Overview

Rolling Heights is a unique dice-building game designed by John D. Clair, published by AEG (Alderac Entertainment Group). Set in the 1920s, players are rival contractors competing to complete construction projects for wealthy real estate moguls. Instead of traditional dice, players roll wooden meeples, and their landing positions determine the resources earned. The game combines deck-building (with meeples instead of cards), push-your-luck rolling, and area control on a shared city map.

Components

• City map board with construction sites
• Wooden meeples in multiple types and colors (workers, specialists)
• Construction site cards
• Building cubes (multiple colors representing different materials)
• Blueprint cards
• Scoring tokens
• Starting meeple sets for each player
• Resource tracking components

Setup

1. Place the city map board in the center of the table.
2. Lay out construction site cards on the board in designated locations.
3. Each player takes their starting set of meeples (basic workers).
4. Place building cubes of each color in supply piles.
5. Deal starting blueprint cards (if applicable).
6. Determine starting player.

Turn Structure

On each turn:

1. Roll Meeples: Take all your meeples, cup them in your hands, and drop them onto the table.
2. Read Results: Check each meeple’s landing position:
   • Standing on both feet (“Working Hard”): Provides the best reward (most materials or strongest ability).
   • On their side (“Working Steady”): Provides a lesser reward (half materials or weaker ability).
   • Flat on their back (“Exhausted”): Provides nothing.
3. Push Your Luck (optional): If at least half your meeples are in a working position (Hard or Steady), you may choose to re-roll only the Exhausted meeples. However, if on any push-your-luck re-roll EVERY re-rolled meeple lands Exhausted, you go bust (strike!) and lose half of your working meeples (rounded down).
4. Collect Resources: Gather building cubes and other resources based on your working meeples’ results.
5. Build: Place earned building cubes onto construction sites you own. If you complete all the required spaces on a construction site, cap it off and collect the reward (points, abilities, new meeples).
6. Acquire New Meeples/Sites: Spend resources to claim new construction sites from the board or add specialist meeples to your pool.

Actions

Meeple Rolling: The core action. Different meeple types provide different resources when working (e.g., basic workers provide generic materials, specialists provide specific colored cubes or special abilities).

Building Construction: Place matching-color cubes onto construction site cards you control. Each site requires specific colors and quantities. Completed sites score points and may grant ongoing abilities.

Acquiring Construction Sites: Claim unclaimed sites from the city map by meeting their requirements (payment, meeple thresholds, etc.).

Recruiting Specialists: Add new specialist meeples to your pool. Specialists have unique abilities and provide specific resources, improving your engine over time.

Push Your Luck: After the initial roll, re-roll exhausted meeples for a chance at more resources, risking a strike that penalizes your workforce.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends when all building cubes of any one color run out. Players complete the current round, then total their scores from:

• Completed construction sites
• Bonus points from special abilities and blueprints
• End-game scoring conditions

The player with the most points wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Bust/Strike: If all re-rolled meeples are Exhausted on a push-your-luck roll, you must remove half your currently working meeples (rounded down). They go on strike and contribute nothing this turn.
• Building cubes earned on a turn are use-it-or-lose-it; they cannot be stored between turns.
• Different meeple types have different “Working Hard” and “Working Steady” abilities.
• Construction site locations on the map may provide area-control bonuses.
• Specialist meeples cost resources to recruit but improve your engine significantly.
• Solo mode is available with specific rules for simulating opponents.

Player Reference

Meeple positions: Standing = Working Hard (full reward), Side = Working Steady (half reward), Back = Exhausted (nothing).

Push your luck: Re-roll exhausted meeples if 50%+ are working. Bust if all re-rolled meeples are exhausted = lose half your workers.

Building: Cubes are use-it-or-lose-it each turn.

Game end: Any color of building cubes runs out.