Teach the Game

A script to teach Kutná Hora: The City of Silver aloud — the goal, the boards, a round, the game end, every way to score and what each resource is for.

How you win

“It is the 14th century and silver has just been found under a Bohemian hill. Each of you heads a wealthy family with a stake in three guilds. In five or six rounds you dig mines, buy building rights, claim plots and raise the town — while every building you put up changes the prices for everyone. Most points wins.”

To win you need points, and points come from buildings in good places, mines with stars, income, reputation and the patricians you put on the council.

• Money is the engine: only the Income action pays you, and it pays for your production at today’s prices.
• Production comes from guild buildings and mines. Each one you build raises supply, so its price drops — the market answers every move.

The boards

1. Rounds track — rounds counter, tax track and the per-round reputation penalty
2. Tax track — rises during play; everyone pays it at round end
3. Red-patrician buildings — join the market mid-game
4. Guild building stacks — the rights you can buy, column = price
5. Public building stacks — patrician buildings anyone can build
6. Mine setup card — where the rock tiles go
7. Mines — the dig site under the town; stars score per row
8. Card stands — the population and ore decks that set every price
9. St. Barbara Cathedral — 11 bonus tiles, used in order
10. Bank — coins, pelican tokens, 3 patricians of each colour
11. Mining technology — how many mine tiles you draw
12. Mine tile stack — tiers I, II and III

The town square above the mines is where buildings go; the score track runs round the edge. Your player board holds your houses (one row per guild), production tracks, miners, plot markers and reputation track.

A round

Each round, starting with the first player and going clockwise, everyone takes 3 turns:

Each card shows two actions; you choose one and lose the other for this round. The actions: Mine, Rights, Plot, Building, Income, St. Barbara and the Joker.

At the end of the round: pay taxes or lose reputation, resolve the event, bring in red-patrician buildings when due, score patricians (last 3 rounds), pass the starting player marker left and take your cards back.

How the game ends

• 4 players: after round 5. 2 or 3 players: after round 6.
• Then final scoring: city dots, mine rows, income, reputation and extras.
• Tie: most groschen left wins.

Ways to score

Source	How and when
Building and mine effects	Points printed on a tile, scored as you build it
House effects	Points printed under some houses on your board, scored when you remove them by building
St. Barbara tiles	Tiles 6, 8, 10 and 11 give points
Patrician scoring	End of each of the last 3 rounds, for every patrician on the council
City dots	Game end: 1 per matching dot beside each of your buildings
Mine rows	Game end: rank by stars in each row; the board prints 1st/2nd/3rd values
Income	Game end: income ÷ 10, rounded down
Reputation	Game end: −4 to +13 by your marker’s space
Extras	Game end: 1 per unbuilt tile in your slots, unbuilt plot and unused pelican
Reputation overflow	During play: −2 per step below the bottom, +2 per step above the top

What each resource is for

Resource	Why you need it	How you get it	How you use it
Groschen	Pays for everything	Income action only	Wood, permits, plots, taxes, 10 for a patrician
Wood	Prices buildings and mines	Not a token — pay its current price in groschen	Building cost, mine cost
Permits	Prices rights and miners	Pay the current permit price	Rights in columns 2–4, refilling miners
Production	Your income per Income action	Guild buildings, mines	× current price at each Income
Plot markers (3)	A plot is needed to build	Plot action	Build on it, then the marker returns
Miners (9)	Mark your mines	1 in your pool, the rest via permits	One per mine; the pool holds 2
Pelican tokens	Fuel St. Barbara	House effects, public buildings	Flip one per St. Barbara action
Reputation	Cheap plots (3+), free Joker (6+), end points	Tiles, houses, St. Barbara	Lost to Joker, unpaid tax, some tiles
Patricians	Turn on a scoring rule for everyone	Public buildings put them in the pool	Pay 10 during Income to seat one

Teaching tips

• Teach the market first: build a guild building → its arm moves right → that price falls; the population and ore decks advancing make prices rise.

• Say it twice: do not build a public building first — it gives no income.

• Show the card pairs: picking one half burns the other for the round.

• First game: guild setup card 1, no event cards at 3–4 players.

• Calculate a final income of 48 to show its 4-point score; coins held do not convert the same way. Practice example.