Tiny Towns

To set up, sort the building cards into piles based on their backs, setting purple monument cards aside. Shuffle each non-purple pile individually and flip over one card from each to form a row of available buildings; return remaining cards to the box. Place all resource cubes (wood, wheat, brick, glass, stone) in a general supply. Sort the various building pieces into piles by their corresponding cards, matching shape and color. Deal one monument piece to each player and two monument cards, from which each player secretly selects one to keep, returning the other to the box. Each player receives a town board, and the player who last constructed something in real life (or a randomly chosen player) receives the first player token.

In Tiny Towns, players aim to build the most prosperous town by collecting various resources and strategically placing them on their personal town boards. These resources are arranged in specific patterns to construct different types of buildings, which in turn provide victory points and unique abilities. The challenge lies in managing limited space and carefully planning each construction to maximize points and minimize penalties for empty spaces.

Each round consists of four steps. First, the player with the Master Builder token names any one type of resource (wood, wheat, brick, glass, or stone). Second, all players must take a cube of that named resource and place it into any empty square on their town grid. Once placed, a resource cube cannot be moved. Third, all players may construct any buildings they are eligible to build by matching resource patterns on their board to the patterns shown on the building cards. When constructing, players remove the used resource cubes from their board and place the corresponding building piece onto one of the squares where a resource was removed. Players can build multiple buildings in a single turn, but a single resource cube cannot be used for more than one building. Fourth, the Master Builder token is passed clockwise to the next player, and a new round begins.

At the end of the game, players calculate their final scores. Many buildings provide victory points based on specific conditions, such as the number of other buildings of a certain type, adjacency to other buildings, or whether they have been 'fed' by a farm. Each player's secret monument card also provides unique scoring conditions. Points are deducted for any empty spaces remaining on a player's town grid. The player with the highest total score wins. In case of a tie, the tied player who had the fewest turns as the Master Builder wins. If still tied, the player with the fewest empty spaces wins. If there's still a tie, the player with the most cottages wins. If a tie persists, tied players share the victory.

The game ends immediately when any player's town board is completely filled with resources and buildings, or when a player cannot or chooses not to make any legal moves (i.e., they cannot place a resource or construct a building). Once a player is out of the game, they begin calculating their final score. The remaining players continue playing until only one player is left, or until all players are out of the game. The last remaining player continues to name resources as the sole Master Builder until they also cannot make any legal moves or choose to stop. All players then proceed to final scoring.