Ruling — Underwater Cities

You asked

How do I set up the game?

Answered counted as answered

Asked with: Underwater Citiesbg-247763-en-1e

To set up the game, follow these steps: 1. Place the main game board in the center of the table [1]. * The board is two-sided; use the side shown in the instructions for a 3 or 4-player game and the other side for a 2-player game [1]. * If playing with fewer than four players, leave the action-cloning tile in the box [2][1]. * Use a specific number of symbiotic cities (purple domes): 7 for two players, 10 for three players, and all 13 for a four-player game [2][1][3]. 2. Keep components representing cities, tunnels, buildings, and resources in a common supply [1]. 3. Separate the one- or two-credit Special cards deck and place the top card face up [1]. 4. Shuffle the Era I cards face down and place the deck on the main game board [1]. 5. At the start of the game, draw 6 cards from the Era I deck, choose 3 to keep, and discard the other 3 [4]. 6. Place the era marker on the starting space of the era track [1]. 7. Place one score marker for each player on the zero space of the scoring track [1]. 8. If using government contracts, shuffle the contract cards deck, draw 3 at random, and place them on the spaces of the main board [3]. 9. For the Federation track, place players' markers on separate spaces in reverse play order [5]. 10. Set up player boards: * Each player chooses a color and takes the 3 action tiles, the Personal Assistant card, and the final scoring card in that color [6]. * Each player takes a different player board, chosen at random [6]. * Each player takes a player info card [6]. * For your first game, use the side of the player board depicted in the instructions (side #1-4) [6]. * Your nation's infrastructure begins with a nonsymbiotic city (white dome) in the lower right corner of your board [6]. * Separate brown hexagonal metropolis tiles from blue ones; mix the brown ones and randomly give one to each player, then mix the blue ones and randomly give two to each player [6]. * Place your brown metropolis on the hexagonal space in the upper left corner of your board, and assign the other two randomly to the remaining two spaces [6]. 11. Each player starts with 1 kelp, 1 steelplast, 1 science, and 2 credits (note that some players may receive additional resources once the order of play is determined) [6].

[1] RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook · p.4 ·

[2] RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook · p.4 · SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS

[3] RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook · p.18 · FREQUENTLY OVERLOOKED RULES · /angle-double-right 1) GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS · /angle-double-right 2) THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLAYER BOARDS · /angle-double-right SURCHARGES

[4] RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook · p.7 · /angle-double-right PLAY ORDER · /angle-double-right A TURN

[5] RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook · p.12 · /angle-double-right THE FEDERATION TRACK · EXAMPLE: · /angle-double-right DRAWING SPECIAL CARDS

[6] RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook · p.6 · SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS · /angle-double-right PLAYER BOARD SETUP

