Sunrise City
Sunrise City Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Scoring & Goal
The various activities involved in building Sunrise City will earn you, and perhaps other players, points which are tallied on the score track.
If any scoring action carries your marker past the star at the top of your scoring track, you earn 1 benchmark token and your marker "wraps around" to score the excess points at the bottom of your score track, beginning the climb toward the next benchmark opportunity.
If any scoring action lands your marker on the star at the top of your score track by exact count, you earn 2 Benchmark Tokens. Your next scoring action will return your token to the bottom of your scoring track to begin another climb.
Accumulate the most Benchmark Tokens over the course of the game's three rounds to be declared the winner.
Game Terminology
Adjacent: Any other tile touching a tile vertically or horizontally, but not diagonally.
Surrounding: Any other tile touching a tile vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
Direction: North, South, East, or West as determined by the compass rose icon on the City Hall tile.
Undeveloped: A zone tile with no building tiles on it.
Developed: A zone tile with one or more building tiles on it.
1st Floor: A building tile laid directly on two zoning tiles. International players who are used to counting floors as ground floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor, etc... will have to pay close attention to the floor-counting terminology in Sunrise City.
Upper Floors: Building tiles laid on top of one or more other building tiles are counted from the bottom-up to determine their floor number.
Points: There are a variety of points you can earn: primary points, bonus points, community points, district points, floor points, etc. All points move your pawn up the score track.
Benchmark Tokens: The scoring tokens you earn for landing on or overshooting the star at the top of your score track.
Credits
Game Design: Isaias Vallejo Design Consultation: Drew Sayers Art: Sarah 'Chip' Nixon Graphic Design: Chris Kirkman Publisher: Clever Mojo Games
Game Components
- 24 Bidding Chips
- 4 Scoring Pawns
- 70 Benchmark Tokens
- 1 Scoreboard
- 16 Role Cards
- 1 Protester Meeple
- 20 Floor Markers
- 5 Community Tiles
- 1 City Hall Tile
- 60 Zone Tiles
- 60 Building Tiles
Setup
Start: Each player chooses a color and takes the six bidding chips of that color.
Place the score track in a convenient location away from the central play area and place the scoring pawns from each player along the bottom edge of the track.
Place the City Hall tile in the center of the play area.
Combine the zone tiles and community tiles and shuffle them thoroughly, then place them in several face-down stacks away from the central play area.
Shuffle the building tiles and place them in several face-down stacks away from the central play area.
Shuffle the role cards and deal four to each player. Each player selects one role card from their hand and places it face-down on the table, then passes the remaining cards to the player on their left. This process continues until each player has selected three role cards for use during the game. Unselected role cards are returned to the box.
How to Play
Sunrise City is played in three rounds and each round has four phases: Preparation, Zoning, Bidding, and Construction.
Phase 1: Preparation
Each player draws four zone tiles and four building tiles from the face-down stacks. Each player looks at their own tiles, but keeps them hidden from other players until the tiles are added to the city.
Each player selects one of their available role cards and places it face-down on the table. When all players have selected their roles for the round, the role cards are revealed and each player reads the card text to the other players. See Appendix 1: Role Cards for details on each role card.
Role cards confer their bonus or special ability during the current round only and are discarded at the end of the round.
Each role card has a number at the top. The player whose role card has the lowest number is the "First Player" for the current round. They will Zone first, they will Bid first, and they will Construct first. Play flows clockwise from the first player.
A role card shows a role number, a role name, and a role ability. For example, the Developer role card (role number 03) reads: "During the Construction Phase, the 1st floor building tiles you add to the city are not affected by the waterways between zone tiles."
Phase 2: Zoning
In this phase, players expand the footprint of the city by adding zone tiles and community tiles.
Zone Tiles Overview
Zone tiles have a central zone type — residential (red), commercial (blue), industrial (yellow), parks & rec (green), or mixed use (purple) — with waterways (watery blue) and sidewalks (gray) along the edges. Zone tiles are the foundation for the buildings you will place during the Construction Phase.
A zone tile shows a waterway, a zone type (see page 12), and a sidewalk.
Community Tiles Overview
Community tiles have a central building surrounded by a border that is color-coded to its associated building type. Sidewalks are located on all four edges. The +1s on the community tiles indicate a bonus point earned for placing a matching building tile on the zone tiles that surround a community tile in the city during the Construction Phase. Building tiles may never be placed on top of community tiles.
