Gads Hill 1874

Gads Hill 1874 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Brief Description

As archaeologists, together the players try to reconstruct an old, now dilapidated, ghost town.

Back then the town was made up of different buildings such as a hotel, a smithy, a bank, a saloon and a cemetery.

The game board shows an old plan of the site. It is made up of a typical American orthogonal network of streets, a railroad and various land uses such as buffalo pasture or cemetery.

At the start of the game, the players do not know where the individual buildings were situated. In theory each building could have stood in several places. In the course of time, the town was always changing and the buildings were given different locations, varying the layout of the buildings from game to game.

Players receive clues as to the locations of the buildings from the cards (e.g. 'Mr. Merrian was working at the BANK in the eastern suburbia at the time the train-robbery happened.'). The cards provide information from sources such as newspaper articles, land registry entries or from stories handed down from generation to generation. The clues on the cards are understandably vague as in the last 140 years much information has been lost.

With the help of this vague information, the possible locations of the buildings will be determined and indicated by placing markers. By playing further cards in the course of the game, some of these possibilities will be ruled out and the markers of these locations removed. Once there is just one marker remaining for a building, then the location of that building is determined. This marker will be removed and replaced with the corresponding building. For each marker which is removed, the active player receives one victory point.

Consequently, the more information a player supplies for the reconstruction of Gads Hill, the more points he receives. At the end, when Gads Hill has been rebuilt, the winner is the player who contributed the most towards the reconstruction of the town.

Content

1 game board, 25 different buildings, 110 markers, 60 clue cards, 1 wooden locomotive, rules

Game Board

The game board shows the possible locations of the buildings and of the 3 further fields (black frame) for the railway station, the cemetery and the bison field.

The exact positions of the entrances of the individual buildings are marked. This is important for the placement of the buildings and for understanding the cards.

The railway, the name of the streets and the compass point serve as orientation points.

The railway track serves as counting bar. The locomotive is moved one step forward for each building that has been placed on its determined location.

Board labels: railway, location, entrance, name of the street (e.g. Front Street), location for cemetery, bison field or railway station.

22 + 3 Buildings

There are 22 different buildings adding up with the railway station, the cemetery and the bison field. The latter are placed at the beginning of the game on the designated places where they remain to the end of the game. The 22 buildings are placed in the course of the game.

The actual number of buildings placed (including railway station, cemetery and bison field) is indicated by the locomotive position on the railway track.

Only one building can stand on each space.

Each building has a symbol of the building and an entrance.

110 Markers

There are 5 markers for each building. With the markers the players 'mark' the possible locations of the buildings. Every marker a player collects during the game is a victory point.

The front side of a marker shows the building symbol; the backside is a victory point (showing a 1).

60 Clue Cards

The players receive clues from the cards as to the location of the buildings.

There are three types of cards:

22 Building cards (red, cards 1-22)
16 District cards (orange, cards 23-38)
22 Condition cards (green, cards 39-60)

The possible locations where the buildings could have stood are illustrated with question marks ('?') on the small map on the card.

The small plan of the town on the cards is always decisive for fixing the positions of the buildings!

Each card shows: the symbol of the building, the card type (colour), the name of the building, an informational text, the possible locations on a small map, and the card number.

Preparation

Lay out the board on the table.
Lay out all 22 buildings next to the board.
Sort the markers by their picture and place them face-up on the appropriate buildings.
Place the railway station, the cemetery and the bison field randomly on the three designated places (black frame) on the board.
Sort the cards by type (building cards, district cards, and condition cards) shuffle each type separately and place the piles face down next to the board as three (common) draw-piles.
Place the locomotive on the railway track, pointing towards field "3" (as three buildings have been placed already - railway station, cemetery and bison field).
The oldest player starts the game.
Every player draws 3 building cards, 1 district card and 1 condition card from the piles.
Beginning with the starting player, each player in order first takes and its markers and then each takes a second and places them continuing until the following rules are obeyed:

TIP: In their first game the players should choose the buildings for which they have the building cards (red).

The Game

The active player carries out one of the following actions:

1) The player plays one or two cards from his hand.

The active player places a marker on each possible location as shown on the card, removes markers from the board according to the information (see rules for playing and removing markers, p.10-12) and when possible places buildings (p.13). The player takes all markers that are no longer needed. He places the marker covered in front of him.

