Portobello Market
Portobello Market Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
1 Board 96 Market Stalls (30 Red, 30 Yellow, 20 Green, 16 Blue) 11 Customers (5 gray Citizens, 5 Pink Aristocrats, 1 Black Baron) 1 Bobby 12 Player Action Tokens (one each of value 2, 3, and 4 per player) 8 Neutral Action Tokens (four valued at 1, two valued at 2, and two valued at 3) 1 Bag 4 Scoring Cubes (1 for each player) 4 Reference Boards
Set Up
Place the board in the center of the table. The board consists of numerous Lanes, which fit two to six Market Stalls. At each end of a Lane is a Square, where Customers are placed. There are 11 Squares on the board. Areas enclosed by Lanes are Districts, where the Bobby stands and directs traffic.
Depending on the number of players, each player takes a number of Market Stalls, as shown below:
2 Players — 30 Market Stalls (red and yellow) 3 Players — 20 Market Stalls (red, yellow, and green) 4 Players — 16 Market Stalls (all four colors)
Each player takes the Reference Board, Scoring Cube, and all three Player Action Tokens matching their color. The Neutral Action Tokens are stacked next to the board, with the 3-value tokens on top of the stack, the 2-value tokens in the middle and the 1-value tokens on the bottom.
Place all of the Customers except the black one (the Baron) in the bag and mix them up well. The Scoring Cubes are used to keep track of each player's Victory Points. Place each player's Scoring Cube on the 10-space of the scoring track on the outside of the board (each player starts with 10 Victory Points). Place the Baron next to the stack of Neutral Action Tokens.
A player is chosen to go first, and they place the Bobby on a Bobby Spot in any of the Districts on the board.
Game Play
Each player begins the game with their three Action Tokens (numbered 2, 3, and 4) face up. At the beginning of a player's turn, they choose how many actions they would like to use and flip the corresponding Action Token face down. Once an Action Token has been turned face down, it is unavailable until the player has used all three of their Action Tokens. After all three of a player's Action Tokens have been used, they are turned all face up and may be used again in any order.
A. Place a Market Stall
Market Stalls may only be placed in one of the three Lanes adjacent to the Bobby. The current player may move the Bobby any time during their turn (see "Moving the Bobby," below) without spending an action.
The first Market Stall in a Lane may be placed at either end. Thereafter, each one must be placed next to the last one in the Lane (i.e., the Lane may only be built up from one side). Each spot in a Lane has a point value ranging from 1-3. For some Lanes, the outer spots are the most valuable; for others, the center spots are.
Example: The current player may place a Market Stall at any of the shaded spots in Lane a, b, or c. As shown, the player could instead move the Bobby over Lane c (paying a Victory Point to do so, as explained in "Moving the Bobby") and then place their Market Stall in any of the shaded spots in Lane c, d, or e.
B. Place a Customer
To place a Customer, draw one at random out of the bag, and place it onto an empty Square (the location of the Bobby does not matter).
At the start of the game, the bag contains five gray Customers (Citizens) and five pink Customers (Aristocrats). There are 11 Squares on the board. Once the last Customer is pulled from the bag, the black Customer (the Baron) is immediately placed on the last empty Square.
The colors of the Customers at either end of a Lane determine the value of the Market Stalls, as described in "Scoring a Lane," below.
Moving the Bobby
The current player may move the Bobby at any time, as far as they like, any number of times per turn (before or after any action). However, for each Lane the Bobby crosses while moving, the player must pay Victory Points (adjusting their Scoring Cube appropriately) as follows:
a) If the current player has the most Market Stalls in the Lane being crossed, they do not need to pay any Victory Points.
Example: The Red Player is moving the Bobby. The only stall in the Lane is red; therefore, they do not need to pay.
b) If the Lane being crossed is empty, the current player must lose 1 Victory Point.
