Homesteaders

Overview

Homesteaders is an auction and resource management game set in the Old West during the Homestead Act era of the 1860s. Players are settlers claiming land and developing buildings over 10 rounds to build a town into a city. The player who contributes the most to building the town (measured in Victory Points) wins.

Components

1 Auction board
53 Building tiles (Settlement, Settlement/Town, Town, City stages)
36 Debt chits
51 Victory Point chits
14 Steel, 14 Wood, 14 Food, 12 Gold, 10 Copper, 10 Livestock (resources)
27 Rail Line chits
25 Workers
63 Silver coins
36 Trade chits
30 Auction tiles (sorted into Auction 1, 2, and 3 piles)
4 Market Reference tiles
4 Player screens
1 Start Player marker
8 Player markers (2 per player)

Setup

Place the Auction board and all resources, workers, silver, trade, debt, rail line, and point chits within reach.
Each player receives: a player screen, a Homestead tile with matching markers, 1 Worker, and 6 Silver.
Place 1 player marker on the Railroad Development Track start; keep the other for bidding.
Sort Auction 1 tiles by round number, place face up on Auction 1 space.
Sort Auction 2 tiles: shuffle 2 City tiles face down on bottom, 4 Town tiles face down above, 4 Settlement tiles face down on top. Place on Auction 2 space.
4 players only: Create Auction 3 pile in the same manner. 2-3 players: Remove Auction 3 tiles.
Sort buildings by stage and color near the board. Town and City buildings set aside for later.
2 players only: Include only one of each building (except two of Farm, Market, and Foundry).
Randomly choose starting player.

Turn Structure

The game is played over 10 rounds in three stages: Settlement (rounds 1-4), Town (rounds 5-8), City (rounds 9-10).

Each Round:

Setup Phase: Retrieve bid markers. Reveal top tile of face-down auction piles. Remove old tiles. At round 5, remove unbuilt Settlement buildings, add Town buildings. At round 9, remove remaining unbuilt buildings, add City buildings.
Income Phase:
- a. Allocate Workers: Simultaneously place workers on building slots. Double slots require 2 workers. Workers can be fully reallocated each turn.
- b. Collect Income: Collect automatic income from buildings and Rail Lines (1 Silver each). Collect worker income from occupied slots.
- c. Pay Workers: Pay 1 Silver per worker to the bank (including idle workers).
Auction Phase:
- a. Bidding: Starting player bids first, then clockwise. Place bid token on an auction item at a valid bid level. Minimum bid: 3. Valid bids: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 16, 21. Must bid higher than opponents on same auction. When passing, advance on Railroad Development Track and take a reward. Auction ends when all players have either passed or won an auction.
- b. Building: Winners pay auction cost, then build a matching-type building from the Building Supply. Auction 1 winner also gets Start Player marker.

Actions

Building Types

Residential (green): Provide workers and living-related benefits
Industrial (blue): Produce resources
Commercial (red): Generate trade and income
Special (yellow): Unique abilities

Building Properties

Name, Type, Stage, Point Value, Costs (resources required)
Automatic Income: Produced without workers
Worker Income: Produced only with workers assigned
Abilities/Bonuses: One-time or ongoing effects

Trade and the Marketplace

Trade chits can be used at ANY time for:

Recruit Worker: 1 Trade chit + 1 Food
Buy Resource: 1 Trade chit at going rates
Sell Resource: 1 Trade chit at going rates (gain 1 VP per sale)

Resource	Buy/Sell Price
Wood	1 Silver
Food	2 Silver
Steel	3 Silver
Gold	4 Silver
Copper	1 Gold
Livestock	1 Gold

Spending Gold

Gold may be used as 5 Silver for any purpose. No change given.

Debt

Take any amount of Debt at any time. Each Debt chit gives 2 Silver. Pay off during Final Scoring for 5 Silver each. Unpaid Debt carries escalating penalties.

Railroad Development Track

5 spaces with bonuses: 1) Trade chit, 2) Rail Line, 3) Worker, 4) Any Resource, 5) 3 Victory Points. After space 5, further advances give a choice of any bonus.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Final Scoring Round (after round 10)

Repeat Income phase one final time
Use Marketplace freely to pay off Debt and convert items to VPs
Calculate total score:
- Victory Point chits collected during the game
- Point values of buildings
- Bonus scores on buildings
- 2 VP per Gold, Livestock, and Copper resource
- Wood, Food, and Steel are worth nothing
Debt Penalties: -1 for 1st unpaid Debt, -2 for 2nd, -3 for 3rd, etc. (5 unpaid = -15 VP total)

Winner: Most Victory Points. Tiebreaker: most Silver. If still tied, all tied players win.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

2-Player Bidding: Before bidding, start player places a neutral bid token on one auction item at the current neutral bid level (starts at 5). Level increases by 1 when both players win auctions; decreases by 1 when a player passes. Range: 3-9.
Auction tiles with no building: Some award Workers and/or Railroad Development Track advances instead.
Auction tile bonuses: Additional bonuses (Worker, VP exchange, Rail Line) may be taken AFTER building, and only ONCE.
Start Player: Goes to Auction 1 winner. If no bids on Auction 1, goes to Auction 2 winner, then Auction 3.
Players may not build multiple buildings with the same name.
Cannot save auction tiles for future use - must build immediately or forfeit.

Notable Buildings

Boarding House: Discard 1 Debt chit when acquired
Rodeo: Income of 1 Silver per Worker owned (max 5 Silver)
Forge: Gain 1 VP each time you build a building after the Forge
General Store: Gain 1 additional Silver per marketplace sale
Lawyer: May outbid opponents with the same bid value
Train Station: Build one additional building of any type when acquired
Bank: Exchange 1 Trade chit for 1 Silver; income discards 1 Debt
Market: Exchange Trade chit + Wood for Food, or Trade chit + Food for Steel

Player Reference

Stage	Rounds	Buildings Available
Settlement	1-4	Settlement, Settlement/Town
Town	5-8	Settlement/Town, Town
City	9-10	City

Bid Values