Tallywood Rally Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Overview
• Components
• Setup
  • Main Board Setup
  • Player Board Setup
• Icons
• Concepts
  • Trackers
  • Vote Shares
  • Strength
  • Wild Strategy Actions
  • Strategy Actions
• Gameplay
  • Flow of Play Overview
  • Strategy Phase
    • Placing a Strategy Card and Gaining Income Example
    • Using a Favor Example
    • Gaining an Endorsement Example
  • Plaza Wild Strategy Actions
  • Strategy Actions in Detail
    • Public Works Strategy Action
    • Celebrity Strategy Action
    • Research Strategy Action
    • Campaign Strategy Action
• Final Tally
  • Final Tally Example
  • Votes per Vote Share Chart
  • Votes per Share Formula
• Solo Mode
  • Solo Setup
  • Solo Gameplay
    • Strategy Phase
    • Round Scoring
    • Clean Up Phase
  • Opposition Strategy Actions
    • Public Works Strategy Action (Opposition)
    • Celebrity Strategy Action (Opposition)
    • Research Strategy Action (Opposition)
    • Campaign Strategy Action (Opposition)
    • Unable to Take an Action

Objective

After four weeks of campaigning, the final vote will be held. Each of the four districts will assign a portion of their votes to candidates who earned vote shares. Whoever receives the most votes during this final tally will be declared the winner and have their candidate elected as mayor.

Overview

You and up to three other players will act as campaign managers for local politicians. Over four weeks (rounds), it is your job to get your boss elected as mayor. To do this, you will need to manage your candidate's funding and public image. Cleverly use your resources and strategize to plan rallies, gain celebrity endorsements, secure funding for pet projects, and send your assistants to fundraise and secure support.

Components

• 1 Main board
• 4 Player boards
• 6 Politician cards
• 64 Strategy cards
• 4 Round cards
• 18 Celebrity tiles
• 18 Public Works tiles
• 24 Solo cards
• 4 Initiative tokens
• 4 Initial Support tokens
• 4 Popularity trackers
• 4 Money trackers
• 4 Vote Share tokens
• 12 Endorsement / Favor tokens
• 40 Voter cubes
• 1 Voter bag
• 24 Badge tokens
• 16 Assistant meeples
• 16 Polling trackers
• 4 Final Vote trackers
• 1 dry-erase scoring board & marker

Setup

Main Board Setup

1. Place the Main board into the center of the table.
2. Separate the Strategy cards into 4 decks based on their card back. Shuffle each deck and place them face-down near the Main board.
3. Separate the Celebrity tiles into 3 shuffled, face-down piles based on their Tier.
4. Separate the Public Works tiles into 3 shuffled, face-down piles based on their Tier.
5. Place the six piles created in steps 3 and 4 near the Main board.
6. Return to the box any Initiative tokens that show a number greater than the number of players.
7. Shuffle the 4 Initial Support tokens and randomly place 1 face-down (?-side face-up) into each District.
8. Place the matching-colored Endorsement tokens and Vote Share tokens into each District on the Main board as shown.
9. Place the Voter cubes into the Voter bag, then randomly draw and place 4 Voter cubes into the Plaza on the Main board.
10. Arrange the Round cards in descending order with the Round 1 card (shown as an "R1" icon in the source) on the top, and place them near the Main board.

See page 20 for Solo play setup.

Player Board Setup

Each player follows these instructions:

1. Place 1 Player board in front of you.
2. Select a color and take the matching 6 Badges and 4 Assistants. Place the Badges nearby, and place 1 Assistant into each Action Column on your Player board.
3. Draw 1 card from each Strategy deck for a total of 4 cards in your hand.
4. Take 1 Polling tracker of each color, a Money tracker, and a Popularity tracker.
5. Select a Politician card and place it nearby.
6. Adjust the starting position of your trackers on your Player board according to your Politician card. If a tracker is not shown, place it at "0".
7. Take a random Initiative token from the face-down pile and reveal it.
8. The player who takes the "1" token becomes the first player.

