FAQ
46 answered questions4 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by Czech Games Edition or the designers.
Common mistakes
- Scoring leftover coins at the end — you score your final income ÷ 10; coins only break ties. Ruling · Rule
- Claiming a plot next to another plot marker — once the town has a building, a new plot must touch a building. Ruling · Rule
- Building a public building first — it gives no income, and with no coins left you can never earn more. Ruling · Rule
- Giving second place to the next player after a tie for first in a mine row — the tied players take first, the next player is third. Ruling · Rule
- Scoring the points printed under a house that an effect removes — the removed house gives nothing. Ruling · Rule
- Building a guild building while its price shows a red X — nobody may build that type until demand rises. Ruling · Rule
- Refilling the miner pool after placing the mine, or with a mining technology tile — refill only as the first step of a Mine action. Ruling · Rule
Showing 46 of 46
With no buildings in town yet, can my plot go anywhere?
Yes. While the town has no building, any unclaimed square costs 5 groschen, whatever plot markers are already out.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Once there are buildings, can I claim a plot next to another plot marker instead of next to a building? Official
No. The new plot must share a side with a building. Only when every square beside a building is already taken may you claim any free square, for 5 groschen. The illustrated houses printed on the board's edge are not buildings for this rule.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread · BGG thread
When can "all plots next to buildings are claimed" ever happen?
Claiming and building are separate actions, so unbuilt plot markers can surround every building — for example a corner building with both neighbours claimed. Then the whole town opens up again at 5 groschen. "Next to" means sharing a side, never a corner.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread · BGG thread
Can one Plot action claim more than one plot?
No. Each Plot action claims exactly one square.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can I play a card and choose to do nothing with it?
Yes. Any action may be taken with no effect — useful when you cannot afford anything in hand.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
A St. Barbara tile gives me a free Building action but I have no plot. Can I keep it for later?
No. You need both a building tile and a plot at that moment. If you lack either, the free action simply has no effect.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
When an effect lets me build for free, do I still pay for the rights and the plot?
Yes, you must already hold the rights and a plot; only the wood for the building itself is free.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can other players chip in to pay for my building, plot or mine? Official
No. Each player pays the full cost of their own actions. Shared payment for public buildings was tried during development and dropped.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
After the red-patrician buildings arrive, do they slide left like the other stacks?
Yes. Once placed at the ends of the rows they behave like any other stack: taking a tile sends its stack to the end of the row and the others slide left into the gap, so the 3-permit column comes into use.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can I refill my miner pool when it still holds one miner?
Yes, it is optional: pay one permit and add miners until the pool holds 2. It is only required when the pool is empty. Refill before placing the mine, never after.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread · BGG thread
Is the refill priced per miner?
No. One permit price moves up to 2 miners into the pool.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
My miners' guild building raises mining technology but I have no miners left anywhere on my board. What happens? Official
The free mine's miner comes from the reserve beside your pool, not from the pool itself. If your board has no miner at all, you cannot mark a free mine, but the technology level still rises: discard the top mining technology tile from the game.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
When I gain a mining technology tile, may I also buy a permit to refill my pool?
No. The technology tile comes with its own free miner from the reserve; refilling with a permit belongs to the Mine action only.
Source: BGG thread
What does a new mine cost when several neighbouring mines show a cost?
A mine entrance costs 2 wood. Any other square costs the highest of the costs shown by the mines beside it or above it — never the sum.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Do players outside the Miners' guild earn income from their mines?
Yes. Every player's mined ore counts toward their ore production and their Income.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Miners' guild players have two ore tracks. Does it matter which one I move?
No. The two tracks only let you keep ore from buildings and ore from mines apart; it is the same commodity and both count for Income.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Is each row of houses on my player board tied to one guild?
Yes. When you build a guild building you take the leftmost house from the row of that guild. You choose which guild goes in which row during setup.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
If an effect removes a house that sits on a points space, do I score those points?
No. The printed reward is part of the house effect you ignore. Removing the house only moves that row on to its next space and can complete a column for red-patrician scoring.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Is it normal that the fourth house of a row is almost never reached in a 4-player game?
Yes. With every guild shared by two players, getting all four buildings of one guild is rare; removing houses with St. Barbara tile 3 or a red-patrician building helps. It is easier at 2 players and never required to win.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
I spent all my money on a public building and have no income. Am I out of the game?
