Sapporo 1876

Sapporo 1876 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

Main board x1
Personal board x2
Workers x18 (black x9, white x9)
Score markers x2 (black x1, white x1)
Influential person tiles x10 (front and back)
Building tiles x13 (front and back)
Resource tokens x48 (wheat x12, rice bale x12, sheep x12, cattle x12)
Banknotes x18 (1-yen note x14, 5-yen note x4)
Action pawn x1
Harvest marker x1
Settlement marker x1

Setup

Setting up the play area

Place the main board in the center of the table.
Shuffle all the influential person tiles well and place one face up on each of the 6 tile spaces in the center of the main board. Return the leftover influential person tiles to the box; they are not used in this game.
Shuffle all the building tiles well and place one face up on each of the 6 tile spaces at the bottom of the main board. In addition, randomly choose 4 of the remaining building tiles and line them up face up beside the main board. Return the leftover building tiles to the box; they are not used in this game.
Place the action pawn in the center of the 4 action spots on the main board.
Place the harvest marker on the bottom row of the harvest track on the main board.
Place the settlement marker on the top row of the settlement track on the main board.
Sort all banknotes and resources (wheat, rice bale, sheep, cattle) by denomination and type and put them together beside the main board. This is called the "common supply".
Take four 1-yen notes from the common supply and place one on each of the 4 action spots on the main board.

Setting up each player

Each player takes one personal board and places it in front of themselves.
Each player takes the 9 workers of one color. Place 3 of them on the worker area of the personal board. Place the remaining 6 on the spaces of the private academy (shijuku) at the lower left of the personal board, one on each space.
Each player takes the score marker of the same color as their workers and places it on the "0" space of the score track around the edge of the main board.
Each player receives 4 yen from the common supply and places it in the banknote area of their personal board.
Each player receives 2 wheat, 1 rice bale, 1 sheep and 1 cattle from the common supply and places them in the resource area of their personal board.
The player who most recently visited Sapporo is the start player. The player who is not the start player buys one of the 4 building tiles lined up beside the main board in step 3 (see pages 8-9 for building tiles). Purchase is made by paying banknotes from your banknote area to the common supply. The price of a building tile is shown as a number at the upper left of the tile. Place the purchased building tile beside your personal board. Then the start player buys one of the remaining building tiles in the same way. Return the 2 building tiles remaining beside the main board to the box; they are not used in this game.

Note: Buying this one building tile is mandatory. Also, you cannot pay resources for the purchase (described later). 15. The start player takes 1 worker from their worker area and places it on the bottom space of any one of the 4 pioneering columns at the top of their personal board (see page 8 for pioneering columns). No banknotes or resources need to be paid for this. Then the player who is not the start player does the same, but must choose a column different from the one the start player chose.

Board parts (setup diagram)

Main board: harvest track, action spots, settlement track, city council (shigikai), common supply. Personal board: pioneering columns, private academy, worker area, banknote area, resource area.

Banknotes / Resources / Fame Points

In the banknote area and resource area, you manage the banknotes and resources you obtain during the game. When a player pays banknotes or resources, they are returned from the corresponding area to the common supply. Conversely, when you gain banknotes or resources, you take them from the common supply (unless instructed otherwise) and add them to the corresponding area.
There are 1-yen notes and 5-yen notes. Players may freely make change at any time using the banknotes in the common supply.
The number of banknotes and resources in the common supply is not limited. If they run out, substitute with something suitable.
When a player gains fame points during the game, they advance their score marker along the score track by that many spaces.

Game Overview and Goal

You are samurai from provincial domains who have migrated to Sapporo, and you aim to contribute to Sapporo's city administration. For the fame of your clan, you compete in contribution to Sapporo by commanding excellent private-academy students and cultivating farmland.

The setting is Sapporo in the 1870s. Players move back and forth between the Agricultural College, the Central City Hall, the Pioneer Village and the Foreign Residence, contributing to the city administration of Sapporo. In exchange for resources obtained from farmland, they develop Sapporo and gain fame points.

On your turn, you move the action pawn to an action spot. Players alternate doing this, and both players perform the chosen action.

The resources that can be used differ depending on where the action pawn is moved. The main resources that can be used are four types: wheat, rice bale, sheep and cattle. Banknotes are an all-purpose resource that can be used in any action.

At the Agricultural College, you can educate workers. Make workers in your private academy into a state in which they can be used for actions.
At the Central City Hall, you can appoint workers to the city council. By appointing workers, you gain fame points.
At the Pioneer Village, you can pioneer with workers. Send workers to farmland to gain regular income.
At the Foreign Residence, you can invest. Borrow the power of influential people, or invest in buildings.

