Teach the Game

A script to teach Carnegie at the table — how you win, the board and your Company, a round, the end, every way to score and what each resource is for.

How you win

“America, late 1800s. Each of us runs a company in the spirit of Andrew Carnegie: we hire and train employees, build Departments, put up projects across the four regions, develop transport — and give money away to good causes. Twenty rounds, about two hours. The most victory points wins.”

You need points from many small sources, and most come at the end:

• Donations — up to 12 VP each, scored at the end on what your company achieved.
• Your map — projects in cities (0–3 VP each) and a network linking the major cities (up to 36 VP).
• Your Company — every Department you build (2–3 VP), every standing employee (1 VP) and the VP revealed on your project tabs.

The loop: one player picks one of four actions, everyone does it with their own Departments. Employees you send on Missions come home later, when a Timeline event names their region, and bring income with them.

The boards

1. Score track — immediate VP during the game; final scoring at the end.
2. Education donations.
3. Human Rights donations.
4. Welfare donations.
5. Health donations.
6. Connection table — major-city links × your slowest transport level.
7. Donation costs — $5, $10, $15… and the 12 VP limit per donation.
8. West Mission area and transportation track.
9. Midwest Mission area and transportation track.
10. East Mission area and transportation track.
11. The map — cities with project spaces; small cities take any project.
12. Scoring reminder — what scores at the end.
13. South Mission area and transportation track.

1. VP per row — 3 VP for a Department built in the top row, 2 VP elsewhere.
2. Project tabs — Public Infrastructure, Industry, Commerce, Housing, with their goods-cube cost to build.
3. Empty building space — where new Departments go.
4. Commerce and Finance — money or goods.
5. Strategic Planning — build Departments.
6. Construction — build projects on the map.
7. Human Resources — move employees (one permanent employee).
8. Research and Development — study points.
9. Lobby — where employees arrive and return.
10. Starting resources — $12 and 4 goods cubes.

The Timeline beside the board has four rows — Human Resources, Management, Construction, R&D — each with its action marker; every space shows the event it triggers.

A round

Twenty rounds; the first player changes every round. Details.

1. Select a Timeline — the first player puts the Timeline marker just right of one action marker: that is this round’s action for everyone.
2. Event — the space shows a region (everyone may bring employees home from that Mission area and collect income) or a donation symbol (everyone may donate). The last spaces do both.
3. Use Departments — in turn order, each player uses their Departments of the chosen type, once per standing employee.
4. End of round — everyone may pay to stand up (activate) employees; the action marker moves one space right; first-player and Timeline markers pass clockwise.

For a practice round, move one standing employee with Human Resources and lay it down. Show the salary on its new Workstation, then wait until the end-of-round activation step to stand it up. Now point to a Mission area: a worker sent there leaves the Company and needs an Income event for that region to return to the Lobby.

How the game ends

• Trigger: after round 20, when all four action markers have reached the End of their rows.
• Final scoring: add Department, employee, project-tab, connection, city and donation VP to your score-track total. Details.
• Ties: none broken — tied players share the win.

Ways to score

Source	How and when
Immediate VP	During the game, from income spaces and some Departments
Departments built	End: 3 VP each in your top row, 2 VP elsewhere (starting Departments don’t count)
Standing employees	End: 1 VP each (not those on Missions, not the permanent HR employee)
Project tabs	End: every VP space you have revealed — up to 6 Housing, 9 Commerce, 12 Industry, 15 Public Infrastructure
Major-city connections	End: connection points × lowest transport level among the linked regions, up to 36 VP
Projects in cities	End: 0–3 VP each, printed under the city
Donations	End: each donation’s condition, up to 12 VP (more with a tab’s +3 bonus)
Action Choice tile (3–4 players)	End: 3 VP if unused
[D&D] New Departments and Donations	End: extra conditions (Departments & Donations)

What each resource is for

Resource	Why you need it	How you get it	How you use it
Employees	Every Department works once per standing employee	10 at the start; more from Recruiting, Housing income and the East track	Move them with Human Resources, pay to stand them up, send them on Missions
Money	Activation costs, donations	Commerce and Finance, transport and project income, Departments	Stand up employees, donate ($5, $10, $15…), some Departments
Goods cubes	Build Departments and projects	Commerce and Finance, income, Departments	1–2 per Department or project; sell for $1 any time
Study points	Grow projects and transport	R&D Departments, some income spaces	Slide project tabs out (new disks, income, VP) and advance on transport tracks
Disks	Projects, donations, track positions	30 per player	Built from your project tabs; donations come from your supply
Department tiles	More and better actions	Strategic Planning (1 cube where an employee stands, else 2)	Hold up to 1–3 standing employees each

Teaching tips

• Start with the Company board: standing vs lying employees, and that a Department works once per standing employee.
• Explain Missions before the Timeline: an employee sent out is gone until an event names its region — that is why the Timeline choice matters to everyone.
• The first event of the game does nothing if it is income: nobody has employees on Missions yet.
• Show one donation and its 12 VP limit; donations are where most players under-invest.