Irondale Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Cards
  • Building Types
  • Build Cost
  • Building Names
  • Building Abilities
  • Building VP
  • Combo Plans
• Playing Irondale
  • Phase 1: Draw Cards
  • Phase 2: Build
  • Phase 3: Combo Plans and Scoring
  • Phase 4: Upkeep
• End of the Game
• Example of Building and Scoring

Setup

Shuffle all the cards that share a common back (the card backs come in three colors: brown, green and blue) and place them beside the play area as three piles, one for each back color.

From the blue pile, remove these four cards: Grinder's Mill (windmill), Guild Hall, Dormitory and Artisan's Abode. Place these four buildings face up in the middle of the play area, as shown in the illustration.

The youngest player takes the first turn. Play proceeds clockwise.

Cards

In Irondale each card represents a building that can be built. Each card carries several pieces of information:

• Overall plan (combo plan)
• Building type
• Build cost
• Picture
• Building name
• Building ability
• Victory points (VP)

At the start of a player's first turn, that player draws 1 card from the blue pile, 1 card from the brown pile and 2 cards from the green pile, and takes them into hand.

Players may hold up to 5 cards in hand. If drawing would take a player past the hand limit, the player must discard before drawing. No player may have more than 5 cards in hand.

Building Types

Each building belongs to one of the building types: Commons, Academia, Improvements or Dwellings.

• Improvements
• Commons
• Academia
• Dwellings

Build Cost

Each building has a build cost. The build cost is the number of other cards the player must have in hand in order to build that building.

Building Names

Each building has a name. A player may build several buildings with the same name during the game. Some building abilities require a building of a particular name.

Building Abilities

Each building has at least one ability. Abilities take effect when that building is built, or when another building is built next to it. When determining the effect of a building's ability, the ability always refers to the player who built that building, or to the player who built the building beside it. If several abilities take effect at the same time, the player decides the order in which they resolve.

Building VP

Each building has 4 VP values, one for each of the four building types.

When a player builds a building, that player gains VP depending on which building the new building is placed next to. If a building is placed next to several buildings, the player may choose which of them to score, but scores from only one of those buildings.

Side note as printed: for this building, placing it next to an Improvements or Academia building scores 0 points, but placing it next to a Commons or Dwellings building scores 2 points.

VP are recorded using the card backs (see Scoring below).

Combo Plans

Each building has a combo plan showing two building types. If, during its build phase, a player builds two buildings of the types shown on a card's combo plan, that player may reveal the card and discard it as a reward. The player then chooses one additional reward:

• 2 extra VP
• Draw 2 cards
• 1 extra VP and draw 1 card

Playing Irondale

Irondale is played over a number of turns. Once Irondale contains a certain number of buildings (the number depends on the player count), each player takes one more turn, and then the game ends. A player's turn is divided into the following phases, which are carried out in this order:

1. Draw cards
2. Build
3. Combo plans and scoring
4. Upkeep

Phase 1: Draw Cards

During the draw phase, a player may spend VP to draw cards. To do this, the player announces the number of cards to draw, reduces their score by that number, and draws that many cards from any of the three piles into hand.

If a player has 2 or fewer cards in hand and has no VP to spend on drawing, that player draws cards for free until they have 4 cards in hand.

Phase 2: Build

During the build phase, a player may build up to 2 buildings from their hand.

To build, the player selects one buildable building card from their hand and places it next to any building already on the table. The player then resolves the ability of the building just built and the ability of any building(s) next to it. The player decides the order in which the abilities resolve.

The first building a player builds may be placed next to any building already on the table. The second building the player builds must be placed next to a building that is beside the first building, or next to the first building that player built this turn.

Phase 3: Combo Plans and Scoring

Combo plans. After building, the player checks whether a card in hand has a combo plan matching the two building types the player built during the build phase. If so, the player may reveal that card and discard it, and then choose one reward: 2 extra VP, draw 2 cards, or 1 extra VP and draw 1 card.

Scoring. The player adds up all VP gained during the build phase. The player then takes the top card(s) from any pile and records their score on them, using as few score cards as possible. For example, if a player has gained 5 points, the player takes one green card and places it showing 5.

Phase 4: Upkeep

During the upkeep phase, the player first adds up their VP and rearranges their score cards so that as few as possible are used. The player then returns some of the remaining cards to the bottom of the discard pile of their matching color. Finally, the player counts the number of buildings in Irondale. When this phase is over, the player's turn ends and the player to their left takes the next turn. (Translator's note: the Setup section says play proceeds clockwise, while this sentence says the next turn passes to the player on the left. The source is printed this way and has not been changed.)

Example of upkeep: A player has one card worth 3 points and one card worth 2 points. During upkeep, to combine 3 and 2 into 5, the player takes one 5-point card and returns the 3-point card and the 2-point card. The returned cards are placed at the bottom of the pile matching their color.

End of the Game

During a player's upkeep phase, if Irondale contains at least a certain number of buildings (16 in a 2-player game, 22 in a 3-player game, or 28 in a 4-player game), each player takes one more turn and then the game ends.

The scores are then compared, and the player with the most VP wins the game. In a tie, the player with the most cards in hand wins.

Example of Building and Scoring

The player has 4 cards in hand. As their first building, the player builds Pauper's Chapel next to Embassy, and increases their hand limit by 2 until the end of their next turn. The player then uses Pauper's Chapel's ability to discard 3 cards and draw 4 cards.

Next, the player builds Academy next to Grinder's Mill and Pauper's Chapel. Using Academy's ability, the player draws 3 cards; using Grinder's Mill's ability, the player draws 1 card; and using Pauper's Chapel's ability, the player discards 1 card and draws 2 cards. Because drawing the second card from Pauper's Chapel would take the player over their hand limit, the player first discards 1 card.

Pauper's Chapel is worth 2 points, and Academy is worth either 2 or 3 points. The player chooses 3 points. The player takes one green card and sets their score to 5. The player ends the turn with 5 points and 7 cards in hand (2 more than usual, because of Embassy's ability).