Quadropolis
Quadropolis Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 1 Construction Site Board (25 Squares)
- 4 double-sided Player Mats representing the city of each player, divided into districts (one side for the Classic Mode, one side for the Expert Mode)
- 142 Building Tiles (Classic Mode and Expert Mode)
- 20 Architects (colored side for the Classic Mode, gray side for the Expert Mode)
- 1 Urbanist
- 1 Mayor (1st player marker)
- 65 Inhabitants (blue Meeples)
- 50 Energy Units (red Cylinders)
- 1 Scoring Pad
- 4 Helpers
- 1 Rulebook
- 1 Cloth Bag
There are two game modes in Quadropolis. We recommend that you play your first game(s) using the Classic Mode which will help you discover the game mechanic and the various strategies available. Once you feel confident enough, you can play using the Expert Mode that introduces new Buildings and rule changes for added challenge.
See "The Expert Mode" for more information.
Setting Up the Game
Place the Construction Site on the table.
Place the Inhabitants and the Energy Units next to the Construction Site.
Give each player 1 Player Mat, 1 Helper and the 4 Architects of their color, numbered #1 to #4.
Set aside the Buildings marked "Expert" on the back: they will be used only in the Expert Mode.
Sort all other Buildings by the number on their back (#1 to #4).
Put all the #1 Buildings in the bag, then draw them and place them randomly face-down on the Construction Site.
Once done, turn the Buildings face-up:
- In a 4-player game, turn all the Buildings face-up.
- In a 3-player game, do not turn the Buildings marked with a 4.
- In a 2-player game, do not turn the Buildings marked with a 4 and a 3•4.
Place the Urbanist next to the Construction Site within easy reach of every player.
Designate the first player by the method of your liking and give them the Mayor pawn.
See "Expert Set Up" for the Expert Mode set up.
Object of the Game
The object of the game is to score the highest total number of Victory Points (VPs). Points are tallied depending on the Buildings that you will place in your city and their respective locations, each one of them counted according to a different pattern.
The Game Turn
A game of Quadropolis plays in 4 rounds and there are 4 turns per round.
On each turn, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, players perform all of the following actions:
- Take a Building from the Construction Site,
- Move the Urbanist,
- Place the Building in their city,
- Receive Resources from the Building (if eligible).
A turn is complete when all players have played these steps.
A new turn then begins, starting with the first player and again proceeding in a clockwise direction. Once all players have taken 4 turns, the round is over. At this stage, all Architects should have been placed around the Construction Site.
When the round is over, all players recover their Architects and place them next to their city.
The Construction Site is cleared from all remaining Buildings, which are put back in the box, and the Urbanist is placed next to the Construction Site again.
1. Take a Building from the Construction Site
Choose a line or column of the Construction Site and place an Architect in front of it. However:
- You cannot place an Architect over any other Architect;
- Your Architect cannot point to the Urbanist.
The number marked on the Architect indicates from which square you take a Building in order to place it in your city. For example, if you place your #3 Architect in front of the 4th line, then you will take the Building from the 3rd square in that line.
Example: It is Green player's turn. Because of existing Architects / Urbanist, some spots are locked. The Green player places his Architect #2 in front of the third line. The player takes the Building that is in the second square in this line: here, a Public Service.
Note: At some point in the game, it might happen that your Architect only gives you access to empty squares or to Buildings you do not wish to add to your city. You must place your Architect nonetheless.
2. Move the Urbanist
As soon as you take a Building from the Construction Site, move the Urbanist so that it occupies the spot where the Building was. If the Architect that you played gave you access to an empty square, then you must still move the Urbanist to that square.
Example: The Urbanist now moves to the second square of the third line.
Note: At the beginning of the game, you can designate a player whose mission will be to move the Urbanist after each player's turn. This will minimize the risk of forgetting this important move.
3. Place the Building in Your City
You may place the Building that you took:
- either on an empty square in the line whose number matches the number of the Architect that you played;
- or on an empty square in the column whose number matches the number of the Architect that you played.
Example: Since the Green player used his Architect #2, they may place their Building on any square in line or column #2.
Some Buildings (like Tower Blocks for instance) may be stacked. In that case, any existing Building of this type is also considered an eligible square, if:
- the line or column where it is located matches the number of the Architect you play;
- or the floor you want to build matches the number of the Architect you play.
