Wildcatters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Gaming Material
• Preparations
  • Additional rules for 3 players
• Starting Positions
• Game Sequence
  • A. Choosing an Area Card
  • Icons
  • B. Receiving Shares, Money and Victory Points
  • C. Take 10 Money Bills
  • D. Building Actions
    • D.1 Drilling Rig
    • D.2 Refinery
    • D.3 Transport
  • E. The 3 Oil Actions
    • E.1 Drilling for a New Oil Field: 8 money bills
    • E.1.2 The Wildcatter
    • E.2 Exchanging a Drilling Rig for a Pumpjack: 3 money bills
    • E.3 Transporting Oil: 4 money bills
  • F. Move Unused Tankers (optional)
  • G. Emptying Full Refineries
  • H. Refill Area Cards up to 8
• In-Game Valuing
• Loans
• Victory Points During the Game
• End of Game
• Final Score
• Game Situations
  • Developing an Oil Field
  • Transporting Oil
• Credits

Goal of the Game

Before you lies a game about adventurers who are trying to find fame and fortune in the oil industry. The players drill for oil in new areas and use the other players and their drills to quicken this process. In this tactical game, your goal is to gather the highest amount of shares and Wildcatters and to supply more oil than any other player.

Gaming Material

Contents:

• 1 Game board
• 48 Area cards
• 4 Wooden cubes
• 4 Summary cards
• 100 Money bills
• 4x100 shares (100 shares in each of the 4 player colors)
• 12 Extra share chips
• 16 Wildcatter chips
• 4 Player sequence chips
• 1 Black cube
• 4x36 Oil barrels (36 in each of the 4 player colors)

Per player, in their own color:

• 10 Drilling rigs
• 11 Pumpjacks
• 8 Trains
• 4 Oil tankers
• 5 Refineries

The game board shows the world map divided into oil-producing continents/areas, harbors for building trains, refinery fields, a turn counter, a score tracker, and dedicated spaces for the bank's shares and money, for victory points earned from shares, money and continents, and for oil delivered from full refineries.

Preparations

1. Put all the shares (arranged by color) and the money on the designated areas on the game board.
2. Shuffle the 48 area cards and divide them into two separate stacks, divided by the color on the back of the cards (light or dark), and put them next to the game board.
3. Put the black cube on spot '1' on the turn counter.
4. Each player picks a color and receives all playing pieces of the chosen color, 20 shares of the chosen color and 10 money bills. Each player places the cube of their color on the score tracker — every player starts with 5 points.

Additional rules for 3 players

1. Each player receives 5 extra money bills.
2. Place a refinery of the color that is not being played in Australia.
3. Take the top 4 area cards of the light-colored stack and place a drilling rig of the color that is not being played in each of these areas. Discard those area cards.

Starting Positions

1. Determine the starting player. This player will remain the starting player up to and including turn 6.
2. All players take the following from their inventory: 3 drilling rigs, 2 trains, 1 oil tanker and 1 refinery. These pieces can be placed on the game board in the following way:
   1. Each player receives 8 light-colored area cards and can see them.
   2. Begin with the active player and take turns to place a refinery on 1 of the 4 colored continents. When placing the first refineries, no continent may contain more than one refinery.
   3. The active player chooses 1 of the received area cards and places any one of his game pieces in the designated area. Going clockwise, all other players pick a card and place one of their pieces in the designated area. This process is repeated until all pieces have been placed.
3. All 32 area cards with light backs are then shuffled. Place this stack face down on the stack of the 16 dark-backed area cards.
4. Put a Wildcatter chip on each oil field.
5. Put a second Wildcatter chip on each oil field that contains 0 or 1 drilling rigs. Any remaining chips are put back in the box.
6. Reveal the top 8 area cards and put them next to the game board.

Game Sequence

Each turn every player, beginning with the active player, executes the following moves:

• A Choose an area card.
• B Receive shares, money and victory points.
• C Take 10 money bills.
• D Execute building actions.
• E Execute oil actions.
• F Move unused tankers.
• G Empty full refineries (5 barrels).
• H Refill area cards up to 8.

The game is played in 7 rounds (or 8 if played with 3 players). All but the final round have a fixed turn order. At the end of the prefinal round all players count the oil drops (victory points) on all their chosen area cards. By doing so, the turn order for the final round is determined.

The player with the highest amount of points chooses his position first. The player with the second most points chooses after that player, etcetera. If two or more players are tied, the player who has no loan can choose first. If neither player has a loan or both, the player with the highest number of shares in his own color can choose first. Should the players still be tied, the player who went first in the prefinal round goes first.

