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QE: Commodities

Expansion for QE

QE: Commodities Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

  • Components
  • Setup
  • Playing the Game
    • The Auctioneer Records the Deal
    • Asset Effects
    • 3. If the Auctioneer Wins an Asset
  • Markets
    • Gold
    • Crypto
    • Oil
  • Rarely Used Rules
  • Final Scoring
    • Victory Points
    • Expenses

Components

  1. 18 Commodities tokens (gold, oil, cryptocurrency)
  2. 5 asset boards
  3. Rulebook

Setup

  1. Each player takes an asset board matching their nation.

  2. Separate all asset tokens by type (oil, gold, crypto), shuffle each type, and stack them into separate piles.

    • 3-4 players: use all 18 asset tokens.
    • 5 players: remove the crypto token worth 8 VP, leaving 17 tokens.

Playing the Game

  1. When playing with this expansion, a bid of zero scores no points.

  2. The player who makes the second-highest bid receives an asset token (oil, gold, or crypto).

    As in the base game, the player who makes the highest bid wins the company token.

    The player who makes the second-highest bid takes an asset token of their choice and records their bid on it, keeping it secret.

The Auctioneer Records the Deal

The auctioneer records the second-highest bid on the back of their board.

Asset Effects

When you receive an asset token, it works the same way as a company token. At the end of the game it gives you a set number of VP, and the amount you spent will be added to your total expenses ("Total Spent" on your board) at the end of the game.

As the auctioneer, you receive bonuses for the assets you sell. The amount you record on your board will be SUBTRACTED from your total expenses at the end of the game.

3. If the Auctioneer Wins an Asset

If the second-highest bid belongs to the auctioneer, they take the asset token and, as usual, record their bid on its back. However, in this case they do not record this bid on their board and do not subtract it from their total expenses.

Markets

Gold

At the end of the game, if the gold token stack is empty, a crash occurs on the gold market. In this case each gold token is worth 3 fewer victory points.

Crypto

The point value varies from very high to zero. Cryptocurrency is a gamble.

Oil

The player who owns the most oil tokens at the end of the game receives an additional 5 VP. In case of a tie, the points are split evenly (rounded down).

Rarely Used Rules

Q: What happens if two or more players make the same highest bid?

A: As in the base game, the players involved in the tie make new bids (not necessarily higher), and then all bids are checked again. The company token and the asset token are resolved based on the new bids. If a tie happens three times in a row, those identical bids are ignored when determining the winner and receiving tokens.

Q: What happens if several players have the second-highest bid?

A: The player with the highest bid receives the company token, as usual. The tied players make new bids (not necessarily higher). The asset token goes to the player who makes the new highest bid. This bid may exceed the bid of the player who won the company token. If there is again a tie for the asset token, all players bid again. If the asset token tie happens three times in a row, the player wins the company token, and the identical asset bids are ignored.

Q: What happens if, because of repeated ties, nobody wins the asset token?

A: The auctioneer takes the top asset token from one of the piles of their choice and discards it without looking at it.

Final Scoring

Victory Points

  • Add the VP from asset tokens to your total score.
  • Add points for the largest amount of oil.
  • Subtract points for each gold token if the gold supply is exhausted.

Expenses

  • Add all of your expenses from asset tokens to your total expenses.
  • Subtract the amount of expenses on your asset board from your expenses.
  • As in the base game, the player (or players) who spent the most loses, and the player with the lowest expenses receives the bonus as usual (taking commodity credit into account).