Event cards from the board. After looking at them, the player places cards back on the empty spaces on the board in any order they choose and place one card on the top of the deck.

Building Cards

Start Buildings

ASSAYER, MARKET, STOCK YARDS

Players can sell the appropriate Resources at these buildings. The spaces limit the number of Resources that may be sold. Some of the spaces add a bonus for each resource sold. On each building, there is also a space where players can either reserve a Contract or immediately complete a specific type of Contract.

SHERIFF

There are two spaces on the card:

1. A player may pick up the Deputy badge to become the first player for next year in addition to either immediately complete or reserve any type of Contract by paying the $2 fee; or
2. A player may hire a Worker from the discard pile by paying the $4 fee to the current Sheriff and the Worker's Salary to the Bank.

Other Buildings

FIRE HOUSE

If there is a Fire Event, the owner of the Fire House may place an Action marker from one of their character cards on the Fire House building card. If the owner of the Fire House places an Action marker on the Building card, all other players must pay the owner of the Fire House $4. If the owner of the Fire House does not place an Action marker on the card, all of the other players must place an Action marker from one of their character cards on the card to help put out the fire.

BLACKSMITH, BRICK OVEN, SAW MILL

The player pays the amount shown on each space to the owner of the building to receive the indicated commodities. The commodities come from the supply not the owner of the building. For example, if a player uses the $2 space on the Brick Oven, they will pay $2 to receive 3 brick from the supply. The "Claim" space may be used to either immediately complete or reserve the appropriate Contract card.

SADDLERY

The player pays $1 to the owner of the building and then may look at the top three Contracts of the deck, then may take one and either immediately complete or reserve it. The unselected Contract cards are placed face down on the top or bottom of the deck − some may be placed on top and some on the bottom.

PHARMACIST

The player pays $1 to the owner of the building then may exchange any number of Commodities (Lumber, Brick, and Iron) for the same number of Spirits.

SOUP KITCHEN, BOARDING HOUSE

Players may earn rewards for Workers that have not been hired at the end of the year. The Soup Kitchen pays $5 for each Worker that has not been hired and the owner of the Boarding House earns 3 VPs if more than one Worker has not been hired.

HARDNAIL'S, LEADBRICK'S, MASONOAK'S GENERAL STORE

Each General Store allows players to buy three Commodities for a total of $2 from a selection of three different Commodities. Players must buy at least two different types of Commodities − they cannot buy three of the same item. The money is paid to the owner of the building.

POST OFFICE

The player pays $2 to the owner of the building and then discards all current Contracts, refills the Contract spaces, and may claim any one of the available Contracts to either immediately complete or reserve.

TOBACCONIST

After paying $1 to the owner of the building, the player must use the action of a Building space that is already occupied by another player. This does not require another Action marker, but the cost of the space that is used is paid to the owner of the building of the Action that is used.

NEWSPAPER

The player pays the owner of the Newspaper $1 and an additional amount of up to $5, earning 1VP for each additional dollar spent (they do not earn 1VP for the base fee); then they may claim any one available Contract to either complete or reserve. Both actions are optional but, in order to claim the space, at least one must be completed. The owner of the Newspaper pays the bank in order to buy VPs.

BELLE'S, WINE & ROSES SALOONS

The player may pay the owner to receive the appropriate Commodities (Spirits or Entertainment), OR they may take the "Gamble" action (Advanced game only). There is also one space where they can either immediately complete or reserve an Entertainment Contract.

BORDELLO, OPERA HOUSE

The player may pay the owner of the building to receive the appropriate Commodities (Spirits or Entertainment).

Extended Play Example

Alan holds the Sheriff's Badge so he is the starting player. He checks to see if there is an Event card in the first Event space on the board. There is an Event card on the board, so he reveals it and reads it aloud for all players.

The Event is "Silver Discovered!" This allows players to use one Action marker to gain one silver. This is a continuous Event which means that it will be in play for the rest of the year.

