●1Metropolys gameboard ●52buildings,numbered1to13in4colors:blue,red,white,andgray ●1playeraidentitled“Welcome/Secretobjectives” ●thisbooklet

Game design by Sébastien Pauchon – Illustrations by Mathieu Leyssenne – Layout by Cyril DemaegdFAQ & forum: http://www.ystari.com

CONTENTS

ONCE UPON A TIME…

PREPARATION

GOAL OF THE GAME

TWO GAMES IN ONETomakethegamemoreenjoyable, twoversionsofMetropolysare included in theserules:FamilyandExpert.Theseversionsshouldnotbeconsideredasmerevariants,butratherastwodifferentgames.TheFamilyversionallowsyoungplayerstograsptheinsandoutsofbuildingplacement.Ontheotherhand,theExpert versionmakeseachplacementacrucialchoice.Seriousplayersmaypreferthelatter.TheserulespresenttheFamilyversionfirstandthenthemodificationstoplaythe Expertversion.

FAMILY EXPERT

●9“trendyneighborhood”tokens

●9“subway”tokens

●9“archaeologicalsite”tokens

●1“archaeologicalsite”card

●1“subway”card

●4“Area”objectives

●5“Neighborhood”

objectives

●5“Area”objectives

●5“Highestbuilding”tokens

●1playeraid ●1playeraid

Theawe-inspiringMetropolysisburgeoning!Talentedurbanplannersandarchitects competewitheachother tomakeluxurious,elegantbuildingsofglassandsteelthatseemtodefy the laws of gravity and balance.Whowill eventuallyimposetheirstyletoleaveanindeliblemarkinthehistoryofthecity?Theanswerisinyourhands!

NB: These rules are for 4-player games. Adjustments concerning the number of players are explained at the end of the rules. Before starting your first game, please read the “Welcome” player aid. ●Placetheboardinthecenterofthetable.Foryourfirstgame,layouttheneighborhoodtokensasshowninthe“Welcome”playeraid.Forsubsequentgames,theplayersmayusearandomlayoutbyplacing7tokensinthecenterdistrictand5tokensineachperipheraldistrict.Donotplaceanytokensinblindalleys(thatis,neighborhoodssurroundedbywaterwithonlyonewayout).Placethesubwayandarchaeologicalsitecardsnexttotheboard.●Shufflethe4areacardsoftheFamilyversion.Eachplayertakesacard,looksatitinsecret,andplacesitfacedownnearhim(hisplayarea).NB: area cards are described in the “Secret objectives” player aid.●Eachplayerchoosesacolorandtakesthecorresponding13buildings.Playerschooseastartingplayer.

Theplayersareurbanplanners inquestofprestige.Overthecourseofthegame,theytrytoconstructtheirbuildingsinthebestplaces.Assoonasaplayerhasplacedallofhisbuildings,thegameends.Theplayerwiththemostprestigeisthewinner.

Thegameisdividedintoturns.Eachturnrepresentsacall for proposalfromMetropolys.Attheendofeachturnexactly one building is constructed.Thegamecontinuesuntil one of the players places his last building.

PLAYING THE GAME

Thefirstplayerchoosesoneofhisbuildings(ofanyvalue)andplacesitinoneoftheneighborhoodswhichisnot occupied by another building.Thebuildingnumbermustbevisible.Then,playingclockwise,playersmayeitherOutbidorPass.1) OutbiddingTooutbid,aplayermustplaceoneofhisbuildings(of a higher value than the one which has just been placed with the number side up)inanorthogonallyadjacentneighborhood(tothebuildingbeingoutbid!).Anybuildingwithahighercostwilldo.Ofcourse,thechosenneighborhoodmustbeunoccupied.Crossing bridges is allowed,butlakes and rivers are impassable.2) PassingAplayerwhopassesmaynotplaceanotherbuildingduringthiscallforproposal(turn).Anybuildingshemayalreadyhaveplacedstayontheboarduntiltheendofthecurrentturn. NB: a player who has no buildings left (or no buildings with a sufficient value) must pass.

