Teach the Game

A quick introduction to Point City, its shifting market, and city-building engine.

How you win

Build a city of point-scoring buildings and claim Civic Tokens whose bonuses match your permanent resources. After 17 turns apiece, the highest total wins. The game supports 1–4 players, including a solo AI opponent.

How the game ends

The Draw Pile runs out and the Market can no longer be refilled after each player has taken 17 turns. Add Building points and Civic Token points; the most points wins. A tie goes to the player with more Resource cards in hand, then is shared if still tied.

The market

The shared 4×4 market holds double-sided cards. A card showing its resource side can be collected for later construction; its building side can be taken only if you can pay its cost immediately. When a market Resource card is drafted, its replacement enters showing a Building; when a Building is drafted, its replacement shows a Resource. That flip makes the market change throughout play.

What each resource is for

Economy, Ecology, Energy, Community, and Industry are the permanent resource types shown on Buildings and Resource cards. Ingenuity pays as one resource of any type. Permanent resources on Buildings help pay future costs; Building points and Civic Tokens contribute to the final score.

A turn

Before drafting, you may flip one Resource card to its Building side if it is in a fully Resource row or column. Then take two orthogonally adjacent market cards, or the top two cards of the draw pile. You may mix Resources and Buildings from the market. You cannot take a Building unless you can construct it now.

Pay a building’s cost with cards from your hand, permanent resources from buildings already built before this turn, or both. Ingenuity cards are wild, but each one pays for only one resource. Civic Buildings let you take a visible Civic Token. Refill the market in reading order, flipping each replacement to the opposite side of the card that left its space.

Ways to score

Buildings can score points, provide permanent resources for later turns, or grant Civic Tokens. Civic Tokens reward different features of your city; a token showing two or more resource types scores each complete set. Some tokens score only permanent resources, so Resource cards left in hand do not count for those.

Teaching tips

Teach the market refill rule early: Resource spaces refill with Buildings and Building spaces with Resources. Show how to pay for a Building using an adjacent Resource drafted on the same turn; a new Building’s permanent resource starts helping on a later turn. The back-cover reference summarizes setup and turn order. Continue to setup or open the draft and build rules.