Global Mogul
Global Mogul Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Wooden Markers (168) — Agent Markers (108): 27 cubes in each of 4 colors. Action & Control Markers (60): 15 disks in each of 4 colors.
- Company Cards (40) — Each card shows Victory Points, Market Name & Company Type, Card Cost, Resource Credit, Card Effects, and Position in Deck (marked on the card back).
- Contract Cards (47) — Private (27) and Government (20). Each card shows the Contract Type, Position in Deck, the resources required to complete it, the payout in dollars when completed, and its Victory Points.
- Market Cards (32) — Each card shows the Market Name, Region, Victory Points, Investment Level (the cost to invest and the resource produced at each level), and Position in Deck.
- Tiles (4 Tile Sheets)
- Produce Tiles: 24 each of 1-2, 3-4, 5-6.
- Money Tiles: 25x $10s, 25x $20s, 20x $50s.
- Resource Tiles: 24 each of blue collar workers, white collar workers, lumber, oil, technology, gold.
- Miscellaneous Tiles: Turn #, 1st Player, Unused, Used, MR: 1st, MR: Last.
- Display Sheets (7) — Base Game on one side, Standard on the other. Game Displays (3) and Player Displays (4).
Game Idea
Invest in markets to gain access to resources (blue collar workers, white collar workers, lumber, oil, technology and gold) and victory points (VPs). VPs are gained through control of markets at the end of the game. Produce or purchase resources to complete contracts, which generate cash and VPs. Buy companies to provide you with unique abilities. Obtain cash by taking venture capital, completing a contract, taking a grant or selling resources.
Players have a limited number of actions each turn—5 in the Base Game and 3 to 6 in the Standard Game—and 18-27 agents (represented by colored cubes) to mark investments, companies and contracts.
Players alternate choosing actions from among the following: investments (in open or emerging markets), contracts (private or government), companies, production, resource market, venture capital, grant, and market research. Each player may take each action only once each turn.
Investments in Open Markets & Emerging Markets — Allows you to invest in either open markets (which produce resources that turn if you later choose the production action) or emerging markets (which, once invested, become open markets at the end of the turn). You may make a primary investment in 1 or 2 spaces in a market and a secondary investment in 1 space in the same or a different market.
Private Contracts and Government Contracts — Allows you to take (or, for government contracts in the Standard Game, auction) one of the available private or government contracts. The contract lists the resources needed to complete the contract to earn the indicated payout and VPs. When taking a government contract, you receive an advance bonus payment of $10 for each government contract you previously completed.
Production — Each of your investments in open markets produces one corresponding resource.
Companies — Allows you to take (Base Game) or auction (Standard Game) a company. Each company provides a special power, may provide a resource credit towards fulfilling contracts, and is worth 1 or 2 VPs at the end of the game.
Resource Market — Allows you to sell up to 5 resources and buy up to 5 resources.
Venture Capital — Allows you to collect and pay off venture capital.
Grant — Collect $10 and add 1 agent to your stock.
Market Research — Add 0-2 agents to your stock. In the Standard Game, one player may choose to take an action first or last on the following turn.
Global Mogul includes both a Base Game and a Standard Game. The game mechanics are similar in each version, although the Standard Game uses auctions for companies and government contracts, allows players to earn additional actions, provides for more competition in controlling markets, and allows market research to take an action first or last on the following turn.
The game is playable by 1-4 players. Playing time is about 2 hours. For 2 players, the playing time is about 1 hour. The solitaire version plays in 30 minutes.
Base Game
The rules in this section describe the Base Game, which is recommended until players get comfortable with the game mechanics.
At the end of each subsection, rules are included for a Learning Game, a simpler version of the game that concentrates on the basic game mechanics of investment, production of resources, fulfilling contracts, taking grants, accessing venture capital, and using the resource markets.
Initial Set Up
Pick a color (blue, green, red, yellow) & take:
- A set of 15 "disks:" 5 are used as action markers and 10 are used as control markers.
- A set of 27 "cubes" (representing your agents): 20 agents start in your stock, and 7 agents start on the extra agents section of your player display.
- A Base Game player display.
- A set of 18 produce tiles (3 for each resource, numbered 1 to 6).
- $20, 1 blue collar worker, and 1 lumber.
You use your player display to track the actions you take during a turn. In addition, you use it to keep track of the resources that your investments will produce when you take a production action. Each player display also summarizes the available actions and VPs.
Use the Base Game game display that corresponds to the number of players. Place it in an accessible spot. Place the indicated number of resources on each of the "discount" circles (dotted borders).
Randomly determine the starting player. Each player except the player going first takes an extra resource:
- The player going second takes oil,
- The player going third takes technology,
- The player going fourth takes gold.