Icons

The rulebook's icon key (page 7) is pictorial. Its labels are:

• Money
• Popularity
• Vote Share
• Celebrity strategy icon
• Research strategy icon
• Campaign strategy icon
• Public Works strategy icon
• Wild strategy action
• Strength
• Polling in this District
• Polling in the district of your choice
• District
• Voter cube: matching the indicated district (the source reads "DISCTRICT"; corrected here)
• Draw a voter cube
• Attract voter to any district
• Voter cubes
• Place a badge
• Passive ability
• Endorsements
• Polling in the indicated district

Concepts

Trackers

Each player has 6 trackers on the track at the top of their Player board.

The Money and Popularity trackers will move to the left or to the right as players gain or spend these Resources.

The 4 different-colored Polling trackers will mostly move to the right, but can move to the left by certain card abilities.

Each time you gain an icon without any chevrons next to it, advance the indicated tracker one space to the right. If it has one or more green chevrons, advance the indicated tracker as many spaces to the right as the number of chevrons shown.

Each time you gain an icon with a red chevron, move the indicated tracker as many spaces to the left as the number of chevrons shown. If you are required to spend a certain amount of Resources, but cannot move the tracker that many spaces, you cannot use the depicted effect.

Vote Shares

As your Polling trackers increase their position, they will land on and eventually pass by Vote Share icons.

During the Final Tally, you will gain Votes based on the number of Vote Share icons each of your Polling trackers has passed by on the track on your Player board.

Each District will have a certain number of Votes based on a combination of Initial Support tokens, Voter cubes, and unclaimed Endorsements.

These Votes will be divided by the total number of Vote Shares owned by all players (using the chart on the back of this rulebook) to determine how many Votes each Vote Share will be worth, in each District.

Strength

At the end of each round, players compare their Strength in each Region, and receive rewards as shown on the Round card.

Each Assistant meeple that is present in a given Region (the Plaza, or one of the four Districts) awards its owner with 1 Strength in that Region.

Each player-colored Badge awards its owner with Strength in its District equal to the Tier level of the Public Works tile that it is placed onto (a Badge on a Tier 2 Public Works grants 2 Strength in its District). Badges in the Plaza award their owner 1 Strength there.

If there is a tie in a District, the player whose Assistant meeple is in the furthest-left action spot on the Main board wins the tie. If there is a tie, but no Assistant meeples present, the player with their Badge on the tied highest Tier Public Works tile wins the tie. In the event of a tie in the Plaza, all players receive the reward equally.

Wild Strategy Actions

Wild Strategy Actions are depicted with a Wild Strategy icon. These can be taken by using any Strategy icon from your Strategy card. Also, they cannot be blocked by Assistants.

Strategy Actions

Each Player board has 4 separate Action Columns.

When taking a turn, you will assign a Strategy card in your hand into one of your available Action Columns. Each column can only be used once.

Each Action Column has three different rows where your Strategy cards can be assigned, which will cause different Resource and/or Strategy icons to be connected to the white strings.

Each turn you are only allowed to take Strategy Actions that have a matching icon connected by a string. Each Action Column has a unique string layout that allows you to activate different parts of the card.

In addition, Strategy Actions you take on the Main board can be blocked. An Action is considered blocked if there is an Assistant meeple (of any color) occupying it.

Gameplay

Flow of Play Overview

A game of Tallywood Rally takes place over 4 rounds and one Final Tally.

Each round is composed of three phases:

• Strategy Phase (pages 10-15): During the Strategy phase, players take turns in the Initiative token order playing a single Strategy card, gaining income, sending an Assistant meeple to a District and/or the Plaza, taking Actions, and potentially gaining Endorsements. Each player will complete a number of turns equal to the value indicated on the Round card.
• Round Scoring (page 16): After all turns have been completed, players proceed to the Round Scoring during which they will gain benefits based on their Strength in the various Districts and/or the Plaza.
• Clean Up (page 17): Players prepare for the next round by changing the Initiative order, removing cards from their Player board, and drawing new Strategy cards.

Strategy Phase

When it is your turn during the Strategy phase, perform the following steps in order. Sections marked with the "+" icon are illustrated by an example shown on pages 12-13.

