The Capitals
The Capitals Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Initial Considerations
THE CAPITALS is a strategy game for 2-5 players. These rules describe the basic 3-5 player game with a section detailing changes for a 2 player game. Note that these rules will refer to players as either a "player" or a "City". They both have an identical meaning for the purpose of this game.
Components
- 1 Game Board — showing the Economy Track, Initiative Area, Culture Track, Public Services Track, Progress Track, Round Area (game round), Population Track, Employment Track and Projects Area (card display)
- 35 Player Markers; seven of each player color
- 5 Tourist Markers, one of each player color
- 75 orange Energy Cubes — The number of Energy Cubes is not considered limited. If you should run out of cubes while playing, feel free to use a suitable substitute.
- 1 Time Marker
- 10 Construction Tokens
- 110 Prestige Tokens
- 143 Building Tiles:
- 27 Era I Buildings
- 27 Era II Buildings
- 24 Era III Buildings
- 25 Power Plants
- 15 Starting Tiles: 5 Starting Power Plants, 5 Hotels and 5 City Halls
- 25 Prosperity Buildings
- 1 Highest Culture Token
- 5 Icons and Symbols Summary Sheets
Basic Game Setup
Separate the tiles into the following stacks: Era I Building Tiles, Era II Building Tiles, Era III Building Tiles, Starting Building Tiles, Prosperity Building Tiles, and Power Plant Tiles (sorted by the number on their backs).
For 2 and 3-player games, return the Building Tiles marked with the 4-player or 5-player symbol to the game box. These are only used during a 4-player or 5-player game. Set aside the Prosperity Tile Stack. These cards are not used in the basic game, although they are highly-recommended for games after the first playing of The Capitals.
Shuffle the Era I Building Tile Stack and position it off the board near the Projects Area. Place the Era II and Era III Tile Stacks away from the playing area until they are ready to enter play. Sort the Power Plants by the numbers on their backs and keep them in a single stack nearby until they are needed.
Next to the $0 row of the Projects Area, place two Era I Building Tiles plus one more for every player (with 4 players, 6 Era I Building Tiles would be placed). The $2 and $4 rows begin empty at the start of the game.
Place one Player Marker from each player in every space indicated by the starting symbol on the following six Tracks on the board: Population, Employment, Public Services, Progress, Economy, and Culture.
The Initiative Track determines the order in which the players take their game turns. The leftmost space is the first player.
Randomly place a Player Marker for each player on the Initiative Track spaces. The first Player Marker selected should be placed in the $3, 4x space, but in the upper portion of that space. Each additional Player Marker should be placed in the next space to the right, but only one per space, and also in the upper portion. If you have followed this procedure correctly the final Player Marker placed will be positioned in the space showing an icon representing the correct number of players (except in the 2-player game, of course). All Initiative Track spaces with icons that show more than the number of players are not used during the game.
Place the first Player Marker in this column, with each following marker placed in the next space to the right.
After determining Initiative, each player reduces their economy track level by the $ amount above their Player Marker (for example, a player in the $2, 3x spot reduces their economy level by $2).
Place the Time Marker in the Round Area's 1 space to indicate the first round.
The orange Energy Cubes and the Prestige Tokens should be set aside, forming a General Supply pool.
Give each player:
- 3 Starting Tiles: 1 Level One Power Plant, 1 Hotel and 1 City Hall.
- 2 Construction Tokens
- 1 Tourist Marker of the player's color
- 1 Icons and Symbols Summary Sheet
Now players must set up their City center and energize their Power Plants. To do so, each player places their City Hall and their Hotel tiles side by side (either horizontally or vertically) and then places their Construction Tokens between these tiles as shown in the illustration below. Power Plants are placed to one side, not directly connected to a player's City, but close by. Energize the Power Plants by adding 4 orange Energy Cubes on top of the tiles, as shown by the icons on the tile.
Anatomy of a Tile
The Building Tiles are the heart of The Capitals. It is important to understand how the tiles are laid out and what the icons and symbols are indicating. The following illustration shows the elements that are common to all tiles.
Each tile shows: the ERA (top), the Building TYPE, the Building NAME (bottom), varied EFFECTS (see overview of different tile EFFECTS below), and Immediate EFFECTS for building this tile.
Building Tile TYPES: Housing, Industry, Commerce, Tourism, Public, Power, Prosperity.
Building Tiles include a wide variety of EFFECTS. Below is an overview of the many icons, symbols and their associated effects on game play. For more detailed information on Effects, see the Effects section.
- Immediate Effects happen one time only, as soon as the tile is built.
- Activation Effects happen when a player uses Energy Cubes to "activate" the tile.
- Construction Effects occur during the Building Phase, when a tile is "built".
- Permanent Effects can take place from the time the tile is built to the end of the game.
- End of Game Effects only occur during the final scoring at the end of the game.
- Arrows around the tile border indicate that its effects will only take into consideration directly adjacent tiles.
The City Tracks
Culture
The City with the highest Culture Level attracts Tourists from other Cities, taking the "Highest Culture Token" and gaining an extra Activation. Each Culture icon obtained advances a player's marker on this track by one Level.
The main source of Culture is the Tourism Tiles.
Employment
Employment is one of the main sources of Prestige Points. Each Employment icon obtained advances a player's marker on this track by one Level.
The main source of Employment is the Industry Tiles.
Population
To keep increasing Employment, a City must have enough Population. Each Population icon obtained advances a player's marker on this track by one Level. Population works as a limit to the Employment Track; Employment generated above the City's Population Level is ignored. There can never be more workers on the Employment Track than Population in a City.
The main source of Population is the Housing Tiles.
Public Services
Cities with high levels of Public Services can earn bonuses. Each Public Services icon obtained advances a player's marker on this track by one Level. Construction of certain buildings reduces a City's Public Services Level and can bring a penalty.
The main source of Public Services is the Public Tiles.
Economy
This track represents the amount of Money each City obtains by tax collection. Each Money icon obtained advances a player's marker on this track by one Level. Money is primarily used to gain a better position on the Initiative Track each round in order to obtain the best Buildings Tiles.
The main source of Money is the Commerce Tiles.
Progress
Progress represents the development of superior energy technology. Each Progress icon obtained advances a player's marker on this track by one Level.
The Progress Track is circular. Every time the Player Marker passes through the Power Plant symbol, the City may upgrade their Power Plant. Replace the current Power Plant Tile with a Power Plant Tile of the next higher level by placing it over the old Power Plant. Each City is limited to only one Power Plant at any time.
Cities may only upgrade their Power Plants one level at a time (for example, a 2 power plant can only be built over a 1 power plant; a 3 power plant over a 2 power plant; and so on).
