Star Reporter
Star Reporter Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Idea of the Game
Players act as Reporters for the several Newspapers published in the city of "Urbania." As in real reporting, each player attempts to bring in as much news as possible and to be on the spot whenever any major stories break which will rate Headline treatment or which can be classified as "Scoops." By so doing, players accumulate credits which eventually determine who is the winner of the game.
Equipment
The game is played on a board representing an Airplane view of a countryside in which there are Roads, Railroads, Cities, Airports, etc. There are two dice, six plastic men, sixty-three (63) News Cards, nine Headline Cards, and eight Scoop Cards.
Preparation
Each player selects a man to represent him during play and places his man's name in the space marked "Start" which is at "Urbania." All News, Headline, and Scoop Cards are shuffled and placed, illustrated side down, in separate piles in any convenient place on the table. Each player draws a News Card from the top of the news pile as his first assignment. Players throw the dice in turn, and the player throwing the highest number goes first. Other players follow in turn in a clockwise direction around the board.
How to Locate Cities
On each News Card a player will find listed an Event, the City where it took place, and the number of points to which he is entitled when he reaches that city. He will also find a letter and a number listed in parentheses on each card. It is by these letters and numbers that the cities can be located.
Example: If a card reads Middletown (F-10), follow with the eye an imaginary line from F to F across the board to a point where it intersects with another imaginary line from 10 to 10 up and down the board. Middletown is near this intersection.
Methods of Travel
There are three methods of travel which may be used by a player to reach his destination. In play, he must announce the method which he will use before he throws the dice.
Method #1: He may go by AUTOMOBILE. In this case, he throws the dice and moves his man along a road (blue circles) in the direction he wishes to go. He may move forward or backward the total number of spaces shown on both dice, or he may move forward the number of spaces shown on one die and backward the number of spaces on the other die.
Example: If a player throws a 6 and a 3 he may make any of the following moves: 9 spaces forward; 9 spaces backward; 6 spaces forward and 3 spaces backward, or 3 spaces forward and 6 spaces backward.
A player will often find it advantageous to split his move (move forward the amount shown on one die and backward the amount shown on the other die) when he is trying to reach a city by exact count. [The scan shows a stray mark through "the amount" in the words "backward the amount"; the wording is reproduced as printed.]
Method #2: He may go by TRAIN. In this case, he must already be at a City which is located on a Railroad. He throws the dice and, if either shows an even number, he moves his man to the next City on the Railroad Line in the direction in which he wishes to travel.
Examples: Players may move on 4-3, 6-1, 4-4, etc., but may not move 5-1, 5-3, 3-3, etc. A player reaching a City by Train is considered to have reached it by exact count. A player may change from Train to Automobile any time by announcing before throwing the dice that he is going to do so. He may change from Automobile to Train only when he is at a City located on a Railroad Line. He may have reached such a City by any method of travel. If by Automobile, he must have reached it by exact count, must have arrived there to collect a News Card. (See paragraph on News Cards below.)
Method #3: He may go by AIRPLANE. Once a player has reached an Airport, either by Automobile or by Train, he may go by Airplane to any other Airport on the board. When traveling by Automobile a player must reach an Airport exact count and he may have to move back and forth several times by splitting moves before landing on the proper space. [As printed; the scan appears to omit a word before "exact count" here.]
When a player wishing to travel by Airplane lands by exact count on Airport, he immediately moves his man to any other Airport on the board and turn ends. [As printed; the scan appears to omit a word before "Airport" here.] A player reaching a City by Plane is considered to have reached it exact count. [As printed; the scan appears to omit a word before "exact count" here.] On his following turn he must move out of this Airport by Train Automobile and he cannot make another flight until he has again reached an Airport by exact count. [As printed; the scan appears to omit a word between "Train" and "Automobile" here.]
The Play
The first player announces which method of travel he will use and then throws the dice. (Since there is no Airport in "Urbania" itself, a player may not elect to fly on his first turn.) He then moves in accordance with the instructions listed above for the method of travel which he has selected and his turn ends. Other players follow in turn in a clockwise direction around the board.
News Cards
Whenever a player reaches the City listed on his News Card, he is considered to have gathered the news and sent it in to his newspaper. Since ordinary news is not difficult to obtain, he does not have to reach his destination by exact count. When he has reached it, the News Card becomes his and counts towards his total score at the end of the game. He immediately draws a new News Card from the top of the news pile and on his next turn, sets off on his new assignment.
Headline and Scoop Cards
Play continues in this manner until any one of the players throws double 6's. Headline Card is immediately turned face up and the player throwing the double may then move. Headline Cards are more valuable than ordinary News Cards. Unlike News Cards which can only be won by the player drawing them, Headline Cards may be picked up by anyone. A player on his turn has the choice of continuing after his own News Card or of leaving it temporarily to try to collect Headline Card. Headline Cards, because of their greater value, can be collected only by landing on the Cities indicated by exact count. A player obtaining a Headline Card keeps it with the pile of News Cards which he has collected and counts towards his total score at the end of the game.
More than one Headline Card may be turned up at the same time so that players may have a choice of several destinations. After four (4) Headline Cards have been turned up, a Scoop Card is turned up on the next throw of double 6's. The play for a Scoop Card is exactly the same as for the Headline Cards, but Scoop Card is still more valuable. It is often wise for all players to try for the Scoop Card since its count is so high that the player capturing it frequently wins the game.
Winning the Game
As soon as the Scoop Card has been captured, the game ends. Each player adds up the total number of points on all of the cards which he has collected. The player with the highest total score wins the game.