TURN BEGINS — Three Action markers. Alan chooses Jane Ticktok to use as a character card in this Action round. Jane has 3 Action markers available on her card. Therefore, Alan can take 3 actions using the Action markers on her card in this Action round.

1. (1st marker) For the first marker, Alan decides to send Jane to City Hall to claim a new Property tile. He places an Action marker from Jane's Character card on to the City Hall building that is printed on the board. He is the first one to use City Hall this year so he chooses the $2 space and places the Action marker on it. He pays $2 to the bank to use the action space. This is paid to the bank because City Hall is not owned by a player.
2. He then pays $3 to the bank to purchase the Ranch tile. He takes a Ranch tile from the supply stack. He places the tile on his Homestead on an empty square and immediately scores 2vps. The location of the tile on the Homestead does not matter.
3. (2nd marker) Alan then decides to send Jane to the Homestead to work one of his Ranch tiles. He places the second Action marker on Jane's Character card on one of the Ranch tiles on his Homestead. This indicates that this Ranch has been worked for this year.
4. He then checks to see how many Livestock are being produced this year by looking at the Production chart on the game board. There are two brown Livestock cubes on the Production chart.
5. This indicates that each Ranch will produce two Livestock this year. He takes two Livestock tokens from the supply and places them on the same Ranch tile where he placed the Action marker.
6. Alan sees that Jane has a Ranching skill icon on her Character card. This means that she can work one additional Ranch tile when taking the "Work a Ranch" action.
7. Because Jane has that skill, Alan now takes a spare Action marker from his reserve and places it on the empty Ranch tile he just purchased from City Hall with his first action this round. As noted above, this indicates that this Ranch tile has been "worked" for this year. Finally, he takes two more Livestock tokens from the supply and places them on this Ranch tile.
8. (3rd marker) For the third and last Action marker that Jane has on her card, Alan decides to claim a Contract card from the board — the green Production Contract card called "Army Contract" which requires 3 Livestock and 5 Crops tokens to fulfill. Alan has 4 Livestock tokens as a result of Jane's earlier actions this round but he still needs 5 Crops tokens. He thinks that someone else might be interested in this Contract card and wants to claim it now before it gets taken by another player.
9. Alan uses the Production Contract space on the Stock Yard Building card to claim the Contract card. Beth built that Building card earlier in the game. He places the last Action marker from Jane's Character card on the green space and pays $1 to Beth. He takes the "Army Contract" contract card from the board and puts it below his Homestead board in one of the empty slots for Worker and Contract cards. He draws a new Contract card from the deck and adds it to the board to replace the card.

Alan has now used all of the Action markers from Jane's Character card. The turn now passes to the next player in clockwise order. After all of the remaining players have used (or passed on) all of the Action markers from one of their Character cards, Alan checks to see if any players (including himself) have Characters cards with unused Action Markers. Since that was just the first Action Round, each player still has available actions to use, so the game continues to the second Action Round. Alan will repeat the steps shown in the Game Summary beginning with checking for Events.

Two-Player Game

1. Changes to Setup: a. Use the end panels of the Board marked with a "2." b. Remove the following Building cards from the game: Soup Kitchen, Fire House, Saddlery, Leadbrick's General Store, Bordello, and Opera House. c. The Market and the Stockyard are placed on the board and are owned by the Bank; players draw their start cards from the Assayer and Sheriff.
2. Changes to Play: a. Before the first Event phase, each player takes $5 from the Bank. b. After the third and fourth Event phases of each year, place the unclaimed Building with the highest VP value (if there is more than one, select it randomly) into play under the Bank's ownership. c. Spaces on cards that have brown numbers cannot be used in the game.
3. The game ends after the fifth year.