A. Choosing an Area Card

The active player chooses 1 of the 8 area cards and puts it in front of him. The player can only make his moves in this specific area. Only execute actions D and E in the chosen area.

Clarification: Choose 1 of the 8 area cards next to the game board. The area card tells you in which area you can make your moves this turn. It also shows the amount of stocks, victory points and money bills this area provides and whether you can build a refinery. You will receive the shares, money and victory points immediately.

Exception of the white continents: There are no area cards for the 3 white continents. Each turn, the active player may build trains or refineries in 1 white area.

A player may choose to turn in 4 victory points to replace all 8 of the area cards with 8 new area cards.

• Go back 4 victory points on the score tracker.
• Put the 8 currently displayed area cards aside.
• Reveal 8 new area cards.

Icons

• Oil drop = Victory points
• Coin/bill = Money bills
• Star = Shares

B. Receiving Shares, Money and Victory Points

Besides a specific area, area cards also feature specific icons:

• B.1 Take the money and shares from the corresponding color, as shown on the chosen area card.
• B.2 Oil drops. These are victory points you will receive immediately. These victory points are also counted after the prefinal round to determine the turn order in the final round.
• B.3 A card with a refinery gives you the right to empty 1 refinery (including those owned by opponents). This can be done during your own turn (for example in order to prevent having to take out a loan) or at the end of the game.
  • You cannot supply any oil to refineries that have been emptied in the same turn.
  • This card used to empty a refinery is then removed from the game.

Clarification: You can use a refinery whenever you want (during your own turn) or at the end of the game. The victory points will be used to determine the order in which players can make their moves in the final round.

C. Take 10 Money Bills

Receive 10 money bills from the bank.

D. Building Actions

The cost of building and oil actions can be found on the summary card. The cost is the number of money bills a player has to pay to the bank. Should you wish to pay with shares, you will have to pay 3 shares (in any color), for each money bill.

D.1 Drilling Rig

The following goes for each area:

• An area can only contain a maximum of 7 drilling rigs and/or Wildcatters.
• Players can only build 4 drilling rigs and/or pumpjacks of the same color in the one area.
• Building costs of 1st, 2nd and 3rd drilling rigs: 4 money bills.
• Building costs of 4th drilling rig: 6 money bills.
• If the Wildcatter position is free, a drilling rig can be built there (see E.1.2).

Example: The 4th red drilling rig is built, pay 6 money bills.

D.2 Refinery

You can build a maximum of 1 refinery per turn in the area you picked or on a white continent.

• Building costs of a refinery: 12 money bills.

Immediately receive the following amount of victory points after building a refinery:

• 1st refinery: 0
• 2nd refinery: 0
• 3rd refinery: 6
• 4th refinery: 8
• 5th refinery: 10

D.3 Transport

• Building costs of a train: 2 money bills.
• Building costs of a tanker: 2 money bills.

Each area on the game board designates the maximum amount of specific gaming pieces that can be placed there. The tankers are the only exception: players are free to place an unlimited number of tankers in each harbor.

E. The 3 Oil Actions

• E.1 Drilling for a new oil field — 8 money bills (only in areas where there are at least 4 drilling rigs).
• E.1.2 The Wildcatter.
• E.2 Exchange drilling rig for pumpjack — 3 money bills (only in areas where there is already at least 1 pumpjack).
• E.3 Transporting — 4 money bills (all pumpjacks can transport 1 oil).

E.1 Drilling for a New Oil Field: 8 money bills

A minimum of 4 drilling rigs in the area is required (these drilling rigs can belong to multiple players). This action can only be performed once per area.

As soon as the active player has paid the required amount of money, the following actions must be performed:

• Replace 1 of the active player's own drilling rigs in that area with a pumpjack.
• Place 3 oil barrels of the player's color on the pumpjack.
• All other players can now profit from this action by paying the active player 3 shares in their own color, exchange one of their drilling rigs in the same area for a pumpjack and place 3 oil barrels on it.
• No player can exchange more than 1 drilling rig during this action.

Clarification: When there are 4 drilling rigs (including those belonging to other players) in an area, the oil field can be developed by paying 8 money bills. The active player can now replace 1 drilling rig with a pumpjack and place 3 oil barrels next to it. Because the drilling rigs of the other players helped develop the search for oil, all other players with a drilling rig in the area may pay the active player 3 of their own shares to replace 1 of their drilling rigs with a pumpjack and place 3 barrels next to it.