CALL FOR PROPOSAL

END OF THE CALL FOR PROPOSALThecallendsinoneofthreeways:1) All the players, but one, have passed,2) No one can place buildings because the most recently placed building has no adjacent neighborhood,3) No one is able to outbid the most recently placed building.Ineveryinstance,theplayerwhoplacedthelastbuilding(thelastbid) wins the call for proposal andactually builds that buildingby turning itovertothesidewhichbearsnonumber.Thebuildingwillremainthereuntiltheendofthegame.Ifthereisatokenontheneighborhoodwherethebuildinghasbeenplaced,theplayertakesitandplacesitinhisplayarea.Alltheplayerstaketheirunbuiltbuildings(thatis,thosewithavisiblenumber)back.Finally,theplayerwhohasjustwonthecallforproposalbecomesthenewstartplayerandstartsanewturn.

Example: Blue starts with a 3. Gray outbids with a 7. Red may only outbid by placing a building in the neighborhood containing a trendy neighborhood token, and chooses to do it with a 9. White, who is interested in the subway token, bids with a 10. Now, Blue would have to bid with at least 11, but the player thinks the cost is too high and passes. So does Gray. Red, whose area card is the Bridges card, is willing to pay 11. White passes. Red is the only remaining player and wins the bid on the call for proposal...

Example (cont’d): turn the red building over and it remains in place. Remove all the other buildings used in the course of this call for proposal from the board. Red must start a new call in an empty neighborhood of his choice anywhere on the board.

Example: Gray starts a new turn. The player may grab the neighborhood shown at a low cost, since it is impossible for anyone to outbid (there is no empty neighborhood adjacent to it). Gray places his 1 building and wins the call for proposal. The player turns the building over, takes the trendy neighborhood token, and starts a new turn…

END OF THE GAMEThegameendsas soonasanyplayer hasbuilt his last building.All players reveal their secret cardsand count theirpoints:●Foreach“Trendyneighborhood”tokenaplayerowns,heearns3 prestige points,●Foreach“Subway”tokenaplayerowns,heearns1 prestige point,●Theownerofthe“Subway”cardearns3 prestige points,●Foreach“Archaeologicalsite”tokenaplayerowns,heloses 1 prestige point,●Theownerofthe“Archaeologicalsite”cardloses 2 prestige points,●Foreachbuildingaplayerhasconstructednexttothetypeofareaindicatedonhis“Area”card,heearns3 prestige points.The player with the most prestige points wins the game.Incaseoftie,thetiedplayerwhohasconstructedthemostbuildingswins.Incaseofanewtie,thetiedplayerssharethevictory.

SPECIAL CARDS

TOKENS

IMPORTANT ADVICETomakethemostofthegame,followthefollowingadvicewhenyouplay.●Avoidbuildingall yourmostexpensivebuildings too fast,or youwill haveadifficult timeoutbiddingotherplayers insubsequentcallsforproposal!●Whenaneighborhoodbecomesisolated(forexample,nexttoablindalley)becauseofabuildingyoujustplaced,itisagoodideatoimmediatelyconstructyourlowest-valuedbuildinginthatneighborhood.Thiswillmoveyouclosertoendingthegameanditmaypreventyouropponentsfromgettinganeighborhoodimportanttothem.●Trytoguesswhatyouropponents’secretcardsareassoonaspossible!Theseknowledgemaybeimportantduringcallsforproposal.

Subway: these tokens mark the locationof a subway station. Such gold-platedlocationsareespeciallysoughtafterbytheinhabitantsofMetropolys. In thecourseofthe game, the player who owns the mostSubway tokenswins the “Subway” specialcard(seebelow).

Archaeological sites: these tokens markthe location of ancient ruins. They arenot prized by urban planners, since theyslow down construction projects and costprestige. The archaeological site specialcard (seebelow) is takenandheldby thelatestplayerwhogetsoneofthesetokens.

Trendy neighborhoods: these tokensmarkthelocationofatrendyneighborhood.Urbanplannerswhoplaceabuildinginsuchaneighborhoodwillearnalotofprestige.