When a player's marker lands on or passes through this space, they may upgrade their Power Plant to the next higher level.
As soon as a player takes a new Power Plant, they take the number of Energy Cubes indicated on the new Power Plant Tile from the General Supply and add them to the Energy Cubes from their existing plant. A City's Energy Cubes are kept on the new Power Plant Tile.
Some Power Plant Tiles of the same level have different energy capacities (number of Energy Cubes). The first City to develop their Power Plant will take the Power Plant Tile which offers the most Energy Cubes amongst the Power Plants of the next level. Cities that reach this same level at a later point in the game will take the next best Power Plant and so on.
IMPORTANT: The remaining Energy Cubes from the old Power Plant card are not lost, but transferred to the new Power Plant card.
Power Plants of the same level often supply differing amounts of Energy Cubes. It pays to be the first to upgrade in order to get the best tile!
Gaining Prestige Points
At the end of Era III, the player who collected the most Prestige Points for their City receives the right to host the World Expo and wins the game.
There are several ways to gain or lose Prestige Points. When a player gains or loses Prestige, they take Prestige Tokens from the general supply in the amount gained or lost. A player's Prestige Tokens must always be visible to the other players, but they may be stacked face-down so that the exact total is hidden from view. Players are never required to reveal their Prestige Points during the game.
Playing a Round
The game is divided into 3 eras (I, II, and III). Each era is further divided into 4 game rounds. At the end of every 4th game round a World Expo Evaluation (or scoring round) takes place.
Each game round is composed of the following phases:
- Political; 2) Building; 3) Tourism; 4) Executive; 5) Administrative.
1. Political Phase
Using the previous round's Initiative order, the players now establish a new Initiative order (this phase is skipped during the first round of the game — see Setup).
To begin, all players slide their Player Markers downward onto the bottom half of the corresponding space of the Initiative Area to show that all spaces are available for selection. Next, the City with the leftmost Player Marker on the Initiative Track (the space with the highest multiplier) is the first to choose a new position on the Initiative Track. The player chooses the position they wish to take and pay its space value ($) times their previous space's multiplier (x). They then place their Player Marker onto the top half of the Initiative Track to indicate they have made their choice and that the space is occupied.
Example: the blue player begins the Political Phase with their Player Marker at space $3,4x. They want to move it to the fourth position ($2,2x). They pay (decrease their position on the Economy Track by): 4x$2 = $8.
NOTE: Be careful not to choose a space on the Initiative Track which is not available due to having less players than the maximum. For example, if playing with 4 players, the rightmost space ($0,2x) would not be available for selection. IMPORTANT: In the 3-player game ONLY, the initiative space marked with the 4-player icon is also available for selection (except during set up).
After the first player chooses their new Initiative space, the next player moving rightwards on the Initiative Track chooses a free space to place their Player Marker (one that is not occupied by another Player Marker), decreases their position on the Economy Track by the according amount, and so on, until all players have selected a new space in the Initiative Area.
Note: Choosing better Initiative spaces make the next round's Initiative more expensive. Choose carefully when you need to go first!
IMPORTANT: In a 5-player game, on Round 2, which is the first round that players begin selecting their space on the Initiative Track, the player on the rightmost space of the Initiative Track pays a multiplier of only 1X. Beyond Round 2, this space is used with its normal multiplier. The game board has a small graphic reminder to help keep this in mind.
2. Building Phase
Following the Initiative order, each player must:
2.1 Choose 1 Building Tile from any row in the Projects Area.
The player can pick up Building Tiles in the first row at no cost. To pick up any Building Tiles from the second and third rows, the player pays (decreasing their position on the Economy Track) their respective cost ($2 or $4).
2.2 Immediately place the Building Tile on their City (a player cannot keep Building Tiles unplayed).
Building Placement Rules
The following two rules are used in placing buildings:
A) A Building Tile must be placed on any of the four sides of the player's Construction Token.
B) A Building Tile must be adjacent to another Building Tile of the same type (same color). Diagonal connections are considered adjacent. This rule doesn't apply to a City that still doesn't have a tile of that type, so a player without a certain building type may ignore this rule for their first Building Tile of each type.
Building Penalty: If a player chooses not to (or cannot) follow the two placement rules, they may still place their Building Tile, but they incur a penalty of 2 Prestige Points (-2 Prestige) for each rule not followed.
Construction Tokens
Each City begins play with both Construction Tokens connected to their starting Building Tiles. After all four building sites around a Construction Token become filled, the construction token is moved to another location on the perimeter of the City. If a Construction Token has any empty spaces, it cannot be moved. In the illustration, the surrounded Construction Token can be moved to any of the green locations.
NOTE: Planning ahead is important! Place your Construction Tokens wisely, and be careful to leave as many building options as possible to avoid penalties.
Example: the Market (Commerce) was built without any penalty, since it was the first Commerce tile in the City, and the Construction Token was adjacent to it. The Science Center (Public Building) generated a penalty of -2 Prestige, since there was no Public tile adjacent to it. Lastly, the construction of the Magnificent Arch (Tourism) generated a penalty of -4 Prestige, since there was no adjacent Tourism tile, or Construction Token.
2.3 Update all the tracks on the game board.
After placing a Building Tile, the player updates their positions on the game board tracks with the information printed on the new tile's face. The symbols on the tiles tell the player what track positions will be affected and when. The player may freely decide in what order they wish to update each track position.
Immediate Effect: The Immediate Effect symbol indicates a tile's effects that must be resolved as soon as it is placed on the City. This is called an Immediate Effect. These effects generally show icons that refer to a specific track, along with a positive or negative number indicating whether the player is increasing or decreasing their position. Positive numbers (in a green circle) indicate that the Track's Level must be increased by that amount, while negative numbers (in a red circle) indicate that the Track's Level must be decreased by that amount.
Example: the figure indicates that this City immediately gains 3 spaces on its Progress Track, and 2 spaces on its Employment Track. The City also loses 2 spaces on its Public Services Track.
Sometimes, Immediate Effects can be Conditional, meaning that what a player gains or loses is dependent on how their City meets the condition indicated on the tile. The condition is shown as a number in a black bar, alongside a symbol (which usually refers to a specific Track). Below the condition is shown the effect of meeting that condition. The player does not lose/pay the amount of the condition; simply having the indicated item/resource results in the effect taking place. The Conditional Effect may take place multiple times if the player has multiple amounts of the indicated item/resource and wishes it to take place. However, the effect must take place at least once.
Example: the figure indicates that for each 3 Money the City has (number in the black bar), its Culture Track increases by 1. If this City had 12 Money at the moment that the tile was built, it could increase its Culture by 4. The black bar indicates that the City doesn't gain or lose any Money, staying with the same amount it had before the tile's construction.