🔧 debug — where this ruling came from

outcome: ANSWERED — Answered
corpus profile: live
answerer pin (deploy-frozen, attribution only): gemma4:26b think:false 5571076f3d70
timings: search 291 ms · ask 15040 ms · total 779695 ms
single-flight (PR-5): queued 764351 ms · generation 15344 ms
retrieval refs (raw): [{"page": 4, "score": 0.04918, "snippet": " MAIN GAME BOARD CITIES (DOMES) (USE 13 SYMBIOTIC CITIES IN A FOUR-PLAYER GAME) BUILDINGS GREEN ACTION SLOTS GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS (USE THESE SPACES ONLY DURING ADVANCED GAME WITH GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.) ALWAYS-A VAILABLE ACTION SLOT YELLOW ACTION SLOTS RESOURCES (CREDITS) TUNNELS RED ACTION SLOTS AC", "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 4, "score": 0.047371, "snippet": "W hen setting up the game for fewer than four players, make two changes: Leave the action-cloning tile in the box. Use fewer symbiotic cities (purple domes): With two players, use 7 symbiotic cities. With three players, use 10. A four-player game uses the action-cloning tile and all 13 symbiotic cit", "headingPath": "SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 6, "score": 0.047183, "snippet": "E ach player chooses a color and takes the 3 action tiles, the Personal Assistant card and final scoring card in that color. Although the Personal Assistants have different illustrations, they all have the same effect. Each player should also take a player info card. E ach player starts with 1 kelp,", "headingPath": "SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS · /angle-double-right PLAYER BOARD SETUP", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 18, "score": 0.046642, "snippet": "T o play Underwater Cities by yourself, use the advanced side of a player board and the two-player side of the main board. The number of symbiotic domes is not limited in this variant. Set up the game as you would for two players, except do not use this metropolis tile (shown here). T ake three tile", "headingPath": "/angle-double-right 3) SOLO GAME · /angle-double-right GAMEPLAY · /angle-double-right GOAL", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 6, "score": 0.03125, "snippet": "T wo tracks determine the order of play. The play-order track shows the order of play for the current round. The Federation track is where players jockey for position for the next round. F or the first round, place the play-order markers on the play-order track randomly. Then, on the Federation trac", "headingPath": "ORDER OF PLAY", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 7, "score": 0.030303, "snippet": "P layers take turns choosing actions. They play in the order depicted on the play-order track, and this order does not change during the round. Y ou always start your turn with 3 cards. On your turn, you play one card and simultaneously choose one of the available action slots. That is, you choose a", "headingPath": "/angle-double-right PLAY ORDER · /angle-double-right A TURN", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 5, "score": 0.030214, "snippet": " ERA I, II AND III CARD DECKS VARIOUS COMPONENTS THREE-CREDIT SPECIAL CARDS SCORING TRACK RESOURCES (KELP) RESOURCES (STEELPLAST) RESOURCES (SCIENCE) RESOURCES (BIOMATTER) PLACE THE ERA MARKER ON THE FIRST SPACE OF THE ERA TRACK. ERA TRACK PLACE ONE SCORE MARKER FOR EACH PLAYER ON THE STARTING", "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 13, "score": 0.029851, "snippet": "The always-available slot allows you to gain 2 cards and 2 credits. Note: Some Special card effects allow you to use the action depicted at an action slot. These effects apply only to the colored slots, not to the always-available slot. In a four-player game, the important action slots become occupi", "headingPath": "/angle-double-right THE ALWAYS-AVAILABLE SLOT · /angle-double-right THE ACTION-CLONING TILE (4 PLAYERS) · /angle-double-right ONE-TIME USE · /angle-double-right SUMMARY OF CHOOSING AN ACTION SLOT · TIMING", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}]
citations (raw): [{"page": 4, "quote": null, "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 4, "quote": null, "headingPath": "SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 18, "quote": null, "headingPath": "FREQUENTLY OVERLOOKED RULES · /angle-double-right 1) GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS · /angle-double-right 2) THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLAYER BOARDS · /angle-double-right SURCHARGES", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 7, "quote": null, "headingPath": "/angle-double-right PLAY ORDER · /angle-double-right A TURN", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 12, "quote": null, "headingPath": "/angle-double-right THE FEDERATION TRACK · EXAMPLE: · /angle-double-right DRAWING SPECIAL CARDS", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}, {"page": 6, "quote": null, "headingPath": "SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS · /angle-double-right PLAYER BOARD SETUP", "sharpsignalDocId": 265}]
boost provenance — errata + base rulebook (E2/E3): no registered errata card matched this query; base rulebook doc 265 boosted; rulesage.errata.boost-enabled=true, rulesage.errata.supersedence-enabled=true
base rulebook doc 265 boosted
answered-before recall: this ruling was answered, so past rulings were not offered
similarity threshold in force: 0.55 (rulesage.answered-before.similarity-threshold; the exact-question tier is not gated by it)
debug row retained until: Nov 6, 2026 14:21

retrieval — what the search arm returned

score = the fused retrieval score (reciprocal-rank fusion over the search arms) — NOT a cosine similarity. This ruling ran the THREE-ARM fuse (full-text + vector + the doc-priority boost arm, which carried the base rulebook and/or the errata corrections this query matched), whose arithmetic ceiling is 0.04918 — all three arms ranking the same chunk #1 (ceiling = arms/(k+1) at k=60). The measured healthy band 0.016–0.033 was measured on TWO-arm asks and does not bound this one: its high end is the two-arm ceiling, and a third arm has room above it. A chunk only one arm ranked highly lands near 0.016 (that one arm's #1 vote), so 0.03 here is an excellent hit, not a 3% match.

