Overview

Cuba is a strategic economic and political game set in pre-revolutionary Cuba. Players manage villages, cultivating plantations, producing goods, trading on the market and shipping from the harbor, erecting buildings, and influencing parliament. Over 6 rounds, players earn victory points through shipping merchandise, constructing and using buildings, and abiding by enacted laws. The player with the most victory points wins.

Components

• 1 gameboard with market, harbor, parliament, and victory point track
• 5 plantation boards (double-sided, one identical side and one unique side)
• 25 character cards (5 per player color: Worker, Tradeswoman, Architect, Foreman, Mayor)
• 15 ship cards
• 1 starting player card with stand
• 24 statute cards (4 types x 6 acts each: Tax, Duty, Subsidy, Other)
• 25 building tiles
• 1 voting tile (town hall), 1 veto tile (church)
• 5 playing pieces and 5 playing markers in player colors
• 54 product pieces: 18 each of citrus fruit (orange), sugar cane (white), tobacco (green)
• 30 goods pieces: 15 rum bottles (red), 15 cigar boxes (brown)
• 45 resource pieces: 15 each of stone (red-brown), wood (natural), water (blue)
• 60 coins (1, 3, and 5 pesos)
• 6 black marking pieces

Setup

1. Place the gameboard centrally. Place 25 building tiles on appropriate spaces.
2. Sort products and goods by color as general stock. Place 3 each of citrus, sugar, tobacco on market spaces (prices 6, 5, 4). Place 2 each of rum and cigars on market spaces (prices 6, 5).
3. Sort resources by color as general stock.
4. Shuffle 15 ship cards; place face down. Lay 2 top cards face up on first 2 harbor docks. Place 1 more face up near the harbor (approaching ship).
5. Form 4 statute card piles (I-IV, 6 cards each), shuffled, face down on the board.
6. Each player chooses a color and receives: playing piece, playing marker, plantation board, 10 pesos, 2 resource pieces and 2 product pieces of choice, and 5 character cards.
7. Place playing markers on the lighthouse (start of VP track). Place playing pieces in the warehouse on plantation boards.

Turn Structure

The game lasts 6 rounds, each with 5 phases:

1. A. Bills – Turn over the top card of each of the 4 statute piles. These are proposals (bills) visible to all.
2. B. Action Phase – Starting with the starting player, each player plays 1 character card and executes its action. Continue until each player has played 4 cards (the 5th card is kept for Parliament).
3. C. Parliament Phase – Players vote on which bills become law.
4. D. Statute Phase – Enacted statutes take effect.
5. E. End of Round – Prepare for the next round.

Actions

The Worker (1 vote): Move your playing piece on the plantation board (or leave it). Activate the 6 fields in the same row and column as the piece. Collect resources/products from activated fields. The worker may use a maximum of 2 product fields per turn (additional product fields cost 1 water piece each). Resources have no limit. Products and resources go to the lot on your plantation.

The Tradeswoman (2 votes): Sell and/or buy at the market.

• Sell: Sell products or goods from your lot to the market at the lowest available price slot. Receive pesos equal to the price. Place black markers on vacated price slots if the product/good is sold out.
• Buy: Buy products or goods from the market at their marked price.

The Architect (3 votes): Build 1 building from the board on an empty field of your plantation by paying the building cost (in resources). If you build on a resource field, you lose that resource production. Each building provides an ongoing or immediate benefit. Also optionally use one of your existing buildings’ abilities.

The Foreman (4 votes): Convert products into goods at buildings on your plantation.

• Sugar cane -> rum (at a distillery)
• Tobacco -> cigars (at a cigar factory) Also optionally use one of your existing buildings’ abilities.

The Mayor (5 votes): Ship merchandise (products and goods) from the harbor to earn victory points. Choose one of the available ships; pay its loading costs and earn VP per item shipped. Also optionally use one of your existing buildings’ abilities.

Parliament Phase: Each player reveals the character card kept in hand. Its vote value determines influence. Players may additionally spend pesos to increase their vote count. The player with the most votes decides which 2 of the 4 bills become law. The town hall voting tile and church veto tile provide additional influence. Enacted statutes go face up on the board; rejected bills are discarded.

Statute Phase: Resolve enacted statutes (Tax, Duty, Subsidy, Other acts) – they may require payments, grant bonuses, or change game rules for subsequent rounds.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• Players earn VP by: shipping merchandise from the harbor, building certain buildings, activating building abilities, and complying with enacted statutes.
• After 6 rounds, the player with the most VP wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Merchandise = products + goods. Resources are NOT merchandise and cannot be shipped.
• Products: citrus fruit, sugar cane, tobacco (octahedrons). Goods: rum, cigars (shaped pieces).
• Resources: stone, wood, water (cubes). Used for building, not shipping.
• The lot on your plantation is a temporary depot, not a field; it is never activated by the Worker.
• Buildings placed on resource/product fields replace that field’s production permanently.
• The plantation board can be played with identical sides (simpler) or unique sides (more strategic variety).
• Ship cards show required merchandise types and VP rewards. The third dock opens from round 2.
• The starting player changes based on who wins certain parliamentary votes or card effects.

Player Reference

Character	Votes	Primary Action
Worker	1	Harvest resources and products from plantation
Tradeswoman	2	Buy/sell at the market
Architect	3	Build a building on your plantation
Foreman	4	Convert products to goods
Mayor	5	Ship merchandise for VP

• 6 rounds, 5 phases each
• Play 4 of 5 character cards per round; keep 1 for Parliament vote
• Higher vote value = more parliament influence but weaker economic action (trade-off)