Dark Horse Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Game Board Overview
  • Territory Map
  • Action Space Types
• Game Setup
• Game Turn
  • Placement Phase
  • Collection Phase
• Action Spaces
  • Turn Order
  • Dealer
  • Pioneer
  • Produce Resources
    • Producing Resources (Detailed Explanation)
  • Hired Hand
  • Politics
  • Work Crew
  • Rail Baron
  • Builder
  • Trader
  • Engineer
  • Scout
  • Mayor
  • Sheriff
  • Broker
  • Tycoon
  • Market
• Player Character Cards
  • Overview
  • Start Game Box
  • Character Ability Box
• Cities, Towns, and Rails
  • City and Town Placement
  • Rugged Resources
  • Rails Placement
    • Building Rails for a New City
    • Building Rails for a New Town
• Action and Event Cards
  • Action Card Overview
  • Action Card Timing
  • Action Card Symbols
  • Event Cards
• Limited Tokens
  • Token Descriptions
• End Game
  • Scoring
    • City Scoring Example
• 2 Player Variant – Gunslinger
• Solitaire Variant
• Game Hints for New Players
• Errata
  • Claim Jumper
  • The Kickstarter (Promotional Card)
  • The Preacher
  • Outlaw Mini-Expansion

Game Components

• 12 wooden city tokens (4 different colors, 3 per player)
• 24 wooden town tokens (4 different colors, 6 per player)
• 55 wooden rail tokens
• 13 six sided dice (4 different colors, 3 per player; 1 silver Deputy die)
• 73 Resource tokens (23 food, 25 wood, & 25 ore)
• 12 gold tokens
• 8 wooden player discs (4 different colors, 2 per player)
• 1 game board
• 4 wooden Gunslinger pawns (4 different colors, 1 per player)
• 20 Resource Hex tiles (7 food, 6 wood, & 7 ore)
• 34 various tokens (10 Wild Die, 6 Engineer, 6 Stock, 8 Loan, & 4 Trader)
• 27 Action cards
• 7 Character cards
• 1 Reference card
• 2 game markers
• Sheriff & Mayor token
• This rule book

Game Board Overview

The game board consists of 5 different areas. The Turn Order is tracked in the upper left corner. The Action Area consists of all the Action Spaces on the game board that a player can take and begins with the Turn Order Action Space and continues along the top and right side of the board, ending with the Market Action Space. The numbered Influence Track starts on the left side of the board and continues along the bottom of the board. The Territory Map is in the center of the board and is represented by hexes. Finally, the Jail area is located below the Turn Order Action Space, which is where players place any die/dice that they have lost due to using a card or ability with the Jail icon.

Territory Map

The territory map is comprised of 4 different types of hexes on the board.

• Resource Hex – These hexes have a dashed border on the inside and indicate where resource tiles are placed. Only towns can be placed on this type of hex.
• Safe Zones – These hexes are the pre-printed food and wood hexes on the game board. These areas ensure you will have access to both a food and wood Resource Hex.
• Rugged Resource Hex – These hexes have a dashed border and a red outline, and like Resource Hexes, they will be covered with a Resource Hex tile. Rugged Resource Hexes are described in more detail under Rugged Resources.
• Non-Resource Hex – This hex type is empty and does not have any text or lines inside of it. Only cities can be placed on this type of hex.

Action Space Types

There are 2 types of Action Spaces that players can claim:

• Limited – These Action Spaces have a brown background and can be distinguished from Unlimited Action Spaces because they do not have a dashed outline inside the box. This type of Action Space can only be claimed by 1 player. This means that once someone has placed their die/dice on this Action Space, then no one else may place dice there unless they have an Engineer token or something else states otherwise. In addition to regular Limited Action Spaces there are 2 different sub-types:
  • Reserved: The Produce Resources Action Space is a Reserved action. The term "reserved" simply means that the number of players that may use this Action Space is dependent upon a specific rule as defined in the Produce Resources Action Space description.
  • Restricted: This identifier is used on the Sheriff and Mayor Action Spaces. A Restricted action cannot be obtained by a player by using any sort of dice modifiers. A player must roll 2 or 3 dice that total exactly 10 to claim one of these actions. For example, players cannot use Wild Die tokens, Engineer tokens, or the Dealer Action Space to obtain a Restricted action.
• Unlimited – These Action Spaces are gray and have a distinct dashed outline inside the box. Any number of players may place die/dice in these locations. During the Collection Phase, multiple players would resolve the Action Space in turn order.

Game Setup

1. New Players / First Game - Use the Quick Game Variant below then skip to step 3.

   Quick Game Variant: For your first game of Dark Horse it is recommended you play with this variant. You can also use this variant for a shorter game. In this variant players will not use Player Character cards. Players will also move the End Game token to the number 9 position on the Influence Track. The final change to the game is that players will trigger the End Game if they have 2 cities and 5 towns versus all of their cities and towns.

2. Obtain Player Character Card - Players will either select or randomly draw a Player Character card as explained in Player Character Cards below. Once players have a Player Character they immediately receive the bonus tokens/abilities listed in the blue Start Game box in the upper right corner of the card. Note: This is in addition to the resources and tokens listed in Step 3.

