Zoned Out Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• City Zone Types
• Game Set-Up
• To Start the Game
• Playing a Turn
  • 1. Redraw (Optional)
  • 2. Choose a Card to Play (Mandatory)
  • 3. Move Your Planner (Mandatory)
  • 4. Develop Your Zone (Optional)
  • 5. Draw a Card (Mandatory)
• Developing a Zone and Scoring
  • Downtown and Skyscrapers
• Game End
• End Game Scoring
• Scoring Example (4-Player Game)
• Glossary
• Quick Reference

Contents

• 64 Square Cards
  • 63 City Cards
  • 1 Downtown Card
• 18 Secret Objective Cards
• 4 City Planner Pawns (Pink, Green, Yellow, White)
• 8 Deed Tokens (2 in each player color)
• 180 Building Pieces
• 20 Redraw Tokens
• 90 Victory Point Tokens

Note: Deed Tokens, Redraw Tokens, and Victory Point Tokens are not meant to be limited. If you run out, use a reasonable substitute.

City Zone Types

Residential Zones: Light density residential zones show 1 home. Medium density residential zones show 2 homes. Heavy density residential zones show 3 homes.

Commercial Zones: Light density commercial zones show 1 business. Medium density commercial zones show 2 businesses. Heavy density commercial zones show 3 businesses.

Industrial Zones: Light density industrial zones show 1 factory. Medium density industrial zones show 2 factories. Heavy density industrial zones show 3 factories.

Wild Blocks: Libraries, Stadiums, and Train Depots are wild in terms of density and are labeled with an R, C, or I corresponding to residential, commercial, and industrial zones respectively.

Parks and Museums: Shown with a +1 or +2 respectively.

Parking Lots and Abandoned Buildings: Shown with a -1 or -2 respectively.

Bolded terms can be found in the glossary (see Glossary).

Transcriber's notes: the printed text reads "Heavy density residential Zones show 3 businesses" under Commercial Zones; this is corrected here to "Heavy density commercial zones". The printed rulebook names the wild blocks as Libraries, Stadiums, and Train Depots in this section but as Churches, Stadiums, and Railroad Depots in the Special Case boxes; both are kept as printed. The printed "arenot" in the Redraw Tokens note is rendered as "are not".

Game Set-Up

1. The Start player is whoever was most recently in a skyscraper. Alternatively, you can determine a Start player randomly.
2. Shuffle the City cards and then deal 2 cards to the Start player and deal 3 cards to each other player.
3. Place the remaining City cards face down in a central location, easily reached by all players, forming a deck to draw from. Place the Victory Point and Redraw Tokens in a supply accessible by all players.
4. Based on the chart below, each player starts with a certain number of Building pieces:

2 Players	3 Players	4 Players
45 Pieces each	40 Pieces each	35 Pieces each

5. Draw 4 cards from the top of the draw deck and lay them face up out on the table in a square. Orient them so that the inner 2 x 2 section of the layout consists only of parking lots. Then, place the Downtown Card on the center of them (covering the 4 parking lots that are the single innermost block from each card). This covered section will be considered "Downtown."

6. Deal out 6 Secret Objective Cards. Give 1 face down to each player and place the rest face up on the table. Players may look at their own secret objective but should not reveal them to other players until the end of the game. (In a 2-Player game, give 2 of the 6 Secret Objectives to each player.)

   Note: Every player scores every secret objective card at the end of the game, so pay attention to what other players seem to be going for so you don't miss out on end game points!

To Start the Game

The Start player chooses a City Block (Residential, Commercial, or Industrial) to place their City Planner token on, then draws a card. Play proceeds clockwise. A City Block is one square on a card. Each card has 4 City Blocks.

The Start player does not play a card on their first turn, but rather only places their City Planner, then draws a card (bringing their hand of City cards to 3). All subsequent turns follow the rules below.

Playing a Turn

Each turn consists of the following steps, taken in order.

1. Redraw (Optional)

To begin each turn, a player may choose to discard and redraw 1, 2, or all 3 cards from their hand, but must take a Redraw token from the supply. Redraw tokens score negative points at the end of the game. The discarded card(s) are placed at the bottom of the draw deck face down.