Depending on the chosen actions, harvests and settlements occur periodically. In a harvest, you gain resources from your farmland. In a settlement, you gain fame points according to the number of workers you have appointed to the city council.

When harvests and settlements have occurred 5 times in total, the game ends. The results of your contribution to Sapporo's city administration are tallied, and the player with more fame points wins the game.

Turn Flow

Starting with the start player, players take turns alternately. In each of your turns, you must perform all of the following steps in order.

Move the action pawn
Place banknotes on adjacent spaces
Advance the harvest marker or settlement marker
Active player performs their action
Non-active player performs their action
Harvest or settlement (if conditions are met)
End of turn

1. Move the action pawn

The active player moves the action pawn from the current action spot to a different action spot.

Note: You must move. The action pawn cannot stay at the same action spot as now.

On the start player's first turn, move the action pawn to any action spot.

The action spot moved to is called the "action spot being resolved".

If one or more banknotes are placed on the action spot being resolved, the active player takes all of them and places them in the banknote area of their personal board.

2. Place banknotes on adjacent spaces

For the 2 action spots that are edge-adjacent to the action spot being resolved, place one 1-yen note from the common supply on each. There is no limit to the number of banknotes that can be on one action spot.

3. Advance the harvest marker or settlement marker

If the background of the action spot being resolved is orange (Agricultural College / Pioneer Village), advance the harvest marker 1 space up along the harvest track.

Similarly, if the background is blue (Foreign Residence / Central City Hall), advance the settlement marker 1 space down along the settlement track.

If, as a result, the advanced marker reaches a space showing the harvest icon or the settlement icon, the process shown by that icon (harvest or settlement) is performed in step "6. Harvest or settlement" of this turn.

If the advanced marker does not reach a space showing an icon, step "6. Harvest or settlement" is not performed this turn.

4. Active player performs their action

The active player performs the action corresponding to the action spot being resolved.

There are 4 actions: "Agricultural College", "Pioneer Village", "Foreign Residence" and "Central City Hall".

Action points in actions

In each action, you use values called action points (hereafter AP) to gain effects.

Each of the 4 action spots shows the two types of resources that can be used in that action, and the AP gained when paying one of that resource (one type gives 3 AP, the other gives 2 AP).

For example, when performing the action at the Agricultural College, you can pay rice bales as 3 AP each and cattle as 2 AP each. You cannot pay wheat or sheep.

In addition, in any action, banknotes can be paid as AP equal to their face value.

3 AP: the resource marked 3 AP
2 AP: the resource marked 2 AP
1 AP: 1-yen note
5 AP: 5-yen note

Resources and banknotes can be paid in any combination and in any number. For example, when performing the action at the Agricultural College, you can pay 2 rice bales (6 AP), 1 cattle (2 AP) and 4 yen (4 AP) to perform an action worth a total of 12 AP.

Rice bale: 3 AP x 2 = 6 AP
Cattle: 2 AP x 1 = 2 AP
Banknotes: 1 AP x 4 yen = 4 AP
Total: 12 AP

Leftover AP cannot be carried over to the next action, and no change is given. Unused AP is lost at the end of the action.

Action 1: Agricultural College: Educate

Moving a worker in your private academy to your worker area is called "educating". Workers are needed to gain effects from other actions and building tiles.

The private academy is divided into 3 tiers. Workers in the private academy must always be educated starting from the lowest tier.

By spending the amount of AP shown at the left of a tier, move one worker of that tier to your worker area.

If you have enough AP, you can educate multiple workers in one action.

When you have finished educating both workers of one tier, you gain the bonus shown at the right of that tier (fame points are gained at the end of the game).

If no workers remain in your private academy, you can pay 3 AP to gain 2 fame points. You can combine these any number of times in one action. (Example: pay 12 AP to gain 8 fame points.)

Action 2: Pioneer Village: Pioneer

Advancing a worker to a higher space of your pioneering column is called "pioneering". Advancing workers in pioneering columns gives greater effects at harvest, and gives fame points at the end of the game.

Each of the 4 pioneering columns corresponds to one of the 4 types of resources, and one of your workers can be placed in each column.

To pioneer a column that does not yet have a worker, spend the number of AP shown at the left of the bottom space of that column. Then take 1 worker from your worker area and place it on that space. If you have no workers in your worker area, you cannot pioneer a new column.
To pioneer a column that already has a worker, look at the space one above the space where that column's worker is. Spend the number of AP shown at its left and advance that column's worker 1 space up. In a column whose worker has reached the top space, no further pioneering can be done. Also, a new worker cannot be placed in that column.