3. Game Pieces and Tokens - Place all cardboard tokens in an accessible area off to the side of the board. This area will be the Game Bank. It is important to understand that only food, wood, and ore counts as a resource. Gold cannot be used for Action Spaces, abilities, or cards that require resources. Note: There is no limit to any of the cardboard tokens in the game.

   Each player chooses a set of wooden colored game pieces. All players will receive 6 towns, 3 cities, 3 dice, 2 discs, and 1 pawn. In addition, each receives the following items: 1 rail, 1 Wild Die token, and 1 food, ore, and wood token from the Game Bank.

4. Resource Hexes - Empty all of the Resource Hexes onto the territory map. These hexes have Ore, Food, or Wood on the face. Grab any 4 Ore hexes and place them face up on the hexes marked with a "C" in the setup diagram. Players then flip all remaining hexes face down, and then randomly place them on the Resource Hex and Rugged Resource Hex spots remaining on the game board. Once all of the hexes have been placed, flip over and reveal only the top 2 and bottom 2 hexes marked with a "B" in the diagram. All other hexes marked with an "A" in the diagram remain face down and unrevealed.

   Setup Variant: Once players are experienced with the game you will find it more challenging to randomize all Resource Hexes and place them face down.

   2 Player Setup: In a 2 player game remove all Rugged Resource Hexes and 1 additional random hex. Do not place any Resource Hexes in the area marked in blue. This area in blue is "Out of Bounds", which means you cannot place cities or towns in this area, but you may place rails if needed. You also may not use the Tracker Player Character, while playing with this specific 2 player setup.

5. Determine Turn Order - Players randomly determine turn order and then place 1 of their discs on the Turn Order track in the proper order, i.e., first player on 1, second player on 2, and so on. Note: If you are not using the 2 Player Gunslinger variant then use a pawn versus a disc.

Game Turn

Placement Phase

This phase starts with each player rolling 2 dice, (3 dice if they have obtained a bonus die on the previous turn), and in turn order, they place a die/dice on 1 spot on the Game Board or a Player Character card. After the player in the last turn order position has placed, a new round of the Placement Phase begins. Starting with the player in first turn order, and continuing in turn order, place any remaining die/dice. If a player is unable to place then the next player takes his/her turn. When all available dice have been placed this phase is complete and the game moves to the Collection Phase.

Remember, players always take turns placing their dice on the board. You can never place in 2 different spots on your turn, except when using the Dealer ability (+/- to the die roll). The Dealer ability is described in more detail under Action Spaces.

Example: A player cannot place two dice on the Market Action Space, even though it is a grey dashed Unlimited Action Space. On a similar note, a player could never use a Wild Die token more than once during their turn.

The final rule players need to remember is that most Action Spaces require a specific number on a die versus any die. Action Spaces with numbers on them may be obtained by placing a die/dice totaling that number. Players may use die modifiers, such as Wild Die tokens, on numbered Action Spaces.

If an Action Space has a die symbol with a specific number of dots (also known as pips) on the die, then the die placed there must match that number exactly for a player to claim that Action Space. This unmodified die roll is referred to as a natural number, such as a die showing 3 pips is called a "natural 3". A player cannot use the Dealer Action Space or a Wild Die token (as both modify the die roll by +/- 1) to satisfy the requirement. Players must roll the exact number to claim an Action Space that requires a natural number.

Example: The Rail Baron Action Space requires a 5. A player must have rolled a natural 5 to claim this Action Space.

Collection Phase

The second phase involves players resolving the Action Spaces where they placed their dice in the Placement Phase. Starting at the Turn Order area, players resolve each Action Space in order, moving to the next action to the right and then down the right hand side of the board after resolving the Builder Action Space. (Note: Individual players must completely resolve each Action Space before collecting from the next one.) If a player cannot pay, or chooses not to pay, for an Action Space they do not suffer any penalty. This allows players to block Action Spaces from other players. Once all Action Spaces have been collected, the turn ends and players begin a new Placement Phase.

Note: All abilities in the game, whether on Action Spaces, Tokens, or Player Character cards are limited to 1 use per Collection Phase. For example, a player while collecting from an Action Space in the Collection Phase may only trigger that ability once. This means a player can only collect 1 gold token from the Trader action, or build 1 town from the Builder ability, etc. This includes actions that can be taken by multiple players, e.g., Market can only be triggered once per Player. The only exception to this rule is the Produce Resources Action Space, which would allow a player to, at maximum, produce 1 of each type of Resource if they have claimed the appropriate spots.

Example: Joseph took the Builder Action Space and he can only build 1 town or 1 city even if he has the resources for both. Alisa took the Trader Action Space. She cannot perform any of the Trader abilities twice or take both abilities.

Most Action Spaces require that a certain total is rolled on the die/dice before you can place them on an Action Space. Players have various ways to modify their die rolls such as the Dealer Action Space, Wild Die token, and Engineer token. Limited tokens, such as Wild Die and Engineer, are described in more detail under Limited Tokens.

Action Spaces

Turn Order

Players that take this action must place a single die, 3 or higher, beside Turn Order in the first available 3+ spot closest to the top. When collected from, the player with the die at the top will receive first turn order. The next player placing a die on this Action Space will receive second in turn order, and so on. (Note: You may use dice modifiers to claim this.)

