Groundbreak

Groundbreak

Six development syndicates consolidate a city grid of 110 lots. Lay a lot, charter a syndicate, and hold the certificates that matter when one syndicate swallows another. The largest fortune at the settlement wins.

Transfer slate

How Groundbreak is played

The strip. You hold six lots. Each is quoted before you lay it: what it would do to the grid and what it is worth to your purse. Click a ticket, then the grid — or press 1–6 and Enter.

• Charter. A lot laid beside a loose lot founds a syndicate and pays you two certificates.
• Enlarge. A lot laid beside a syndicate adds to it and lifts its certificate price.
• Merger. A lot touching two syndicates merges them; the larger absorbs the smaller, and the smaller pays out at once — eight times its price to the largest holder, four times to the second, twice to the third when three or more hold.
• Protection. A syndicate of twelve lots or more can never be absorbed. A lot that would join two protected syndicates is dead and is exchanged.
• Certificates. After laying, take up to four certificates, no more than three of any one syndicate, at the price its size commands.
• The transfer slate. When your syndicate is absorbed you may sell at the old price, exchange two old certificates for one of the survivor, or hold — worthless unless that name is chartered again.
• The finish. Once a syndicate reaches thirty-eight lots, or every syndicate on the grid is protected, the player in turn may call the finish. Everything settles: prizes are paid on every live syndicate and all paper is sold. The largest purse wins.

Later offices open with a small allowance, because they charter later. Add #seed=1964 to the address to replay an exact grid.