2 to 6 players
OBJECT OF THE GAME To be the first to reach the last step (The 2012 Olympic Games) on the Historical Time Track.
GAME COMPONENTS • A game board showing a map of London surrounded by an Historical Time Track • 7 dice, numbered 2-5, with the other face showing a London taxi •12 Movers/Markers in 6 different colours •17 Letterboxes •17 Stickers numbered 1 to 17 •A deck of 60 cards
THE BOARD
GAME SET-UP
Movement rules:
The board shows a map of London with paths of round spots (coloured dark grey, red, green and pale blue) linked by black lines. The player will move from spot to spot following the movement rules explained later.
Before playing for the first time, you must carefully affix the stickers onto the bases of all the letterboxes. Then:
(a) 2 movers can’t stand on the same spot, but they can pass over each other.
The pale blue spot is adjacent to the Museum Of London’s logo. This is where the Museum is located in London and is also the starting point for all the players.
1 Players choose a colour and take 2 pieces in that colour, one to use as a mover and one as a marker. 2 The markers are placed on the first space of the Time Track (in the upper left corner).
(c) On your turn you can either move on the map area of the board or play up to 3 cards. Never both! (except when using Underground or Bus cards).
Close to the red spots there are large red circles showing monuments which contains a number (1 to 17).
3 The movers are placed on the board close to the Museum of London’s logo.
NB: Each player’s turn must always start by selecting one of the available dice even if the player is only going to play a card or cards without moving.
Green spots near Greenwich are described later.
4 Unused movers/marker are kept in the box.
The Letterboxes
5 Shuffle the letterboxes and randomly choose 7 of them.
If a mover lands on a red space adjacent to a letterbox, his movement must end.
6 Note the number printed on the base of the 7 chosen letterboxes and place them on the corresponding red spaces on the map.
The player then draws some cards (see below) from the deck and the letterbox is placed outside the board. The number of cards the player takes from the deck depends on the following:
7 Keep the remaining letterboxes on one side of the table for later use.
1st letterbox reached = draw 3 cards
8 Youngest player begins and receives the 7 dice.
2nd letterbox reached = draw 3 cards
9 Shuffle the deck of cards, deal one card to each player and put the deck close to the board.
3rd letterbox reached = draw 3 cards
Around the edge of the map there is an “Historical Time Track” illustrating episodes in the history of London. Some of these events are described with a short text and a date. These dates represent steps on the history of London, and are used to move the markers.
•Rules
START OF HISTORICAL TIME TRACK LETTERBOXES ARE PLACED ON THESE SPACES
PLAYERS LAND ON RED SPOTS TO WIN CARDS
10You are now ready to start the game.
4th letterbox reached = draw 2 cards 5th letterbox reached = draw 2 card 6th letterbox reached = draw 1 card
STARTING POSITION
HOW TO PLAY Basic rules
GAME FINISH DICE
The first player rolls all the 7 dice and places them close to the board. This player can now choose any one of the 7 dice and move his own mover a number of spots up to the value of the dice chosen, starting from the pale blue spot (which counts as the first space of the movement) in front of the Museum of London’s logo and following the movement rules. If the player chooses a dice showing the taxi, he can move up to 10 spots. The aim for all the players is to reach, as fast as possible, one of the red spots adjacent to a letterbox. Why? To gain cards in order to move on the Time Track. Why as fast as possible? Earlier letterboxes reached are more valuable than later ones. After the first player has moved, the game continues with other players in clockwise order.
DECK OF 60 CARDS
HISTORICAL TIME TRACK
(b) A player can always move a number of spots less than the number on the dice.
The dice used by the player is placed apart, so the second player can now only choose one of the 6 remaining dice, the third will choose one of the 5 remaining and so on. When the last dice is used, the next player will roll all the 7 dice again and the game goes on in this way.
7th letterbox reached = draw 1 card A player can’t have more than 5 cards in his hand at the end of his turn. If he has more than 5, he must discard the excess ones. If no more cards are available in the deck, re-shuffle the previously discarded ones. When the last letterbox has been reached, 7 new letterboxes must be randomly selected from the available ones and placed on the board on the corresponding red circles. The movers stay where they are and the game goes on. The first player who reaches one of the newly selected letterboxes draws 3 cards from the deck and so on as already described. When the number of letterboxes available is insufficient to play another round, the letterboxes are again shuffled.
