THEME: By the summer of 1849, the California Gold Rush was in full swing. In this fast-moving game, you and your fellow players own competing General Stores in a boomtown where new gold was just discovered. You must battle it out selling specific supplies to the gold prospectors flooding into town. But first you must either buy the goods from local suppliers or trade with a devious gang of vigilantes when supplies become too scarce. And of course, you must move quickly to make your fortune; because in just 6 months, the gold will run out in this town and the prospectors will move on to another!
GAME PLAY: The game is played over 6 Rounds – one for each month from July through December. Each Round has 2 Phases: Production Phase and Buy/Sell/Trade Phase.
During the Production Phase, each of the 8 Suppliers produce Goods (or has Goods stolen by the Vigilantes!). Production is random based on the Production Cards that are chosen each round, so some goods may quickly become scarce!
During the Buy/Sell/Trade Phase, players either buy Goods from the Suppliers, sell the Goods needed by a Prospector to make a sale and claim the Prospector Card, or trade Goods with the Vigilantes.
Some claimed Prospector Cards include a Contract Goods bonus which can be used to make future sales – making this an “engine-building” game!
Play continues for 6 rounds (representing 6 months) with special rules at the end of September when the Vigilantes flee and drop their stolen goods for players to grab, and during the final month of December when the gold has run out and prospectors are stocking up quickly to move on to the next boomtown.
GOAL OF THE GAME: Win the game by collecting the most Provision Points from completed sales to the Prospectors, as well as Bonus Points from individual Bonus objectives achieved at the end of the game.
-description from designer