Suburbia FAQ
105 questions players ask · Updated Nov 9, 2026 · Full rulebook
Set-Up
- How many tiles should the C stack hold after set-up?
- In the second edition set-up, where do the 6 C tiles mixed with the 1 More Round tile come from?
- Why are 4 extra C tiles placed under the 1 More Round tile?
- How many C tiles are mixed with the 1 More Round tile?
- Do players have to keep their money hidden?
- Can I move or rearrange my Borough Board once play begins?
Taking Tiles, Lakes and Investment Markers
- When do I discard a Real Estate Market tile after taking a basic tile or placing an Investment Marker?
- What do I pay when I discard a market tile after a basic tile or investment?
- Do I still discard a market tile when I place an Investment Marker?
- What happens if I have no money on my turn?
- What does it cost to take a tile as a lake?
- Can I make a lake from a stack's top tile, the 1 More Round tile or a basic tile?
- Where can I place a new tile and how far can my borough spread?
- Can I pay for a tile with population, or with income the tile would give me?
- What does an Investment Marker cost?
- What exactly happens when I place an Investment Marker on a tile?
- Does an Investment Marker also double a tile's negative effects?
- Does an Investment Marker count the tile as two tiles or double its icons?
- Can I place an Investment Marker on a lake?
- Can I invest in an opponent's tile, or put two markers on one tile?
- What happens when I put an Investment Marker on a Municipal Airport?
Income, Reputation and Population
- Can income or reputation go above 15 or below -5?
- What if income or reputation is already at -5 and I cross more red lines?
- When income is negative, when and how do I pay?
- What happens when my reputation is negative?
- In what order do income, population and red lines happen at the end of my turn?
- Does my population move to match my reputation, or add it each turn?
- If I cross the same red line again, or back down across it, what happens?
- When exactly do the red-line penalties to income and reputation apply?
- If a tile raises my reputation, do I get the extra population at end of turn?
- What happens if my population goes past 150 during play?
Tile Effects and Resolution Order
- In what order do I resolve a tile's effects when I place it?
- What is step 6 of the tile effect resolution order for?
- Do a tile's effects keep working for matching tiles placed after it?
- When a new matching tile is placed, does an older tile pay its full count again?
- If I place a tile next to a tile like Elementary School, Homeowner's Association or Farm, does that tile pay again?
- Does a tile's printed income or reputation bonus repeat every turn?
- Are a tile's effects applied together before income or reputation moves, and does order inside a step matter?
- What do all, your, every and other boroughs mean on a tile?
- Can I have two tiles with the same name, and do their effects stack?
- What is a borough?
Specific Tiles
- Does Waterfront Realty have to sit next to a lake, and does it boost every lake?
- How much does a tile placed next to a lake pay when I own Waterfront Realty?
- Does placing a tile next to Waterfront Realty itself pay anything?
- How do Investment Markers interact with Waterfront Realty and lakes?
- How does Fancy Restaurant work with an Investment Marker, and does later restaurant building reduce it?
- Do Casino and PR Firm apply to red lines I crossed before I played them?
- Does PR Firm or Casino do anything when I cross a red line backward?
- Does the PR Firm give +1 reputation each time I cross a red line?
- Does an Investment Marker double the Casino's red-line income?
- What are the total income and reputation from all seven airports?
- Does Business Supply Store pay when another player builds an office?
- Does placing a lake trigger the effects of adjacent tiles?
- Does Housing Projects lose reputation when placed beside a lake?
Real Estate Market and Game End
Goals and Final Scoring
- In what order is final scoring done, and do red lines still apply?
- How is leftover money converted to population at game end?
- What happens when players tie for a goal?
- How are ties for the win broken?
- Does a player with none of the counted tile type win a "fewest" goal?
- How do the Miscreant and Miser goals work?
- Do lake goals count lake tiles or separate lakes?
- What does "most contiguous" mean for goals like Harbormaster?
- How is the Employer goal scored?
- Do tile-count goals use the physical tiles or the doubled effects?
Solo Games
- What are the two solo modes, and do they use goals?
- How much income and reputation do I lose crossing a red line in the Lone Architect game?
- How does the extra tile removal work in the Lone Architect game?
- How does the Lone Architect game end?
- How do PR Firm and Casino work in the Lone Architect game?
- Why does Dale the Bot pay only $3 for a tile?
- Which market tile does Dale the Bot buy?
- Where does Dale the Bot place a tile?
- How does the Dale the Bot game end, and what happens to the other market tiles?
- Do the starting population, income and reputation change in solo play?
Suburbia IncExpansion
- What if I can't pay the Water Purification Plant's $2 when a yellow tile is built?
- Can I place or invest in the Water Purification Plant without enough money for its cost?
- If I replace the Redevelopment Planner with the Water Purification Plant, what do I pay?
- Does the replacement for a Redevelopment Planner still have to obey placement restrictions, like Checkpoint or Lake House?
- How does the Redevelopment Planner work, and what does it cost?
- When I swap the Redevelopment Planner for a standard tile, do I still discard a market tile?
- Does the Redevelopment Planner avoid the Radioactive Waste Dump's population loss?
- Can Borders and Lake Borders touch each other?
- Do Lake Borders count as Borders for goals and bonuses?
- When I take a Border, do I discard a market tile?
- Does a Desert Border take its penalty when built next to a lake?
- Can I put an Investment Marker on a Border?
- How does the Law Office work with tied goals?
- How is the Nomad goal scored?
- Are Bonus and Challenge tiles face up, and can more than one player achieve them?
- Do I have to play with the Suburbia Inc Borders?
- Why do the stack sizes differ with Suburbia Inc?
- How much does the Redistricting Office cost?
Suburbia 5★Expansion
- Does Dale the Bot take the first turn when playing with the 5★ star track?
- Does Dale the Bot always buy a star tile when one is available?
- What happens when all players are tied on the star track at the end of a round?
- Does an Investment Marker double the gold stars on a tile?
- How does Alien Mountain interact with population gains and red lines?
- Does the Dollar Arcade pay per population or per reputation?
- How many players can pass each point on the star track?
- Does the star track break ties for personal goals as well as public goals?
- Does 5★ change how many goals each player gets?