Commodity Speculation

In remote times, King Gradlon had the magnificent city of Ys erected for his daughter Dahut. Gargantuan sea-walls protected the city from the violent waves. Dahut decided to make Ys the most powerful place in Brittany; thus, she dispatched dragons to seize merchant ships loaded with jewels which sailed on the open sea…

Each turn, ships filled with gems land in the city's ports. The players, embodying merchant-princes of Ys, set their team to work, two at a time, in the 4 neighborhoods of the city; deciding which area of each neighborhood to focus on. Controlling the port to claim special black jewels, the commercial area to gain a financial advantage or the palace to influence characters of influence. However it is the player who dominates the neighborhood as a whole who has the first choice of the precious stones carried in the hold of the ship docked there. Don't overlook the gem market as other players may send their brokers to influence the value of the different types of jewels, making your collection less valuable.

Each player has a team of 11 brokers of varying skill levels. These brokers are placed on the players turn, one face up and one face down. Bluff your opponents on where your intentions lie, misdirection is the key to victory.

At the end of the game, the winner is the player who has accumulated the most gold (represented by victory points).

Granada – many artisans, traders and entire families have settled at the foot of the Sierra Nevada because the Palace of Alhambra promises all people work, contracts and above all prosperity.
(From the publisher's blurb.)

Granada is new member of the Alhambra family with a more challenging character: in this standalone game the players develop the city of Granada next to Sierra Nevada, where the famous Alhambra stands, by buying building tiles to construct the city which will earn the most victory points. Building tiles now have two sides and there are new building types for which the value is set during the game.

Link to Trailer http://www.queen-games.de/index.php?id=2537----2

Play Differences from Alhambra
Alhambra advanced. Play is the same: buy a building tile, take money or remodel. If you buy a tile for the exact amount, you can take another action, same as in Alhambra. The differences: new building types, building values are dynamic, two-sided tiles, and moats instead of walls.

There are 9 building types in Granada. Unlike Alhambra, the buildings do not have a set value. Instead, building value is determined by the count of that type of building in all players' cities times a multiplier. As in Alhambra, there are 3 scoring rounds during which each building type is examined and points awarded for the player with the majority of that type of building. In the first scoring round, A, only the player with the most tiles of a particular building type scores for that building type (1 times the total count). In the second scoring round, B, the top 2 players score (2 times the total count and 1 times the total count respectively), and in the final round, the top 3 score (3x, 2x, and 1x the total count of that building type). Scoring for a "Beginners Game" is a little different.

There are no ties in Granada: points are never divided like in Alhambra. In the case of two players having the same number of tiles of a particular type in their cities, the player with the highest valued tile of that type wins, and the other player takes next place. So, in Granada, it pays to buy the more expensive buildings.

For example: When the A round-scoring card is turned up, Cindy has 2 Schools, Diana has 2, Tim has 1, Tina and Bailey each have 0, for a total of 5 Schools currently in cities. Cindy's highest School is a 10, Diana's is a 7. So, in round A, Cindy would score 1 x 5 = 5 points.

When the B round-scoring card is turned up, the count for Schools is: Cindy 2, Diana 3, Tim 1, Tina and Bailey 0 each for a total of 6 Schools. So, Diana scores 2 x 6 = 12 points and Cindy scores 1 x 6 = 6 points.

In the final round, the School count is Cindy 2, Diana 3, Tim 1, Tina 2, Bailey 0 for a total of 8 Schools in cities. Cindy's highest School is a 10, Tina's is a 4. So, Diana scores 3 x 8 = 24 points, Cindy score 2 x 8 = 16 points and Tina score 1 x 8 = 8 points.

Another difference in Granada is that the tiles are two-sided: on one side an even-numbered building of some type, on the other a different, odd-numbered building valued exactly one higher. The configuration of the buildings on both sides is identical in terms of moat placement or lack thereof on each side. When purchasing a building, a player can immediately place the building, as is, into her city or may flip it to the other side and place it in her supply for later placement during a remodel action.

The Building Market is initially filled with tiles even-side up. The next time the market is filled, the odd side will be placed up, then even, then odd, etc. A handy toggle feature is provided on the board near the Building Market to facilitate this.

The last difference between Alhambra and Granada, moats instead of walls, is really just a difference in artwork. As in Alhambra, during each scoring round, each player scores points for her longest continuous moat, instead of wall, surrounding her city. The rules are the same regarding tile placement: must be able to trace an unbroken path back to the city's center, moat can touch moat, etc. In games I've played, players have often commented that it seems to be harder to build with the moat tiles of Granada than with the wall tiles of Alhambra. Just one more way to make Granada an advanced version of Alhambra?

