Components

• Board
• 105 city tiles
• 3 player aids
• 36 coins
• 4 mermaid figures
• Rules

Object of the Game

Players jointly build Warsaw during 6 epochs, from when Warsaw first became the capital at the end of the 16th century, through modern times. Each player creates their own district of the city.

At the end of each of the 6 epochs, districts give income and victory points to their owners. After 6 rounds, whoever has the most points wins.

Setup

1. Put the board in the middle of the table.

2. Divide the city tiles according to the numbers on their backs and shuffle each of the stacks separately. Place the 6 stacks face down on the appropriate spaces with Roman numerals on the board.

3. Place the 5 2-sided milestone tiles on the appropriate spaces on the board. Place each one with a random side face up.

4. Place the coins next to the board. They form the bank.

5. Each player receives:

   • A starting tile, marked with "S" on the back. Each player places their starting tile on the table in front of them, with the park and residential buildings visible. These are the beginning areas of the players' districts.
   • 6 coins as starting capital.
   • A mermaid figure in a selected color. Place the mermaids on the 0 space of the victory point track on the board.

6. Place the player aid cards within reach of all players. You are ready to play!

Game Play

The game consists of 6 epochs. In addition, there are wars at the end of the 3rd and 4th epochs. Each epoch consists of a construction phase and an income phase.

Construction Phase

Shuffle the city tiles with the current epoch's number, then deal 4 tiles to each player. In a 2-player and 3-player game, there will be some unused tiles; return them to the box, unrevealed.

Each player chooses one of the 4 tiles, then places it face down onto the table. All players simultaneously reveal their selected tiles, and each player chooses one of two possible actions:

• Discard their tile to the box and take 3 coins from the bank.
• Pay the tile's cost in coins (shown on the tile's upper left corner) and build the tile in their district.

Rules of Construction

The new tile must touch (complete tile side to complete tile side) at least one other tile already in the player's district. (Touching only diagonally does not suffice).

A player's district can never be larger than a 3x4 or 4x3 rectangle of tiles. E.g. if a district is already 4 tiles wide, then it cannot be made wider, and its height cannot be more than 3. Thus a district has space for 12 tiles.

A tile can be freely rotated to any of the 4 possible orientations before it is placed. After placement, a tile cannot be rotated later.

All players build simultaneously. Instead of placing a tile on an empty space, a player may choose to build on top of an existing tile. Simply place the new tile directly onto an existing tile, covering it completely.

As a result, the new tile's price is reduced by the price of the older tile which it covers. If both tiles have the same price, then the player pays nothing. If the new tile's price is lower than the older tile's, then the player pays nothing and gets no money back. This action is called an overbuild. Overbuilding can be done on a single tile or on a stack of already overbuilt tiles.

Example: A player plays a tile with price 5 onto an existing tile with price 2, and so must pay only 3 coins.

Example: A player plays a tile with price 2 onto an existing tile with price 3. The player pays nothing (and gets no money back).

After all players have discarded or placed their tiles, they all pass their remaining tiles to the player on their left (in odd-numbered epochs) or on their right (in even-numbered epochs).

Then the construction procedure is repeated: everyone simultaneously chooses one tile and discards or plays it. The construction phase continues in this manner until each player has discarded or built 4 tiles.

Types of Areas

Each city tile is divided into 4 quarters. Each quarter has its own type of building, so a tile can have from 1 to 4 different kinds of buildings.

Adjacent quarters (including adjacent quarters on different adjacent tiles) which have the same type of building are considered to be a single continuous connected area of that type (exception: public buildings and milestones). This is important for scoring, and during the operation of public buildings and milestones.

Public buildings and milestones are always separate individual areas, even if they are adjacent to each other. They also occupy an entire tile.

Example: Picture shows part of district with 4 marked areas. Residential area A, commercial area B and 2 parks (C and D).

The marked spaces form single continuous connected areas.

Income Phase

During the income phase, milestones are placed, and players receive coins and victory points. Follow the steps below in order:

1. War (only In Epochs Iii And Iv).

   World War I happens in epoch III. Each player must choose one tile from their district and discard it to the box.

   World War II happens in epoch IV. Each player must choose two tiles in different squares from their district and discard them to the box. All tiles under the selected tiles are also discarded.

   Players cannot discard tiles which would leave their district divided into separate groups of tiles. After each war, each district must be a single connected group of tiles.

   
   
   

2. The player who best fulfills the condition on the milestone tile between the current epoch and the next epoch will receive this milestone tile.

   The player immediately builds it for free in their district. The milestone may be placed on an empty space or built on top of an existing tile. It is possible to overbuild onto a milestone later. (Their price is 0).

   In case of a tie for fulfilling a milestone's condition, first compare the tying players' money, and then (if money is equal) points. Whoever has less wins the tie! In the rare case in which the tying players have equal amounts of money and points, then no one receives the milestone, which is discarded.

3. Players receive points and coins in the order printed on the player aid card. Different types of connected neighboring areas are used for scoring. An area consists of connected adjacent buildings of the same type.

   Only connections through adjacent sides are relevant: only touching diagonally through corners is not enough. But milestones and public buildings are always treated as separate individual areas, even if they are adjacent.

   Players advance their mermaid along the score track when they gain points.

Scoring

The more residential areas adjacent to a single selected park in the player's district, the more points gained.

Each commercial area gives 1 coin for each residential area adjacent to it. Each cultural area gives as many victory points as printed on its icon. • Each industrial area gives as many coins as printed on its icon. A player also loses 1 victory point for each residential area adjacent to one or more industrial areas.

Each tile with a transport icon gives 2 points. There must be at least 2 transport tiles in the district. Connected groups of transport tiles only count as one tile.

Milestone buildings give their printed effect. Public buildings give their printed effect.

End of the Game

The game ends after the 6th epoch. Then each player receives 1 point for each set of 5 coins which they now return to the bank. Then whoever has the most points is the winner.

In case of a tie, the tying player with most remaining coins (0-4) wins the tie. If still tied, then players share their victory.

Why Does The Game Capital Have Mermaids As Pawns?

It's hard to imagine a more popular symbol of Warsaw, because the mermaid has been in the city's coat of arms since the middle ages! But the original mermaid was not half woman, half fish.

The earliest images showed creatures with wings, two paws, and a tail. Only in the 17th century did the Warsaw mermaid take on its current appearance. There is a legend about two sisters - mermaids - one of whom swam to Copenhagen, and to this day we can see her at the port entrance.

The second sister chose Warsaw, where she was captured by a greedy merchant. A fisherman's son freed her, and in gratitude she promised to protect the city, and thus she armed herself with a sword and shield.

Currently in Warsaw there are several mermaid monuments and countless representations on buildings and in paintings.

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