Rules

Object of the Game & Winning Conditions

The Object of the Game is to have fun.  

Winning conditions vary from game to game, depending on the roles distributed.  Each player's role card has a community objective (on the top) and a personal objective (on the bottom).  The objectives award victory points for completing various tasks.  At the end of the game, players will reveal their mission cards.  

Players tally their victory points from the personal objective on their role card, the community objectives on other players' role cards, and any victory points on placards that they control.  The greatest score wins.

Game Start

Establish the play area, including different locations for each city placard and the "bank".   Place corporation placards next to their affiliated cities.  The bank includes all resource tokens, annexed city placards, and corporations in cities to be annexed.  Place corporation HQ cards by the city placard.  

Shuffle the role deck.  Deal each player one role card - which includes their scoring objectives for this session.

Players select their initial starting position, including either a city leader or a corporate leader.  City leaders select a played city of their choice and are the mayor of that city for the rest of the game.  Corporate players receive nine shares of stock for their corporation.   Shuffle all remaining stock cards into a single deck.

All players start with 5 Florin, three basic resources, and one intermediate resource.

Players report to their home city for the first production phase.

Game Flow

Oligopoly shifts between two main phases: the production phase and the action phase.  During the production phase, players report to a city play area where they can produce on all tableaus they control in that area.  During the action phase, players interact with each other and may move to or from any play area.

Night

All players report to a city for the ngight.

Production

Players may use any cards that they control with black arrows and a city name matching their current location. 

To produce, players must have what is on the left side of an arrow to acquire what is on the right side of an arrow.  If there is nothing to the left of the arrow, then the player may collect the items on the right side of the arrow.  If an ambient effect is to the left of the arrow, then the player may collect the items on the right side of the arrow for each matching ambient effect in their current location.

Day

During the day players may exchange any resources with each other.  

Production

Players may use any cards that they control with white arrows.  To produce, players must have what is on the left side of an arrow to acquire what is on the right side of an arrow.  

Buying Corporation Cards

Players may buy cards for their tableaus from the bank.  The cost of each card varies and can be found in the upper lefthand corner of the card.

If a cost includes an ambient effect, then a player must discard cards with matching ambient effects.

Annexing a City

Most corporation cards have a location and a point total at the bottom of the card.  Players may buy a city card by discarding a combination of cards that equal five or greater points for a given location.   These cards go back into the discard to be revealed in the market next turn.

In the unlikely event that another player controls a city card that is annexed, they must transfer the city card to the new player.  If a player loses a city card from their hand, then see a referee for compensation.

Taking over a Country

In some versions of Oligopoly, country cards are available to be purchased.  Most location cards have a country and a point total at the bottom of the card.  Players may take over a country by discarding a combination of cards that equal five or greater points for a given country.  This player immediate takes 

In the unlikely event that another player controls, they must transfer all available government cards to the new player.  This new player will have the chance to take all minister cards during the next night phase.  If a player loses a country's chief executive card from their hand, then see a referee for compensation.

End of Game

After seven rounds of play, immediately jump to end game scoring.

All players reveal their missions one-at-a-time, including the group goals.  Players total their victory points on their tableau, their personal mission card, and all other players' group missions.  The greatest score wins.