California
California Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 5 mansion boards
- 1 stores board (depicting two individual stores)
- 1 bank board
- 88 tiles depicting furniture, renovated rooms and attic expansions
- 11 bonus cards
- 30 gifts
- 6 guests
- 6 guest stands
- 5 loan markers
- 20 gold coins (value of 5)
- 30 silver coins (value of 1)
- 1 bag
Before playing for the first time, carefully remove the various cardboard pieces from their forms. Place the guests in their stands.
Preparation
- Mix the tiles and then build them into a face down draw stack in the middle of the table.
- Tip: build several short stacks rather than a single, tall, unstable stack.
- Place the 11 bonus cards, the bank board and the board with the two stores on it in the middle of the table where they can be easily viewed by all players.
- Place a gold coin on each of the four round spaces of the bank.
- Place a tile from the draw stack face up on each of the eight spaces of the stores board.
- Place the bag near the stores board.
- Form stocks in the middle of the table for the coins, the loan markers and the gifts.
- Place the guests near the gifts.
- Give each player:
- one gold coin and one silver coin from the stock.
- one mansion board which is placed so that the side appropriate for the number of players is lying face up. Place any remaining mansion boards back in the box.
- Decide who will begin the game.
Each mansion board shows a ground floor (with a coin symbol printed on some spaces indicating a fee owed when a room tile is placed there), an attic, and an expansion space next to the attic, plus a marker for the number of players the board side is set up for.
Playing the Game
When it is a player's turn he must choose one of the following actions:
- Take a coin, or
- Buy a tile and place it in his mansion
The turn then passes to his left neighbor.
If a player takes the last coin from the bank or the last tile from either one of the two stores the day ends.
Remove all remaining tiles from the stores and place them in the bag. Then refill the bank and the stores from the coin stock and the draw stack respectively.
The next day now begins with the left neighbor of the player whose action caused the previous day to end.
After the 12th day the game ends and the players' scores are calculated.
The Game Actions in Detail
Take a Coin
The player takes a gold coin from the bank and places it in front of him. A player's cash must always remain visible to the other players.
Reminder: one gold coin is worth five silver coins
Buy a Tile
The player takes a tile of his choice from either one of the two stores and pays the purchase price into the stock. A purchased tile must immediately be placed in the player's mansion.
The purchase price is determined by the number of coins remaining in the bank at the time of purchase:
- If there are 4 coins in the bank the tile costs 4 silver coins.
- If there are 3 coins in the bank the tile costs 3 silver coins.
- If there are 2 coins in the bank the tile costs 2 silver coins.
- If there is 1 coin in the bank the tile costs 1 silver coin.
The money paid is placed back in the coin stock!
Note: if a player can't or doesn't want to buy a tile then he must choose the action "take a coin"
A player may never buy more than one tile per turn.
There are three different types of tiles:
- Renovated rooms in six colors: Furniture can only be placed in an empty renovated room.
- Note: the color of the room tiles indicates the type of the room, e.g. red for the music room or green for the conservatory
- Furniture: Only with furniture can a player fulfill the requirements of the bonus cards or attract guests who will bring gifts with them.
- Attic expansion
The Ground Floor
- A room tile must be placed on an unoccupied space of the ground floor of the mansion. Each space may only ever have one room tile on it.
- If the mansion does not already contain any room tiles of the same color as the purchased tile, then the purchased tile may be placed on any unoccupied space of the ground floor.
- If the mansion already contains one or more tiles of the same color as the purchased tile, then the purchased tile must be placed on an unoccupied space of the ground floor orthogonally adjacent to a tile of the same color.
- If it is not possible to place a given tile according to the above rules then that tile may not be purchased.
Important: each mansion has one renovated room already printed on it!
If a room tile is placed on a space with a coin symbol printed on it, the indicated fee in silver coins must be paid in addition to the purchase price.
- A furniture tile must be placed in an empty renovated room of the corresponding color. Only one furniture tile may be placed on each room tile. No other tile may ever be laid on a furniture tile.
- Note: it is not necessary to place identical furniture tiles immediately adjacent to one another.
When a player furnishes an empty room he immediately takes the guest of the corresponding color and sets it in front of him (see "Guests and Gifts", following).
Note: the printed room on the mansion board can also be furnished.
If no room with the corresponding color is available to be furnished, the furniture tile may only be taken if there is enough room in the attic to store it.
The Attic
Furniture tiles may only be placed in the attic if there is an unoccupied attic space available.
If the attic is already occupied with a furniture tile, no further furniture tile may be stored there.
Important: each mansion begins with a "one space" attic. The attic must be expanded before the other attic space may be used.
- The attic expansion tile is placed on the expansion space next to the printed attic on the mansion board. Each mansion can only accommodate a single attic expansion tile.
The expansion increases the size of the attic to two spaces. Each space can accommodate one furniture tile.
Taking furniture out of the attic: A stored piece of furniture remains in the attic until the player places a room tile of the corresponding color in the ground floor of his mansion. The player must then immediately place the furniture in the newly renovated room.