Example: The red player pays 8 money bills and replaces 1 of his own drilling rigs with a pumpjack and places 3 oil barrels next to it. The green player pays 3 green shares and replaces 1 drilling rig with 1 pumpjack and places 3 oil barrels next to it. The yellow player decides not to replace his own drilling rig.

E.1.2 The Wildcatter

All oilfields contain 1 or 2 Wildcatters. These Wildcatters are independently looking for oil. As soon as the active player drills for oil in that area, the Wildcatter is put on auction. The Wildcatter chip is worth 1 oil barrel and, at the end of the game, victory points (see Final Score).

The auction:

The Wildcatter chips will now be auctioned off, 1 at a time, to the highest bidding player with a pumpjack in that area.

• The active player may make the opening bid of at least 4 shares in his own color which he places on the table or he may pass. Following the order of play, all other players with pumpjacks in the same area as the Wildcatter may now try to exceed this bid, using shares of their own color, or pass. Each bid is placed openly on the table. Once a player has passed, he can no longer make any bids.
• The player who paid the most to the bank can now place one of his own oil barrels on the Wildcatter chip.
• Repeat the process with any remaining Wildcatter chips.
• Should all players pass on bidding, the Wildcatter chip is removed.

Example: The red player is the active player and bids 4 red shares and places these on the table. The green player bids 5 green shares and places these on the table. The red player passes so the green player pays five green shares to the bank and places a green oil barrel on the Wildcatter chip.

E.2 Exchanging a Drilling Rig for a Pumpjack: 3 money bills

Only in areas that already contain a pumpjack can the active player replace one or more drilling rigs for pumpjacks.

• Place 3 oil barrels of the player's color next to each new pumpjack.

Clarification: Oil fields which have struck oil can be developed without having to be drilled any further. Drilling rigs, existing or new, can now be replaced by pumpjacks.

Example: The yellow player replaces 2 drilling rigs with 2 pumpjacks and places 3 oil barrels next to each one. The yellow player pays the bank 6 money bills.

E.3 Transporting Oil: 4 money bills

This action can only happen once per area card.

• Pumpjacks can only transport oil if there's at least 1 oil barrel on it.
• Transporting goes for all pumpjacks of the current player in that area.
• Other players may choose to have all their pumpjacks in that specific area transport 1 oil.
• Oil on Wildcatter chips is always transported with the 1st transport action of that player.
• The player takes the chip and receives the following amount of victory points at the end of the game:
  • 1st chip: 2
  • 2nd chip: 4
  • 3rd chip: 6
  • And so on.
• Per transportation move (oil tanker or train), the owner of the oil barrel pays 1 share of his own color to the player who owns the oil tanker or train.
• The transportation always goes from pumpjack to refinery. Perform actions in the following order:

1. Oil transport to the harbor

• All pumpjacks belonging to the players that chose to transport oil in the chosen area transport one oil barrel per pumpjack to a harbor.
• Players can determine which train they will use to ship their oil.

2. Oil transport to tankers and refineries

• Beginning with the starting player, each player places his oil barrels on:
  • the refinery in the same area; or
  • a refinery in a different area (by means of the railway system); or
  • the tanker in the same area; or
  • a tanker in a different area (by means of the railway system).
• Only if no refinery can be reached will the oil remain in the harbor.
• Players themselves can choose which train they will use to transport their oil.

3. Oil transport from the tankers and to the refinery

For transporting oil with tankers the following rules apply:

• The owner of the tanker determines the destination of the tanker if he is transporting oil by means of this tanker himself.
• If the tanker does not contain any oil belonging to its owner, the player who had oil on it first will determine the destination as long as he has oil on it.
• Each tanker can transport a maximum of 3 oil.
• All oil on a tanker will be delivered to 1 refinery.
• Oil will be delivered to a refinery using the player order.
• Only in case the refinery is full can the remaining oil be transported to a different destination.
• If all refineries are full, the tanker will go back to the harbor where he loaded the oil. Remove any remaining oil from the tanker and put it back in the harbor. The oil will be picked up again when another player starts a transportation action in this area.
• A tanker that has been used for oil transport can no longer be moved this turn.
• For each barrel of oil that is delivered to the refinery, the owner of the refinery pays 2 shares in his own color to the owner of the oil.
• When playing with 3 players, oil delivered to the refinery in Australia is worth 2 shares, paid by the bank.

Clarification: With the transportation action all pumpjacks in the same area pump up 1 barrel of oil. All other players in the area can choose to have their pumpjacks transport 1 barrel of oil as well. All barrels will be transported (in the player order) to the harbor by train. From here on, the barrels go to a refinery in that area or to a different continent by train or oil tanker. If you cannot deliver the oil to a refinery, the oil barrel remains in the harbor until a player starts to transport again. In order to transport by train or tankers you will have to pay the owner of the transportation piece 1 share in your own color.

