Lords of Vegas: Americana
Lords of Vegas: Americana Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Atlantic City
When we think about America's Favorite Playground, we think of that breath of acrid coastal air from the Jersey shore. We imagine thick accents of people named Pauly D and Snooki. We think of an aging Burt Lancaster running his numbers game as he looks out for casino waitress Susan Sarandon. We think of the hoods who blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night. His house too. We think it's time to put some money down in Atlantic City.
Components: Atlantic City board, 5 Ferris wheels.
Setup Changes
Put the appropriate colored Ferris wheels on the piers next to their discard piles.
Gameplay Changes
All rules from Lords of Vegas apply, with the following changes:
The Boardwalk is the Strip. Atlantic City is densely populated, so some blocks are connected to each other; A, B, and C blocks start connected, as do D, E, and F blocks. You can sprawl from A block to B block, for example.
Blocks may also be connected and expanded by alleys. The board has two sets of alleys into which casinos can be sprawled. The pink alleys inset next to B and E blocks, and between C and D blocks, are used for any number of players. The orange alleys next to A, C, D, and F blocks are only used with 5 and 6 players.
Alleys don't have property cards; they can only be sprawled into from neighboring spaces for $15 million. Any die placed in an alley is immediately set to a value of 1, and always resets immediately to that value if anything changes it. Any lot marker placed on an alley is immediately returned to its owner. Tiles in alleys can connect C block and D block, making it possible to connect the entire board.
If a casino ends up with dice in only its alleys, return its tiles and dice.
Example: Yellow sprawls from his brown casino on B5 into the neighboring alley, paying $15 million and placing a die set to 1.
Turn Changes
In Atlantic City, you can gain color monopolies, which make sprawling cheaper. You gain a monopoly for a color when you become the boss of the largest casino(s) in that color (including casino tiles and risers). If you gain a monopoly, take the Ferris wheel of that color.
You lose a monopoly if another player ties or surpasses your casino's size in its color. If you lose a monopoly, after the event that caused the loss resolves, put the Ferris wheel back (or give it to the player that now qualifies for the monopoly).
Example: Blue builds the game's first gold casino on D3. She takes the gold Ferris wheel from Steel Pier, signifying the gold monopoly. On the next turn, Red remodels a purple casino on C10 and C11 to gold and takes the gold Ferris wheel from Blue. On Blue's next turn, she raises her casino, tying Red's casino at 2 tiles. Red must return the gold Ferris wheel to Steel Pier.
Action – Raise
An alley casino tile can be raised just like all other casino tiles but you must raise the entire casino together, including the alley tiles.
Example: Yellow has raised his brown casino on B5 and B6 with a riser under each tile. Yellow sprawls a brown casino on the alley next to B5 and must raise it as well for $30 million.
Action – Sprawl
The cost to sprawl into an alley is $15 million. Since an alley doesn't have a build cost, this replaces the normal rule of "twice the listed build cost" for alleys only.
Check if you have a monopoly in a color before you sprawl in that color. If you do, you get a $5 million discount. If you are sprawling to a numbered space, subtract $5 million from the doubled cost on the board. If you are sprawling to an alley, it costs $10 million.
Example: Green is the boss of a silver casino on D8 and E1 and has the silver monopoly. Green wants to sprawl into D7 and the alley next to E1. Sprawling into D7 costs her $7 million — twice D7's $6 million cost, minus her $5 million monopoly discount. Sprawling into the alley costs her $10 million for the sprawl, rather than the normal $15 million.
Strategy: The sprawl action is the only way to build a casino in an alley spot, which is otherwise safe — there are no property cards for alleys, so no one will take one away from you. Sprawling into alleys is a great way to get extra dice for your battle for control, while keeping the costs for reorganization low. Of course, this keeps the cost low for your opponents also. Maybe you can just work something out on the side instead?
Action – Reorganize
When you reorganize a casino that includes alley spaces, you roll those dice as normal, but remember that whenever you place a die on an alley tile, always place it as a 1.