Permanent Effect: The Permanent Effect symbol is a special type of Conditional Effect. In this case, the effect occurs when a specific building is activated or some other specific event occurs.
Example: for the remainder of the game, whenever this tile's owner upgrades their Power Plant, they will immediately receive 2 culture points.
Construction Effect: The Construction Effect symbol indicates effects that occur during the Building Phase, including when constructing the current Building Tile. Apply these effects after checking previously-constructed buildings for the conditions listed. This effect continues until the end of the game, meaning that buildings constructed later may again cause this effect.
Example: this sample Tourism tile shows that each High Density Housing previously built in the City increases the Culture Track by 3 Levels. Every time a new High Density Housing is built after this tile, the City's Culture Track will again be increased by 3 Levels.
This Public tile shows that for every Housing Tile adjacent to it when it is built (the Arrows around the border of the tile indicate this — see the Icons and Symbols Summary Sheet for a list of symbols), the City's Population Track will be increased by 1 Level. Every time a new Housing Tile is built adjacent after this tile, the City's Population Track will again be increased by 1 Level.
Other icon-legend notes on the tiles: a black bar with a number means "Have at least X amount of shown resource"; the Permanent Effect example shown means "Each time you Upgrade your Power Plant"; density icons refer to the density icons on Housing tile title bars; Arrows (around the tile border also) indicate Adjacency.
IMPORTANT: No card ever affects itself. It can only affect or be affected by other cards. Diagonal connections count as adjacent.
Symbols on the Game Board: As players increase and decrease their positions on the Tracks, they may move their markers beyond the beginning or end of a Track, which also has effects as shown by the groups of icons at the beginning and end of each Track.
The red arrow symbols at the beginning and end of the Tracks indicate that every time a player moves one of their Player Markers beyond the final space of that Track, they will gain or lose Prestige Tokens or other resources according to the symbols presented there. The Player Marker will remain in the same space instead of moving off the Track. These points are awarded only once each time a player would move off the Track, regardless of how many spaces the player would move off the Track.
Example: Red's Player Marker is positioned on the last level of the Public Services Track (the 6th level) when Red opts to build a Hospital. A hospital increases the Public Services Track by 2 levels. Since there are no more spaces for that City to advance on the Public Services Track, it will instead gain the 3 Energy Cubes shown, and Red's Marker will remain in the 6th space.
Important: These points are obtained only once per tile built and once per Activation, regardless of how much the Player Marker would advance. EXCEPTION: Extra Taxation Action (see below).
IMPORTANT: Symbols found on the spaces of the Employment and Public Services Tracks are only collected during the World Expo Evaluation (a special scoring round held at the end of each Era), although the red arrows on these Tracks are scored immediately as described above. The symbol on the Progress Track (new Power Plant Tile) is collected immediately upon reaching that space.
3. Tourism Phase
During this phase, each City's Tourist Marker will move according to their position on the Culture Track. At the start of the Phase, check to see which player has the most Culture and give that player the Highest Culture Token.
Each Tourist Marker represents a large number of tourists from each City who enjoy traveling. Each City's Tourist Marker has a strong tendency of staying within its own City if possible, but in some cases, the Tourist Marker will be tempted into visiting another player's City. Tourists are highly desirable, as they can be used to Activate building tiles (see Executive Phase).
During this phase, the positions of all Player Markers on the Culture Track must be verified to see which Tourists must visit which City. The most basic rule is as follows:
Each Tourist Marker normally remains in its own City. However, the City which has the lowest Culture level that round will lose its Tourist to the City with the Highest Culture. As a consequence, the City with the Highest Culture will have another Tourist Marker to spend on its actions (see Executive Phase).
In all cases, once Tourists have been awarded and then placed during the Executive Phase, all Tourist Markers remain where they were placed (normally on a Building Tile) until at least the next Tourism Phase. If the Tourists situation, verified at the beginning of this phase, remains unchanged from the previous turn (i.e. the same player that surrendered their Tourist Marker last turn will once again surrender it), the Tourist Markers will remain in the same City, and on the same Building Tile. If a different player's Tourist Marker is to be surrendered, that player removes their Tourist Marker from their City, and places it next to the City that has the highest Culture Level. The player who previously surrendered their Tourist Marker may recover it, and place it next to their City. This indicates that they are available to activate any Building Tile during the following Executive Phase. All other players must leave their Tourist Markers lying on their previous Building Tile until the Executive Phase.
Breaking Ties
If two or more Cities are tied on the Culture Track, the one that is higher on the Economy Track is considered to have the highest Culture. If both are also tied on the Economy Track, the City positioned closer to the leftmost space on the Initiative Track is considered the City with the highest Culture.
Attraction Level
Cities can achieve up to three levels of Attraction, which can attract more than one City's Tourist Marker.
Reaching specific levels on the Culture Track will result in the Highest Culture City drawing Tourists from Cities whose markers are positioned below certain positions on the Track. The Culture Track shows color-coded ranges which define the positions needed to attract multiple Tourists.
The City with the Highest Culture Level receives all Tourist Markers from Cities that are within the range defined by the space where their player marker rests. The three Attraction Levels are achieved on spaces 9, 14 and 24. Each Attraction Level shows a number on its space, which defines an Attraction Range. The Attraction Range is a series of spaces from which a player may claim the Tourist Markers of Cities whose markers are currently within that Range. Once reaching an Attraction Level space, the Highest Culture City retains this level even when they have passed that space (for example, if the City with the Highest Culture Level was on the 10th space of the Culture Track, they would still utilize the claiming of Tourist Markers allowed by the 9th space).
The three different Attraction Levels are illustrated on the Culture Track. The colors of the Culture Track's spaces will help the players remember the areas that may cause their Tourist Markers to be claimed by another City in this manner.
ATTRACTION LEVEL 1: The leading player to reach or pass the green space (space 9) gains Tourist Markers from all Cities whose markers are lower than space 6 (spaces with green in them).
ATTRACTION LEVEL 2: The leading player to reach or pass the green and orange space (space 14) gains Tourist Markers from all Cities whose markers are lower than space 10 (any space showing green or orange).
ATTRACTION LEVEL 3: The leading player to reach or pass the green, orange and blue space (space 24) gains Tourist Markers from all Cities whose markers are lower than space 24 (any space showing green, orange or blue).
IMPORTANT: Attraction Levels only apply to the HIGHEST CULTURE PLAYER!
