Components

• 1 gameboard
• 1 elephant, 1 screen & 5 palaces per player
• 1 bag and 17 bales of silk
• 12 large Demand cubes
• 75 rupee tokens
• 5 Action tokens
• 8 Palace tokens
• 8 Trading Post tokens
• 16 City tokens
• 16 Client tokens
• Instructions

Object of the Game

Setup

1. Place the board in the center of the table. Each player takes 1 elephant, 5 Palace tokens and a screen, all the same color. Each player places their elephant on the starting hilltop A. The other hilltop B remains empty.

2. The player who has most recently seen an elephant is designated as First Player. They take 4 Action tokens. They place the 17 bales of silk (small cubes) in the bag, which is placed close to the Markets C.

3. The rupees and the Client tokens are placed close to the board, and form the bank. Each player takes 2 rupees from the bank and places them behind their screens.

   During the game, all rupees and tokens that are won by players are placed behind their screens. Players may change money at the bank at any time in the game.

4. 

   On each city D, place the 3 City tokens of the corresponding colors.

   For the first game, place the Palace and Trading Post tokens, and the Demand cubes, on the places shown in the picture above and ignore the following preparatory stages. For further games:

5. Place the Demand cubes in 4 columns as shown right, and place the columns randomly in the 4 cities.

6. Place the 8 Trading Post tokens randomly on the 8 sites E and F.

7. Place the 8 Palace tokens randomly, yellow face up, on the 8 sites marked G. The other sites H remain empty.

Game Play

A game of Bombay for 4 players consists of 4 sets. A set is made up of a Restock, and then 4 game turns. During each game turn, the players may make 3 actions successively, beginning with the first player.

Restock

The first player picks up the bag and takes out 9 silk bales. Then they separate the bales by color, and place them into the Markets:

• The bales of the most common color are placed in the left-hand Market,
• From the remaining bales, those of the most common color are placed in the central Market,
• Finally, the remaining bale(s) are placed in the right-hand Market.

Trading Post Closed

If, during the course of the game (following a Restock or a purchase), a color of silk bale is not available from the Markets, you should turn over the 2 Trading Post tokens of that color to the 'closed' position to show that it is no longer possible to buy that color bale until the next Restock.

Game Turn

The first player places one Action token by the board. Each player may take, on their turn, 3 actions. In the game, one action is symbolized by one star. Moving clockwise and starting with the first player, each player spends their 3 actions.

A player may spend less than 3 actions if they wish (actions that are not used are discarded). Players make take their actions in any order and may do the same action twice (for example 2 movements), but they can only buy one bale per game turn.

Possible actions are:

A. Consolidate your Fortune

A player spends all 3 actions and takes 1 rupee from the bank.

B. Move your Elephant

The player moves their elephant from one site to an adjacent site, following a trail. The cost of movement depends upon where the elephant finishes:

• Finishing on a hilltop costs 2 actions,

• Finishing on another site costs 1 action.

C. buy one silk bale at a trading post (1x)

A player whose elephant is on an open Trading Post may buy 1 silk bale from the Market, of the same color as the Trading Post. The player takes the bale from the Market and pays as follows:

• Left-hand Market: a bale costs 1 rupee and 1 action,
• Central Market: a bale costs 1 rupee and 2 actions,
• Right-hand Market: a bale costs 2 rupees and 2 actions.

The player places the bale on his elephant. Each elephant may only transport 2 bales and it is not possible to buy a bale if an elephant's basket is already full.

D. Sell one silk bale in a city

A player whose elephant is in a city may sell 1 silk bale by spending 1 action. The color of the silk bale must match the color of one of the 3 Demands of that city.

1. Selling

   The player takes a bale from his elephant and places it back in the bag. He then takes from the bank the amount of money corresponding to the bale's place in the city's Demands, plus a possible bonus.

   • The topmost color earns 4 rupees,
   • The central color earns 3 rupees,
   • The bottom color earns 1 rupee and 1 Client token.

   Bonus: certain color bales are more valued than others:

   • A yellow bale earns 1 extra rupee,
   • A purple bale earns 1 extra Client token.

2. City's Demands

   After the sale, the player adjusts the city's Demands. The Demand cube that matches the color of the bale that was sold is moved to the bottom of the scale and the other bale or bales move one place up the scale.

   If the cube that was sold was of the color that was at the bottom of the scale, the city's Demands do not change.

   Note: if a player sells 2 bales (by spending two consecutive actions to sell 2 bales), the city's Demands (and therefore the sale price) should be changed after each sale.

3. City Token

   If the player does not have a token from the city where he just sold a bale, he takes 1 City token from that city and places it behind his screen. If there are no City tokens available in that city or the player already has one from that city, he gets nothing.

E. Build One Palace

A player whose elephant is on a site with no buildings on it (no Trading Post, city or palace), may build 1 palace by spending 1 action and 1 silk bale of any color from his elephant (the bale is put back into the bag).

He may then place one of his palaces on the site. Also, if the site contains a Palace token, he takes it and applies its effects (see 'Palace tokens').

Palace effects: from that point on, each time one of that player's adversaries enters a site where one of that player's palaces is situated, the player who owns the palace takes 1 rupee from the bank. Also, palaces earn rupees at the end of the game.

Palace Tokens

• 

  The player places the token behind his screen. At the end of the game, this token counts as an extra Client token.

  
  
• 

  The player places the token behind his screen. At the end of the game, this token counts as an extra City token.

  
  
• 

  The player places the token back in the game box and takes 2 rupees from the bank.

  
  
• 

  The player places the token back in the game box and takes a silk bale in the color of his choice from the Market the farthest to the left as possible. The bale is placed on his elephant.

  
  

End of the Turn

When each player has had a go, the game turn is finished. If the first player has any Action tokens left, a new game turn begins, as before: the first player places an Action token next to the board and, moving clockwise and starting with the first player, each player spends 3 actions...

If the first player has no more Action tokens, the set is finished.

End of the Set

The player to the left of the first player becomes the new first player for the new set. He takes the 4 Action tokens.

He gathers up all the bales from the Markets and puts them back in the bag. He puts the Trading Post tokens so that 'Open' is face up.

A new set begins (Restock + 4 game turns). When each player has been the first player once (after four sets), the game is over.

End of the Game

Players earn their reward:

1. Palaces and Clients

   Players are rewarded for the size of their commercial empires: each player adds up the palaces they have built and their Client tokens.

   The player with the highest total wins 8 rupees, the second-highest 4 rupees and the third-highest 2 rupees. In case of a draw, the players share the rupees.

2. City Tokens

   Players are rewarded for their reputation: each player with 3 City tokens gains 4 rupees. Each player with 4 City tokens gains 8 rupees.

Continue Reading