A community tile shows a building type, a building type icon (see page 12), and a building bonus.
Zoning
Starting with the first player and moving clockwise, players take turns adding one zone or community tile to the city until all of the zone and community tiles in their hands have been added to the city.
New tiles must be placed so that at least one sidewalk on the new tile is adjacent to one sidewalk of an existing tile. When a new tile is placed adjacent to two or more existing tiles, only one of the adjacencies must be sidewalk-to-sidewalk; the other adjacencies may be sidewalk-to-sidewalk or sidewalk-to-waterway or waterway-to-waterway.
When placing zone tiles, players should be trying to create zone configurations that are appropriate for the building tiles in their hand. Note: waterways block construction. If a waterway separates two zone tiles, a 1st floor building tile may not be placed across those zones.
If a player cannot play any of their zone tiles legally, and all players concur, the player may place a tile illegally.
Valid and invalid tile placements:
- Sidewalk-to-sidewalk — valid
- If Industrial zone is placed before Mixed Use zone — valid
- Waterway-to-sidewalk — invalid
- Corner-to-corner — invalid
Zoning Changes
As the game progresses, it is possible for building tiles to be of a different zone type than the original zone tile. In all cases, the top building tile determines the current zone type for that board position.
Placing Community Tiles
When a player adds a community tile to the city they draw a new zone tile from the stack and immediately add that tile to the city as well. If the tile drawn is also a community tile, they add that to the city, then draw and play another zone tile.
Districts
When a player adds a zone tile adjacent to one or more existing zone tiles of the same type/color/icon they have created a district, and they score 1 point for each matching adjacency. Note that the points are awarded only for the matching tiles adjacent to the new zone, not for the total number of tiles that make up the district.
Districts example: playing one zone tile adjacent to one matching zone tile scores 1 point. Playing one zone tile adjacent to two matching zone tiles scores 2 points.
While mixed use zones are wild during the Construction Phase, they are not wild for district scoring. Mixed use zones only create or expand a district of other mixed use zones.
Community tiles do not create or add to a district.
Zone tiles added adjacent to a building tile of the same type/color do create or expand a district.
Directional Zoning in Round 2 and Round 3
In the 1st round, players may add their zone and community tiles in any legal position in the fledgling city. In rounds 2 and 3, however, the first player designates a direction — north, south, east, or west of City Hall — and all new zone and community tiles must be added to the city in that direction. This directional limitation applies only to the Zoning Phase. The Bidding and Construction Phases may involve the entire city in every Round.
Phase End
The Zoning Phase ends when all players have placed all of their zone and community tiles.
Phase 3: Bidding
In this phase, players bid for control of undeveloped zone tiles. Winning the bid for a zone tile gives that player the opportunity to build on that zone during the Construction Phase.
Starting with the first player and moving clockwise, players take turns placing one of their bidding chips on an undeveloped zone tile until all bid markers have been placed.
Bidding chips may not be placed on community tiles or building tiles.
When multiple players bid on a single zone tile, the chips are stacked so that the most recent bid is on top of the zone's bid stack. Any player may add their bidding chip to the top of any bid stack unless the top two chips on the stack are the same color. This double-bid situation means that bidding is closed on that zone.
Alternate Bidding Rule
Players place two bidding chips on each turn instead of one. This gives the player an option to immediately lock in one zone by double bidding that zone, or to spread their bids around to cover more zones but risk being outbid. This alternate rule is particularly well-suited for a 2-player game.
Phase End
When the Bidding Phase is complete, the top chip on each stack indicates the winning bidder for that zone. The winning chips are left on the zones and all other bidding chips are returned to their players.
Bidding examples: Red wins a zone after a bidding war with Green. Red wins another zone because no one contested the bid. Red and Blue ultimately lose a zone to Green. Yellow's two consecutive bid markers close a bid and win the zone.
Phase 4: Construction
In this phase, players bring Sunrise City to life by adding building tiles to the zoning foundations and pushing those buildings skyward by adding upper floors.
Building Tile Description
Each building tile shows two building segments that use the same color designations as the zone tiles — residential (red), commercial (blue), industrial (yellow), parks & rec (green), or mixed use (purple). The number in the upper center of the building tile is the primary points for the whole tile and the numbers in the upper corners are the bonus points for each segment of that tile.
A building tile shows bonus points (upper corners), primary points (upper center), and a building type for each segment (for example, Residential on one segment and Industrial on the other).
