My City – Hints & Tips – Chapter 5

The time of industrialization is upon you. The first factories emerge and wealthy investors arrive on the scene. Environmental pollution increases in the form of rocks. The existing industrial buildings will have to be modernized if they are to survive for long.

New Stuff

There is a set of stickers in Envelope 5, some of which we need for the prep for episode 13.

First, there are blank green squares, which cover all the wells in the game. You no longer get points for placing 4 buildings around a well.

Then the sawmills and forest squares in the bottom right corner of the player boards are covered. You place your first piece next to the river again, instead of the sawmill. And forest spaces can no longer be built over.

There are also replacement 0’s and 10’s for the Score Track. You now start each game on the 0 position, instead of the 10.

You cannot pass on placing a building if your score would go below 0. This means you need to earn some points, before you can pass. You do this via a new wooden piece, the investor.

The Investor

You move the investor on to each building as you place it. If you place a building directly adjacent to the building the Investor was last on, you gain a point. Even if the new building is on the other side of the river.

There are blue circle stickers, which you won’t need till episode 14. And there are more gold nuggets on this sticker sheet. The first player(s) to cover both gold veins will receive a gold nugget for their cabinet. Remember you can take turns 1 at a time as players get close to covering both veins.

• The player with the most progress circles coloured in goes first.
• If there is a tie, then the player with the most progress circles AND the most gold nuggets goes first.
• If there is still a tie, then the player with the most progress circles AND the most gold nuggets AND is the oldest goes first.
• Turns continue clockwise from the player who has gone first.

End of Game Bonus

The Chapter 5 envelope reveals there are 3 end of game bonuses (after the final episode of the game). There are 2 progress symbols or 1 progress symbol for the players with:

• the most and second-most gold nuggets
• the most and second-most trees
• the fewest and second-fewest rocks

A quick recap with the new Rules …

Rules

• Your first building must be built next to the river.
• You may NOT build over forests.
• Churches must be built. You cannot pass when you draw a Church.
• You cannot pass if your score is on 0. Points must be earned via the Investor before you can pass.
• Negative points are not capped when you reach 0, when scoring. If you are losing points for rocks, or empty green spaces, and you drop below 0, you must keep track of the negative number, to take it off any future points you earn. An alternative is to add all positive points for trees, and then take off the negative points. But keep an eye on things if points might go above the maximum 50 for one of the players.

Scoring

You now receive points for building next to the investor. And you no longer receive points for building around wells, or for the longest grouping of each colour building.

The player with the most points colours in 2 circles and places a sticker with 2 rocks. In a game with 3 or more players, the player with the second most points colours in 1 circle.

Each player gets 2 new buildings at the start of episode 14. Shuffle the 2 new cards into the deck.

These 2 new industrial buildings are already factories, as denoted by the blue cog in the middle. You now get 2 points for each factory quarter; a contiguous group of blue buildings containing one or more factory buildings.

Scoring

The rules are the same as Episode 13. There is an extra 4 points up for grabs if you can make 2 factory quarters.

The player with the most points colours in 2 circles and places a sticker with 2 rocks. In a game with 3 or more players, the player with the second most points colours in 1 circle.

Any player that doesn’t colour in a progress circle, adds a factory sticker to one of their blue industrial buildings. This means they have the chance to make an extra factory quarter in the next game, to earn another 2 points. You can choose any blue building. The smallest size building will give it the smallest chance of being “passed” in a future game.

Episode 15 plays the same as Episode 14, but there is 1 scoring difference. You no longer lose a point for empty light green spaces.

Scoring

Scoring is identical to episode 14 in this chapter. And circles are coloured in, and stickers placed, in the same way. Any player who didn’t colour in a progress circle in episodes 14 AND 15 will have chosen 2 blue buildings to turn into factories, giving them a total of 4.