|
|
1. Draw a card.
2. (Phases III and IV only). Buy a Council Member and draw to replace the card. Only one
Council Member may be bought each turn.
3. Play a card or pass.
· Play a block or (during Phases III and IV) play an Event Card.
· If a player does not have any card that may be legally played, the player must pass;
any player may pass at any time.
4. Score the play.
Some blocks allow players to play more than one card per turn. In such cases, each card is
separately handled and scored, in the order played. There is no limit on the number of
cards a player may hold. A player does not ever have to discard.
Every game requires a deck, composed of at least 50 standard cards. A second
deck of long cards may optionally be used (see Customizing the Deck and Optional Rules).
The game ends at the end of the round in which one of the players reaches $250 (even if
that player later loses money and goes below $250). The game ends immediately (not at the
end of the round) if:
· the playing surface is full and a player declares that he has no legal play, or
· if the draw deck of standard cards is exhausted and either a player runs out of cards
or has no legal play for any card in his hand.
A player declaring no legal play must expose his hand to evidence the fact. If that player
has a legal play, the game continues with that player treated as having passed that turn.
A card which may only be placed as the result of an affirmative rezoning vote is not
counted as a legal play for this purpose. However, upgrades and rezones without a vote are
considered legal plays for this purpose.
If from the impact of a card's special box a player may play more than one card in a turn,
each card is separately handled and scored, in the order played. There is no limit on the
number of cards a player may hold. A player does not ever have to discard.
The first player to play may place the card anywhere on the table. All
subsequent cards must be placed in the same orientation (with the title bar reading the
same way) and adjacent to or on top of (as an upgrade or rezone) an existing block. A
block may never be placed beneath an existing block.
The services (roads, rails, and power lines) on the new block do not have to connect to
the corresponding services on adjacent blocks, unless required to meet the sim requirement
for
placement of the card or to satisfy an unusual requirement for placement of a particular
card. Power lines, when present on a block, always connect to adjacent blocks with power
lines both vertically and horizontally. Roads and rails, however, may connect only
vertically, only horizontally, both ways, or not at all.
The specials box of a card may state a limitation on when or where a card may be placed.
For example, some cards may be placed only to upgrade a particular card or adjacent to
particular cards. Such limitations are usually phrased: "May only be played
if...", "Must be played...", and so on. Cards satisfying the requirements
for placing a card need not be maintained after such card has been placed in the city;
removal (by event card, upgrade or rezone, or otherwise) of the card satisfying the
placement requirements does not cause the removal of such card after it has been placed.
The service (road or rail) used to connect cards providing sims with a card requiring sims
must be a continuous and homogenous (all rail or all road) route from each block providing
the needed sims onto that service on the new card. The required sims can come from several
different blocks, but must all use the same service (road or rail) to get to the new
block. Sims will not "walk" from or across a block with no roads or rails to get
to one with these services. Each sim may only be counted once, even if two or more routes
can be traced to the new card. If a card playable in a complex requires sims but has no
roads or rails to connect those sims to the card (like the Cracker Tower), then such card
may only be placed adjacent to a card in the complex to which the requisite number of sims
are connected.
A card may be played as an upgrade of a block already in the city by being
placed on top of the prior block. The upgrade may be played during any phase and must
satisfy all the following requirements:
· The card being placed is the same zone as the prior block being upgraded.
· The card being placed must preserve the services (roads, rails, and power lines) and
equal or exceed the value on the prior block.
· The card being placed must add services (roads, rails, or power lines) not on the
existing block and/or must have a value greater than that of the prior block.
· The block being upgraded is not zoned special (gold).
· If the block being upgraded is zoned undeveloped land (green), the card being placed
must be of the same type of land as that of the prior card, usually indicated by the same
or similar card title. Thus, a Forest (includingForest Preserve) may be placed on a
Forest, a Mountain on a Mountain, a Barren on a Barren (but not on a Plains), etc. All
water-related cards are of the same type, including River, Lake, Coastline (all types),
Swamp, Pond, Marsh, Bridge, and Island.
