Solo Mode

Play against two automated companies and pursue solo milestone awards.

Solo setup

Prepare your player board as in a three-player game. The designer confirms solo may choose one starting development during setup (FAQ). Prepare two automa boards: each starts with its share and share-value markers at 12 and four matching appeal markers. Use the three-player market and Development supply. The solo rules’ card-count sentence conflicts with its layout: it says to shuffle 17 Development cards into a 3×5 grid, then return two remaining cards, although the grid has only 15 spaces. Keep this unresolved rather than inventing which cards or count to use; consult the publisher or a corrected rulebook. Put the money discs for both automa colors and the neutral color on the leftmost card of the three rows; a card with a disc is unavailable to you. Put three markers from each automa and two neutral markers in a bag. Neutral is not an opponent. Return unused pieces to the box. All Expert variants may be combined with solo.

Choose two of your four factories, each with its office and first worker. Alternatively, draw two factories at random. Randomly select two appeal markers from each automa and set their market positions: Food and Clothes at 4; Cutlery and Lamps at 3. Raise demand by two for Food and Clothes and by one for Cutlery and Lamps. Demand and wages then move by the normal rules.

Solo round

You play first each round and take a normal turn. If Entrepreneur lets you choose to start after the opponents in the next round, resolve the automa first that round. Draw one marker from the bag. If its color has an appeal marker on the active good’s track, move that marker forward two spaces and adjust demand for arrows passed. Otherwise that automa opens the active good’s factory: move all demand markers down once and wages right once, place its marker at zero, move it to 3 for Food/Clothes or 2 for Cutlery/Lamps, then advance by the current decade number (one, two or three), adjusting demand for arrows. Each automa whose marker was not drawn gains one share.

Move the Development display disc matching the drawn marker forward a number of cards equal to the count of appeal markers on the active good’s track. Count left to right, top to bottom; skip empty spaces, wrap to the beginning, and continue past cards occupied by another marker. Discard the drawn marker near the decade track. Returned Development cards fill the highest empty display position, beginning at the top row, leftmost column.

In production, an automa with a factory for the active good sells as many goods as its appeal allows and pays no costs. If it sells at least two goods, its share value rises by one; otherwise it gains one share. An automa without a factory for that good receives no production-phase reward: its share was handled in the bag-marker step. At each decade end, return markers discarded near the decade track to the bag.

Solo challenge awards

When you win, record milestones from the rulebook: Tycoon (500+ points); Patriot (never used a ship); True Worker (never used Patent or Engineer); Worker Hero (never automated); Gentleman/Lady (never improved Stock Exchange or used Broker); Specialist (played with two factories); Generalist (four factories); Full Production Line (four factories with two workers each); General Manager (25–29 shares) or Expert Broker (30); Stock Exchange Darling (share value 25–29) or Stock Exchange Mogul (30); Parvenu (started with no money, 15 shares); Nouveau Riche (£200+ before final scoring); Sailor (five or more shipping actions). Choose two awards for a win or one if placed second. Share and money milestones marked with an asterisk are measured before final scoring.