1. Select a Strategy card. Select a Strategy card in your hand.
2. Place the Strategy card. (+) Select an Action Column on your Player board that does not already contain a Strategy card. Place the selected Strategy card into one of the three rows within that column.
3. Gain Income. (+) Gain the Money or Popularity Resources that are connected to a string in the chosen Action Column.
4. Assign an Assistant. Place the Assistant meeple from the associated Action Column to an area on the Main board. It can be placed in any of the 4 different-colored Districts, or into the central Plaza. Assistants grant 1 Strength to their owner in the Region they are in.
5. Take Strategy Actions. In the order of your choice, you may now use all the Strategy icons that are connected to a string, use the ability on your current Strategy card (5.a.), and potentially use Favor tokens to gain extra icons (5.b.). To take Strategy Actions associated with a specific icon, that icon must be connected by a string on your Player board, and there cannot be an Assistant meeple blocking its space. Once an icon has been used to activate a single Action on the Main board, it cannot be used again. Strategy Actions are described in detail on pages 14 and 15. Wild Strategy Actions can be activated with any Strategy icon.
   • 5.a. Use an Ability. Before, after, or when taking Strategy Actions, you may activate the ability on the banner in the middle of your Strategy card. Some abilities have the Passive ability icon, which means that the ability is constantly in effect for the entire duration of the round. You cannot activate an ability in the middle of an Action or vice-versa; you must resolve one completely before initiating the next.
   • 5.b. Use a Favor. (+) Before, after, or when taking Strategy Actions, if you have an unused Endorsement token, you may flip it to its reverse side and use it as a Favor. Favor tokens are placed into the current Action Column to connect a string to an additional Strategy or Resource icon. Some Favors require you to spend Resources in order to use them, as shown on the token itself.

When your turn is complete, play proceeds to the next player clockwise unless the round is over.

Placing a Strategy Card and Gaining Income Example

Placement: There are 4 eligible Action Columns, and 3 eligible rows within each column. In this example, the player has chosen to play in the middle row of the rightmost column, connecting the icons on the right side of the card to strings.

Income: This would grant the player 1 Money and 1 Popularity from connected Resource icons.

Using a Favor Example

In this example, the player has 2 Endorsements, the red "1" and the blue "3". On the reverse side of them are Favors, which the player plays to connect the remaining two icons to this card. The level 3 Favor is free, while the level 1 Favor costs the player 1 Money and 1 Popularity.

Gaining an Endorsement Example

The green player took Actions in the red District this round. Based on the position of their red Polling tracker, they are entitled to take a level 2 Endorsement at the end of their turn. First, they must return their level 1 Endorsement, even if it is in use.

Plaza Wild Strategy Actions

To take one of these Actions, you must send your Assistant to the Plaza, and have one or more unspent Strategy icons on your current Strategy card to spend on the Action.

A) Direct Appeal

1. Spend 1 Money and 1 Popularity.
2. Select any 1 Voter cube in the Plaza and move them to a District of your choosing.
3. If this is the first time you have taken this Action in this game, place 1 Badge into the indicated space in the Plaza. This Badge gives you 1 Strength in the Plaza.

B) Rally

Gain 2 Popularity for each Strength you have in the Plaza.

C) Fundraise

Gain 1 Money for each District where you have at least 1 Strength.

Strategy Actions in Detail

Public Works Strategy Action

To take this Action:

1. Your current Strategy card must have this icon connected by a string.
2. Your Assistant from this Action Column must be assigned to a District where this Action is not blocked.
3. You must be able to spend the required number of Resources, and have at least 1 Badge remaining.

Follow these steps in order to take this Action:

1. Select a Tier of Public Works tiles that has at least 1 unbuilt tile remaining.
2. Spend Money equal to the selected Tier multiplied by 2 (e.g. a Tier 2 would cost 4 Money).
3. Place the top Public Works tile face-down into the District with your Assistant.
4. Place one of your Badges on top of the newly-built Public Works tile.
5. Badges grant Strength to their owner in the Region they are located in, equal to the Tier of Public Works they are placed on.

Celebrity Strategy Action

To take this Action:

1. Your current Strategy card must have this icon connected by a string.
2. Your Assistant from this Action Column must be assigned to a District where this Action is not blocked.
3. You must be able to spend the required number of Resources.

