French Quarter
French Quarter Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 48 Action Cards
- 12 Mayor Cards
- 4 Tourist Pawns
- 9 Action Dice
- 1 First Player Marker
- 4 Street Closure Markers
- 2 Scoresheet Pads (50 sheets each)
Each scoresheet has a map with activity tracks, bonuses, multipliers, a round track, an umbrella track, performers, a performer track, a second line track, and a score chart.
Game Setup
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Sort the action cards by type into six decks. Shuffle each deck separately. Place the decks in a face-down row in the center of the table in order: Walk, Carriage, Taxi, Streetcar, Riverboat, Socialize.
Note: For a 2-player game, return the Taxi deck to the game box.
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Give each player a full scoresheet (one sheet from each pad), a pencil (not provided), and a tourist pawn in their chosen color.
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Create the dice pool based on the number of players:
- 2 Players: 5 dice — 1 Walk, 1 Carriage, 1 Streetcar, 1 Riverboat, 1 Socialize.
- 3 Players: 7 dice — 2 Walk, 1 Carriage, 1 Taxi, 1 Streetcar, 1 Riverboat, 1 Socialize.
- 4 Players: 9 dice — 2 Walk, 2 Carriage, 2 Taxi, 1 Streetcar, 1 Riverboat, 1 Socialize.
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Each player places their tourist pawn at the Ama House Hotel on their map.
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Roll a die to determine the starting point of the second line. Each player circles the matching intersection on their map.
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Choose a first player at random and give them the first player marker.
Overview
In French Quarter, you choose dice from the card row to take actions and travel via different methods of transportation with varying distances: walking, carriage ride, taxi, streetcar, riverboat, or just meandering as you socialize.
As you travel around the city, you get to visit buildings and see performers where you stop. All these activities will fill up tracks that chart your experiences with food, culture, shopping, mysticism, and partying. You'll have to make tough choices between useful bonuses and scoring multipliers!
After eight hours of gallivanting about town, the end results will be compared to see who had the most memorable night in NOLA.
Gameplay Sequence
The game is played over eight rounds, which can be tracked using the round counter at the top right of the scoresheet. Each round has four phases:
- A. Planning Phase
- B. Travel Phase
- C. Second Line Phase
- D. Cleanup Phase
A. Planning Phase
In this phase, the current first player reveals the top card of each deck and places it next to the deck, face up.
Stack the revealed cards on top of any cards from previous rounds, so that only the new cards are visible. (This will not matter in round 1.)
The current first player then rolls the dice pool and places each die on the revealed card of the same color.
B. Travel Phase
In this phase, players take turns choosing dice from the card row.
The current first player goes first, then each other player in clockwise order. Repeat this sequence until each player has gone twice.
On your turn, choose an available die from the card row and place it in front of yourself. Based on the card and die, take these four actions in order:
- Card Action
- Movement Action
- Building Action
- Map Action
At the end of this phase, there will be one unused die leftover in the card row. Leave that die alone for now and proceed to the Second Line Phase.
Example: In clockwise turn order… Kelly takes Socialize 3, Cisco takes Streetcar 6, Danni takes Carriage 2, and Tatum takes Walk 4. On the second time around the table, Kelly takes Taxi 5, Cisco takes Walk 4, Danni takes Riverboat 5, and Tatum takes Carriage 1. Taxi 5 is the leftover die this round.
1. Card Action
Resolve the icons shown on the card you chose this turn, in order, from left to right. Each card shows one or two icons: umbrella, food, culture, shopping, mysticism, partying, or wild.
Umbrellas: For an umbrella icon, mark the next empty box of the umbrella track. Every third box gains you a wild activity icon. (See Umbrellas.)
Activities: For an activity icon, mark the next empty box of that activity track: food, culture, shopping, mysticism, or partying. For a wild activity icon, mark the next empty box of an activity track of your choice.
You will unlock in-game bonuses and end-game multipliers as you progress on these activity tracks. (See Activities.)