Example: Red pays 4 money bills and transports 3 oil to the harbor with the red train. Green also decides to transport and transports 1 oil from the pumpjack and the Wildcatter. He pays 2 green shares to the red player and takes the Wildcatter chip.

Example: Red delivers 3 barrels to the yellow refinery in Asia and receives 6 yellow shares. Green loads his barrels on the yellow boat and pays the yellow player 2 green shares.

Example: Blue has a barrel on his own tanker and transports it to Australia where blue and yellow will deliver the oil to the refinery. Green determines where his tanker goes and also delivers to Australia. Yellow is the only one left and can decide his own destination. He goes to Africa.

Clarification: When a delivery is made to one of your refineries, you have to pay 2 shares of your own color per barrel to the owner of the oil barrel. As you can see, it is important to maintain a good amount of your own shares.

F. Move Unused Tankers (optional)

• The 1st one is free, moving others cost 1 money bill per tanker.
• All oil tankers on the entire game board can be moved.

End of the player turn.

G. Emptying Full Refineries

As soon as 5 oil barrels are stored in a refinery, these oil barrels will be automatically supplied to the continent at the end of the turn (see Delivering the Oil to a Continent, below).

• A refinery can store a maximum of 5 barrels.
• Oil will always be given to the continent on which the refinery is based.
• Oil supplied this way will be put on the small depictions of the continents at the bottom of the game board.

Delivering the oil to a continent

• For each oil barrel of another color, the owner of a full refinery receives 4 shares in the colors of his choice from the bank.
• For every oil barrel of his own color that the owner of the refinery has in his refinery, the player has two choices:
  • Deliver the oil barrel for the final victory: you will receive no shares for this barrel.
  • Do not deliver the oil barrel and receive 4 shares of the colors of your choice from the bank. The oil barrel goes back in stock.

Clarification: When 5 barrels have been delivered to a refinery, it is considered full and the oil will be moved to the continent panels at the bottom of the game board. This happens only when the active player is done with his turn. For every barrel of a different color you will receive 4 shares in a color of your choosing. For every barrel of your own color, you can choose to receive 4 shares of any color or send the oil to the continent.

H. Refill Area Cards up to 8

• Take the top card of the top down card deck, reveal it and put it with the other 7 cards.
  • If 4 cards depicting the same area are revealed, remove all 8 cards and put down 8 new ones (the first 8 cards are exempted from this rule).
  • If there are not enough cards to replenish the area cards to its maximum of 8, the previously discarded cards are shuffled and put back on the board face down to make a new stack.
• Move the black cube 1 spot on the round counter.

In-Game Valuing

At the end of round 5 all shares in each of the 4 colors, the money and the continents will be valued.

Assigning value to the shares and money bills:

• 1st shareholder receives: 4 victory points.
• 2nd shareholder receives: 2 victory points.
• Players with a loan cannot vie for the proceeds of the shares in their own color.

Assigning value to the 7 continents (the player with the most oil supplied to each continent):

• 1st place: 4 victory points.
• 2nd place: 2 victory points.

Tied for shares/money/oil deliveries:

• 2 players tied for first place: both players gain 3 victory points, no second place.
• 2 tied for second place: both players gain 1 victory point.
• 3 players tied for first place: each 2 points, no second place.
• 3 players tied for second place: each player will receive 0 points.

Loans

• As soon as a player has a shortage of his own shares, he must take out a loan of 10 shares of his own color with the bank.
• Put an oil barrel on the game board next to the bank.
• A player may take out multiple loans.
• Paying off a loan:
  • At the end of round 3 (4 for 3 players): 15 own shares (optional).
  • At the end of round 5 (6 for 3 players): 20 own shares (optional).
  • At the end of round 7 (8 for 3 players): 25 own shares (mandatory). For each share you cannot pay you'll lose 1 victory point.

Victory Points During the Game

• Victory points on the area cards.
• Building a refinery:
  • 1st refinery: 0
  • 2nd refinery: 0
  • 3rd refinery: 6
  • 4th refinery: 8
  • 5th refinery: 10
• Take 8 new area cards: -4

End of Game

1. The game ends after all players have played 7 (8 when playing with 3 players) area cards.
2. Players with a refinery on their area cards can empty a refinery of their choosing (in the player order of the final round).
3. Any loans must be paid off (see Loans).
4. Count any Wildcatter chips.
5. Count the shares, money and award victory points.
6. Award victory points for all oil delivered to a continent.
7. See who the winner is. If there are players tied for first place, count the shares in the player's own color.

