Show Business Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Components
  • Game Parts
  • Game Board Elements
• Purpose of the Game
• Game Setup
• Band
  • Artist Card - Side A and Side B
  • Band Board
  • Instruments
  • Current and Alternative Style
  • Independence
  • Experience Fields
• Sequence of Play
• Player's Round
  • Influence Card
    • Activation of Influence Card
• Action
  • 7.1. TREND
  • 7.2. RECRUITMENT (hiring new ARTISTS to the band)
  • 7.3. TOURNEE (concerts and recordings)
  • 7.4. PROMOTION (marketing activity to introduce the SONG into the CHARTS)
  • 7.5. CHARACTER (support from a character available on the market)
• Characters
• Quarter End
• Charts
• Event Rondel
• End of Game
• Notes

Introduction

Show Business is the economic-tactic game for 2 to 5 players, aged 13+, with the game time 60 to 150 minutes. Become music manager, create your own, unique band and have it play Rock, Pop, Black, Jazz or Club music and record popular hits. Predict trends and influence mass media, to have your hits better ranked on charts, than hits of your competitors. Use your influence power to hire professionalists available on the market, to help your band raise its popularity or to weaken career of other groups. Contract most lucrative concerts and travel with your band around the best music clubs. Take care of high satisfaction within the group, to have your band as long as possible with you. You've got one year to lift up your debuting band on top of popularity. Gain fame and money greater than your competitors!

Components

Game Parts

1. 80 influence cards
2. 50 artist cards
3. 5 band boards
4. 20 players' markers (4 markers in each of 5 colors)
5. 80 fon coins (fon is the game currency) - 15 in each of the nominations 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 5 with nomination 50
6. 1 event marker
7. 80 concert tokens
8. 4 trend dice
9. Song sheets in 5 colors
10. 1 game board

Game Board Elements

1. Popularity track
2. Artists market
3. Influence market
4. Charts
5. Trend fields
6. Charts scoring track
7. Map
8. Concert market
9. Route
10. City with music club
11. Recording studio
12. Event rondel
13. Time track

Purpose of the Game

The victory in the game is measured by cash owned, as well as popularity points indicated by the position of players' octogons on the POPULARITY TRACK at the end of the game. The game ends after completion of a turn, when the octogon of one of the players reaches, as first, field 56 on the TIME TRACK. The winner is the player whose band achieved the highest fame (her/his octogon stays on the field with the highest number on the POPULARITY TRACK) and/or gained the greatest cash. In case of a tie, the player with greater popularity and then with greater cash wins (see END OF GAME).

1. Popularity of the band is indicated by the position of the player's octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK.
2. The game ends after completion of a turn when one of the players reaches, as first, field 56 on the TIME TRACK.

Game Setup

1. Hand out to each player: a BAND BOARD in her/his selected color, 3 INFLUENCE CARDS drawn randomly from the pile, and 20 FONS (FON is the game currency and is indicated by the symbol F). The cash owned by each player is revealed and can be viewed by other players during the entire game. Select from the ARTIST CARD pile the cards indicated on each player's BAND BOARD and place them as indicated on the images beside. Place the discs of all players on fields "5" on the SATISFACTION TRACKS of their BAND BOARDS.
2. Take from the bundle and place one SONG of each player on each of the 3 RECORDING STUDIOS on the MAP, as well as on each SONG FIELD on the BAND BOARD of each player. (SONGS can be replaced with ordinary paper sheets of similar shape.)
3. Place vertically 1 octogon of each player on field "0" of the POPULARITY TRACK.
4. Place vertically 1 octogon of each player on field "START" of the TIME TRACK.
5. Place a car of each player in the MUSIC CLUB indicated by the letter "F".
6. Place the white disc on field "Trend change" of the EVENT RONDEL.
7. Shuffle the ARTIST CARDS, form a new pile ready for drawing and place it on the ARTIST CARD PILE FIELD. The first 4 top cards move randomly to the 4 fields below the pile.
8. Shuffle the INFLUENCE CARDS, form a new pile ready for drawing and place it on the INFLUENCE CARD PILE FIELD. The first 4 top cards move randomly to the 4 fields below the pile.
9. Mix all CONCERT TOKENS in a bag and place randomly 5 of them on the MUSIC CLUBS on the MAP, identified by the letters shown on the tokens, and 5 on the fields of the CONCERT MARKET.
10. Set up a sequence of players by bid. Players declare secretly in their palms as many FONS as they wish (0 FONS also possible) and at the same moment reveal them. The player who declared the greatest amount of FONS decides who starts the game. All players who declared FONS must pay them to the bank. Any tie is resolved in the same way - the winners bid once again with the same rules and pay again the declared FONS to the bank, as many times as necessary to resolve a tie. If a tie cannot be resolved this way, then the sequence of players should be determined by any agreed random method. The sequence of players will start from the player who became first and will proceed clockwise. The octogon of the player who according to this sequence will be last should be set aside on the TIME TRACK.

Band

Each player manages a music band, which is represented by a BAND BOARD kept at the front of each player. The band consists of ARTISTS, who are represented by ARTIST CARDS placed on the BAND BOARD. Each player starts the game with 3 ARTISTS (see GAME SETUP), but later on can enlarge the band by hiring new ARTISTS or reduce it by dismissing them.

Hiring a new ARTIST to the group is represented by placing the ARTIST CARD, either side up, on one of the 6 ARTIST FIELDS on the BAND BOARD that is not yet occupied by another card, and according to the rules described below. One ARTIST FIELD may be occupied by only one ARTIST CARD, and the entire band may be composed of a maximum of 6 ARTISTS. Whenever a new ARTIST is hired to the group, the player should move the marker on the SATISFACTION TRACK on her/his BAND BOARD one field towards field 5 (max. to field 5). The SATISFACTION TRACK represents the level of internal mood and happiness within the band (the greater, the more stable the band is). An ARTIST's dismissal is represented by discarding the relevant ARTIST CARD from the BAND BOARD to the discard pile. Whenever an ARTIST is dismissed intentionally by the player, the marker on the SATISFACTION TRACK on her/his BAND BOARD should be moved down one field, towards field 0 (min. to field 0) for each particular ARTIST fired. This does not apply if the ARTIST leaves the band her-/himself (see EVENT RONDEL » INTEGRATION CONTROL).

