Designer: Robert Couch
Artist: Agnieszka Dabrowiecka
Saloon Tycoon
Prospectors are flockin' out here to try to make they's riches, hopin' to strike gold. But us, we got a better idea don't we? That's right! Regardless of who finds the gold, everyone is gonna need a place to stay, play, and drink. So let's build the best gald darn Saloon that's ever been built!
Players are Saloon owners in an old west gold rush town.
They've purchased lots on the four corners of the main crossroads and need to expand their small establishments into thriving businesses. Their goal is to create massive centers for commerce and entertainment in the wilds of the West. To boost their success, they’ll need to attract the wealthy and famous citizens of the town while keeping away the less savory characters.
This is a building and tile placement game where the purpose of the game is to build the best saloon. The game is played by each player taking a board and then taking turns going clockwise from the first player earning gold, taking an action, building and collecting bonuses.
The player with the most reputation points at the end of the game wins!
Build Your Own Way
Not only can you place tiles side by side, but you can also place them on TOP of each other!
Simple enough for casual gamers, but deep enough for experienced gamers... come on and let's get buildin'!
Each turn you have the opportunity to buy supply cubes to place on your tiles. Once you have fully supplied a tile it is considered to be complete and you get that tile's bonus! Even though you normally only get one action, through card play and tile bonuses, you could accomplish an awful lot in one turn.
Gameplay
Each player will have some secret objectives, called Secret Claims, they are trying to accomplish. There are also common objectives available to everyone, called Open Claims. These objectives will require completing certain tiles and/or attracting certain characters to your Saloon.
Characters you say? That's right! There are some influential Citizens in town as well as some unsavory Outlaws. Build and complete special tiles to attract the Citizens for additional points, but beware the Outlaws... they can make your life as a Saloon owner more difficult.
2nd Edition Features
Updated Score Track
The score track board is larger and a bit more user friendly with spaces earlier in the game having more room as tied scores are more likely earlier in the game.
25% more cubes
That means bigger Saloons and more time to implement your strategy!
Balance Changes
You can score Secret Claims DURING the game.
In first edition, you could only score Secret Claims at the end of the game. This could sometimes be frustrating if certain characters were needed by more than one player. Some claim cards have been changed or modified to account for this change.
Fewer “take that” cards and mechanisms
Some Tycoon cards have been replaced so there is not as much “messing with opponents” like stealing their gold, etc.
Sidney Smythe’s Outlaw trigger is changed.
He now goes to the first one to stake a claim.
Is there an upgrade pack for 1st edition? Can I play with the new rules?
We are not offering an upgrade pack at this time. While we understand that will be frustrating for some of you, it was not practically or economically conducive to do so. Whether you decide to purchase the 2nd edition is entirely up to you, but the 1st edition is already a great game as it is.
You can play with the new rules, but just be aware that there may potentially be some balance issues with point rewards for some of the claims.
Expansions - will they work with 2nd edition?
We have not evaluated this yet, but we think that most expansions can be implemented with the 2nd edition. We do plan to reevaluate and likely reintroduce the expansions in a 2nd edition format making any necessary changes. More information will be shared as this develops