Resources are represented by corresponding resource tiles; when you are directed to take a resource, take a resource tile.
Pass the starting player marker clockwise after each turn. Place the 1st player marker next to the available action space of the player moving first.
Card Decks
There are 4 separate card decks: private contracts, government contracts, markets, and companies.
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Private contracts are marked "A," "A/B" and "B." Place each group in a separate stack and shuffle each stack. Randomly add 4 A/B private contracts to the 8 A private contracts to get an A deck of 12 private contracts and add the remaining 7 A/B private contracts to the 8 B private contracts to form a B deck of 15 private contracts.
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Government contracts also are marked A, A/B and B. Place each in a separate stack and shuffle each stack. Randomly add 4 A/B government contracts to the 6 A government contracts to form an A deck of 10 government contracts and add the remaining 4 A/B government contracts to the 6 B government contracts to form a B deck of 10 government contracts.
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Market cards are marked A or B. Sort the markets into A and B decks and shuffle the A markets to form an A markets deck.
Note: If the A market deck is exhausted before the beginning of turn 4, use the B market deck. If the B market deck is exhausted, shuffle and use all discarded market cards to form a new market deck.
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Company cards are marked A or B. Sort the companies into A and B decks and shuffle the A companies to form an A companies deck.
Set aside each of the B decks. They will be used at the end of turn 3.
To Start the Game
- Turn over 4 cards from the A private contracts deck. Those are the starting, available private contracts.
- Turn over 3 cards from the A government contracts deck. Those are the starting, available government contracts.
- Turn over 5 cards from the A companies deck. Those are the starting, available companies. (Only turn over 4 cards in a 2- or 3-player game.)
- Turn over 5 cards from the A markets deck. Those are the open markets to start the game. Group the markets in columns for each of the 4 regions (America, Asia, Europe, and Middle East/Africa). (Only turn over 4 cards in a 2- or 3-player game.)
- Turn over 5 additional cards from the A markets deck. Those are the emerging markets to start the game. Group each emerging market by region above the column for the same region of open markets. (Only turn over 4 cards in a 2- or 3-player game.)
Place private contracts, government contracts and companies below the player display. Place the open and emerging markets below the companies.
Learning Game
Form A decks for markets, private contracts, and government contracts. Do not use companies.
From the A private contracts deck, turn over 4 cards. From the A government contracts deck, turn over 3 cards. Those are the available contracts to start the game.
From the A markets deck, turn over 4 open markets and 4 emerging markets. (Only turn over 3 open and 3 emerging market cards in a 2-player game.)
Agents and Markers
Agents are used to mark private and government contracts, companies, investments and venture capital. You start with 20 agents in stock and 7 agents in the extra agents space on your player display.
Action markers are used to mark actions taken during a turn. To start the game, place 5 action markers in the 5 available actions spaces in the starting actions box on the left side of your action chart.
If you do not have an agent in stock and need one or more, you may remove agents from investments in markets ("investment agents") and use them elsewhere. Players do not get credit for the investment once the investment agent is removed. Agents may not be removed from companies, private or government contracts (until the contract is completed) or the venture capital chart (unless a venture capital funding is paid off).
Control markers are unlimited and are used to indicate control of a market or region. (If you run out of control markers, use another type of marker, e.g., coins.)
Learning Game
Agents are not used to mark contracts.
Playing the Game
Each turn, the starting player takes 1 action and then the next player takes an action until all players have taken 5 actions that turn. A player may only take the same specific action once each turn.
The following actions are available on a turn: investment in emerging markets, investment in open markets, private contracts, government contracts, companies, production, resource market, venture capital and grant.
Selecting an action gives you the option to take that action; you may decide not to take that action. When you select an action, slide one of your action markers to the square below the action selected. At the end of the turn, slide the action markers back to the starting actions box.
Example: Eric (yellow) chooses the private contract action. He slides an action marker to the private contract space on his player display. At the end of the turn, after he has taken all of his actions, he slides all of his action markers back to the starting actions box.
Learning Game
You have 4 actions each turn. You choose from the following actions: open market investment, private contracts, government contracts, production, resource market, venture capital and grant. The emerging markets investment, companies, and market research actions are not used in the Learning Game.
Investments
Markets
Markets are countries or areas in which you may invest. Each market has 3-5 investment spaces and each investment space has a corresponding resource. Each investment space costs between $10 and $50.
Open markets in which you have investment agents produce resources for you if you choose the production action. Emerging markets do not produce resources in the current turn but at the end of the turn invested emerging markets become open markets and produce resources the next turn.