· The placement is a legal card play in all other respects.
Upgraded blocks remain on the playing surface, but play no further role in the game,
unless the cards specifically state otherwise or the impact of an event card uncovers
undeveloped land. For example, the Oil Pipeline remains buried beneath whatever structure
is built on the block by upgrade or rezone and continues to be included in the oil
refinery complex (but no longer counts as an undeveloped land card for zoning purposes).
To keep track of the Oil Pipeline cards after they have been upgraded, put tokens (like
glass beads or coins) on the upgraded cards.
When a player seeks to cover a card in the city with one that has a smaller
value, that reduces the services provided, that changes the zoning of the block (from
residential to commercial,
commercial to city services, etc.), or that otherwise does not meet the requirements for
an upgrade, that action is called a rezone and may be legally made only if:
· an affirmative rezoning vote is made by the city council (which is not possible before
the council forms at the beginning of the city phase (phase III)), or
· the prior card specifically states that it can be rezoned without a vote (like a
Pasture) or the new card states that it can be used to rezone a block without a vote (like
Bed & Breakfast). Rezoned blocks remain on the playing area but play no further role
in the game, unless the cards specifically state otherwise or the impact of an event card
uncovers undeveloped land.
A city council vote is taken as follows: voting starts with the player proposing the
placement and proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player reports the votes of the
council members that he controls, followed by the mayor's votes and the mayor's
tie-breaker, if required. A player may decline to report any or all of the votes of his
council members, except for that of a corrupt council member voting as directed by its
card. A simple majority is sufficient to rezone city block. In the case of a tie vote, the
mayor can break the tie; if the tie is not broken, the rezoning vote fails. If the
rezoning vote passes, the proposed placement is made and scored. If the rezoning vote
fails, the card proposed for placement is returned to the player's hand and the player's
turn ends (unless the player may play a second card in a turn). See Politics in the Big
City .
Occasionally the syntax of the specials box on the cards (particularly certain long cards)
has been imprecisely stated, so that a play is required to be made as an upgrade or a
rezone which cannot be properly made as such or is so difficult to undertake as to make
the play practically impossible. Players are enjoined to treat such cases with good
sportsmanship, to play such cards with the apparent intent of the designers, and to bring
problems to the attention of the publisher.
The phases of the game represent the stages of a city's growth: settlement, village, city, and metropolis. The transition requirements between each are described below.
Settlement to Village: When the number of blocks in the city providing sims equals the number of players in the game (minimum of 4), the Village phase begins.
When the number of blocks requiring sims (with non-zero value ) equals 2 per player (minimum of 8), the Village becomes a City. The first city phase (phase III, tan) card that can be played in the City must be a Power Plant; no other city or metropolis phase card may be played before a Power Plant. The player placing this Power Plant becomes the Mayor and receives the Mayor card (see Politics in the Big City). Neither Event nor Council Member cards may be played until a Power Plant has been played.
When the total number of sims in the city (figured by adding the number
following the symbol on all the cards in the city) exceeds:
·10 times the number of players in the game (minimum of 40), reduced by
· the value of the zone bonus of the largest residential zone in the city the city
becomes a metropolis.
Once a phase has been reached, the city never retreats to an earlier phase, even if the
city no longer meets the requirement for that phase (from the impact of an event card, for
example).
Each time a card is played, the player playing the card (and occasionally
another player, as the result of the specials box of certain cards) receives a score for
the placement of the card. The score is the sum of five possible sources:
1.The value of the card, indicated in the stat box after the $ symbol.
2. Bonuses based on the specials box of the card placed and on the specials boxes of the
cards in the city before the card was placed.
3.A zone bonus for an addition to a zone.
4.A complex bonus for an addition to a complex.
5.A scorched earth bonus of $5 for placing a card in an open space previously destroyed by
an event card (indicated by overturned cards).