Example: Tatum chose Carriage 1. The Carriage card for this round has two icons: umbrella and mysticism. Tatum resolves these icons, in order, by marking the next empty box of the umbrella track and the mysticism track.
2. Movement Action
Move your tourist to another space on the map that can be reached by the transportation method listed on the card you chose this turn.
Your tourist must move to a different space; they cannot stay put or move back to the same space.
Note: There are 10 small buildings (i.e., half size) on the map. Each building, small or large, counts as a single space.
Movement Distance
Some transportation methods allow your tourist to move a specific distance on the map, starting from their current space. Distance is measured in spaces and can be counted in N/S/E/W directions, but never diagonally.
- Socialize: Move 1 space
- Walk: Move 1–2 spaces
- Carriage: Move 1–3 spaces
- Taxi: Move 1–4 spaces
Example: Danni chose Carriage 2. Carriage movement allows tourists to move 1–3 spaces. Danni decides to move their tourist from the Ama House Hotel to the Bayou Oyster Bar, which is two spaces away.
Movement Destination
Some transportation methods allow your tourist to move to a specific destination on the map, regardless of the distance. In these cases, the destination must be on a specific named street. A building is considered to be on all streets that it touches on the map.
- Streetcar: Move to any space on Dauphine St.
- Riverboat: Move to any space on Decatur St. or N Front St.
Example: Danni chose Riverboat 5. Riverboat movement allows tourists to move to any space located on Decatur St. or N Front St. Danni decides to move their tourist from the Bayou Oyster Bar to Three Sisters Courtyard on N Front St.
3. Building Action
Resolve the icons shown on the building that your tourist is visiting this turn, in order, from left to right. Most buildings show one or two icons.
Umbrellas: For an umbrella icon, mark the next empty box of the umbrella track. Every third box gains you a wild activity icon. (See Umbrellas.)
Activities: For an activity icon, mark the next empty box of that activity track: food, culture, shopping, mysticism, or partying. You will unlock in-game bonuses and end-game multipliers as you progress on these activity tracks. (See Activities.)
Performers: For a performer icon, mark the topmost empty box for that type: saxophone, trumpet, tuba, violin, unicycle, magician, acrobat, or statue. Then mark the leftmost empty box of the performer track. (See Performers.)
Example: Kelly's tourist is visiting DHM Speakeasy. This building has two icons: partying and unicycle. Kelly resolves these icons, in order, by marking the next empty box of the partying track, then the topmost empty box for unicycles and the leftmost empty box of the performer track.
Special Buildings: At the four Courtyards, mark the circle when you visit. At Riverwalk Shopping & Aquarium, mark the box on your first visit and the circle on your second visit. These buildings have special effects that will resolve during final scoring. (See Buildings.)
4. Map Action
Map the building that your tourist is visiting this turn by writing the value of your chosen die in the white square at that building (if empty).
When you map a building, the value of your chosen die must be equal to or within +1/-1 of the values on all adjacent buildings.
Buildings are adjacent if they are directly next to or across from each other (i.e., not at diagonals).
Example: Cisco's tourist is visiting LJ's Public House. His die is a 2. The only mapped buildings adjacent are Ben's Spectral Gems (3) and Two Brothers Courtyard (1), so Cisco can legally map it with the 2. Because Cajun Jewelers (4) is not adjacent, its value does not matter.
If you cannot map that building, because the value of your chosen die would break the normal adjacency rule or because you mapped that building previously, gain an umbrella icon instead.
C. Second Line Phase
If any player chose the Socialize die earlier this round, the second line now advances and scores!
Note: If nobody chose the Socialize die earlier this round, skip directly to the Cleanup Phase instead.
Second Line – Advance
The player who chose the Socialize die now chooses which direction they want the second line to advance: north, south, east, or west.
Once that player has chosen the direction, they must announce it to the rest of the table.
Each player then advances the second line on their own map by drawing a line, one block in length, from the second line's current intersection to the next intersection in that direction.
- The first time that the second line advances, it begins from the intersection circled at setup. After that, it continues from the intersection where it last stopped.