When you make an investment, choose a resource in a market, pay the cost of the investment listed under the resource, and place an agent on the amount paid to mark the investment. To keep track of investments as they are made, first place an investment agent below the investment cost and once all investments have been made, pay the cost of the investments and slide the investment agent to cover the investment cost.
Investments may be made in any order in a market.
If all of the investment spaces in a market are occupied, the market is full and no further investments may be made there. Access investments are only used in the Standard Game.
Investment in Open Markets
When investing in an open market, you may make:
- A primary investment of 1 or 2 agents in one open market; and/or
- A secondary investment of 1 agent in the same or a different open market.
You may invest up to 3 agents in any open markets, except they cannot be placed in 3 different markets.
Example: Tom (red) has $60 to invest. United Kingdom, Italy, Iraq, Argentina and Indochina are open markets available for investment. He makes a primary investment of $50 in United Kingdom to invest in the $20 blue collar worker and the $30 oil and $10 for a secondary investment in the $10 oil in Iraq.
Note: Tom could not invest in the $20 blue collar worker in United Kingdom, the $10 blue collar worker in Indochina, and the $10 oil in Iraq because he cannot invest in 3 different markets.
For each open market investment made, mark the corresponding resource on your player display by placing the applicable produce tile (#) on the resource. If you own a production company, include the extra resource in marking the resources produced.
Note: The produce tiles just help you keep track of what you produce—they do not limit the number of resources that you can produce.
Example: In the previous example, Tom would place a "2" produce tile next to the oil icon in the resource production section of his player display and a "1" produce tile next to the blue collar worker icon. If Tom later invests in another blue collar worker, he would change the 1 to 2. Similarly, if Tom acquired the Blue Collar Production Company he would place a 2 produce tile next to the blue collar worker icon.
Investment in Emerging Markets
Investments in emerging markets use the same mechanics as investments in open markets. When investing in emerging markets, you may make:
- A primary investment of 1 or 2 agents in one emerging market; and/or
- A secondary investment of 1 agent in the same or a different emerging market.
You may invest up to 3 agents in any emerging markets, except they cannot be placed in 3 different markets.
After making an investment in an emerging market, do not mark your production track until after you choose the production action or the emerging market becomes an open market at the end of the turn.
At the end of the turn, move any emerging markets in which an investment occurred to the open markets (grouped with other markets from the same region). Emerging markets that do not receive any investments remain as emerging markets, except if no investment occurred in any emerging markets that turn, all of the emerging markets are discarded and the emerging markets are refilled.
Draw 1 or more market cards as necessary to refill to the starting number of emerging markets (5 in a 4-player game and otherwise 4).
Example: Tom chooses the emerging markets investment action and has $40 available. The emerging markets are Russia, Singapore, China, Central America and France. Tom makes a primary investment of $20 in Central America in the $10 blue collar worker and the $10 lumber and a secondary investment of $20 in Singapore in the $20 technology. At the end of the turn, Central America is moved to the America open markets and Singapore is moved to the Asia open markets. Russia, China, and France remain as emerging markets and 2 replacement emerging markets are drawn.
At the end of turn 3, before drawing replacement emerging markets, discard the A market deck and use the B market deck.
At the end of the last turn, any invested emerging markets become open markets; any emerging markets without investments are discarded. Do not draw replacement emerging markets.
Learning Game
Open market investments follow the same rules as in the Base Game.
You may not make emerging market investments.
At the end of each turn, all emerging markets become open markets. At the end of each turn, redraw to the starting number of emerging markets. Do not draw emerging markets at the end of the fifth or sixth turn.
Control
Market Control
If you have at least 2 investment agents in a market and have more investment agents there than any other player, you control the market. Place one of your control markers on the control circle on the market to indicate control.
If you and another player each have 2 investment agents in the market, whichever one of you has the most investment agents in all markets in the region controls the market. If still tied, whichever one of you has an investment agent further to the right side of the market card, controls the market.
Example: In the example at the bottom of page 6, Tom would place a control marker on United Kingdom to indicate control because he has 2 investment agents there. He would not place a marker on Iraq because he only has 1 investment agent there.
At the end of the game, you receive between 1 and 5 VPs for each market you control—as indicated on the market card.
Major markets (China, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States) have 5 investment spaces. They also award 1-3 VPs for secondary control and 1 VP for having a presence.
- To have secondary control you must have 2 investment agents in the market but not have control. Place a round marker on the secondary control circle in the market to mark secondary control.
- To have a presence in a major market, you must have only 1 investment agent in the market. Place a round marker on the presence circle in the market to mark the presence. Multiple players may have a presence in a major market.
Secondary markets (Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Turkey) have 4 investment spaces and also award 1-2 VPs for secondary control.
Control of markets may change during the game. When market control changes, move or replace your control markers accordingly.
