Green Gold Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • General
  • Companies
  • Players
  • Solo Mode
• Setup
  • Main board and office upgrades
  • Players
  • Reserve
  • Setup changes for 3 players
  • Setup changes for 2 players
• Overview and Objective
• Important concepts
  • Companies
  • Workers and depots
  • Shares, share value, and dividends
  • Resources
  • Loans
• How to play
  • 1. Choose an action and worker
  • 2. Perform the action
  • 3. Fulfil contracts
  • 4. Maintenance
• Pigeonholes and office upgrades
• Actions
  • Invest
  • Import
  • Negotiate
    • Contracts
  • Expand
    • Factories
    • Trading posts
    • Passive income from trading posts
  • Serve tea to the crown
    • Refreshing royal order tokens
• End of the game
• Final scoring
  • Royal influence
• Deal tiles

Components

General

• 1 double-sided Main Board
• 1 Office Upgrade Board
• 6 double-sided Supply Tiles
• 12 Deal Tiles
• 3 double-sided Royal Order Tokens
• 6 Headquarters Bonus Tokens
• 6 Shareholder Bonus Tokens
• 47 Contracts (14 of them Starting Contracts)
• 32 Royal Mandates
• 47 Office Upgrades
• 43 Concessions
• 84 Tea Crates (red x18; white x22; green x26; black x30)
• 91 Coins (40 x £1; 27 x £5; 24 x £10)
• 14 Loans
• 1 Dividend Token
• 1 First Player Token
• 1 Score Pad

Companies

• 36 Workers (6 of each colour)
• 1 Workers Bag
• 24 Factories (4 of each colour)
• 6 Share Value Tokens (1 of each colour)
• 6 Royal Supplier Tokens (1 of each colour)
• 30 Shares (5 of each colour)

Players

• 4 Personal Boards
• 4 Pawns (1 of each colour)
• 16 Trading Posts (4 of each colour)
• 24 Agents (6 of each colour)
• 4 Player Aids

Solo Mode

The powerful Carrington Co. company has established itself as one of the most influential trading firms in the British Empire. Its agents dominate the City, its Factories stretch across the East, and its shareholders control a large part of the global tea trade.

In Solo Mode, you will compete against this great trading company for control of trade routes, the most lucrative contracts, and the favour of the Crown. Will you manage to surpass Carrington and become the most prosperous merchant in the Empire?

• 1 Rulebook
• 7 Deal Tiles (A, B and C type)
• 6 Action Cards

Setup

The changes for 2 and 3 players are detailed at the end of this section.

Main board and office upgrades

1. Place the Main Board in the centre of the table on the 3/4 player side.
2. Mix the Workers in the Workers Bag and randomly place 3 in: A. Each Active Depot. B. The Central Depot. C. Each Reserve Depot. Place the Workers Bag next to the Board.
3. Place the Dividend Token on space 0 of the Dividend Track.
4. Place 1 random Supply Tile, on either side, in each city space and fill it with the corresponding Tea Crates.
5. Place 1 random Deal Tile in each city space. Return the remaining tiles to the box.
6. Take 1 Factory of each colour and randomly place 1 in each city space (A). Arrange the rest in the Factory Reserve in columns by colour (B).
7. Group the Shares by company in the spaces of their colour.
8. Place 1 random Shareholder Bonus Token in each space.
9. Place 2 random Share Value Tokens in each white space of the Share Value Track.
10. Place the Office Upgrade Board next to the Main Board. Shuffle the Upgrades and place the deck face up next to the £2 cost space. Then fill the spaces from lowest to highest cost using the top cards of the deck.
11. Place 1 random Headquarters Bonus Token in each space.
12. Shuffle the Starting Contracts: place 1 random Contract face up in each space (A), deal 1 to each player (B), and return the rest to the box. Finally, shuffle the remaining Contracts and form a face-down deck next to the Board (C).
13. Shuffle the Royal Mandates and place 1 random Mandate face up in each space (A). Place the rest in a face-down deck next to the Board (B).
14. Place 1 Royal Order Token, on either side, in each space.
15. Place the Royal Supplier Tokens next to the Board.

Players

16. Take a Personal Board: it represents your office.
17. Choose a colour and place: A. 1 Agent in each space on your Board. B. 1 Trading Post in each space on your Board. C. The Pawn next to your Board.
18. Take £7 and 1 Concession.
19. Give the First Player Token to the player who most recently drank tea.

Reserve

20. Create a general reserve with the Concessions, Tea Crates, Coins, and Loans. These components are considered unlimited; if any run out, use a suitable substitute to represent them.

Setup changes for 3 players

Apply these changes during Setup:

• Step 3. Place the Dividend Token on space 1 of the Dividend Track.
• Step 7. Group 4 Shares per company instead of 5.
• Final Step. Once Setup is complete, place the Pawn of an unused colour on the "Invest" Action: it will act as a neutral Pawn during the game.

