Choose a dealer; this person will reveal the character and terrain cards.

1. Shuffle the Era I terrain cards to form a face-down draw pile. Shuffle the Era II terrain cards into a separate draw pile and set them aside; you will not need them at the beginning of the game.
2. Shuffle the 21 character cards into a face-down draw pile and place them next to the terrain card draw pile. The player to the dealer’s right then cuts the character card deck in order to reveal new tiebreaker symbols.

3. Each player receives 9 auction cards (numbered 1-9) in his or her chosen suit (hat, star, cactus, boot, horseshoe, or cow). The game must always be played with a minimum of 4 players. If you have fewer than 4 “real” players, you must round out your player count with “virtual” players. Provide each virtual player with 9 auction cards (numbered 1-9) placed in a shuffled, face-down draw pile; virtual players’ positions at the table do not matter. For a greater challenge, you may choose to add additional virtual players to your game, up to a maximum total player count of 6. The game is ready to begin.

   Strength of virtual players: When playing with virtual players for the first time, we recommend playing against novice-level virtual players. Novice-level virtual players use auction cards matching those used by real players (numbered 1 to 9). In later games, you may wish to adjust the strength of your virtual players. For an intermediate-level virtual player, replace its 1 auction card with its 10 card. For an expert-level virtual player, replace its 1 and 2 auction cards with its 10 and 11 cards).

   Advice for setting up the game: Competition is always stiff in the Far West; make sure to include virtual players that correspond to your skill level. Otherwise, the game may seem too easy!

1. The dealer draws 1 character and 4 terrain cards and places them below the draw piles, in a face-up column. At this point, certain character cards may be used; the order in which they may be played, and their actions resolved, can be found on your player aid cards.

   EXCEPTION: In games with 5 or 6 players, the dealer reveals 5 terrain cards instead of 4.

   
   Skull: If the top card of the character card draw pile shows a skull, place the just-drawn character on the bottom of the draw pile and reveal the character card with the skull on its back. One skull may follow another; if this happens, repeat these steps until the top card of the draw pile does not show a skull.

2. Each player secretly chooses an auction card from his or her hand and places it face-down on the table. When the players are ready, all auction cards are revealed simultaneously, along with the topmost auction card of each virtual player’s draw pile.
3. Starting with the player who played the highest-numbered card and proceeding in descending order, each player chooses either a terrain card to add to his or her city, or the character card that was revealed this round. The chosen card remains with the player for the rest of the game. Each player then discards the auction card he or she played; this card is unavailable for the rest of this Era. All discarded auction cards remain face-up in front of the player who discarded them. Once all players have chosen their card for the round, the last remaining card (terrain or character) is removed from the game.

   EXCEPTION: In a game with 6 players, no cards are removed from the game.

   Tiebreaker: If several auction cards share the same value, the player whose symbol appears first on the back of the next character card breaks the tie. The topmost symbol on the back of the card will be slightly larger than the other symbols shown on the card, and is considered to be the strongest. From top to bottom, these symbols decrease in strength such that the symbol on the bottom of the column is the weakest.

   Virtual players: On a virtual player’s turn, the virtual player takes the card with the highest appeal value. Appeal values are found in the center of terrain cards and at the bottom of character cards. If two or more cards are tied for the highest appeal value, the virtual player will take the tied card that is closest to the draw piles (i.e., farthest from the bottom of the column). Virtual players keep their terrain and character cards, but they do not build cities.

   To use character cards: A player who wants to use a character card must announce his or her intention to do so. A character card’s ability may be played before or after stage 2, depending on which character is being used. If at least one player announces that he or she wishes to do so, follow the order shown on the player aid card, starting with the Governor. Notes: Players are never obligated to use the abilities of their character cards. Character cards can only be used once per Era, and the Governor’s ability only once per game.

   Game tip: A city owes its prosperity to its inhabitants. In Carson City, inhabitants are represented by Houses. Don’t neglect Houses when taking cards, as most buildings need adjacent Houses in order to score victory points.

4. Era I ends after 9 rounds. The game then proceeds to the second Era:
   • Any Era I cards remaining in the terrain card draw pile are removed from the game. The draw pile for Era II now becomes available.
   • Each player returns his or her 9 auction cards to his or her hand. Shuffle each virtual player’s cards and replace them as a face-down stack at that player’s position at the table.
   • Any acquired character cards that have been turned sideways are once again turned upright (see below, under ‘Character Cards’). Please note that the Governor, once turned sideways, is not turned upright again.

Building Rules

After the end of Era II the player having the Paperboy character card gets the extra action (see the card's description). After that victory points are scored. Using the scorepad, calculate each player’s score - don’t forget to score the virtual players, too. To determine your final score, add any victory points earned for your buildings to those earned for your character cards. The player (real or virtual) with the highest score wins! In the event of a tie, the winner is determined in a rematch.

Scoring for virtual players

A virtual player scores points equal to the total appeal value of the different terrain and character cards it has collected during the game.