Example: Yellow reorganizes the 3-tile casino on B block and the neighboring alley, rolling three 4s. He places 4s in B5 and B6 but must reset the die for the alley space to a 1.
New Orleans
Imagine it, the casino lobby said: riverboats like in Mark Twain's day, plying the Mississippi bearing gamblers aplenty. I like the cut of your jib, the legislators said, but no jibs would be cut.
All the boats the casinos built were firmly attached to land, and never went anywhere except into bankruptcy. But we want to play in the dreamworld sold to the legislature, where your fortunes float beside the New Orleans docks. Imagine it.
Components: New Orleans board, 5 riverboats.
Setup Changes
The Strip is Tchoupitoulas Street (pronounced cha-puh-TOO-less). The spaces on the other side of the board are called dockside spaces, because they border six docks (numbered 1–6) where the casino groups' riverboats will go. A riverboat is a 1-square casino that moves along the Mississippi River. Each riverboat has a spot called a wheelhouse for the highest die on the boat, and a cabin for any other dice on the boat. These dice let their owners collect income and score points when casinos of their color would normally do so.
Each dock has 1, 2, or 3 slips, each of which can moor 1 boat. (A, B, and E block can fit 1 boat, D and F can fit 2, and C can fit 3.) After dealing property cards, randomly order the boats and then roll a die for each boat. Put the boat in the topmost unoccupied slip on that dock; if the dock is full, roll again. (In a 2-player game, you shut off F block and its dock, so reroll any 6's.)
After determining who will go first and dealing property cards, players put 1 die on each boat. Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player places a die with a 5 on it in the wheelhouse of a boat of their choice.
Then, starting with the last player and going counterclockwise, each player chooses a direction heading either up or down the docks from the boat with their 5 die. They place a die on each other boat, the first set to 4, the second set to 3, the third set to 2, and the fourth set to 1. Wrap around the board if needed. After every player has a die on each boat, if any boat has a tie for highest die, resolve any such ties by roll-offs, and put the highest die on each boat in its wheelhouse.
Example: The players roll a 6 for the Tivoli, placing it in F block's first slip. Then they roll a 2 for the Sphinx, placing it in B block's only slip. They roll a 1 and 6 for the Vega and Pioneer, which they moor in A block's slip and F block's second slip. Then they roll a 2 for the Albion, but B block's only slip is occupied, so they reroll a 3, slotting the boat into C block's first slip.
Green will go first. She has a lot on C block, so she puts her 5 die on the Albion's wheelhouse. Blue puts a 5 die on the Tivoli, then Red puts a 5 die on the Vega. Red then chooses to go downriver, placing a 4 on the Sphinx, a 3 on the Albion, a 2 on the Tivoli, and a 1 on the Pioneer. Blue goes upriver, playing a 4 on the Albion, a 3 on the Sphinx, a 2 on the Vega, and then wraps to put a 1 on the Pioneer. Green puts a 4 on the Sphinx, a 3 on the Vega, a 2 on the Pioneer, and a 1 on the Tivoli. Green's 2 gets the prize seat in the Pioneer's wheelhouse. But there's a conflict on the Sphinx, which has two 4s as its highest dice. The tied players roll off, Red getting a 6 and Green getting another 4. Red puts the 6 in the Sphinx's wheelhouse.
Gameplay Changes
All rules from Lords of Vegas apply, with the following changes:
A boat counts as 1 casino tile for paying and scoring purposes, even though it contains multiple dice. The captain is the highest die in the boat, and if the boat is unattached to a land casino, the captain is the boss of the 1-tile casino. All other dice are crew. When the boat's casino color comes up, all dice on the matching boat are paid as normal. The captain die will also score 1 point if the boat is unattached to a land casino. If it is attached to a land casino, the boss of the united casino gets the points, regardless of whether their highest die is on land or the boat.
A player can't have more than 1 die on a boat. A die can only leave a boat when a player trades it or pulls it off when they don't have a die in their supply to fill a new tile. A die on a boat is available for trading regardless of whether it is the captain die. A boat without any dice in it stays in its slip and can never move again.
