Overview

Cities: Skylines – The Board Game is a cooperative city-building game where players work together to build a thriving city. Players complete milestones that represent periods of construction, managing resources like money, happiness, utilities, and employment. The quality of cooperative efforts is reflected in the happiness of residents. The game is played through scenarios of increasing complexity, with Scenario 4 containing all rules and elements.

Components

• 6 game board pieces (back sides A-F)
• 24 residential zones, 12 commercial zones, 12 industrial zones
• 9 utility buildings, 18 service buildings, 10 unique buildings
• 1 starting player token (“Chirper”)
• 30 money tokens (4x 5-unit, 26x 1-unit)
• 1 administration board
• 75 construction cards (25 each for Stages I, II, III)
• 8 administration markers
• 2 happiness indicators
• 1 “End of a Milestone” overview card
• 4 turn overview cards
• 1 skyline (overall happiness display)
• 10 unique building cards, 10 role cards, 10 policies cards, 10 news cards

Setup

1. Assemble game board pieces in the center of the table (varies by scenario).
2. Place the administration board face up next to game boards; place 8 markers on “0” spaces.
3. Deposit starting capital of 12 money tokens in the city treasury.
4. Sort all zone and building tiles by color and type.
5. Shuffle Stage I construction cards and deal based on player count: 4 players = 3 cards each, 3 players = 4 each, 2 players = 5 each, 1 player = 7 cards. Remaining cards form draw piles by stage.
6. Place the happiness display (Skyline) next to the administration board with indicators on “0.”
7. Youngest player gets the starting player token.

Turn Structure

Start of a Milestone

Together, decide which board game piece to start. Pay its development cost, then flip it face up (rotate around its longitudinal axis to maintain water positions).

Player Actions (clockwise from starting player)

On their turn, the active player performs one of three actions:

1. Play a Construction Card - Build a zone or building tile on the game board
2. Exchange a Construction Card - Swap a card
3. End a Milestone - Trigger milestone ending (requires at least one tile in each city district)

End of a Milestone

• Check utility capacities: for each step below “0” (red range), Happiness drops by 1
• Pay 1 money for each step away from “0” on the employment bar (both above and below)
• Transfer current Happiness value to the overall Happiness display (Skyline)
• Deal new construction cards for the next stage

Actions

Play a Construction Card

• Service/Utility Buildings: Pay the money cost indicated on the card. Place the specific tile shown.
• Zone Cards (Residential/Commercial/Industrial): Free to build. Choose any tile from the matching category. Apply effects shown on the card (utility consumption, employment changes, etc.).
• Tiles must fit the grid, cannot overlap edges, streets, other tiles, or water.
• Only one utility building per city district.
• Stage I adjacency: New zone must be directly adjacent (not diagonal) to the required service building.
• Stage II/III adjacency: New zone just needs to be in the same city district as the required service building.
• Benefits only apply if the service building is already on the board (not retroactive).

Exchange a Construction Card

Swap one of your cards with a new one from the current stage’s draw pile.

End a Milestone

Can only be called when every city district has at least one building or zone tile.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Winning: Complete all milestones without running out of money. Losing: If the city treasury runs out of money, all players lose.

Final Scoring:

• At game end, reduce overall Happiness for each step above “0” on pollution, traffic, and crime bars.
• Consult the success table to determine your final result based on overall Happiness.
• Higher happiness = better result. Players win or lose together.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Administration Board Utilities (Power, Water, Garbage): Each step in the red range (below 0) reduces Happiness by 1 at milestone end.
• Employment Bar: “0” = full employment. Above 0 = job shortage; below 0 = labor shortage. Pay 1 money per step away from 0 at milestone end.
• Pollution, Traffic, Crime: These negative values accumulate during the game. At game end, each point above 0 reduces overall Happiness.
• Tiles, once placed, cannot be moved for the rest of the game.
• Players may plan and consult freely; the active player makes final decisions on disputes.

Player Reference

Player Count	Cards Dealt (Stage I)
4 players	3 cards each
3 players	4 cards each
2 players	5 cards each
1 player	7 cards

Administration Track	Effect
Power/Water/Garbage below 0	-1 Happiness per step at milestone end
Employment away from 0	Pay 1 money per step at milestone end
Pollution/Traffic/Crime above 0	-1 overall Happiness per step at game end