When 16 buildings have already been placed in the course of the game, only one card per round can be played out up to the end of the game. (The board's railway track marks field 16 with a "1" symbol.)

2) The player discards two cards.

The player is allowed to take any one marker from the board (p.10-12). If by this action the location of one or more buildings is exactly determined, the player receives all markers that are no longer needed (p.13).

3) If the player cannot play any card or doesn't want to play one, the next player in order continues the game.

Option: The player can 'buy' one new building (from the still available buildings beside the board) by discarding two of his already collected markers. Each player can buy maximum three buildings in the course of the game.
At the end of his turn he draws one new card from the draw-pile.
All played or discarded cards will be placed on the discard pile.
The locomotive is moved one step forward for each building that has been placed on its determined location.
The active player's turn has now ended. Continue in clockwise order. It is now the player to the left's turn.

End of the Game

Once the locomotive counts 22, the game ends. The active player is allowed to finish his turn and place still another building if he can.

The player, who has collected the most points, wins Gads Hill.

Markers still on the board or not yet placed do not count.

In Detail: The Cards

The cards differ in the number of possible places for the building and in the type of information. The information on the cards shows the possible places for the building(s), symbolized by question marks ('?') on the small map on the card.

Building Cards

There are four possible locations where the building could have stood.

The clues on these cards always relate to a specific building: 'The church was...' etc.

The named building does not have to be lying in front of the active player in order to play such a card. This can be a building that is laying in front of another player or next to the board.

NOTE: The building cards can be played from the start since the four possible locations of the building can be marked on the board with four markers. At the end of the game, these cards are often no longer playable.

District Cards

These cards describe the position of 'my building'.

Example: 'My building was in Piedmont St.'

The active player chooses one of his buildings that are lying in front of him.

Example: If the player has the saloon and the bank in front of him, he can play the card as either 'The saloon was in Piedmont St.', or 'The bank was in Piedmont St.'

NOTE: In order to be able to play the district cards, the possible locations (which are 8 at the start of the game) must already have been reduced to 5 or less by the placement of markers or buildings.

Condition Cards

These cards describe the relation between a specific building ('The stable was ...', 'The judge lived...') and 'my building'.

Example: 'The CASINO was in the eastern part of the town next to my building'

Again the player chooses one of his buildings.

Example: If he has the hotel and the doc in front of him he can choose between 'The CASINO was in the eastern part of the town next to the HOTEL' or 'The CASINO was in the eastern part of the town next to the DOC' as the information.

NOTE: The condition cards can be used during the game to define the location of several buildings and so win many points. They are the most powerful cards in the game. However, towards the end of the game they are often in contradiction to the situation on the board.

NOTE: Buildings or markers of other players can be used and placed by any player when the text on the card uses the name of the building. The wording '...my building..' never refers to buildings of other players.

In Detail: 1) Place Markers Rule

a) No markers placed for one building so far

The active player plays a card with information about one (or more building(s) and there are no markers of one of these buildings on the board: The player places the markers of this building on all named places.

If less than five markers are needed the active player will get all unneeded markers. These markers are victory points. He places the covered markers in front of him.

If there are more than 5 possible locations on the board, the card cannot be played in this turn.

Example: The casino or its marker have not been placed yet. The active player plays the card 'Cole Younger is said to have spent the whole day in the CASINO in the Piedmont St.' (A). There are four possible spaces on which the casino could have stood (B). The fifth marker will not be needed. The player can take this marker (C).

Example: The active player now plays the condition card 'The Casino was in the eastern part of the town next to my building' (A).

If the player has the sheriff and the hotel lying in front of him and he decides to use the hotel ('The Casino was in the eastern part of the town next to The HOTEL') (B), he reduces the possible locations.

From the original four spaces for the casino, only two are now possible places, which lie directly next to the hotel (C). Also the four spaces for the hotel north of Iron Mountain Rd. and south of Pietmont St. are ruled out (D). The active player is allowed to take these five markers and so receives five victory points (E).

b) Markers already placed on one space

When one or two markers lie on one space, a new marker can be added.