Placement
Starting with the first player and moving clockwise, players take turns adding one building tile to the city until all of the building tiles in their hands have been added to the city.
The allowable placements and the subsequent scoring of building tiles are subject to the following conditions:
1st Floor Buildings
The current player must have a bidding chip on at least one of the zone tiles on which the building tile is placed.
The two zones on which the building tile is placed must have sidewalk-to-sidewalk adjacency with each other. Waterways block first-floor construction. If two zone tiles are separated by a waterway, a building cannot be placed across those zone tiles.
The zone types/colors/icons of each building segment on the tile must match the types/colors/icons of the zone tiles on which it is placed. Note, however, that mixed use zones and mixed use buildings are "wild" during the Construction Phase and can be any type for the purposes of building placement. For example, a mixed use building can be placed on an industrial zone and an industrial building can be placed on a mixed use zone.
The player who places a 1st floor building earns the primary points for that building tile and the bonus points for each segment of the building tile covering a zone tile with their bidding chip on it. If the player has a bidding chip on both zone tiles then they earn the primary points and all of the bonus points. If a different player has a bidding chip on one of the zone tiles, that player earns the bonus points for that building segment. If one of the zones does not have any bidding chips on it, no one earns the bonus points for that building segment.
After the building tile has been placed, the bidding chips that were originally on those zone tiles are removed from the city and returned to their players.
Upper Floor Buildings
A building tile may be placed on top of an existing building tile if the types/colors/icons of the new tile are a match to the types/colors/icons of the existing tile. Remember, mixed use segments on both the existing building and the new building are wild.
A building tile may be placed across two adjacent existing building tiles if those existing tiles are on the same level and if the types/colors/icons of the existing and new buildings are a match. The new building tile may not slant from one level to another.
Mixed use buildings are wild like mixed use zones.
Upper floors are unaffected by waterways on the zone tiles below them.
A player earns only the primary points for an upper floor building placement. The bonus points on the building tile are not scored.
A player earns increasing additional points (floor points) when they add odd-numbered upper floors. 3rd Floor = 1 Floor Point 5th Floor = 2 Floor Points 7th Floor = 3 Floor Points 9th Floor = 4 Floor Points And so on.
Floor Markers
To assist in scoring, place a number of floor markers on buildings with even numbered floors to indicate how many floor points will be earned for the next floor placement on that building. For example, place 1 floor marker on a building with two floors, place 2 floor markers on a building with four floors, place 3 floor markers on a building with six floors, and so on.
Floor markers are not actual points, they are only an indication of points to be earned for the next floor placement. If an upper floor is added across adjacent buildings, the player does not earn double floor points just because those two buildings each had floor markers on them.
Players do not claim floor markers. Keep them in a stack near the play area and use them or return them as needed during the game.
Community Tiles
A community tile grants 1 additional point (community point) for each new building segment of a matching type added to the eight zone areas surrounding the community tile. This applies to both first floor and upper floor placements.
Community tile examples: a building placed in a zone surrounding the Cathedral earns 1 community point for its matching Residential segment; a building placed in another zone surrounding the Cathedral earns 2 community points for two matching Residential segments; a building placed in a zone surrounding the Emporium earns 1 community point for its Commercial segment, and 1 community point for a Residential segment in a zone surrounding the Cathedral.
Depending on the configuration of the city and the specifics of the building tile placed, a player might earn points from multiple nearby community tiles, or multiple points from a single nearby community tile.
Passing if No Possible Placement
If there are no legal placements for any of the building tiles held by a player, and all other players agree, the turn passes to the next player. The player who passed may attempt building placements as usual on subsequent turns.
Phase End
When all players have made all legal building placements the Construction Phase is over. Discard any unplaced building tiles.
Round End
If this was the end of the 3rd Round then the game is over. Otherwise, return to Phase 1 and begin the next Round.
Game End
After three rounds, the player with the most Benchmark Tokens is the winner. If there is a tie, then the tied player whose scoring pawn is highest on the score track is the winner.
If the players are still tied, the player with the lowest role number in the final round is the winner.
Appendix 1: Role Cards
[01] Protester — At the end of the Zoning Phase, place the protester meeple on an undeveloped zone tile. No one may bid for, build on, or move that zone tile during this round.
[03] Developer — During the Construction Phase, the 1st floor building tiles you add to the city may be placed across waterways between zone tiles.