Example: Justin places a die with 4 on the top 3+ spot and Gary places a die with 6 below that. Justin will get to move his disc up to the 1st turn order position as he placed his die first. Gary would then move his disc to the 2nd position.

Dealer

This Action Space has 2 different options, but a player may only choose 1 to take during the Collection Phase. In the upper right corner of this Action Space, there is an icon which means the Action Space is resolved immediately upon placing a die on the action regardless of if you choose to +/- a die/dice result or take a Loan token. The 2 different options are:

1. A player may move another one of their die, or dice, to an Action Space that is 1 less or 1 higher. It is important to remember that players do not actually rotate the die to a new number. They simply move the die or combination of dice onto an action that is 1 lower or 1 higher than the die/dice result. The player then places a Wild Die token from the Game Bank on the die/dice to indicate the change. Note: The reason that players do not physically change the dice is so players will not mistakenly use this ability to obtain an Action Space that requires a natural die roll, such as Politics or Rail Baron. Players may also use this ability to move a die/dice that they placed earlier in the Placement Phase. As always, Unlimited Action Spaces, such as this one, can be used by multiple players.
2. Collect a Loan token and immediately use it. See Limited Tokens for a detailed description.

Example: The Dealer is the ONLY Action Space that allows a player to place dice on 2 different Action Spaces, during the same turn. If Jason rolls a 2 and a 5, but needed a 6 for the Builder, he can place the 2 on the Dealer Action Space and move the 5 to the Builder.

Pioneer

Draw 2 Action Cards and discard 1. If you draw 1 Event card, then immediately play that Event and keep the other card. If you draw 2 Event cards then place them back into the deck along with the discard pile, reshuffle, and draw 2 new cards. For more details about Action Cards, see Action and Event Cards.

Produce Resources

Players use this Action Space to produce resources. Players produce as many resources as they have towns on the matching Resource Hexes. IMPORTANT: Players cannot produce a resource if they do not have a town on that Resource Hex type. Note: Players may use a modifier such as Wild Die token or the Dealer Action Space to use these abilities.

1. In a 3, or more, player game, players can place a single die on these spots to produce resources. Note: In a 2 player game this spot cannot be used.
2. In a 2, or more, player game, players can place a single die on these spots to produce resources.
3. Additional Effort – Players may place a single, 4 or higher, die on these 4+ spots to produce resources. Players using this ability will receive 1 resource for each town they have on that specific resource, and then receive an additional resource of that type. (This ability represents the player putting additional effort to "harvest" or produce a specific resource.) IMPORTANT: Players will only ever receive 1 additional resource!

Players are allowed to place a die on several different resource rows during the Placement Phase, but must take turns placing one die at a time. The exception is that players cannot place more than 1 die per resource type.

When this Action Space is collected from, players produce resources based upon how many towns they have on the matching Resource Hexes and if they used the 4+ ability to gain 1 additional resource, per 4+ spot claimed.

Producing Resources (Detailed Explanation)

When a player takes any ability that allows them to produce resources, he/she will collect as many resource tokens equal to the number of towns, which they control, on the matching Resource Hex.

Example: The blue player has 2 towns on the board. One is on a food Resource Hex and the other on a wood Resource Hex. If the blue player were to take an action that produced either Food or Wood then they would only collect 1 of the appropriate resource types. The blue player cannot produce Ore resources as they do not have any towns on an Ore Resource Hex. If the blue player were to build a third town on a Food Resource Hex, then they would collect 2 Food resource tokens each time they took an action, or ability, that produced food.

Hired Hand

Gain a bonus die during the next Placement Phase. However, the bonus die only benefits a player for a single Placement Phase. Once a player with a bonus die has collected from all Action Spaces, then they place the bonus die aside so as not to accidentally include it with their other dice on the next Placement Phase. Note: Players are limited to 1 bonus die. If something else grants a bonus die, such as an Action Card or Character ability, and the player already has one, then that part of the ability is ignored.

Politics

Gain 1 Influence Point.

Work Crew

Choose 2 different resource types from hexes that you currently have towns on. Players receive 1 resource for every town they have on a matching Resource Hex. If a player only has 1 resource type then they will only produce that resource. Note: No ability will ever allow players to produce resources that they do not have towns on. Players can obtain/collect resources they do not have towns on, but "producing" specifically refers to gathering resources from hexes with towns on them.

Rail Baron

Pay 2 ore and 1 food to the Game Bank to immediately place 2 rails on the game board. (Note: Rails must be placed immediately when collecting from this Action Space.) The gold icon in the upper left corner indicates that 2 players may use this Action Space in a 4 player game. Refer to the Rails Placement section under Cities, Towns, and Rails for instructions on how to place rails properly.

Builder

Build a town for 2 food and 1 wood or a city for 1 gold and 4 wood. As with all Action Spaces, players can only use 1 of these abilities. This means players can either build a town or a city, but not both. Refer to the City and Town Placement section under Cities, Towns, and Rails for instructions on how to place these tokens properly. The gold icon in the upper left corner indicates that 2 players may claim this Action Space in a 4 player game.