Riverboats can move and join with land casinos. Any time you roll dice on a boat joined with a land casino, roll the boat dice and land dice separately. In a reorganization or other contest for control, dice on boats stay on boats, and dice on land tiles stay on land. (Consider having one player roll the land dice and another roll the boat dice.)
Turn Changes
At the start of a turn, after scoring and paying lots and casinos of a specific color, reroll the captain die for the matching boat and resolve ties. If the boat is joined with a land casino, this may require rerolls for who is the boss of the united casino.
After the captain's die is rerolled for any reason, or the captaincy changes for any reason, the captain may move the boat to any unoccupied slip. If this occurs due to an action such as a reorganization, complete the entire action before moving the boat. (Note that a trade is not an action, so a boat could move in the middle of a trade.)
When a boat arrives at a dock, it joins with any casinos of that color that are dockside on its block, regardless of which slip it's in. One boat can join with multiple dockside casinos on the same block if they are all the same color, regardless of their heights.
When a boat moves, it severs its connection to any land casino tiles of its color on its previous block. If the boat was connected to multiple casinos, they will become independent, which might affect captaincy and/or casino boss status.
Example: The Sphinx is docked on C block. Green is in its wheelhouse with a 4 and is the boss of her 5 die in C3. Green has a 2 in C9 and Blue has a 4 in C8. At the start of Red's turn, lots and gold casinos pay and score. After collecting her money and 5 points, Green rolls her captain's die and gets a 1. Red and Blue's 3s on the Sphinx roll off for the captaincy, with Red winning with a 4 over Blue's 2. He moves the Sphinx away from C block to the first slip on D block, where he is the boss of a gold casino. That severs the connection to the casinos on C block. Green still is the boss of the risen casino on C3, but Blue is the boss of the 2-tile casino at C8 and C9.
Example: At the start of Green's turn, she draws a gold card. After paying and scoring lots and gold casinos, Red rerolls his captain 6 die on the Sphinx and gets a 3. This gives Green's 4 the captaincy of the Sphinx. She docks it in C block's second slip, where it merges with a 2-tile gold casino in C8 and C9 and a 1-space gold casino on C3 with a riser, making a 5-tile casino.
For purposes of actions and other events, boats are casinos but not tiles. They only count as casino tiles for purposes of paying and scoring.
Action – Sprawl
The captain of a boat can sprawl from the boat, as long as they are the boss of their casino (including any currently merged dockside casino spots).
Action – Remodel
Boats never change color. When a casino boss takes a remodel action, they do not pay for or affect an attached boat in any way. Any remodel will sever a boat's connection to a casino, possibly causing a leadership change on land. If the boat's captain is the boss, they can still remodel the casino, even though it will sever the boat's connection to the land casino.
Example: Red is the captain of the Sphinx, which has moved to D block and merged with a gold casino on D8 and D9. But there are no gold tiles left, and Red wants to sprawl to D7 so he touches the Strip. He pays $10 million — not $15 million, since the boat doesn't count — and remodels the casino to purple, causing the Sphinx to sever its connection to the casino.
Action – Reorganize
The cost to reorganize a boat is $5 million, regardless of what dice are on it. If it's merged with a casino, it must be reorganized as part of the casino. All dice on the boat roll at once; boat dice stay on the boat and land dice stay on land. If the boat is connected to a land casino, keep rerolling ties until there is both a captain's highest die on the boat and a boss's highest die in the connected casino and boat. (These will often be the same die.) The captaincy is not settled until all rolling is done. Reroll any ties for the boss and captaincy at the same time.
Example: After winning the Albion's captaincy from Green on her turn, Blue moves it to D block's second slip, merging it with Red's 3-tile purple casino there. Blue has a 4 on the boat, but Red has two 5s and a 4 on land. Blue pays $19 million to reroll the merged casino — $14 million for the dice on land and $5 million for the boat. Blue rolls the 3 dice on the boat and Red rolls the 3 dice on land. Red rolls two 4s and a 1, and Blue rolls a 2 for herself, a 3 for Red, and a 4 for Green. Green now has the highest die on the boat but is still in a tie with Red for boss of the casino. Red rolls the two 4s on land and Green rolls her die on the boat. Red gets two 5s, but Green gets a 6, meaning that she regains the captaincy and becomes the boss of a casino she never paid a dime to be in. That's life in the Big Easy.