Example: Beth (blue) makes an open market investment of $70, making a primary investment of $50 in United Kingdom in the $20 lumber and $30 white collar worker and a secondary investment of $20 in the blue collar worker in Italy. Beth now controls United Kingdom and Tom has secondary control. Both she and Tom have 2 investment agents in United Kingdom, but Beth's investment agent in Italy gives her a total of 3 investment agents in Europe to Tom's 2. Tom has secondary control because he has 2 investment agents in a major market but does not have control. Beth places blue markers to mark control of United Kingdom and Europe and Tom places a red marker in United Kingdom to mark secondary control there.
Note: if Beth made her secondary investment outside of Europe, Tom would retain control of United Kingdom because he and Beth each have 2 investment agents in Europe and Tom has the investment agent further to the right on the card (the $30 oil). If either Tom or Beth invests in the remaining $30 white collar worker in United Kingdom that player would control United Kingdom, regardless of how many investment agents they have in Europe, because that player would have 3 investment agents in United Kingdom to the other player's 2. If a different player invests in the remaining $30 white collar worked in United Kingdom, that player would have a presence and would get 1 VP if the investment agent is still there at the end of the game.
Region Control
At the end of the game, if you control the most markets in a region, you control the region and receive 3 VPs. If you control the region with the most markets, you receive an additional 3 VPs.
If you and another player each control the same number of markets in the region, whichever one of you has more agents in all markets in the region wins the tie. If still tied, whichever one of you controls more market control VPs in the region wins the tie. If still tied, the tied players each get 1 VP.
To track region control during the game, for each region place a control marker of the player who controls the region between the region's open markets and emerging markets.
Example: Tom (red) makes an open market investment of $60, making a primary investment of $60 in Italy in the $30 blue collar worker and the $30 white collar worker. Tom now controls Italy and since Tom now has more investment agents in Europe than Beth, Tom also controls both United Kingdom and Europe. Tom switches the red and blue control markers in United Kingdom to signify he now has primary control and Beth has secondary control. Tom also replaces the blue control marker signifying control of Europe with his red control marker.
Learning Game
Market and region control follow the same rules as in the Base Game.
Private Contracts
When you choose the private contracts action, take a private contract, place it in front of you and place an agent in the square box in the upper right hand corner of the contract. The agent is returned to you when you complete the contract and cannot be removed before that time.
Example: Eric chooses the private contract action. He takes the Apartment Complex contract, places it in front of him and places an agent on the contract's square box.
Whenever during your turn you meet a contract's manpower and resource requirements, you immediately may choose to collect on the contract. (Exception: when purchasing resources at the research market you must complete all of your purchases before completing a contract.) Turn in the required resources (less any credits provided by companies) and collect the payout in cash. Turn the contract card face down; it is worth the indicated VPs at the end of the game. You are not required to complete a contract when you can, but you may collect on a contract only when it is your turn. It does not take an action to complete a contract.
Example: Eric has 2 lumber and 2 blue collar workers. He turns in those resources to complete the contract, collects $20, places the contract face down in front of him and returns the agent marking the contract to stock.
If you have the resources on hand to complete a contract immediately, you may do so, but you must first use an agent to mark the contract. If you take a contract but do not have an available agent to mark the contract, you must remove an investment agent to mark the contract.
You must complete private contracts by the end of the game or you are in breach. If in breach, you do not get paid for the contract and lose VPs equal to the number of VPs you would have been awarded if you completed the contract. In addition, you are considered to have completed 0 private contracts when awarding bonus VPs. Also you cannot remove the agent marking any uncompleted contract.
At the end of each turn, discard all of the unselected private contracts and draw new private contracts to be available to be selected the following turn.
- At the end of turns 1 and 2 turn over 4 replacement private contracts from the A private contracts deck.
- At the end of turn 3, before turning over the replacement contracts, discard the A private contracts deck and use the B private contracts deck.
- At the end of turns 3, 4, and 5, turn over 5 replacement private contracts from the B private contracts deck.
All private contracts are drawn at some point during the course of the game.
Learning Game
Private contracts follow the same rules as in the Base Game, except when taken you do not mark them with agents, and you do not lose VPs for breaching a private contract.
Government Contracts
When you choose the government contracts action, follow the same rules and mechanics as private contracts, except immediately after selecting a government contract, you receive an advance bonus payment of $10 for each government contract you have already completed.
You must complete government contracts by the end of the game or you are in breach. If in breach, you do not get paid for the contract and lose VPs equal to the number of VPs that would have been awarded if you completed the contract. In addition, you are considered to have completed 0 government contracts when awarding bonus VPs. Also you cannot remove the agent marking any uncompleted contract.
