Vienna
Vienna Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Aim of the Game
Players must decide on which sites to place their dice so as to increase their influence in the city and finish the game with the most victory points and winning the game. However, dice can only be placed in ascending order (according to value of dice), which can make things get rather tricky since the most attractive locations come at the end of the street and the other players will have their own plans in mind, too.
Contents
- 1 game board
- 26 dice (5 of each colour: red, yellow, green, blue, and black; as well as 1 white die)
- 55 cards (6 start cards, 5 special cards and 44 character cards)
- 25 coins
- 5 victory point markers
- 1 Gendarme
Getting Started
First, decide whether you would like to traverse the streets of Vienna by day or by night, and lay the game board in the middle of the table accordingly. The last person to have visited Vienna gets the start card (clock) and lays it down face up, in front of him on the table. Put the remaining 4 special cards, the coins and the Gendarme face up next to the game board.
Each player receives 4 dice of the same colour (5 dice for a 3-player game) along with the matching victory point marker of the same colour, which is put on the appropriate starting field depending on the number of players.
In a counterclockwise direction, each player takes turns choosing one start card and then lays it down face up, in front of him on the table. The remaining start cards are not needed and can be put back into the game box. Once the start cards have been chosen, each player receives, one time only, the number of coins shown on his start card.
Shuffle the character cards face down and turn over as many cards as players minus one, one next to the other beside the game board. If (this applies throughout the course of the entire game) the same character is turned over twice, put one of them back at the bottom of the stack and turn over a new character card. Then put the remaining cards into a draw pile, face down, next to the game board.
How to Play
Players take turns in a clockwise direction. Each player's coach moves down the street from the top left (Krieau) to the bottom right (Heuriger). Along the way, players can visit various sites by placing their dice on the corresponding fields of the game board. The start player rolls all his dice and then places 1 or 2 dice on a field of the game board.
IMPORTANT: Players do not roll their dice simultaneously, but rather consecutively, and only at the beginning of their respective turns in this round.
On your turn, you must place 1 or 2 of your dice on the game board. Dice that you have not placed on the game board always remain as they are in front of you on the table until you can place them on the board later. If you place two of your dice on the game board, both dice are added up (e.g. 4 + 5 = 9). In order to occupy a field, you must place 1 or 2 dice on the field that match the field's value. Moreover, the field may not be already occupied.
Example: Sabrina (yellow) rolled the following results: 2/2/3/5. First, she places one of her two 2s on the Vienna Secession.
After placing one or two dice, the remaining dice stay as they are in front of you on the table; you do not roll them again.
If you don't like what you have rolled, you have the option to pay 1 coin, which will allow you to do one of the following:
- Roll any number of your dice 1x more.
- Or
- Turn over 1 die by one number upwards or downwards.
You can change the results of your roll in this way as often and in any order you like, as long as you pay 1 coin each time.
Once you've completed your turn, the player to your left may begin his turn. The most important rule when placing your dice is to always do so in the proper sequence along the street. Since the coach (normally) does not back up, you always have to place new dice further down the street from where you last placed your dice. You may leave as many fields empty between your dice as you like.
Example: As the following player, Matthew places his blue 4 on the Heldenplatz, followed by Nancy, who places her red 2 on the Oper (Vienna State Opera). Then Sabrina places her 2 and 3 (= 5) on the Rathaus.
If you ever want or need to place your dice on a previous field, you have to first bribe your coachman to turn the coach around. By paying 1 coin, you can also place your dice on a field further back in the street (that you've already rode past).
Example: After Matthew placed his 6 on the Café Landtmann, Nancy placed her next die (5) on the Universität (University), taking away the field where Sabrina intended to place her last die. This leaves Sabrina with few options. She places her 5 on the Burgtheater, but has to pay 1 coin to do so, since she is already further down the street.
In this order, you all place always either 1 or 2 of your dice on the different fields of the game board. Players who do not have any dice left on their turn forfeit their turn. Once all players' dice have been placed on the game board, evaluation of the round can begin.
IMPORTANT: Evaluate only once all the dice from all players have been placed on the board, and not after each player has placed his dice!
Evaluation of the Action Fields
Evaluate in the same order along the street from top left to bottom right. Each field has its own action. Evaluate all fields with one or two dice placed on them in the proper order. The player occupying a field must carry out its action. Once the action has been completed, and points rewarded, the player picks up his dice from the field and attention is turned to the next occupied field in the street until all occupied fields have been evaluated.
The following field actions are possible:
Coins: If coins are shown on the field, the player who occupies the field receives the corresponding amount of coins (e.g. 2 coins from the Naschmarkt). If there are crossed-out coins showing on the field, the player must (as long as he has enough coins) pay the required amount of coins (e.g. 3 coins for the Rathaus). You are not allowed to forgo the action. If, however, you do not have enough coins, then you pay zero coins and the action is forfeited. Coins must always lie visibly before the players.
Victory points: If victory points are shown on a field, the player who occupies the field moves his victory point marker accordingly along the score track (e.g. Oper = 1 point, Hofreitschule / Spanish Riding School = 2 points).