Example: The Red Player is moving the Bobby. There are no stalls in the Lane; therefore, Red loses 1 Victory Point.
c) The current player must pay 1 Victory Point to each player with the most Market Stalls in the Lane being crossed (the current player loses 1, and the other player gains 1). This includes cases where two (or more) players are tied for the most Market Stalls in the Lane (including the current player).
Example 1: The Red Player is moving the Bobby. Green and Blue are tied for the most stalls in the Lane (two each). Therefore, Red loses 2 Victory Points, and Green and Blue each gain 1 Victory Point.
Example 2: The Red Player is moving the Bobby. Yellow has the most stalls in the Lane (two, compared to one each for Blue, Green, and Red). Therefore, Red loses 1 Victory Point and Yellow gains 1.
Scoring a Lane
Whenever all spots in a Lane are filled with Market Stalls and there is a Customer at both ends, it is immediately scored. This might occur after placing either a Market Stall or a Customer, and placing a Customer might cause several Lanes to be scored.
Each player with stalls in the Lane adds up the values of the spots occupied by each of their stalls. Then, each player calculates the value of their stalls based on the Customers at each end to determine how many Victory Points they score:
Citizen - Citizen — x1 Citizen - Aristocrat — x2 Aristocrat - Aristocrat — x3 Citizen - Baron — x3 Aristocrat - Baron — x4
Example: In the picture shown, Red scores 12 points: (3 + 2 + 1) x 2 = 12. Green scores 8 points: (1 + 3) x 2 = 8. Blue scores 4 points: (2) x 2 = 4.
Scoring a District
Twice per game, each player may skip their turn in order to score an entire District. The player must use either their 2- or 4-value Action Token in order to do so, and scoring a District takes up their entire turn (they do not get to perform any normal actions or move the Bobby).
To perform District scoring, the player takes their face up Action Token and places it in the District they wish to score. They may not choose a District that has already been scored (either by themselves or another player). The player then gains Victory Points equal to the value of the Action Token (2 or 4) multiplied by the amount of Market Stalls of their color in Lanes bordering that District (regardless of the values of the spots occupied by the stalls). Only that player scores any points.
After scoring the District, the player leaves their Action Token in the District (to indicate that it has already been scored, and cannot be again) and takes the top Neutral Action Token in the stack to replace it, placing it face up in front of them. The Neutral Action Tokens work just like the Player Action Tokens to determine how many actions a player may take during a turn. Because the higher-value Neutral Action Tokens start on the top of the stack, scoring a District later may reduce the amount of actions a player may take during their turn, but may earn them more points by having more Market Stalls already placed.
Example: In the picture shown, Red scores 16 points for scoring this District: 4 Market Stalls x 4-value Action Token = 16.
End of Game
When a player places their last Market Stall, that is their last turn. However, the current round of turns is finished (so that each player has taken the same amount of turns) before the game ends. At the end of the game, unfinished Lanes are not scored, except when the Baron is placed as described in "Scoring the Baron," below.
Scoring the Baron
At the end of the game, if the Baron (black Customer) has been placed, there is a special round of scoring. Any Lanes with the Baron at the end that have not already been scored do so now, even if they are not completely filled with Market Stalls.
Example: It is the end of the game. The Square with the Baron in it is connected to Lanes a, b, and c. Lane a has already been completed and scored, so it is ignored. Lane b scores 9 for Red: (3) x 3 = 9 Lane b scores 9 for Yellow: (1 + 2) x 3 = 9 Lane c scores 16 for Green: (1 + 3) x 4 = 16 Lane c scores 4 for Yellow: (1) x 4 = 4
After scoring the Baron, the winner of the game is the player with the most Victory Points.
Variant Customer Rule
If players prefer a less random game, draw all of the Customers from the bag, one at a time, before play begins. Place the Customers alongside the board in order, from first drawn to last. When a player uses an action to place a Customer, they must go in the order drawn from the bag. This way, players always know what Customer will be placed next. The Baron is always placed last in line.