How to Play City of the Big Shoulders: Burden of Destiny

Game Objective

In City of the Big Shoulders, you take on the role of an investor in Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871. The objective is simple: get as rich as possible, as fast as possible. You will start with a small amount of money and use it to found new companies and invest in other players' companies. As these companies grow, they will pay Dividends to shareholders, and the stock value will increase. You will use this money to buy more shares, repeating the cycle throughout the game.

The game ends at the end of the fifth Decade. At that point, you will sell the shares you bought to the bank, according to each company's final value. You will also receive rewards for Public Objectives you have fulfilled. The player with the most money will be declared the greatest resident of Chicago and the winner of the game.

Preparation (Setup)

1. Place the game board on the table and position the Decade marker on the Decade marked 1875.
2. Place the Phase marker on the Stock Phase space on the board.
3. Separate the 24 Demand Tiles into 4 piles of 6 tiles each, based on the number of dots on the back of each tile. Shuffle each pile separately. Place pile #4 face down next to the board. Place pile #3 face down on top of pile #4. Repeat for piles #2 and #1 to form a single face-down Demand deck. Place this deck near the left side of the board.
   • 2-player games: Remove all Demand Tiles marked for 3 and 4 players.
   • 3-player games: Remove all Demand Tiles marked for 4 players.
   • 4-player games: Use all provided Demand Tiles.
4. Starting from the top right space in the Demand Area, fill each column as shown, drawing cards from the Demand deck and placing them face up in each space.
5. Separate the 5 starting Capital Asset tiles from the rest. Place the Capital Asset titled "Brilliant Marketing" in the $80 space, then shuffle the remaining 4 tiles and place them randomly face up in the $40 to $70 spaces. Finally, shuffle the remaining Capital Asset tiles into a single deck and place them in the Capital Asset deck space on the board.
6. Shuffle the 10 Goal cards and randomly draw 5 of them, placing them face up near the board.
7. Separate the Buildings according to their era (indicated by the dots on the back of the tiles) into 3 separate Building decks. Then, shuffle each deck and place them in the appropriate deck purchase spaces on the board.
   • 2-player games: Remove all Buildings marked for 3 and 4 player games.
   • 3-player games: Remove all Buildings marked for 4 player games.
   • 4-player games: Use all provided Buildings.
8. Separate two resources of each type and place them in the Haymarket Square space on the board. Then, place all remaining resources in the bag.
9. Give the bag a good shake. Then, draw 3 resources from the bag and place them in each resource space near the top of the board, including the space marked with an X.
10. Place 4 Workers in the 4 darkened Worker spaces in the Job Market near the $40 space.
11. Place the supplies of Workers, Managers, Salespersons, Goods, and Automation Tokens near the board, within reach of all players. Place the Appeal Bonus Goods Tokens near the board.
12. Place the bank's money near the board, within reach of all players.
13. Deal 3 Buildings from the Era I Building deck to each player.
14. Give each player $175 from the bank, a player aid, and two Partners in their preferred color. Place one Partner of each player's color in the 3rd empty space of the Building track.
15. Give each player a Stock Bump Guide. Then, each player will choose their starting companies as described on page 12 of the manual (not provided in context).
16. Before each player starts their first company, each player should have a chance to examine each Company Charter. Players should also familiarize themselves with the Demand Area on the board, their starting Buildings, and the available resources.
17. Randomly select a player who will have the first choice to start a company. Starting with that player and continuing counter-clockwise (i.e., to that player's right), each player must start a company of their choice following the procedure described in the Action Phase section on page 14 (not provided in context). In addition to the normal procedure, add one of your Partners to the last factory space on your initial company's Charter.
18. The last player to choose a starting company should receive the Priority Deal marker. Then, starting with the player who has the Priority Deal marker and continuing clockwise (i.e., to that player's left), place one of each player's Partners on the Action Phase turn order track on the board. The player with the Priority Deal marker places their Partner on the space labeled 1, the player to their left on the space labeled 2, and so on. The player who had the first choice of starting a company will be last in turn order. This turn order is set only at the beginning of the game and can be modified by visiting the Advertising & Start Player space on the board with one of your Partners during the Action Phase.

Game Flow

The game unfolds over five Decades. Each Decade consists of five unique phases, which occur in the following order:

1. Stock Phase: Players buy and sell shares.
2. Building Phase: Players place new action spaces on the board.
3. Action Phase: Players send their Partners around the city to conduct business on behalf of their companies.
4. Operating Phase: Companies buy resources, produce Goods, and ship them out of Chicago.
5. Cleanup Phase: The board is prepared for the next Decade.

The game ends at the end of the fifth Decade.

Turn Order

• During the Stock Phase and Building Phase, turn order is clockwise, starting with the player who has the Priority Deal marker.
• During the Action Phase, turn order is determined by the Action Phase turn order track.
• During the Operating Phase, companies operate in order of Appeal, from highest to lowest. If two companies are tied on the same Appeal space, the company whose marker is on top of the stack operates first.
• The Cleanup Phase has no specific turn order, being simultaneous.

Actions and How to Play

The game is divided into Decades, each with distinct phases where players and their companies perform actions.