Artist Card - Side A and Side B

1. Current style icon
2. Alternative style icon
3. Alternative style color
4. Current style color
5. Independence
6. Artist's instruments
7. Experience field
8. Name or nickname and preferred music style

Band Board

1. Player's support - possible SONG attributes (see ACTION » TOURNEE » RECORDING)
2. Satisfaction track
3. Player's support - round sequence and possible actions
4. Song field - place here recorded SONGS (filled with symbols) ready to be promoted to the CHARTS
5. Cash field - place here your FON coins
6. Influence field - place here INFLUENCE CARDS used during the game
7. Artist field - you can place here only an ARTIST CARD with the orange round icon of an instrument, identical to the instrument shown in this field
8. Symbol of the ARTIST CARD and its color, that should be placed here during game setup
9. Artist field - you can place here only an ARTIST CARD with the white square icon of any instrument

Instruments

The instrument icons indicate which instruments the ARTIST can play on.

• Orange, circle icons represent mandatory instruments, which are instruments that every band must have (in the case of guitar and piano, one of them is enough, alternatively). The ARTIST CARD with such an icon can be placed on the BAND BOARD only on the ARTIST FIELD with the same icon of the instrument. An ARTIST CARD with either guitar or piano can be placed on the ARTIST FIELD with guitar/piano icons. The BAND can play concerts and record its songs (see ACTION » TOURNEE) only when it has all mandatory instruments, that is, when all 4 ARTIST FIELDS with instrument icons on the BAND BOARD are occupied with ARTIST CARDS.
• White, square instrument icon represents an optional instrument, which is an instrument the BAND is not obliged to have. An ARTIST CARD with such an icon can be placed only on one of the 2 ARTIST FIELDS on the BAND BOARD that have no instrument icon.
• If the ARTIST CARD contains 2 icons, then it can be placed only on one ARTIST FIELD, and the player can freely decide which field to place it on, due to the rules above. The exception to this is applied to any ARTIST CARD that contains 2 orange, circle icons, one with a microphone and one with another mandatory instrument. Such a card can be placed (although it is not obligatory) across two ARTIST FIELDS, with the relevant instrument icons (see images of the initial setup in chapter GAME SETUP). Such an ARTIST covers simultaneously two roles in the group: sings and plays the instrument, and his/her card is assumed to occupy two ARTIST FIELDS with instrument icons.

Current and Alternative Style

The ARTIST CARD is printed on both sides with identical elements, except for the colors, which represent the 5 musical styles that ARTISTS can play: red - Rock, yellow - Pop, gray - Black (black music like soul, r&b, rap), blue - Jazz and green - Club (electronic dance music). The background color of the card represents the CURRENT STYLE, which the ARTIST currently plays, when the card is placed this side up. The background color on the left of the ARTIST's image represents the ALTERNATIVE STYLE, which the ARTIST can play if the card is turned to the other side. These colors are repeated by 2 guitar plectrum icons with the first letters of the styles and relevant colors. Both colors and icons are replaced mutually when the card is turned to the other side. A band whose ARTISTS don't play the same style (ARTIST CARDS have various background colors up) will be more prone to internal quarrels, disputes and even disintegrations (see END OF QUARTER).

Independence

Independence is represented by values 1 to 5 and indicates the strength of an ARTIST's tendency to leave the group in case of a drop of satisfaction within the band. The greater the value, the sooner the ARTIST will leave the group (see EVENT RONDEL » INTEGRATION CONTROL).

Experience Fields

ARTIST CARDS contain from 0 up to 3 empty, colored fields. They are containers for CONCERT TOKENS (see ACTION » TOURNEE » CONCERT) of the same color as the color of the field. Placing a CONCERT TOKEN on this field represents an increase of the ARTIST's individual experience. Each quarter this enlarges overall band fame (see END OF QUARTER).

Sequence of Play

The game's play time represents one year of real time and is reported on the TIME TRACK, resembling a piano keyboard at the bottom edge of the board. It contains 56 fields, each representing one week of real time. Fields are grouped into 4 sets of 13 week fields, followed by a 14th special field of END OF QUARTER, which raises special events like: ranking the SONGS on the CHARTS, increase of the bands' popularity, control of internal satisfaction within the groups and paying quarterly expenditures. Players start the game from field START on the TIME TRACK and play their rounds clockwise, starting from the first player. Each player, during her/his round, reports the TIME LAPSE by moving her/his marker on the TIME TRACK towards field 56. The game ends in the turn when one of the players has reached field 56 as first and after the last player in the turn has completed her/his round.

Player's Round

Players carry out actions in their rounds by playing INFLUENCE CARDS out of hand. They start with 3 initial cards and make up their hand after each round from the INFLUENCE CARD pile. A player can keep as many INFLUENCE CARDS in hand as the number of ARTISTS in her/his band, that is, as many ARTIST CARDS as are placed on her/his BAND BOARD, but not fewer than 3 (if the player's band counts fewer than 3 ARTISTS). Every time the band loses an ARTIST, the player must immediately discard freely to the discard pile as many INFLUENCE CARDS as needed to equalize the number of cards on hand with the number of ARTISTS in the band (but not less than 3).

Influence Card

1. Power
2. Character
3. Impact on TREND
4. Character's skills

Individual player's round consists of activities that are played in a strictly defined sequence, described below. Those activities are presented by simple icons on the BAND BOARD.

