How to play BoomTown

🎮 Game Overview

BoomTown is a strategic building and economic game where players expand settlements from frontier towns to thriving cities. You'll manage resources, build structures, and outmaneuver opponents to achieve the highest score.

🎲 The Turn Sequence

Each turn follows a simple sequence:

• Roll the dice (1-2 dice depending on jail status)
• Activate buildings that match your roll
• Build new structures (purchase from market or development cards)
• End your turn

Rolling doubles grants a re-roll. Three doubles in one turn sends you to jail (you'll skip your next turn but can't be penalized again that turn).

🏢 Buildings & Activation

Buildings activate when you roll their numbers on the dice. They generate coins and special effects:

• Frontier buildings are cheap but have lower payouts
• City buildings are expensive but pay more
• Development cards provide unique one-time or recurring effects
• Each building has a color and ownership limit (typically 1-3 per player)

Upgrade your buildings by purchasing better versions—you can replace a frontier building with a city building of the same type.

💰 Resource Management

You start with a small amount of coins and earn more by activating buildings. Use coins to:

• Purchase buildings from the market (displayed at top of board)
• Buy development cards for special abilities
• Contribute to disaster mitigation

Always maintain enough liquid coins to pay debts. If you can't pay, you must sell buildings to raise funds.

🏗️ The Market

The market displays 4 buildings available for purchase. Every time someone builds (or certain events trigger), the market refreshes:

• New cards enter from the top
• Cards exit the bottom (discarded)
• Building color and ownership limits prevent monopolies
• You can purchase any building in the market during your Build phase

📊 Development Cards

Development cards provide unique abilities and can only be purchased once per player:

• Some grant permanent benefits (discounts, extra rolls, etc.)
• Others are activated cards you use strategically
• Investment cards let you stake coins on future events
• Jail card helps you escape jail early

Development cards stack with buildings—you can own one of each.

⚡ Unions & Sets

Building certain combinations grants bonus coins:

• Purchase all 3 buildings in a union (Resources, Law & Order, etc.) to earn bonus coins immediately
• Completing the 1-12 set (having buildings with activation numbers 1-12) grants significant end-game points
• Unions are visible on your player board and track progress automatically

🌍 Urbanization Phases

The game progresses through 4 urbanization phases, each with different rules:

• Phase 1 (Frontier): Only frontier buildings available
• Phase 2-3 (Growth): City buildings enter the market
• Phase 4 (Metropolis): Expensive buildings and special rules apply

Urbanization advances automatically—watch the urbanization tracker on the right side.

🔥 Events & Disasters

Events activate on the event track and affect all players:

• Standard events: Market refreshes, special coins distributed, buildings scrapped
• Natural disaster events: Players collectively contribute coins to prevent negative outcomes
• If disaster mitigation fails, specific effects trigger (coin loss, building removal, etc.)

You can contribute coins to disaster pools to reduce damage to yourself and allies.

🚫 Jail & Consequences

Rolling three doubles in one turn sends you to jail:

• You skip your next turn (can't roll, activate, or build)
• You can't be penalized by other effects that same turn
• Get out early by paying 1 coin or rolling doubles
• Jail prevents other negative turn-based penalties

Position yourself strategically—sometimes going to jail is advantageous!

🏆 Winning & Scoring

The game ends when the event track completes or final turns trigger. Your score is calculated from:

• Building value (each building is worth points)
• Completed 1-12 sets (major bonus)
• Union bonuses (points for each union)
• Development card points
• Leftover coins (1 coin = 1 point)

Highest score wins! Ties are broken by coins.

🎯 Strategy Tips

• Balance building up quickly vs. buying development cards
• Watch opponents' progress—target their weak areas
• Invest in combos early for steady income
• Keep liquid coins for unexpected events
• Save development cards for critical moments
• Diversify your buildings across different activation numbers
• Pay attention to the event track—plan ahead
• Don't ignore disaster mitigation—prevent major losses
• Late game shifts to set completion—focus on the 1-12 spread
• Use the character select phase to choose powers matching your playstyle

⌨️ Game Controls

• Click buildings to purchase them from the market
• Click your buildings to activate special abilities
• Click development cards to activate effects
• Use the Undo button to reverse recent actions (limited uses)
• Chat window appears during multiplayer games
• Hand display toggles between full, medium, and hidden modes
• Settings menu adjusts volume, notifications, and visual preferences

💡 Quick Tips

• Your first game is with AI—use it to learn the flow
• Pay attention to the urbanization phase tracker on the right
• Don't overlook the event track—it determines when the game ends
• Development cards are powerful—balance building with card purchases
• Watch what numbers your opponents have built to predict their rolls
• Adjust your hand display mode if you're on mobile or prefer privacy