At the end of each turn, discard all unselected government contracts and draw 3 new government contracts to be available to be selected the following turn.
At the end of turn 3, before turning over replacement contracts, discard the remaining card from the A government contracts deck and use the B government contracts deck.
All but 2 of the government contracts are drawn at some point during the course of a game. 1 government contract is not drawn from the A deck and 1 is not drawn from the B deck.
Learning Game
Government contracts follow the same rules as in the Base Game, except when taken you do not mark them with agents, you do not lose VPs for breaching a government contract and you do not receive a bonus payment for government contracts previously completed.
Companies
When you choose the companies action, take one of the available company cards, pay the purchase price of the company ($10, $20 or $30) and place one of your agents in the square box in the upper right hand corner of the card. The agent may not be removed. If you do not have an available agent in stock, you must remove an investment agent and use it to mark the company.
Companies allow you to do something not otherwise allowed by the rules, are worth 1 or 2 VPs at the end of the game, and may provide a resource credit to fulfilling contracts. Resource credits are indicated by a plus sign on the company. Company resource credits may be used for more than one contract each turn and multiple company credits may be used for each contract.
Example: Beth has 1 blue collar worker, 3 lumber and 1 oil. She also has the Truck Fleet and Hospital contracts and owns the New Market Research Company (which provides a blue collar worker credit) and the United Middle Eastern & African Investment Company (which provides an oil credit). She turns in 1 blue collar work and 2 lumber to complete the Hospital and 1 lumber and 1 oil to complete the Truck Fleet. She receives $40 for completing the Hospital and $30 for completing the Truck Fleet. She returns the 2 agents marking the contracts to her stock.
You do not receive the benefit of the company until after you have paid for it and marked it with an agent. If by purchasing a company you immediately complete a contract, you may collect on the contract after you pay for the cost of the company and mark it with an agent.
The name of each company indicates the type of company and the benefit it provides. Bonus companies provide a bonus; capital companies provide a venture capital advantage; contracting companies allow you to take an extra contract; investment companies provide an investment advantage; procurement companies provide a resource procurement advantage; production companies provide an extra resource of a type you already produce; and research companies provide a research advantage.
Generally benefits from companies may be combined. However, under no circumstances may you take more than 2 private contracts in a given turn. If you take two private contracts, each contract must be marked with an agent before either of them can be fulfilled.
Procurement company sales and purchases do not count against sale purchase limits in the resource market, but can only be used (in whole or in part) once per turn. When you purchase a procurement company, the Discount Capital Buyout Company, or the Surplus Agent Bonus Company, you receive a "Used/Not Used" marker. When you use the company, flip the marker to the Used side and, for procurement companies, at the end of the turn flip it back to the Not Used side. You may buy resources using a procurement company and sell the same resources at the resource market later in the same turn.
At the end of each turn, after turning over replacement companies, discard all unselected companies and draw new companies to be available to be selected the following turn.
- At the end of each turn, reveal 5 replacement companies in a 4-player game—4 in a 2-player or 3-player game.
- At the end of turn 3, before turning over replacement companies, discard the A companies deck and use the B companies deck.
Learning Game
Companies are not used in the Learning Game.
Production
If you choose the production action, take 1 corresponding resource tile for each of your open market investments.
Example: Tom chooses the production action and has investment agents in the $10 blue collar worker and the $20 gold in Indochina and the $10 blue collar worker in Argentina. He takes 2 blue collar resource tiles and 1 gold resource tile. If he has investment agents in other open markets, he would collect resources for those investments as well.
Important: Emerging markets do not produce resources until they become open markets.
Learning Game
Production follows the same rules as in the Base Game.
Resource Market
If you choose the resource market action, you may sell and buy resources at the resource market.
First, choose which resources to sell. You may sell up to a total of 5 resources in the resource market each turn. The sales price is one-half of the current purchase price. Sum up the value of all sold resources before collecting your money. There are no $5 chips in the game; if your selling value ends in a "5", drop the $5 payout ($35 becomes $30; $5 pays nothing). You must complete all resource market sales before making purchases. You may use proceeds from sales to purchase resources.
Second, choose which resources to buy. You may buy up to a total of 5 resources in the resource market each turn. Each resource may be purchased at a discounted price as long as the discounted resources are available. Remove the discounted resources as they are purchased; do not replace them, even if another player later sells the same type of resource. Once all of the discounted resources have been purchased, the purchase price becomes the base price. Oil and gold have two discounted prices; use the lower price as the purchase price as long as there are resources available at the lower price.
The resources purchased may be of any type, except you cannot buy the same type of resource you sold that turn. You must complete all resource market purchases before completing a contract using resources purchased from the resource market that turn.