The cards "speak for themselves". That is, a player's score does not depend on
his being able to accurately figure it; the score is the best, accurate score for the
play. The score is final after the next player has drawn a card in the normal course of
play.
During the game no players' total score can go below zero. If any required payment would
reduce a player's score below zero, the player's score is reduced to zero. The score for
the placement of a block can be negative, but may not reduce a player's score below zero.
A Council Member may not be played if its cost would reduce the player's score below zero.
When a block is added to a zone, it may be eligible for a zone bonus. A zone is
a group of cards which are all of the same zone and which are continuous (that is, each
card in the zone is adjacent to another in the zone and all of them are part of a single
group (no missing links)). The bonus is not payable until the zone consists of at least
three blocks (before the block being scored). The bonus is $1 for each block in the zone
before the block was placed in the city; no bonus is paid for the card
just placed.
· A zone bonus is available if the zone is residential (orange), commercial (blue), or
industrial (brown); a zone bonus is not available for governmental (red), agricultural
(light blue), or special (gold) zones, unless specifically provided by a card in play.
· A zone bonus is also available if the zone is undeveloped land (green) and the card
being placed is of the same type of land as that of the cards composing the zone, usually
indicated by the same or similar card title. Undeveloped land zones may be composed of
Forests (including Forest Preserves), Mountains, Barrens (but not including Plains), etc.
All water-related cards are of the same type, including River, Lake, Coastline (all
types), Swamp, Marsh, Pond, Bridge, and Island.
· A zone bonus is not available if the zone is only city services (gray). A city services
card may not receive a zone bonus on its own placement. However, a city services card
which is adjacent to a card in a zone acts as a "wild card". As such, the city
service card is treated as being the same zone (and the same type for undeveloped land) as
the adjacent card. The city services card acts this way whenever the zone is counted for
the bonus, is counted for the three minimum size for the bonus, is considered in
determining continuity, and so on. The city service card may be treated as two or more
different zones in counting the bonus for a single card. Three city services cards
together do act as an "instant zone" payable on the placement of any
residential, commercial, industrial, or undeveloped land card adjacent to one of the three
cards.
A complex is a related group of cards all of which have the same complex
designator (the italicized first words in the special box) and which are continuous (that
is, each card in the complex is adjacent to another in the complex and all of them are
part of a single group (no missing links)). The bonus is not payable until the complex
consists of at least three blocks (before the block being scored). The blocks may be of
different zones.
The number following the complex designator is the card's complex bonus. The complex bonus
payable is the sum of the complex bonus of each block in the complex before the block was
placed in the city, including those that are remote members of the complex; the complex
bonus of the card just placed is not included in the sum.
· A card may add to the value of a complex but remain remote from the complex group (and
not be part of the continuous group) as a consequence of its specials box. For example, a
Grain Elevator's specials box provides: Farm 4, if within 7 blocks of Farm Complex . If
the Grain Elevator is within 7 blocks of any block in the farm complex, the card is
treated as part of the complex for computing the complex bonus but not as an extension of
the area of the complex for later played cards. Blocks played adjacent to a remote block
(like the Grain Elevator) do not become part of the complex.
Remote members of a complex count toward the three minimum for the bonus to become
payable.
· A city services block is not included in a complex unless it has the complex designator
in its specials box.
· Some blocks require certain conditions be met for them to be included as part of a
complex. For example, the Field card's specials box provides: Farm 1, if Complex provides
1 Sim. The Field may be included in a farm complex only if the farm complex includes a
card (like a Farmhouse) that provides one or more sims. The sims do not need to be
connected to any other card on the zone for this requirement to be met. Thus, four Fields
would not be a farm complex, but one Farmhouse and three Fields would be.
No real city can exist without politicians and the problems that they are
elected to handle, and this simulated city has many of both:
· The Mayor is not shuffled into the deck but is given to the player who holds the office
of mayor. The player who places the Power Plant as the first card of the city phase (phase
III) becomes the first mayor and receives the Mayor card. The mayor has two votes in city
council votes (in addition to any for Council Members controlled by the player) and breaks
ties.
