Top 3: Film
Top 3: Film Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The game contains 89 cards:
- 45 Metropolen cards (city cards)
- 24 order cards (6 per player)
- 12 advance cards (3 per player)
- 5 category cards
- 3 number cards
Object of the Game
In Top3 Metropolen, each round players try to put three randomly chosen cards into the correct order within one of five categories. Whoever correctly determines the order receives points for it (in the normal case). Further points can be earned by correctly laying out advance cards. Whoever has collected the most points after 15 rounds wins.
Setup
- The three number cards are placed in the middle of the table in the order 1-2-3.
- The 45 city cards are shuffled and placed as a face-down stack with the back (which shows the name of the city) facing up.
- The 5 category cards are shuffled and placed as a face-down stack.
- Each player receives a set of 9 cards in one colour. This consists of 6 order cards (e.g. 1-2-3) and 3 advance cards (e.g. "Only I have the right").
Gameplay
Each round, the top three city cards are drawn from the stack and placed face-up, and are assigned the number cards 1, 2 and 3. (It does not matter which card is assigned which number. Thus each card corresponds to exactly one number.) The top category card is then turned face-up.
Players now secretly choose from their six order cards the one that they think shows the order of the three city cards in the current category. The first number gives which of the laid-out city cards has the highest value, the second number which has the second-highest value, and the third which has the lowest value.
As soon as all players have chosen a card and laid it in front of them, the three city cards are turned over and the order in the current category is determined.
Example: The city cards "London", "Paris" and "Buenos Aires" were drawn and, in this order, assigned the number cards 1, 2 and 3. The category drawn was "Tallest building". Markus believes that of these three cities London has the tallest building, Paris the second-tallest and Buenos Aires the lowest. He therefore chooses the order card 1-2-3. Michael also believes London, but sees Buenos Aires on the second place and Paris on the third place. Then he chooses the order card 1-3-2. The three city cards are then turned over. London has the tallest building at 235 metres, Paris the second-tallest at 210 metres and Buenos Aires the lowest at 170 metres. Thus Markus, with the order 1-2-3, was correct.
It can well happen that two (or even all three) cards show the same value. If this happens, all cards with the same value are regarded as equal.
Example: This time "London" (1), "Buenos Aires" (2) and "Auckland" (3) are laid out. The category is again "Tallest building". The tallest buildings in Buenos Aires and in Auckland each have a height of 170 metres. London is again top with 235 metres; the two other cities have equally tall buildings. Thus both the order 1-2-3 and the order 1-3-2 are correct.
The Categories in Detail
Tallest building: The height of the tallest building is sought, in metres. Only completed buildings count. Television towers, radio masts and similar structures do not belong to this. The decisive measure is the building structure (the so-called structural height). Any antennas are therefore not taken into account, but a spire that forms part of the structure is.
Mean daily temperature: The average daily temperature in degrees Celsius is sought. The stated value is made up of the daily average values of the last 30 years.
Expenses for a short stay: The stated costs refer to the following expenses: one night's accommodation for two people in a first-class hotel, two dinners with a bottle of house red wine, one taxi ride, the rent of a passenger car for 100 kilometres, two theatre tickets, trips by urban public transport, and various small expenses, for example for a paperback or a telephone call.
Holiday days: The number of holiday days (free paid working days) in the year is sought.
Annual net wage of a female worker: The sought value is the average annual wage of an unskilled or semi-skilled female helper in a medium-sized company, preferably in the textile industry, who is about 25 years old and unmarried.
Scoring
- If only one player has laid out the correct order, that player receives two of the three city cards and places them in front of himself. Each card collected in this way scores 1 victory point at the end of the game. The third city card is placed on a discard pile. (The discard pile is started with the first card that is not awarded.)
- If several players, but not all players, have laid out the correct order, each of these players receives one city card.
- If all players have laid out the correct order, no player receives a city card and all three cards go to the discard pile.
- If no player has laid out the correct order, all three city cards likewise go to the discard pile.
Example: Since in the previous example only Markus had laid out the correct order, he receives two of the three city cards. He chooses "London" and "Paris". The city card "Buenos Aires" is placed on the discard pile. Michael receives nothing this round.
Further Course of Play
After scoring the order, each player takes his laid-out order card back into his hand, so that all options are again available to him for the next round. Then three new city cards are turned face-up and the next category card is drawn. The players again choose an order card, and so on.
After five rounds the stack of category cards has been played through once, and it is now reshuffled.
Advance Cards
In addition to his order cards, each player receives three advance cards. These show the texts "Everyone has the right", "Only I have the right" and "Nobody has the right". In addition to his order card, each player may also lay out one of his advance cards. After the order has been evaluated, the laid-out advance cards are evaluated:
- If one player has made a correct advance, he receives a city card from the discard pile.
- If several players have made a correct advance, each of these players receives a city card from the discard pile.
- All players who made no advance or laid out a wrong advance card receive no cards.
Unlike in the scoring for the order, the cards won through advances are taken from the discard pile. If there are not enough cards in the discard pile to pay out all players, no player receives a card for advances.
Important: The scoring of the order is completed first, before the advances are evaluated. If not all cards were distributed as points to the players in the order scoring, the cards not yet awarded are already available for evaluating the advances.
All laid-out advance cards are removed from the game after evaluation (returned to the box). Each player therefore has only three opportunities in the game to win points through advances.
End of the Game
The game ends after 15 rounds, once all 45 city cards and the category stack have been played through for the third time. Each player now counts his won city cards. Each city card counts one victory point. The player with the most points is the winner. In the case of a tie, these players share the victory or the placement.