Character cards: The player may select one of the character cards lying face up next to the game board, placing it face up, in front of him on the table. Lay these cards staggered one over the other, so that the symbols of the cards underneath are also clearly visible. Always begin with the start card first (on the bottom). For the first character cards, the player must pay one coin each. The last character card field does not cost anything, but it comes at a risk: if all the previous character card fields have been occupied, there will be none left to take, or maybe the only character card left is not a particularly good card. A player may very well have the same character card multiple times in his collection.
Special cards (red background): If there is a special card showing on the field, the player receives this card. Players keep the special cards they have acquired until acquired by other players during the evaluation period.
Special Card Notes
Start player: This player begins the next round. He is the first to roll his dice, and also the first to place one or two of his dice on the board. Once he has finished his turn, play continues in a clockwise direction.
Double move: Once completing his regular turn, the player can play his double-move card and complete another full turn. Once he has used the double-move card, he turns it by 90° to indicate that the card has already been used in this round. After completion of the evaluation period, the card can be turned back by 90° again.
Dice joker: The player lays all his dice showing a 1 on this card. Further dice that have been changed to a 1 by either turning them over or rolling them again throughout the course of the game can also be placed on this card. Whenever the player uses one of these dice from this card, he can turn it over onto any side he wants.
More influence: The player lays the card to his other character cards. However, unlike the other "normal" character cards, this card can change hands if another player occupies the corresponding field.
Additional die: The player receives the white additional die. He now has one die more to work with beginning with the next round. However, the additional die can only be placed on the board in combination with another die (exception: Geheimbund, see the Special Fields section). The white die always counts for the player who played it, even if the additional die card has changed hands in the meantime.
Comparison Fields
Pestsäule / Stephansdom / Schloss Belvedere: The player counts the number of corresponding symbols (citizens, crosses or crowns) on the side of his card collection and compares them with the corresponding number of symbols on both of his neighbours' cards. The symbols on the character cards are also counted. However, only the player who is currently evaluating the field in question receives victory points and coins, if any, for every tie and every majority of symbols.
Example: Sabrina has occupied the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) with her dice 4 and 5. During the evaluation period, she compares her 4 crosses with those of her neighbours. Compared with Nancy (2 crosses), she has more crosses and receives therefore 2 victory points and 1 coin. Since Matthew (4 crosses) acquired more influence in this round, she only manages a tie. For the tie, she still receives 1 extra victory point.
Gloriette: Here, all 3 symbols are depicted, so the player can decide during the evaluation period, which of the 3 symbols he would like to compare. Before he can compare, he has to pay 1 coin. A majority and a tie both yield the same number of points as on fields 8 through 10 (Pestsäule / Stephansdom / Schloss Belvedere). However, a player cannot count the same symbol 2x in the same round (e.g. for crosses with the field Stephansdom and again for crosses with the field Gloriette).
Tiergarten: The player must place a double. During the evaluation period, the player can take up to 3 coins from a player, or 1 coin each from two different players.
Heuriger: The player must place a double. For each special card (red background) the player has during the evaluation period, he receives 1 victory point.
Note: The number of special cards that a player has can vary from the time of placing his dice to when the fields are evaluated.
Special Fields
Unlike all other fields of the game, the fields (Krieau, Prater and Geheimbund) marked with a lightning bolt apply IMMEDIATELY (action and points/coins), but are not counted again during the evaluation period. However, the players who place their dice on these fields still do not get their dice back until the evaluation period.
Krieau: The player immediately places the Gendarme on any free field of his choice. This field can no longer be occupied with dice until after the evaluation period. The player then chooses whether he wants a coin or a victory point. Before starting the next round, place the Gendarme back again next to the game board.
Prater: The player can immediately turn over any one of his dice before him onto any other side.
Geheimbund: Any number of dice from any number of players (including multiple dice from a single player) can be placed on the Geheimbund field (Secret Society). The number of dots showing on the dice is irrelevant! For each die a player places on this field, he immediately receives 1 coin. The white additional die can also be placed on the Geheimbund field by itself. The Geheimbund is not located along the street and therefore the general rule of placing dice in the proper order (only down the street) does not apply to this field.
Next Round
Once the last occupied field has been evaluated, the round is over. Before starting the next round, place the Gendarme back again next to the game board. If there are still some remaining character cards lying around from the last round, put these onto the discard pile. As before when preparing for the first round, new character cards (one card less than the number of players) are spread out next to the game board. The special cards stay where they are in front of the players. The player who has the start card (clock) begins the new round.
End of Game
After the evaluation period, as soon as a player has 25 or more victory points, the game is over. Each player's symbols are now evaluated one last time. Determine if a player has a majority of any of the symbols over either of his two neighbours. For every majority of any of the three symbols, he receives 1 point each. He does not receive any points for a tie. Lastly, each player can now trade in any of his remaining coins for victory points. 3 coins are worth 1 victory point.
The player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, of all involved players the player with the most special cards wins. If there is still a tie, of all involved players the player with the most coins wins. If that has not settled it, there are multiple winners.
Credits
Author: Johannes Schmidauer-König Editor: Thorsten Gimmler Translation: Birgit Irgang Illustration: Michael Menzel Layout: Leon Schiffer
Schmidt Spiele GmbH, Postfach 470437, D-12313 Berlin — www.schmidtspiele.de