At the end of a turn no more than three markers are allowed on each building space. If there are already three markers on a building space, a card which requires a further marker on this space cannot be played (for the moment) (p.15).

c) Places with buildings

Is on the place a building placed yet, it is not allowed to place a marker there (at the end of the game on every place there will be one building). The active player receives each marker that cannot be placed.

d) Two places and two buildings

Two spaces each with two markers that are of the same two buildings, and there are no other markers of these buildings on the board.

A further marker of another building may not be placed on either of these two spaces.

Why? In the end, there can only be two buildings on two building spaces (the third would drop out). The active player receives the markers, which thus cannot be placed.

2) Remove Markers Rule

All markers on the board, which are contradictory to the played card, have to be removed by the active player. These markers are victory points.

It is not allowed to remove all markers of one building, though. Thus the card renders unplayable (for the moment).

Markers removed from the board are victory points. It is not allowed to place these markers on the board again.

3) Last Marker

If only a single marker of a building remains on the board, the location of this building is established beyond doubt. The active player replaces the marker with the corresponding building (and receives all other markers from this space). This can be a building that is lying in front of another player or next to the board.

If the position of one or more buildings is established by removing one of the markers, the player is allowed to take all the markers that must then be removed from the board.

Example: The active player plays the district card 'My building was in Piedmont St.' (A). If the casino and the smithy lie in front of the player and he decides to use the casino, the clue becomes 'The CASINO was in the Piedmont St.'. The location of the casino is restricted to the space between Front St. and Oak St. The active player takes the marker from the eastern city limit (B).

Now that there is only one marker for the casino left on the board, its location is definite. The active player can replace the casino marker with the casino building (C). Before doing so he must remove the smithy marker since the definite site of the casino rules this out as a possible position for the smithy (D). The complete game turn brings three victory points (E).

4) Further Rules

1) Information from cards already played

Information from cards that have already been played may not be referred back to. They are no longer applicable for reconstructing the town.

2) Two markers only on one space

When the markers of two buildings lie on one building space and no further markers of these two buildings are on other spaces on the board, the markers will remain as long as a player has confirmed the location of one of these buildings by playing out the appropriate clue card (the marker for the second building is then removed). It is obviously not possible for two buildings to stand on one space.

Example: There is only one marker of the undertaker and the butcher left. When a card is played, which defines i.e. the undertaker to this location, the undertaker building is placed here and both markers are removed. The butcher cannot be placed any longer during this game session.

3) Victory points overseen

Before the next player's turn, another player can call 'STOP', when on the grounds of a logical conclusion, one or more markers can be taken from the board. He explains the situation to the other players and takes the appropriate markers for himself.

4) Draw pile is used up

Should the draw-pile be used up before the end of the game, the already played district cards will be shuffled and placed face-down as the new draw-pile.

5) My building

The district and the condition cards always relate only to the buildings which a player has lying in front of him. As soon as a player has placed 'his' building, it can no longer be used as 'my building'.

In his turn the active player can take one new building by discarding two of his already collected markers. These two markers are removed from the game. The player can choose any still available building beside the board (also the ones with markers already on the board).

6) A card is not playable if...

a) More than 5 markers necessary

There are only 5 markers for each building in the game. Consequently it is not allowed to play a card that will require more than five possible locations for a building.

b) Contradictory to markers or buildings

Cards may only be played when their information does not contradict buildings already placed on the board.

Example: The card Nr.18 'Relevant hints in connection with the train-robbery are to be given to the SHERIFF (corner of Piedmont St. and Main St.).' is a contradictory card. The sheriff building has already been placed South at the corner of Front St. and Piedmont so this information is contradictory to the situation on the board.

c) Maximum 3 markers on one building space

At the end of a turn no more than three markers are allowed on each building space. If there are already three markers on a building space, a card which requires a further marker on this space cannot be played (for the moment).

Example: The card Nr. 19 'The DOC'S entrance was in the Main St' cannot be played, because otherwise there would be four markers on the location (bank, smith, church, casino).

Overview: Buildings and Markers

The 22 buildings: Bank, Barber, Butcher, Church, Courthouse, City Hall, Doc, Drugstore, Hotel, Jail, Casino, Laundry, Newspaper Office, Sheriff, Post Office, Saloon, School, Undertaker, Smithy, Stable, Stage Coach Office, Theatre.

The Railway Station, Cemetery and Bison Field have no markers.