Stock Phase

This is the first phase of each Decade. Starting with the player who has the Priority Deal marker and continuing clockwise, each player can do one or all of the following actions, in order:

1. Sell Stock: You can sell any number of Stock Certificates from any number of companies to the bank. You receive from the bank an amount equal to the number of shares sold multiplied by the current share value on the Stock Track. Sold Stock Certificates are placed in the Bank Pool. The share value of each company decreases one step on the Stock Track for each share sold. Selling a Preferred Certificate decreases the share value twice. In advanced play, selling the Director's Certificate decreases the share value three times.
   • Basic Game: The company's Director can never sell the 30% Director's Certificate.
   • Advanced Game: The company's Director cannot sell the 30% Director's Certificate unless an opponent also owns 30% or more of the company. If this occurs, it triggers a Directorship Transfer.
2. Buy Stock: After deciding whether to sell shares, you can buy one and only one Stock Certificate from the bank or from any company. When buying from the bank, you pay the bank. When buying from a company, you pay that company. If you sold shares of a company, you cannot buy more shares of that same company for the remainder of the Decade, but you can do so in the next Decade. You can buy the 20% Preferred Certificate as a single share, paying double the current share value. You CANNOT do this for a company of which you are the Director. You can never own more than 60% (6 shares) of any company.
3. Start a new company: Available after the first Decade.
   1. Select a Company Charter not yet in play. Determine the initial share value for this company by placing one of the company tokens on a darkened Share Value space ($35, $40, $50, or $60) on the Stock Track.
   2. You must buy the 30% Director's Certificate by paying 3 times the company's initial share value. The money is paid from your personal treasury to the company's treasury. Place the 30% Director's Certificate in your play area.
   3. Place the Company Charter in your play area. Then, place a company token on the Appeal Track as indicated by the star icon in the top right corner of the Company Charter. If your company's Appeal Token is placed on an occupied space on the Appeal Track, your token will be placed at the bottom of the stack. Then, take Automation Tokens (black octagons) from the general supply and place them in the octagonal spaces at the bottom of each factory listed on your Charter.
4. Decline to perform a stock action: You can pass your turn. This does not prevent you from performing a future action in the same phase in the same Decade. The Stock Phase ends only when all players pass their turn in succession. The Priority Deal marker passes to the left of the last player who performed a stock action other than passing.

Building Phase

At the start of the game, each player receives three Era I Buildings. At the start of the Building Phase in Decades 2 and 3, each player receives two Era II Buildings. In Decades 4 and 5, each player receives two Era III Buildings.

Each player simultaneously selects a Building they wish to play and places it face down in the Building space corresponding to their player color for the current Decade. Then, they remove one of the two remaining Buildings from the game (face down), keeping the last tile to potentially play in a future Decade.

Once all players have selected their Buildings, all Buildings are flipped face up. Count the number of Workers indicated in the bottom right corner of each Building played this round and place an equal number of Workers in the most expensive spaces in the Job Market area on the board.

Action Phase

Starting with the player who is first in turn order and continuing according to the Action Phase turn order track, each player will send one of their Partners to a Building location on the board to perform its action. The game continues until all players have placed all their Partners.

You start the game with two Partners, but you can gain more in three ways:

1. By operating all factories in the company you started the game with.
2. Automatically in the third Decade.
3. The first time one of your companies reaches the "Gain a Partner" bonus space on the Appeal Track.

You can only gain a new Partner once from each of these ways throughout the game.

On your turn, you can send a Partner to any space on the board to perform an action on behalf of your company. This includes action spaces that belong to the bank, other players, or yourself. Action costs must be paid from your company's treasury, not your personal treasury. You only spend money from your personal treasury to buy shares during the Stock Phase.

Some locations on the board are marked with a green background and an infinity symbol (∞). You and your opponents can use these action spaces multiple times, even if another player has already used the action earlier in the phase. All other Buildings can only be used once per Decade.

Your Partners are not directly linked to any particular company and can be distributed as you wish among the companies of which you are the Director. On your turn, you decide which company you are performing an action for. You are not required to use any of your Partners to perform actions.

You can only perform an action on behalf of a company of which you are the Director (i.e., you own the 30% Director's Certificate in the company). If you own multiple companies, you cannot use the funds of one company to perform an action for another company. Each company's treasury is independent of the others. Similarly, you cannot use funds from your personal treasury to perform an action for your company.

Payments in the Action Phase:

• Your company pays the player: When sending a Partner to an action space belonging to another player, your company will pay that player for using the action. If the space belongs to you, your company will pay you.
• Your company pays the bank: When sending a Partner to an action space belonging to the bank, your company will pay the bank for using the action.
• The bank pays the player: Some action spaces indicate that the bank will pay the player who owns the Building for using the action. Exceptions are Buildings that give a discount on buying Capital Assets; your company still pays for the discounted Capital Asset, but the owner of the Building receives money from the bank.
• The bank pays your company: Some action spaces indicate that the bank pays the company. These are fundraising spaces that help your company obtain grants.
• Your company pays its shareholders: Some action spaces indicate that the company will pay dividends to its shareholders.

General Action Spaces:

• Hire Workers: Pay the bank to hire any number of Workers. The price depends on how many Workers