If you have enough AP, in one action you can pioneer any number of columns any number of times.

Action 3: Foreign Residence: Invest

Acquiring a new influential person tile or building tile from the main board is called "investing". Influential person tiles give fame points at the end of the game, and building tiles give additional effects during your turn.

At the upper left of each influential person tile and building tile, the AP value needed to acquire it is shown. Pay the required AP, take that tile and place it beside your personal board.

Even when an investment is made, no new influential person tiles or building tiles are replenished on the main board. All the tiles that can be invested in are already laid out on the main board at the start of the game.

In one action you can invest in only one influential person tile or one building tile.

There is no limit to the number of tiles each player can keep.

Influential person tiles

At the end of the game, each player gains fame points from each of their influential person tiles. Each influential person tile shows how its points are calculated, and only your own resources, banknotes, tiles, and the state of your own workers, spaces and squares are considered.

Building tiles

At any time during your turn, you can place 1 worker from your worker area on a building tile to immediately gain the effect shown, only once.

Only 1 worker can be placed on each building tile. To make a building tile that already has a worker on it usable again, you must wait for harvest processing (described later).

If you have enough workers in your worker area, you can gain effects from multiple building tiles in one turn.

You can use building tiles only during your own turn. The player who is not the active player cannot place workers on building tiles, even during step "5. Non-active player performs their action".

Action 4: Central City Hall: Appoint

Placing your worker on the city council in the upper right of the main board is called "appointing". If you have placed many workers on the city council, you gain more fame points at settlements and at the end of the game.

Each space in the city council shows the AP needed to appoint a worker there. Choose any one space that does not yet have a worker, pay the required AP, take 1 worker from your worker area and place it there. If you have no workers in your worker area, you cannot appoint.

Each space can hold only 1 worker, regardless of color. You cannot appoint to a space that already has a worker.

You can appoint only 1 worker in one action. For example, you cannot pay 11 AP and appoint one worker each to a 5 AP space and a 6 AP space.

5. Non-active player performs their action

After the active player finishes their action, the other player also performs the same action once.

The procedure is exactly the same as described in step "4. Active player performs their action". However, as stated above, note that you cannot place workers on building tiles to use them.

Hint: The action you choose on your turn will always be performed by your opponent as well. It is good to choose actions where only you benefit, and your opponent cannot gain as large an effect (or cannot perform it at all).

6. Harvest or settlement (if conditions are met)

If in step "3. Advance the harvest marker or settlement marker" of this turn the harvest marker advanced to a space with the harvest icon, perform a harvest. If the settlement marker advanced to a space with the settlement icon, perform a settlement.

In a turn where the marker advanced to a space with no icon, this step is skipped.

Harvest

Each player immediately gains all the banknotes and resources shown on the space containing the worker and on every space below it, for each pioneering column on their personal board. From a pioneering column with no worker, you gain nothing.

In addition, each player chooses one building tile beside their personal board that has a worker on it. Remove the worker from it and return it to your worker area (this makes that building tile usable again).

After this, if building tiles with workers on them still remain, each time you pay 1 yen you may remove the worker from any one building tile and return it to your worker area. You can do this as many times as you wish, as long as you can pay banknotes.

When both players have finished these processes, the harvest ends.

Example: A harvest occurs. Player A gained 2 wheat and 1 yen from the wheat pioneering column, and 3 sheep and 3 yen from the sheep pioneering column. As there are no workers in the rice bale and cattle columns, nothing is gained from those columns.

Beside Player A's personal board there are 3 building tiles with workers on them. Player A paid 1 yen and removed workers from 2 of them, returning them to their worker area (1 for free, and 1 more by paying 1 yen).

Note: In most cases, both players can perform the harvest processing at the same time. However, if players dispute the order of making building tiles usable (for example, when one wants to decide after seeing the opponent's moves), the active player completes all processing first, and then the player who is not the active player does theirs.

Settlement

Process the city council in the upper right of the main board.

For each vertical column in the city council, the player who has placed more workers in that column gains the higher fame points shown at the bottom of that column.

The player with fewer workers gains the lower fame points shown at the bottom of that column. However, you cannot gain fame points from a vertical column in which you have placed no workers.

If both players have the same number of workers in the column, each with 1 worker, the player with the worker on the higher space within that column gains the higher fame points, and the other player gains the lower fame points.