Example: The Purple player has reached (and passed) space 14, which is Attraction Level 2. As a result, Purple holds the Highest Culture Token and gains the Tourist Markers of all Cities whose markers are on space 10 or lower: in this case, Red, Black and Blue. The Green player gets to keep their Tourist Marker as they are higher than space 10. Both Red and Green have made it to Attraction Level 1, but this has no effect for them, as they are not the leading player. If the Purple player's marker was on space 24 (or beyond), at Attraction Level 3, her City would receive Tourist Markers from all of the other players.
Highest Culture Token
At the beginning of each Tourism Phase, remember to give the Highest Culture Token to the Player who is farthest along on the Culture Track. This token serves as a reminder that the City with the Highest Culture gains three very important benefits during the Tourism and Executive Phases!
4. Executive Phase
In Initiative Track order, all players may Activate tiles in their City. Each player must take all actions they wish to make before the next player has a turn:
Each player has a limited number of Activations they may perform on their turn, as determined by their current Power Plant tile. Additionally, activating tiles costs energy, in the form of Energy Cubes. Energy Cubes are primarily gained from upgrading Power Plant tiles.
When first built, each Power Plant tile has an Immediate Effect that provides a set amount of Energy Cubes, which are then placed on top of the tile. As players upgrade their Power Plants (via the Progress Track), they will gain more Energy Cubes to use for activating their City tiles.
The Energy Cubes are spent to activate special Activation Effects on Building tiles. When used, they are placed onto the activated tile until the end of the current Era (see World Expo Evaluation, "Cleaning Up the Buildings").
Power Plant tiles determine how many tiles you may activate during your Executive Phase. They also provide a one-time set amount of Energy Cubes when they are first built. Each Power Plant tile shows its Power Plant Level, the number of Activations it grants, and the number of Energy Cubes to gain from the Supply.
IMPORTANT: The City with the Highest Culture also gets an extra activation action during the Executive Phase.
Activating Tiles
The Activation symbol indicates that a player must use an Energy Cube to activate a Building Tile. This is called an Activation Effect. To activate a Building Tile, a player takes Energy Cubes from their Power Plant Tile and places them on the Building Tile.
The cost to activate a Building Tile is: One more Energy Cube than all of the Energy Cubes currently on the Building Tile (including cubes printed on the tile as well as any Tourist Markers on the tile), whether pictured or previously placed on the tile.
Example: The tile on the left has 1 cube printed on it; its owner must pay 2 cubes to activate its special action (1 cube printed on the card + 1 cube).
Example: After one activation, the tile now has 3 cubes on it (2 energy cubes + 1 printed cube). If the player wants to activate that tile again, they must pay 4 cubes (2 previous cubes + 1 printed cube + 1 cube = 4 cubes).
A tile may be activated on the same round it is built.
Using Tourists
A player may use Tourist Markers, once each per Executive Phase, to help activate a tile as if it were a single Energy Cube. The Tourist Markers are placed on tiles the same as Energy Cubes and remain there until at least the next Tourism Phase (when a change in positions on the Culture Track may cause the Tourist to change Cities). The Tourist Markers are treated like Energy Cubes when calculating the cost to activate a tile.
Example: The Red player has 2 Tourist Markers: their own, plus the Black player's. Red chooses to activate a tile with 2 Energy Cubes pictured on it. Red decides to use both Tourist Markers and 1 Energy Cube to pay for the tile's activation.
Tourist Markers which are sitting on building tiles at the beginning of the Executive Phase (placed there during a previous turn), may be relocated to another tile in order to help activate it. However, Tourist Markers must be moved in order to be used for activation, which means that a Tourist Marker can never activate the Building Tile it is on at the beginning of the Executive Phase. Tourist Markers which have been newly-awarded or returned to their owners during the Tourism Phase were placed beside the City (not on a tile), and so may be used on any Building Tile.
Example: The Green player has a Building Tile which shows 1 printed Energy Cube, 1 regular Energy Cube, and 1 Tourist Marker from a previous Round. Green wishes to activate the same tile again this turn, and therefore must pay a total of 4 Energy Cubes. Since the Tourist Marker was already on the tile, it may not be used to help pay for the activation, instead it is adding to the cost. However, if Green has more than one activation to use (due to having a level 4 or higher Power Plant, or holding the Highest Culture Token) they may choose to move the Tourist to help activate a different tile, effectively reducing the cost of the first tile, which may then be activated for a cost of 3 cubes instead of 4.
Tourist Markers, once assigned to a building tile, will always stay on a Building Tile somewhere in that City unless the marker is lost to another City during the Administrative Phase. A player may never decide to remove an assigned Tourist Marker from their City tiles. They may be moved from tile to tile, but never off of the tiles altogether.
After each activation, players should check to see if any of their other tiles' Permanent Effects have been triggered. Since a Building Tile may never affect itself, activating a tile does not trigger any of its own Permanent Effects.
Example: The Blue Player wants to activate their Jefferson Apartments tile, which requires two energy. To cover the cost, Blue moves their Tourist Marker from the tile it had been located on previously, and then adds an Energy Cube from their Power Plant. The Activation Effect of the tile causes Blue to go back three spaces on the Culture Track in order to move forward 2 spaces on the Population Track. After activation, Blue checks to see if any of his other tiles have Permanent Effects which take effect. Blue's Museum of Art tile has a Permanent Effect which states that whenever an adjacent card is activated, the player may advance 2 spaces on the Culture Track. Blue goes up 2 spaces on the Culture Track, thus regaining 2 of the 3 points just lost by activating the Jefferson Apartments.
Tile activation is not mandatory. A City that passes all activations gains 1 Prestige Point OR 1 Energy Cube on their Power Plant. Note that a City with multiple activations must pass them all to receive these resources, but only receives 1 Prestige Point or 1 Energy Cube.
5. Administrative Phase
The round finishes with the following maintenance actions:
- Move any construction tokens that are filled up with four buildings.
- All Building Tiles remaining in the $0 row of the Projects Area are moved to the $2 row.
- All Building Tiles remaining in the $2 row of the Projects Area are moved to the $4 row.
- All Building Tiles remaining in the $4 row of the Projects Area are removed from the game (put them back in the box).
- Advance the Time Marker to the next Round.
- Draw a number of new Building Tiles from the Building Tile stack for the current Era and place them face up in the $0 row of the Projects Area. If the Time Marker has moved into a new era, discard the older era Building Tile stack and draw from the Building Tiles for the new era. (For example, if the Time Marker has moved from Round 4 to Round 5, which is the end of Era I, draw the new Building Tiles from the Era II Building Tile stack. If the Time Marker has moved from Round 2 to Round 3, continue drawing from Era I Building Tiles). Any older Era Building Tiles currently in the Project Area remain in play until purchased, or removed from the $4 row during the Administration Phase.
How Many Tiles to Draw?