Example: With Architect #3, the Blue player can build this Tower Block either on a square that is in the line or column #3; OR on the 3rd floor of his existing Tower Block, even if it is not in the line or column #3.
If there is no eligible square in your city, or if your Architect only enables you to take a Building that you do not want to build, you simply discard the Building that you chose. In that case, skip the next phase "Receive Resources": you do not gain Resources when you discard a Building.
4. Receive Resources from the Building
Take the number of Inhabitants and/or Energy Units from the reserve as indicated on the top left corner of the Building Tile and place them next to your city. You will need them to activate your Buildings and score points at the end of the game.
Example: The Red player places this Harbor in his city and immediately receives 1 Inhabitant and 1 Energy Unit.
Victory Points
Some Buildings come with VPs instead of Resources. Those VPs are not awarded immediately. They will be added to your score at the end of game if the Building is activated.
First Player
There is one Tower Block in play each round that grants the Mayor pawn. It allows you to become the first player for the next round. When you build it, you immediately take the Mayor pawn from the player who possesses it and places it in front of you. If no one takes it, then the current first player remains first player for the next round.
Placing this Building in your city allows you to be the First Player for the next round.
Activating a Building
Most Buildings require Resources to be activated and score VPs. In that case, a small icon is visible in the bottom right-hand corner of the Building. To activate a Building simply put the required Resource(s) on it.
The number of Resources required to activate a Building is independent from its height: regardless of its number of floors, the Building will always require the Resources indicated on its top floor. (For example, a 3-floor Tower Block requires only 1 Energy Unit to be activated.)
Important Note: You can re-allocate your Resources on your Buildings freely and with no limitation at any time during the game (Inhabitants and Energy Units). Only at the end of the game must you decide how you want to allocate them for good in order to maximize your VPs before the scoring begins.
End of Round
Once the first round is complete, clear any remaining #1 Buildings from the Construction Site, then prepare the second round. Put all the #2 Buildings in the bag, then draw the Buildings randomly and place them face-down on the Construction Site before starting the second round (see Setting Up the Game). Then, turn them face-up with the same restrictions for 2-player and 3-player games as in the first round.
The player who possesses the Mayor pawn is the first player for the new round.
Proceed in the same manner with the #3 Buildings for the third round and the #4 Buildings for the fourth round.
Game End
The game ends after four rounds. At this step, you have the opportunity to re-allocate the Resources on your Buildings one last time before the scoring begins.
Use the Scoring Pad to note the Victory Points for each category of Building in your city (See "The Buildings of Quadropolis" for a detailed explanation of the Buildings' score values. Score values are also available on the Helpers).
Remember: To score VPs, a Building must be activated. Any Building that is not activated at the end of the game is removed from the player's city before calculating their score.
Additionally:
- each Inhabitant that is not used to activate a Building or is not placed as a Customer in a Shop penalizes the city and is worth -1 VP.
- each Energy Unit that is not used to activate a Building is considered as pollution and is also worth -1 VP. However, you may place 1 Energy Unit on each Park in your city to avoid these negative points (see Parks).
The player with the most Victory Points wins the game. In the case of a tie, the players with the most Inhabitants on their Buildings wins. If players are still tied, the player that has the least empty spaces in their city wins.
The Buildings of Quadropolis
There are 6 types of Buildings in the Classic Mode of Quadropolis.
- Each type of Building has its own scoring mode that depends on various factors such as its distribution, its location, and also whether it is adjacent to other specific Buildings or not. Diagonally positioned Tiles are NEVER considered to be adjacent.
- Scoring modes for each type of Building are available on the Helpers.
Remember: a Building must be activated in order to score VPs at the end of the game. The type of Resources required to activate a Building are identified with a small icon at the bottom right of each Building. (For example, a Public Service requires 1 Inhabitant to be activated.)
Tower Blocks (x32)
Score VPs depending on their height (number of floors).
- Come with 1, 2 or 3 Inhabitants
- Activating a Tower Block requires 1 Energy Unit
- Can be stacked up to 4 floors: any floor after the 1st one may be built with any Architect that has the matching number
In each round (except the last one), there is one Tower Block that comes with 1 Inhabitant and has the Mayor pawn symbol. A player that places this tile in their city is the first player for the next round.