Follow these steps in order to take this Action:

1. Select a Tier of Celebrity tiles that has at least 1 unbuilt tile remaining.
2. Spend Money and Popularity equal to the selected Tier (e.g. a Tier 3 would cost 3 Money and 3 Popularity).
3. Place the top Celebrity tile of the chosen Tier face-down into the District with your Assistant.
4. Gain Polling in the District with the newly-built Celebrity tile, equal to its Tier.
5. Draw 2 Voter cubes from the Voter bag and place them into the Plaza.

Research Strategy Action

To take this Action:

1. Your current Strategy card must have this icon connected by a string.
2. Your Assistant from this Action Column must be assigned to a District where this Action is not blocked.
3. There must be at least 1 face-down tile (Initial Support, Celebrity, or Public Works) in this District.

Follow these steps in order to take this Action:

1. Select a face-down Initial Support, Celebrity, or Public Works tile in the District with your Assistant.
2. Flip the indicated tile face-up, and gain 1 Polling in the District with the newly-flipped tile.
3. For each colored-cube icon on the flipped tile, move 1 matching-colored Voter cube from the Plaza to this District.
4. If the flipped tile shows a multi-color Voter cube, treat it as the color of the District it is in.
5. If you flipped a Public Works tile, place the Badge that was on it, if any, back onto it.

Campaign Strategy Action

To take this Action:

1. Your current Strategy card must have this icon connected by a string.
2. Your Assistant from this Action Column must be assigned to a District where this Action is not blocked.
3. You must be able to spend the required number of Resources.

Follow these steps in order to take this Action:

1. Spend 3 Popularity.
2. Gain 2 Polling in the District with your Assistant.

District Wild Strategy Action: Fundraise

Gain 1 Money for each Strength you have in this District.

Round Scoring Phase

After all players have completed their turns, move to the Round Scoring. During this phase, players with Strength in the various Regions on the Main board are rewarded according to the three criteria on the current Round card.

Assistant meeples give 1 Strength, while Badges give Strength equal to the Tier of Public Works they occupy, while Badges in the Plaza always give 1 Strength.

If there is a tie for most Strength in the Plaza, all tied players receive the reward. If there is a tie for most Strength in a District, break the tie in favor of the player with an Assistant blocking the leftmost Action spot. If there is a tie in a District with no Assistants, the tied player with their Badge on the highest Tier Public Works tile wins.

After all rewards on the current Round card have been assigned, move to the Clean Up phase.

Round Scoring Example

This example shows how the blue District and the Plaza are scored during the 3rd Round Scoring phase. The red, yellow, and green Districts are also scored according to the Round card, but they are not shown in this example.

• Both players have at least 1 Strength in this District. Thus, both players receive 1 Money.
• The players have the same Strength in this District, but the blue player wins the tie-breaker by having an Assistant in the leftmost Action space. The blue player receives 1 blue Polling.
• Both players are tied for the most Strength in the Plaza. Thus, both players receive 3 Popularity.

Clean Up Phase

Follow these steps in order:

1. Discard the current Round card to the box, revealing the card below it. If there are no cards remaining, skip this phase and proceed directly to the Final Tally.
2. Players remove all the Strategy cards from their Player board, and discard them face-down into communal discard piles.
3. Players return all the Assistant meeples from the Main board to their Action Columns.
4. Players may optionally discard any of the cards in their hand, face-down, into the corresponding communal discard piles.
5. Players remove the used Favor/Endorsement tokens from their Player board, setting them nearby, ready to use in the next round.
6. The player with the "1" Initiative token exchanges it with another player's Initiative token. In a 4-player game, the remaining 2 players exchange their Initiative token with each other.
7. In Initiative token order, players draw cards from any of the 4 Campaign decks until they have a number of cards in their hand equal to the number below the card-count icon on the new Round card. If a deck runs out, reform it by shuffling all the used/discarded cards from that deck and place them face-down.
8. Proceed to the Strategy phase of the next round.

Final Tally

After four rounds of campaigning, the time has come to tally the Votes. Follow these steps in order to determine the final results.

The dry-erase Scoring board can assist with scoring, though experienced players may wish to do the tally with pen and paper.

