Nippon: Zaibatsu · Board game rules
How does the Local Market action work?
Quick answer
Spend 1–3 matching goods to place an influence token on a local market space, then gain either the region bonus or 2 goods. [p.14 — Local Markets Action]
Details
To serve a local market, choose an appropriate influence space in any local market of one region, then spend 1–3 goods of the type shown on the adjacent demand tile. Place your available influence token with an appropriate value on that space, and gain either the respective region bonus (2 coal/silk/iron/3 goods depending on the region) or 2 goods of your choice. [p.14 — Local Markets Action]
The influence token value you use depends on how many goods you spend: for 1-level goods (cotton/paper), use a token with value 1/2/3 for spending 1/2/3 goods respectively; for 2-level goods (bento/lenses), use 3/4/5; for 3-level goods (clocks/bulbs), use 5/6/7. [p.14 — Additional Rules and Clarifications]
You can only place your token on an empty space, or replace an opponent's token (or your own) if your token's value is strictly higher. You cannot place a token equal to or lower than one already there. You may perform up to 3 activations of this action in one region, and you can replace your own tokens even within the same action to gain more region bonuses. [p.14 — Additional Rules and Clarifications]
Watch out: In a 2 or 3-player game, there's a limit of 2 or 3 available influence spaces per local market. Once full, you can still replace tokens with higher-valued ones, but if you place a token on a 3rd/4th space, you must immediately return the lowest-valued token in that market to its owner. [p.14 — Additional Rules and Clarifications]