Scoring: Each activated Tower Block Building scores VPs as follows, depending on the number of floors it has.
| # of Floors | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 10 |
Shops (x15)
Score VPs depending on the number of Customers they attract (how many Inhabitants are placed on them).
- Activating a Shop requires 1 Energy Unit
- A Shop can welcome up to 4 Customers
- Cannot be stacked
Inhabitants in a player's city can be moved from one Building to another at any moment during the game, and this applies to the Customers in the Shops as well. It is only when the scoring takes place at the end of the game that the allocation of Inhabitants is considered final.
Scoring: Each activated Shop scores VPs depending on the number of Customers it has, i.e. Inhabitants that are placed on it.
| # of Inhabitants | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 7 |
Public Services (x19)
Score VPs depending on how well spread out they are in the various city Districts.
- Grant 0, 1 or 2 VPs that will be added to the player's score at the end of the game
- Activating a Public Service requires 1 Inhabitant
- Cannot be stacked
When calculating the score for Public Services, remember to add the VPs marked on the Tiles, if any!
Scoring: Activated Public Services score VPs depending on the number of different Districts where you built them.
| # of Districts with at least 1 Public Service | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 14 |
Parks (x15)
Score VPs when Tower Blocks are adjacent to them.
- Do not require any Resource to be activated
- Cannot be stacked
- Parks absorb pollution: at the end of the game, before scoring, you may place 1 Energy Unit that you have in excess in each Park to avoid negative points (see Game End).
Scoring: Each Park scores VPs depending on the number of Tower Blocks that are directly adjacent to it and regardless of their height. In other words, a Tower Block with multiple floors still counts as one Tower Block.
| # of Adjacent Tower Blocks | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 11 |
Factories (x19)
Score VPs when Shops and Harbors are adjacent to them.
- Come with 1, 2 or 3 Energy Units
- Activating a Factory requires 1 Inhabitant
- Cannot be stacked
Scoring: Each activated Factory scores 2 VPs for each adjacent Shop and 3 VPs for each adjacent Harbor.
| # Building Type | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| Shop | 2 |
| Harbor | 3 |
Harbors (x21)
Score VPs when placed in a line or column.
- Come in 4 different versions, with a combination of Inhabitants, Energy Units and VPs that are added to the player's total at the end of the game
- Activating a Harbor requires 1 Inhabitant
- Cannot be stacked
When calculating the score for Harbors, remember to add the VPs marked on the tiles, if any!
Scoring: Activated Harbors score VPs when forming a continuous line or column, depending on the length of that line or column. Regardless of the number of Harbor lines or columns you build, you only score your longest continuous line and your longest continuous column.
| # of Aligned Harbors | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 12 |
Find scoring examples on www.daysofwonder.com/quadropolis
Tips
- Make sure to understand the scoring mode of each different building before playing: use your Helper if needed.
- Try to define a rough strategy: do you want to follow an industrial approach, building Harbors and Factories? If yes, you will probably need to build Shops to maximize the profits of your Factories and Parks to absorb pollution. If you choose a more residential strategy, you need to build Tower Blocks, some Public Services, and Shops to attract the numerous Inhabitants of your Tower Blocks.
- Plan ahead: keep some room in your city and avoid filling a same line or column (e.g. line 1 and column 1) in the first rounds - otherwise you could be blocked in future turns.
- At the beginning of each round, try to spot the Buildings that are of interest in the Construction Site and think about the best way to recover them with your Architects.
- Make sure you have enough Resources to activate your Buildings. Buildings that are not activated are completely ignored when scoring!
- Be opportunistic: do not hesitate to block an opponent if you see that your move may prevent your opponent from taking what they want on the Construction Site.
The Expert Mode
After a few games, you may want to take a new challenge with the Expert Mode. This variant is reserved to players who master the Classic mode and want to add a new twist to their games.
It also lasts longer as you will play 5 rounds instead of 4.
The paragraphs below explain the different set up and gameplay modifications.
Expert Set Up
Follow the Classic setup, with the following exceptions:
Player Mat
Use your Player Mat on its Expert side.
The city is composed of 5 Districts, each with a different background. Each District has a specific number and is divided into 4 squares, that also have a number on each one of them.
When taking a Building for your city, you may place it:
- either on an empty square whose number matches the number of the Architect you played;
- or on an empty square in the District whose number matches the number of the Architect you played.