· The Governor and City Council Chairman are also not shuffled into the deck and are used
in conjunction with the Election event card. Because they are not shuffled into the deck,
you should use another card or token in their place if you are missing one or both of
them.
· Each Council Member card grants one or more votes to the player who controls it. During
Phases III and IV and before playing a card, a player may buy one Council Member card by
paying the amount on the card (to cover campaign cost of the politician). The card is
placed in front of the player, not as part of the city, and another card is immediately
drawn to replace it. A player, including the mayor, may control one or more council
members. A Corrupt Council Member may vote on all questions before the council but must
vote as required by its card.
Cities are subject to random events both good and disastrous, reflected by the
event cards which simulate these disasters, situations, and special events. Each event
card describes the event and details the resulting effects and costs. Disasters can damage
or destroy part of the city and often require the Mayor to pay for repairs. After a player
has played an event card and its effects determined, the event card is discarded and has
no further impact on the game.
When a block is destroyed by a disaster, all cards (other than undeveloped land (green))
at that position are turned upside-down to indicate that the block has been destroyed.
When no Undeveloped Land remains after a disaster, the position is now eligible for a
scorched earth bonus (see Scoring). When a block is destroyed, the block's value is the
card value of the top card in the position of the block; bonuses are not added to the
value of the destroyed block.
With power comes responsibility, and the mayor must pay the cost associated with
many events. If the mayor has insufficient funds to pay the cost, the player's score is
reduced to zero and the office of mayor becomes vacant. The mayor may choose to
voluntarily vacate the office and pay half the cost (rounded up); the mayor may choose to
play such an event to precipitate this action. An event which does not require the mayor
(specifically, not merely the player currently acting as mayor) to pay for the event will
not cause the office of mayor to become vacant.
Some events (such as Fire!) damage the city over a series of turns, rather than all at
once. The cost of the damage inflicted each turn must be paid by the mayor that turn; the
mayor may pay half and vacate the office. Consequently, the cost for some disasters may be
spread over several players as the office of mayor goes around the table (a
"mayor-go-round").Whenever the office of mayor is vacant, a new mayor must be
elected. Beginning with the player to the left of the out-going mayor, players in turn buy
and cast votes for the office at $1 per vote. The players must pay for all votes
purchased, regardless of the outcome of the election. More than one vote may be purchased
(and cast) on a player's turn. Votes may be cast for any player, not just the purchaser.
The process of purchasing votes, casting them, and accumulating the results continues
until all have passed, when the player with the most votes wins and receives the Mayor
card. The player who vacated the office may purchase votes and may be re-elected. If no
one buys any votes, the office (and Mayor card) passes to the player to the left of the
out-going mayor.
When the Election event card is played, a governor and a city council chairman
are elected.
· The governor is elected by the players. Each player has one vote in the election of the
governor and may buy extra votes for $5 each. The players must pay for all votes
purchased, regardless of the outcome of the election. Votes need not be cast for the
player purchasing the vote. The player receiving the most votes is elected governor and
receives the Governor card. If no one receives any votes, the office of governor remains
vacant. If two or more players tie, they share
the office.
A player elected governor has obtained no advantage. On the contrary, the governor must
pay the entire cost of the next event which would otherwise be paid by the mayor. The
governor must pay the entire amount and may not choose to pay half. If the governor's
office is shared, the cost of the event is shared equally among those holding the office.
After one such event, the burden of subsequent events returns to the mayor until the next
Election card is played and election held.
· The city council chairman is elected by the Council Members. Each Council Member gets
one vote, and the Mayor gets two votes and breaks any tie. Additional votes may be bought
for $5 each. The players must pay for all votes purchased, regardless of the outcome of
the election. The player receiving the most votes is elected city council chairman and
receives the City Council Chairman card. If no one receives any votes, the office of city
council chairman remains vacant.
The city council chairman is granted 1 vote and breaks ties on all city council votes.
