Mine All Mine

Setting

The game is set in the middle of a gold rush in the Far West in the mid C19^th. The players are prospectors who travelled over the country last year. The weather closed in before any prospecting could be performed. Now it is spring, the weather is clearing up, and you are all itching to get to the gold fields.

Layout

The game has a town where gold can be sold and gear shipped in. There is a map that is divided into claims, each representing the area one man is expected to be able to work. Claims may be registered at the town, one claim per miner, so only that miner may then work them (or allow them to be worked). Pardnerships are also able to register claims – one per pardner. You may want to draw up a legal pardnership agreement or not. Each claim is represented by a bunch of cards which detail all you need to know about extracting gold from that claim – what tools are needed and how much gold comes out.

Things you can buy

You have $50 worth of stuff left over from the journey here.

Professional Skills

Pick 3 to be expert in (except only 2 f you have prospecting*). All are a bit useful but some are more use than others. You are expert in any skill you choose. You may be a legend in one skill at the cost of 2 picks - shown as eg Scout+ in the game documentation.

*If you choose Prospecting you must be a legend to balance its extreme utility (legend much better than expert but the increase may not actually prove very helpful).

Game sequence

Go to a claim zone.

Read the card.

You may be able to survey the site or mine it straight away. A survey takes a week but this can be the week the card is inspected. Subsequent more advanced surveys will take a week each.

To survey it, spend the tools required, then keep following cards.

If you want to set up a mine you need the tools and labour it says on the card. Keep following cards.

Events

These take place if you start mining, mostly. If not otherwise noted events take place on a roll of 1 on 1d6. Roll every week.

Some take place automatically - effectively these are a further part of the card you have just activated.

Labour

This is a time bottleneck. Each person contributes 1 labour per week. Usually a working mine will need one labour to run - this is the case unless it says otherwise. They occasionally produce x gold per labour or need more than 1 labour.

Sometimes Burros or steam engines can substitute for people (eg pumping but not digging), but a card will say detail how this works.

Registering claims

Every one can register one claim but may change which one. If a claim is not worked for two weeks running it lapses. Judge Pickles deals with registry and disputes thereover.