Final Score

Valuing the Wildcatter chips:

• 1st chip: 2
• 2nd chip: 4
• 3rd chip: 6
• Etcetera.

Playing with 4 players: the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place award the points below.

With 3 players: the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place award the points below.

Valuing the 4 shares and the money:

• 1st shareholder receives: 8
• 1st or tied for 1st with own color: 4
• 2nd shareholder: 4
• 3rd shareholder: 2

When tied, all points are added and rounded down.

• 2 players are tied for 1st place: 6
• 2 players tied for 2nd place: 3
• 3 players are tied for 1st place: 4
• 3 players are tied for 2nd place: 2
• No 1st, 2nd or 3rd place: no points awarded.

Valuing the oil delivered to the 7 continents:

• 1st place: 10
• 2nd place: 5
• 3rd place: 3

When players are tied, the points are totaled and rounded down.

• 2 players tied for 1st place: 7
• 2 players tied for 2nd place: 4
• 3 players tied for 1st place: 6
• 3 players tied for 2nd place: 2
• No 1st, 2nd or 3rd place: no points awarded.

Game Situations

Developing an Oil Field

Mary (green) has 2 drilling rigs in Russia. Bill (yellow) has 2 drilling rigs in Russia.

It is Mary's turn and she takes the area card of Russia. She receives the 10 money bills, 2 red shares and 2 money bills that are on the area card. For her first action she places a drilling rig in Russia. For this, she pays 4 money bills to the bank. For her second action, Mary starts to drill the oil field and pays 8 money bills to the bank. The oil has been drilled and she replaces one of her drilling rigs with 1 pumpjack and places 3 green barrels next to it. Bill pays Mary 3 blue shares and replaces one of his drilling rigs with a pumpjack and places 3 barrels next to it. The field is now developed. Now Mary bids the most shares for the Wildcatter and she places one oil barrel on the Wildcatter chip.

Transporting Oil

John (green) has 2 pumpjacks with 2 oil and 1 tanker in South America. Amy (blue) has 1 train, 2 pumpjacks with 2 oil, 1 drilling rig and 1 tanker in South America. Steve (red) has 1 train and 1 pumpjack with 2 oil in South America.

It is John's turn and he takes the area card South America, 10 money bills and takes the 3 extra money bills on the card. He builds a drilling rig for 4 money bills first. After that he replaces the drilling rig with a pumpjack and places 3 oil barrels next to it. He has to pay 3 money bills for this. Then John transports the oil and pays 4 money bills.

The other players decide to transport as well. From all present pumpjacks, 1 oil is now transported. John first pays for the transport via train 2 green shares to Steve and 1 green share to Amy. After that, John decides to use the rail network to deliver 1 oil barrel to the refinery in North America and the other two are placed on his own tanker.

Amy uses her own train to transport her two oil barrels to her own tanker. Steve also uses his own train to transport his barrel and places 1 barrel of oil on the tanker belonging to John. For this, he pays 1 red share to John.

John moves the tanker to Russia and delivers his 2 oil barrels to the refinery belonging to Steve. Steve pays John 4 red shares for the oil. Since there are already 3 oil barrels in the refinery, it is now full. Steve can now choose another destination for his oil barrel. He decides to ship it to Australia. Amy owns the refinery there and she pays Steve 2 blue shares.

Amy also decides to ship her 2 barrels to Australia and delivers her barrels to her own refinery. Because there were already 2 barrels there at the start of the turn, the refinery is now full. John is now done with his turn.

All full refineries are now emptied, starting with the refinery belonging to Amy. She delivers all oil to the continent of Australia. She receives no shares for her own two barrels but receives 12 shares for the other 3 barrels belonging to John and Steve. She chooses 6 green, 4 red and 2 blue shares.

Steve delivers two red and two green barrels to the continent. He decides not to deliver his 3rd barrel to the continent. Because of this, he receives 12 shares. He chooses 12 red shares.

Credits

Designed by André Spil & Rolf Sagel.

• Layout/Typography: Bas Jongkind
• Illustrated by: Daan van Paridon
• English translation: Jenny Luco
• German translation: Debby Koopman

Special thanks to: Evelien Spil, Jolanda Sagel, Hans Jonker, Theo Besseling, Peter Konijn, Harry Oudhuis, Niels Schotten, Bart Beerepoot, Martijn Dekker and the QWG test group, Gerard Boom, Harrie Spil, Marijn Vis and the Gamepack test group, and Erno Eekelschot and the Joker test group.