Setup changes for 2 players

Before starting, return all components of the grey colour company (East Co.) to the box. Then apply these changes during Setup:

• Step 1. Place the Main Board on the 1-2 player side.
• Step 7. Group 3 Shares per company instead of 5.
• Step 8. After placing the Shareholder Bonus Tokens, return the remaining Token to the box.
• Step 9. Place 1 Share Value Token in the leftmost white space and 2 Tokens in each of the other two spaces.
• Step 11. After placing the Headquarters Bonus Tokens, return the remaining Token to the box.
• Final Step. Once Setup is complete, place the Pawn of an unused colour on the "Invest" Action and the Pawn of another unused colour on the "Serve Tea to the Crown" Action: both will act as neutral Pawns during the game.

Overview and Objective

In Green Gold, you compete to successfully run your tea trading office in Victorian London. Throughout the game, you will select workers to perform different actions, such as importing tea, expanding companies, opening trading posts, negotiating in the City, fulfilling contracts, investing in the stock market, or serving tea to the Crown. These actions will allow you to gain resources, improve your office, and access new business opportunities.

The game ends when the Dividend Token reaches the last space of its track or when the available Shares of 3 companies have run out. After the final scoring, the player with the most money wins the game.

Important concepts

Companies

There are 6 tea-producing companies, each identified by a colour. All components of that colour (Workers, Factories, Share Value Tokens, Royal Supplier Tokens, and Shares) belong to the company, not to the players. The colour you choose for your office is independent and serves only to identify your own components (Pawn, Agents, and Trading Posts).

Workers and depots

Workers are the driving force of the game. They are distributed among different Depots on the Action Wheel of the Main Board: the Active Depots, the Central Depot, and the Reserve Depots. Using your Pawn, you will choose an Action and take 1 Worker from an adjacent Active Depot, then place it on your Board.

The colour of the Worker determines which Action affects.

Shares, share value, and dividends

Each company has a Share Value, represented by its Share Value Token, which increases when tea from that company is imported, the company is expanded, or its Shares are purchased. Each time a Share Value Token passes the vertical line between the icons, dividends are paid to its shareholders: they earn £2 for each Share they own in that company.

The Dividend Token advances 1 space each time dividends are paid. The game ends when it reaches the last space of the track.

The game also ends when all available Shares from 3 companies have been purchased (3 will be visible).

Resources

There are 3 types of resources in the game: money (£), Concessions, and Tea Crates.

All transactions involving money and Concessions are carried out with the reserve, whether earning or paying money, or gaining or returning Concessions. You never pay money or give Concessions to other players.

Earn/pay the indicated amount of pounds.

Tea Crates are obtained from cities when importing tea and, in some cases, from the reserve. When you receive them, place them in the warehouse on your Board. When you must return them, return them to the reserve.

Your warehouse has a maximum capacity of 7 Tea Crates. If you gain more than you can store, you can freely reorganise your warehouse and decide which Crates to return to the reserve.

Loans

If at any time you do not have enough money to pay, you must take a Loan. You cannot voluntarily take a Loan if you have enough money.

Receive £5 for each Loan you take. At the end of the game, you must subtract £8 for each Loan you have.

How to play

Green Gold is played in turns, starting with the First Player. On your turn, perform the following steps in order:

1. Choose an Action and Worker
2. Perform the Action
3. Fulfil Contracts (optional)
4. Maintenance

After completing your turn, play passes clockwise to the next player, and so on until an end-game condition is met.

1. Choose an action and worker

At the start of the game, your Pawn is next to your Board. On your first turn, place it on an Action. On subsequent turns, you must move it to a different Action from the one it currently occupies.

If the Action you choose contains other Pawns, pay £1 for each of them.

In 2-player and 3-player games, if the Action contains a neutral Pawn, after making the payment you must move that Pawn clockwise to the next empty Action.

Then take 1 Worker from 1 of the 2 Active Depots adjacent to the Action. If you prefer a Worker from a different Active Depot, you may pay to reach it:

• £1 if it is 1 Depot away.
• £2 if it is 2 Depots away.

Distance is measured from either of the 2 Depots adjacent to the Action, whether to the left or to the right.

Finally, place the Worker in a Pigeonhole on your Board. This allows you to gain Office Upgrades. For a detailed explanation, see the Pigeonholes and Office Upgrades section.

2. Perform the action

Perform the chosen Action.

Remember: The colour of the Worker determines which company the Action affects.

The available Actions are:

• Invest
• Import
• Negotiate
• Expand
• Serve Tea to the Crown

For a detailed explanation, see the Actions section.

3. Fulfil contracts

Check whether you can (and want to) fulfil 1 or more Contracts on your Board.

