Nucleum - Summary Rules

In Nucleum, players take on the role of industrialists in 19th-century Saxony during a technological boom fueled by the invention of the Nucleum (a nuclear reactor). The goal is to earn the most Victory Points (VP) by building and powering Urban Buildings, securing Contracts, and meeting Milestones.

Gameplay and Turn Structure

Gameplay is continuous; players take turns one after another with no fixed rounds or phases. On your turn, you must choose one of the following three options:

A. Play an Action Tile to the Player Board

• Place an Action tile from your pool onto the leftmost free slot at the top of your board.
• Resolve one or both actions shown on the tile in any order.
• Bonus: You may fulfill exactly one Contract (either from your board or a purple one) before, between, or after these actions.

B. Play an Action Tile as a Railway

• Place a tile onto an empty railway space on the map and place one of your Workers on it.
• Color Matching: If the colors on the tile edges match the adjacent city or another tile (Domino-style), you resolve the corresponding actions. Other players may also resolve actions if they have matching adjacent tiles.
• Completed rail lines allow the transport of Coal, Uranium, and electricity.

C. Recharge

This option is used to reset and gain resources:

1. Income: Receive Thalers, Workers, and VP based on your income track markers.
2. Place Milestone Marker: Based on your current Achievement tokens, place a marker on the Milestone track to secure end-game multipliers.
3. Nucleum Placement: If you place a marker in a segment containing a Nucleum token, place it into a power plant on the map for a bonus.
4. Retrieve Tiles: Take back all Action tiles from the top of your player board into your pool.
5. King’s Day Scoring: Triggered if a Milestone space on the side board is emptied.

The Main Actions

• Urbanize (Build): Place an Urban Building from your board into a city within your network, paying the cost in Thalers.
• Industrialize (Mines & Turbines): Place a Mine (produces Uranium) or a Turbine (unlocks abilities) into your network, paying the cost in Workers. Building a Turbine-Mine pair grants a specific bonus.
• Develop: Purchase 1 or 2 new Action tiles from the market to add to your pool.
• Contract: Take a Silver or Gold Contract from the market and place it on your board to receive an immediate reward.
• Energize: Activate a power plant to power a connected building. This requires Coal (imported via rails) or Uranium (requires a Nucleum in the plant).

Focus: Powering Praha

• Double Scoring: VP for energized buildings in Praha are doubled during final scoring.
• Government Buildings: Level-IV buildings in Praha score based on the number of specific building types (like Factories) connected via completed rail lines owned by the player.

The Four Experiments (Differences)

Each player board features unique technologies and turbine effects:

• Experiment A: Focused on Industry and Uranium; provides discounts for Urbanization and extra Uranium when building.
• Experiment B: Focused on Contracts and Milestones; allows Industrialization anywhere (ignoring networks) and uses Special Action tiles.
• Experiment C: Focused on Energy Efficiency; uses "virtual" Turbines and more efficient Uranium processing (3 electricity instead of 2).
• Experiment D: Focused on Railways; gains Achievement tokens when taking Contracts and benefits from building rail lines.

Technology Levels

Technologies are unlocked via Contracts or Milestones.

• Level 1 & 2: Provide permanent passive bonuses or immediate one-time actions (e.g., discounts).
• Level 3: Powerful game-changing abilities, such as ignoring network requirements or extra Uranium capacity in plants.
• Level 8 (Ultimate Goal): A specific end-game scoring condition unique to each Experiment.

Game End and Final Scoring

The end is triggered when two (three in a 2-player game) of these five conditions are met:

1. The Action tile draw pile is empty.
2. All three Milestone spaces of a player are empty.
3. A player has unlocked all 8 Technologies.
4. A player reaches 70 VP.
5. The last Contract tile is drawn.

Final Scoring:

• Milestones: VP for markers on the track based on the multiplier of their tier and the specific Milestone tile condition. Markers on "0" cost 3 VP.
• Buildings: VP shown on the back of all energized buildings (doubled in Praha).
• Income Tracks: 3, 6, or 10 VP if markers reached the final spaces of each track.
• 8th Technology: Score the individual ultimate goal.

Green Cities:

1. Brüx
2. Görlitz
3. Marienburg
4. Riesa

Orange Cities:

1. Chemnitz
2. Dresden
3. Freiberg
4. Joachimsthal

White Cities:

1. Aussig
2. Glashütte
3. Leipzig
4. Plauen

Endgame is triggered when two (three in a 2-player game) of the following five conditions are met:

1. The Action tile draw piles are empty.
2. Both the Silver and Gold Contract draw stacks are empty.
3. All players have recharged at least 3 times (the Milestone spaces have no Milestone markers on them)
4. At least one player has unlocked all of their 8 Technologies.
5. At least one player has reached 70 VP