How to Play Coal Baron | Rules & Setup Guide

Get Ready

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

Place the game board

Put the game board in the middle of the table

Lock spaces by player count

Cover Worker spaces with Lock tiles based on player count:

Create supply piles

Form a general supply of Coal cubes and Bank notes separated by their values (1, 2, 5 Marks)

Prepare Tunnel tiles

Shuffle all Tunnel tiles and place them next to the board as a face-down stack, then place 1 random tile face up onto each unlocked Tunnel tile space of the Lorry factory

Set the Shift Clock

Place the Shift hand onto the leftmost hand outline pointing to circle "I", then place the Scoring marker onto the leftmost circle space (the circle with the arrow)

Distribute player components

Each player receives:

Distribute Workers by player count

Each player receives Workers of their color:

Place Victory Point markers

Place each player's marker on the "0/100" space of the score track

Distribute starting money

Each player receives Marks from the Bank note supply:

Determine Starting Player

Choose a Starting Player and give them the Starting Player marker

Prepare Order cards

Shuffle all Order cards and place them as a face-down stack, then reveal cards based on player count:

Draft starting Orders

Starting with the right-hand neighbor of the Starting Player and going counter-clockwise, each player takes 1 Order card from the display, repeating until each player has 3 Order cards placed in their Outstanding Orders area

Fill Order spaces

Place the remaining undrafted card onto 1 of the 4 Order spaces on the board, then fill each other Order space with a card from the stack (in 2-player, leave the leftmost Order space empty)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Choose a Worker space

Select 1 Worker space on the Game board where you can perform that space's action

Place Workers on empty space

If the space is empty, place exactly 1 Worker from your supply onto it, then perform its action

Oust existing Workers

If Workers are already on that space, remove them to the Canteen, then place Workers equal to the number removed plus 1 additional Worker, then perform the action

Alternative: Work at the Bank

If you cannot or do not want to select a Worker space, place exactly 1 Worker onto the Bank to receive exactly 1 Mark

Pass when depleted

When you run out of Workers in your supply, your turn is skipped for the rest of the Shift

Acquire a Tunnel tile

When placing Workers here, you must acquire the connected Tunnel tile by paying Marks based on Lorry colors:

Load Coal onto Lorries

After acquiring the tile, place 1 Coal cube of matching color from the general supply onto each Lorry

Add tile to your Pit

Place the tile on its matching color level and matching side (Light side has lanterns, Dark side has no lanterns)

Refill the space

At turn end, fill the empty space with a face-up Tunnel tile from the stack

Special Lorry factory space

When using the marked special space, take the top 5 Tunnel tiles, choose 1 and pay costs, then return the other 4 face down to either the top or bottom of the stack

Perform work steps

The Worker space number indicates maximum work steps you may perform

Move Pit cage down

Moving the cage downwards to stop at any Tunnel level counts as 1 work step

Move Pit cage up

Moving the cage upwards to any Tunnel level or Surface level counts as 1 work step

Load Coal at Tunnel level

While at a Tunnel level, move 1 Coal cube from any Lorry at that level onto any free spot on your Pit cage (5 spots total) as 1 work step

Unload Coal at Surface

While at Surface level, move 1 Coal cube from your Pit cage to a matching color Order spot in your Outstanding Orders area as 1 work step

Substitute Coal cubes

Instead of the requested color, you may place any 2 Coal cubes onto an Order spot, requiring 2 work steps total

Store Coal privately

At Surface level, move 1 Coal cube from your Pit cage to your Private Coal storage (unlimited capacity) as 1 work step

Retrieve stored Coal

Move 1 Coal cube from Private Coal storage to an Order card as 1 work step

Coal placement is permanent

Once Coal cubes are placed on Order spots, they may not be relocated

Deliver matching Orders

When placing Workers on a Delivery space, you must deliver all completed Orders showing the same Vehicle type depicted above that space

Requirement to use space

You may only choose a Delivery space if you can deliver at least 1 completed Order of that vehicle type

Score Victory Points

Gain the VPs stated at the top of each delivered Order card

Return Coal cubes

Remove delivered Orders from your Outstanding Orders area and return Coal cubes to general supply

Keep delivered cards

Place delivered Order cards face down in front of you for Shift scoring

Receive Marks

When placing Workers on a Money space, receive the number of Marks stated on that space from the Bank note supply

Take an Order card

When placing Workers on an Order space, take the Order card below that space and place it in your Outstanding Orders area (no limit to cards held)

Refill Order space

Fill the empty Order space with a face-up card from the stack

Special Order space

When using the marked special space, take the top 5 Order cards, secretly choose 1 for your Outstanding Orders area, then return the other 4 face down to either the top or bottom of the stack

Trigger Shift scoring

When all players have placed all their Workers, the Shift ends

Score elements progressively

After Shift 1, score first 4 elements; after Shift 2, score first 8 elements; after Shift 3, score all 12 elements

Reveal delivered Orders

Display all delivered Order cards for scoring (Outstanding Orders do not count)

Score Coal color majorities (Elements 1-4)

Award VPs for most Order spots of each color delivered:

Score Vehicle majorities (Elements 5-8)

Award VPs for most Order spots on each Vehicle type:

Score empty Lorry majorities (Elements 9-12)

Award VPs for most empty Lorries of each color in Pits: