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Welcome to CitiesUP!
County officials just
offered new opportuni-
ties for land purchases,
and you are now an
official investor for a new
city. Build, develop, and
increase your income.
Your job is simple:
outperform all the other
investors in the game.
But do not be a shark!
And remember the little
people: the inhabitants
of your new city need
services to be satisfied!
Let us build this city!
If two players have the same amount of points, the
tie will be broken by counting each player’s money
tokens.
Visit Kickstarter.com
Visit BoardGameGeek.com (free additional maps, updated rules and further information and community stuff)
To generate tax income, the card has to be supplied
with resources and services. The amount of resourc-
es and services required by each card depends on
its density. High- and mid-density buildings require
more resources and services and create more tax
income; low-density buildings are easier to supply,
but they produce less tax income. All Building Cards,
except civic building cards, are shuffled into the
building card deck. The three face-up Building Cards
on top show the current demand; players can
purchase these cards.
CitiesUP is a 2-4 player board game. Every player acts
like an investor. Build residential, commercial, bank,
farm, or industrial buildings, and then supply them
with electricity, water, and services.
Every player collects tax revenue from their buildings, which each have to be supplied with different services to thrive.
Your goal: purchase as many buildings as possible and supply them with water, electricity, and ser- vices to reach a higher score than the other players. Buildings have to be supplied properly to generate taxes for the owner. Taxes, bonuses, and upkeep each generate points for the owner. When the last demand card is turned face-up, the round will be completed and the game is over.
Every player collects tax revenue from their buildings, which each have to be supplied with different services to thrive.
Your goal: purchase as many buildings as possible and supply them with water, electricity, and ser- vices to reach a higher score than the other players. Buildings have to be supplied properly to generate taxes for the owner. Taxes, bonuses, and upkeep each generate points for the owner. When the last demand card is turned face-up, the round will be completed and the game is over.
Visit Kickstarter.com
Visit BoardGameGeek.com (free additional maps, updated rules and further information and community stuff)
BUILDING CARDS
A Building Card can be residential, commercial, industrial, bank, farm, or civic. Residential, commer- cial, bank, farm, and industrial buildings each pro- duce tax income.
A Building Card can be residential, commercial, industrial, bank, farm, or civic. Residential, commer- cial, bank, farm, and industrial buildings each pro- duce tax income.
FIELD CARDS
CitiesUP comes with 40 Field Cards, including 4
Disaster Cards. Each player starts their turn by
drawing a Field Card, whose action must be
performed immediately. A Field Card can have a
positive or negative effect on a player’s tax income or
buildings. Some Field Cards can remain by the
players for future use, if the player chooses. These
Field Cards can be used to cancel a negative effect
caused by another Field Card. These protective Field
Cards can be sold or traded by all players.
Example: One type of Field Card shuts down the city’s School. When this card is drawn, every building that requires the school service cannot generate any tax revenue. The effect of a Field Card only applies to Player A, who has drawn this Field Card.
If Player A has a protective Field Card (or if another player is willing to trade his to Player A), he can use it to avoid this negative effect. This means the player can continue collecting taxes for the buildings that would have been affected by the School shutdown. When no Field Card remains, all Field Cards from the tray stack cards will be shuffled and used again.
DISASTER CARDS
There are 4 different Disaster Cards in CitiesUP. These Disaster Cards are shuffled in with the Field Card deck. If a player draws a Disaster Card, all players in the game will be affected by this card. There are no Field Cards that can completely protect a player from the negative effects of Disaster Cards. The drawn Disaster Card affects all players and remains active until the card ́s proposal has been fulfilled. During this time, no new Field Cards can be drawn.
Disaster Cards will be shuffled into the Field Card deck after all Field Cards have been passed through for the first time.
Example: One type of Field Card shuts down the city’s School. When this card is drawn, every building that requires the school service cannot generate any tax revenue. The effect of a Field Card only applies to Player A, who has drawn this Field Card.
If Player A has a protective Field Card (or if another player is willing to trade his to Player A), he can use it to avoid this negative effect. This means the player can continue collecting taxes for the buildings that would have been affected by the School shutdown. When no Field Card remains, all Field Cards from the tray stack cards will be shuffled and used again.
