BOOM TOWN - RULES

GAME OVERVIEW

My term of Office will last 6 years.

The morning after the post election party the first thing I did was investigate the current situation of the City.

Unfortunately things did not look good....

• The previous administration have squandered most of the Cities money.
• Jobs are scarce.
• People are leaving the City in droves.
• Political Rivals are queueing up cause trouble and will try to unseat me.

I have a PLAN.

Using the remaining resources in the Councils coffers, I have set up a number of Development Zones ( DZ's ) around the City in the hope of attracting Population and jobs.

A number of managing directors of various Construction Companies around the City ( the Players ) have agreed to take part in the Plan by constructing Housing and other developments in these Zones. The more attractive they can make these Zones the more Houses they can sell.

Each Development Zone has 24 Housing sites and 8 Development sites available. Players must decide which of these Housing and Developments they wish to be involved with.

It has been noted in local newspapers that some of the proposed Development sites may be a bit problematic. Local residents have expressed concerns regarding possible types of Developments near their homes.

However, each of the Players have a family member on the Local Planning Committee therefore there should be no problems in that regard.

I am relying on the Players to do a good job here as, if they don't, I may not get re-elected.

Housing is much needed so there will be no requirement for Planning consent for housing sites. Developments however would normally require a Planning Consent prior to any construction.

In order to expedite things I have therefore signed an executive order closing the Planning Department Offices for the duration of my term of Office. I can therefore personally approve the constructions of all Developments.

After my term of Office is over however, ( at the end of turn 6 ) the Councils rules indicate that the Planning Department must open and all prior constructions must be scrutinised.

What this means is that, effectively, on turn 7 players may submit Objections to the Planning Authority regarding Planning permissions obtained for certain of the previously built Developments.

On turn 8 the Planning Committee will meet to vote on these Objections. Hopefully this will not be a problem as each of the players has a family member on the Planning Committee who will be able to vote.

DEVELOPMENT ZONES

Each Development Zone will have 24 Housing site locations and 8 Development site locations.

Players may order constructions of Housing sites and Developments. They only need to stipulate the Development Zone where they are to be built. The exact location will be chosen by the computer. ( Generally this will be from the top left to the bottom right ) It makes no difference where in a Development Zone a construction is made.

• Each turn players may build up to 3 Housing sites. These may be built in the same Development Zone or in different ones as the player wishes.

At the Beginning of the game each player will get 4 randomly chosen Development tiles. 2 of these will be large Developments and 2 will be small developments.

Each tile is different and has a "Desirability" Rating. These desirability Ratings can be positive and also negative.

Large developments have ratings which range from 3 to 6 ( some positive and some negative ). The small developments have ratings which range from 1 to 4 ( again some positive and some negative ). Ratings effect the entire Development Zone in which they are built. The overall desirability rating for a Development Zone is the sum of all the Development desirability ratings currently built in this Zone.

• Each turn the player may build 1 of these tiles. Alternatively they may discard 1 of the tiles or even do nothing at all. If they do play or discard a tile then they will get a randomly chosen replacement tile of the same type. ( large or small )

A players VP's for a particular Development Zone is calculated by multiplying the number of housing sites the player has in that zone by the Zones overall Desirability rating.

A players total VP's is found by adding together his VP's from each Development Zone.

A summary of Players VP's is calculated each Turn however they are not cumulative and it is only the VP totals at the end of the game which count.

PLAYER TURNS

Each Turn has the following Actions.

1. Build 1 Development.
2. Build up to 3 Housing sites.

1. Player chooses one of their 4 Developments and which Development Zone to locate it.
2. Player discards one of their 4 Developments.
3. Player does nothing.

If a tile is built or discarded then a random replacement tile of the same type ( large or small ) will be drawn. Players always begin a turn with 4 Development tiles.

• Each Turn players may build up to 3 Housing Sites. They may build less if they wish
• They can be built in any Development Zone. They can be in the same Zone or in different ones as the player wishes. Player just needs to choose the Development Zones to build in.
• As with the Major Developments it should be noted that, on aparticular turn, if the total number of Housing sites ordered by all players in a Development Zone exceeds the number of vacant sites in that Zone then all of the orders will fail and no Housing Sites will be built in that Zone this turn.

Turns 1 to 6 are the Construction Phase of the Game. The Mayor has effectively "Rubber Stamped" all of the Planning Permissions for Developments up till now.

However, the Mayors political opponents have persuaded the Planning Authority to scrutinise the situation. Accordingly they have allowed OBJECTIONS to be made to certain of the Developments previously constructed earlier in the game.

• Each Player may lodge Objections to 2 of the Planning applications for Developments of their choice.
• Developments Objected to will be marked as such, but will still provide their Desirability value to the Development Zone untill such time as their fate is decided in the Planning committee Meeting which will be held on Turn 8.
• If a Development receives more than one OBJECTION there is no further effect. Developments are either Objected to, or not objected to.

Each Player has a family member on the Planning Committee therefore they each get to vote on any Planning Objections made.

Only Developments which have had OBJECTIONS made to them can be voted on. All Developments which did not receive an objection will have their Planning Application automatically APPROVED.

At the start of the game each player has a number of Vote Tokens which can be used during the Planning Committee Meeting. The exact number and value of these Vote tokens will depend on the number of players in the game. ( see table below )

Each Development which received an Objection will be voted on during the Planning Committee Meeting. Only these Developments will be voted on.

Players may vote on an Objection either by using one of their Vote Tokens or by abstaining ( effectively a zero vote ). Players may freely abstain from voting on a particular Objection. There is no requirement that they use all of their Vote tokens.

Note that Plus votes are in favour of the Construction Remaining and minus votes are in favour of the Development being Demolished.

Each Vote Token may only be used Once.

Players may only make ONE vote per Objection.

• Developments which did not receive an Objection will have their Planning Consent automatically Approved.
• If the total of Votes received on an Objection is a positive value then it's Planning Application has been Approved.
• If the total of Votes received is zero or a negative value then Planning Approval has been rescinded and the Development concerned will be immediately Demolished.