2. Choose a Card to Play (Mandatory)

Play one of the 3 cards in your hand. Connecting identically Zoned Blocks together links them into one Zone. The card may be played anywhere in the city, but must meet these requirements:

• It must Rezone (cover) at least 1 City Block.
• Blocks that are Rezoned may not be part of another player's occupied Zone.
• Blocks that are already Developed (covered with building tokens) may not be Rezoned.
• The card may not Rezone 4 City Blocks.
• The card cannot connect two occupied Zones into a single Zone containing multiple City Planners.

Illustrated examples on the rulebook page show a card covering at least 1 Block, a card covering part of an opponent's occupied Zone, a card covering 4 Blocks, and a card covering already developed Blocks, each marked as illegal or legal as appropriate.

Special Case: By using the Wild Blocks (Churches, Stadiums, and Railroad Depots) you can end up in a situation where a city planner exists in 2 legal Zones simultaneously. In this case, you must use your Deed token to indicate which Zone you are working on by placing it in the declared Zone. Additionally, when you move your City Planner from the Wild Block, you should place a Deed on that block to show that it belongs to your Zone.

3. Move Your Planner (Mandatory)

Once a player has played a card, that player must move their City Planner token to the newly placed card, occupying 1 of the Residential, Commercial, or Industrial City Blocks that are present on the newly placed card. If this causes you to remain in the same Zone you were occupying before the move, move on to step 5 (Draw a card). Otherwise, Develop the Zone you just exited.

You may not move your City Planner onto a Zone already occupied by an opponent's City Planner.

4. Develop Your Zone (Optional)

When you move your City Planner to a new Zone, you must develop the Zone you just left (see Developing a Zone and Scoring below). Because development occurs as a result of moving your City Planner, you may go several turns without developing a Zone as you continue to expand the Zone you currently occupy for maximum points!

(In the rare situation that after playing a card, a player cannot move their City Planner to a legal block, the City Planner is removed and the player develops their Zone. The City Planner will be placed on the player's next played card.)

City Planners may never occupy a Park, Museum, Parking Lot, or Abandoned Building.

5. Draw a Card (Mandatory)

You should end every turn with 3 cards in your hand.

Developing a Zone and Scoring

If a player develops a Zone, that player scores points based on the Zone's size, then places their building pieces on all the Blocks within the Zone, stacking pieces in each Block based on the Zone's density:

Light	Medium	Heavy
1 piece/level	2 pieces/levels	3 pieces/levels

Score points for the Zone based on the chart below, adding points for contiguous parks/government buildings, and subtracting points for contiguous parking lots and abandoned buildings adjacent to the zone being scored. Collect the corresponding amount of VP tokens from the supply.

# of City Blocks	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Victory Points Scored	1	3	6	10	15	21	28	36	45

Example: The Yellow Player scores 8 Victory Points for this Zone. 6 Points because it has 3 City Blocks. Plus 6 Points due to Parks & Museums. Minus 4 Points due to Parking Lots & Abandoned Lots.

Note: Whenever you score Victory Points, take the corresponding value in Victory Point tokens from the supply.

Special Case: By using the Wild Blocks (Churches, Stadiums, and Railroad Depots) it is possible that multiple Zones share a border with one of these Wild Blocks. In this case, the planner who first occupies a Zone connected to the Wild Block should mark the Wild Block with their Deed token, indicating that it belongs to their Zone (as opposed to an opponent's).

Downtown and Skyscrapers

Immediately upon Developing a Zone, place one of your Building pieces on the section of the Downtown card that exists in the same quadrant that your City Planner just left. If other players have already placed a building piece on that quadrant of the Downtown card, simply stack your own on top of the Building pieces which are already present.

At the end of the game, there can be up to 4 stacks on the Downtown Card (1 for each quadrant). These are referred to as Skyscrapers and provide an opportunity for scoring bonus Victory Points at the end of the game.

Game End

The end of the game is triggered once any player has played their last building piece, or when any player cannot draw a card from the draw deck to refill their hand to 3 cards. Each other player (excluding the one who triggered the end of the game) takes one final turn before proceeding to end game scoring.