Example: Eric needs 3 oil to complete the Commuter Rail contract. He has 3 extra lumber and a technology to sell. He would get $5 for each lumber and $10 for the technology, so he decides to sell 2 lumber and the technology and collects $20. Selling the extra lumber would not get him any extra money—any $5 amount is dropped. Eric then buys 3 oil. The first two cost him $10 each (exhausting the discounted $10 oil) and the third costs him $20, for a total of $40. If he chooses, Eric can buy up to 2 more resources, but he cannot buy lumber or technology because he sold those resources earlier that turn. Note Eric cannot cash in the contract until after he completes all of his resource market purchases.
Learning Game
The resource market follows the same rules as in the Base Game except players may sell and buy an unlimited number of resources each turn.
Venture Capital
If you choose the venture capital action, you may raise venture capital and pay off prior venture capital fundings.
When you raise venture capital, mark the next higher open space on the venture capital chart with an agent from stock and collect the amount indicated. The next player to raise venture capital follows the same procedure and collects the amount indicated on the next higher open space on the venture capital chart.
Example: Tom (red) and Beth (blue) each previously raised $20 in venture capital and have an agent on the two $20 spaces in the venture capital market chart. Kevin (green) chooses venture capital, places an agent on the next higher open space (the first $30 space) on the venture capital chart and collects $30.
Only 1 agent may be placed on each space on the venture capital chart, except the $80 space, where an unlimited number of agents may be placed. The maximum amount of venture capital that can be raised is $80 (before the effect of any capital companies). Once any player places an agent on the $80 space, all players obtaining venture capital thereafter also place an agent on the $80 space.
When you take a venture capital action you may also (or instead) pay off one or more prior venture capital fundings by paying the amount of the original venture capital funding (i.e., par) plus a $10 return for investors for each prior funding. Otherwise, players may not remove agents from the venture capital chart (except as allowed by the Discount Capital Buyout Company). The agents paid off are returned to the player for immediate use. You may use new venture capital to pay off old venture capital and use the same agent to mark the new venture capital.
When a prior venture capital funding is paid off, the space on the venture capital chart remains blank. The next player to raise venture capital collects the amount indicated on the next highest open space after the current highest space containing an agent.
Example: Tom wants to raise venture capital and pay off prior fundings. The next highest open space is $80. He has agents on a $20 space, a $40 space and a $60 space. He moves the agent on the $20 space up to the $80 space and collects $50 ($80, less the $20 prior funding and less the $10 return).
Alternatively, Tom could have moved the agent on the $20 space to the $80 space, repaid both the $20 and $40 prior fundings for $80, and received 1 agent back. If he paid an additional $70 in cash he also could repay the $60 funding and receive a second agent back.
When receiving venture capital, add the $10 bonus from the International Capital Company and/or the $20 bonus from the Global Capital Company (once you have paid for and marked the company). The bonus amounts do not affect the cost of repayment (i.e., repayment still costs par plus $10).
When using the Global Venture Capital Company to take two venture capital actions, place the second agent on the next higher space on the venture capital chart.
Payoff of prior investments allowed by the Discount Capital Buyout Company may occur at any time (not just when a venture capital action is taken).
Learning Game
Venture capital follows the same rules as in the Base Game, except players may repay prior fundings at par (i.e., without having to pay a $10 return on each prior funding.)
Grant
If you take the grant action, collect $10 and place 1 agent from your extra agents into your stock of agents.
Learning Game
Grants follow the same rules as in the Base Game.
Market Research
If you take the market research action, place two agents from your extra agents into your stock of agents.
Learning Game
Market research is not used in the Learning Game.
End of the Game
After the final turn of the game, additional VPs are awarded within several categories. The player with the most VPs will be the winner.
Control
Market Control — For each market, the player who controls the market receives the VPs indicated on the market card.
- In major markets, players who have secondary control and players who have a presence also get VPs.
- In secondary markets, players who have secondary control also get VP(s).
Region Control — For each region, the player who controls the most markets in the region receives 3 VPs.
Control of Region with Most Markets — The player who controls the region with the most number of markets receives 3 VPs. If two or more regions are tied for the most number of markets and are controlled by different players, the controlling players each receive 1 VP for each tied region. If two or more regions are tied for the most number of markets and are controlled by the same player, the controlling player receives 3 VPs.
Note emerging markets in which no investments have been made are discarded on the last turn. So the region with the most markets is determined by including all open markets (whether or not they currently have any investments) plus invested emerging markets.
Contracts
Completed Private Contracts — Each completed private contract is worth the number of VPs indicated on the private contract.
- Breached Private Contracts — If you fail to complete (breach) a private contract by the end of the game, subtract the contract's VPs from your score.