[05] Lobbyist — At the start of the Construction Phase, you may move any unclaimed and undeveloped zone tiles to new locations in the city. All normal placement and district rules apply.
[07] Architect — At the start of the Zoning Phase, draw two building tiles from the stacks. Add one to your hand and return the other to the stacks. Play the extra building tile as normal during the Construction Phase.
[09] Engineer — At the start of the Construction Phase, take one fully-exposed building tile off the city and add it to your hand. Play the extra building tile as normal during the Construction Phase.
[11] Tycoon — During the Construction Phase, you do not need to have a bidding chip on either of the zones on which you place a 1st floor building tile.
[13] Banker — At the end of the Bidding Phase, you may use your returned bidding chips to claim zones that received no bids.
[15] Lawyer — At the start of the Construction Phase, swap the locations of one of your bidding chips and a bidding chip belonging to another player.
[17] Union Boss — During the Construction Phase, you earn 1 point for each upper floor building placement made by any player.
[19] Mayor — During the Bidding Phase, you may bid on zones where the bidding stack has been closed by a double-bid.
[21] Crime Boss — During the Construction Phase, you score all of the bonus points for any 1st floor building tile you add to the city.
[23] Zoning Commissioner — During the Zoning Phase, you receive double district points each time you create or expand a district.
[25] City Treasurer — During the Construction Phase, score 1 point when any 1st floor building tile is added to the city by any player.
[27] City Manager — During the Construction Phase, score 1 point when any player places a building tile adjacent to a community tile.
[29] Realtor — At the start of the Construction Phase, declare a building type. Score 1 point for each matching building segment added to the city by any player.
[31] County Supervisor — During the Zoning Phase, when district points are awarded to any other player, you also receive an equal number of points.
Appendix 2: Community Tiles
Fire Station — Score 1 point for each Industrial building segment that you place in a zone position surrounding the Fire Station.
Cathedral — Score 1 point for each Residential building segment that you place in a zone position surrounding the Cathedral.
Emporium — Score 1 point for each Commercial building segment that you place in a zone position surrounding the Emporium.
Police Station — Score 1 point for each Mixed Use building segment that you place in a zone position surrounding the Police Station.
Zoo — Score 1 point for each Parks & Recreation building segment that you place in a zone position surrounding the Zoo.
Play Reference
Objective
Accumulate the most Benchmark Tokens through careful Zone and Building tile placement over the course of the game's three rounds to be declared the winner.
Turn Sequence
Each of the game's three rounds consists of the following sequence of actions:
- Preparation: Each player draws four face-down Zone tiles and four face-down Building tiles from the respective tile stacks and secretly looks at them. Players then select one of their available Role cards and reveal simultaneously. Turn order is determined by the number at the top of the Role card - lowest number takes first turn. Play proceeds clockwise. (page 5)
- Zoning: Beginning with the first player, players take turns placing Zone or Community tiles into the city from their hands. If a placed Zone tile forms a District, the player scores an appropriate amount of District points and moves their scoring token. (page 6)
- Bidding: Beginning with the first player, players take turns placing a bidding chip on an undeveloped Zone tile. Two of the same-colored chips stacked consecutively automatically wins control of that Zone. After all chips have been placed, the winning bid is the colored chip on the top of each stack. (page 7)
- Construction: Beginning with the first player, players take turns placing Building tiles into the city from their hands, scoring primary, bonus and community points accordingly. (pages 8,9)
Scoring Reference
Zoning Phase Scoring
Did you create or extend a District? Score 1 point for each adjacent, matching Zone.
Did my Role card score? Consult your Role card for extra scoring.
Construction Phase Scoring
When placing a Building tile, score the primary points then ask...
Is my Bidding chip on the Zone? Score the bonus points for that segment.
Is it near a Community tile? Score 1 point per matching segment in a Zone surrounding the Community tile.
Is it the 3rd floor or higher? Score 1 point for 3rd floor, 2 points for 5th floor, 3 points for 7th floor, 4 points for 9th floor, etc.
Did my Role card score? Consult your Role card for extra scoring.
Off-turn Scoring
Did my Role card score? Consult your Role card for extra scoring.
Is my Bidding chip on the Zone? Score bonus points for the building segment.
Zone & Building Types
- Residential Zone
- Commercial Zone
- Industrial Zone
- Parks & Recreation Zone
- Mixed Use Zone