Subway: thiscardcomesintoplayas soon as a player earns a subway token.Theplayertakesthecardandkeepsitinhisplayareauntil anotherplayerhasearnedmore subways tokens. Insuchacase,thelatterplayertakesthecard.Asaconsequence,thecardmaychangehandsseveraltimesduringthegame.NB: if two players have the same number of tokens, the card does not change hands.

Archaeological site: this card comes into play as soon as a player earns an archaeological site token.Theplayertakesthecardand keeps it in his playareauntilanother player gets an archaeological site token.Insuchacase,thelatterplayertakesthecard.Asaconsequence,thecardmaychangehandsseveraltimesduringthegame.

Ateachturn,bothspecialcards(thesubwaycardandthearchaeologicalsitecard)maycomeintoplayandmaychangehands.

Aplayerwhobuildsinaneighborhoodcontainingatokenearnsit.Collectedtokenswillyieldorcostprestigepointsat the end of the game.

Thegameendsassoonasanyplayerhasbuilthislast building.Thentheplayersrevealtheirsecretcardsandcounttheirpoints:● Ineachdistrict, theplayerwhohasconstructed the highest building (in termsofheight,notvalue) takesahighestbuildingtokenwhichisworth5 prestige points.Incaseoftie,thesizeoftheirsecondhighestbuildings(or,ifnecessary,oftheirthirdhighestbuildings,andsoon)decidesbetweenthetiedplayers.Ifthetiecannotbesettled,eachofthetiedplayerstakesa5pointhighestbuildingtoken.

●Foreachtrendy neighborhoodtokenaplayerowns,heearns3 prestige points,●Foreachsubwaytokenaplayerowns,heearns1 prestige point,●Theownerofthesubway cardearns3 prestige points,●Foreacharchaeological site tokenaplayerowns,heloses 1 prestige point,●Theownerofthearchaeological site card loses 2 prestige points,●Foreachbuildingaplayerhasconstructedinthetypeofneighborhoodindicatedonhisneighborhood card,heearns2 prestige points.●Foreachgroupofbuildingssatisfyingtherequirementsoftheplayer’sarea card,theplayerearnsthenumberofpointsindicatedonthecard.NB: each building may only be used once to earn an area objective. However, one building may be used to earn both an area objective and a neighborhood objective. The player with the most prestige points wins the game.Incaseoftie,thetiedplayerwhohasconstructedthemostbuildingswins.Incaseofanewtie,thetiedplayerssharethevictory.

EXPERT GAME

ThepreparationisidenticaltotheoneintheFamilyversion,excepttheplayersdonotdealthe4areacardsoftheFamilyversion.Instead,shufflethe5areacardsoftheExpertversion.Eachplayertakesacard,looksatitinsecret,andplacesitfacedowninhisplayarea.Discardtheremainingareacardwithout looking at it.Gothroughthesameprocesswiththeneighborhoodcards.

PREPARATION

END OF THE GAME

TheplayofMetropolysisthesameasthe4playerversion.However,theplayareaissmallerandfewerneighborhoodtokensareused:●In3playergames,oneoftheperipheraldistrictsisnotused.Theplayerswillnotbeabletoplacebuildingsinit.Remove2subway,2archaeologicalsite,and1trendyneighborhoodtokensfromthegame.Placetheremainingtokensnormally(i.e.7tokensinthecenterand5ineachperipheraldistrict).●In2playergames,2adjacentperipheraldistrictsarenotused.Remove3subway,3archaeologicalsite,and4trendyneighborhoodtokensfromthegame.Placetheremainingtokensnormally(i.e.7tokensinthecenterand5ineachperipheraldistrict).Furthermore,whenplayingtheFamilyversion,removetheBorders area card.

