Overview

Rocketville is a light strategy game designed by Richard Garfield and published by Avalon Hill in 2006. Players campaign to become the new Mayor of Rocketville, a futuristic city. Using rockets to travel from district to district, players persuade citizens, gather endorsements, make campaign promises, and recruit robots to accumulate the most votes. The game combines point-to-point movement, auction/bidding, and hand management mechanics.

Components

• Game board depicting Rocketville with multiple districts
• Player rocket pieces (one per player)
• Vote tokens
• Endorsement cards
• Promise cards
• Robot helper tokens
• Campaign cards (hand management deck)
• District tiles or markers
• Score track

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Each player selects a rocket piece and places it on the starting district.
3. Shuffle and deal starting campaign cards to each player.
4. Place endorsement cards, promise tokens, and robot tokens in their supply areas.
5. Set vote tokens near the score track.
6. Determine a starting player.

Turn Structure

On each turn, a player:

1. Move Rocket: Travel from one district to an adjacent district on the board.
2. Take District Action: Perform the action available in the current district (gather endorsements, make promises, recruit robots, or campaign for votes).
3. Play Campaign Cards: Optionally play cards from hand to enhance actions or interfere with opponents.
4. Resolve Bidding: If multiple players compete for the same district benefit, resolve through the auction/bidding mechanism.

Actions

Campaign for Votes: Gain vote tokens from districts. The number of votes available may depend on the district and any bonuses from endorsements or robots.

Gather Endorsements: Collect endorsement cards from specific districts. Endorsements provide ongoing bonuses or end-game scoring.

Make Promises: Take promise tokens. Promises may provide immediate benefits but could have consequences if unfulfilled.

Recruit Robots: Add robot helpers to your campaign. Robots provide various bonuses such as extra movement, additional votes, or bidding advantages.

Bidding/Auction: When players compete for limited resources in a district, a bidding round occurs. Players bid campaign cards or resources, with the highest bidder winning the contested benefit.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends after a set number of rounds or when a specific condition is met (such as all districts being fully campaigned). Players total their votes from:

• Direct vote tokens earned
• Endorsement card bonuses
• Fulfilled promise bonuses
• Robot-related scoring

The player with the most votes becomes the Mayor of Rocketville and wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Rockets can only move to adjacent districts; long-distance travel requires multiple turns.
• Some districts may be temporarily unavailable or contested.
• Promise cards that are unfulfilled by game end may result in vote penalties.
• Robots have specific types with different abilities; choosing which to recruit is a key strategic decision.
• Campaign card management is critical; running out of cards limits your options.

Player Reference

Turn: Move rocket > Take district action > Play campaign cards > Resolve bidding.

Win condition: Most votes at game end = Mayor of Rocketville.

Player count: 3-5 players, approximately 45 minutes.