End Game Scoring

1. Each player scores bonus Victory Points according to the publicly revealed goal cards.
2. Players reveal their Secret Objective Cards. Every player scores Victory Points based on how well they performed each of the goals described. We recommend scoring the cards one at a time, beginning with the card(s) belonging to the player who ended the game. In the case of a tie for goals that require the most of a Zone, all tied players receive the full value.
3. Players then subtract Victory Points based on the number of Redraw tokens they have collected:

# of Redraw Tokens	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Victory Points Lost	1	3	6	10	15	21	28	36	45

4. Finally, each Skyscraper is scored based on which player constructed the most floors:

Most Floors	2nd Most Floors	3rd Most Floors
7 Victory Points	5 Points	3 Points

Each skyscraper containing a floor of your color in which you didn't score 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place is worth 1 Victory Point. (You must have at least 1 floor in a skyscraper to score.)

If there is a tie regarding the number of floors, the tied player who placed the highest building piece on that tower wins the tie.

The player with the most points wins the game. If there is a tie, the tied player whose City Planner occupies the highest valued Zone at the end of the game wins.

Two Player Skyscraper Scoring: When playing with only 2 players, the player with the most floors scores 5 Victory Points and the player with the second most floors scores 1 Victory Point.

Scoring Example (4-Player Game)

Step 1 - Score Publicly Revealed Goal Cards

• Light Industrial Zones card (Score 1 Victory Point for each Light Industrial Block you developed): Player 1 has developed 6 Light Industrial Zones for 6 points, Player 2 has developed 3 Light Industrial Zones for 3 points, Player 3 has developed 5 Light Industrial Zones for 5 points, and Player 4 has developed 2 Light Industrial Zones for 2 points.
• Most Residential Blocks card (Score 6 Victory Points for developing the most Residential Blocks regardless of density; 3 Victory Points for developing the second most): Player 4 has the most Residential Blocks and gains 6 points. Player 2 has the next most and gains 3 points.

Step 2 - Score Secret Objective Cards

• Highest Industrial Capacity card (Score 6 Victory Points for having the most Building pieces on Industrial Blocks; 3 Victory Points for the second most): Player 3 has the most Building pieces on Industrial Blocks for 6 points. Player 1 has the next most for 3 points.
• Most Commercial Blocks card (Score 6 Victory Points for developing the most Commercial Blocks regardless of density; 3 Victory Points for the second most): Player 2 has the most Commercial Blocks for 6 points. Player 1 has the next most for 3 points.
• Medium Residential Zones card (Score 1 Victory Point for each Medium Residential Block you developed): Player 1 has developed 3 Medium Residential Zones for 3 points. Player 2 has developed 4 Medium Residential Zones for 4 points. Player 3 has developed 0 Medium Residential Zones for 0 points. Player 4 has developed 8 Medium Residential Zones for 8 points.
• Small Town Bonus (Light) card (Score 6 Victory Points for developing the most Light Density Blocks; 3 Victory Points for the second most): Player 1 has developed the most Light Zones for 6 points. Player 2 has developed the next most for 3 points.

Step 3 - Subtract Victory Points from Redraw Tokens

• Player 1 has 1 Redraw token and loses 1 point.
• Player 2 has 2 Redraw tokens and loses 3 points.
• Player 3 has 4 Redraw tokens and loses 10 points.
• Player 4 has 2 Redraw tokens and loses 3 points.

Step 4 - Score Victory Points from Skyscrapers

• Skyscraper 1: Player 4 gains 7 points; Player 1 gains 5 points.
• Skyscraper 2: Player 2 gains 7 points; Player 1 gains 5 points.
• Skyscraper 3: Player 4 gains 7 points; Player 3 gains 5 points; Player 2 gains 3 points.
• Skyscraper 4: Player 1 gains 7 points; Player 2 gains 5 points; Player 3 gains 3 points.

Glossary

• (City) Block: 1 square, regardless of color-type, on a card. A card has 4 City Blocks.
• Zone: Any number of City Blocks, connected together, that are all of an identical color and density.
• Rezoning: The act of placing a card over 1, 2, or 3 unoccupied and undeveloped Blocks, thus (potentially) changing the color and/or density of the City Block(s).
• Developing: The act of "locking in" the Zone, and then scoring it based on its size, surrounding parks, government buildings, abandoned lots and parking lots. Building pieces are placed on these Zones.
• Developed: A City Block that has a building piece occupying it.
• City Planner: The players are the City Planners, represented on the board as a token that is placed into a yet-to-be-developed Zone in order to occupy it.

Quick Reference

Each player turn consists of the following steps:

1. Redraw (optional)
2. Choose a card to play (mandatory)
3. Move your Planner (mandatory)
4. Develop your Zone (optional)
5. Draw a card (mandatory)