1. Flip all of the Initial Support tokens face-up if they aren't already.

   • 1.a. In Initiative token order, players take turns flipping any 1 face-down Celebrity or Public Works tile face-up.
   • 1.b. For each colored-cube icon on the flipped tile, move 1 matching-colored Voter cube from the Plaza to the District.
   • 1.c. If the flipped tile has a multicolor Voter cube on it, treat it as the color of the District containing the tile.
   • 1.d. Continue until all tiles have been flipped face-up.

2. If there are any Voter cubes still remaining in the Plaza, move them into the District matching their color.

3. Determine the total Votes in each District. Add together the following Vote sources in each District:

   • 3.a. The number on the Initial Support token.
   • 3.b. 2 Votes for each Voter cube in the District.
   • 3.c. The numbers on all unclaimed Endorsement tokens.
   • 3.d. If the final total is an odd number, add 1 to it to make it an even number.

   * In the rare case a District has more than 40 Votes, the formula to determine Vote Shares is on page 23.

4. Determine the total Vote Shares in each District.

   • 4.a. Determine how many Shares each player has, and total them to find the total Vote Shares in each District.
   • 4.b. For each Vote Share icon on a player's track that their matching District's Polling tracker has reached or exceeded, add one Vote Share to the total.
   • 4.c. The player with the most current Strength in each District is awarded an additional Vote Share from that District (as indicated on the Round 4 card).

Congratulations, your politician has been elected mayor for the upcoming season. In case of a tie, the tied players share the victory and mayor title.

Final Tally Example

This example shows how the red District is scored during the Final Tally. There are 30 total Votes (14 from the Initial Support tokens, 12 from the 6 Voter cubes, and 4 from the unclaimed Endorsements), and 5 total Vote Shares (the blue player added 3 because their red Polling tracker has passed by 3 Vote Share icons, while the green player added 2, one from their track and one from having the most Strength in the red District), which means each Vote Share is worth 6 Votes. This gives the blue player 18 Votes (for 3 Vote Shares as recorded in column 4.a.), and gives the green player 12 Votes (for 2 Vote Shares as recorded in column 4.a.).

Only relevant tokens and parts of each board are shown in this example.

Votes per Vote Share Chart

This is the scoring chart printed on the back of the rulebook (page 24). Find the row for the total number of Vote Shares owned by all players, and the column for the District's total Votes. The value in the cell is how many Votes each Vote Share is worth. The top row (1 Vote Share) equals the Total Votes.

Total Vote Shares \ Total Votes	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	38	40
1	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	38

Votes per Share Formula

This won't be needed in most games. It is here in case a District has more than 40 Votes.

Total Votes divided by Total Vote Shares. If there is a remainder, and the remainder is equal to or greater than HALF the Total Vote Shares, then round up to increase the result by 1.

Example: 46 Votes and 7 Shares. Divided, we get 6, with a remainder of 4. 4 is more than half of 7, so we round up 6 by 1, to 7.

Solo Mode

Hard mode alterations are marked with a red asterisk (*) in the source; they are labelled "Hard mode" below. Before starting, decide if you want to play on Normal or Hard mode.

Solo Setup

Follow the normal setup instructions for the game with the following additions:

1. Set up a Player board for your automated opponent, who will be referred to as the "Opposition" from here on out.
2. Set each of their trackers to "0" on their track.
3. Shuffle the 24 Solo cards and place them face-down near the Opposition's Player board.
4. Select an unused color and set up the Assistants and Badges for the Opposition as you would for a player.
5. You begin with the "1" Initiative token, while the Opposition starts with the "2" Initiative token. Hard mode: Swap the Initiative tokens, so you begin with the "2".
6. Place one of the Opposition's Badges into its matching space in the Plaza.

Solo Gameplay

Strategy Phase

When it's time for the Opposition to take their turn, follow these steps:

1. Flip the top card of the Opposition's deck and place it into their leftmost open Action Column, in the middle row.
2. Place their Assistant from the corresponding Action Column into the District at the top of the Solo card that is connected by a string.
3. Perform the Actions shown on the bottom of their Solo card (they do not need to be connected). Perform the left Strategy Action first, followed by the one on the right. (The Opposition's Actions are described in detail on page 22.)
4. The Opposition does not spend Resources to pay for any Actions.
5. Move their Assistant to block the Action connected by a string. If that Action is already blocked, instead block the other Strategy Action shown on the card.