1. CONCERTS - The active player takes one by one CONCERT TOKENS from the fields of the CONCERT MARKET, starting from field 1, and places them on the map, in the cities indicated by the letter on the token (e.g. a token with the letter A should be placed in the city marked with A on the map). Tokens that are already placed on the map remain unchanged. After placement, the number of tokens lying on the map should account for 5. More than one token can be placed in one city. Afterwards, the CONCERT MARKET should be refreshed: each token remaining on the market is moved to the vacant field with the lowest number, and fields still empty after that movement should be filled randomly with new tokens taken from the bag.

2. MARKET REVIEW - The active player, if she/he wants, can refresh the offer on one or both markets: the INFLUENCE MARKET and the ARTIST MARKET. To do this she/he removes from the selected market(s) any of the cards from fields 1 to 4, discards them to the relevant discard pile, pays to the bank the amount of FONS indicated by the field number where each removed card is taken from, moves cards still remaining on the market to the empty fields with the lowest number, and draws new cards from the relevant pile to place them on vacant fields on the relevant markets.

3. TIME LAPSE - The active player plays one INFLUENCE CARD out of hand and moves her/his marker on the TIME TRACK as many fields towards field 56 as indicated by the POWER of the played card. If, as a consequence of this move, the player's marker crosses or reaches as first one of the four QUARTER END fields (14, 28, 42, 56), the player carries out her/his ACTION (step 4) and goes to phase INFLUENCES (step 5) and further to steps 6 to 10. Otherwise, after the first ACTION is completed (step 4), the player plays a second INFLUENCE CARD out of hand, moves her/his marker again along the TIME TRACK (step 3 again), carries out a second ACTION (step 4 again) and continues to phase INFLUENCES (step 5) and further to steps 6 to 9. In that second case, step 10 is ignored. The player does not carry out steps 3 and 4 if her/his marker stays on field 56 on the TIME TRACK, or if she/he has no INFLUENCE CARDS on hand, or gives up intentionally.

Example:

• Playing INFLUENCE CARD 1, the blue player moved her/his octogon along the TIME TRACK and didn't reach or cross as first the nearest QUARTER END field (42), because the yellow player's octogon is ahead. The blue player may play INFLUENCE CARD 2 and carry out a second action, after she/he completes the first action.
• Playing INFLUENCE CARD 1, the yellow player crossed as first the QUARTER END field (42), which means no other player has reached or crossed this field earlier. The yellow player realizes the action from the first card, but she/he cannot play a second card. After completion of the first action she/he proceeds to the INFLUENCE phase.

4. ACTION - The active player places the INFLUENCE CARD played in the previous step onto the INFLUENCE FIELD on her/his BAND BOARD, on the top of the pile (the first card played will start forming this pile). This activates that card for ACTION. An individual ACTION may always be carried out with the use of the active INFLUENCE CARD, which is the card actually lying on the top of the pile on the INFLUENCE FIELD. The player can decide to activate for ACTION one of the INFLUENCE CARDS available on fields 1 to 4 of the INFLUENCE MARKET, instead of the card played from the hand. In such a case, she/he takes one chosen card from the INFLUENCE MARKET, but only from a field whose number is less than or equal to the POWER of the INFLUENCE CARD played from hand. Then she/he places the taken card on the top of the pile on the INFLUENCE FIELD on her/his BAND BOARD, directly on the card played from hand, placed there before. Since then, the card taken from the INFLUENCE MARKET is active for the ACTION, instead of the card played from hand in step 3. After the active card is set up, the player carries out one of the ACTIONS available for this card (see ACTION).

Activation of Influence Card

Playing an INFLUENCE CARD with power 2, the player places it on the INFLUENCE FIELD on her/his BAND BOARD (1) and can choose one of two options:

1. Use this card to carry out the action;

2. or take one card from the INFLUENCE MARKET, but only from a field whose number is lower than or equal to the power of the INFLUENCE CARD played (field 1 or 2 in this case). The card taken from the INFLUENCE MARKET is placed by the player on the INFLUENCE FIELD on the BAND BOARD (2), directly on the card played from hand, and the action is carried out based on the card from the market, not from the hand.

3. INFLUENCES - After completion of steps 1 to 4, the player makes up her/his hand by drawing randomly INFLUENCE CARDS from the pile for free and/or buying any of the INFLUENCE CARDS still available on fields 1 to 4 of the INFLUENCE MARKET. To buy cards from the market, the player pays to the bank FONS in an amount equal to the sum of the field numbers on the INFLUENCE MARKET where she/he takes cards from. At the end of this step the player should have as many cards on hand as the number of ARTISTS in the group (as many ARTIST CARDS as are placed on the BAND BOARD). If the player keeps the maximum permitted number of cards (defined by the number of ARTISTS in her/his group), she/he ignores this step (cannot replace cards from the hand with cards from the pile or market). If the INFLUENCE CARD pile runs out, the discard pile must be shuffled and formed into a new pile. If it is impossible to form a new pile (because all INFLUENCE CARDS are in the game), it is required to proceed immediately through the CLEARING phase (see QUARTER END) and form a new pile.

4. MARKET REFRESHMENT - If any of the fields on the INFLUENCE MARKET and/or ARTIST MARKET have been emptied by the active player in steps 4 and 5, then all remaining cards within the particular markets are moved down sequentially to the fields with the lowest number, and the fields remaining empty after these movements are filled with new cards drawn from the relevant pile, in order to have 4 cards on each market.

If the player last in the turn plays her/his round (her/his marker lies aside on the TIME TRACK), then after completion of steps 1 to 6 the following additional activities are carried out.

7. MARKET CHANGE - Cards placed on field 1 of each market (INFLUENCE MARKET and ARTIST MARKET) are discarded to the respective discard piles, all cards from fields 2 to 4 are moved one field down, and one new card is drawn to the emptied field 4 on each market.

8. EVENT RONDEL - The event marker on the EVENT RONDEL is moved one field clockwise and all players apply the event identified by the target field (see EVENT RONDEL).