Most Private Contracts — The player who completes the most private contracts receives 3 VPs. If two or more players are tied, they each receive 1 VP.
- Any player who breaches a private contract is considered to have fulfilled 0 private contracts and is ineligible to receive the most private contracts VPs.
Completed Government Contracts — Each completed government contract is worth the number of VPs indicated on the government contract.
- Breached Government Contracts — If you breach a government contract, subtract the contract's VPs from your score.
Most Government Contracts — The player who completes the most government contracts receives 3 VPs. If two or more players are tied, they each receive 1 VP.
- Any player who breaches a government contract is considered to have fulfilled 0 government contracts and is ineligible to receive the most government contracts VPs.
Companies
Company VPs — Each company is worth the number of VPs indicated on the company card.
Most Different Type Companies — The player with the most different types of companies (bonus, capital, contracting, investment, procurement, production, and research) receives 3 VPs. If two or more players are tied, they each receive 1 VP.
Venture Capital
Fewest Venture Capital Agents — The player with the fewest agents on the venture capital chart receives 3 VPs. If two or more players are tied, they each receive 1 VP.
Money
Each $50 is worth 1 VP.
Tiebreakers
The first tiebreaker is whichever tied player has the most left over cash on hand (after converting cash to VPs). The second tiebreaker is whichever tied player moved later on the first turn.
Other Rules
Each player is a cutthroat global mogul who would never dream of collaborating with, giving suggestions to, or threatening another player. No negotiations, deals, lobbying, or threats of any kind are allowed!
All money, resources and the number of completed contracts (but not the VPs awarded) are visible to all players.
Learning Game
Follow the same rules as in the Base Game, except: you do not lose VPs for failing to complete a contract, and VPs are not awarded for companies.
Standard Game
Once you have mastered the Base Game, play the Standard Game for additional challenges. Use the rules for the Base Game except as indicated below.
There are four key differences between the Base Game and the Standard Game.
- You only have 3 actions to start the game. You earn additional actions the first time you complete a private contract, the first time you complete a government contract, and the first time you have at least one investment agent present in each region.
- Companies and government contracts are auctioned.
- If you have an agent there, you may make access investments even if all of the investment levels in a market are full. Access investments do not produce resources but affect control.
- You may choose the market research action to move first or last in addition to add extra agents to your stock.
Initial Set Up
Use the Base Game set up with the following modifications:
- Take a Standard Game display.
- Place 18 agents in your stock. Place 9 agents on the extra agents section of your player display.
- Place 3 action markers on the available actions spaces marked "S" on the action chart. Place an additional action marker in each of the gray spaces marked: private contract, government contract, and region presence.
You start with $20, 1 blue collar worker and 1 lumber.
After the initial cards have been dealt, each player other than the player moving first chooses 1 additional resource, in reverse turn order, starting with the player moving last. You may choose any type of additional resource that another player has not already chosen.
Action Markers
You start the game with 3 action markers. You receive an additional action marker:
- When you complete your first private contract;
- When you complete your first government contract;
- The first time you have at least 1 investment agent in each of the 4 regions.
When you qualify for an additional action, move the action marker from the gray box to the available actions, where it is available later that turn. If you later remove an investment agent from a region so you do not have an investment agent in each region, you do not lose the extra action marker.
Players may have a different number of actions. Play continues in clockwise order until all players have taken all available actions.
After all players have taken all available actions, the turn ends and action markers are returned to the starting actions box, except agents in market research used to go 1st or last next turn.
Access Investments
You may make one or more access investments as part of either an emerging market or open market investment, if:
- You have an investment agent in the market, and
- All investment slots in a market are filled, or if you choose to invest in a market but not in a resource in the market.
Access investments do not affect production, but do affect control. The cost of access investments is listed on the market card. For each access investment, place an investment agent on the bottom of the market card, from left to right, in the order the investment is made (so a later, more recent access investment is to the right of an earlier access investment). Access investments are subject to normal investment rules, but there is no limit to the total number of access investments that may be made by all players in a market.
Market Control
To determine control of a market use the Base Game requirements modified for access investments:
- If you have at least 2 investments (including access investments) in a market and you have the most investments in the market, you control the market.
- Otherwise, if you and one or more other players are tied for the most investments in that market (at least 2):
- Whichever one of you has the most investments in the other markets in the same region controls the market.
- Otherwise, if still tied:
- Whichever one of you made the last access investment (i.e., has an access investment farthest to the right on the market card), controls the market.
- Otherwise, if there are no access investments, whichever one of you has the investment farthest to the right on the market card controls the market.