Round Scoring

During the Round Scoring, the Opposition competes for and gains rewards like a normal player would. During round 3 and 4, if the Opposition has the most Strength in the Plaza, advance their lowest Polling tracker(s) forward a number of spaces equal to what is shown.

Hard mode: Advance their lowest 2 tracker(s) instead of their lowest tracker(s).

Clean Up Phase

Follow the normal steps for you. For the Opposition, follow these steps:

1. Gather all cards from the Opposition Player board.
2. Add to the gathered cards the same number of cards from the top of the Opposition deck.
3. Return all gathered cards to the box.
4. Grant the Opposition all the unclaimed Endorsements that they are currently entitled to.
   • 4.a. The Opposition can only have 1 Endorsement from each District. If they are owed a higher level of Endorsement, they return their current Endorsement to the District, then take the highest level of Endorsement that they are able to.
5. If the Opposition moved any of their Polling trackers to space 12 this round, and the Vote Share token is still in the corresponding District, give it to them.

Opposition Strategy Actions

Public Works Strategy Action (Opposition)

The Opposition places a new Public Works tile face-down in this District, with one of their Badges placed onto it, following these rules:

• The Opposition prefers to place the lowest Tier of Public Works tile that has not been built in this District.
• If at least one Public Works of each Tier has been placed in this District, instead the Opposition will place the lowest Tier of Public Works tile that they have not yet built here (as shown by their Badges).
• If the Tier of Public Works the Opposition prefers to build has no remaining unplaced tiles, they will instead build the next highest Tier.

Celebrity Strategy Action (Opposition)

The Opposition places a new Celebrity tile in this District following these rules:

• The Opposition prefers to place the lowest Tier of Celebrity tile that has not been built in this District.
• If at least one Celebrity of each Tier has been placed in this District, instead the Opposition will place the Tier 2 Celebrity tile (Hard mode: the Tier 3 Celebrity tile).
• If the Tier of Celebrity the Opposition prefers to build has no remaining unplaced tiles, they will instead build the next highest Tier.

Then, the Opposition gains Polling in this District equal to the Tier of placed Celebrity tile, and 2 Voter cubes are drawn from the bag and placed into the Plaza.

Research Strategy Action (Opposition)

The Opposition flips a face-down tile in this District for it to be face-up, potentially attracting Voter cubes here from the Plaza (if a Celebrity or Public Works tile is chosen).

If the Opposition currently has either more or the same number of Vote Shares in this District as you, this is their preference hierarchy for which tile to flip:

1. Highest Tier of face-down Public Works tile;
2. Highest Tier of face-down Celebrity tile;
3. Unflipped Initial Support tile.

If the Opposition currently has fewer Vote Shares in this District than you, their preference of which tile to flip is inverted (3, then 2, then 1), and for option 1 or 2, they should check for the lowest Tier instead of the highest.

Then, the Opposition gains 1 Polling in this District.

Campaign Strategy Action (Opposition)

The Opposition gains 2 Polling in this District.

Unable to Take an Action

If ever the Opposition is unable to take an Action in a particular District, they move their current Assistant to the District not connected by a string, and attempt to take the Action there.

If they are still unable to take an Action, they move back to their original District, and get 1 Money and 1 Popularity.

Solo Final Tally

• When it's the Opposition's turn to reveal a tile, they will select the District that they have most Vote Shares in (if tied, the tied District in which you have the least Vote Shares), preferring the District with the most remaining face-down tiles.
• When selecting a tile, they will prefer to flip a Public Works tile if there are any. After deciding which type of tile to flip, they will select the highest remaining Tier of that tile in the selected District.

The Opposition tallies their Votes exactly like a player would, with one addition:

• Normal mode: Select the lowest of the Opposition's two Resource trackers, and divide its position by 3 (rounding down). The Opposition receives that many additional Votes, which you can record in the "Endorsements" area of the Scoring board.
• Hard mode: Select the lowest of the Opposition's two Resource trackers, and divide its position by 2 (rounding up). The Opposition receives that many additional Votes, which you can record in the "Endorsements" area of the Scoring board.