Within the entire Projects Area, there should never be more current Era tiles than the number of players plus 2. When drawing new tiles for the $0 row, draw only as many as needed to meet this requirement. If there are current Era tiles in the $2 or $4 rows, these tiles count toward the requirement. Remember, only Building Tiles from the current Era are counted: previous-Era Building Tiles are permitted to stay in the Projects Area.
Example: in a 4-player game, at the end of round 4 it is also the end of Era I. The new tiles will be drawn from the Era II pile. As there are not yet any Era II tiles in either of the lower rows, the full number of new tiles will be drawn. Six Era II tiles are added to the $0 row.
Two rounds later, at the end of round 6 (still in Era II), there are two Era II tiles in the lower rows. This time, only four tiles are drawn to reach the full requirement of six Era II tiles.
World Expo Evaluation
At the end of Eras I, II, and III, (after Rounds 4, 8, and 12), a special End of Era scoring round is held. In initiative order, players score as follows:
Employment Track Scoring: The spaces of the Employment Track show positive or negative numbers of Prestige. Each player takes the positive or negative Prestige Points shown on the space where their Player Marker is located.
Unemployed Population Scoring: Subtract the City's Population level from its position on the Employment Track. Any negative number is taken as a Prestige penalty. (for example, a city has a Population Level of 8 and an Employment Level of 6. That city would lose 2 Prestige Points.) If the result is zero no adjustment is made. The maximum loss is capped at -3 Prestige Points.
NOTE: The World Expo is looking for a City with a big population and a low unemployment level. Players should be careful not to allow their Population Track to get too far ahead of their Employment Track.
Public Service Adjustment: First, each City increases/decreases their tracks according to the icons displayed on their current space of the Public Services Track. For example, if a Player was on the 3rd space of the Public Services Track, they would increase their Progress Track level by 1.
Then each City must lose 2 Prestige Points for each Player Marker positioned on a higher level than its own on the Public Services Track. If two or more Cities are in the same space of this track, the one higher on the Economy Track is considered to have the highest Public Services. If both are in the same space of the Economy Track, the City positioned furthest to the left on the Initiative Track is considered the City with the higher Public Services.
Example: At the end of Era I, Green finds his Player Marker in the 6th Level of the Public Services Track. Black is located at the 4th, and Purple is at the 2nd Level. Black will lose 2 Prestige Points while Purple will lose 4. Green doesn't lose any Prestige Points, since there are no Player Markers positioned higher than his on the Public Services Track.
Remove Energy Cubes from all Tiles: After resolving the World Expo Evaluation, remove all Energy Cubes currently on Building Tiles and return them to the General Supply. Unused Energy Cubes on Power Plant Tiles remain on the Power Plant. Tourist Markers are not removed, but stay on their tiles.
IMPORTANT: Do not remove Energy Cubes between normal rounds. Energy Cubes are only removed after a World Expo Evaluation.
Extra Taxation Action
A City can borrow money at any time by losing 1 Prestige Point and adding $3 to their Economy Track. A City may take this loan as often as needed, so long as the Prestige Points penalty is paid. A player can only borrow enough multiples of $3 in order to pay their expenses.
Example: Blue has $1 dollar and needs to pay $11. Blue can borrow a maximum of $12 with a loss of 4 Prestige Points in order to make the payment.
Since a City must select a Building Tile to construct during each Building Phase, this Extra Taxation Action allows a player to purchase a Building Tile that they could not otherwise afford, being sure to pay the appropriate penalty for not having enough Money (perhaps taking multiple penalties).
The player may also take an Extra Taxation Action in order to obtain the position on the Initiative Track that they desire (assuming it is not occupied by another player, of course).
Simply calculate the number of Extra Taxation Actions required before reducing the player's position on the Economy Track. Remember, a player needs to end up with at least $1, so if, for example, $14 is needed, calculate enough Extra Taxation Actions to get the player to the $15 space before deducting the $14 payment.
An Extra Taxation Action may also be required to pay for the effects of a card, but not for a Conditional Effect.
Example: Blue has $1 and wishes to purchase the Magnificent Arch (Tourism Tile) currently in the $2 space of the Projects Area. In order to be left with $1, he needs to borrow at least $2, and so he takes one Extra Taxation Action which moves his Economy Track marker up to $4. He then loses one Prestige Token before paying for his purchase by moving his marker back down the Economy Track by $2 (the amount he originally needed).
Blue now places the Magnificent Arch Tile into his City according to the placement rules. However, the Magnificent Arch has an immediate (and mandatory) effect that forces him to lose $12 to gain 9 Culture. Since he now has only $2 remaining, he must again take Extra Taxation Actions by using the same calculation. In order to have $1 remaining, Blue needs to get his marker to $13 on the Economy Track. This means he must take 4 Extra Taxation Actions (4 x $3 = $12) which raises his marker on the Economy Track to $14. He then deducts the $12 needed for the tile effect, making sure to also lose 4 Prestige Points. Blue now has $2 remaining on the Economy Track. Blue should have selected a better purchase — this is not a very good result for Blue.
Note that if Blue had selected the High Finance Square (Tourism Tile) for $0 instead of the Magnificent Arch, he wouldn't have to pay anything, but he also would not be allowed to take Extra Taxation Actions to pay for the Conditional Effect on that Tile (for every $10 gain 1 Prestige Point). Since Blue has less than $10, he would get nothing from the Conditional Effect. It would be ideal if he had at least $10 before purchasing this tile, so he could obtain the Prestige Points reward.
Important: In summary, this Extra Taxation Action may be used more than once during the same Phase, but only until the player attains enough Money to make the necessary payments. They are not allowed to use this action just to accumulate more Money or carry out Conditional Effects.
Endgame
The game ends right after Era III's World Expo Evaluation. Complete the Era III World Expo Evaluation before proceeding to the Final Scoring round.
Before the Final Scoring: each player must pay one last time for their current space in the Initiative Area, being sure to take any penalties that apply for not having enough money to pay for it.
Final Scoring: First, score any endgame effects on city tiles, be aware some End of Game Effects take place just before the last World Expo Evaluation. (See appendix)
Then, each player takes:
- 1 Prestige Point for each 4 remaining Energy Cubes on the Power Plant Tile, returning exchanged energy cubes back to the general supply (players will have 0, 1, 2 or 3 energy cubes remaining after exchange)
- 1 Prestige Point for each 4 remaining Money, reducing the Economy Track by the amount exchanged (players will have 0, 1, 2 or 3 $ remaining after exchange)
- 1 Prestige Point for each 2 Culture on the Culture Track (round down)
- 1 Prestige Point for each space a player is beyond their last Power Plant upgrade on the Progress Track.