For each Contract you fulfil:

A. Return the required Tea Crates. B. Receive the indicated money and bonuses.

Contracts are resolved one at a time, in any order you choose. After fulfilling them, remove them from your Board and place them face up to one side (some Royal Mandates score fulfilled Contracts).

4. Maintenance

Refill empty spaces:

• In the City: reveal new Contracts from the deck until there are 6 available again.
• In the Royal Supplier area: reveal new Royal Mandates from the deck until there are 3 available again.
• In the cities: if 1 or more cities have no goods remaining, refill their Supply Tiles with the corresponding Tea Crates.
• In the Office Upgrades area: slide any remaining Upgrades to the right to fill the gaps, then refill the empty spaces from lowest to highest cost using the top cards of the deck.

If an Active Depot is empty, refill it following this sequence:

Empty Active Depot → Central Depot → First Reserve Depot → Second Reserve Depot → Workers Bag

Each Depot is refilled with all Workers from the Depot before it, except the Second Reserve Depot, which is refilled with 3 random Workers from the Workers Bag.

Some Depots may contain fewer than 3 Workers due to certain game effects.

Pigeonholes and office upgrades

After taking a Worker from an Active Depot, you must place it in a Pigeonhole on your Board.

Your Board has 4 vertically arranged Pigeonholes. The first and third have capacity for 2 Workers; the second and fourth, for 3.

You must place the Worker in the first Pigeonhole, starting from the top, that does not contain any Workers. However, if a Pigeonhole already contains a Worker of the same colour, you must place it in that Pigeonhole.

If all Pigeonholes are occupied and the Worker does not match any of the colours, return it to the Workers Bag, but still perform the Action as normal.

When you complete a Pigeonhole, you may gain an Office Upgrade. To do so, choose 1 of the 3 available Upgrades and pay its cost (£0, £1, or £2). Then return all Workers from that Pigeonhole to the Workers Bag. If you complete a Pigeonhole during the "Choose an Action and Worker" step, remember the colour of the Worker taken from the Active Depot, as it determines which company is affected by the Action you will perform next.

Each new Upgrade may be used as soon as you add it to your Board. Its effect indicates when it applies, and its use is always optional.

Office Upgrades are placed in the 4 slots on the right side of your Board. Each slot represents a row where you may add Upgrades.

When you gain an Upgrade, place it in a row of your choice:

• If the row is empty, place the Upgrade in the slot.
• If the row already contains at least 1 Upgrade, place the new one on top of the previous Upgrade, covering it and cancelling its effect, but leaving visible the money it grants at the end of the game.

Each row may contain a maximum of 3 Upgrades.

Actions

The icon of each Action appears both on the Action Wheel and in various areas of the Boards to help you easily identify the main areas affected by each Action. Additionally, the Share Value icon appears on the wheel next to the actions "Invest," "Import," and "Expand" to remind you that these actions cause an increase in Share prices.

All effects are mandatory unless stated otherwise. You must choose a Worker whose colour allows you to complete the Action.

Invest

Become a shareholder in the different companies by purchasing their Shares.

A. Take 1 Share of the Worker's colour by paying its Share Value. B. Increase the company's Share Value by 1 step. If it has already reached the maximum value (£26), it does not increase further. C. Gain the Shareholder Bonus associated with the Share.

Import

Import Tea Crates from company Factories located in different cities in order to fulfil your Contracts.

A. Purchase Tea Crates in 1 or more cities containing Factories of the Worker's colour. Pay the price shown on the Supply Tiles and place the Crates in your warehouse. You may pay with money, Concessions, or a combination of both:

• 1 Concession allows you to purchase 1 black or green Tea Crate.
• 2 Concessions allow you to purchase 1 white or red Tea Crate. B. Increase the company's Share Value by 1 step regardless of the Crates purchased. C. Optionally, before or after purchasing Tea Crates, you may return 1 Concession to activate the Deal Tile of 1 of the cities containing a Factory of the Worker's colour.

Negotiate

Send your Agents to the City to do business with the companies and secure new Contracts.

A. Place 1 of your Agents in the Headquarters of the Worker's colour in the City.

• If there is already an Agent in the Headquarters, whether yours or another player's, move it to the Tea Break area in order to place yours.
• If you have no available Agents remaining, use 1 currently in the Tea Break area.

In the unlikely event that all your Agents are already in the City, you cannot perform this Action or gain any of its benefits.

B. Gain the bonus associated with the Headquarters. C. Take 1 of the 2 adjacent Contracts. D. Gain 1 Concession. E. Earn £2 for each Agent you have in the City (including the one you just placed) and £1 for each Agent you have in the Tea Break area.

Contracts

Contracts are placed in the 3 slots on the left side of your Board. If you have no space remaining and gain a new Contract, you may discard it or discard 1 you already have in order to place the new one.