Thereafter, the mayor continues to have two votes, but no longer breaks ties (even in
later elections for city council chairman).
Just as in real politics, agreements, deals, bribes, blackmail and bounties can
be an important aspect of the game. By agreement, players may choose to place mountains in
the north, farms to the west, and homes in the center, leaving the south and east for
commerce and industry in the later phases of the game. These early agreements will give
your city structure and should help all players' earnings.
After the city council forms, players may make deals with each other to support each
others' rezoning requests. Players may offer bribes to get particularly valuable blocks
rezoned. Blackmail may also become a valuable tool (with threats of destructive events
playable from your hand). The mayor (and any other player) may offer a bounty to players
who place cards that provide protection from certain events or bonuses for subsequent
cards played.
In contrast to real politics, some rules must be followed regarding the agreements between
players:
· There is no penalty under the rules for a player failing to honor his part of an
agreement; players may have their own responses nevertheless (hopefully limited to the
context of the game).
· Agreements must be used to improve your chances of winning. It is bad sportsmanship
(and illegal in formal play) to use deals to funnel money to another player iorder to
throw the game.
· Agreements may be discussed at any time but must not delay the game.
· Deals cannot include the exchange of cards.
· If money is involved, it cannot exceed the amount that the expected play will generate.
Unfortunately, the text on some cards already printed is missing or unclear.
These notes are intended to correct these problem cards and thus, DO supersede what is
printed on these cards.
Guardhouse is treated as a Police Station for all purposes, including the limitation on
New Coverage Only for both the Guardhouse and Police Stations.
Nuclear Power Plant is limited in its bonus to New Coverage Only, even though the special
box does not explicitly limit the bonus in this way.
Pipeline an upgraded or rezoned Oil Pipeline is counted in an Oil Refinery complex as if
it were still a visible card in the city, but is not an undeveloped land for purposes of
determining its inclusion in a zone, the placement requirements of a later-placed card, or
otherwise. An Oil Pipeline may not be placed under an existing block.
Rapid Transit Station permits sims to transfer between roads and rails when determining
the number of sims available to meet the sim requirement for the placement of a card. More
simply, consider the Rapid Transit Station to be a sim provider for the total sims
connected to the station by road and by rail. Sims traveling to a block from the Rapid
Transit Station must travel via the same path (road or rail) as that used by those sims
not traveling via the Rapid Transit Station. Unless specifically stated, the RTS cannot be
used to connect two cards for any
other purpose.
# In this glossary, the number symbol has been substituted for the number
actually found on the cards. If any question arises from this generalization in a specific
situation, simply replace the # symbol with the number from the card in question.
Add # is a special bonus payable in the amount of # to the player of a card that:
1. Meets the requirements for the bonus, as stated in the specials box, and
2. Is played after the card with the Add bonus.
The Add bonus may be paid many times, as often as the requirements for the bonus are met
by the play of a card. If more than one of a particular card is in a city (for example,
three Police Stations) and a particular, newly placed card meets the requirements for the
bonus from all prior such cards, then the player of the card receives all applicable
bonuses (unless a card specifically states otherwise).
Adjacent A card is adjacent to another card if it shares a common edge with that other
card. Cards which touch only at the corner (on the diagonal) are 2 blocks distant and are
not adjacent.
Connected A card is connected by road, rail, or power line to another card if a
continuous path can be traced by road, rail, or power line (as indicated on the card) from
one card to the other; there can be no breaks in the path and the path must be homogenous
(all road, all rail, or all power line).
Coverage Range is the basis for determining whether a card is covered by a Fire Station or
a Police Station. A card's coverage range is stated in its specials box. See Crime Factor
Crime Factor is the number that defines the crime potential of the block and is primarily
used to determine whether the block is within the coverage range of a Police Station (or
Guardhouse). To determine whether a card is covered, first count the distance from the
card to the Police Station. If the crime symbol is black add its crime factor to the
distance; if the crime symbol is blue, subtract its crime factor from the
distance. The block is covered if the result is less than or equal to the Police Station's
coverage range (stated in the Police Station's specials box). The crime factors of
intervening blocks do not affect the determination of a block's coverage.
