Sutter's Mill: California Gold Rush of 1849
Sutter's Mill: California Gold Rush of 1849 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
Each copy of Sutter's Mill contains:
- 1 game board
- 20 prospectors (five each in four colors)
- 52 influence cards (13 cards each in four colors)
- 8 "deed" cards
- 1 "adventurer" card
- 84 gold chips (24 blue, 24 brown, 24 gray, 12 red)
- 4 quick-reference sheets
- 1 rulebook
The Game Board
The board depicts eight different buildings and three prospector camps, which together make up the small town of Coloma. Next to each building is a display area for influence cards, as well as a symbol for the special action associated with that building.
The row of spaces for the gold chips shows the gold vein that must be worked during the game.
The three large spaces in the corners of the board are the prospector camps: in the lower left is the camp at the river, where the blue gold chips are "washed." In the upper left lies the second camp on the hillside, where the brown gold chips are mined. In the upper right corner is the third prospector camp, in the mine, where the gray gold chips are extracted.
The Prospectors
Each player has five prospectors, with whose help they dig for gold in the prospector camps. The prospectors also visit the various buildings of the town in order to exert their influence there.
The Influence Cards
"Law and order" was often, in those days in California, the privilege of the strongest or of the better weapon. Each player receives 13 influence cards of their color with the values: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack (J), Queen (Q), King, Ace (Jack, Queen, and King each count as 10; the Ace has a value of 11).
The Deed Cards and the Adventurer
The deed cards show which player currently exerts the greatest influence in a building. As long as that player has the deed card lying in front of them, they may use the building's special action.
The Adventurer card goes to the player who currently owns the fewest deed cards.
The Gold Chips
In the game a distinction is made between gold chips and gold nuggets. A gold chip is one of the cardboard tiles, on the back of which a value between one and four nuggets is printed.
The blue and gray gold chips have values from 1–3, the brown gold chips values from 2–4. Each value exists eight times. The red gold chips, with values 1–3, serve as starting capital.
The Quick-Reference Sheets
Each player receives a double-sided quick-reference sheet. One side lists all the actions of the Building-Up phase, the other side all the actions of the Winding-Down phase.
Setup
The game board is placed in the middle of the playing area, within easy reach of all players.
The gold chips are sorted by the color of their backs, and the red chips are set aside for now. The gold chips with blue, brown, and gray backs are shuffled separately and distributed face down on the corresponding spaces of the gold vein (the small circles on the board).
The deed cards and the Adventurer card are placed face up next to the board, ready for use.
Each player chooses a color and receives five pieces (prospectors), one of which they immediately place on the first prospector camp, at the river (lower left corner of the board).
Each player also receives a quick-reference sheet, which they place in front of themselves with the green Building-Up side face up, as well as the 13 influence cards of their color.
Of the red gold chips, each player receives one each of the 1-value, 2-value, and 3-value chips. With fewer than four players, the surplus red gold chips are placed face up next to the board as the bank (for making change). Throughout the game, all gold chips a player receives are collected face down in front of that player. Players may look at their own gold chips at any time.
Any player is chosen to be the starting player.
Sequence of Play
The starting player begins the game. They carry out all the actions they wish, before the next player follows in clockwise order.
Important: the game is divided into two phases: Building Up and Winding Down. All players begin the game in Building Up. Here they can send prospectors into the town of Coloma, play influence cards onto the various buildings, and dig for gold in the camps. Each player may, at their own discretion, switch to Winding Down during the game. In Winding Down, they still dig for gold, but now try instead to withdraw their prospectors from Coloma and remove influence cards from the buildings.
At the beginning of their turn, a player decides whether they want to end the Building-Up phase and switch to Winding Down. If they switch to Winding Down, they turn their quick-reference sheet over to the red Winding-Down side and return all unplayed influence cards and unused prospectors to the box. They then carry out their turn. If the player does not switch, the sheet stays on the green Building-Up side and the player carries out their turn normally.
Note: the decision to switch to Winding Down is usually made only once the gold vein has been at least half worked out. Once a player has switched to Winding Down, they cannot go back to Building Up!
The player must then decide whether, this round, they want to Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses (see also the upper box of the quick-reference sheet), or whether they want to Act in Town, in order to carry out up to five actions from three different action options (see also the lower box of the quick-reference sheet).
Important: the player can only carry out the actions listed in one of the two boxes of their quick-reference sheet.
If the player chooses to Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses, they carry out actions A and B once each. The player receives gold chips from the board.