Trying to invest in the future? Read the stock reports, follow the trends, talk to valued advisors. Or chuck the whole thing and play Take Stock !

You are the power players. You can choose to make the prices rise as you purchase stocks in strong companies, or you can choose to crush the dreams of your opponents by freezing their accounts or crashing the market.

Remember, the one with the most at the end wins!

Each player collects stock certificates in five stocks, (Crispyflake Corn Cereal Co., Glittering Gems Ltd., Zeta-Chip Technology Ltd., Arctic Oil Drilling Co., and Movie Madness Distributors), that they hope will have a high price when the market closes. The goal of the game is to accumulate the highest score after four rounds of play.

Contents:

100 Cards
30 Tokens
1 Rulebook

There are 60 "share" cards (numbered 1-12 for each stock) representing a stock value if placed in the market, or representing a certificate of 1, 2 or 3 shares if placed in front of the player. There are 40 "market event" cards which affect the stock market in various ways: 3 stock splits, 1 stock crash and 1 insider trading for each stock; 4 stock audits; 3 stock freezes; 2 no market changes; 1 market upturn; 1 market downturn; 1 stock option gained; 1 stock option lost; 1 market crash; and 1 market closed. There are 30 tokens representing stock options allocated to the players at the beginning of the game.

The stock starter cards (the 1's) are placed in a column in the middle of the table to represent the stock market. The value of each stock is represented by the highest number in each row. During each round, players may choose to increase the value of a particular stock by playing a card from their hand onto the corresponding row on the table.

Players may also choose to place cards from their hand onto the table in front of them, to represent shares acquired for a particular stock.

Market events may also be played to affect the market prices.

At the end of each round, options may be exercised to buy up extra shares, after the market has closed. Each player's score is calculated by multiplying the closing price of each stock with the number of shares held for that stock.

The winner is the player with the highest score at the end of four rounds.

Contents of the Game:

1 playing board, 3 dice, 3 packs of ‘Commodity’ cards (coloured red green and yellow) 1 pack of ‘Command’ cards (coloured blue) various denominations of ‘Credit’ notes, 6 playing pieces, 6 ‘At Risk Zone Cards’, 1 set of Rules.

Cards: There are 4 packs of cards which are placed on the playing board, as indicated by the 4 colour coded cards situated between the ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ circles. The 4 packs of cards are made up as follows:-

Red Commodity Cards – cheapest range from 500 to 1,000 ‘Credits’.

Green Commodity Cards – middle range from 2,000 to 10,000 ‘Credits’.

Yellow Commodity Cards – dearest range from 10,000 to 100,000 ‘Credits’.

Blue Cards – ‘Command’ cards – instructions must be followed.

This game can be played by 2 to 6 players aged 8 and over. There are 3 different levels of the game, each being a little more complex than the last. The first level enables you to get used to the basic idea. The second level introduces more advanced rules and techniques. The third level encourages you to play the game in its purest form, pitting your wits against the other players until a final winner emerges. (You will find a ‘Quick Start Guide’ on the back of the ‘At Risk Zone Card’.)

The idea of the game is to be the most successful Wheeler Dealer™ and depending on which level is played, be the first to have a total wealth of up to 3,000,000 ‘credits’. Players start with 8,250 ‘credits’ and a random hand of 4 red and 4 green ‘Commodity’ cards on level 1. Players accumulate wealth by selectively buying and selling ‘Commodity’ cards one at a time, until a ‘set’ of 3 or more identical cards has been built. Once a ‘set’ has been built it may be sold to the ‘bank’ for 2, 3 or 4 (sometimes more) times the ‘face value’. It is good practice to place the ‘set’ to be sold to the ‘bank’ in the middle of the playing board. ‘Commodity’ cards sold to the ‘bank’ are placed at the bottom of the coloured coded deck.

Players must start on the ‘outer circle’, from any of the blue spaces, in a clockwise direction. Players may only progress to the ‘inner circle’ when they have sufficient total wealth (150,000 ‘Credits’ level 1). As soon as one player reaches the ‘inner circle’ all other players are permitted to enter also, even if they do not have sufficient wealth. Wealth is accumulated faster on the ‘inner circle’, however, there are greater risks. All players must announce that they are going to enter the ‘inner circle’ before the dice are thrown. Before throwing the dice to move around either ‘circle’, players may buy one ‘Commodity’ card from any other player for 3 times the ‘face value’. Other players do not have to sell and only one card may be bought at a time. If buying a card makes a ‘set’ of 3 or more the player may also sell the ‘set’ to the ‘bank’ before throwing the dice to move around the ‘circle’.