Deduct# is a special reduction in the amount of # from the amount otherwise payable to the
player of a card that:
1. Meets the requirements for the deduction, as stated in the specials box, and
2. Is played after the card with the Deduct reduction.
This reduction is the opposite of the Add bonus and may be applied many times, as often as
the requirements for the reduction are met.
New Coverage Only Certain cards including Power Plant, Telephone Company, Police Station,
and Fire Department, have receive bonuses limited to New Coverage Only. Players placing
such cards receive the bonus only for coverage of blocks which had not been covered by a
provider of such service immediately prior to the placement of the new block. Blocks which
had
previously been covered by a provider which is no longer in play (due to rezoning,
disaster, or otherwise) may be counted as new coverage. Upgrading or rezoning one of these
providers by another of the same type does not usually yield new coverage. For example,
rezoning a Power Plant with a Power Plant will not yield new coverage; however, upgrading
a Guardhouse with a Police Station usually yields new coverage since the coverage area for
the Police Station is larger than that of the Guardhouse.
Limit of # means that only # of such cards may be placed within the scope of the
limitation. If one such card is subsequently removed from play, another card may be played
within the limitation.
Lose# is a special deduction in the amount of # from the player playing the card; it is
the opposite of receive #. For example, Lose 3 if city has no Police Station subtracts $3
from the amount otherwise payable for the placement of the card, but only if the city had
no police stations. The lose deduction is subtracted only once, when the card is played,
and not at any other time.
Pollution Factor is the number that rates how the block contributes to the city's
pollution problem; the number adds to the pollution problem if the symbol is black and
subtracts from the problem if the symbol is blue. The pollution value is primarily used in
determining the impact of certain event cards.
Receive# is a special bonus payable in the amount of # to the player playing the card. For
example, Receive 2 if placed adjacent to a Lake adds $2 to the amount otherwise payable
for the placement of the card, but only if the card had been placed adjacent to a Lake.
The receive bonus is paid only once, when the card is played, and not at any other time.
Remove a card from the city requires the player (who next takes a turn after the condition
prompting the card's removal is satisfied) to take the card from the city and discard it.
A card that will be removed immediately (within the current position of the cards in a
particular city) may nevertheless be played; it would then be removed on the next player's
turn. For example, a Country Schoolhouse (which must be removed when a Grade School or
High School is played in the city) may be played
after a Grade School or High School is in the city, but would be removed when a Grade
School or High School were again played.
Rezone a card is done by a player as one of the ways to play a card in the city, see
Rezoning.
Sims are the simulated citizens who live and work in the city, travel its roads and rails
from home to work, and frequent the shops in the city.
Turn
1. In determining how long something lasts which is measured in turns, one turn continues
from the moment a card has been played by a player until the end of that player's next
turn to play (in the ordinary course of play and absent the impact of other cards). For
example, when George plays the Winter Event card which provides: No cards may be placed
adjacent to Lake or River for the next 3 turns..., no player may place such cards until
after the end of George's third turn
following playing of the card.
2. In following a card's instructions to move or remove one card each turn (or any similar
instruction), one card is moved or removed during the turn of each subsequent player, not
just on the turn of the player who played the card. The card may be moved or removed at
any time during a player's turn.
Within # blocks In counting the distance from one block to another, the count begins with
1 for a block adjacent to the card being played and continues 1 block at a time, turning
at right angles (and not on the diagonal) along the shortest path to the block in
question. Cards which touch only at the corner (on the diagonal) are 2 blocks distant and
are not adjacent. Unless the specials box otherwise requires, road and rail connections
are ignored. When counting through holes (places where no card has yet been played or
where a disaster has destroyed all cards), allow for the number of standard blocks that
would fit in the space.
Players may choose to play to greater or lesser amounts, to a time limit instead of an earnings limit, to the end of the deck, until the table is covered, or to any other rule agreed to by all the players before the beginning of the game.