DISASTER CARDS
There are 4 different Disaster Cards in CitiesUP. These Disaster Cards are shuffled in with the Field Card deck. If a player draws a Disaster Card, all players in the game will be affected by this card. There are no Field Cards that can completely protect a player from the negative effects of Disaster Cards. The drawn Disaster Card affects all players and remains active until the card ́s proposal has been fulfilled. During this time, no new Field Cards can be drawn.
Disaster Cards will be shuffled into the Field Card deck after all Field Cards have been passed through for the first time.
RESOURCE TOKENS
CitiesUP comes with two different resource tokens: Electricity and Water. Each resource token costs 1 Credit. CitiesUP also contains 60 Player Tokens, 15 for every player. These Player Tokens are for the Finance Board and are used to mark bonuses on Building Cards.
The Water and Electricity tokens are limited. If all to- kens are used, players can trade these tokens. Re- source tokens are necessary to supply buildings to generate tax income.
Building Tokens are only allowed to be placed, as
shown beside. Every Building Token is attached to a
specific Building Card and can be identified by the
stickers attached at its top.
The Finance Board helps players keep track of each
player’s financial status. If two players have the same
amount of points, the tie may be broken by adding
each player’s money tokens to their score.
BONUS PATTERNS
Every building card in CitiesUP comes with a bonus pattern. This bonus pattern can generate tax income; scoring valuable points. The bonus pattern scheme shows the player the necessary colour for the potential bonus. The bonus pattern can be turned by 90 or 180 degrees, but cannot be mirrored.
The building must be a part of the pattern. Bonus patterns from various building cards can overlap and still apply.
As the city grows and transforms, certain bonus patterns may become available or become impossible, depending upon how each game develops.
ADDITIONAL GAME PLAY MECHANICS
CitiesUP comes with two different resource tokens: Electricity and Water. Each resource token costs 1 Credit. CitiesUP also contains 60 Player Tokens, 15 for every player. These Player Tokens are for the Finance Board and are used to mark bonuses on Building Cards.
The Water and Electricity tokens are limited. If all to- kens are used, players can trade these tokens. Re- source tokens are necessary to supply buildings to generate tax income.
BUILDING TOKENS
CitiesUP comes with six different Building Tokens. The six types are Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Farm, Bank, and Civic Buildings. Each type of building differs in Density (except Civic Buildings): low, medi- um, or high. A building’s Density does more than affect the building’s required resources and services; it also affects the building’s tokens. Low-density building tokens are smaller than mid-density building tokens; high-density building tokens can be bigger in width or height.
CitiesUP comes with six different Building Tokens. The six types are Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Farm, Bank, and Civic Buildings. Each type of building differs in Density (except Civic Buildings): low, medi- um, or high. A building’s Density does more than affect the building’s required resources and services; it also affects the building’s tokens. Low-density building tokens are smaller than mid-density building tokens; high-density building tokens can be bigger in width or height.
CITY BOARD
CitiesUP comes with one City Board. Every purchased building must be placed on the board. Choosing a lo- cation on the board can be influenced by different strategies; you could block your opponents’ bonus pattern, complete your own pattern, or just think “this building fits nice right here.”
Additional boards can be added to the main City Board to maximize the available building space. The main City Board contains 49 building squares. De- pending on the building you want to place, you will use one or more of these squares.
Placed buildings can be demolished by paying the same amount of credits that it cost to build the build- ing.
(NOTE: If you demolish a building, you will lose all at- tached tokens. These tokens will be available for pur- chase by any player again.)
FINANCE BOARD & SCORE
The Finance Board shows each player’s score, which consists of their tax income, bonus and upkeep. This makes it easy to make quick adjustments to your strategy.
CitiesUP comes with one City Board. Every purchased building must be placed on the board. Choosing a lo- cation on the board can be influenced by different strategies; you could block your opponents’ bonus pattern, complete your own pattern, or just think “this building fits nice right here.”
Additional boards can be added to the main City Board to maximize the available building space. The main City Board contains 49 building squares. De- pending on the building you want to place, you will use one or more of these squares.
Placed buildings can be demolished by paying the same amount of credits that it cost to build the build- ing.
(NOTE: If you demolish a building, you will lose all at- tached tokens. These tokens will be available for pur- chase by any player again.)
FINANCE BOARD & SCORE
The Finance Board shows each player’s score, which consists of their tax income, bonus and upkeep. This makes it easy to make quick adjustments to your strategy.
BONUS PATTERNS
Every building card in CitiesUP comes with a bonus pattern. This bonus pattern can generate tax income; scoring valuable points. The bonus pattern scheme shows the player the necessary colour for the potential bonus. The bonus pattern can be turned by 90 or 180 degrees, but cannot be mirrored.