After settlement, workers are not removed and remain in their spaces until the end of the game.

When this scoring is finished for all 3 vertical columns, the settlement ends.

Example: A settlement occurs. In the leftmost column, Player A (white workers) has 2 workers and Player B (black workers) has 1 worker, so Player A gains 3 fame points and Player B gains 1 fame point. In the middle column only Player B has a worker, so Player B gains 4 fame points. Player A gains no fame points. In the rightmost column both players have 1 worker each, but Player A's worker is on the higher space, so Player A gains 5 fame points and Player B gains 3 fame points.

Player A: leftmost column 3 fame points; middle column 0 fame points; rightmost column 5 fame points
Player B: leftmost column 1 fame point; middle column 4 fame points; rightmost column 3 fame points

7. End of turn

At this timing too, the active player can move workers onto as many building tiles as they wish and gain their effects (for example, you may immediately use one that was made usable again in the harvest just before).

This ends the turn. If the game end condition has not been met, the player who was not the active player this turn becomes the new active player, and turns continue in order from step "1. Move the action pawn".

End of the Game and Final Scoring

The game ends when harvests and settlements have occurred 5 times in total. At the end of the turn in which the 5th harvest or settlement in total is performed, the game ends and final scoring is carried out.

In addition to the fame points gained during the game, each player gains fame points from the following elements.

Private academy

If both workers of the second tier from the top have been educated, gain 3 fame points. In addition, if both workers of the top tier have been educated, gain an additional 6 fame points (9 fame points in total).

Pioneering columns

For each of your pioneering columns with a worker on the second space from the top, gain 2 fame points. Similarly, for each of your pioneering columns with a worker on the topmost space, gain 5 fame points (2 fame points for the second space from the top + 3 fame points for the topmost space).

Influential person tiles

Gain the fame points shown on each of your influential person tiles.

City council

For each of your workers in the leftmost column of the city council, gain 3 fame points. Similarly, gain 6 fame points for each of your workers in the middle column, and 9 fame points for each of your workers in the rightmost column.

Leftover banknotes and resources

Add up the number of banknotes and resources remaining on your personal board (a 5-yen note counts as five 1-yen notes). Gain 1 fame point for every 2 of them (round down).

The player who has gained more fame points is the winner! In case of a tie, the last active player is the winner.

Final scoring example

Player A gains:

9 fame points from the private academy (3 + 6)
9 fame points from the pioneering columns (2 + 5 + 2)
3 fame points from the influential person tile [B. Ryan] (3 resources remaining), and 7 fame points from the influential person tile [E. Dunn]
21 fame points from the city council (3 + 3 + 6 + 9)
1 fame point from leftover banknotes and resources (one 1-yen note and 2 cattle)

These are added to the fame points gained during the game.

Icon List

Wheat, rice bale, sheep, cattle, banknote
Any resource (banknotes not allowed), fame point, harvest, settlement
Educate, pioneer, invest, appoint
Pay 1 / 2 of a resource (or pay 1 yen / 2 yen)
Gain 1 / 2 / 3 of a resource (or gain 1 yen / 2 yen / 3 yen)

Tile List

Building tiles

Pay 2 yen and gain 1 resource of your choice.
Pay 1 resource of your choice and gain 1 yen and 3 fame points.
Gain 1 yen. Then perform one Educate action for yourself only. (You may pay any resource as 2 AP each. Banknotes can also be used as 1 AP as usual.)
Gain 1 yen. Then perform one Invest action for yourself only. (You may pay any resource as 2 AP each. Banknotes can also be used as 1 AP as usual.)
Gain 1 yen. Then perform one Pioneer action for yourself only, in either the rice bale or the cattle column. (You may pay any resource as 2 AP each. Banknotes can also be used as 1 AP as usual.)
Gain 1 yen. Then perform one Pioneer action for yourself only, in either the wheat or the sheep column. (You may pay any resource as 2 AP each. Banknotes can also be used as 1 AP as usual.)
Pay 1 yen and gain 1 wheat.
Pay 1 yen and gain 1 rice bale.
Pay 1 yen and gain 1 sheep.
Pay 1 yen and gain 1 cattle.
Gain 1 yen. Then perform one Appoint action for yourself only. (You may pay any resource as 2 AP each. Banknotes can also be used as 1 AP as usual.)
Pay 1 resource of your choice and gain 3 yen.
Gain 2 yen.

Influential person tiles

The rulebook shows the 10 influential person tiles as pictures only; each tile prints its own end-game scoring rule.