Players may at any time during their turn secure loans on other ‘Commodity’ cards in their possession at ½ ‘face value’ which is known as the ‘At Risk Value’. Such cards must be placed on the ‘At Risk Zone Card’, unless they form part of the ‘set’ to be sold immediately to the ‘bank’. ‘At Risk’ cards may be bought by other players, when it is their turn, at 2 times ‘face value’. If asked, the owner of an ‘At Risk’ card must sell it to the other player, repay the bank the ‘At Risk Value’, plus 10% interest. It is good practice to place the ‘At Risk Zone Card’ to your left, thereby keeping your cards and money away from the other players.

Once the above options have been exhausted, the player then rolls the dice (2 ‘outer circle’ 1 ‘inner circle’) and moves his playing piece the number of spaces rolled in a clockwise direction. The player turns over the top card of the colour landed on and may buy the ‘Commodity’ card at ‘face value’. If buying this card makes a ‘set’, you must wait until your next turn before selling the ‘set’ to the ‘bank’. If a player does not have or cannot raise enough money to buy the ‘Commodity’ card or does not want it, the player must pay the ‘bank’ 10% of the ‘face value’ to cover the ‘Handlers Charge’ and the ‘Commodity’ card is placed to the bottom of the colour coded deck. If the player cannot raise enough money to pay the ‘Handlers Charge’ bankruptcy must be declared. When landing on a yellow space (outer circle), players have the option of turning over a yellow ‘Commodity’ card buying it or paying the ‘Handlers Charge’, or turning over a blue ‘Command’ card and following the ‘Commands’.

If a player lands on a blue space ‘outer circle’ a 5,000 ‘Credit’ bonus is paid to the player from the ‘bank’. The player also takes a blue card (‘Command’ card) from the top of the deck and follows the ‘Commands’ exactly. If a player lands on a blue space on the ‘inner circle’ no bonus is paid but a ‘Command’ card must be taken from the top of the blue deck and ‘Commands’ followed exactly.

Welcome to Santiago, the second largest city in Cuba, home of legendary rum and birthplace of the revolution! The chaotic streets hum with the sounds of bustling crowds and busy commerce. Cargo ships constantly arrive and depart from the port. Demand is continuous, if unpredictable, for a supply of local products such as exotic fruits, sugar, rum, tobacco, and cigars.

In Santiago de Cuba, your business card says "broker", but in reality you're a shady wheeler-dealer who arranges deals with the locals and with corruptible officials to move goods and meet the demand of those ever-present cargo ships – and your ability to procure these goods is only as reliable as your "connections".

At the start of the game, nine locals – the Cubans – are randomly arranged on a path around Santiago, with the port being the tenth location on the circuit. Each Cuban has a different ability: e.g., give a player two tobacco, give a player a good of his choice, force opponents to give you something, give money or victory points (VPs), and seize a building or allow a player to use a previously seized building. What are these buildings? At the start of the game, twelve buildings are randomly placed on the game board in four color-coded groups (white, yellow, etc.) of three. As with the Cubans, these buildings give players a special ability when used: convert tobacco to cigars, change VPs to money or vica versa, increase the value of goods delivered to the ship, render a Cuban inactive for the next round, and so on.

Players will deliver goods to seven ships throughout the course of the game. The demand for each ship is determined via a die roll; the active player rolls five dice – one for each type of good – then chooses four of the values rolled to represent demand for goods of the same color as the die.

All players share a car and travel around the island together. On a turn, the active player can move the car to the next location on the path (whether Cuban or port) for free, or pay one peso for each spot moved beyond that. After taking a Cuban action, the player then must move his player piece to a building of the same color as the flower on that Cuban. If he takes an action in a building owned by someone else, that player earns 1 VP. (One Cuban allows a player to use the same building where his piece is currently located.)

If a player moves to port, players take turns delivering all goods of one type to the ship to meet demand, adjusting the demand dice as needed. A player earns 2-4 VP for each good delivered; a player doesn't have to deliver goods. If the ship's demand isn't met after everyone delivers or passes, the VP bounty per good is increased by one and the ship remains in place – unless the value was already at 4 VP, in which case the ship sails. In this case, or when all the demand is met, a new ship comes into port with new demand values.

After seven ships have sailed, the players earn 1 VP for every three goods still on hand, then tally their VPs. The player with the most VPs wins, with ties broken by goods remaining, then money.

Each game poses new tactical challenges for the players, thanks to ever-changing combinations of buildings, Cuban inhabitants and demand for goods.