Gatsby
Gatsby Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview & Goal of the Game
The ambitious Dorothy and James are vying for characters from the board.
On their turn, they choose an action to progress and gain advantage over the 3 locations in the game, hoping to rally characters.
To win the game, a player must obtain either 3 of the same suit, or at least 1 of each of the five suits.
If this doesn't happen, the player with the most prestige on the characters they rallied wins the game.
Components
- 1 game board
- 20 Influence tokens + 1 Ascension token (for Dorothy)
- 20 Influence tokens + 1 Ascension token (for James)
- 15 Character tiles (5 suits of 3 characters each) — characters are worth 0 to 3 Prestige points
- 1 double-sided Action token
- 4 Cabaret tiles
- 11 Special Action tiles
- 4 Race Finished overlay tiles
Setup
- Unfold the board and place it in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the 4 Cabaret tiles and place them randomly, face up, in the Cabaret space.
- Shuffle all 15 Character tiles face down and place one on each of the 12 Character spaces of the board: 3 in the Cabaret, 4 in the Finance Center and 5 in the Racetrack. Put the 3 leftover characters in the box, without revealing them. On each of the 3 locations, flip both Character tiles at the edges of each section, as shown on the picture. The icon tells you which characters must be revealed. At the Finance Center and at the Racetrack, after revealing characters, if the character at the bottom has more stars than the character at the top, swap their positions.
- Shuffle all 11 Special Action tiles into a face down pile, near the game board.
- Place the 4 Race Finished overlay tiles nearby.
- Choose who plays as Dorothy and who plays as James, and place yourselves on the relevant side of the board. Take all 20 Influence tokens in your color. Place both Ascension tokens on the lowest space of the Finance Center, on the relevant side of the board.
- Flip the Action token like a coin. Depending on the side it lands on, it will show who starts – Dorothy or James. Give that player the Action token. The first player's opponent draws 2 Special Action tiles, keeps one and discards the other. They place the tile on its dedicated space of the board, on their side. They place one of their Influence tokens on the flower space of their choosing in the Cabaret.
Gameplay & Game Turns
Starting with the first player, you will alternate turns with your opponent, until one of you triggers the game's end.
On your turn, you take one of the actions of the Actions area to gain progress on 1 or 2 locations so that you can rally the characters of those locations. To win the game, you must either have all 3 characters of a single suit, or have at least a character of each of the 5 suits. This puts an immediate end to the game.
If the last character of a location is rallied and none of these victory conditions is met, the game immediately ends. Then the player with the most prestige on their characters wins the game.
Places & Characters
The locations hold the characters you will share with your opponent. Rallying the characters will be different depending on where they are. Whenever you meet a location's condition, you take the corresponding character at the end of the turn, always after resolving all actions. If the character was face down, look at it and keep it face down, in front of you. You may look at it at any point during the game.
On each location, you will find bonus spaces that grant extra effects when you reach them (see Bonuses).
Game Board
The board is divided in 4 areas. All 3 locations (Cabaret, Finance Center and Racetrack) host characters. The Actions area allows you to exert influence over each of the 3 locations thanks to the different Actions. There are 4 main action spaces. Dorothy and James also have a personal space on their side of the Actions area. It receives the Special Action tiles players may obtain during the game.
Character Tiles
Characters are in 5 suits. Each suit can be identified through the background color, and through a symbol in the top left corner of its tile.
Each character is worth 0 to 3 Prestige points. Prestige can determine who the winner is if no one fulfills another victory condition.
Cabaret / 3 characters
"Dorothy and James flutter about, lingering at a table only a few moments, toasting with spectators or conspiring with others. In the dazzle of the cabaret, none of their smiles are lost; they will rally the three patrons of the night to their cause."
To obtain characters in the Cabaret, you must place your Influence tokens on the right spaces!
Forming a continuous path from one edge of the board to the opposite edge with orthogonally adjacent Influence tokens in your color allows you to obtain, at the end of the turn, the matching character.
The bottom character is obtained with the flower spaces. If you occupy all 4 flower spaces with your Influence tokens, you rally the character at the end of the turn.
Each time you place a token in the Cabaret, it must be orthogonally adjacent to another token, whoever the owner of that token is.
Example: Bruno places an Influence token in his color. This allows him to link the upper right side to the bottom left side. He also occupies all 4 flower spaces. At the end of his turn, he rallies the blue character and the face down character.
Finance Center / 4 characters
"Dorothy and James climb the stories of this building. Here, in the beating heart of New York finance, they hope to outpace their opponent and secure the most powerful investors in the country."
At the Finance Center, you make your Ascension token progress in the building, from the bottom towards the top. If your token reaches or moves over a character, you rally them at the end of the turn. Doing so, you will reveal a bonus space your opponent can benefit from, as a compensation, when they reach or move over that space.
Each time your Ascension token progresses in the Finance Center, by any means, you climb 1 space if your token is at the same level or higher than your opponent's Ascension token. If your token is lower than your opponent's, it climbs 2 spaces instead of one.
Example: Christine must move her Ascension token. As she is behind in this track, she moves 2 spaces. This allows her to get ahead of her opponent, and she can use the bonus printed on the empty Character space.
The Racetrack / 5 characters
"In the grandstands of the horse races, Dorothy and James take calculated bets. Choosing the right horse, they draw the attention of rich magnates and weave precious links with the elite."
At the Racetrack, you place your tokens on the tracks to win majorities. Each time you play a token there, place it on a track that is still available, on the leftmost empty space. Once a track is complete, at the end of a turn, the player with the most tokens on that track wins the corresponding tile. It is possible, in a single turn, to complete a track and change the majority of that track, for example with bonuses.
Once the character has been taken, give back all tokens on this track to their owners and place a Race Finished overlay tile on the corresponding track. This track becomes unavailable for the remainder of the game and no one can place any tokens on it.
Example: Ludo must place 2 Influence tokens on 2 different tracks. He places his first token on the last space of the 3rd row. This ensures he will get majority on this track, and he will gain the Character tile at the end of the turn. He also immediately uses the bonus printed on the space he covered. Then he places his second token on the last space of the 5th row. His opponent has the majority there, so they will get the Character tile at the end of the turn. However, Ludo can use the bonus on the space he covered.
Actions
On your turn, place the Action token, showing the side in your color, on one of the available main actions, or on your special action, if you have one.
The player who starts the game places the Action token on any action of their choice. After the first turn, the Action token must be moved on another action space; it cannot stay in place. Thus, you cannot take the action your opponent just took, and the other way around.
If you use your special action, the tile is removed from the game at the end of your turn.
Each Action space indicates in what place(s) and in what order you play your actions.
Cabaret, Cabaret
Place 2 tokens on the Cabaret. The first token you place must be orthogonally (not diagonally) adjacent to another token already in play, whoever the owner of the token is. The second token must be adjacent to the token you just placed.
Note: each time you place an Influence token at the Cabaret, it must be orthogonally adjacent (not diagonally adjacent) to another Influence token in play.
Cabaret, then Finance Center
Start by placing 1 token at the Cabaret. It must be orthogonally adjacent to another token already in play, whoever its owner is.
Then, advance your Ascension token in the Finance Center, towards the top. Your token advances one space if it is at the same level as your opponent's or higher. If it is lower, it advances two spaces.
Finance Center, then Racetrack
Start by advancing your Ascension token in the Finance Center, towards the top. Your token advances one space if it is at the same level as your opponent's or higher. If it is lower, it advances two spaces.
Then place a token at the Racetrack. It must be placed on a row that is still available, and on the leftmost empty space of that row.
Racetrack, Racetrack
Place 2 tokens at the Racetrack. They must be placed on two different rows that are still available, on the leftmost empty space of the row.
If there is only one row left, only place one token.
Bonuses
On all 3 locations, spaces with bonuses can be found. At the Cabaret and the Racetrack, apply a bonus as soon as you place a token on it. At the Finance Center, apply a bonus as soon as you reach it or move over it. These bonuses are always optional.
- Finance Center advance: Your Ascension token advances one space towards the top of the Finance Center. It moves up one space if it is at the same level as your opponent's or higher. It moves up two spaces if it is below.
- Choose your opponent's action: At the beginning of your opponent's next turn, choose which action they must play. It may be their special action, if they have one. The tile must be discarded after use. You may not choose the action you just took this way.
- Swap Influence tokens: Swap one of your Influence tokens with an Influence token from your opponent. You may swap tokens from the same location, or from 2 different locations. Swapping tokens does not reactivate bonuses.
- Place an Influence token: Place one of your Influence tokens at the Cabaret or at the Racetrack. At the Cabaret, it must be adjacent to any token already in play. At the Racetrack, it must be placed on the leftmost empty space of any row of your choosing that is still available.
- Swap 2 characters: Take 2 characters from the board. They can be face up and/or face down, and they can come from different locations. Secretly look at any face down characters, and keep their identity secret. You may then choose to swap their places without changing their state (face up stays face up, face down stays face down). If both characters were face down, do not tell your opponent whether you have swapped them or not.
- Special Action tile: Draw 3 Special Action tiles, choose one and place it in your dedicated space of the board. Discard the 2 other tiles. If you already had a Special Action on your dedicated space, you may keep it or place the newly selected Special Action tile in its place. In any case, you can only have one Special Action tile. Set aside the tile you do not wish to keep. It may be worth 1 Prestige point at the end of the game. Special Actions are described at the end of this booklet.
Game End and Victory
The game ends at the end of a turn, as soon as you or your opponent meet one of these two victory conditions:
- owning 3 characters in the same suit.
- owning at least 1 character of each of the 5 suits.
The player who ended the game this way immediately wins the game.
If the last character of a location is rallied and none of these victory conditions is met, the game immediately ends. In this case, the winner is the player who has the most prestige stars on characters they have rallied. Gain 1 extra Prestige point if you have a Special Action tile on your side of the board, and 1 extra Prestige point for each Special Action tile you have set aside during the game.
In case of a tie, the player with the most characters wins. If the tie persists, play another game to decide the winner.
Special Actions
Except if mentioned otherwise, these special actions must observe the placement rules of the locations.
- Place 2 Influence tokens at the Cabaret. Each must be adjacent to a token in play, but the tokens you place this way do not have to be adjacent.
- Place 3 Influence tokens at the Cabaret. The first must be adjacent to a token already in play. The second one must be adjacent to the first, and the third, adjacent to the second.
- Place 1 Influence token at the Cabaret. It must be orthogonally adjacent to another token already in play, whoever their owner is. Then swap one of your Influence tokens with one of your opponent's Influence tokens.
- Place 1 Influence token at the Cabaret, on the empty space of your choice.
- Place 1 Influence token at the Cabaret, adjacent to a token already in play, whoever its owner is. Then advance your Ascension token in the Finance Center. Then place 1 Influence token at the Racetrack, on the leftmost empty space of an available track. You must take those 3 actions in that order.
- Advance your Ascension token in the Finance Center twice. If the first move puts you on the same level or higher than your opponent, the second move only progresses you one space up.
- Swap 2 Character tiles, then advance your Ascension token in the Finance Center. Finally, swap 1 of your Influence tokens with one of your opponent's Influence tokens. You must take those 3 actions in that order.
- Place 2 Influence tokens on a single available row of the Racetrack, on the 2 leftmost empty spaces.
- Place 3 Influence tokens at the Racetrack on 3 different available rows. If there are less than 3 available rows, only place a token on the available row(s).
- Swap one of your Influence tokens with one of your opponent's Influence tokens. Then place an Influence token on the Racetrack, on an available row, on its leftmost free space.
- Place 1 Influence token at the Racetrack, on an empty space of your choice.