Trader

A player has 2 different options to choose from on this Action Space in the Collection Phase. A player must choose only 1 of the 2 options, and can only trade once. The 2 options are the following:

1. Pay any 4 resources for 1 gold from the Game Bank.
2. Pay any 4 resources for any 2 resources from the Game Bank.

Engineer

Players will move up 1 position in the turn order. For example, if you are 4th in turn order you would move up to 3rd. Players also receive 1 Engineer token and 1 Wild Die token.

Scout

Look at the top 3 cards of the Action Card deck. Keep 1 card and place the other 2 back on top of the deck face down in any order. You may also choose to look at 1 face down Resource Hex in addition to drawing cards. Do not reveal this Resource Hex to any other player. If 1 or more event cards are drawn, follow the same rules for Event cards as defined on the Pioneer Action Space. See Action and Event Cards for details on Action cards.

Mayor

A player that uses this ability will gain 1 Influence Point, takes any 1 resource from the Game Bank, and then takes the Mayor Special Role token. A player with this token does not have to pay 1 resource when taking the Politics Action Space. IMPORTANT: Players can only have 1 Special Role. This means you cannot be both the Mayor and the Sheriff, and you must discard any previous Special Role.

Sheriff

A player that uses this ability will immediately move to first in turn order, takes the Sheriff Special Role token, and obtains the silver Deputy die. IMPORTANT: Players can only have 1 Special Role. This means you cannot be both the Mayor and the Sheriff, and you must discard any previous Special Role.

A player with this token cannot be affected by cards or abilities that have the Sheriff-immunity icon on it. The player with this token also swaps 1 of his/her dice for the silver Deputy die. After rolling the Deputy die in the Placement Phase, a player may flip the die over 180 degrees once, e.g., the result of a 1 could be flipped to a 6 and so on. There are 3 exceptions to the Deputy die:

1. If a player chooses to flip the die, then he/she must use that die by itself. However, this ability is still helpful in obtaining natural die rolls for say Politics, Rail Baron, or the Additional Effort spot on Produce Resources.
2. If a player modifies the Deputy die with an ability, a token, or a card, then they forfeit the chance to flip the die on that turn, e.g., using a Wild Die token, Dealer +/- ability, etc.
3. Players cannot modify the Deputy die, in any way, once it has been flipped.

Broker

A player that uses this ability will collect 1 Stock token. For more detailed rules on this token see Limited Tokens.

Tycoon

A player that uses this ability will collect 1 gold and 1 rail token. A player collecting from this Action Space must immediately place the rail token on the board, following the correct rules for placing rails as defined under Rails Placement.

Market

A player may place an Any Die on this Action Space to use 1 of the 3 abilities.

1. This ability allows a player to pay any 3 resources for any 1 resource from the Game Bank.
2. This ability allows a player to pay 1 gold for any 3 resources from the Game Bank.
3. This ability allows a player to trade any 6 resources for 1 gold from the Game Bank.

Hint: These abilities are more expensive to use than the Trader Action Space, but may sometimes be necessary, especially using the #3 ability towards the end of the game.

Player Character Cards

Overview

Before the game starts, players may choose or randomly select a specific Player Character card to play for the entire game. These characters allow you to use special abilities that offer unique benefits during the game. Once players become comfortable with the game, they will notice that certain characters lean towards different tactics or play styles as well. For example, "The Scoundrel" character has a unique ability that allows the player to control 1 additional Wild Die token and also can discard Action cards for different effects. These abilities will give the player interesting options while playing the game.

Start Game Box

Each character receives a Start Game bonus with slightly different resources, tokens, and/or benefits, as pictured in the upper right corner of the character card. Note: This is in addition to the starting resources, rail, and free Wild Die token that players always receive during the game setup.

Character Ability Box

The lower portion of the card lists various abilities that character has. Whenever a player wishes to use 1 of these abilities they announce it to the other players. Players may use each of the abilities on the card ONCE during the Collection Phase, unless stated otherwise. However, this restriction does not prevent a player from using more than 1 ability per Collection Phase. For example, a player using "The Scoundrel" character could use the #2 ability, to discard an Action card for any 3 resources, as well as the #3 ability to discard an additional Action card to gain a card that was discarded this turn, and so on.

Note: Some abilities such as "The Scoundrel" ability to control an additional Wild Die are passive actions, meaning that the player does not have to announce that their character ability is being used. If a Character ability requires a die then the player simply announces that they will be using the die on that ability and places the die on the Character card.

Cities, Towns, and Rails

City and Town Placement

Cities can only be built on non-Resource Hexes. Cities give a player access to all Resource Hexes touching that city and will allow that player to build towns on those Resource Hexes. Note: A city will give you access, but another player may still build a town on that Resource Hex if they also have access.

Once the game has started, you may look at any face-down Resource Hex that is touching a city that you control at any time. During the game setup players must place their cities at least 2 or more hexes away from each other. Once the game starts, cities may be placed 1 or more hexes away from other cities.

Town tokens can only be placed on Resource Hexes that you have access to by rails or cities you control. When 2 different players have access to a Resource Hex, the first player to place a town on the Resource Hex claims the resource. IMPORTANT: Only 1 town token can ever be placed on a Resource Hex and only 1 city on an empty hex.