Fine Points

1. Entertainment tokens are wild. They may be used as any type of Commodity (Iron, Lumber, Brick, or Spirits). They may not be used as a Resource (Silver, Crops, and Livestock).
2. If a character needs money during their action and wishes to take out a loan from the Bank, the active character's Action marker must be used. If a family needs to take out a loan as a result of an event card, any available character Action marker may be used. If a player does not have an Action marker available, they may not take out a loan at that time. Therefore, if a player cannot pay for an event because they are out of money, they pay as much as possible and there is no further penalty.
3. If a player has taken out a loan, the loan at the Bank may be repaid at any time and the Action marker at the Bank is placed at the Homestead. If it is not repaid by the end of the year, this means that one character will have one fewer action next year for each loan token at the Bank. Players choose which of their characters will lose the action.
4. The first player only changes if someone has taken the Deputy's badge.
5. If the "Select Event" action at the Hotel is taken, the player draws one Event card from the deck and picks up all of the remaining face-down Event cards, looks at the cards, and places the cards back on the spaces in any order with the remaining card going on top of the deck.
6. Contracts may be either picked up and saved or filled immediately. If a Contract is filled immediately, there does not need to be an empty space for the card at the player's Homestead.
7. Once all of the building plots in town are filled with Building cards, no new Building cards can be claimed.
8. If a player uses a building that is owned by the Bank, all fees for using that building are paid to the Bank.
9. All building plots on the board are the same. It does not matter on which plot a player chooses to place their building.

Basic Setup

1. Assemble the Game board. Check the end panels of the game boards and select the correct panels for the number of players in the game. If playing with 2 players, the changes needed for a 2-player game are found on Page 12 of the main rule book. The panels with an asterisk (*) are used in the Advanced game.

2. Each player takes a Homestead mat, Ranch gate with matching Pawn, Ownership markers, and Action markers. a. Each player takes one Property tile of each type (Mine, Farm, and Ranch) and places them on any open space on their Homestead mat. They place one Silver token on their Mine tile, one Crop token on their Farm tile, and one Livestock token on their Ranch tile. b. Each player takes one of each Commodity (Iron, Lumber, Brick, Spirits, and Entertainment) and places them in the Commodities section of their Homestead mat. c. Each player places their Player pawn (cowboy) on the zero space on the Victory Point track in the center of the board.

3. Shuffle the starting Building cards (with the year 1854 printed on the bottom center of the card) and deal one to each player. The card is placed on any empty building plot on the Board with the construction cost showing. The player places one of their Ownership markers on the bottom right corner of the card. Players should move their Player pawn forward on the VP track equal to the number of VPs shown on the card. In a 3-player game, the Assayer building is not dealt to the players but is placed on the board and is owned by the Bank. Information about the 2-player game setup can be found on Page 12 of the main rule book.

4. The player who owns the Sheriff building takes the Sheriff's badge (first player marker) and places the Deputy's badge by the Sheriff building card. The Sheriff then takes $8; the player to the left takes $9;. The next player (if there are at least 3 players in the game) takes $10; and, if it is a 4-player game, the last player takes $11.

5. Sort the Family cards into sets with the same last name and matching card backs. Beginning with the Sheriff and continuing clockwise, each player selects a family set. These cards are placed face up next to the player's mat. Do not place these characters in the slots under the mat. These slots are reserved for Contract and Worker cards.

6. After the families are chosen, each player places the additional Property tiles listed on the "Pa" character card on their mat. These tiles do not start with any resource tokens. Players then total the VPs of all Property tiles on their mat and adds the total to their score by moving their pawn forward on the VP track.

7. Each player then fills all action spaces on each character card with Action markers.

8. Events: a. Remove the six Event cards with the orange "Start" banner in the upper left corner from the deck.

   NOTE: If you are a first time player, it is recommended that you also remove the cards with a yellow "Not First" banner in the upper left corner from the game before setting up the deck.

