Nucleum — How to Play

Game Objective

You are an industrialist trying to succeed during the economic and technological expansion of 19th-century Saxony, fueled by the invention and spread of Nucleum. The goal is to earn Victory Points (VP) by building and powering City Buildings, securing Contracts, and fulfilling Progresses dictated by King Frederik Augustus. The player who accumulates the most VP at the end of the game wins; in case of a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Setup

1. Place the main board in the center of the table, with the side corresponding to the number of players facing up, and the extra board next to it.

2. Position the Coal Importer Wagon tokens on the coal production areas, leaving empty spaces according to the number of players.

3. Make all Thaler tokens, Uranium cubes, and Feat tokens available in a general supply next to the main board.

4. Place the VP Flag token under the "70" space on the VP track.

5. Separate the 20 Basic Action tiles. Shuffle the remaining 30 tiles (excluding Starting or Special Action tiles) and add 10/15/25 of them (for 2/3/4 players) to the 20 already separated. Shuffle well, divide into three piles, and place one of them face down on the designated space at the top of the extra board; the other two remain face down near the extra board. Return unused Action tiles to the box. Draw and reveal 5 Action tiles from the draw pile and place them in the indicated market spaces on the extra board.

6. Separate the Contract tiles by type (Starting, Silver, Gold, and Purple). Give each player a Starting Contract. Shuffle the remaining Contracts by type to create piles. Place 6/9/12 Silver Contracts (for 2/3/4 players) face down in a pile on the indicated space on the extra board; return the rest. Place 10/12/16 Gold Contracts (for 2/3/4 players) in a face-down pile; return the rest. Place 1 Purple Contract of each type face up in its corresponding space. Return the remaining Contracts (Starting and Purple) to the box. Draw 2 Silver Contracts and 2 Gold Contracts and place them face up in the Contract market.

7. Shuffle all Progress tiles and randomly assign one face up to each of the 4 indicated spaces on the Progress track. Return the remaining tiles to the box.

8. Place 3 Nucleum tokens on the indicated spaces near the Progress track.

9. Execute the map setup: place the Coal Power Plant tile in Riesa and 4 other Power Plant tiles in the indicated cities. Shuffle the 13 Setup cards, reveal 1 card, and according to the card, place a Neutral City Building in an urban location of the indicated city, following the space selection rules. Repeat the reveal and placement step 3 times. Return all unused Neutral City Building tiles and Setup cards to the box.

10. Place the 5 End Game Condition tokens on the spaces in the end game condition area on the extra board.

11. Determine the first player (last one to visit a nuclear power plant or randomly). Give them the First Player token.

12. Each player receives: player board, player aid, VP marker (100/200), 4 Thalers, 3 Income markers, 12 City Building tiles, 4 Turbine tokens, 4 Mine tiles, 18 Worker figures, 6 Progress markers, 1 Victory Point marker, and the Starting Contract in the lowest Contract space on the player board.

13. Each player chooses 1 of the 4 Experiments, taking the Experiment board, all technology tiles, the Turbine Effect tile, all Starting Action tiles, and the Experiment player aid. Place the 5 Starting Action tiles face up next to the player board. Place the Turbine Effect tile in the dedicated space below the second Turbine marker. If the player chooses Experiment B, give them the 2 Special Action tiles; otherwise, return them to the box.

Game Flow

The game is continuous; players take turns one after another without rounds or phases. On each turn, the player may choose one of the following options:

• Use an Action tile from the reserve and place it in the leftmost free space at the top of their player board. Then, resolve one or both actions shown on the tile. If a contract is available, it can be fulfilled before or after the actions.
• Play an Action tile as a Railway on the main board, placing an available Worker on it. Then, resolve the corresponding colored actions, check if the railway line is completed, and if so, receive the inauguration reward and flip the tile face down.
• Perform a Recharge, gaining income, placing a Progress marker, discarding Feat tokens, and retrieving all Action tiles on their player board.