Rugged Resources

There are 8 Resource Hexes in the center of the board that have a red outline and are considered Rugged. Additionally, there are 6 Resource Hex tiles with "Rugged" written on them. These Resource Hexes and tiles denote locations that are difficult to build towns upon as the terrain may be rocky, heavily forested, or otherwise difficult for travel. These rugged areas cost 1 additional ore to build a town there. IMPORTANT: Ignore this penalty when placing the initial towns during game setup. This penalty is in addition to the cost of placing the town.

Example: If building a town currently costs two food and a wood, then placing on a rugged resource would require you to pay two food, 1 wood, and 1 ore.

If a player is unaware that the face-down Resource Hex is a Rugged Resource, then they will be unable to place a town there unless they can pay the additional ore. The player DOES NOT lose any resources and must reveal the Resource Hex and state to the other players that he/she encountered a rugged resource and cannot pay the additional costs.

Example: In the event a Rugged Resource Hex is placed on a Rugged Hex printed on the Territory Map, the penalty is paid once!

Rails Placement

Rails allow players to gain access to additional Resource Hexes as well as allow players to build additional cities. There are 2 exceptions to placing rails on the board.

1. Rails must be built on a player's city hex side or extend from a hex with a player's city on it. A player must be able to trace a path to the rail he/she is placing back to a city or town that they control.
2. Once built, rails do not belong to any player. New rails can be built from previously built rails, either a player's own or from another player's rail network. Hint: This means if you connect rails to another player then you gain access to all hexes that you can trace a path back to one of your cities by rail.

Building Rails for a New City

When a player wishes to build a new city, they must build rails from 1 of their cities out to a non-Resource Hex where they would like to place that new city. Players must also build a rail on 1 of the hex sides of the empty hex where the new city will be built.

Once a player builds a city using the Builder ability, he/she can look at the unrevealed Resource Hexes adjacent to that city at any time. Note: When building rails to a Resource Hex outside of your city's control, a player does not have to place an additional rail on the side of the Resource Hex. An additional rail is only necessary when building a new city.

Building Rails for a New Town

Players may build towns on a Resource Hex that they do not have access to from one of their cities, as long as they build rails from their city to that Resource Hex. Note: If a player has rails connecting from a city to a face-down Resource Hex tile, the player may look at that resource at any time. Players should not reveal the Resource Hex to other players. This is similar to a player's ability to look at face-down Resource Hex tiles adjacent to his/her city.

Action and Event Cards

Action Card Overview

The Action Card deck is made up of 2 different types of cards: Action Cards and Event cards. Players obtain cards from either the Pioneer or Scout Action Space as explained under Action Spaces. Note: There is no limit to how many Action cards a player can have.

Some Action cards and abilities may require a player to pay a penalty to use them. A player must be able to pay the penalty, or they cannot use that card or ability. If a player had an action card that had the penalty "Lose 1 Influence point," but did not have any Influence Points, then he/she cannot play the card since he/she could not pay the penalty.

Action Card Timing

Players are allowed to play 1 Action Card any time during the Collection Phase immediately before or after they collect from an Action Space. For example, if a player had die/dice on the Builder Action Space, and that was the only Action Space that he/she had dice on, then the player could only play an Action card immediately before or after building the city or town. It is important to consider the right time to play Action cards. Some cards give additional resources that are needed before taking an action. Other situations may require the completion of an action before the card is playable, and so on.

Strategy Example: The Action Card "Entrepreneur" gives players 1 free rail. A player may want to place a new city first so they can place the rail further out. This would require the Builder Action Space to be taken first so that a new city could be placed and then the card could be played for full benefit.

Action Card Symbols

Some Action cards have symbols on them:

• Choice – This icon indicates that the player must make a specific choice when using this card.
• Placement Phase – This icon indicates that the player must use this card during the Placement Phase whenever they choose to use it. Normally, Action cards are used in the Collection Phase.
• Play Immediately – This icon indicates that if the card is taken, it must be played immediately. IMPORTANT: Players can never hold onto a card with this symbol.
• Sheriff-immune – This icon indicates that you may not select a player as a target for this card's ability if they have the Sheriff token. A player with the Sheriff Special Role may use a card with this ability; however, they will lose the Sheriff Special Role because those cards also have the Jail symbol on them.
• Corruption – This icon indicates that if a player uses this ability, then they move to last place in the Turn Order area. If the player is already in last place then this icon has no other effect on the game.
• Jail – When a player chooses to use a card or ability with this icon, then he/she suffers 2 penalties. First, the player loses any Special Role they have and the associated token, i.e., Mayor/Sheriff. Secondly, during the next Placement Phase, the player loses as many dice as the number on the icon, represented by either a 1 or a 2+. The 2+ icon means that the player will lose 2 or more dice next turn, i.e., all of their dice. This also means the player will lose a bonus die they may have claimed next turn. Players place the number of dice that they have lost on the Jail area on the game board.

Event Cards

Event cards have a different colored border and state "Event Card" in between the image and ability box. Event Cards are still considered to be a sub-type of Action Cards, but they are played differently than regular Action Cards. Event cards have 5 distinct rules:

1. If an Event Card is drawn through the Pioneer or Scout Action Space, then it must be played immediately; however, you may still keep 1 Action card.

2. If an Event card has an ability on it, then the player may choose to use that ability instead of taking an Action card. Note: The Event card is put into play whether the ability is used or not.

