CALAMITYVILLE

OBJECTIVE OF CALAMITYVILLE: The objective of Calamityville is to be the player with the most money when there is no more gold available.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players

MATERIALS: 1 Game Board, 4 Markers, 13 Properties, 13 Bases, Money, 1 Wild Donkey, 5 Golden Nuggets, 13 Deed Cards, 19 Newspaper Cards, 1 Die, 1 Newspaper Die, and a Rulebook

TYPE OF GAME: Strategy Board Game

AUDIENCE: Ages 8 and Up

OVERVIEW OF CALAMITYVILLE

Calamityville is set in the time of the goldrush. Players build the town, allowing to thrive with the income of gold. It immediately goes broke when the goldrush finally busts. Players may get buildings destroyed by the angry donkey that inhabits the middle of the game board, but that only happens when a “Donkey Goes Wild” card is played! Save your money, protect your buildings, and collect the gold! 

SETUP

The game board is placed in the center of the playing area. The newspaper cards are then shuffled and placed on the board in their assigned space. All players will choose a marker that represents them throughout the course of the game. Everyone will place theirs on the train station. The players will assign one player with the roll of the banker. 

Every player will begin the game with two thousand dollars. Shuffle the gold nuggets and place them in the river, face down. The wild donkey is placed in the middle of the corral on the game board. The game is then ready to begin!

GAMEPLAY

Every player begins at the train station, and play rotates clockwise around the group. On their turn, the player will roll the dice. If there is a newspaper rolled, then the player will draw the top newspaper card, reading it aloud and following the instructions, and then moving their piece the spaces equal to the number of their die. If there is no newspaper, then they will just move their piece. The newspaper is discarded after it has been read. 

The players may buy property if they land on an empty space on the board. Every property cost 200 dollars. Players will pay the money to the bank, where they will also receive the deed. Anytime a player lands on a space that is owned, they must pay rent. Players may choose to place many different things on vacant spaces, each with their own benefits. 

If the newspaper card says that the “Donkey Goes Wild”, then the donkey is aimed at any property that isn’t mines. The donkey must stay inside the corral and can only knock down one building at a time. If players run out of money, they are simply removed from the game. All of their properties are returned to the bank. Gameplay continues in this manner until the town runs out of gold. 

END OF GAME

 When the newspaper card that states that the gold has run out is drawn, the game comes to an end. The properties are then considered worthless, and the town becomes a ghost town just as quickly as it was built. The players will count their money, and the player with the most, wins the game! 

Nakoa Davis
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