If the player chooses to Act in Town, they may choose, in Building Up, among actions C, D, and E, and in Winding Down, among actions E, F, and G.
In Building Up, this brings prospectors to Coloma, moves them back and forth between camps and buildings, and uses their influence to control buildings. In Winding Down, the player tries to withdraw their influence and their prospectors from Coloma before the gold reserves run out.
The player carries out the action(s) completely before the next player takes their turn.
The Actions in Detail
I. Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses
The player receives gold chips for their prospectors (Action A) and for the businesses they own (Action B). In order to prospect for gold and run businesses, at least one of the player's own prospectors must be in the current prospector camp.
Important: when prospecting for gold, the gold chips are taken from the board in order, starting with the blue chip on the starting space of the gold vein. The gold vein is divided into three sections (see the color-coding of the gold chips). Each of these three sections is associated with one camp. The current camp is always the one holding the next gold chip to be worked.
The camp at the river is the current camp for as long as blue chips remain in the river.
Action A. Prospect for Gold (Building Up/Winding Down)
The player moves any number of their prospectors from the current camp to the buildings. They may freely distribute the prospectors among the town's buildings and, if they wish, place several on one building. The player may not place their prospectors into either of the other two prospector camps! For each prospector moved, the player receives one gold chip. If the gold vein changes from one section to the next during this action, and the player also has one or more prospectors in the corresponding camp of this new section, they may move these as well and take gold chips for them.
Important: if a player has additional prospectors in a camp whose section of the gold vein has already run dry (or is running dry at that moment), they can no longer move them by prospecting for gold onto the buildings, and receive no further gold chips for them. These prospectors must instead be moved in a later turn via Act in Town using Action E.
Example: the red player takes two prospectors from the camp at the river and places them on different buildings. They receive the last two blue gold chips from the river. If they now have further prospectors in the camp on the hillside, they may move these prospectors onto buildings as well, in order to receive further brown gold chips. The third prospector in the camp at the river unfortunately gets nothing, and must be moved in a later turn.
The player receives, for each deed card as well as for the Adventurer card, if these lie in front of them, a further gold chip from the gold vein. Finally, the player may receive still more gold chips for the special properties of their buildings (see the special properties of the buildings in the Special Building Actions chapter).
Important: the gold vein is always worked in order, starting with the blue gold chip on the starting space. No gold chip can be skipped.
Example: the green player has moved a prospector from the camp on the hillside onto a building and received a brown gold chip. Since they own the deed cards for Hook and Ladder House No. 1 and Sutter's Mill, they then receive two further brown gold chips. At the end of "Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses," the gold vein is still at the hillside (in the brown section), so the green player receives a bonus chip for the special action of Hook and Ladder House No. 1. Since the gold vein at the river has already run dry, the green player receives no additional (blue) gold chip for the special action of Sutter's Mill.
Action B. Run Businesses (Building Up/Winding Down)
Businesses are always run immediately following prospecting for gold. It is not possible to forgo prospecting for gold or running businesses (at least one prospector must be moved from the current camp into the town, and one gold chip must be taken from the gold vein.)
The player pays any resulting costs in gold nuggets to the bank. If the player does not have the exact number of gold nuggets, they may make change using the gold nuggets in the bank. Depending on whether the player is in Building Up or Winding Down, they may choose from the following actions:
The more actions, the higher the cost.
Action C. Bring a Prospector to Coloma (Building Up only!)
The player places one of their prospectors on any space — building or prospector camp. If the player already has all their own prospectors in play, they may not choose this action.
Action D. Place an Influence Card in Coloma (Building Up only!)
The player chooses one of their influence cards and attaches it to a building. For this, the following conditions must be met: to place a player's first card at a building, one of that player's own prospectors must be standing there. For the second card of that player's own, two of their own prospectors must be at the building, for the third card, three prospectors, and so on. (Since each player has a maximum of five prospectors available, each player can therefore place a maximum of five cards at one building.) Immediately after placing an influence card, or in a later round, the prospectors may be moved away again. The prospectors therefore only need to be standing at this building at the moment the influence card is placed.
Important: a prospector may place influence cards at different buildings within the same turn, if the above conditions are met and the player pays the corresponding number of actions.
Influence cards are always placed slightly offset, overlapping one another, so that the values and colors of the individual cards and their order remain visible. The order of the cards may not be changed (exception: the special property of St. John's Catholic Church — see the Special Building Actions chapter).