Action – Raise
Boats never get risers. They connect to any land casinos of their color regardless of height and can merge casinos of differing heights. When raising a casino, you must raise all tiles to the same height. Regardless, the boat only counts as 1 tile, not the height of the neighboring casinos.
Example: Green regains control of the Sphinx and moves it back to C block, merging with the two gold casinos there, the one at C3 having a riser. She has $30 million and wants to raise C3 again, but she can't do so without raising the connected casinos at C8 and C9 by 2 risers each, at a prohibitive price of $75 million. She settles for raising C8 and C9 once for her entire bank, matching the height of C9 and making a 7-tile casino — as long as the boat stays attached.
Tombstone
It's 1881 and the Arizona Territory is the place to be. Lawmen and prospectors of dubious morality populate a bustling boomtown called Tombstone.
Out here on the range, the law is who's holding the gun. Fortunes can be made by those with a quick wit and a quicker trigger. There's a reason the local newspaper is called The Tombstone Epitaph.
Components: Tombstone board, 5 local tiles, 1 cowboy pawn per player, 10 lot markers per player, poker deck.
Setup Changes
Give each player a cowboy pawn and 10 matching lot markers for their ranch. Place the local tiles in their associated corrals on the board.
Remove 2 tiles from each casino group. The game is played with 7 tiles from each casino group.
Shuffle the poker deck. Deal 3 poker cards to each player. Put out the ranks of poker hands card.
In 1881 Tombstone, property — like life — is cheap. Money is measured in dollars rather than millions, and the spaces on the board have lower costs than normal. Each player starts with $20 minus the combined die values on their starting lots. Treat any mention of millions as dollars.
Gameplay Changes
All rules from Lords of Vegas apply, but they are significantly altered by the existence of a poker deck, blank cards, and locals. Two new actions called "ante" and "call" are added.
The poker deck is used for several purposes. It provides an extra source of money, a new gambling mechanic, and a gunfighting mechanic for a new event called a showdown, where players fight over property claims and support of the locals. Poker cards are always kept secret; show them when you play them, and not before.
Poker cards each have a rank and suit. Aces are high, except in a low straight. Poker cards of ranks 2 through 10 can be discarded to gain their appropriate number of dollars at any time; face cards and aces have no dollar values. If the deck is ever empty, shuffle the discards into a new deck.
On the board, Allen Street is the Strip. Several spaces (C8–C12, D7–D9, F7–F9) in the property deck are not found on the board. Instead, they are blanks. When a blank is drawn, instead of putting a lot marker on the board, start a showdown for control of a property as described below. (In a 2-player game, all the cards for spaces on F block are blanks.)
Also on the board are five corrals which host Tombstone's most colorful locals. Each local is associated with a casino group and provides a special power, as well as bonus points that add directly to your final score at the end of the game.
Instead of rolling to see who goes first, each player draws a card, and high card wins. If any players are tied after everyone has a card, keep drawing between tied players until someone wins, then all players discard their cards.
Example: Blue draws a 3, Green draws a 9, and Red also draws a 9. Now tied, Green draws another 9 and Red draws a jack. Green's pair of 9s wins.
Turn Changes
Turns are played as normal, except that at the start of the turn, if you draw a card for a lot that someone else owns, instead of simply taking it over, start a showdown (see Showdowns, below) against them for that lot. Then pay lots and casinos, score casinos, and discard the card as normal.
Also, if the property card you draw is a blank and there are any empty lots on the board, before you pay and score the card, start a showdown between all players for a claim. The winner of the claim puts their lot marker on any empty lot on the board, then the card is paid and scored as normal and discarded. (If there are no unclaimed properties, skip the showdown, but pay, score, and discard the card as normal.) Then you draw another card as your property card; if it's another blank, pay, score, and discard it as normal, and draw again until you get a non-blank. There can never be more than one claim per turn.