2 AND 3 PLAYER GAMES

In addition to all the testers, both occasional and regular, and the team of the Ludothèque de Boulogne-Billancourt, the author would like to thank Rüdiger Dorn and the Hans im Glück team who, although unknowingly, were at the basis of this game. Indeed, the first time I read through the rules of Goa, I saw the illustration on page 4, and interpreted it as depicting the mechanism you have just discovered in Metropolys. I was wrong, but the seed was sown…

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Example: here, Blue, having built the highest building, gets the token.

Example: here, Red gets the token. Blue and Red both have 2 tall buildings, but Red has 1 more building.

The play of theExpert game is similar to theFamily version.However, the playersmust take into account additionalobjectivesthatyieldpointsattheendofthegame.

The highest building: inthisversion,the height of the buildings becomes important.Eachplayerhas5smallbuildings(1to5),4mediumbuildings(6to9)and4tallbuildings(10to13).Attheendofthegame,thehighestbuildingtokensaretakenbytheplayerswhohavebuiltthehighestbuildingin each district.

Objectives: inthisversion,eachplayertakestwosecretobjectives:neighborhoodandarea.Theseareaobjectivesaredifferent thanthoseof the Familyversion.Theobjectivesof theExpertversionrequire the construction of several buildings. These goals aredetailedinthe“Secretobjectives”playeraid.

WELCOME

SECRET OBJECTIVES

A

B

C

DE

F

0G

H

0I

WelcometoourbeautifulcityofMetropolys!Letmebeyourguideforashorttourthatwillcertainlydelightyou…Ourcityhasfivedistricts:Center,North,South,West,andEast.Thesedistrictsareseparatedbytheriver(A);withineacharethepicturesqueneighborhoodswhichgiveMetropolysitscharm.Behold,ourflourishingindustry(B),ourenchantingparks(C),ourstylishlodgings(D),ourattractivemalls(E),andourprestigiousadministrationcenters(F).Besurenottomissoneofthenumerousstatues(G)adorningtheneighborhoodsandtakesometimetolingerbyoneofourlakes(H).Toendthetour,Isuggestthatyouwatchthesunsetfromoneofthosemagnificentbridges(I).Andbyallmeans,don’tforgetyourguide!

Bridges: at the endof thegame, the player scores3 prestige points for eachbuildinghehasconstructednexttoabridge.NB: placing a building in a neighborhood connected with several bridges yields only 3 points.

Statues: at the end of thegame, the player scores3 prestige points for eachbuildinghehasconstructednexttoastatue.NB: placing a building in a neighborhood connected with several statues yields only 3 points.

Lakes: at the end of thegame, the player scores3 prestige points for eachbuildinghehasconstructednexttoalake.NB: placing a building in a neighborhood connected with several lakes yields only 3 points.

Borders: at the end ofthe game, the playerscores 3 prestige pointsfor each building he hasconstructedon thebordersofMetropolys.NB: this card is not used in 2-player games.

FAMILY GAME

EXPERT GAME

At the end of the game, the player earns 2 prestige points for each building he has constructed in a neighborhood of the kind featured on his card.

SECRET OBJECTIVES

NEIGHBORHOODS

Mall Administration Industrial Park Lodgings

Bridges: attheendofthegame,theplayerscores4prestigepointsforeachgroupoftwobuildingshehasconstructedonbothsidesofabridge.NB: each building may be used only to attain an objective once! Thus, a building linked to two bridges is only counted once.

Statues: attheendofthegame,theplayerscores7prestigepointsforeachgroupofthreebuildingshehasconstructedaroundastatue.NB: each building may be used only to attain an objective once! Thus, a building between two statues is only counted once.

Lakes: attheendofthegame,theplayerscores5prestigepointsforeachgroupofatleastthreebuildingshehasconstructedaroundalake.NB: each building may be used only to attain an objective once! Thus, a building between two lakes is only counted once.

Districts:at theendof thegame, theplayerscores4prestigepoints per district where he has constructed at least threebuildings.NB: building three or more buildings in a district yields only 4 points.

Chains: at the end of the game, the player scores 4 prestigepointsperchainofthreebuildingshehasconstructed.NB: each building may only be used to attain an objective once! Thus the same building may not be counted in two chains.

AREAS