The Gold Mines (3rd edition)

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Gold is scattered throughout the realm, sought by everyone. The value of each ingot, however, remains unknown until the end of the game.

General info and comments

Gold symbol

Expansion symbol

The Gold Mines (Mini #4) was released by HiG for the third revised edition, known as C3.1 for short, in 2025, bundled as part of  Big Box 8. It includes more detailed graphics, cities with clipped buildings.

It is almost identical to the previous versions. It was released for the second edition, known as C2 for short, in 2017, only available as part of  Big Box 6. A third edition, known as C3 for short, was released in 2021, only available as part of  Big Box 7 and the same graphics as the C3.1 version.

This expansion was originally released for the first edition, known as C1 for short, in 2012.

Contents

• 8 land tiles with gold symbol

Tile with gold symbol

• 1 scoring chart

• 16 wooden gold ingots

Rules

Preparation

Shuffle the new land tiles into the other land tiles. Place the gold ingots next to the play area as a general supply. Lay aside the scoring chart.

Gameplay

1. Placing a tile

When you draw a land tile with gold symbol, place it as usual. Then you place: 1 gold ingot on the tile just placed AND 1 gold ingot on a directly or diagonally adjacent tile of your choice.

Gold ingots are not placed on specific features. They are assigned to the entire tile.

Notes:

• You always place two gold ingots per tile with the gold symbol.
• You may also place a gold ingot on a tile that already has one or more gold ingots from a previous turn.

Example 1: You place a land tile with a gold symbol. Then, you place 1 gold ingot on the tile you just placed and 1 on a tile diagonally adjacent to it.

2. Placing a meeple

After placing gold ingots, you may still place a meeple according to the normal rules.

3. Scoring a feature

If a feature is completed during any player's turn and you have the majority on that feature, you score it as usual. Then, if any tiles being part of that feature have at least 1 gold ingot on them, you additionally receive all of those gold ingots and place them in front of you.

• For roads and cities, this means every tile that is part of that road or city.
• For monasteries, it means the tile of the monastery itself and each of the 8 surrounding tiles.

Note: When scoring your abbot, you only receive gold ingots if his monastery or garden is completed.

Example 2: A city is scored and you have the majority in that city. You receive all 3 gold ingots from its tiles.

If multiple features with gold ingots are to be scored at the same time, the active player chooses the order in which they are scored and therefore the order in which the gold ingots ar distributed.

If several players are tied for majority, the gold ingots are distributed piece by piece in clockwise order, starting with the active player.

Example 3: You completed a road. You and Blue are tied for the majority and are both entitled to the 3 corresponding gold ingots. Because it is your turn, you take 1 gold ingot first, then Blue takes one, and then you take the last one.

Final Scoring

At the end of the game, before the final scoring, return all gold ingots that are still on tiles (because they have not been collected) to the box. Meeples in fields do not receive gold ingots.

In the final scoring, count all gold ingots in front of you, and compare the total number to the values listed in the scoring chart. The total number of your gold ingots determines how many points you score for each of your gold ingots.
Their worth increases with their quantity.

Final scoring example: During the game, you have collected total of 7 gold ingots, meaning that you score 3 points for each of them. You score a total of 21 points for your collected gold ingots (7 gold ingots x 3 points).

Sequence Summary

When playing with The Gold Mines, the turn sequence is as follows:

Phase	Actions
1. Placing a tile	Place a tile Place 2 gold ingots
2. Placing a meeple	Place a meeple (optional)
3. Scoring a feature	Score a feature Take gold

Other Expansions

If playing with other expansions, please take the following notes into consideration:

General Comments:

In general, any gold ingots on tiles of a completed feature will be distributed while the feature is being scored. Depending on the feature, the gold ingots involved may differ:

• Features distributing gold ingots on their tiles only:
  • Roads
  • Cities
• Features distributing gold ingots on the feature tile and its adjacent tiles, except those on town hall tiles ( Exp. 5 - Messengers & Mayors):
  • Monastic buildings:
    • Monasteries
    • Abbeys ( Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor)
    • Shrines ( Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber)
    • German monasteries (with a monk) ( Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor)
    • Dutch & Belgian monasteries (with a monk) ( Monasteries in the Netherlands & Belgium)
    • Japanese buildings (with a monk) ( Japanese Buildings)
    • Darmstadt churches ( Darmstadt Promo)
  • Gardens ( The Abbot)
  • Baba Yaga's hut ( Russian Promos)
  • German castles ( Castles in Germany)
  • Cemeteries ( Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries)
  • Haunted castles ( Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries)
• Features distributing gold ingots on the feature tile and the road tiles connected to it:
  • German cathedrals ( German Cathedrals)
  • Dutch churches ( Dutch Churches)
• Features distributing gold ingots on the tiles adjacent to the feature:
  • Castles ( Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles & Bazaars)
    

Exp. 5 - Messengers & Mayors

A gold ingot on a town hall cannot be collected by an adjacent completed monastery or garden.

The Abbot

When scoring your abbot, you only receive gold ingots if his monastery or garden is completed.

C1/C2 Edition

Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles & Bazaars

When a castle is completed, the owner can lay claim to gold ingots in the 6-tile vicinity of the castle: the 2 tiles upon which the castle is built, the 2 tiles to its left, and the 2 tiles to its right. The owner of the castle does not necessarily have the rights to gold associated with the feature that caused completion of the castle (unless that gold ingot is also within the castle's vicinity or the castle owner also has a majority in the primary feature). (6/2013)

Tile Distribution

Total tiles: 8

 ×1

Gold + (C)

 ×1

Gold + (W)

 ×1

Gold + Monastery

 ×1

Gold + Overpassing Road Bridge

 ×1

Gold + Monastery

 ×1

Gold + (H)

 ×1

Gold + Monastery

 ×1

Gold + Monastery

Several tiles have a small illustration on them. The letters in brackets show which illustration is on each tile:

 

C | Cowshed

 

W | Water Tower

 

H | Highwaymen

Note: The small illustrations of a cowshed, a pigsty and a donkey stable are collectively referred to as sheds or stables.

Total tokens: 1

 ×1

Scoring token

Footnotes

For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.