The booster packs contain special, long cards which can be used to build cities
featuring the very large buildings and areas characteristic of great, metropolitan cities
(as well as some very special places). When you play with these cards, these special rules
apply:
· A separate deck must be assembled from your collection of long cards. As you pick cards
for this deck, pay special attention to any requirements for their placement, to insure
that any prerequisites can be met with the cards included in the standard and long card
decks that you are playing with.
· At the beginning of the game, shuffle the deck and place it next to the standard card
deck. A long card may be drawn in place of a standard card during later phases of the
game. The first phase during which cards can be drawn from the long card deck is the phase
before the earliest phase appearing on the long cards being used. Presently, all long
cards are Phase IV (metropolis, pink) and the first phase during which they may be drawn
is the city phase (phase III).
· Long cards are played differently than standard cards; they must be placed over two
existing city blocks, in the same orientation as the underlying cards and over the middle
so that services can be seen. The services on the underlying cards define the services
available to the long card. Long cards count as a single block and completely replace the
stat and specials boxes of the underlying cards, unless either card specifically provides
otherwise (such as Oil Pipeline).
· In tracing sims to a long card, the sims must be traced to either of the standard cards
on which the long card is being played.
· Because long cards count as single blocks, they can shorten the horizontal distance
between blocks when counting blocks in the city.
· Since long cards have no services, they may automatically upgrade two blocks if:
1. the value on the long card exceeds the sum the values on the two blocks it upgrades,
2. the long card is the same zone (not special (gold) as both of the two cards, and
3. nothing on any of the three cards specifically prohibits the upgrade.
In this variant, each player takes the role of a suburban mayor. Gone is the
need to slowly grow a well-balanced city for the good of the sims of the city. Now, you
must outgrow your rival mayor for maximum economic return. In this variant, all rules
apply except (and these are very significant):
· Each player plays from his own deck into his own city. As the cities grow close
together, no further cards may be played which would overlap a card in the other player's
city.
· Phase changes are ignored; each city begins in Phase III and can not advance to Phase
IV. Long cards are not used.
· There is no city council. Cards may be placed as rezones only when the card
specifically permits the rezone without a vote.
· Event cards can be played to affect either the player's own city or the opponent's
city.
· Certain cards have been included in the mix of cards to enable uncivilized activities
commonly undertaken by unscrupulous mayors in furtherance of their plans and may be
included in players' decks for special, offensive activities. In the case of InterCity
Station and InterCity Highway, players may place cards in their opponent's city in vacant
spaces adjacent to existing blocks in addition to the ability stated on the card to
upgrade cards in an opponent's city; any such block placement must be legal in all other
respects. Identify cards played in the other player's city with a marker (like a glass
pebble).
As players gain experience with this style of play, certain new cards and/or changes to
existing cards may appear desirable; if these are communicated to Mayfair together with
any rules questions particular to this style of play, we will endeavor to post and/or
otherwise share this information with other players who enjoy this style of play.
In this variant, a single player tries to maximize the score achieved from a
play deck. Cards are played as in the standard game, but the player's hand is limited to
seven cards. If there is no legal play, the eighth card must be discarded. Also, the top
card on the discard pile may be drawn in lieu of drawing from the regular draw pile. The
object of the game is to score the maximum amount possible for the deck.
We recommend that a relatively small, well-balanced deck be used in this variant. Players
may share the composition of their favorite solitaire decks and the maximum scores
attained with Mayfair, and we will endeavor to post and/or otherwise share this
information with other players who enjoy this style of play.
Sim City ® The Card Game is a collectable card game with over 600 different cards now
available and more coming all the time. Players can acquire cards by buying starter and
booster packs, by collecting promotional cards from anyone having them, and by trading
cards with other players and collectors.
