Game Objective

In John Company, players take on the roles of ambitious families attempting to use the British East India Company for personal gain. Rather than controlling their own firms, players collectively guide the Company by securing positions of power and steering its fate to benefit their own interests. The game is not about wealth, but about reputation. Players will manage family members who hold Company positions and eventually retire to establish estates and compete in the London Season for marriages and political opportunities.

Setup

1. Place the game board and component trays in the center of the table.
2. Shuffle the India event tiles and place them next to the board.
3. Place local alliance tiles in the Army boxes as listed.
4. Place a marker on the "5" space of the Company Balance track.
5. Place the four power tokens on their indicated spaces on the Power track.
6. Each player takes a set of player pieces and places their victory point marker on the "0" space of the Victory Point track.
7. Place tower levels, domes, and flags near the right side of the board.
8. Place laws, office, prestige, blackmail, and setup cards nearby.
9. Choose a scenario (e.g., 1710 Scenario, 1758 Scenario, 1813 Scenario, or Long 1710 Scenario) and follow the matching scenario setup card for track positions and India region setup. Place a black pawn on the matching date on the Turn track and the arm on the Prime Minister dial.
10. Take player setup cards matching the scenario date. Deal them evenly among players. Players take everything listed on their cards (cash, family members for specific office spaces, and matching office cards).
11. Build the London Season Display: Shuffle prestige cards and blackmail cards together and deal three (prestige faceup, blackmail facedown).
12. Shuffle the remaining law cards and place them near the board.

Game Flow

The game is played over a set number of turns. Each turn consists of the following phases in this specific order:

1. The London Season: Officeholders retire and compete for prestige cards.
2. Family: Players invest in the Company and increase holdings; new Company shares may be created.
3. Hiring: All vacant positions in the Company are filled.
4. Company Operation: Each Company office operates following the red ribbon from left to right on the board.
5. Bonuses: Players take bonus income.
6. Revenue: The Company pays expenses, the Chairman may pay dividends, and Company Standing is adjusted.
7. Events in India: Storms and events in India are resolved.
8. Parliament Meets: Parliament votes on a law.
9. Upkeep and Refresh: Players pay upkeep on their prizes and prepare for the next turn.

Actions and How to Play

The London Season

• Attrition: Players roll a die for each office card held (adding 1 for each fatigue). Results of 3-4 add a fatigue; 5 or more results in the officeholder retiring to the Pensioners box.
• Retirements: Players may move pensioners to a prize box by paying the indicated cost to increase their victory points.
• Prestige Cards: Players who retired at least one pensioner may take or discard a card from the London Season Display. Spouses provide victory points and retirement discounts; Enterprises offer special powers; Blackmails offer one-time effects.

Family Action

Starting with the Chairman, each player selects one action (or two if their opportunity marker was already on that action):

• Enlist Writer: Place a family member in a regional Writers box.
• Enlist Officer: Place a family member in the Officers-in-Training box.
• Purchase Luxury: Pay £4 for a luxury (worth 2 victory points).
• Purchase Shipyard: Pay £2 for a shipyard (provides £1 bonus and one vote in Parliament Meets).
• Purchase Workshop: Pay £5 for a workshop (provides £1 bonus and two votes in Parliament Meets).
• Seek Share: Pay the price on the Stock Exchange track to place a family member there to potentially become a Company share.

Hiring

Vacant offices are filled in ascending order. The Chairman is elected by a majority of Company shares. Other offices (like Director of Trade, Manager of Shipping, Military Affairs, Presidents, and Governors) are hired by specific officeholders from a pool of candidates. Nepotism allows hiring your own family member if all other candidates consent.

Company Operation

Offices act following the red ribbon. Most actions require a success check (rolling dice based on resources spent, subtracting penalties, and using the lowest value: 1-2 is success, 3-4 is failure, 5-6 is catastrophic failure).

• Chairman: May increase Company Debt (up to 3 times without consent, more with a majority of Company shares) to increase Company Balance, then allocates Company Balance to office treasuries.
• Director of Trade: May take the Special Envoy action to open trade with China or open a closed order in India.
• Manager of Shipping: Spends treasury funds to Fit Ships, Buy Company Ships, or Lease Extra Ships.
• Military Affairs: Transfers officers and regiments, assigns Officers-in-Training, and appoints Commanders.
• Presidency Operations: Presidents use the Trade action to fill orders in India, generating revenue for the Company and bonuses for the President and writers.
• Commanders: May purchase local alliances and use the Deploy action to attack regions for loot, trophies, and to establish Governorships.
• Governors: Use a dice pool to perform Administer actions to Build Company Ships, Commission Regiments, or Tax the region.

Negotiation

Players can trade enterprises, facedown blackmail cards, family cash, shares, and promise cards. Promise cards can be "called in" to force fulfillment before the game ends.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends at the end of the turn indicated by the scenario, or immediately if the Company Standing marker reaches the leftmost space on the Standing track.

Final Scoring Steps:

1. Victory Point Icon Power Award: Total power from the Power track, passed law tokens (1 power), Prime Minister (2 power), specific blackmail cards, spouses, and trophies (1 power). The most and second most powerful players gain victory points based on the final turn's table on the board.
2. Court and Workshops: If the Company survived, each Company share is worth the points indicated on the Court. If the Company failed, players subtract that number for each share and score 1 point for each workshop.
3. Final Retirement or Failure: If the Company survived, players roll for attrition and retire pensioners. If the Company failed, a random Company failure card is drawn and resolved.

Ties are broken by the most window icons, then by Prime Minister order.

Tips for Winning

• Manage your family members: Since family members are your most important resource for control, shares, and estates, be mindful of attrition during the London Season.
• Leverage the London Season: Use spouse retirement discounts to lower the cost of retirements, which can influence the order in which you take prestige cards.
• Strategic Deployment: When using the Deploy action, target regions with higher tower levels to maximize loot and trophies.