9. SEQUENCE BID - The bid can be ignored if all players voluntarily declare to give it up. Otherwise all players place secretly in their palms a chosen amount of FONS (0 FON is also permitted), reveal their palms on an agreed signal and pay the declared money to the bank. The player who declared the highest amount decides who starts the new turn. The turn will be played clockwise, starting from the new first player. The marker of the player who, according to this rule, is last in the turn should be set aside on the TIME TRACK, while the marker of the current last player should be set upright. If all players declared 0 FONS in their palms or all gave up the bid voluntarily, then the bid ends and the sequence remains unchanged from the previous turn. In case of a tie, the winning players carry out a new bid with the same rules, paying every time the declared FONS to the bank. If finally a tie cannot be resolved this way, or the winners voluntarily give up the bid, then the sequence in the turn remains unchanged from the previous turn.

10. QUARTER END - If during step 3 (TIME LAPSE) the active player reached or crossed, as first, one of the QUARTER END fields (14, 28, 42, 56), then after completion of all steps 1 to 6 (or, if it happened in the turn of the last-in-turn player, then in steps 1 to 9), all players should proceed through the QUARTER END procedure (see QUARTER END) before the next player starts her/his round.

Anytime during her/his round, a player can carry out the following activities within her/his band (on her/his BAND BOARD):

• DISMISSAL - Discard any (one or more) ARTIST CARDS from the BAND BOARD to the discard pile, together with all CONCERT TOKENS placed on them (see ACTION » TOURNEE » CONCERT). Tokens from a discarded ARTIST CARD cannot be moved onto other ARTIST CARDS. For each discarded card, the marker on the SATISFACTION TRACK on the BAND BOARD should be moved one field towards field 0 (to min. 0).
• REGROUPMENT - Move any (one or more) ARTIST CARDS between ARTIST FIELDS on the BAND BOARD, if the rules defined by instruments (see BAND) allow this change.
• STYLE CHANGE - Turn to the other side any (one or more) ARTIST CARDS on the BAND BOARD (the ARTIST changes her/his current style). If EXPERIENCE FIELDS on the cards being turned contain any CONCERT TOKENS (see ACTION » TOURNEE » CONCERT), then those tokens must be discarded to the concert tokens discard pool (except multicolour "F" tokens, which can be placed back on the card after the turn).

Anytime during the game, when a player runs out of money for current expenditures, she/he can PERFORM IN ADVERTISING. She/he moves her/his marker on the POPULARITY TRACK any number of fields towards field -25 (to min. -25) and takes from the bank 5 FONS for each moved field. A player who cannot pay her/his liabilities and cannot gain the cash this way (because PERFORMING IN ADVERTISING would move her/his marker below field -25) finishes the game as a bankrupt and discards all INFLUENCE CARDS and ARTIST CARDS, together with the CONCERT TOKENS placed on them, to the relevant discard piles and pools. All bankrupt's SONGS that are present on the CHARTS are still considered during the next CHARTS rankings, for as long as they drop out from the CHARTS in the natural way. No POPULARITY points are granted from such SONGS to anybody.

Action

An ACTION means one of the activities below that a player can carry out with the use of the active INFLUENCE CARD (the card placed on the top of the pile on the INFLUENCE FIELD on her/his BAND BOARD just before this ACTION). Particular activities cannot be mixed together within one ACTION.

7.1. TREND

The 4 TREND DICE represent the actual music TREND on the market, as well as the 4 elements that each SONG is composed of: white die - music style, blue die - lyrics, yellow die - tempo and red die - volume in decibels. The SONG (see ACTION » TOURNEE » RECORDING) that is most potential to win the CHARTS (see CHARTS) hits the TREND (that is, as many as possible of the elements of the SONG are identical to all 4 values on the top sides of the TREND DICE). An empty value on the top side of a TREND DIE means that each SONG hits this element of the TREND.

The action TREND represents "lobbying" in mass media in order to change the actual fashion on the music market, to make it better suited to the SONGS recorded by the band. To carry out the action TREND, change the actual TREND by turning that TREND DIE to the value indicated on the active INFLUENCE CARD.

7.2. RECRUITMENT (hiring new ARTISTS to the band)

Take one or more ARTIST CARDS from fields 1 to 4 of the ARTIST MARKET, but only from fields whose number is less than or equal to the POWER of the active INFLUENCE CARD. Each taken card must be immediately placed on an ARTIST FIELD on the BAND BOARD, according to the rules defined by instruments (see BAND). Otherwise the player is not allowed to take such a card from the ARTIST MARKET.

7.3. TOURNEE (concerts and recordings)

For each 1 point of the active INFLUENCE CARD, the player can:

• Move her/his car from the city on the map where it actually stays to a neighbouring city, linked by a direct ROUTE;
• Pick up one CONCERT TOKEN or one SONG from the city where the player's car stays or travels through. Picking up a CONCERT TOKEN represents playing a concert during the TOURNEE (see CONCERT), and picking up a SONG represents making a recording in the studio by the group (see RECORDING).