Expand

Contribute to the growth of the companies by opening new Factories in cities, and to your own commercial development by establishing Trading Posts.

This Action is divided into two parts: Factories and Trading Posts. Perform both in any order.

Factories

A. Take the top Factory from the column matching the Worker's colour in the Factory Reserve and place it in a city with an empty space and without a Factory of that colour. B. Increase the company's Share Value by the number of steps indicated by the row of the Factory in the Factory Reserve. C. If the city's Supply Tile has empty spaces, refill them immediately with the corresponding Tea Crates.

Trading posts

A. Take the top Trading Post from your Board, earn the money indicated to its right, and place it in a city with an empty space where you do not already have a Trading Post (the Worker's colour is ignored). If you have no Trading Posts remaining, earn £4 instead, as indicated on your Board. B. Gain the bonus you cover.

Passive income from trading posts

Earn £1 each time another player performs 1 of these Actions in a city where you have a Trading Post:

• Taking at least 1 Tea Crate.
• Activating a Deal Tile.

Calculate your income separately for each city. If a player performs both Actions in the same city, earn £2 from that city.

Serve tea to the crown

Serve Queen Victoria her favourite tea and gain benefits to develop your business.

A. Take 1 Tea Crate from a city containing a Factory of the Worker's colour and place it on an empty Royal Order Token. You cannot serve a type of tea already present on the Tokens. B. Gain the bonus you cover. C. Earn money according to the variety served:

• £3 for red tea.
• £2 for white tea.
• £1 for either green or black tea. D. Take 1 available Royal Mandate and keep it visible near your Board. It represents an end-game scoring objective. E. Advance the Royal Supplier Token of the Worker's colour by 1 step.
• If the Token is outside the track:
  • If the track is empty, place it in the first position.
  • Otherwise, place it in the position of the lowest Token on the track and move that Token down 1 step. If it was in the fifth position, remove it from the Board.
• If the Token is already on the track, place it in the position of the Token immediately ahead of it and move that Token down 1 step.

Refreshing royal order tokens

If all 3 Royal Order Tokens are occupied when completing the Action:

• Return the Tea Crates to the reserve.
• Flip the 3 Royal Order Tokens.
• Discard the available Royal Mandates and reveal 3 new ones.

End of the game

The end of the game is triggered when, at the end of a player's turn, either of these conditions is met:

• The Dividend Token has reached the last space of the track.
• The available Shares of 3 companies have run out.

Finish the current round and play 1 additional round, after which final scoring takes place. During these final rounds, dividends may still be paid as normal even if the Token has reached the end of the track.

Final scoring

Royal influence

Before proceeding with final scoring, apply Share Value increases to the companies according to their positions on the Royal Supplier Track. Do not remove the Royal Supplier Tokens afterwards. These increases do not trigger dividend payments even if the Share Value Tokens pass the vertical line between the icons.

Use the Score Pad to calculate your earnings from the following:

A. Cash: add the money you possess at the end of the game. B. Royal Mandates: add the money granted by your Mandates.

Some Mandates are of the "majority" type and grant money according to your position (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th). Only you score the Mandates of this type that you possess; the other players are considered only to determine your position. In the event of a tie for a position with 1 or more players, earn the money from the next lower position.

C. Office Upgrades: add the value of all Upgrades on your Board. D. Shares: add the final Share Value of each of your Shares. E. Majority Shareholder: earn £6 for each company in which you are the player with the most Shares. In the event of a tie in a company with 1 or more players, no one earns anything. F. Remaining Resources: add the Tea Crates in your warehouse and your Concessions; earn £1 for every 2 Resources. G. Debt Payment: subtract £8 for each Loan you have.

The player with the greatest accumulated fortune is declared the most prosperous merchant and wins the game. In the event of a tie, the tied player with the most Shares wins. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.

Deal tiles

1. Gain 1 Concession for each different Share colour you own.
2. Earn £2 for each Office Upgrade on your Board.
3. Earn £2 and advance a company's Share Value by 1 step.
4. Immediately fulfil 1 of your Contracts by returning 1 fewer Tea Crate than required.
5. Take 1 available Royal Mandate.
6. Take 1 available Contract and place an Agent in the City but gain only the Headquarters bonus.
7. Take 1 available Office Upgrade.
8. Gain 1 Tea Crate from the reserve.
9. Earn £1 for each Share you own and advance 1 Royal Supplier Token by 1 step.
10. Exchange 1 of your Shares for another available one by paying the difference in Share Value between them. You do not gain the Shareholder Bonus of the new Share, nor does its Share Value increase. Place the returned Share in its corresponding space on the Main Board.
11. Gain 2 different Shareholder Bonuses.
12. Discard 1 of your Contracts. When you do so, take 1 available Contract and 1 Tea Crate from the city where this Tile is located.