The player who has the highest sum of card values at a building receives the deed card belonging to that building, which they lay face up in front of themselves. They may now use the building's special action for as long as another player does not reach a higher sum by playing one (or more) influence cards (or, in Winding Down, by removing influence cards) and is handed the deed card. The special action can be used immediately, depending on its type (see the Special Building Actions chapter).
Important: in case of a tie, the higher single card decides. If all the cards are equal, the player whose influence card is lowest in the card display (i.e. was played first) among those involved decides — regardless of its value (that player holds the longer-standing influence).
Example: red has an "8" lying at a building. Blue plays their "10" and receives the deed card. If red now plays their "4" onto the building, the deed card moves back to them (red: 8+4=12; blue: 10).
The Adventurer card always goes to the player who currently has the fewest deed cards lying in front of them. If several players have equally few deed cards, the Adventurer card is temporarily set back beside the board. Each time the player holding the Adventurer card "Prospects for Gold and Runs Businesses," they receive one gold chip for the Adventurer (see Action B).
Action E. Move a Prospector (Building Up/Winding Down)
The player moves one of their own prospectors to any other space — building or prospector camp. Any space may hold any number of prospectors.
Action F. Remove a Prospector from Coloma (Winding Down only!)
The player takes any one of their own prospectors out of play, which is immediately returned to the box.
Action G. Remove an Influence Card from Coloma (Winding Down only!)
The player removes an influence card at a building, if they have at least one of their own prospectors at that building.
Important: a prospector may remove only one card at a building per round. Only if a player has several prospectors at the building can they remove several influence cards in the same round, for a corresponding number of individual actions.
For this action, the cards are removed in reverse order, starting with the topmost card most recently placed at that building. This means that a player may (or must) also remove fellow players' influence cards. All removed influence cards are collected face down in a pile in front of their respective owner — they yield victory points at the end of the game.
Reminder: as soon as a player switches to Winding Down at the start of a turn, their own unplayed influence cards are returned to the box. This prevents accidentally confusing these cards with influence cards removed from the board.
Important: if you take fellow players' influence cards out of play, you naturally grant them victory points as well!
Afterward it is checked who, after removing the card(s), has the highest card sum at that building; the deed card may change ownership accordingly.
Example: at a building lie the following cards in order from bottom to top: blue 6, red 8, blue 10. The blue player thus holds the deed card. Blue has two prospectors standing at this building. If blue now removes their own 10 from play, the deed card goes to red. But if blue also removes, with a second action, the red 8 alongside their own 10, the deed card stays with them. The red player, however, thereby receives 8 victory points!
Important: in accordance with Action D, a prospector may remove one influence card each at multiple buildings, if the owner pays the corresponding number of actions.
Each time the last influence card at a building is removed, the deed card as well as the last gold chip of the gold vein are taken out of play. For buildings at which no player has played influence cards over the course of the game, no gold chips are removed either.
Game End and Scoring
The game ends immediately when the last gold chip is taken from the gold vein or removed!
The players now count their victory points:
- Each influence card that was brought into play and also removed again counts plus points equal to its card value. (Reminder: influence cards that a player did not bring into play during the Building-Up phase do not count toward scoring.)
- Each influence card that was brought into play but not removed again (i.e. it is still in Coloma) counts minus points equal to its card value.
- Each gold chip counts plus points equal to the number of nuggets printed on it.
- All prospectors still in Coloma at the end of the game count minus points. One prospector counts one minus point, two prospectors together three minus points, three prospectors six minus points, four prospectors 10 minus points, and five prospectors 15 minus points in total. Prospectors removed from Coloma count no points.
The player with the most victory points wins the game. In the rare case of a tie, the player who has fewer minus points wins (they managed to leave Coloma in time, ahead of the looming decline).
Special Building Actions
All buildings have special properties, which are explained below.
Sutter's Mill: at the conclusion of the action Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses, the player may take one additional gold chip from the gold vein. This is only possible if, after running businesses, at least one gold chip still remains in the river (in the blue section). Note: if the action Act in Town is chosen, this building's special action cannot be used.
Odd Fellows Hall: as long as the player is in Building Up, they may, during the action Act in Town, place or move one additional prospector for free onto any space — building or prospector camp. Note: if the action Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses is chosen, this building's special action cannot be used.
Eldorado Bath House and Shaving Saloon: as long as the player is in Building Up, they may, during the action Act in Town, bring one influence card into play for free. In doing so, they must still observe the rule that a corresponding number of prospectors must be at the building. Important: a prospector may, for example, play a card at one building, then move to another building and use its special property there to play a further card for free. Note: if the action Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses is chosen, this building's special action cannot be used.
