Santa Monica Gameplay Overview

Actions

Select and Place Feature Cards

Players either select one feature card from the front row of the display, or spend sand dollars to use a sand dollar action to acquire cards differently. All acquired cards must be placed in the player's city following placement rules.

1. Select one card from the front row of the display and place it in your city. If the card is above the Foodie or Food Truck token, gain the corresponding bonus.
2. Beach cards must be placed in the top row of your city. Street cards must be placed in the bottom row of your city.
3. Every feature card must be placed with one of its sides aligned to another feature or to your starting feature tile. Features placed diagonally are not adjacent, and features cannot be placed on top of other features.

• When selecting a card above the Food Truck token, take one sand dollar from the supply. The Food Truck then moves one space to the right.
• When selecting a card above the Foodie token, move any one person (local, tourist, or VIP) by one space. The Foodie then moves one space to the right.
• When selecting a card above both the Foodie and Food Truck, either take one sand dollar and move one person, or double one action (take two sand dollars OR move up to 2 people by one space each or 1 person twice). Move only the Food Truck two spaces to the right.

Take Placement Actions

After placing cards, execute the placement actions shown on the newly placed feature card(s). These may grant sand dollars, add people to the city, move existing people, or trigger VIP footprint placement.

1. If the placed card shows a sand dollar symbol with a number, take that many sand dollars from the supply.
2. If the placed card shows a people symbol with a color and number, take that many people of that color from the supply and place them on the card. This is mandatory.
3. If the placed card shows a movement symbol with a color and numbers, you may move up to that many people of that color the indicated distance. People move orthogonally (not diagonally) and can only move onto placed feature cards.
4. If you moved a VIP to or through a feature card that matches an attribute shown on your starting tile, place a footprint token on that card. Only one footprint per card maximum.

• Movement symbols showing multiple colors (wild) allow you to move any person type including VIPs.
• Each person can only be moved once per placement action, but multiple people can be moved independently.
• Starting feature tiles count as two spaces for movement (one beach space and one street space).

Refresh the Display

After completing placement actions, refill any empty spaces in the display so the next player has a full selection.

1. If the front row has any empty spaces, slide down the back row card immediately above it to fill those spaces.
2. Deal new cards from the feature deck into any blank spaces, starting with the front row cards.
3. The next player clockwise may now take their turn.

Sand Dollar Actions

A separate, optional way to take your turn. Instead of the normal Select and Place Feature Cards action, you may spend sand dollars to use one of the two Sand Dollar Action tiles available this game. They give you alternative ways to acquire and arrange cards and to manage people. You never gain Foodie or Food Truck bonuses when using a Sand Dollar Action.

1. Choose one of the two Sand Dollar Action tiles available this game. Which two are in play is decided randomly during setup and stays the same for the whole game.
2. Pay the sand dollar cost shown on that tile back to the supply.
3. Carry out the tile's action. Place any cards you acquire in your city following the normal placement rules: beach cards on top, street cards on the bottom, each aligned to an existing feature.

• The specific tiles vary from game to game, but Sand Dollar Actions generally let you acquire cards in a way other than taking the front-row card, swap the positions of cards in the display, or remove people from a city.
• You never gain Foodie or Food Truck bonuses from a Sand Dollar Action, even if a card you take sits above those tokens.
• Sand dollars come mainly from the placement actions on your feature cards. Unspent sand dollars can also convert to victory points at game end through certain card abilities.

Key Concepts

• Location Tags: Each feature card has location tag icons indicating its type: Local Spots (places locals like), Tourist Spots (tourist destinations), Businesses (shops and restaurants), Sports (athletic locations), Nature (natural beauty), and Waves (ocean access). Tags are used for scoring through chains, adjacencies, and objectives.
• Activity Rings: Circular spaces on feature cards that can hold a specific number and type of people. Rings score points at game end only if filled with exactly the pictured combination of people. People not in activity rings are considered unplaced.
• Adjacency Scoring: Cards score points if adjacent cards (orthogonally, not diagonally) have specific location tags or symbols. Adjacencies score only once even if multiple adjacent cards qualify. The scoring trigger for people/sand dollar adjacencies is the placement action symbol, not the physical pieces.
• Chain Scoring: Cards score points if they are part of a contiguous group of cards sharing the same location tag. Chains can weave around the city as long as each card is adjacent to at least one other card with the tag. Some chains require minimum tag counts; others score per tag.
• VIP Footprints: Each starting tile designates which location attributes attract VIPs. When a VIP moves to or through a card with matching attributes, place a footprint token. At game end, score points for each matching attribute on cards with footprints.