The POWER points of the active INFLUENCE CARD can be freely spent on any combination of travels, picking up CONCERT TOKENS and/or SONGS, but the total amount of points spent shouldn't exceed the POWER of the active card. A player's BAND that lacks at least one mandatory instrument (that is, at least one ARTIST FIELD with an instrument icon isn't occupied by an ARTIST CARD) cannot carry out the ACTION TOURNEE (that is, play concerts or record songs), which practically means that the player cannot pick up CONCERT TOKENS and SONGS from the map.

a) CONCERT - Spending 1 POWER point of the active INFLUENCE CARD, the player picks up one CONCERT TOKEN from the city where her/his car stays and takes from the bank the amount of FONS identified on the token. If the token picked up has a color other than white, the player can place it (although it is not obligatory) on any EXPERIENCE FIELD of any of her/his ARTIST CARDS placed on the BAND BOARD, under the condition that the color of the token is identical with the color of the EXPERIENCE FIELD. Placing a CONCERT TOKEN on an ARTIST CARD represents an increase of the ARTIST's skills in that particular music style. A token once placed on an ARTIST CARD cannot later be moved to another card. If the player cannot or doesn't want to place the CONCERT TOKEN on an ARTIST CARD, she/he discards it to the discard pool (it shouldn't be returned to the pool of still unused CONCERT TOKENS). One ARTIST CARD can adopt as many CONCERT TOKENS as the number of EXPERIENCE FIELDS it has (only one CONCERT TOKEN can be placed on one EXPERIENCE FIELD). Anytime a player loses her/his ARTIST (except when it is caused by GROUPIE - see CHARACTERS » GROUPIE) or turns an ARTIST CARD to the other side (changes the ARTIST's style), she/he must discard all CONCERT TOKENS placed on it to the discard pool. The multicolored token "F" is a special type of CONCERT TOKEN. It can be placed on any EXPERIENCE FIELD regardless of its color, and it can be moved to the other side of the ARTIST CARD when the card is turned by the player at a style change.

Example:

The yellow player's band stays in city "L" and wants to carry out the action TOURNEE most optimally. She/he can choose the following options:

1. Activate from hand an INFLUENCE CARD with POWER 1 and pick up concert token "L" with value 10, spending 1 point of the card's POWER. This option doesn't require any travel, because the band stays in city "L", where the concert is planned. This option would bring 10 FONS of revenue and cost 1 FON (1 POWER point used from the INFLUENCE CARD), which gives an income of 10 - 1 = 9 FONS. The yellow player will be able to place the yellow concert token from "L" on an EXPERIENCE FIELD of her/his drummer or singer card, if she/he turns one of these cards yellow color up (this will give one extra popularity point on each QUARTER END).
2. Activate from hand an INFLUENCE CARD with POWER 3, pick up concert token "L" with value 10, spending 1 point of the card's POWER, move from city "L" to city "H", spending the second 1 point of the card's POWER, and pick up concert token "G" with value 10, spending the last third point of the card's POWER. This solution would bring revenue of 20 FONS and cost 3 FONS (3 spent POWER points from the card), which gives an income of 20 - 3 = 17 FONS. The result is much better than in case 1. Additionally, the player may place blue token "G" on the blue EXPERIENCE FIELD of her/his singer card and the yellow token on the EXPERIENCE FIELD of her/his drummer card, after it is turned yellow color up (this will bring 2 extra popularity points on each QUARTER END).
3. Activate from hand an INFLUENCE CARD with POWER 4, ignore concert token "L", move from city "L" to city "H", spending 1 point of the card's POWER, pick up concert token "G" with value 10, spending the second 1 point of the card's POWER, move from city "H" to city "C", spending the third 1 point of the card's POWER, and pick up token "C" with value 15, spending the last, fourth point of the card's POWER. This option would bring revenue of 25 FONS and cost 4 FONS (4 used POWER points from the card), which gives an income of 25 - 4 = 21 FONS. Financially, it is the best result, but here the player may place only the blue token from "G" on the blue EXPERIENCE FIELD of the singer card, because token "C" is white. The player decides for option 2 (less money, but more popularity points).

b) RECORDING - Recording studios are located in 3 cities: B, M and P, and are distinguished by an orange rim around the city square. If a player stays in or travels through one of these cities and there is still a SONG in her/his color in the recording studio (orange rectangle linked to the city), she/he can spend 1 point of the active INFLUENCE CARD, pick up this SONG, but must immediately record it, that is, fill all 5 of its fields in the way described below. A SONG must be recorded/filled before the player completes the round. Afterwards the player places the SONG on the SONG FIELD on her/his BAND BOARD filled side down (the SONG shouldn't be revealed). The SONG is recorded and ready to promote, which means ready for introduction to the CHARTS (see PROMOTION).

When a player records a SONG, she/he fills the first 4 fields of the empty song plate freely with one of the 5 values permitted for each field, with the following meaning:

1. Music style of the song: Rock / Pop / Black / Jazz / Club
2. Lyrics of the song: Politics / Love / Live / Fun / Poetry
3. Tempo of the song: Very slow / Slow / Medium / Fast / Very fast
4. Volume of the song: Very silent / Silent / Medium / Loud / Very loud

The last, fifth field of the SONG is filled by the player with the total experience of all artists in her/his BAND who play in the same style as the style of the recorded SONG. That is, she/he writes down the number of all CONCERT TOKENS placed on EXPERIENCE FIELDS of all ARTIST CARDS whose CURRENT STYLE icon contains the same letter as the letter in the first field 1 of the SONG being recorded.

Example: the player records a SONG in style Black (B). Only 2 ARTISTS in the group play at the moment in style B. There is only one CONCERT TOKEN on both cards of those ARTISTS, and therefore the player may write 1 in field 5. If the band recorded a SONG in Club style (C), then the player could write 2 in field 5: only one ARTIST plays Club style, but he gathered 2 TOKENS. If the band recorded a SONG in style Rock (R), Jazz (J), or Pop (P), the player would write 0, because the band has no such tokens.

7.4. PROMOTION (marketing activity to introduce the SONG into the CHARTS)

The player finds the first vacant field on the CHARTS (starting from field 1 and going downwards) that is not occupied by another SONG, and reads the POWER and the cost in FONS indicated on this field, required to spend for a successful placement of the player's SONG into the CHARTS. If the player's active INFLUENCE CARD has a POWER equal to or greater than the POWER read from the CHARTS, then the player pays to the bank the amount of FONS read from the CHARTS field and places the recorded SONG (with all 5 fields filled) face down on this field. SONGS must be placed on the CHARTS starting from field 1 and directly under the field already occupied by another SONG. A new SONG cannot be placed on the CHARTS if all its fields 1 to 10 are already occupied.