3. If a player draws 2 Event cards, then the player must put both Events back into the deck and reshuffle the deck, including all discarded Action cards and events. There is no limit to the number of cards a player may keep; however, players may only play 1 Action card per round. IMPORTANT: Players can never hold onto a card that has the Play Immediately icon as these cards must be played immediately.

4. Event Cards are continuous. This means once an Event Card is in play, it will affect the game until another Event Card replaces it. When a new event card comes into play, you always discard the old event card. One final thing to remember is that the Event Marker is placed on the Action Space that the event affects.

   Example: When the event card Drought is played, a marker is placed on the Builder action because this event causes towns to be more costly to build.

5. All events are considered to be Permanent Events, except for the "Winds of Change" Event card, which is considered to be a Temporary Event, as it leaves play after its effect.

Limited Tokens

There are various Action Spaces that allow players to collect tokens in the game. There are 3 basic rules that govern tokens.

1. Players are restricted in how many Limited tokens that they can control. Limited tokens are defined as the following: Wild Die, Engineer, Loan, Stock, and Trader. A player may only have as many of a specific type as the number of cities that they have on the board. For example, if a player only has 1 city, then they may only have 1 of each token. If a player had 2 cities than they could have 2 tokens of each type and so on, e.g., 2 Wild Die, 2 Engineer, etc.
2. Players can only use each type of token once per Placement/Collection Phase; however, a player may use different types. For example, a player can use a Wild Die and an Engineer token during the same Placement Phase, but not 2 Wild Die tokens.
3. There is no limit to the overall number of cardboard tokens available in the game.

Token Descriptions

Engineer Token – During the Placement Phase, you may choose to discard this token for one of the following options:

1. This token may be used to change the natural die roll of a single die to any other number. This allows players to modify a die needed for an Action Space that requires a "natural roll" such as Politics or Rail Baron, but cannot be used for the Restricted Action Spaces such as Sheriff or Mayor. IMPORTANT: This token is not considered to be a "die modifier" as the ability outright physically changes the result of the die.
2. This token may be used to place your die/dice on a limited Action Space already containing die/dice from another player. Any number of players that discard an Engineer token may use a Limited Action Space that is currently taken as long as they have the correct die/dice to place on that Action Space.

Example: In a 3 player game, Dave wants to place a die on the Politics Action Space, but Larry's die is already there. By playing the Engineer token, Dave can place his die next to Larry's and claim Politics. If Chris also wanted to use the Politics Action Space then he could also use an Engineer token to place his die.

Wild Die Token – During the Placement Phase, you may choose to discard this token for one of the following options:

1. Discard this token to re-roll 1, 2 or 3 dice.
2. Take the +/- action, similar to the Dealer Action Space.

If all dice a player rolls show the same number, then a player receives a Wild Die token. Normally, a player will roll a double and receive a Wild Die token. However, if a player uses the Bonus Die, then a player must roll a triple to receive the token. As with all other tokens, you may only use 1 Wild Die token per Collection Phase.

Loan Token – When a player takes a loan token they immediately receive any 3 resources from the Game Bank, i.e., Ore, Food, or Wood (remember, Gold is not a resource). At any time a player may pay off any number of loans and discard the token(s) by paying any six resources to the Game Bank. At the end of the game, each loan token subtracts a Victory Point from a player.

Stock Token – Players may hold on to this token until they are ready to use it. Stock tokens can be discarded for either 1 gold or any 3 resources of their choosing from the Bank during the Collection Phase or during the End Game.

Trader Token – A Trader token can be used to perform a resource trade with the Game Bank similar to the Trader Action Space. A player may pay any 2 resources to the Game Bank to obtain any 2 resources from the Bank. These resources do not have to be the same. For example, you could trade an ore and a wood for two food. Note: These can only be obtained from the Merchant Character card or the Crooked Merchants Action card.

End Game

The game ends when either condition below is triggered:

1. A player places all of his/her cities and towns onto the game board.
2. A player reaches or moves past the Game End Token on the Influence Track.

Note: If the player that triggers this condition loses Influence points during the final Collection Phase the game still ends.

All players will be allowed to finish the current Collection Phase. Once the last action on the board is collected, players total their scores according to the list below. IMPORTANT: Players are allowed to pay off Loan tokens and collect gold from Stock tokens during End Game scoring.

Scoring

Players add or subtract Victory Points for the following items:

1. Each gold token a player owns will give them 1 Victory Point.
2. Each Influence Point a player has will give them 1 Victory Point.
3. Each city that a player has is worth as many Victory Points as the number of towns connected to it by rails. (See City Scoring Example below.)
4. Controlling a Special Role such as Mayor or Sheriff is worth 1 Victory Point.
5. Players lose 1 Victory Point for each Loan token they cannot pay.
6. Players lose 1 Victory Point for having any die/dice in Jail when the game ends.

The player with the most Victory Points wins the game. In the event of a tie, the person with the most points on the Influence Track wins. In the event the game is still a tie, then the person with the most resources wins. If there is still a tie, then the person with the higher turn order wins.

City Scoring Example

Each city that a player has on the territory map is worth as many points as the towns that are connected to it by rail. For example, if the blue player's first city is connected by rail to 4 towns, that city is worth 4 Victory Points. If the blue player's second city is connected by rail to 2 towns, that city is worth 2 Victory Points. If the blue player had instead built rails to connect both cities to all of their towns, each city could have been worth as much as 6 points, for a total of 12 Victory Points.