Only furniture in the attic may be moved. The room tiles, the furniture in renovated rooms and the attic expansion itself may never be moved once they have been placed in the mansion.
End of the Day
As soon as the bank or either one of the two stores is emptied, the day ends.
- All tiles remaining in the stores are removed and put in the bag.
- The stores are then restocked by placing a tile from the draw stack face up on each of the store spaces.
- A gold coin is placed from the stock on any empty spaces of the bank.
The next day then begins.
Important: after the 11th day there will be no more tiles in the draw stack. At the end of the 11th day mix the tiles in the bag and then restock the stores from these tiles.
After the 12th day the game ends and scores are calculated (see "Scoring", following).
Guests and Gifts
If a player furnishes a room the guest of the corresponding color immediately drops by for a visit. The guest is taken from the middle of the table or from another player and placed near the player's mansion.
Note: in this way the guests are always circulating among the players
If a player already has one or more guests at his mansion and a new one drops by, the new guest will bring a gift along. The player takes a gift marker from the stock and places it with his assets near his mansion.
If a player furnishes a room for which the guest of the corresponding color is already visiting him, then he does not get another gift.
Important: placing furniture in the attic does not trigger a visit from a guest. The guest of the corresponding color will only drop by when the item of furniture has been installed in an appropriate room on the ground floor.
Example: A player purchases a pool table which he immediately places in one of his brown rooms. The brown guest now pays him a visit. The player is already entertaining the red and purple guests at his mansion so he receives one gift for the visit from the brown guest.
Example: A player is currently entertaining the brown and purple guests at his mansion. He places the pinball machine in one of his purple rooms. Since the purple guest is already at his mansion the player does not receive a new guest and therefore does not get another gift.
Bonus Cards
The bonus cards depict various combinations of furniture. The first player to furnish his mansion with a depicted combination takes the corresponding bonus card, which he keeps for the rest of the game.
The card is laid face up with the player's other assets.
Note: a player fulfills the conditions of a given bonus card even if he has more of a given type of furniture than is depicted on the card. If, for example, a player who owns two motorcycles purchases a pinball machine he fulfills the conditions of the "motorcycle/pinball machine" bonus card.
If, through the purchase of a tile, a player simultaneously fulfills the conditions of more than one bonus card he receives all the relevant cards.
Note: it is not necessary that the required furniture be in adjacent rooms.
Important: furniture in the attic is not counted towards the fulfillment of bonus cards.
The 11 bonus cards are:
- Any three pieces of furniture with the same room color — worth 3 points
- One piece of furniture each for the light brown, red and purple rooms — worth 3 points
- One piece of furniture each for the gray, light blue and green rooms — worth 3 points
- One swimming pool and one grand piano — worth 2 points
- One pool table and one dog — worth 2 points
- One motorcycle and one pinball machine — worth 2 points
(There are 11 bonus cards in total, combining these six combinations — several combinations appear more than once among the 11 cards, each showing its own printed point value.)
Loans
Taking Out a Loan
To take out a loan a player takes a loan marker and places it next to his mansion with his other assets. He then receives three silver coins from the stock.
A loan may be taken any time, even during another player's turn.
Important: A player may only ever have one loan outstanding at a time!
Paying Off a Loan
The player pays four silver coins to the stock and returns the loan marker to the middle of the table.
A loan may be paid off any time.
Game End
After the 12th day the game ends and scores are calculated.
Scoring
Each player's score is calculated as follows:
- 1 point for each gift
- the printed number of points for each collected bonus card
- 1 point for each space on the mansion board with at least one tile on it
- Note: the printed room on the board counts as a "tile" in this case, i.e. it is worth one point whether or not it has a tile on it.
- -2 points for an unpaid loan (unless it can immediately be paid off)
The player with the most points wins.
Ties are decided in favor of the player with the most money.
Other Important Rules
- A player's assets (bonus cards, gifts, money, loan marker) are held open at all times and must be placed in such a way that they are clearly visible to all other players.
- Change may be made with the coin stock at any time.
- If, during his turn, a player forgets to take a guest to which he is otherwise entitled, he may not take it later.
Playing with Two
Play according to the normal rules with the following exceptions:
A player does not receive a gift from a new guest unless he already has three or more guests visiting him.
Game End and Scoring
After the 12th day the game ends.
The game also ends as soon as one player has collected bonus cards with a total value of nine points or more.
The game also ends if one player has renovated (i.e. has a room tile on) all 16 spaces of the ground floor of his mansion.
In either case the current day is played to its end and then the winner is determined according to the normal rules.
Credits
Author: Michael Schacht Illustrations: Michael Schacht, Hans-Jörg Brehm Translation: Guru Tej Singh Khalsa
© 2006 ABACUSSPIELE Verlags GmbH & Co. KG, Dreieich. All rights reserved. Made in Germany. www.abacusspiele.de
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