Objective of the Game

Welcome to the bustling world of Grand Austria Hotel! As an ambitious hotelier in 1900s Vienna, your goal is to transform your small guesthouse into a world-renowned luxury hotel. You'll be attracting distinguished guests, fulfilling their eccentric requests, and expanding your establishment. The player who best manages their staff, resources, and guest satisfaction to earn the most Victory Points by the end of the game will be crowned the most prestigious hotelier in all of Austria!

Preparation (Setup)

Setting up your hotel empire is a breeze! Here's how to get started:

1. Prepare a standard game setup for 2 players.
2. Take all assistants with a final game effect from the staff deck. Shuffle these cards and draw the first five, keeping them face down. Set these 5 cards in a separate deck near the Automa's hotel.
3. Re-insert the remaining staff cards into the common staff deck and shuffle it.
4. Shuffle the Automa deck and place it near the Automa's hotel.
5. Important Automa Setup Exceptions:
   • The Automa does not receive the 4 initial cubes.
   • The Automa does not need the money marker.
   • The Automa does not open the first three rooms.
   • The Automa does not take an initial guest.
6. Randomly choose the starting player.

Difficulty Level: If you're playing in EASY mode, ignore all assistant icons on Automa cards and any icons within square parentheses.

The Game Turn

A round in Grand Austria Hotel is all about strategic guest acquisition and hotel expansion. While you play by the standard rules, the Automa follows a streamlined process:

The Automa's turn is driven by drawing Automa cards. For each game round, you will draw 2 Automa cards and apply the effects of the depicted icons. Draw an Automa card at the beginning of each Automa's turn. Once the Automa deck is finished, reshuffle it.

Here's what the Automa does based on the cards:

• Guest Acquisition: The first icon on the Automa card indicates the guest color the Automa takes.
  • If there's a tie for guest color, the Automa takes the guest providing the most Victory Points.
  • Further ties are broken by looking at the tabletop in the order indicated by the hand icon.
  • A grey guest icon means the Automa takes the guest providing the most Victory Points, regardless of color.
  • The Automa needs no money to acquire new guests.
  • The Automa immediately gains any Victory Points associated with the guest.
  • The Automa fulfills all guest requests immediately without managing cubes.
  • The Automa does not need to open a new room before placing a guest inside.
  • Further benefits depicted on guest cards are never applied to the Automa.
• Die Selection: The second icon indicates the die taken by the Automa.
  • If two dice are depicted, the Automa takes the die from the area with the greater number of dice. Ties are broken by following the hand icon direction.
  • DMAX means the Automa takes a die from the area which has the most dice.
  • DMIN means the Automa takes a die from the area which has fewer dice than all others.
• Placing Closed Room Tiles: After acquiring a guest, the Automa places a corresponding closed room tile in its hotel.
  • The Automa does not pay to place a room tile.
  • The Automa does not respect room adjacency limits and is not obliged to place the first room in the bottom left corner.
  • If the acquired guest is BLUE, RED, or YELLOW, the Automa will place a closed room tile trying to complete the rows of the hotel from bottom to top and from left to right.
  • If the acquired guest is GREEN, the Automa will place a closed room tile trying to complete the columns of the hotel from right to left and from bottom to top.
  • When the Automa places a tile on a room with a Victory Points symbol, it immediately gains those Victory Points, just like a normal player.
• Emperor Points: The Automa gains Emperor Points immediately according to the current round number shown on the card.
• Awards: If an award icon is depicted near the round number corresponding to the current round, the Automa places a marker on the indicated award (A/B/C) and gains the related Victory Points. If the Automa already satisfied the award, this action is ignored.
• Hiring Assistants: If the Automa card shows an assistant, the Automa draws an assistant card from the common staff deck. If the card shows an assistant with an end-game effect, the Automa draws from its private staff deck.

Special Cases:

• If there are no guests and/or no dice corresponding to what's indicated on the Automa card, discard it and draw a new one.
• If the Automa's hotel has no free spaces with the color of the guest that would be taken, discard the current Automa card and draw a new one.
• The Automa never passes its turn.
• The Emperor's bonus/malus does not affect the Automa.
• The Automa does not gain any Victory Points for completing the blue regions of its hotel.

Emperor Phase

During the Emperor Phase, the Automa gains Victory Points according to the position of its marker, just like a normal player. However, the Emperor benefits and punishments do not affect the Automa's game.

End of Game and Scoring

The game concludes after a set number of rounds (as per the standard game rules). Once the final round is complete, it's time for the Final Scoring!

The Automa's final score is calculated from:

• Points gained during the game: This includes points from acquired guests, placed room tiles with point symbols, and awards.
• Points provided by room tiles: Any additional points on room tiles that were placed.
• Assistants with end-game effects: If the Automa has any assistants with end-game scoring conditions, these are applied.

The player with the highest total Victory Points wins!

Tips for Winning

Even against the streamlined Automa, a few strategic considerations can make all the difference:

1. Prioritize Guest Colors for Room Completion: Pay attention to the Automa's guest acquisition patterns. If the Automa is taking many BLUE, RED, or YELLOW guests, it will prioritize completing rows. If it's taking GREEN guests, it will focus on columns. Use this knowledge to anticipate which dice it might leave available or which guests it might ignore.
2. Watch for High-Value Guests: The Automa often breaks ties by taking the guest with the most Victory Points. If there's a high-scoring guest you desperately need, try to grab them before the Automa has a chance, especially if it matches a color the Automa is targeting.
3. Leverage Emperor Benefits: Since the Automa is unaffected by Emperor penalties, don't be afraid to push for those Emperor benefits if they align with your strategy. They can provide a significant boost to your score without worrying about the Automa suffering any drawbacks.