2 Player Variant – Gunslinger

At the start of a 2-player game, players use a Gunslinger pawn from one of the game piece sets not being used and place it on the Trader action. Players will now add 1 die from that same set of game pieces to their dice. This die will be referred to as the Gunslinger die. Note: Players will always roll the Gunslinger die along with their other dice during the Placement Phase.

At the beginning of the Placement Phase, in turn order, each player must move their Gunslinger pawn plus or minus as many Action Spaces as the result on the Gunslinger die. Note: Both players must move their pawns before any dice are placed. The Gunslinger pawn can only be moved onto actions 2 through 12, and must move the full amount that was rolled on the Gunslinger die. This means if a player cannot move the full distance up or down on the track, then they are forced to move in the other direction. For example, if the blue player has the pawn on the #3 action and rolls a 4 on their die, then they must move up the track to the #7 action.

When a Gunslinger pawn is on an action, it blocks the other player from taking that action. Players may not use an Engineer token to share an action if the other player's Gunslinger pawn is present. If both Gunslinger pawns are on the same action, then neither player can take that action. Note: If you have the appropriate die/dice and only your Gunslinger pawn is on an action you can still take the action. The Gunslinger pawn does not block Action cards that state a player can take a specific action, e.g., Election, Marshal Dylan, etc.

Solitaire Variant

The solitaire version plays the same as the regular game but with a few exceptions. First off, remove the following cards from the Action card deck: Claim Jumpers, The Ol' Switcheroo, Whispering Campaign, Mudslinging, and Winds of Change.

Secondly, the Turn Order Action Space is off limits. Instead, use the other colored sets of dice to simulate opponents. These additional dice will be called Ghost dice and will recreate the competition for taking various actions on the board. Depending on the difficulty you choose, roll 1 or more of these dice in a different color than your game pieces. Determine the level of difficulty by choosing one of the options described below.

Chicken (Easy) – Add 1 Ghost die when rolling dice in the Placement Phase. Place on 1 action first and then you must place the Ghost die. If your dice placement blocks the Ghost die then discard it this turn. If you roll a 1 on the Ghost die, place it on the Pioneer action. If you roll a 2, then place it on the Hired Hand action, and so on.

When the Ghost die is a 1, you reveal the top 2 cards from the Action Deck during the Collection Phase before you collect any actions. If the Action card is an event, then it goes into play, otherwise the cards are discarded. (Note: If you draw 2 Event cards, then randomly determine which Event is played and discard the other Event.)

Ornery (Medium) – In addition to the "Easy" option above, you will roll 2 more Ghost dice in a different color than the Ghost die used in the "Easy" option. You will be allowed to place on 1 action first, and then all Ghost dice are placed. Afterwards, you may place any remaining die/dice you still have. Whenever you roll a number on these 2 dice that is 7 or higher, you will block the action that corresponds to the total of both dice during the Placement Phase. For example, if you roll a 6 and a 3 then you would block the #9 Scout action. The exceptions to this are the following:

• On a 7 you will block the Trader action.
• On an 8 you will block the Engineer action.
• On a 10 you randomly decide whether the Sheriff or Mayor action is blocked. When a Ghost die blocks either Sheriff or Mayor you lose the role next turn.

If the total on the dice are below 7, then you use the highest die to place on a single action as defined in the "Easy" option. In the case of doubles, use 1 die. If another Ghost die is already on the same action, then do not place the die.

Cruel (Hard) – Use all options above, but add in another pair of dice in the 4th dice color that follow the same rules as the "Medium" option. Conversely to the above options, you always place your dice last. This means all other Ghost dice must be placed before you take any actions.

The final thing to decide is choosing a scenario. Each one has a specific end game condition, such as building all of your towns and cities, receiving a certain amount of gold, etc. To track turns, move the Game End marker on the Influence Track. An easy way to remember when to move this token is to do so whenever you roll dice at the start of the Placement Phase.

When starting the game, place the Game End marker on the #14 spot on the Influence Track. Each time you start a new round, move the marker minus 1 on the Influence Track. In essence you will be counting down the turns. When the marker reaches the #1 spot for the first time, move it back to the #14 spot on the next round. When the marker reaches the #1 spot for the second time, this indicates the final round and the game will end after you collect from your action(s). Each scenario gives you 28 turns to accomplish the objective unless it states otherwise.

1. Tenderfoot – Victory: Build all of your cities and towns.
2. Wild Frontiers – Place your first city beside a "Safe Zone" as defined in the Territory Map section. Victory: Build a town on both Rugged Resource Hexes on the dead center of the territory map.
3. Gold Rush – Victory: End the game with 3 cities and obtain 10 gold.
4. Barnstorming – Victory: End the game with 3 cities and obtain 11 Influence.
5. Marshal Law – Remove the events from the Action Card deck. Mix them up and place them face down. Each time you roll doubles on your dice, draw an event and play it. Unlike the regular game, all permanent events stay in play unless you remove them from the game. For example, if Drought was in play and then City Fire was played then both events would stay active versus the current event replacing the prior event as outlined in the main rules. You may remove 1 event of your choosing from the game each time you take the Sheriff action. Victory: Build all of your cities and towns.

