Empire (Nano 9 Game)

At the turn of the century, you build your own industrial empire: construct factories, hire workers, produce goods, and sell them for profit. The only question is how wealthy you will be when you retire.

Within 30 years, spread over 15 game rounds, your factory empire will emerge. Produce capital, raw materials, commodities, and finished goods, and generate as much profit as possible.

Game Material

9 game cards, 7 D6s for worker tracking (worker dice), 1 D6 for the market (market die), 1 D6 for managers (manager die), and 9 Eurocubes (8mm recommended) as markers.

Round Sequence

Each round is divided into three phases: Set Market, Perform Actions, Maintenance and Time Progression.

Phase 1: Set Market

Roll the market die and place it next to the market. The rolled number shows you in the corresponding row how much capital or profit you receive for each unit of resource sold in Phase 2 of this round.

Phase 2: Perform Actions

You may now perform up to 4 actions, each at most once, in the order listed below. Individual actions can be skipped (e.g., skip A, B, perform C, D): Sell resources and/or capital for profit; Hire and/or move workers; Build a building or trigger an event; Produce resources and/or capital.

Phase 3: Maintenance and Time Progression

Overstaffed buildings can incur additional costs and maintenance obligations.

In years 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30, increasing wage costs are incurred for all workers whose die value exceeds the personnel requirement of the respective building (the central factory is not considered here). For each overstaffed building, you pay capital equal to half the current market die value, rounded down. If your capital is insufficient, the affected worker die is reset to 1, and the building must be re-staffed.

In years 8, 18, and 24, building upkeep and maintenance costs are due (again, the central factory is not considered here). For each building constructed, you pay two of the resources originally needed for construction; the choice is yours. Then, you reduce the corresponding resource value in one of your buildings. For each unit you cannot pay, you deduct 1 unit of profit.

At the end of each round, the marker on the timeline advances one space. The game ends after the 30th year.