Example: a red player wants to promote a SONG to the CHARTS. She/he can place the SONG only on field 3 (directly under the last placed SONG on field 2). She/he reads POWER 3 and price 5 from field 3. If her/his active INFLUENCE CARD has POWER 3 or higher, then the player pays 5 FONS to the bank and places her/his SONG face down on field 3. The next SONG can be placed only on field 4. If the player's active INFLUENCE CARD has a POWER lower than 3, then the player cannot promote her/his SONG to the CHARTS.

7.5. CHARACTER (support from a character available on the market)

The player uses the skills of the CHARACTER visible on the active INFLUENCE CARD (see CHARACTERS).

Characters

The active INFLUENCE CARD can be used to apply the skills of the CHARACTER shown on it, according to the rules described below. Special types of CHARACTERS' skills are HOSTILE ACTIVITIES, which cause negative results in competitors' bands (they are marked with the clause HOSTILE ACTIVITY in the descriptions below). If any player initiates a HOSTILE ACTIVITY against another player, then the player attacked can defend against it. To do this she/he must immediately discard out of hand an INFLUENCE CARD with the same CHARACTER and the same or greater POWER as the card that initiated the HOSTILE ACTIVITY, or discard a BODYGUARD card with any POWER. The defending player discards this card to the top of the pile on the INFLUENCE FIELD on her/his BAND BOARD (no TIME LAPSE is registered on the TIME TRACK). If the player defending doesn't discard any of the above cards, then the attack is successful and its result is applied, according to the rules below. Otherwise the attack fails. HOSTILE ACTIVITIES cannot be carried out after the last turn has begun, that is, after one of the players has, as first, reached field 56 on the TIME TRACK.

A&R (HOSTILE ACTIVITY - effective only when the player attacked doesn't defend) - Replace mutually the position of your marker on the TIME TRACK with the marker of the attacked player.

BODYGUARD - Discard this card from hand to the INFLUENCE FIELD on your BAND BOARD immediately after another player applies any HOSTILE ACTIVITY against you. That activity doesn't happen.

DJ - Remove any CONCERT TOKENS currently in the music clubs on the map (maximum 5) and discard them to the discard pool. Afterwards, make up the removed tokens in the music clubs on the map up to 5, moving freely any of the CONCERT TOKENS revealed on fields 1 to 5 of the CONCERT MARKET or drawing randomly new tokens from the bag. In both cases place the incoming tokens on the music clubs on the map, indicated by the letters on the drawn tokens. If you emptied any of the fields on the CONCERT MARKET, move each token remaining on the market to the vacant field with the lowest number, and fill the fields emptied after that movement with new tokens drawn randomly from the bag.

FEMME FATALE - Draw randomly a number of INFLUENCE CARDS from the pile equal to the POWER of the active FEMME FATALE CARD used for this action, find the card with the highest POWER and discard all cards to the discard pile. Carry out one of the following options:

• DISORDER (HOSTILE ACTIVITY - effective only when the player attacked doesn't defend) - Reduce satisfaction in another player's band. The selected player must move the marker on the SATISFACTION TRACK on her/his BAND BOARD a number of fields towards field 0 (to minimum 0) indicated by the highest POWER of the INFLUENCE CARDS drawn.
• INTEGRATION - Increase satisfaction in your BAND. Move the marker on the SATISFACTION TRACK on your BAND BOARD a number of fields towards field 5 (to maximum 5) as indicated by the highest POWER of the INFLUENCE CARDS drawn.

GROUPIE (HOSTILE ACTIVITY - effective only when the player attacked doesn't defend) - Exchange one ARTIST CARD from your BAND BOARD with an ARTIST CARD from another player's BAND BOARD, including all CONCERT TOKENS placed on those cards. If you take from another player an ARTIST CARD of an artist playing a mandatory instrument, that is, you take the card from the ARTIST FIELD with an orange instrument icon, then you must give back your ARTIST CARD with an artist playing the same mandatory instrument. You cannot apply this action if any ARTIST CARD cannot be placed on your or the player's BAND BOARD (according to the rules described in chapter BAND).

PAPARAZZI - Trigger a scandal around your band and set aside your standing octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK. Draw randomly a number of INFLUENCE CARDS from the pile indicated by the POWER of the active PAPARAZZI CARD used for this action, discard all of them to the discard pile, and move your octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK towards field 50 a number of fields indicated by the highest POWER of the drawn cards (a controlled scandal raises the popularity of your band). If this moves your octogon above field 50, place it again on field 1 (as 51) and so on. You cannot apply this action if your octogon lies aside on the TIME TRACK.

PILOT - Pick up any two elements from the music clubs or recording studios on the map (CONCERT TOKENS or SONGS in your color), regardless of the place where your car stays, and move your car to one of the cities you picked up the elements from. If you picked up a CONCERT TOKEN, then take from the bank the amount of FONS shown on the token, and you can place the token itself on a suitable EXPERIENCE FIELD of an ARTIST CARD in the same color. If you picked up a SONG, you must record it immediately, that is, fill all its fields in this action. In both cases the rules from chapter ACTION » TOURNEE apply.

REPORTER - Move the marker on the EVENT RONDEL a number of fields clockwise as indicated by the POWER of the active REPORTER CARD used for this action. The event of the field where the marker stopped doesn't happen.

SPONSOR (HOSTILE ACTIVITY - effective only when the player attacked doesn't defend) - The selected player must show you all INFLUENCE CARDS on hand, and afterwards you can exchange with that player as many of your cards as indicated by the POWER of the active INFLUENCE CARD used for this action.