In the event of a tie the tied player who has the most energy cubes remaining is the winner. If still tied the player who is furthest ahead on the Economy Track is the winner. If still tied, the tied player in the furthest left space of the Initiative Area is considered the winner.
VARIANT: If you find the number of buildings too restricting, during the Administrative Phase, try adding the full amount of building tiles regardless of how many remain in the projects area. Due to the number of tiles included, if using this variant, only draw six tiles per Administrative Phase when playing with 5 players.
2-Player Game Changes
The rules are the same as the basic game, except for the following changes:
During Setup
- Assign a color to represent a neutral player
- Place 1 neutral Player Marker at the starting space of the Culture Track;
- Leave 1 neutral Tourist Marker near the board;
- Return the cards labeled with the 4-player and 5-player symbol to the box;
- From each Era tile stack, return at random 1 card of each Building type (Housing, Industry, Tourism, Commerce and Public) to the box;
- Place 4 Building Tiles face up on the Projects Area.
During the Political Phase (Initiative)
Only use the first 4 spaces on the Initiative Track. Do not use the spaces marked for 4 or 5 players.
During the Tourism Phase
- The neutral Tourist Marker will be moved to the City with the Highest Culture;
- The neutral Player Marker on the Culture Track loses all ties.
During the Administrative Phase
- At the beginning of each Administrative Phase, the neutral Player Marker advances 1 Level on the Culture Track;
- 4 Buildings cards are revealed in the Projects Area.
Prosperity Add-On Rules
The basic game is recommended for your first playing of the game. Once you have played the game with the basic rules, adding in Prosperity should be easy!
Prosperity adds a sixth type (color) of tile and uses the same rules as the basic game, with the following additions:
During Setup
Deal 6 tiles from the Prosperity Stack to each player with their faces down. When playing with 5 players, deal only 5 Prosperity Tiles to each player. The remaining tiles, if any, are removed from the game without revealing them (return them to the box).
During the Administrative Phase
At the end of the Administrative Phase of each round indicated on the board by the Prosperity symbol, each player in initiative order, MUST:
a) build a Prosperity Tile, respecting all Building Phase rules, or b) build a Lake (a Prosperity Tile's back)
Building a Prosperity Tile
Building a Prosperity Tile is a way of obtaining points following a player's strategy. Players may not reveal their Prosperity Tiles to other players until they are built.
Each player will be able to build 5 Prosperity Tiles as indicated on the board (Round Area). With less than 5 players, it is important to remember that one Prosperity Tile will not be built.
To build a Prosperity Tile, a City must comply with the tile's Construction Requirement. Most Prosperity Tiles require that the player has the highest amount of one or more types of tiles, or level of one or more Tracks. Once built, the prerequisites on the Building Tile do not need to be maintained during the following rounds.
Each Prosperity Tile shows the tile EFFECT, the Prosperity SYMBOL, and the Construction REQUIREMENT.
Three Pennants requires that the player have the most Population in order to build this tile. The tile's Immediate Effect gives the player 1 Culture point for every 2 Population, plus 2 additional Culture points.
The Warehouse requires that the player have the most, or be tied for the most Industry + Commerce tiles in their City in order to build. The tile's Immediate Effect gives the player 1, 3 or 6 Culture points depending upon in which Era the tile is built. The tile also has a Permanent Effect which gives a player 6 points on the Economy Track every time they activate an Industry tile anywhere in their City.
The Public Meeting Hall requires that the player have the least Public tiles in their City in order to build. The tile's Immediate Effect gives the player 1 Progress and 1 Public Services point. The tile also has an End of Game Effect which allows the player to take 3 Employment just before the World Expo scoring in Era III.
After ensuring that all Construction Requirements for building the tile are met, the Prosperity Tile is built following all rules from the Building Phase.
Building a Lake
If a player is unable or unwilling to construct a Prosperity Tile, they must pick any one of their Prosperity Tiles, reveal it to the other players, and then construct it in the City with its Lake displayed. The Lake can be constructed anywhere in the City and does not need to follow the Building Phase rules. However, it must be adjacent to another Building Tile that is already in the City. Immediately after the Lake is built, the player receives 2 Energy Cubes to their Power Plant.
IMPORTANT: For the purpose of constructing more Building or Prosperity Tiles later in the game, the Lake does not count as any building type (color), nor does it count as a Prosperity Tile.
Endgame
The City gains Prestige Points according to Tiles with End of Game Effects, identified by the End of Game Effect symbol. Be aware that some End of Game Effects take place just before the last World Expo Evaluation (see appendix).
Building Tile Appendix
Starting Tiles
- City Hall (public) — Activate: lose 1 culture to gain 1 employment.
- Hotel (tourism) — Activate: lose 1 culture to gain $7.
Era I
- Bakery (commerce) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 employment and lose 1 public service. Activate to gain $4. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $4.
- Barrel Factory (industry) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 population and 3 employment. Construction: when built, gain 1 population for each adjacent industry tile. Later, if an industry tile is built adjacent, gain 1 population.
- Bookseller (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 employment and lose 1 public service. Activate to gain $7. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $2.
- Brick Works (industry) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 population and 1 employment. Construction: when built, gain 1 employment for each different type (color) of tile that is adjacent (do not count color of this tile). Later, if any different type of tile is built adjacent, gain 1 employment.
- Cobbler (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 employment and lose 1 public service. Activate to gain $7. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $2.
- Cog Factory (industry) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 population and 3 employment.
- Courthouse (public) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 public service. Permanent: Each time an adjacent commerce tile is activated, gain $3.
- Dancing Horse Statue (tourism) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 5 culture and lose 1 public service.
- DaVinci Estate (housing: high density) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 4 population and lose 2 public service. Activate to gain 2 culture.
- Dillon Residences (housing: medium density) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 population. Activate: lose 2 culture to gain 1 public service.
- Doctor (public) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 public service for each adjacent housing tile. Later, if a housing tile is built adjacent, gain 1 public service.
- Downtown Abode (housing: high density) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 3 population and lose 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 population for each adjacent commerce tile. Later, if a commerce tile is built adjacent, gain 1 population.
- Fountain (tourism) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 culture and lose 2 public service. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain 1 culture.
- Heritage Windmill (tourism) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 culture and lose 1 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 culture for each different type (color) of tile that is adjacent (do not count color of this tile). Later, if any different type of tile is built adjacent, gain 1 culture.
- Iron Foundry (industry) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 employment. Activate: lose 2 culture to gain 2 employment.
- King George Mansion (housing: high density) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 4 population and lose 2 public service. Activate: lose 1 population to gain 2 employment.
- Library (public) — Immediate: gain 1 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 progress for each different type (color) of tile that is adjacent (do not count color of this tile). Later, if any different type of tile is built adjacent, gain 1 progress.
