the Green Building Neighbourhoods card game

Overview

In the Green Building Neighbourhoods card game, players embody city planners dedicated to transforming their GBNs (Green Building Neighbourhoods, represented by GBN cards) into exemplary models of sustainability and resilience. Through strategic implementation of Solution Cards, players address a variety of urban challenges to fulfill nine specific objectives within their GBN.

The Green Building Neighbourhoods card game is a strategic game where players become city planners, aiming to transform six cities using innovative solutions, while navigating through various disasters. The game focuses on achieving objectives aligned with six core purposes: Attractiveness, Preservation and Improvement of Environment, Resilience, Responsible Resource Use, Social Cohesion, and Well-being.

These purposes guide the players in addressing twelve critical urban issues: Economy, Education, Community, Culture, Governance, Safety, Biodiversity, Living, Innovation, Interdependence, Care, and Mobility.

Game Components

  • 6 GBN Cards
  • 6 Persona Cards (one for each purpose)
  • 6 Disaster Cards (one for each purpose)
  • 36 Solution Cards

Objectives

Players aim to address the twelve urban issues by applying Solution Cards to their GBN City Cards, guided by the six core purposes and the issues. Each GBN Card features objectives that need to be met, some of which may have a star symbol indicating a GBN-wide application, while and absence demonstrates a technology at a building scale.

Setup

  1. Players agree on the number of objectives to fulfil.
  2. Players get their GBN and their personas randomly. GBN and personas can be revealed.. or not.
  3. The Solution and Disaster cards are shuffled, then 3 cards are revealed in the middle of the game.
  4. Each player gets 3 resources.
  5. Determine the starting player by any preferred method.

Gameplay

Player Turn

A player’s turn consists of the following phases:

  1. Draw Phase: Draw a Solution Card from the revealed solutions.
  2. Resources update:
  3. Action Phase: Play Solution Cards to address the issues on their GBN Card, if one can spend the corresponding resources.
  4. End Phase: The player gets 2 resources tokens. Successful solutions contribute to fulfilling the objectives on the GBN City Card.

Persona Cards

Persona Cards represent influential figures or entities within the city, each associated with one of the six core purposes. Players can use Persona Cards to gain advantages, such as mitigating the effects of Disaster Cards or enhancing the effectiveness of Solution Cards. They have super powers:

  • Attractiveness: Can mimick the power of another player
  • Preservation and Improvement of Environment: Player earns 1 more token per turn
  • Resilience: impacts of Disasters are not considered.
  • Responsible Resource Use: solutions cost 1 less to play.
  • Social Cohesion: Player can pay the same amount to have the same effects from another player revealed solution
  • Well-being: Player can replace one card of the middle by the top of the library. One card is put back at the bottom.

Winning the Game

The game concludes when a player successfully addresses the required number of objectives, effectively dealing with the urban issues and aligning with the core purposes. The game can also end after a predetermined number of rounds, with the winner being the player who has made the most progress in addressing the objectives.

Points are counted as:

  • Solution addresses no specific objective: value: 0.5
  • Solution addresses one of the Issues: value 1
  • Solution addresses Issue and Purpose: value x2
  • Solution is a star: value x2 (cumulative)

Special Rules

  • City-Wide Solutions: Solutions addressing starred objectives require broader implementation across the entire city, offering more significant challenges and rewards.
  • Collaboration and Trade: Players are encouraged to collaborate and trade Solution Cards to optimize their strategies and address the urban issues more effectively.
  • Experts: If players agree before, points scored where Purpose aligns with the Persona card have a x2 value
  • Done!: when all the Purpose of a GBN are done, players get a 1 resources bonus (eg all Red boxes are ticked)

Conclusion

The Green Building Neighbourhoods Card Game challenges players to think critically about sustainability, resilience, and community well-being in urban development. Players must navigate through the complexities of urban planning, address a variety of issues, and overcome disasters, all while striving to achieve a sustainable and vibrant future for their cities.

By carefully managing resources and strategically implementing solutions, players work towards creating thriving, green neighbourhoods.

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