TREND EXPERT - If your active card is TREND EXPERT, then you can pick it up from the INFLUENCE FIELD of your BAND BOARD and place it upright between the TREND DICE, under the condition that there is no other TREND EXPERT card there. From this moment, nobody can turn any of the TREND DICE in the action TREND, until the nearest QUARTER END (see QUARTER END). If, however, there is another TREND EXPERT card between the TREND DICE, you can remove it from the TREND DICE and return it to the player who placed it there earlier (that is, put it on the INFLUENCE FIELD of her/his BAND BOARD).

Quarter End

The QUARTER END procedure proceeds in the following way, four times a game, after the round of the player who as first reached or crossed one of the 4 QUARTER END fields on the TIME TRACK (14, 28, 42, 56) - see PLAYER'S ROUND » TIME LAPSE/QUARTER END.

1. CHARTS - Proceed through the CHARTS ranking (see CHARTS). If a TREND EXPERT card was placed between the TREND DICE, then it should be returned to the player who placed it there, that is, returned to the INFLUENCE FIELD of her/his BAND BOARD.
2. POPULARITY - Each player moves her/his octogon along the POPULARITY TRACK by 1 field towards field 50 for each CONCERT TOKEN collected on the EXPERIENCE FIELDS of her/his ARTIST CARDS, regardless of the color.
3. SATISFACTION CHECK - Each player finds on the CHARTS the highest ranked SONG of her/his band (SONG turned filled side up) and checks the style of the SONG (the letter in the first left field of the SONG). For each ARTIST in her/his band who actually plays a style other than the style of this SONG (the CURRENT STYLE icon on the ARTIST CARD has a different letter than the letter indicating the style of the SONG), the player must move her/his marker along the SATISFACTION TRACK on her/his own BAND BOARD by 1 field towards field 0 (to min. 0). If none of the band's SONGS (turned filled side up) is ranked on positions 1 to 5 on the CHARTS, then the player must move the marker on the SATISFACTION TRACK as many fields towards field 0 (to min. 0) as the number of ARTISTS in the group.
4. CLEARING - Each player discards to the common discard pile all used INFLUENCE CARDS from the INFLUENCE FIELD of her/his own BAND BOARD and pays to the bank the amount of FONS equal to the sum of their POWERS.

Charts

CHARTS is the first step of the QUARTER END procedure (see QUARTER END) and proceeds according to the following steps:

a) SONGS DISCLOSURE - All SONGS placed on fields 1 to 10 of the CHARTS are turned filled side up. SONGS that were ranked by a previous CHARTS ranking should already lie turned filled side up.

b) SCORING - Starting from the SONG placed on field 1 of the CHARTS and going down field by field, up to field 10, a scoring sum is determined for each SONG by totaling the following points:

• 4 points, if the icon in the SONG's style field (first from left) is identical with the icon on top of the white TREND DIE of style;
• 3 points, if the icon in the SONG's lyrics field (second from left) is identical with the icon on top of the blue TREND DIE of lyrics;
• 2 points, if the icon in the SONG's tempo field (third from left) is identical with the icon on top of the yellow TREND DIE of tempo;
• 1 point, if the icon in the SONG's volume field (fourth from left) is identical with the icon on top of the red TREND DIE of volume;
• Points indicated by the number written in the last (fifth from left) field of the SONG.

If any of the TREND DICE lies empty side up, then the above points are granted in its category regardless of the icon written in the relevant field of the SONG (all values hit this element of the TREND).

After a SONG is scored as above, it is moved to the CHART SCORING TRACK and placed next to the number indicated by the scoring points achieved. After all SONGS are scored and placed on the CHART SCORING TRACK, they are all moved back to the CHARTS fields, starting from the SONG with the highest position on the CHART SCORING TRACK. This SONG is placed on CHARTS field 1. Each next SONG with fewer scoring points in sequence is placed on the next vacant CHARTS field, under the previous SONG. If two identical SONGS of the same player (all five fields of the SONG have the same values) are found on the same field of the CHART SCORING TRACK, then they are so much unrecognizable that only one survives and all other SONGS are removed from the game with no possibility of promoting them in next turns.

If any field of the CHARTS SCORING TRACK is occupied by two or more SONGS of different players, then all concerned players, due to their sequence in the turn, can discard out of hand to their INFLUENCE FIELDS on their BAND BOARDS (with no TIME LAPSE registration) one or more SPONSOR cards. The player who discarded SPONSOR cards with the greater sum of POWERS decides whose SONG wins the tie. If the tie is still unresolved, then the SONG that is better compatible with the TREND DICE (see SCORING) wins. In any of these cases, the SONG that wins the tie is moved from the CHARTS SCORING TRACK to the first vacant, highest field on the CHARTS, and the other SONGS, respectively to their sequence in scoring, to the next vacant fields under it. If a next tie appears between other SONGS after they have been placed on the lower CHARTS field, then the tie-solving procedure as above should be repeated for those SONGS. If the tie finally cannot be resolved either by SPONSOR cards or by TREND scoring, then such SONGS are moved to the same highest, actually unoccupied field on the CHARTS.

After all SONGS are moved back to the CHARTS, players are granted the following POPULARITY POINTS for each SONG that occupies CHARTS fields 1 to 5, and move their octogons on the POPULARITY TRACK towards field 50 by the granted points accordingly. If the movement ends up above field 50, the octogon should be placed back on field 1 (as 51) and so on.

• Field I - 5 points (extra +1 point if the style of the SONG is identical with the white style TREND DIE, and extra +2 points if the style, lyrics, tempo and volume of the SONG are identical with all 4 TREND DICE);
• Field II - 4 points (extra +1 point if the style of the SONG is identical with the white style TREND DIE, and extra +1 point if the style, lyrics, tempo and volume of the SONG are identical with all 4 TREND DICE);
• Field III - 3 points (extra +1 point if the style of the SONG is identical with the white style TREND DIE);
• Field IV - 2 points (no extra bonuses);
• Field V - 1 point (no extra bonuses).

If any CHARTS field is occupied by more than one SONG, then the number of POPULARITY POINTS identified above is split equally between all SONGS, with rounding down and without extra bonuses (even if they might be granted on fields 1 to 3).