- Market (commerce) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 employment and lose 1 public service. Activate to gain $4. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $4.
- Museum of Industry (tourism) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 culture. Construction: when built, gain 2 culture for each industry tile in your city. Later, if any industry tile is built anywhere in your city, gain 2 culture.
- Opera House (tourism) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 culture. Construction: when built, gain 3 culture for every high density housing tile in your city. Later, if any high density housing tile is built anywhere in your city, gain 3 culture. (Look for high, medium and low density icons in the title bar of each housing tile).
- Park (tourism) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 culture and lose 2 public service. Permanent: each time you upgrade your power plant, gain 2 culture.
- Restaurant (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 employment. Activate to gain $10. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $2.
- School (public) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 population for each adjacent housing tile. Later, if a housing tile is built adjacent, gain 1 population.
- Steam Engine Plant (industry) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 population and 2 employment. Activate to gain 1 employment.
- Train Station (public) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 culture for each adjacent tourism tile. Later, if a tourism tile is built adjacent, gain 1 culture.
- Tudor Townhouses (housing: medium density) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 3 population and lose 1 public service. Activate: lose 1 employment to gain $9.
- Victoria Terraces (housing: high density) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 4 population and lose 2 public service. Activate: lose 1 employment to gain 2 progress.
Era II
- Bulls-Eye Emporium (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 employment and lose 1 public service. Activate to gain 1 employment. Permanent: Anytime an adjacent tile is activated, gain $6.
- Cogswell Cogs (industry) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 4 employment and lose 1 public service.
- Cole Harbor (housing: medium density) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 population and lose 1 public service. Activate to gain 1 population.
- Delight Consulting (commerce) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 1 employment. Activate to gain $4. Permanent: each time an adjacent commerce tile is activated, gain $8.
- Exxedout Oil Refinery (industry) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 2 employment and lose 2 public service. Permanent: each time an adjacent industry tile is activated, gain 1 population.
- Fire Department (public) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 2 energy cubes for each adjacent industry tile. Later, if an industry tile is built adjacent, gain 2 energy cubes.
- Furley Apartments (housing: medium density) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, lose 1 public service. Activate: lose $12 to gain 2 population.
- Garden Gnome Mfg (industry) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 employment and lose 1 public service. Activate: lose $6 to gain 2 employment.
- Generally Electrical (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 employment and lose 1 public service. Activate to gain $9. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $6.
- Hotrock Tire Factory (industry) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, lose 1 public service and for every space above zero you have gained on the public service track, gain 1 employment (see numbers on public service track spaces).
- Inspiration Fountain (tourism) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, lose 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 2 culture for each public tile in your city. Later, if any public tile is built anywhere in your city, gain 2 culture.
- Jefferson Apartments (housing: high density) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 population and lose 2 public service. Activate: lose 3 culture to gain 2 population.
- Luxury Lanes Mall (commerce) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 employment. Activate to gain $15. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $4.
- Magnificent Arch (tourism) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, lose 1 public service and also lose $12 to gain 9 culture.
- Museum of Art (tourism) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, lose 2 public service. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain 2 culture.
- Natural History Museum (tourism) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 culture. Construction: when built, gain 3 culture for every medium density housing tile in your city. Later, if any medium density housing tile is built anywhere in your city, gain 3 culture. (Look for high, medium and low density icons in the title bar of each housing tile).
- Office Furniture Mfg (industry) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 employment. Activate to gain 2 employment.
- Osler General (public) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 public service for each adjacent public tile. Later, if a public tile is built adjacent, gain 1 public service.
- Police Station (public) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 energy cube for each adjacent tile. Later, if a tile is built adjacent, gain 1 energy cube.
- Public Utilities (public) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 public service. Permanent: each time an adjacent commerce tile is activated, gain 1 energy cube.
- School (public) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 public service. Permanent: each time an adjacent housing tile is activated, gain 1 culture.
- Science Center (public) — Immediate: gain 1 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 progress for each adjacent tile. Later, if a tile is built adjacent, gain 1 progress.
- Titan of Progress (tourism) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 3 culture and also gain 2 culture for every player marker ahead of yours on the culture track.
- University (public) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 public service and for every 3 employment you have, gain 1 culture.
- Walled Mart (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 employment and lose 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain $6 for each adjacent tile (of any type). Later, when any tile is built adjacent, gain $6.
- West 81st Street (housing: high density) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 population and lose 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 population for each different type (color) of tile that is adjacent (do not count color of this tile). Later, if any different type of tile is built adjacent, gain 1 population.
- Windsor Cottages (housing: low density) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 2 population, 1 public service. Activate: lose 1 population to gain $12.
Era III
- ABL Semiconductor (industry) — Immediate: gain 2 progress. Activate to gain 2 employment, 1 public service.
- Airport (public) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 public service. Activate: for every 5 culture you have, gain 1 prestige.
- Bel-Air Tower (housing: high density) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, lose 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 1 population for each adjacent tile. Later, if a tile is built adjacent, gain 1 population.
- Belt & Howl Labs (industry) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 2 employment and lose 2 public service. Activate to gain 1 employment. Permanent: each time an adjacent industry tile is activated, gain 2 population.
- Boardgame factory (industry) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 population and lose 1 public service. Activate: lose 1 population to gain 3 employment.
- Boing Aerospace (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 employment and lose 2 public service. Activate to gain $15. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain 2 population.
- Botanical Gardens (tourism) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 4 prestige and lose 1 public service. Construction: when built, gain 3 culture for each tile in your city that provides exactly 3 progress. Later, when a tile that provides exactly 3 progress is built anywhere in your city, take 3 culture.
- Community Center (public) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 public service. End of Game: for every adjacent housing card score 2 prestige.
- Convention Center (public) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 public service. Activate to activate any adjacent card for free.
- Executive Estates (housing: low density) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 1 population, 1 public service. Activate: lose 2 population to gain 7 prestige.
- Fertilizer Plant (industry) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 population and lose 1 public service. Activate to gain 3 employment.
- Harwood Heights (housing: low density) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 2 population. Activate: lose 3 culture to gain 7 prestige.
- High Finance Square (tourism) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 6 culture, lose 1 energy cube from your power plant and for every $10 you have, gain 1 prestige (note: if you have no cube to lose, lose nothing).
- Legacy Park Homes (housing: low density) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 2 population. Activate: lose $12 to gain 7 prestige.
- Modern Dance Tribute (tourism) — Immediate: gain 1 progress, 2 prestige, lose 1 public service and for every 3 population you have, gain 2 culture.
