RIALTO



OBJECTIVE OF RIALTO: The objective of Rialto is to be the player with the most points at the end of six rounds of gameplay. 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players 

MATERIALS: 1 Gameboard, 2 Bonus Tiles, 6 Round Tiles, 30 Gold Coins, 6 Gondola Tiles, 6 Bridge Tiles, 60 Building Riles, 1 District Token, 2 Counters of Each Color, 18 Councilmen of Each Color, 77 Cards, 5 Player Boards, and Instructions 

TYPE OF GAME: Area Control Board Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 10 and Up 


OVERVIEW OF RIALTO 

Rialto is based in Venice, where the players build bridges and gondolas. The players will deploy their councilmen to various districts in order to gain more power and influence. The value of a district increases as it connects with more districts. The player with the most power wins the game! 

SETUP 

To begin setup, place the gameboard in the center of the playing area. Place the six round tiles randomly throughout the six districts and put the gondola tiles on the gondola space. The bridge tiles should then be shuffled and placed face up in a stack beside the board. The bonus tiles are placed on the bonus spaces found on the sides of the Grand Canal.  

The building tiles are then sorted by color and value and placed on the various building spaces. The gold coins are placed on their assigned space on the board. All of the cards are shuffled and placed face down beside the board. The first player is randomly chosen.  

Each player will then take one board and the counters that are matching in color. The player on the starting player’s right side will be the first to put their counter on the space of the Doge track, and then each player will do the same in a counterclockwise order. The players will then place their other counter on the third space of the Victory point track.  

All players will place five of their councilmen on their boards, and the rest of them are placed on the gameboard. Starting with the first player, each player will take their coins. Starting to the player found on the right side of the first player will take a building that has a value of one. The game is then ready to begin. 

GAMEPLAY 

The game is played over the course of six rounds, with each having three phases. Throughout each phase, the buildings’ abilities are activated. During phase one, green buildings are activated, during phase two, the yellow buildings are activated, and during phase three, the blue buildings are activated.  

During phase one, the player will move the district token is moved to the district of the current round. Cards are then laid out beside the board, consisting of six face up cards. When the draw pile becomes exhausted, the discard pile may be shuffled and used. Each player will then take one card row, 2 cards from the draw pile, and any cards that remain from the previous round. The player must then discard enough cards so that they have only seven cards in their hand.  

In phase two, the players will complete six phases within the phase. The players begin with the player that is furthest on the doge track, then the first player becomes the player who earns the bonus from the previous phase. Each player will then be allowed to play any number of cards that match their current stage. They are then able to complete their actions, depending on the number of cards they played.  

Finally, in phase three, only blue buildings are able to be activated. They are activated when a player puts a coin on them. When this round completes, the next round will begin. Gameplay continues in this manner until six rounds of gameplay has been completed.  

END OF GAME 

The game comes to an end at the end of the sixth round of gameplay. Each player will then tally their points for leftovers in their supply, their buildings, and their districts. Once the players have tallied all of their points, they will compare. The player with the most points, wins the game! 

Ellie Phillips
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