Advanced Game

Advanced Game Parts

• 4 Additional Character cards: 2 Sons, 2 Daughters
• 1 Additional Goal card (Gunslinging)
• 4 Additional Event cards (Whisky Runner, Poker Tournament, 2 Renegades)
• 6 different Building cards (Doctor, Undertaker, Stables, Military Store, Cavalry Hotel, Capitol)
• 7 Poker cards (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, A, Joker)
• 5 Additional Market Value cubes (2 Neutral, 1 Silver, 1 Crops, 1 Livestock)

Play The Advanced Game

To play the Advanced Game of Nevada City, use any or all of the alternate rules below:

1. Add the extra buildings (Doctor, Undertaker, Stables, Military Store, Cavalry Hotel, and Capitol): a. The Capitol, Cavalry Hotel, and Military Store replace Buildings that are printed on the board (City Hall, Hotel and Trading Post respectively). When they are claimed at City Hall, the cards should be placed next to the the player's Homestead mat until they are complete. When completed, Action markers on the original locations are moved to the new card. At the Cavalry Hotel and Military Store, the Action markers are moved to comparable spaces. b. The Doctor and Undertaker are associated with certain events and the Troublemakers.

2. Add the Poker deck. This deck is used with the new Events and the Gamble action at Saloons. The Gamble action of the entertainment cards can now be used: a. If a player chooses the Gambling action they ante (place in front of them) $1. b. The player to their right draws a card from the Poker deck for the house, and the player draws for themselves. c. If the house draws a higher card, the player loses their dollar and the action is over. d. If the player draws the higher card, they earn the total value of the two cards drawn. The Ace is the highest card followed by the other cards in descending numerical order. The 2 is the lowest value card. The Joker has no value. If drawn during a card game, the player draws another card.

3. Add the "Gunslinging" Goal card to the deck: a. In a 3-player game, there will be three extra cards and in a 2-player game there will be four extra cards. In either case, one of the remaining cards is revealed and placed on the Goal card space of the board. Another card is placed face down on the Goal card space of the board. Both cards will be scored at the end of the game. b. In a 4-player game, there will be one extra card. It is left, face-down, next to the Board and will score at the end of the game.

4. Add the additional Event cards to the Event deck (Whiskey Runners, Poker Tournament, and Renegade x2). These cards require the use of Gunslinging and the Poker deck.

5. Unhired workers become Troublemakers and recklessly start shooting up the town. At the end of the Reset Action Markers phase add the following: a. Stack the unhired workers in a deck with the highest Gunslinging rating on top and the lowest on the bottom. b. Place the deck in front of the player with the Sheriff's badge. c. The player to the right of the Sheriff shuffles the Poker deck and draws a card for the Troublemaker. The Sheriff draws their own card. d. Add the value of the card to the Gunslinging ability of the character. High total wins. e. The loser takes one wound; in the case of a tie, both characters take a wound. If it is a player's character, an Action marker is moved to the Homestead and cannot be used in the coming year (unless there is a Doctor to heal them). If it is the Troublemaker, the Troublemaker dies, the card is removed from the game, and the victor earns 1VP (the Undertaker will also get to bury them). f. The stack is then moved to the player to the left, and the process is repeated. g. This continues until all Troublemakers are dead or each player has faced a Troublemaker once; discard any surviving workers.

Additional Building Cards

Replacement Buildings

The cards below improve Buildings on the Board. They should be placed near the the player's Homestead while under construction. When completed, the card is placed on its corresponding space on the Board, and any Action markers already on the Building are moved to the new Building card.

CAPITOL — (Replaces City Hall) All spaces can have an unlimited number of markers except the "Claim Civic Contract" space. Players may pay the owner $1 to claim a Building, $1 to claim Property, or $3 to claim both.

CAVALRY HOTEL — (Replaces the Hotel) There is no longer a "Decide Events" space on the Building, and the fee is reduced to $2.

MILITARY STORE — (Replaces the Trading Post) The only change is the cost for the Commodities.

Additional Buildings

DOCTOR — Once constructed, this Building is always active. Any time a player is wounded (from an Event or Troublemakers) they may pay the player who owns the Doctor one Commodity and to not lose the Action marker.

UNDERTAKER — Each time a Character or Troublemaker dies, the player who owns the Undertaker is paid $4.

STABLES — The player may hire a Worker from the discard pile by paying the salary to the owner of the Stables.

Credits

Designer: Alan D. Ernstein. Illustrations and Graphics: Claus Stephan and Antje Stephan.

© 2020 Rio Grande Games. All rights reserved.