Architects
Players play from a common pool of Architects. Turn the Architects on their gray-colored side, add the Architects #5 to the pool and place them next to the Construction Site.
There must be one Architect of each number per player (for instance, with 2 players, use 2 Architects #1, 2 Architects #2, etc.). All unused Architects are put back in the box.
Architects do not belong to any player. On your turn, simply take one Architect among those available to play. In the same round, you may play several Architects with the same number if your opponents don't take them.
Important: As in the Classic Mode, there are 4 turns each round. This means that all Architects will not be used: at the end of the round, there will be as many Architects remaining as the number of players.
At the end of each round, all Architects are placed back in the pool for the next round, next to the Construction Site.
Buildings
Two new types of Buildings come into play. Replace the Buildings that have a "Classic" back with the Buildings with an "Expert" back.
Expert Buildings
Office Towers (x17)
Office Towers score VPs depending on their height and when adjacent to each other.
- Activating an Office Tower requires 1 Inhabitant and 1 Energy Unit
- Can be stacked up to 5 floors: any floor after the 1st one may be built with any Architect with the matching number
Scoring: To calculate the score of your Office Towers, count how many of them are adjacent to each other. Then check the corresponding line on your Helper to know how many VPs you score per Office Tower, depending on its number of floors.
| 1 Floor | 2 Floors | 3 Floors | 4 Floors | 5 Floors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Office Tower | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 2 adjacent Office Towers | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 |
| 3 adjacent Office Towers | 2 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 20 |
| 4 adjacent Office Towers | 3 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 25 |
| 5 adjacent Office Towers | 4 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 30 |
Example: Mary has three adjacent Office Towers. As a result, she needs to check the third line of the table to calculate her score. Two of the Office Towers have 2 floors and score 5 VPs each, while the third one has 3 floors and score 9 VPs. The final score for Mary's Office Towers is 19 VPs (5+5+9).
Monuments (x4)
Monuments score VPs when adjacent to specific Buildings.
- There are as many Monuments in play as there are players.
- There is 1 Monument per round except in the first round (2-player games: no monument in rounds #1, #4 and #5; 3-player games: no monument in rounds #1 and #5).
- Do not need to be activated to score
- Cannot be stacked
Scoring: Each Monument scores VPs depending on the types of Buildings that are adjacent to them.
| Building Type | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| Factory / Harbor | -5 |
| Tower Block / Office Tower / Other Monument | 0 |
| Public Service | 2 |
| Shop | 3 |
| Park | 5 |
Expert Scoring
Buildings are scored as in the Classic Mode. However, because the players' cities are larger and because of the addition of Architects #5, Tower Blocks, Public Services and Harbors may score more VPs than in the Classic Mode, Shops may welcome more Customers; Parks and Factories also interact with the new Office Tower Buildings.
Tower Blocks
May now be stacked up to 5 floors.
| # of Floors | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 15 |
Shops
May now welcome up to 5 Customers.
| # of Inhabitants | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 7 |
| 5 | 11 |
Harbors
Can now form a consecutive line of 5.
| # of Aligned Harbors | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 18 |
Parks
Adjacent Office Towers now also account in the scoring.
| # Adjacent Tower Blocks and Office Towers | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 11 |
Factories
Adjacent Office Towers now also account in the scoring.
| # Adjacent Building Type | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| Shop | 2 |
| Harbor | 3 |
| Office Tower | 4 |
Public Services
May now be placed in 5 different Districts.
| # of Districts with at least 1 Public Service | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 14 |
| 5 | 20 |
Credits
Game Design: François Gandon
Illustrations: Sabrina Miramon
Graphic Design: Cyrille Daujean
Development and Production: Adrien Martinot
The author would like to thank David Martinez of the game shop La Carte Chance in Paris for being his primary tester of many games, always providing thorough and reliable advice. Many thanks also to all those who played the prototype and helped make it a game: my wife Valérie and my daughter Juliette, my dear friends Mathieu, Patricia, Jean-Marie, Virginie, Frédéric, Geneviève and Anne-Laure and their kids: Gaspard, Fanny, Mathilde and Elsa. And a big thank you to the jury of the 33rd International Game Designers Contest of Boulogne Billancourt for awarding the game a prize and opening the way for its publication.