Singapore 1889 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Merchant Phase
  • Secret Society Phase
• End of Game Scoring
• Variants
  • Plain Goods Variant
  • Ordinance Enacted Variant
  • Influential Figures Variant
• Goods Effects

Objective

Collect goods favoured by the Ghee Hin Kongsi, while subtly trying to steer them in a direction favourable to yourself. Be the merchant with the highest value of your collected goods at the end of the game to win!

Components

Goods Cards (68)

These cards represent the various goods imported to Singapore. Collect the best ones to win!

Some goods have been marked by the British East India Company, known as Marked Goods. These affect the Secret Society's actions so watch out for them!

There are 10 of each type of Goods (5 Marked, 5 Unmarked), except for 8 of Opium.

Merchant Cards (6)

These cards allow players to take on the roles of different merchants in that period.

*These cards are part of a variant game mode. Find out more about variants at pages 7-9.

Secret Society Card (1)

This card represents the Secret Society's interest. It also provides additional reminders for players.

Society Ordinance Card (1)

This card represents the British East India Company's means to suppress the influence of the Secret Societies. Its implementation alters the method merchants calculate the value of their goods at the end of the game.

*This card is part of a variant game mode. Find out more about variants at pages 7-9.

River Mat (1)

Use this to organize the game area.

Setup

1. Place the River Mat in the centre.
2. Separate the Goods cards by type and put the 8 Opium cards aside.
3. Randomly pick a number of Goods types equal to 1 more than number of players. (e.g. 4 types of Goods for 3 players.)
4. Shuffle all cards of the chosen types together with the 8 Opium cards set aside earlier to form a deck.
5. Place the deck in the centre and reveal the top 4 Goods in a row next to it, this is known as the River. Place the Secret Society card with the grayed out portrait face up above the leftmost card of the River.
6. Deal a Goods card to each player and place 1 face up above the Secret Society card. Goods in this area are Seized Goods.
7. Choose a player to take the first turn. Then, the player to their right gets to change the position of the Secret Society card to above any of the Goods in the row before the game starts.
8. You are ready to begin!

The setup illustration shows a sample 4 player setup, with the Seized Goods area above the Secret Society card.

How to Play

Each turn consists of 2 phases: Merchant and Secret Society. Players take turns going through these 2 phases until each player collects a total of 7 Goods. Then, players compare the value of their Goods, and the player with the highest value is crowned the winner!

First game? Check out the Plain Goods Variant on page 7.

Merchant Phase

During the Merchant phase, you pick one of the Goods in the River to add to your hand. If you pick the Goods directly below the Secret Society card, you must move the Secret Society card such that it is above another Goods card in the River. Then, resolve the effect of the Goods card you just took. You must always use the effect stated on the card.

After the effect is resolved, refill the River by revealing new cards from the top of the deck to fill up any empty slots and move on to the Secret Society phase.

IMPORTANT! There must be 4 cards in the River before proceeding to the Secret Society phase.

Secret Society Phase

During the Secret Society phase, check if there are 3 or more Marked Goods in the River. These are cards with a British flag (Union Jack) icon on the top left corner.

If there are at least 3 such icons, the Ghee Hin Kongsi seizes the Goods card right underneath it, placing it above the Secret Society card. The cards in this area determine the value of the Goods card in each player's hand at the end of the game.

Once this is done, refill the River to 4 cards if required. Then, check if all players have 7 cards in their hands. If so, the game ends. Otherwise, play continues with the player to the left.

REMINDER! You refill the River twice! At the end of both the Merchant and Secret Society Phase.

End of Game Scoring

At the end of the game, each player reveals their entire hand and calculates their value according to the Goods seized by the Secret Society. The player with the highest total value wins!

Each Goods card in a player's hand is worth the number of copies of the same type of Goods seized by the Secret Society. 2 hands of scoring will be shown based on the situation below.

Goods seized by the Secret Society (illustration shows the seized Goods cards, with the Ghee Hin Kongsi's seizure marker in the centre)

Hand 1 (card values as printed under the illustrated cards, in order: 3 points, 2 points, 2 points, 1 point, 3 points, 3 points, 1 point)

Hand 2 (card values as printed under the illustrated cards, in order: 2 points, 1 point, 1 point, 2 points, 2 points, 2 points, 2 points)

In this example:

Hand 1 is worth a total of 15 points.

• 3 Silk (3 points each, 9 points total)
• 2 Tea (2 points each, 4 points total)
• 2 Joss Paper (1 point each, 2 points total)

Hand 2 is worth a total of 12 points.

• 2 Tea (2 points each, 4 points total)
• 3 Opium (2 points each due to its effect, 6 points total)
• 2 Joss Paper (1 point each, 2 points total)

Variants

Here are a few game variants to modify your game experience once you have played the default game a few times.

Plain Goods Variant

Playing your first game? Consider trying this variant to get a full grasp of the turn structure and scoring. In this variant, ignore all the effects on the Goods cards. This is a simpler variant of the game to speed it up while still keeping the core collecting and scoring method.

Ordinance Enacted Variant

In this variant, after step 5 during setup, add the Societies Ordinance card face down on top of the bottom 5 cards of the deck. If it is placed in the River or Seized before the game ends, place it aside and draw a replacement card.

The British wrests back control of their goods from the Ghee Hin Kongsi while the Secret Society's influence dwindles.

At the end of the game, remove all seized Marked Goods and place them above the Societies Ordinance card. These are now known as Reclaimed Goods.

Ignore the original scoring on the Secret Society and use the scoring on the Societies Ordinance card instead: Marked Goods in your hand score 2 points per copy in the Reclaimed Goods. Unmarked Goods score 1 point per copy in the Seized Goods.

Using the same example from the previous page:

Hand 1 is worth a total of 8 points.

• 2 British Silk (0 points)
• 1 Silk (3 points)
• 1 British Tea (2 points)
• 1 Tea (1 point)
• 1 British Joss Paper (2 points)
• 1 Joss Paper (0 points)

Hand 2 is worth a total of 9 points.

• 2 Tea (1 point each, 2 points total)
• 3 Opium (1 point each, 3 points total)
• 2 British Joss Paper (2 points each, 4 points total)

Influential Figures Variant

In this variant, after step 5 during setup, deal a random Merchant card to each player. These cards provide players with additional scoring opportunities at the end of the game and remain hidden during the game.

Calculating Wang: If the value of your Goods at the end of the game is exactly 13 or 22, you win regardless of other players' scores.

Collector Lee (4 players and above): If you have 3/4/5 different type of Goods in your hand, increase your total value by 1/3/6.

Elite Huang: If you have 3/4/5 copies of a single type of Goods in your hand, increase your total value by 3/5/9.

Lackey Zhang: Increase the value of each Good worth 3 or more in your hand by 1. All other Goods in your hand are worth 0.

Resourceful Lin: Increase your total value by 3 for each pair of the same type of Goods in your hand.

Rival Chen: At the end of the game, before scoring, choose 2 Goods in the River and take them.

Goods Effects

Joss Paper: Draw 2 cards, Seize 1 and place the other at the bottom of the deck.

Opium: Worth 1 more if Seized. Worth 1 less if Reclaimed*.

*Refer to the Ordinance Enacted Variant on page 8.

Porcelain: You may swap a Good in the River with a Seized Good.

Salted Fish: Look at the top card of the deck. Seize it or place it at the bottom of the deck.

Silk: Put 1 Good from the River to the bottom of the deck.

Spices: Look at the bottom card of the deck. Seize it or place it at the top of the deck.

Tea: You may swap a Good in the River with a Good in your hand.