The game ends when two (or three in 2-player games) of the five end-game conditions are met:

1. The Action tile draw pile is empty.
2. The Silver and Gold Contract draw piles are empty.
3. All players have recharged 3 times (the Progress spaces have no Progress markers).
4. At least one player has unlocked all 8 of their Technologies.
5. At least one player has reached 70 VP.

When a condition is met, the player who met it first moves the End Game Condition token to the corresponding position and scores 3 VP. The game continues until all players have taken an equal number of turns after the condition was triggered, and then each plays one more turn before proceeding to final scoring.

Actions and How to Play

Action tiles feature two actions. When a tile is placed, you resolve the two actions in any order; any action can be skipped.

Urbanize

Place a City Building on the map. Pay the Thaler cost indicated on the tile (2 Thalers on the first row, 3 on the second, etc.). If the building is in a red urban location, pay an additional 2 Thalers. If the Action tile shows a discount icon, reduce the cost by 1 or 2 Thalers. You can build in any urban location if you don't own networks; otherwise, it must be on one of your networks. Level IV buildings are Government buildings and can be placed in spaces showing the Government icon.

Industrialize

Place a Mine or Turbine on the map. Pay the Worker cost indicated on the tile (1 Worker on the first row, 2 on the second, etc.). If the tile is placed in a red location, pay an additional 2 Thalers. If the Action tile shows a discount icon, reduce the cost by 1 Worker or gain 1 Uranium. When a Mine is placed, gain Uranium equal to the total number of Mines you own (including the newly built one). If the covered mining location shows, gain 1 additional Uranium. If there are no Mines or empty spaces, gain 1 Worker instead.

Develop

Purchase an Action tile from the market by paying the indicated Thaler amount (0 to 2). You may pay an additional 2 Thalers to purchase a second tile. After purchasing, slide the remaining tiles to the right, refill the offer from the draw pile, and if the draw pile is empty, replenish it with one of the piles you set aside from the extra board during setup. If the draw pile is empty and cannot be replenished, it triggers an end-game condition.

Contract

Take a Silver Contract or Gold Contract from the offer and place it in an empty space on the right side of your player board. Receive the indicated reward. If the Action tile shows the discount icon, receive the reward twice. Gain 2 Thalers, 1 Worker, 1 Uranium for a Mine, and 2 Feat tokens. If there is no Contract space, the action cannot be resolved. After taking the Contract, draw a new Contract of the same color from the draw pile; if there are no more tiles of that color, draw from the other color; if there are no more tiles of any color, leave the space empty. If the Silver or Gold Contract pile becomes empty, it triggers an end-game condition. Purple Contracts cannot be acquired with this action.

Power

Select a Power Plant on the map. Transport Coal and/or Uranium from any number of locations via completed railway lines to the power plant. Coal can be imported from coal production areas connected by completed railway lines and long-distance railway; pay the cost in Coal Importer Wagons. Uranium can be transported if the power plant has a Nucleum and each chosen Mine is connected by completed railway lines; the transportable amount depends on the total number of Turbines. Calculate the electricity produced (1 per coal, 2 per uranium, plus electricity from Turbines and technologies). Select a City Building (yours or neutral) that is not yet powered, connected to the power plant, and whose requirement is less than or equal to the electricity produced. Receive Feat tokens equal to the requirement and any benefits printed on the tile. Flip the building to its powered side. The VP represented on the back of the tile are counted only at the end of the game; powered buildings in Prague score double.

Recharge

When choosing Recharge, perform the steps in order:

1. Gain Thalers, Workers, and VP from your income tracks.
2. Place a Progress marker on the Progress track. If there is a reward, receive it; if the space becomes empty, perform a King's Day Scoring.
3. Discard all Feat tokens you have collected.
4. Retrieve all Action tiles on your player board.

End Game and Scoring

When two (or three in 2-player games) of the five end-game conditions are met, the game enters the End Game phase. The player who met the condition first moves the End Game Condition token