- The second line can go down the named streets, as well as the unnamed streets at the four edges of the map, but it cannot go down the alleyways between pairs of small buildings.
- The second line can only go where it has not been already. This means that, while the second line can intersect and cross other portions of the second line, it cannot double back on itself.
Example: Kelly has triggered a second line advance. The second line is at the intersection of Bourbon St. and Saint Peter St. currently. Kelly announces that it will advance east. On their own maps, all players extend the second line one block to the east, stopping at the intersection of Bourbon St. and Saint Ann St.
Second Line – Scoring
Once the second line has advanced, it is then scored by all players.
Each player counts how many mapped buildings are touching the second line on their map, then marks that many empty boxes on the second line track.
The following rules and restrictions apply when scoring the second line:
- You must always mark boxes on the second line track in order, going from left to right, one row at a time.
- You gain an umbrella icon when you mark the last box in each row on the second line track. Resolve these umbrella icons only after second line scoring is complete.
- Each mapped building can only be counted once per second line scoring, even if the second line touches it on multiple sides.
Example: The second line advances for the fourth time. On Cisco's map, there are three mapped buildings that touch the second line: Roux the Day Tavern, Brush & Brew Pub, and LJ's Public House. Cisco marks three boxes on the second line track.
D. Cleanup Phase
In this phase, the players clean up from the current round of play.
If this was the eighth round of play, the game ends.
Otherwise, the first player marker passes to the left, all dice return to the dice pool, and the next round of play begins.
Game End
Once eight rounds have been completed, the game ends. The players now compare their final scores! To determine final scores, each player reviews their scoresheet and totals their points in the following categories using the score chart.
Final Scoring – Activities
Write down the total points you earned from all five activities. For each activity, your score is equal to the number of mapped buildings on the associated street multiplied by the highest unlocked score multiplier on that activity track.
- Food: Score the number of mapped buildings on Decatur St. multiplied by the highest unlocked multiplier on the food track. If bonus "B" is unlocked, score one bonus point for each small building mapped. (See Bonuses.)
- Culture: Score the number of mapped buildings on St Peter St. multiplied by the highest unlocked multiplier on the culture track.
- Shopping: Score the number of mapped buildings on Conti St. multiplied by the highest unlocked multiplier on the shopping track. If bonus "B" is unlocked, score one bonus point for each marked star on the umbrella track. (See Bonuses.)
- Mysticism: Score the number of mapped buildings on St Ann St. multiplied by the highest unlocked multiplier on the mysticism track.
- Partying: Score the number of mapped buildings on Bourbon St. multiplied by the highest unlocked multiplier on the partying track.
Note: If you did not unlock the x1 multiplier, then your multiplier is "x0" and the number of mapped buildings on the associated street does not matter. Bonus points are unaffected by the multiplier. A building is considered to be on all streets it touches and may score multiple times for different activities.
Final Scoring – Second Line
Write down the total points you earned from the second line.
Your score for the second line is equal to the total number of boxes marked on the second line track.
The second line track has 60 boxes, so that is the maximum possible score for the second line.
Final Scoring – Buildings
Write down the total points you earned from buildings. There are three types of special buildings with effects that let you score points.
- Gift Shops: If you have mapped both of these buildings, score points equal to the sum of the two mapped die values.
- Courtyards: If you have visited 1/2/3/4 of these buildings, score 2/6/12/20 points (e.g., visiting 3 = 12 points).
- Riverwalk Shopping & Aquarium: If you have visited this building twice, score 8 points.
Final Scoring – Performers
Write down the total points you earned from performers.
Score each of the two performer sets, using the printed chart, based on how many boxes you marked in that row. A set can be up to eight unique performers.
Include any bonus points you earned from the performer track.
Final Scoring – Totals
The player with the most points wins!
If there is a tie, the tied player with the most points earned from the second line wins the game.
If there is still a tie, the tied players hold a march-off around the table to determine the winner… or begrudgingly enjoy their shared victory.
