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

Key Concepts

• Location Tags — Each feature card has location tag icons indicating its type: Local Spots (places locals like), Tourist Spots (tourist destinations), Businesses (shop...
• 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 pi...
• Adjacency Scoring — Cards score points if adjacent cards (orthogonally, not diagonally) have specific location tags or symbols. Adjacencies score only once even if multip...
• 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 car...
• 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 footprin...
• Sand Dollar Actions — Instead of normal card selection, players may spend sand dollars to activate one of the two available sand dollar action tiles. These provide alternat...