Not every card is produced in the same quantity as the others; consequently, some are
rarer and more collectable than others. The cards in the 120-card, city-specific starter
packs (and related special products) are not randomly sorted, but are preset; each
city-specific deck has the same cards as every other deck for the same city (but different
cities have different cards!). The cards in the limited edition, 60-card starter pack and
the booster packs are randomly selected from over 500 different cards; each pack contains
a different selection of cards. Every promo card is unique and does not duplicate any card
in any commercially available pack.
Ordinarily, a player can acquire several packs and use the cards to personalize his decks.
The great variety of cards enables players to pick a city to build, to model that city
using cards in their collection, and to customize it according to their own vision for
that city. For example, the deck could be designed to produce a great seaport (like
Seattle), a large industrial center (like Cleveland), a quiet university town (like State
College), and so on.
After deciding on a theme for the city, the player should anticipate the number of players
that will be playing; about 25-30 cards per player is recommended in the deck. Next, cards
necessary for smooth phase transitions need to be included:
· 3 Settlement (white) phase, sim producing cards for each player in the game (12
minimum).
· 4 Settlement or Village (white or green) phase, sim requiring (non-zero) cards for each
player in the game (16 minimum).
· Cards totaling 10 sims for each player in the game (40 minimum).
·1 Power Plant per player; be sure to be sensitive to the placement requirements for
certain cards (for example, hydroplants need to be next to rivers or lakes).
For ease of play, at least 30% of the deck should be settlement (white) cards, so that the
game begins smoothly (unless of course you intend to build a deck that begins slowly).
Finally, the combinations of cards in the deck should be considered so that prerequisites
for card placement, add and receive bonuses, and complex building can be met. For example,
the Grade School card can only receive a 15 point bonus if the Preschool, Kindergarten,
High School, and College are in the city, so at least one of each needs to be in the deck
before they can be in play! Also, cards that work together need to be in the deck; for
example, the Gravel Supplier may only be placed if it can be connected to a Mountain by
rail, and so a deck with a Gravel Supplier should have several Mountains with rails.
Designed by: Darwin Bromley, Louis Rexing & Tom Wham
Development by: Darwin Bromley
Card Layout & Design: Chris Vande Voort
Card Preparation: Chris Vande Voort and Ramon Mascarenas
Rules and Card Edit: Doug Tabb and Jay Tummelson
PR/Card Management & Development: Faith Price
Accounting: Kathy Drenth
Rules Assistance: Lee Calamaio, Tom Smith, Joe Roznai, and Trella Wilhite
Development Assistance: Peter Bromley, Joe Roznai, Larry Roznai, Elaine Wordelmann, Bill
Wordelmann, Candy Rexing, and Steve Poestrel
Play testers: Kathy Drenth, Josh Drenth, Jason Lucas, Faith Price, and a host of other,
unmentioned faithful who know how important they were to making this game fun.
Card photography: Ramon Mascarenas, Bonnie Perl, Faith Price, Chris Vande Voort, Scot
Yonan, Darwin Bromley, Peter Bromley, Joe Roznai, Lou Rexing, Jay Tummelson, Al Hoerth,
Kat Hoerth, Jen Akkers, Paolo Galli, Michelle Neibling, and Tina West. Certain photos used
in cards are used by permission from the Chicago Tribune.
Other photos used in cards were drawn by permission from
CD-Rom media and are © 1993 Corel Corporation, © WEKA Publishing 1995, or © Sense
Interactive Corporation 1995. All rights reserved. Corel is a trademark of Corel
Corporation. Some photos used in cards were drawn by permission from the CD-ROM Vintage
from Seattle Support Group.
Taken from Mayfair Games, Inc web site. www.coolgames.com
[Home]
[Overview]
[Rules] [Dueling
Suburbs] [Solitaire]
[FAQ] [Card
Lists] [For
Sale/Trade] [Other
Web Sites] [Corner
Store] [MGI
Correspondents] [MGI
Preferred Customer] [Advertisements]
[Fifth Expansion]
[Player Registry]
[Mailing List]
[Pictures and Images]
[City Decks Ideas and
Homemade Cards] [Voting
Polls and Trivia]