Example: Danni is tallying their final score at the end of the game. For activities, they score 42 points: 16 for food (8×2), 4 for culture (4×1), 5 for shopping (2×0 plus 5 bonus points), 14 for mysticism (7×2), and 3 for partying (3×1). For the second line, they score 18 points for the 18 boxes marked on the second line track. For buildings, they score 37 points: 20 for visiting all 4 Courtyards, 9 for the "5" and "4" die values at the 2 Gift Shops, and 8 for visiting Riverwalk Shopping & Aquarium twice. For performers, they score 16 points: 14 for the first set of 6 performers, 0 for the second set of 1 performer, and 2 for the performer track. Danni's final score is 113 points!
Umbrellas
Umbrella icons can be gained from card actions, building actions, map actions, and progress on the performer track and second line track.
When you gain an umbrella icon, mark the next empty box of the umbrella track.
The umbrella track has 30 boxes. Mark the boxes of the umbrella track from left to right, one row at a time.
When you mark a normal box, nothing else happens. When you mark a box that has a star, gain a wild activity icon.
Once you have marked all 30 boxes, gaining additional umbrella icons has no effect.
Example: Tatum just gained two icons from her card action: umbrella and food. First, she marks one box on the umbrella track. Next, because the marked box has a star, she gains a wild activity icon, which she decides to use on the shopping track. Finally, she marks one box on the food track.
Activities
Activity icons can be gained from card actions, building actions, and progress on the performer track and umbrella track.
When you gain an activity icon, mark the next empty box of the associated activity track. When you gain a wild activity icon, mark the next empty box of an activity track of your choice.
Each activity track has 14 boxes. Mark the boxes of each activity track from left to right. Once you have marked all 14 boxes, gaining additional activity icons of that type has no effect.
When you mark a square, nothing else happens. When you mark a circle, you gain a bonus or a multiplier, as indicated by the icon shown.
- Bonus: Mark the activity track's leftmost unmarked window and gain the bonus. Bonuses can be instant, ongoing, or one-time use.
- Multiplier: Mark the activity track's topmost unmarked multiplier. Multipliers increase your score for mapped buildings on the associated street on the map.
If the marked circle shows both icons, separated by a slash, choose a bonus or a multiplier (not both).
Example: Cisco just marked a circle on the culture track that shows both icons. He chooses the bonus, so he marks the leftmost window. The bonus grants him one-time use of the ability to increase the movement distance for his tourist by +1 or +2.
Bonuses
Each activity track has three or four bonuses that can be unlocked through progress on the activity track.
The bonuses on each activity track must be unlocked in order, from left to right (i.e., A, then B, then C).
Some bonuses are instant, some are ongoing, and some are one-time effects that can be used at any time once unlocked.
Food Track
- Bonus A: Map one building on Decatur Street with a die value of your choice, following the normal adjacency rule.
- Bonus B: When you map a small building, gain a wild activity icon. At game end, score one bonus point for each small building mapped.
- Bonus C: Map one building on any street with a die value of your choice, following the normal adjacency rule.
Culture Track
- Bonus A: When you move your tourist, you may increase their movement distance by +1 or +2 spaces. This can be applied to any movement action, including Streetcar or Riverboat movement. Mark the box after use.
- Bonus B: When you take a map action, you may map an adjacent building also with the same die value, following the normal adjacency rule. You may still map the adjacent building even if you could not map the first building. Do not gain an umbrella icon if you cannot use this effect (or do not want to).
- Bonus C: When you choose a die, you may take your card and movement actions using any one revealed card. The same card must be used for both actions. Mark the box after use.
Shopping Track
- Bonus A: When you map a building, you may write a "W" instead of the die value. Mark the box after use.
- Bonus B: When you gain an umbrella icon, gain one extra umbrella icon, marking two boxes total on the umbrella track. At game end, score one bonus point for each marked star on the umbrella track.
- Bonus C: When you map a building, you may write a "W" instead of the die value. Mark one box after each use.