- Museum of History (tourism) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 6 culture, lose 2 public service and for every space above zero you have gained on the public service track, gain 1 prestige.
- Nature Trails (tourism) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 2 prestige and lose 2 public service. Construction: when built, gain 3 culture for each housing tile in your city. Later, if a housing tile tile is built in your city, gain 3 culture.
- Penfield Health (public) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 1 public service. Activate to gain 2 public service.
- Prescott Pharmaceuticals (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 employment. Activate to gain $12. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $9.
- Recycling Facility (public) — Immediate: gain 4 progress, 3 energy cubes, 1 public service. Construction: when built, lose 2 prestige for each housing and tourism tile that is adjacent. Later, when a housing or tourism tile is built adjacent, lose 2 prestige.
- Royal Cinema (commerce) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, $12. Activate to gain 1 employment. Permanent: Anytime an adjacent tile is activated, gain 2 prestige.
- Stadium (public) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, lose $18. End of Game: score 3 prestige for each different type (color) of tile that is adjacent (do not count color of this tile).
- Technotech Inc. (commerce) — Immediate: gain 3 progress, 2 employment. Activate to gain $12. Permanent: Anytime an adjacent tile is activated, gain 1 population.
- The Villa (housing: medium density) — Immediate: gain 2 progress, 2 population. Activate: lose 1 public service to gain 3 population.
Prosperity Tiles
- Art Gallery (prosperity) — To Build: have most or tie for most commerce + tourism tiles. Construction: when built, gain 1 culture for each housing tile in your city. Later, if a housing tile is built in your city, gain 1 culture. End of Game: gain 4 prestige.
- Bus Station (prosperity) — To Build: have most or tie for most industry + housing tiles. Immediate: take 1/3/5 prestige depending on the current Era I/II/III. Permanent: gain 1 energy cube each time you activate a housing tile in your city.
- Casino (prosperity) — To Build: have the most museums (tourist tiles with the word “museum” in their titles). Immediate: take 1/3/6 prestige depending on the current Era I/II/III. Permanent: at the end of each tourism phase, gain $2 for each tourist marker in your city (including your own).
- Church (prosperity) — To Build: be lowest player on the population track. Immediate: take 1/3/6 prestige depending on the current Era I/II/III.
- Energy Research (prosperity) — To Build: have least energy cubes on your power plant. Immediate: gain 1 public service and take 3/4/5 energy cubes depending on the current Era I/II/III.
- Environmental Institute (prosperity) — To Build: have most energy cubes on your power plant. Immediate: gain 2 prestige for each level of your power plant (level listed next to name).
- Financial District (prosperity) — To Build: have most or tie for most commerce + public tiles. Immediate: build 1 additional tile from Projects Area, following all building rules. Also, take -1/0/1 public service depending on the current Era I/II/III.
- Gene Research Lab (prosperity) — To Build: have most of or be tied for most industry + public tiles. Immediate: for every 3 employment, gain 1 progress. End of Game: before the world expo scoring at the end of round 12, for every 4 employment, gain 1 progress.
- International Bank (prosperity) — To Build: be highest player on the employment track. End of Game: For every $6 you have, gain 1 prestige.
- Mayor’s House (prosperity) — To Build: lose $12, 1 public service, 2 culture. End of Game: gain 4 prestige for each prosperity tile in your city (lakes do not count).
- Military Base (prosperity) — To Build: be the lowest player on the public services track. Immediate: gain 2/3/4 public service depending on the current Era I/II/III. Activate to gain 1 public service.
- Movie Studio (prosperity) — To Build: have most of or tie for most industry + tourism tiles. Immediate: gain 1 prestige for each industry tile in your city. End of Game: gain 2 prestige for each tourism tile in your city.
- Multinational Corp (prosperity) — To build: have most of or tie for most housing + tourism tiles. Construction: when built, gain 1 employment for each commerce tile in your city. Later, if a commerce tile is built in your city, gain 1 employment. End of Game: gain 2 prestige.
- Public Meeting Hall (prosperity) — To Build: have least public tiles. Immediate: gain 1 progress, 1 public service. End of Game: before the world expo scoring at the end of round 12, gain 3 employment.
- Public Works Office (prosperity) — To Build: be the highest player on the public service track. End of Game: for every 2 energy cubes on your power plant, gain 1 culture.
- Resort (prosperity) — To Build: be highest player on the culture track. Immediate: gain 1/3/5 prestige depending on the current Era I/II/III. Activate: lose 2 culture to gain 3 prestige (note: as there is no printed energy cube on this tile, the cost for first activation in an Era is just 1 cube).
- Shopping Center (prosperity) — To Build: have most low/medium density housing tiles. Immediate: gain 1/3/6 prestige depending on the current Era I/II/III. Permanent: each time an adjacent tile is activated, gain $6.
- Space Research Lab (prosperity) — To Build: have most of or be tied for most housing + public tiles. Immediate: gain 2/4/6 progress depending on the current Era I/II/III. End of Game: gain 2 prestige.
- Stock Exchange (prosperity) — To Build: be highest player on the economy track. Immediate: gain 2 prestige for each industry tile and each commerce tile in your city.
- Subway (prosperity) — To Build: have most of or be tied for most tourism + public tiles. Construction: Any tile built adja- cent to the subway suffers no building penalties (note: since a tile may not affect itself, the subway is not immune to building penalties when it is built). End of Game: gain 2 prestige.
- Technology Park (prosperity) — To Build: be lowest player on the progress track (have lowest level power plant or, if tied, be farthest away from gaining next level). Immediate: activate 1 adjacent building tile for free. End of Game: before the world expo scoring at the end of round 12, activate 1 adjacent building tile for free.
- Theatre (prosperity) — To Build: have most of or be tied for most housing + commerce tiles. Immediate: gain 2 population. End of Game: for every 4 culture, gain 1 prestige.
- Three Pennants (prosperity) — To Build: be the highest player on the population track. Immediate: gain 2 culture, gain 1 prestige for every 2 population you have.
- Warehouse (prosperity) — To Build: have most of or be tied for most industry + commerce tiles. Immediate: gain 1/3/6 prestige depending on the current Era I/II/III. Permanent: each time an industry tile is activated in your city, gain $6.
- World Wonder (prosperity) — To Build: have most tiles that provide exactly 3 progress. End of Game: gain 2 prestige, gain 2 more prestige for every tile in your city that provides exactly 3 progress.
Credits
Game Design: Thiago Boaventura. Artwork and Layout: Mike Christopher. Art Direction: Richard "Doc" Diosi. Production Manager: Kevin Nesbitt. Rulebook Editing: Chris Kraska. Mercury Games Playtesters: Chris Nyrhila, Jeff Watts, Dave Malesich.