Using the cards
Greenwich
During a turn, and after choosing a dice, but before moving, a player can choose to play up to 3 cards from his hand and use them to move forward on the Time Track or perform special actions which are detailed below. If more than one card is played, they must be played one by one and the special actions be performed immediately afterwards.
As Greenwich is further from central London than the map on the board indicates, the space is close to two green spots instead of a red spot. So, to reach Greenwich, your mover must already be on one of these green spots at the beginning of your turn, at which point you choose any dice you like, without moving any further. i.e. it takes two turns to play the Greenwich space.
Cards have different colour frames. The colour frame of each card determines the effects on the game. Grey frames: these cards show the same pictures that are on the Time Track. If the date on the Time Track space where your marker is placed comes before the date printed on the card you want to play, you advance 2 spaces on the Time Track. If it’s after the date printed on the card, you advance 1 space and if it’s the same date, you advance 3 spaces. Discard after use. Blue frames: this group of cards shows famous people who lived in London. The date printed on the cards represents a specific episode related to these people. These cards work like the “grey” cards, but you can only move one or two spaces, because all the dates printed on the card don’t match any of the date printed on the Time Track. Discard after use. Red frames: these cards represent the monuments on the board. If your mover is on a red spot adjacent to a red space matching one of this cards, you can play the card and advance your marker 1 space on the TimeTrack. Discard this card after use and don’t move your mover that turn. Green frames: Smog: play this card to block your opponents. Choose one opponent and place the card face up in front of them. That player will then lose his next turn (but he must, as always, first choose a dice). While “in the smog” a player can’t perform any action (no movement, no cards). He needs to discard the Smog card to continue play next turn. NB: It’s possible to play more than one Smog card against any player. That player will lose more than one turn. Underground: you can play this card to move wherever you like on the board (but not on the same space occupied by another mover). You must choose, as usual, a dice, then play the card and move (whatever the number of the dice chosen). You can play only one Underground card during your turn. You can’t play the Underground card if you played a London buses card in the same turn and you can’t play any grey, blue or red card in the same turn you play the Underground. Discard the cards after use. London Buses: you can play this card to change the number on the dice chosen and than move. You can choose any number up to 6, so this card is useful to transform a low number dice to a high number one. You can use only one London buses card during your turn and you can’t play it if you already played an Underground card during the same turn. You can’t play any gray, blue or red card in the same turn you play London Buses card. Discard the card after use. The Museum of London: you can advance your marker 3 spaces on the Time Track. Discard this card after use and don’t move your mover. During the same turn you can’t play this card and the London Buses or Underground cards.
Winner The first player who reaches the last space on the Time Track is the winner. One doesn’t need an exact movement to win: e.g. if you are on the 2011 space and play the Museum of London card (which allows you to move 3 spaces), you reach the last space and win.
HINTS • If you are too far from the last letterbox, it can be better not to try to reach it, but to move into a “strategic” position. i.e. when the last letterbox on the board is reached, 7 new ones will be randomly selected and placed on the board. Sometimes you can predict which ones. Take advantage of this! • During your turn you can play up to 3 cards. Choose wisely in which order you play them. Don’t forget that the position of your marker on the Time Track determines the “value” of the grey and blue cards. • When you play a card to advance on the Time Track, you don’t advance your mover. Waiting when only low number dice are available, before playing a card, can be a good choice. • Don’t forget that you can’t have more than 5 cards in your hand so it’s not too great to reach a letterbox if you can’t keep all the cards.
OVERVIEW: Players throw dice to move towards letterboxes. Only by reaching a letterbox can they collect cards, and only by collecting cards can they advance round the Time Track. On your turn either move on the board or play cards.
CREDITS: Game designed by Spartaco Albertarelli. The publishers wish to thank the Museum of London, and in particular Harriet Berry, for all the editorial assistance and checking as well as the provision of many of the illustrations. The following images are ©Museum of London: Charles Dickens, Disraeli, Jack the Ripper, Smog, London Underground, London Buses, Sir Christopher Wren, and Dick Whittington. The board graphics were made by Claudia Saraceni, and the box by Vladimir Nartov. The game was graphically designed by Will & Jo Unwin at Kinetic MCD, and many thanks to Francesco Nepitello and Florence Hyde for the content on the cards. ©2011 Sophisticated Games Ltd, all rights reserved. London The Board Game® is a Registered Trade Mark. 1 Andersen Court, Newnham Road, Cambridge CB3 9EZ, UK
www.sophisticated-games.com