Game Hints for New Players

When new players are introduced to Dark Horse, it is important that they understand some basic concepts to make their experience more enjoyable. It is recommended that once you have read the rules or explained the game to new players that the following points are emphasized. The following details outline specific areas that new players tend to forget, misunderstand, or are actions that they do not use due to being unfamiliar with the game.

1. Players not familiar with designer games and/or are playing Dark Horse for the first time should not use Player Character Cards.
2. Players should spend a few minutes looking through the Action Card deck. New players tend to shy away from the Action Cards since they are not familiar with them. In some circumstances, they can be more powerful and/or useful than collecting from regular Action Spaces.
3. You should consider using the Engineer Action Space often to obtain the tokens it provides. (Note: The Engineer token allows you to change a die to any number, which is very useful if you have a hard time rolling a natural die roll to claim the Politics, Work Crew or Rail Baron Action Space.)
4. Place your first city on a hex where you have access to 3 Resource Hexes. (Note: Players new to the game should place their starting city in 1 of the corner spots with revealed Resource Hexes called "Safe Zones". Food is important early on in the game as it is used for both Towns and Rails.)
5. Players primarily produce resources from either the Produce Resources or the Work Crew actions; however a player can never produce a resource that they do not have a town on the matching Resource Hex type.
6. A player produces 1 resource token for each town they control on a matching Resource Hex type. For example, if a player has built a town on 2 different food Resource Hexes they will produce 2 food tokens when taking the appropriate Action Space.
7. If a player needs a specific type of resource and does not have a town on that Resource Hex type, then use the Trader/Mayor/Market action or obtain a Loan token.
8. Consider using the Dealer Action Space if a wanted dice combination was not rolled. This action allows you to move a die or dice to plus or minus 1 Action Space. This action allows even more flexibility if the player has obtained a Bonus Die as you will have 2 dice to manipulate instead of just one.
9. Players can only have as many tokens of a specific type per city that they control. For example, if you have only 1 city then you can only have 1 of the following tokens: Wild Die, Engineer, Stock, Loan and Trader.
10. Do not forget: You receive a Wild Die token each time you roll doubles, triples in the event you have a bonus die, as long as you do not have too many Wild Die tokens.

Errata

Claim Jumper

In reference to the card ability bumping opponents' dice from an Action Space, here is a detailed explanation.

• Player may recover all tokens that were used to modify the die, i.e., Wild Die, Engineer.
• Player may recover a die that was placed on Dealer if it modified the die/dice that was bumped.
• Player pulls all tokens and die/dice back to their area and may re-use them however they choose.

So players are in essence re-taking the turn in which they placed the bumped die/dice. If the player wishes to change his/her mind about using a token or the Dealer action, or they want to add a die/dice they are allowed to.

The Kickstarter (Promotional Card)

The Start Game bonus displays a town icon. This means that when the player starts the game they will be allowed to place a total of three towns. If the player chooses to place his/her city on a hex on the territory map that does not have access to three Resource Hexes then they lose the third town.

The Preacher

Ability #1 states, "You may not use an ability, card, or action that can place you in Jail." So if a card has the "possibility" to place a player's dice in Jail such as the Snake Eyes card then the Preacher cannot use it. Other cards like The Ol' Switcheroo that have the Jail symbol in the bottom right corner of the image, positively put the player in Jail so they cannot be used either. Basically, anything that will, or has the possibility to, put the Preacher in Jail can never be used by the Preacher.

In reference to ability #2, this ability allows you to gain an Influence Point of cards that have the Jail icon on them. When you draw an Event Card, you are forced to put it into play immediately, which is described in more detail in the Event Cards section. When playing an Event card you do not control the card at any time, you are just playing the card. Another consideration is that some Event cards have an option that a player may take that has Jail associated with it, but it requires a player to take that option when playing the Event. Under Event Cards, bullet #2 states the following: "If an Event card has an ability on it, then the player may choose to use that ability instead of taking an Action card. Note: The Event card is put into play whether the ability is used or not."

The Preacher's #1 ability states, "You may not use an ability, card, or action that can place you in Jail." If this ability would have stated play a card then the ability would be incorrect as the Preacher must still "play" the event card. The exception is that he cannot "use" the Jail ability. Finally, the Preacher cannot discard an Event with a Jail option, for an Influence Point, because he never actually controls the card, and must immediately play that card. In essence, the Event goes straight from the deck and into play before the player gains control of that card.

Outlaw Mini-Expansion

In the rules it is stated that "The Outlaw may turn himself or herself in, forfeiting the Special Role, by placing all dice on the Jail space at the beginning of the Placement Phase before any dice are rolled."

What was omitted from the rules is why a player would want to forfeit the Special Role. For the purposes of End Game scoring, a player in possession of the Outlaw role at the end of the game loses one Victory Point.

This is the way the Outlaw role was play tested and is balanced by the player obtaining the Outlaw role and eluding jail time. Keep in mind that this penalty is contrary to the 1 Victory Point bonus collected by players in possession of other Special Roles (e.g. Sheriff and Mayor) at the end of the game. It is also consistent with the rule that a player loses one Victory Point for having any die/dice in Jail when the game ends.