Note: "W" is not a numerical value, so it can be adjacent to all numerical values on the map. Buildings with "W" still count as mapped buildings. When "W" is written at a Gift Shop, treat it as a zero for scoring purposes.
Mysticism Track
- Bonus A: Gain one performer icon of your choice.
- Bonus B: Start a personal second line at any one of the six starting points. When the second line advances, you also advance your personal second line in the direction of your choice, following the normal advancement rules. When the second line is scored, count all mapped buildings that touch at least one of the two second lines on your map.
- Bonus C: Gain two performer icons of your choice. You must choose two different performer icons.
Partying Track
Note: The "bonuses" on the partying track are actually negative effects that will hinder your progress in other areas. But the potential for reaching that x5 scoring multiplier just might make it worthwhile!
- Bonus A: Cross out the next empty circle on the culture track. When you reach that circle, skip it and do not gain a bonus or multiplier.
- Bonus B: When you move your tourist with Walk movement, you may only move them one space.
- Bonus C: At the end of this turn, place your tourist at the Police Station, then roll a die and record that value here. When you choose a die with that value, skip the map action and gain an umbrella icon instead.
- Bonus D: You can no longer gain performer icons. When you would gain a performer icon, ignore it.
Performers
Performer icons can be gained from building actions and bonuses unlocked on the activity tracks.
When you gain a performer icon, mark the topmost empty box for that performer type, then mark the leftmost empty box of the performer track.
There are eight performer types, and each performer type has two boxes.
Once you have marked both boxes for a single type, additional performer icons of that type has no effect.
The performer track has 16 boxes. Any umbrella icons, activity icons, and bonus map actions gained this way are resolved immediately.
Bonus map actions affect buildings on specific streets, but otherwise function exactly like normal map actions and will trigger any related bonuses.
Example: Kelly just gained her first magician icon. She marks the topmost empty box for magicians, then marks the next empty box of the performer track. This gives her a bonus map action on Saint Ann St., so she maps the Beignet Café with a 3.
Mayor Variant
Mayor Carly is hosting a private block party, but you're not invited!
Mayor Variant – Setup
Shuffle the mayor cards into a single deck and place it, face down, next to the row of action decks. Give each player a street closure marker.
Mayor Variant – Gameplay
During each round's Planning Phase, when you reveal the top card of each action deck, reveal the top card of the mayor deck, too.
If the mayor card lists a street name, then that street is closed for the round. The players should each place a street closure marker on that street on their map as a reminder.
When a street is closed, the following restrictions apply:
- Tourists: Tourists cannot stop at any buildings on the closed street. They can still move through those buildings.
- Second Line: The second line cannot be drawn along the closed street. It can still be drawn to intersect with that street. This applies to the public second line and any private second lines.
Example: The mayor card shown below was revealed in the Planning Phase. The street closure means no tourist stops or second line advances on Saint Ann St. this round.
Mayor Variant – Clarifications
There are some bonuses that allow you to map buildings other than the one where your tourist stopped during the Travel Phase. These bonuses ignore the effects of street closures.
If the only possible paths for your tourist would force them to stop at a building on the closed street, they cannot move. Skip your movement action, building action, and map action, but gain an umbrella icon instead.
The mayor cards have additional game data on them that is only relevant in the solo mode (i.e., when Mayor Carly is an active opponent).
Solo Mode
You're visiting New Orleans during the holidays! With the influx of tourists, the city's transportation schedules are overloaded. Between street closures and fewer transit options, navigating the streets just got a whole lot dicier!
Solo Mode – Setup
Follow the setup for a multiplayer game with the mayor variant included. Give yourself a scoresheet; Mayor Carly does not need her own. Use the dice pool for a 2-player game, including removing the Taxi cards from the game.
Solo Mode – Gameplay
The solo mode requires that you include the mayor variant and that you observe these additional rules:
Travel Phase: You and Mayor Carly each take two turns, in an alternating sequence (A, B, A, B). If the revealed mayor card has the mayor icon, Mayor Carly goes first. If it does not, you go first.
