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TO START GAME...

The object of the game is to become the biggest contractor in the valley. The first player to an audited net worth of $1,500,000 wins. The game may also be played for a pre-set amount of time and whoever is ahead when time is called wins. Or the game may be played, stormed-in for days-on-end, with an audit to determine the winner when the weather finally clears.

Each player selects a homebase of operation found in the center area of the game board (Dave's Dozing, Hard Case Construction, etc.). Each player selects a contractor marker that matches the color of the homebase office and shop buildings.

Each player starts the game with $100,000 in cash in the following denominations: 5 x $1,000, 3 x $5,000, 3 x $10,000 and 1 x $50,000. In addition, each player qualifies for a line of credit at the bank of up to $100,000. Players also start with some construction equipment: two backhoes and one dozer. Peel off the appropriate vinyl equipment stamps from the storage cards and press the stamps down until they stick to the game board in your home equipment yard.

$100,000 Cash and a $100,000 Line of Credit

Place contractor markers on YEAR END and get ready to play. Roll the dice to determine who starts play, highest number wins. Contractors roll one die to move through the year. Play proceeds clock-wise around the board, following the year through the construction seasons.

HOW TO PLAY...

The color-banded areas of the gaming track are color-matched to one of the five corresponding machinery types:

The color-banded weeks are the construction seasons for the appropriate equipment types. Each week within those seasons represents a different job. A player may decide whether or not to attempt any job, depending upon market conditions. The operating costs spelled out on the gaming tract, a player's liquidity and/or appetite for adventure all combine in the equation to judge the potential gains from a job, to see if they justify the risks in taking that job.

Doing jobs with one's equipment is the primary way to generate income in this game. To do a job, a player must land in a week in the construction season where he has the appropriate equipment (or purchases the equipment just before rolling for job income). A player may choose to do or not to do any job. If the player refuses the job or doesn't have the proper equipment, the operating expenses on the gaming tract and Contractor's Contingency Cards do not apply.

To determine job income, roll one die then look at the Rate Chart. Match the number rolled with the number of pieces of equipment owned in that category, this number is your gross income. Next, deduct the operating costs shown on the square from your job income (also draw Contractor's Contingency Card, if required), then add or subtract figures on the gaming tract to arrive at the job's net income paid to the player from the bank. To be eligible, equipment must have been purchased before rolling the die to determine job income (you may purchase equipment at the last minute after landing in a construction season, if you have the required cash or credit).
Example: If you own two dozers and have accepted the job on the last week of April, you then roll for your job income and get a 3.

Other methods of making money include buying trucks and renting them to other players, or owning the Sand and Gravel, Concrete Plant, Paving Plant, and/or Landfill and selling necessary services and materials to the other players.

The Bank holds all equipment and property deeds until purchased, accepts payments of operating expenses and pays for construction jobs.

To buy equipment, trucks and/or properties you may use cash, or a combination of cash and credit. To purchase anything using credit, First Friendly Bank always requires a player to have at least 20% of the purchase price in cash on hand, and if sufficient bank credit remains, the bank will loan the balance by issuing Bank Notes. Equipment prices are posted on the Construction Rate Chart. Contractors may sell or trade equipment to one another at whatever price the market will bare. Contractors may purchase equipment at any time during the game, whether it is their turn or not. For the equipment to be used in a job, it must be purchased before rolling for job income.

Bank credit may be used at anytime during the game, up to the established limits. At the start of the game the credit limit is $100,000 per player. After 5 years of operation, that credit limit goes up to $200,000. After 10 years of operation, a player's credit limit goes up to $300,000, the ceiling for the remainder of the game. The bank will not allow credit to be used if poor job income and high expenses exhaust a player's cash on hand leaving bills unpaid. As a penalty for not properly managing cash on hand, your fair-weather banker will not loan money to cover this short fall. In this case, a player must sell some equipment at Big Sky Auction to raise cash to cover this emergency.

Equipment auction rules are as follows: Place a piece of equipment in the auction yard, bidding starts at half the listed value of the piece of machinery. The first contractor to the left of the bankrupt player starts the bidding. If no contractor bids, the bank will buy it back at half price. If the sale of the piece of equipment is sufficient to clear the current cash crunch, play continues. If not, another piece of machinery must be put up for sale until the current bills are paid.

Buying a Truck entitles a player to avoid paying Trucking bills that exist on the gaming tract, but not those in the Contractor's Contingency Cards.

Market indications for the coming season's contracting work are set in the first five weeks of every contractor's year. If a player rolls past those weeks, the market that next year is normal, but if a player is lucky enough to land on one or more of the first five color-banded weeks, for that player, construction gross income for the coming year is doubled for all jobs of that type (color) undertaken. Knowing that a particular construction market will be hot during the coming year can encourage a contractor to make an investment and buy more of that type of equipment. A good method to help remember which markets are doubled for the coming year is turning one stamp of the doubled equipment type at right angles to the rest.

EXAMPLE:

NORMAL YEAR	DOUBLED YEAR

Competitive bidding is required on several jobs throughout the construction season. The contractor who lands on the competitive bid job that can be done with equipment he already owns or buys to do the job, starts the bidding. The opening bid is $1,000, the highest bidder gets the job. If the first contractor is the only player with the proper equipment, he gets the job for the $1,000 opening bid.

Corner squares in the construction season each contain two expenses, the top one applies only to the job, the bottom one to every player who lands there.

Audits to determine a winner are conducted at the end of play. In the audit, real assets (equipment and real estate) are recorded at the same value as their purchase price. That number, added to the cash on hand, subtracting debt equals a player's net worth.

TERMS...

Gross Profit: The profit from doing a job before the expenses are deducted.

Net Profit: The profit from doing a job after the expenses have been deducted (this number may be a negative (-) a loss).

Audit: The final accounting of all the game contractors' net worth.

Net Worth: Real Assets + Cash On Hand - Debt

Year: One circuit around the game board.

MAJOR RULE DIFFERENCES FROM THE FARMING GAME...

A player harvests only once per crop season in THE FARMING GAME - but in THE CONSTRUCTION GAME every week is a new job. A player can attempt every job they land on, if they have the proper equipment.

Example: Rolling a one each turn, moving their contractor down the year, a player would have the opportunity to attempt all/or any of these four jobs -

Competitive bid is unique to THE CONSTRUCTION GAME. Every player in the game who has the proper ' equipment has a chance to bid on the job that one player has landed on.

Buying equipment anytime of year, right up to rolling the die for a job is the order of business in THE CONSTRUCTION GAME. In THE FARMING GAME, all buying is compressed into the winter season with no buying after Spring Planting.

Any player may refuse any job if the returns look too poor to take the risk. Since most of the operating expenses for each job are stated up front (written on the gaming tract) in THE CONSTRUCTION GAME, each contractor has an opportunity to assess the risks before they act. In THE FARMING GAME, the Operating Expense Cards are drawn only after harvesting. Every farmer must harvest every opportunity, but only once per crop season.

Draw Contractors Contingency cards only if you attempt a job in THE CONSTRUCTION GAME. In THE FARMING GAME, draw a Farmers Fate Card every time you land on a square saying so, whether you own that crop or not.

THE CONSTRUCTION GAME TM STORY...