How to Play

51st State: Master Set

1-4 players 60-90 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

In post-apocalyptic America, players lead factions rebuilding civilization through strategic card play. Each card offers three options: raze for immediate resources, deal for recurring income, or build for ongoing abilities. Victory comes from efficiently managing resources and developing your territory. This Master Set combines the base game with two expansions for enhanced gameplay.

Published 2016

51st State: Master Set

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place central components
Put the VP board and 3 City cards in the center of the play area
2
Add building bonuses
Place Building Bonus Goods on the City cards
3
Select factions
Each player selects a Faction and places their Faction board
4
Position VP markers
Place Faction VP marker next to VP board near position 1
5
Organize goods supply
Sort Goods by type and place near VP board
6
Choose first player
Determine who will take the first turn
7
Select expansion
Choose 0 or 1 expansion: Winter, New Era, or Scavenger
8
Prepare main deck
Shuffle main Deck (base cards plus chosen expansion if any) and place face-down
9
Prepare connection decks
Shuffle Connection decks by color and place face-down
10
Deal starting hands
Deal 6 cards to each player
11
Keep starting cards
Each player keeps 4 cards and returns 2 to their personal discard pile

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Reveal connection cards
Reveal top card of each Connection deck and place face-up on top of pile
2
Draw first round of cards
Draw cards from main Deck equal to number of players plus 1, place face-up
3
Draft first cards
Starting with 1st player then clockwise, each player takes 1 card into hand
4
Discard remaining card
Remaining card is discarded to 1st player's discard pile
5
Draw second round of cards
Draw cards from main Deck equal to number of players plus 1, place face-up
6
Draft second cards
Starting with last player then counterclockwise, each player takes 1 card into hand
7
Discard final card
Remaining card is discarded
8
Produce goods
Produce Goods per Faction board, Deals, Production Locations, and City cards
9
Retrieve stored goods
Take Goods from Storage and add to just-produced Goods
10
Take turns acting
Starting with 1st player then clockwise, each player does 1 Action
11
Continue actions
Continue until all players have Passed
12
Build Location - Construct
Choose card in hand and place as Production Location (take Production), Feature Location, or Action Location
13
Build Location - Develop
Remove 1 of your Locations to your discard pile and replace with card in hand
14
Make Deal
Choose card in hand and place upside down under Faction card with Deal strip visible
15
Raze from hand
Choose and discard card in hand to your discard pile
16
Raze opponent Location
Choose opponent Location and turn face-down
17
Raze City card
Take all Goods on card, discard card and Faction tokens on card
18
Action from Faction board
Place payment on board
19
Action from card
Place payment on card
20
Use another player's Open Production Location
Place 1 Worker on opponent's Open Production Location
21
Take face-up Connection card
Cost equals 2 Workers
22
Play Connection card
Take Goods per card, pay Cost if any, then Discard
23
Place Shield
Place Shield on 1 of your Locations anytime during Action phase
24
Pass
No more Actions this Round
25
Retain stored goods
Stored Goods are retained
26
Discard unstored goods
Unstored Goods are discarded from all Locations and boards
27
Discard connection cards
Face-up unclaimed Connection cards are discarded
28
Pass first player token
Pass 1st player token to the left
29
Resource types
Fuel, Iron, Gun, Brick, and Ammo
30
Ammo substitution
Ammo may always substitute 1:1 for Fuel, Iron, Gun, or Brick
31
Other goods
Contact tokens (Red, Grey, Blue, Multi-colored), Workers, Development tokens, Shield tokens

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Check victory threshold
After Cleanup, check if any player has 25 or more VPs
2
Continue if under threshold
If no player has 25+ VPs, begin a new Round
3
Calculate final scores
If any player has 25+ VPs, add +1 VP per face-up Location
4
Determine winner
Highest score wins
5
First tiebreaker
Most Goods
6
Second tiebreaker
Most Locations

watch & Learn

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51st State - PODCAST HIGHLIGHTS | BG Gateway

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

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