In practice, yes: public buildings give no production, so with no coins left nothing can earn you money again. The rulebook warns about exactly this; build guild buildings first.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
A building tile shows a 3 next to a scroll. What does it mean?
It is the production gain of that Scribes building: raise your Scribes (permit) production by 3 when you build it. Every guild building works the same way for its own commodity.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Do the indicator arms ever reset or move back?
No. They only ever move right.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
A price shows a dash. What is it worth?
You should never see one. A dash only lies past a red X, and a red X forbids building that guild's buildings, so the arm cannot get there. Seeing a dash means an arm was moved by mistake earlier.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread · BGG thread
An indicator arm is already all the way right and has to move again. What now?
That should not happen: each arm moves once per building of its guild (the Miners' guild never moves one), so it can only reach the end. It usually means an arm was moved by mistake.
Source: BGG thread
When a deck advances several cards and more than one shows the hammer, do I resolve each hammer?
Yes. Move cards one at a time; each hammer you reveal moves its arm one notch right and discards the top tile of that guild's stack (which then goes to the end of its row).
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
What happens after a deck has been turned over and reaches its last card again?
It is never turned a second time. If it must advance from its last card, it stays where it is.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Am I allowed to look at the next population or ore card?
The rulebook does not say. Most players treat the decks as hidden and play without peeking; agree on it before the game.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
What if the bank runs out of coins?
Groschen are unlimited: use any substitute.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Do leftover groschen score points at the end?
No. You score your final income divided by 10, rounded down. Coins in hand only break ties.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Is there a maximum tax?
Yes, 25. Increases beyond it are ignored.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
If I don't pay taxes, does the reputation I lose depend on how high the tax was?
No. You lose exactly the amount printed for the current round, whatever the tax.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Do the numbers above the reputation track score during the game?
No. They score once, at the end of the game, for the space your marker is on. During play only the two ends matter: each step you would move past an end gains or loses 2 points at once.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can my score go below 0?
The rulebook does not say. The forum leans towards letting it go negative, and it rarely matters for the result.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Two players tie for first in a mine row. Who gets second place?
Nobody. Both tied players take the full first-place points; the next player is in third place and scores third-place points.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Is the mine-row majority counted in miners or in stars?
In stars on the mine tiles you own in that row. Miner figures only show ownership.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
How do the yellow and green patricians score in practice?
Yellow: 2 points if you have a mine in every row, 4 if you have two in every row, per yellow patrician. Green: for each building you own, 1 point per public building beside it, per green patrician — so four buildings touching 3, 3, 2 and 2 public buildings score 10.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
What does the patrician picture on the last rounds of the rounds track mean?
At the end of each of the last three rounds, patrician scoring happens for every patrician on the town council. If nobody has paid to put a patrician there, nothing is scored.
Source: BGG thread
Can I still take the St. Barbara action after tile 11 has been used?
Yes. Flip a pelican token as usual; with the cathedral finished, each St. Barbara action gives 2 reputation.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
Can a guild building flip tile 11, which shows no tax?
Yes. No tax is added and nobody scores its 5 points, but from then on every St. Barbara action gives 2 reputation.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
How does tile 10 score?
Pick one of your buildings and score it exactly like final city scoring: 1 point for every dot on it that matches a dot on a building or board edge beside it.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
How many pelican tokens can one St. Barbara action use?
One. To use another on the same turn you would need your Joker as a second St. Barbara action.
Source: BGG thread
Is the double Income on tile 5 too strong? Official
No. Money alone does not win; the action, the flipped pelican and the chance to send two patricians to the council are what count, and tile 5 used to cost 3 reputation during development. Experienced players often find it the weakest tile because of the 2 reputation it costs.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
When does an event that advances the ore or population deck apply?
At the end of the round, before taxes and patrician scoring.
Source: BGG thread
The "Visit from the King" event doubles taxes. Doubled how?
Double the tax on the tax track and the plot surcharge from your board. Many players take the reputation loss that round instead.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread
An event discards building tiles and leaves a gap on the town hall board. Do the stacks slide left?
Yes, slide the stacks to fill the gap as usual.
Source: BGG thread
Does an event that discards building tiles happen before or after patrician scoring?
The card says when it applies; most say at the end of the round. One such event discards the top tile of each stack in the leftmost column — it touches the town hall board, not the houses on player boards.
Source: BGG thread · BGG thread