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.
• Your portfolio. The information rail separates cash from live certificate value, totals your current net worth, and shows the gap to the strongest rival.
• Office record. Completed cities update a local career record once: settlements, victories, podium finishes, average rank and best final fortune.
• Market intelligence. Each certificate row shows whether you lead, are tied, or how many certificates you need to lead, together with the current unsplit top-holder prize.
• Development outlook. The left rail shows each live syndicate's progress toward protection and counts the unplayed lots that would merge it today. A strip marker means one or more of those lots is already in your assay strip.
• Settlement watch. The left rail tracks both ways a finish becomes callable: one syndicate reaching 38 lots, or every live syndicate becoming protected. Once either route opens, it previews your projected rank, fortune, cash, certificate liquidation and holder bonuses without changing the position. During certificate selection, Basket Impact compares the current purchase with buying nothing, while Closing Basket Scan evaluates every legal purchase and identifies the strongest finish. The Live Closing Field lists all projected offices and their exact gaps relative to you.
• Trace a syndicate. Hover over its name in the register to outline all of its lots. Click the name to lock the highlight; click it again or press Esc to clear it.
• Pan and zoom. Use the View buttons, the mouse wheel, or +, − and 0 to change scale. Drag the city grid to pan while zoomed in.
• City overview. The minimap in View shows the visible area. Click or drag it to recenter the grid, or focus it and use the arrow keys.
• Planning overlay. Mark every lot in your strip by consequence, or show every undeveloped merger contact. Use the right-side control or press V to cycle modes.
• Merger site report. In Mergers mode, select a marked contact to inspect affected syndicates, protection, holdings, survivor candidates and your current holder prizes. Select it again or press Esc to clear the report.
• High contrast. Use the View toggle or press C for stronger interface contrast, black tile boundaries and a distinct accessible board palette.
• Full screen. Use the View control or press F to expand the complete game frame. Press F or Esc to leave it.
• Staff adviser. During lot and certificate decisions, the optional adviser explains a deterministic recommendation. When settlement is callable it offers the best basket from Closing Basket Scan. Selecting advice fills the choice but never completes the turn.
• Comparative assay. During your lot phase, the left information rail ranks the top three legal lots using the deterministic Staff model and reports how decisive the lead is.
• Challenge replay. Every city has a seed, office count and opposition level. Copy its challenge link from the right rail, or replay the identical setup from the settlement report.
• Reconsider turn. After committing a lot or transfer decision, use the right-side checkpoint control or press U to restore the start of your current turn. Once certificates are taken and the next office begins, that checkpoint closes.
• New game safety. Opening the new-game sheet does not discard the current game. Choose Continue current game or press Esc to return unchanged.
• Automatic recovery. Groundbreak saves after each stable decision point. The purse card shows the latest save time; Keep writes an immediate checkpoint.
• 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.
• Settlement preview. Before confirming the finish, review the projected standings after the certificates currently in your basket are purchased and all live syndicates settle.
• Settlement report. After the finish, review final ranking, margin, city growth, merger activity, certificates purchased and the bonuses you collected.

Later offices open with a small allowance, because they charter later. A complete challenge address records the seed, office count and opposition level.