Gameplay

The yearly sequence for livestock, labor, worker placement, elections, and market adjustment.

Game length

Play six years. Each year proceeds through Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III in order.

Phase I: Markets and Union Spirit

Add livestock based on the current livestock prices and player count, placing one animal in each available Yard space. This happens in Year 1 too. Reveal the next Year card and resolve its event and any printed action. Adjust Union Spirit as directed.

If Union Spirit is at 4 or 5 during Phase I, each player takes a Low Morale token and places one worker on the Picket Line. That worker is unavailable until workers are retrieved at the end of the year. Union Spirit stays where it is after a strike. If it remains at 4 or 5 at a later Phase I, another strike happens; each player can have only one worker on the Picket Line because workers return in Phase III.

Phase II: Worker placement

Starting with the first player, everyone places one worker and resolves that action before the next player. Continue until all available workers have been placed. A normal oval space holds one worker; the marked Build and Labor Contract areas allow multiple workers. You cannot choose a blocked space or pay for an action you cannot afford.

Some action areas restrict each player to one use of a livestock type per year. Your worker remains on its space until Phase III.

Phase III: Election and cleanup

If a worker occupies Campaign, its player takes the First Player marker and chooses which party holds office next year. If nobody campaigns, the marker and party stay as they are.

Return workers from action spaces and the Picket Line. Then compare remaining livestock by type: raise the price of the least plentiful type by $3 and lower the most plentiful type by $2. Ties at either extreme receive that adjustment. If all three counts tie, increase all prices by $1.

Market terms

A type’s profit margin is its meat value minus its livestock price. Selling at a positive margin pays the player; selling at a negative margin requires cash to cover the shortfall. Meat values rise through advertising and some buildings. Livestock prices change as supply shifts at year end.

Year cards

A Year card may change markets, Union Spirit, or worker placement for that year. Resolve its directions when revealed; a card-specific instruction takes precedence over the general sequence where it says so.