Example: Green draws the property card C11, which is a blank. This starts a showdown, which Blue wins. Blue puts her lot marker on the unoccupied A3. Lots and silver casinos are paid and scored, then the C11 card is discarded. Green then draws again, getting D9 — also a blank. After paying and scoring lots and brown casinos, she discards the card. Then she draws again, getting B4, which she marks. She then pays and scores lots and silver casinos and continues with her turn.
Action – Gamble
When gambling, do not roll dice. Instead, deal 1 poker card faceup to the player, then 1 card faceup to the house. High card wins, and ties go to the house. Cards in hand are not used while gambling.
Action – Raise
When raising, the height limit is 2 (that is, the maximum number of risers per space is 1).
Action – Ante
To get more poker cards, you'll have to ante up to the bank. Once per turn, when you take the ante action, pay $5 to the bank then draw a poker card.
Example: Blue wants to take the ante action. She pays $2 and the 3 of hearts in her hand, and draws a new poker card, an 8 of diamonds.
Action – Call
The legendary locals of Tombstone can exert considerable influence on events, but they're not going to do it for free. Once per turn, you may attempt to call for a local to come to your side until a better offer comes along. To call a local:
- Choose a local. Each of these infamous characters has a favorite casino group noted on their tile. You can only choose a local if at least one casino from their favorite group is on the board.
- If the local is still in their corral, all players are drawn into a showdown to gain the support of that local. If the local is siding with another player, start a head-to-head showdown against that player.
- The showdown winner takes the local tile and can use the local's power when desired.
- If this causes a player who had the support of a local to lose that support, they draw a poker card as consolation. If no one plays any cards, nothing changes.
Example: On his first turn of the game, Red wishes to call Ike Clanton. Ike can't be called unless there's an Albion casino on the board, so Red builds one at F4 for $8. Now Ike is fair game. Since Ike is still in his corral, all players can participate in the showdown. Red wins the showdown and takes Ike from his corral. Later in the game, Yellow tries to call Ike to Yellow's side. Yellow wins the showdown against Red, taking Ike from Red, who draws a poker card to salve his hurt feelings.
Showdowns
A showdown is a contest between 2 or more players over a prize, such as a local or a lot. A showdown occurs under the following circumstances:
- When you call a local, hold a showdown for that local's support, either with all players if the local is in their corral or with the player whom the local currently supports.
- When you draw a blank for your property card, hold a showdown between all players for the winner's choice of a claim on any empty lot, if any exist.
- When you draw a card for a property that another player owns, hold a showdown between you two for that property.
In a showdown, you start by playing any number of poker cards from your hand (including zero). The next player must either beat what you played or fold. Then the next player does the same until everyone in the showdown has had a chance to play cards. The player with the highest poker hand wins the prize. Any player who plays cards but doesn't win the showdown then draws that number of poker cards. If a player must surrender a prize to another player, they draw an additional poker card as consolation. If no one plays any cards, nothing changes.
Players may trade before and after, but not during, a showdown.
Example: Green draws a property card for a space where Red has a lot marker. A showdown for the space begins between them. Green plays a jack of hearts. Red has a jack of diamonds and two 4s. He can't play the jack by itself but could play the jack and a 4 or the pair of 4s. He plays the jack and 4 to retain his property. Green draws a card to replace her jack.
Poker Hands
When players play cards in a showdown or gambling, you need to know the ranking of poker hands. Here's what beats what. From lowest to highest:
- High card
- Pair
- Two pair
- Three of a kind
- Straight
- Flush
- Full house
- Four of a kind
- Straight flush
A higher hand of a certain rank beats a lower one. Kickers count: for example, a queen with a 6 beats a queen by itself.
Suits do not matter except for whether the hand is a flush. You need 5 cards to make a flush or straight; there are no "small" straights or flushes of fewer than exactly 5 cards.
Locals
When you have called a local to your side, you can use their power whenever their card says you can. You can do this multiple times a turn or on other players' turns if permitted by the local. There is no limit on the number of locals you can call. Locals are only temporarily aligned with the player who has called them. They are not any player's property and cannot be traded.
