IRONMASTERS OF YORKSHIRE is an economic, strategic resource management game set during the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century in the county of Yorkshire (West Riding). Inventions and improvements in manufacturing processes, advantageous geology and geography, and well-established local practices and traditions determined the progress of industrial change. During this period, the British Empire became the first global industrial power, producing much of the world's coal, iron, steel and textiles. The industrial revolution consisted of technological, scientific and industrial innovations (e.g., mass production, steam engines, railroads, sewing machines, gas and electric light, the telegraph) that led to a tremendous expansion of production, particularly through the factory system.
In the game of IRONMASTERS OF YORKSHIRE players take on the role of the eminent Yorkshire's ironmasters in the times of the industrial revolution. The goal of the game is to score the most Industrial Points (IPs) at the end of the game. Players will use their own mines and explosives in order to extract resources such as coal, iron ore, minerals and gold. All these measures will be taken with a view to producing the steel using their own Bessemer converter. During the game each player can score immediate in-game Industrial Points by developing, extracting resources, producing steel, establishing various companies and constructing railways, docks and bridges. At the end of the game, Industrial Points for the investments, established companies, architect and bridge tiles along with the end-of-game bonuses for the industrial majority in the Yorkshire's towns (Sheffield, Doncaster, Leeds, Bradford and York), will be added to the points players scored over the course of the game. The game is played over a maximum of seven rounds, each divided into nine phases.
During each round players go through following 9 phases:
1. First player - a First Player tile is passed clockwise.
2. Event card - an Event card is revealed.
3. Dividend and Trading House - the players may generate the resources depending on their progress in the game.
4. Seaport of Hull - new resources are placed on Game Board.
5. Action cards - this phase is divided into two turns, in each turn you preform action(s) playing two (out of four) Action cards from the hand. At the end of your turn you replace the two cards you played with two more from the three available face-up Action cards placed next to the Game Board.
6. Consumption - players with already established companies must consume resources from the Game Board and/or personal supplies. Players may lose Industrial Points, if they are not able to consume required resources.
7. Capacity - players select the resources from their personal supplies they wish to move to the next round. It always vary and depends on the player's personal capacity (storage). If the capacity is exceeded, it may be also penalized.
8. Yorkshire in Motion - (clean up phase)
a) all remaining resources on the railways and docks on the Game Board are moved to the another city.
b) all City Markets filled with the invested resources are scored.
c) all remaining resources in Seaport of Hull are placed in the general supply.
d) a Deed Market with the Company Deed cards along with the Construction Cards is refreshed.
9. End of the round/game - The end of the game is triggered:
a) when the 7th Event card has been revealed.
b) when any player during the round places their last Industry tile from the Player's Board on the Game Board.
c) when there are no more Company Deed cards available to purchase.
On their turn (Action cards phase) players may perform following actions:
Development - Pay required resources and develop up to two sections of the Player Board.
Mining - Use the explosives from the personal supply to extract the resources.
Smelting - Use the resources from the personal supply to produce steel.
Investment - Invest in one of the five City Markets.
Establish - Establish a company using previously purchased Company Deed card.
Construct - Construct a Railroad, a Dock or a Bridge.
Collect - Collect a resource printed on the Action card.
On their turn, players may also perform (in any order) following free actions without playing an Action card:
Purchase - Pay 3 gold and take one face-up Company Deed card from the Deed Market on the Main Board.
Loan - Take 5 gold from the general supply.
Recruit - Pay 1 Gold and discard one Action card from the hand, then EITHER draw one Action card from among the three available face-up Action cards OR draw two Action cards from the top of the Action cards deck, choose one Action card to keep and place remaining Action card on the bottom of the Action cards deck.
During the course of the game the players may enhance their main actions: Development, Mining, Smelting, Investment, Establish, Construct and Collect using the special abilities from: Engineer, Miner, Smelter, Ironmaster, Investor, Mayor, Watchman, Architect and Docker.Players may also perform the action using only a text from the Action cards: Financier, Powderman and Thief .