On your turns, choose an available die from the card row and take actions just like in a multiplayer game.
On Mayor Carly's turns, check the priority chart on the revealed mayor card. Going from top to bottom, find the first option with a matching die still available in the dice pool. Remove that die and place it on the mayor card.
Second Line Phase: The second line will advance if either you or Mayor Carly took the Socialize die this round. No matter who took the Socialize die, you always get to choose the direction that the second line advances.
Solo Mode – Scoring
When the game ends, total your final score and compare it against the chart below to see what kind of memories you've made on your trip!
| Score | Rating |
|---|---|
| ≤ 74 | You could barely call that a work trip. |
| 75–99 | You kept it rated "PG" this time. |
| 100–124 | You had a trip you will never forget. |
| 125–149 | You had a trip you cannot remember. |
| 150–174 | You got to lead the second line! |
| 175–199 | You were given a key to the city! |
| ≥ 200 | You were elected as mayor! |
Notes & Reminders
- If color contrast is an issue, you can randomly assign the dice to the cards after the roll. Be sure to follow the usual distribution (e.g., in a 3P game, 2x dice on the Walk card and 1x die on each other card).
- Icons should always be resolved in order, from left to right. Each icon should be resolved fully, including any bonuses triggered by it, before the next icon is resolved.
- Bonus points earned from the bonuses on the food track and shopping track are unaffected by the score multipliers for those tracks.
- A building is considered to be on all streets that it touches on the map. Every large building touches four streets and every small building touches three streets.
- Die values do not "wrap." In other words, 1 and 6 are not consecutive for purposes of the adjacency rule when mapping buildings.
- Each mapped building can only be counted once per second line scoring, even if the second line touches it on multiple sides.
- Using a +1/2 movement bonus with Streetcar or Riverboat means you would move your tourist onto a space on the associated street as normal, then move 1/2 additional spaces, even off of that street.
- The route of the public second line should be identical on all players' maps. Personal second lines, however, are unique to each player. The second lines can run parallel, but it is not advantageous to do so.
- "Visiting" a building means that your tourist has stopped there. "Mapping" a building means that you have written a die value there, following the normal adjacency rule.
- The mayor variant is optional in a multiplayer game, but it is a required part of the solo game.
Credits
Game Design: Matt Riddle, Ben Pinchback, and Adam Hill
Illustration: Marlies Barends
Cover Illustration: Snow Conrad (Matt Paquette & Co.)
Graphic Design: Matt Paquette & Co. and Aaron Wood
Editing: Dustin Schwartz
Playtesting: Jackson Butler, Zach Church, Jonathan Errington, Tim George, Michael Hatke, Ryan Horricks, Mitch Keddee, Ben Kirkpatrick, Olivier Malbrec, Kevin Ngo, Mark Patoka, Chrissy Peske, Mike Petty, Sarah Reed, Will Reed, Daniel Sawade, Steven Sites, and Alys Weisenberger
© 2023 Motor City Gameworks. All Rights Reserved.
Quick Reference
A. Planning Phase Reveal the top card of each deck, roll the dice pool, and place each die on the revealed card of the same color.
B. Travel Phase Each player chooses an available die from the card row. The current first player goes first, then each other player goes in clockwise order. Repeat this sequence until each player has gone twice. When you choose a die, carry out these four steps in order:
- Card Action — Resolve the icons shown on your chosen card.
- Movement Action — Move your tourist to another building that can be reached by the transportation method listed on your chosen card.
- Building Action — Resolve the icons shown on that building.
- Map Action — Write the value of your chosen die on that building if equal to or within +1/-1 of the values on all adjacent buildings.
C. Second Line Phase If any player chose the Socialize die, that player chooses a direction (N/S/E/W). All players extend the second line by one block in that direction. All players then mark one box on the second line track for every mapped building that touches the second line on their own map.
D. Cleanup Phase The first player marker passes to the left, all dice return to the dice pool, and the next round of play begins.
Icon Reference
Umbrella, Food, Culture, Shopping, Mysticism, Partying, Wild.