Example: Blue has called Josephine Marcus. She builds and raises a casino next to Green's raised casino of the same color. Blue activates Josephine's power twice and gains two $1 discounts on her investments.
Scoring Changes
At the end of the game, if you have a local's support, you gain 2 points. These extra points are not affected by breaks in the scoring track; they are simply added to your final score on the track.
Example: Blue and Yellow end the game on the 44-point space, ahead of any other player. Blue has the support of Josephine and Curly Bill, while Yellow has the support of Ike. Blue wins, 48 to 46.
Reno
Reno is the biggest little city in the world. When gambling was gaining its initial foothold here, it wasn't four or five casino groups jockeying with each other. It was just a massive empire of shady casino magnate Johnnie Reno.
But lately, nobody's seen Johnnie around. We can't be sure what happened to Johnnie. We just know Johnnie's empire is ripe for the taking.
Components: Reno board, arch. Players: 2–3.
Setup Changes
After players choose their colors, choose an unused color of dice for Johnnie Reno's properties.
Draw a property card; if it is a Strip or F block card, set it aside and redraw. Place a casino tile of the card's color on its space. Roll 1 of Johnnie's dice and place it in that tile. Then discard the card.
Do this nine more times. If a tile you place neighbors 1 or more other casinos, remodel the other casino tiles to the new casino tile's color, if possible. When you have discarded ten valid cards, shuffle any set-aside cards into the property deck.
Place the arch between spaces B2 and D1. It makes those spaces adjacent, for now.
Gameplay Changes
Use the 2-Player Rules in the rulebook, with these exceptions:
Johnnie Reno is no longer with us, but under the right circumstances, you might be able to issue some orders on Johnnie's behalf. Johnnie is not an active player; they never take turns, collect money, or score points when their casinos score. But their casinos function like normal casinos, in that you can merge your casinos with theirs, gamble at Johnnie's casinos (with the payments coming from or going to the bank), and so on. If Johnnie has the highest die in a casino, they're the boss, though they don't do anything with that status.
Virginia Street is the Strip, and it is always crossed by the arch. The arch makes two spaces that are directly opposite each other on Virginia Street become adjacent. This adjacency will merge casinos of the same height and color, and allow sprawling from one space across the arch to the other.
Turn Changes
When you draw an F block card, before paying and scoring lots and casinos, you may remove the arch and rebuild it anywhere on Virginia Street, making a new pair of spaces on opposite sides of the Strip become adjacent. Any casinos previously joined by the arch unmerge when it is removed, potentially causing changes in ownership.
Then, pay and score lots and casinos based on the color of the card as normal, then draw a new property card as you would in any other 2-Player game.
Example: The arch connects B2 and D1. Green draws card F5 and must decide between leaving the arch where it is or rebuilding the arch. She decides to rebuild it, removing it from its current position and rebuilding it to connect D4, which is unowned, and B4, where she has a purple casino with a 6 die. After scoring and paying lots and brown casinos, Green draws a new property card, A2, and pays and scores lots and purple casinos. She then sprawls across the arch to D4. Since Johnnie Reno has a purple casino at D7 with a 5, B4, D4, and D7 merge into a 3-tile purple casino while the arch is there.
Example: On Red's turn, he draws F9, and decides to rebuild the arch between C6, where Green has a 1-tile silver casino with a 3, and C10, where Red has a 2-space silver casino with a 5 and a 2. F9 pays and scores silver casinos, which gets Green $3 million and Red $7 million and 3 points. And it separates Green's purple casino, leaving her with a 1-tile casino on B4 and Johnnie in charge of a 2-tile casino on D block.
Action – Reorganize
On your turn, you may pay to reorganize casinos that contain only Johnnie's dice, as if they were your own for this action only. This is in addition to reorganizing casinos containing your own dice, of course.
Example: Johnnie has a brown casino at E4 with a 6 die. Black has a parking lot at E1. Black pays $6 million to reorganize Johnnie's brown casino, rolling a 3. Black can then build E1 in brown and take over Johnnie's casino.