Each player with a scandal (her/his octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK lies aside), whose at least one SONG occupies CHARTS fields 1 to 3, sets her/his octogon upright (the scandal is overshadowed by success on the CHARTS).

All SONGS scored on fields 1 to 5 of the CHARTS remain on their positions, face up, to the next CHARTS ranking, when they will be scored again. All SONGS below field 5 are taken out by their owners from the CHARTS and are removed from the game (they cannot be promoted again).

Examples (as printed in the rulebook, with the ranking illustrated by arrows on the original page):

• The gray player's SONG hit all TREND DICE (10 points): the style (4 points), lyrics (3 points), tempo (2 points) and volume (1 point). Combined with the value 1 written in its fifth field, the total score of this SONG is 11 points.
• The blue player's SONG didn't hit the style (white die) but it hit all other TREND DICE (3+2+1 = 6 points), which combined with the value 5 written in its fifth field gives also 11 points. Both SONGS have been placed at level 11 on the CHART SCORING TRACK. None of the players discarded a SPONSOR card, so finally the gray player's SONG wins, because it better hits the TREND DICE (10 points of the gray player's SONG against 6 points of the blue player's SONG).
• The green and red players' SONGS hit identically the style (white die, 4 points) and lyrics (blue die, 3 points), which combined with the values 1 written in their fifth fields give each SONG 8 points. Both SONGS have been placed on level 8 of the CHART SCORING TRACK and there is a tie. The red player discards from hand to the INFLUENCE FIELD on her/his BAND BOARD a SPONSOR card with POWER 1, so her/his SONG wins.
• The yellow player's SONG hit only the tempo (yellow die, 2 points), which combined with the value 0 written in its fifth field gives a scoring value of 2. The SONG has been placed at level 2 of the CHART SCORING TRACK.

After all SONGS have been placed on the CHART SCORING TRACK, they should be moved to the particular fields of the CHARTS sequentially, from 1 to 10, starting from the SONG that gained the highest scoring value and/or won the potential tie.

Event Rondel

1. TREND CHANGE - One of the players throws all 4 TREND DICE and sets them with hit sides up on the TREND FIELDS, adequately to the dice color. This event doesn't apply if a TREND EXPERT card is placed between the TREND DICE.
2. POPULARITY CHECK - Each player whose octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK is set aside (scandal), or who at the moment of the event doesn't have any SONG scored on the positions 1 to 5 of the CHARTS (SONG placed, written text up), must draw randomly one INFLUENCE CARD and discard it to the discard pile. The POWER of the card drawn identifies the number of fields that player must move her/his octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK towards field 0 (to min. 0). If both conditions are fulfilled at the same time (her/his octogon is set aside and her/his band didn't score with any SONG on the CHARTS), then she/he must move her/his octogon by double the POWER of the card drawn. After completion of this event, all octogons placed aside on the POPULARITY TRACK are set upright.
3. SALARIES - Each player, according to the sequence in the turn, pays to the bank the salary for her/his artists in the band. Each ARTIST CARD placed on the BAND BOARD costs 5 FONS and each CONCERT TOKEN (artist's experience) collected on any ARTIST CARD on the BAND BOARD costs 1 FON. Afterwards the player moves her/his marker along the SATISFACTION TRACK of her/his own BAND BOARD 1 field towards field 5 (to max. 5).
4. INTEGRATION CONTROL - Each player, according to the sequence in the turn, reads the satisfaction level on her/his BAND BOARD (it is the digit from the field on the SATISFACTION TRACK of her/his own BAND BOARD where the satisfaction marker stays at the moment of the event). Afterwards, the player compares this value with the INDEPENDENCE feature on every ARTIST CARD on her/his own BAND BOARD. Each artist whose INDEPENDENCE is greater than the actual SATISFACTION LEVEL immediately quits the band. Her/his card should be discarded to the discard pile. If there are CONCERT TOKENS on the discarded card, then they must be discarded to the used tokens pool.
5. ROYALTIES - Each player receives from the bank as many FONS as identified by the number of the field on the POPULARITY TRACK where the player's octogon stays at the moment of the event. If the player's octogon stays on a field with a negative number, then the player must pay to the bank the amount identified on the field.

End of Game

The game ends after completion of the turn when one of the players reaches, as first, field 56 on the TIME TRACK. After all players have completed their rounds in the last turn, each player pays to the bank the amount of FONS equal to the sum of the POWERS of all INFLUENCE CARDS placed on the INFLUENCE FIELD of her/his BAND BOARD, and discards those cards to the discard pile. Afterwards, if the following penalties are applicable, she/he moves her/his octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK towards field 0 (to minimum 0) by:

• the number of fields resulting from the difference between 5 and the actual SATISFACTION LEVEL, identified by the number of the field on the SATISFACTION TRACK on the player's BAND BOARD where the satisfaction marker stays at game end (low satisfaction in the band);
• 1 field for each mandatory ARTIST FIELD (with an orange instrument icon) on the player's BAND BOARD that is not occupied by an ARTIST CARD (mandatory staff is incomplete);
• the POWER of the INFLUENCE CARD that must be drawn by each player whose octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK is set aside at game end (scandal).

After the above corrections, each player adds 10% of the owned cash (rounded down) to the figure determined by the number of the field occupied by her/his octogon on the POPULARITY TRACK. The winner is the player with the highest result. A tie is resolved in favour of the player with the greater number on the POPULARITY TRACK, and if that still doesn't decide it, the player with the greater cash in its real value.

Notes

• Minor spelling errors in the printed text (for example "postion" and "QURTER END") have been corrected in this transcription; the rules themselves are unchanged.
• The rulebook's example illustrations (the charts ranking, the TOURNEE options, and the artist and band board diagrams) are not reproduced; the printed captions are transcribed where they carry rules text.