Secondary Control
Only one player can control of a market and only one player can have secondary control. After determining which player controls a market (secondary or major), use the same process (see above) to determine which of the remaining players has secondary control.
Presence
You have a presence in a major market if you have at least 1 investment in that market and you do not have control or secondary control.
Example: Tom (red) and Beth (blue) each has 2 investments in China and Eric (yellow) has 1. China is an open market and the only Asian market in play. Beth currently controls China because she has the investment furthest to the right. There are no more investment spaces open so Tom places a new agent as an access investment. He now controls China because he is the only player with 3 agents in China. Eric also makes 1 access investment to take secondary control from Beth; they both have 2 investment agents in China but Eric wins the tie because he has the last access investment. All three players can place more agents as access investments when taking a future open market investment action. But, Kevin (green) may not because he has no investments in China. If Beth needed an agent elsewhere and removed one from China, Kevin could make an open market investment on the space Beth vacated and then make one or more access investments, subject to normal investment rules.
Auctions
Auctions take place when you select the company action or government contracts action. You are not charged for an action unless you are the successful bidder.
When you select one of these actions, place the action marker on the action symbol (rather than in the space below the action symbol).
If you are the successful bidder, slide the action marker into the space.
If another player is the successful bidder, that player places an action marker on the corresponding space on the player's action chart and you choose the same or a different action.
If you acquire a company or government contract on another player's turn, you take your next turn in turn order and continue to do so until you run out of action markers.
Government Contracts (Auction)
When you select the government contracts action, you pick which government contract to auction and make an opening bid of either $0 or any amount divisible by $10 (up to your current cash on hand plus any available venture capital). Bidding proceeds clockwise and must be at least $10 higher than the last amount bid. All players who have not taken a government contract that turn and have an available action remaining may bid. Once you pass you are out of the bidding. The player with the highest bid pays that amount and is awarded the contract.
Only the player who successfully bid on a government contract uses an action and marks the government contract action on the player's action chart.
If the moving player is not the successful bidder, the player immediately takes another available action (including bidding for another government contract if there is one).
The advance bonus payment paid for government contracts is paid immediately after the selecting player pays any auction bid amount. The advance bonus payment cannot be applied to reduce or pay for the auction bid.
Companies (Auction)
When you select the company action, you pick which company to auction and make an opening bid. Use the same bidding procedures used for government contracts, except the minimum bid is the price of the company indicated on the company card.
Market Research
When you take the market research action in the Standard Game, you may:
- Add two of your extra agents to your stock; OR
- If no other player has chosen to do so this turn:
- Add one of your extra agents to your stock and reserve the first action of the next turn; OR
- Reserve the last action of the next turn.
Market Research Actions
If you use your market research action to add 2 extra agents to your stock, just place your action marker in the market research space on your player display.
If you added 1 agent and reserved the 1st action of the next turn, place the "MR: 1st" marker in the market research space on your player display AND place your action marker in the "Next Turn: 1st" space on the game display.
If you reserved the last action of the next turn, place the "MR: Last" marker in the market research space on your player display AND place your action marker in the "Next Turn: Last" space on the game display.
Reserving the 1st or Last Action
If you reserved the 1st or last action, when you return your other action makers to your available actions section, move that action marker to the corresponding (1st or Last) "Current Turn" space. Also remove the "MR: 1st" or "MR: Last" marker.
A Reserved 1st Turn
If you have an action marker on the "Current Turn: 1st" space, you must use that action marker to take the first action of the current turn. After you have resolved that action, players take actions in normal turn order.
A Reserved Last Turn
If you have an action marker on the "Current Turn: Last" space, you must use that action marker to take the last action of the current turn. After all players (including yourself) take all other actions in normal turn order, you take the final action of the turn.
Example: In a 3-player game, Beth is the first player as the turn starts. The normal turn order is Beth–Eric–Tom. On the prior turn, Eric (yellow) reserved the 1st action and Beth (blue) reserved the last action. Each player has 6 actions.
So, Eric places his "Current Turn: 1st" action marker on the private contracts space and takes one of the private contracts. Then, Beth (the normal first player) takes her action, followed by Eric, and then by Tom.
Play continues until all action marker on the player displays have been placed and those actions are resolved. Then, Beth uses her action marker on the game display to take the final action.
The sequence of actions is: Eric (using his "Current Turn 1st" action marker), Beth–Eric–Tom, Beth–Eric–Tom, Beth–Eric–Tom, Beth–Eric–Tom, Beth–Eric–Tom, Tom (Eric & Beth have no normal actions left), Beth (using her "Current Turn Last" action marker).
End of Game
Players score VPs in the same way as the Base game, except players get 1 VP for a presence in a major market if they have at least 1 investment agent there and do not have control or secondary control.