St. John's Catholic Church: throughout the entire game, during the action Act in Town, the player may, once per round, for free, "move" one of their own influence cards up or down one position at any building, if they have at least one prospector at that building.
Example: at Odd Fellows Hall lie the following cards: blue 6, red 4, red 6, blue 4. Blue therefore holds the deed card for this building due to their older influence. Red controls St. John's and may now move one of their own influence cards. There are two tactical options: if red moves the red 4 all the way to the bottom, they take control of the building (red now has the older influence). Alternatively, they can also move the red 6 all the way to the top, to make it easier, during Winding Down, to get to their own card (and thereby more victory points). Note: if the action Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses is chosen, this building's special action cannot be used.
Hook and Ladder House No. 1: at the conclusion of the action Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses, the player may take one additional gold chip from the gold vein. This is only possible if, after running businesses, at least one gold chip still remains on the hillside (in the brown section). Note: if the action Act in Town is chosen, this building's special action cannot be used.
Adams and Co. Express Office: if the player is in Winding Down, they may, during the action Act in Town, remove one influence card from play for free. In doing so, they must observe the rule that at least one prospector is standing at the building. Important: it is forbidden for a prospector to both remove a card normally at a building and additionally use the special property to remove a second card! They may, however, for example remove a card at one building, then move to another building and use its special property there to remove a further card for free. Note: if the action Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses is chosen, this building's special action cannot be used.
Chalmer's Sierra Nevada Hotel: if the player is in Winding Down, they may, during the action Act in Town, move one of their prospectors for free or remove one from play. Note: if the action Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses is chosen, this building's special action cannot be used.
Miner's Drug Store: at the conclusion of the action Prospect for Gold and Run Businesses, the player may take one additional gold chip from the gold vein. This is only possible if, after running businesses, at least one gold chip still remains in the mine (in the gray section) — otherwise the game would end immediately anyway. Note: if the action Act in Town is chosen, this building's special action cannot be used.
A Short History of the Town of Coloma
Until 1848, California belonged to Mexico. From the so-called "civilized" world in the east, it was almost unreachable, isolated by 2,900 kilometers of desert and mountains. The interior of the land was the realm of the Native peoples. Only a few white settlers lived there, among them the Swiss-born Johann (John) Sutter, who had run afoul of the law in his homeland. He had received a sizable piece of land in the Sacramento Valley from the Mexicans and began building a fort there.
This fort became a waystation, a refuge, and a base for adventurers who had pushed into California to settle. Within a short time, his small community grew. Since ever-larger quantities of timber were needed, Sutter built a sawmill. For its location he chose a spot on the American River, near the small town of Coloma.
When, on the morning of January 24, 1848, Sutter's carpenter James Marshall climbed down to the river to fix a problem with the mill's mechanism, he discovered a shimmering object in the water. He quickly realized it was a gold nugget. In no time at all, gold fever broke out. Whoever had legs went in search of the precious metal. By winter, a quarter million dollars' worth of gold had been recovered in California! In the following years the gold finds continued to rise, and eventually well over 125 million ounces of gold were mined.
One story tells of a prospector who set up his tent one evening. When he pulled the tent stakes from the ground the next morning, several gold nuggets came to light. Another filled his pot with water to cook a fish. While washing it, he discovered gold nuggets that had been lying in the water.
The California Gold Rush that followed drew thousands of adventurers from all over the world to California. But in this wilderness, no one was prepared to supply so many people. Everyday items quickly became scarce; enterprising merchants recognized their opportunity and offered their goods at exorbitant prices. Many things were, quite literally, weighed against gold. So the true winners of the gold rush were not those who dug through the earth from sunrise to sunset, but rather those who supplied the prospectors. And as quickly as the adventurers pulled the gold from the earth, just as quickly did they spend it again.
By around 1860, the easily accessible gold reserves were exhausted. Extracting the precious metal now became ever more laborious. Increasingly it was the mining companies, with their heavy technical investment, who still turned a profit. As quickly as the gold rush had been triggered, it seemed to come to an end for most just as quickly. Without the prospect of gold, many had no reason to remain any longer in the California wilderness. So they moved on to the big cities of the West Coast, or back to their homelands. Thriving settlements sometimes became ghost towns overnight. Coloma too, which at the time briefly numbered thousands of citizens, sank into obscurity, and today still counts only around 300 residents.