Carnegie · Board game rules

How to setup

To set up the game, follow these steps:

1. Place the main game board in the center of the table.
2. Shuffle the 8 Timeline tiles and draw 4 at random. Arrange them as shown in the setup diagram, selecting sides at random. Frame these tiles with the Start and End tiles, and return the 4 unused Timeline tiles to the box.
3. Place the four action markers on their corresponding starting positions on the far left of the Timeline.
4. Select Department tiles based on the number of players (4 for a 4-player game, 8 for a 3-player game, 16 for a 2-player game) and return the rest to the game box. Place the remaining Department tiles face-up on the table.
5. Create a supply of goods cubes and money tokens near the main game board.
6. Provide each player with:
   • 4 goods cubes and $12.
   • 1 Company board and a set of 4 different project tabs. Players should slide each tab under the right side of their individual game boards so that the colors and icons match, leaving each tab's first (rightmost) spot exposed.
   • 10 Employee figurines. Each player places 1 of their employees standing up on each of their Company's 5 Departments, with another 5 employees lying down in their Company's Lobby. Set the remaining 5 employees aside.
   • 30 player disks. Each player must place:
     • 1 disk on the "0" position of the score track.
     • 1 disk on the first space of each of the 4 regional transportation tracks.
     • 1 disk on each of the 3 available locations on their project tabs (Housing, Commerce, Industry). Public Infrastructure (magenta) tabs do not start the game with a disk.
     • The remaining 22 disks form the player's personal supply.
7. Designate the first player as the most daring player. That player receives the first-player marker and the Timeline marker.
8. Distribute Action Choice tiles based on the number of players:
   • In a 4-player game, give each player an Action Choice tile.
   • In a 3-player game, only the third player receives an Action Choice tile.
   • There are no Action Choice tiles in a 2-player game.
9. For a 2-player game, set aside 18 disks from an unused player color and shuffle the solo-game action cards. Draw one of these cards and place a disk on the donation chart in the location indicated at the top of the card. Then, place a disk on the leftmost unoccupied construction space of each of the 2-4 cities named on that card's 4th row. Repeat this process until all 18 disks have been placed. Do the same for a 3-player game but with 9 disks instead. For a 4-player game, skip this step.
10. Beginning with the player sitting to the right of the first player and going counter-clockwise, each player will then place the disk from their Housing tab onto the game board, on a Housing space in a medium or major city.
11. Starting with the first player and going in clockwise order, each player may move their employees up to a total of 6 steps on their own Company boards; each movement must be made to an orthogonally (not diagonally) adjacent space. After an employee moves, it must be laid down. Employees may be moved onto empty building spaces on the player board.
12. Once these movements are completed, each player may activate employees.

These setup instructions are compiled from the relevant excerpts provided from the rulebook (Pages 3, 4, and 5).

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