The building must be a part of the pattern. Bonus patterns from various building cards can overlap and still apply.
As the city grows and transforms, certain bonus patterns may become available or become impossible, depending upon how each game develops.
ADDITIONAL GAME PLAY MECHANICS
CitiesUP is designed to let all players interact. The basic rules (5 Steps & 3 Ac-
tions) frame each round of gameplay. In addition, players can approve various
amendments. These amendments must be approved by all party players. An
amendment could be a tax refund, free resource tokens, or anything else all
players can agree on However, amendments cannot change the basic frame-
work: 5 Steps and 3 Action Rule. Likewise, amendments cannot undo Field or
Disaster Cards. However, they can ease the effects of Field or Disaster Cards
by granting credit or resource tokens. Trading of tokens, cards, or buildings is
affected by the 3-Action rule, but does not have any other regulations.
Examples of amendments:
A) Conditions for loans
B) Help for players during critical conditions caused by Field and Disaster Cards
C) Constant re-shuffling of Building Cards on each turn
D) Build & buy restrictions for players within their turn
E) Restrictions or easements on the requirements for bonus patterns
You can add up to three additional copies of CitiesUP to play against other cities. These cities can be group- or person-controlled. Do not mix boards: all tokens and cards remain with the board they originate from. Playing with additional copies allows players to invest in foreign cities. For these invest- ments both cities need an airport for commercial and a harbor for industrial investments. Foreign investments in other building categories are not possible. Disaster Cards affect all cities in play, while Field Cards only affect the city they originate from.
When you play CitiesUP for the first time, you may play without the bonus patterns to make it easier to learn the basic mechanics of the game.
Specialized Buildings (Banks & Farms)
Specialized buildings like Banks and Farms offer different levels of tax in- come, depending on their density. A farm building needs services, like com- mercial and residential buildings, to produce tax income. These services offer the farm the opportunity to sell its products. As a result, the investor can collect tax from their farm.
Bank buildings need residential, commercial, or industrial buildings to produce tax income as well. The high-density bank building offers its owner several different options to produce tax income.
The owner of the high-density bank building (B024) can collect 1 credit for a residential building or 1 credit for an industrial building or both. The residen- tial or industrial building must be placed on the board, but does not have to be the player ́s own. The 1 credit is not affected by the number of buildings. Whether it is one or three residential buildings, the player still gets only 1 credit for that type of building.
The bank owner can also select the second option. This option allows the owner to collect credit in tax income equal to each odd roll of the dice (1, 3,
or 5), as long as at least one commercial building is placed on the city board.
Examples of amendments:
A) Conditions for loans
B) Help for players during critical conditions caused by Field and Disaster Cards
C) Constant re-shuffling of Building Cards on each turn
D) Build & buy restrictions for players within their turn
E) Restrictions or easements on the requirements for bonus patterns
You can add up to three additional copies of CitiesUP to play against other cities. These cities can be group- or person-controlled. Do not mix boards: all tokens and cards remain with the board they originate from. Playing with additional copies allows players to invest in foreign cities. For these invest- ments both cities need an airport for commercial and a harbor for industrial investments. Foreign investments in other building categories are not possible. Disaster Cards affect all cities in play, while Field Cards only affect the city they originate from.
When you play CitiesUP for the first time, you may play without the bonus patterns to make it easier to learn the basic mechanics of the game.
Specialized Buildings (Banks & Farms)
Specialized buildings like Banks and Farms offer different levels of tax in- come, depending on their density. A farm building needs services, like com- mercial and residential buildings, to produce tax income. These services offer the farm the opportunity to sell its products. As a result, the investor can collect tax from their farm.
Bank buildings need residential, commercial, or industrial buildings to produce tax income as well. The high-density bank building offers its owner several different options to produce tax income.
The owner of the high-density bank building (B024) can collect 1 credit for a residential building or 1 credit for an industrial building or both. The residen- tial or industrial building must be placed on the board, but does not have to be the player ́s own. The 1 credit is not affected by the number of buildings. Whether it is one or three residential buildings, the player still gets only 1 credit for that type of building.
The bank owner can also select the second option. This option allows the owner to collect credit in tax income equal to each odd roll of the dice (1, 3,
or 5), as long as at least one commercial building is placed on the city board.