per-arm ranks (the rank each search arm gave a chunk): NOT DISCLOSED by the gateway. Fusion happens gateway-side and only the FUSED score crosses the wire, so rulesage cannot show them without a gateway change. The rank column below is the FUSED rank (position in the returned list), which is real.

token count per chunk: NOT DISCLOSED — chunk token counts are not reported on the ask path. The character counts below are of the bounded snippet/quote rulesage actually received — a real measurement of what we hold, never an estimate of the chunk.

fused rank	document	heading	page	fused RRF score	snippet chars
#1	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)		p.4	0.04918 (at the 3-arm ceiling (0.04918) — every arm ranked it #1)	300
#2	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS	p.4	0.047371 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#3	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS · /angle-double-right PLAYER BOARD SETUP	p.6	0.047183 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#4	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	/angle-double-right 3) SOLO GAME · /angle-double-right GAMEPLAY · /angle-double-right GOAL	p.18	0.046642 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#5	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	ORDER OF PLAY	p.6	0.03125 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#6	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	/angle-double-right PLAY ORDER · /angle-double-right A TURN	p.7	0.030303 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#7	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)		p.5	0.030214 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#8	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	/angle-double-right THE ALWAYS-AVAILABLE SLOT · /angle-double-right THE ACTION-CLONING TILE (4 PLAYERS) · /angle-double-right ONE-TIME USE · /angle-double-right SUMMARY OF CHOOSING AN ACTION SLOT · TIMING	p.13	0.029851 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300

chosen chunks — what the answer actually cited

#	document	heading	page	quote chars
[1]	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)		p.4	no quote on the wire
[2]	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS	p.4	no quote on the wire
[3]	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	FREQUENTLY OVERLOOKED RULES · /angle-double-right 1) GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS · /angle-double-right 2) THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLAYER BOARDS · /angle-double-right SURCHARGES	p.18	no quote on the wire
[4]	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	/angle-double-right PLAY ORDER · /angle-double-right A TURN	p.7	no quote on the wire
[5]	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	/angle-double-right THE FEDERATION TRACK · EXAMPLE: · /angle-double-right DRAWING SPECIAL CARDS	p.12	no quote on the wire
[6]	RULEBOOK Underwater Cities — Rulebook (corpus doc 265)	SETUP FOR 2 OR 3 PLAYERS · /angle-double-right PLAYER BOARD SETUP	p.6	no quote on the wire

generation — timing and the path taken

timing split: retrieval 291 ms · first delta 10999 ms · total 779695 ms (retrieval and first-delta both measured from the START of gateway work, so first-delta INCLUDES retrieval — do not subtract)
full breakdown: queued 764351 ms · retrieval 291 ms · ask 15040 ms · gateway work 15344 ms · total 779695 ms
tokens in (the prompt the answerer read): 3538
tokens out (what the answerer generated): 590
tok/sec: 137.4 tok/sec — 590 output tokens in 4.295 s of generation
live seat (read from the running child): answering — gemma4:26b think:false · num_ctx 32768 (live-verified 15s ago)
stream path: streamed — the gateway pushed at least one accumulated draft
watchdog: first-token watchdog: 30s per arming window (rulesage.table.first-token-watchdog-seconds), re-armed once by the passages frame — so the worst case before a reader falls back to polling is 60s. Whether it actually fired is a BROWSER-side decision that never reaches the server, so it is not recorded here. The stream path above is the server's half of that story: whether a delta was emitted at all.
num_ctx · think posture: both are the CHILD's settings, not rulesage's, and no ask reply carries them — an answer never states which context window or think posture produced it. The live-seat line above reads them from the running child instead, where the gateway can answer for itself; it describes the child NOW, not this ask.

disposition

outcome: ANSWERED — Answered
abstain rationale (n/a — this ruling answered): answered — no abstain rationale applies

setup-shape — why the checklist band did or didn't render

decision: NO_APPROVED_CHECKLIST — setup-shaped, but no approved setup checklist exists for this game
pattern that matched: SETUP — "setup" / "set up"
matched words (in the normalized question): set up

errata registry — what the gate above had to match against

this game registers NO errata cards (edition 193), so "no registered errata card matched" above could never have matched one

Errata scope: the gate above matched this ruling's own edition only. When an ask also reads an expansion, that expansion's own registered errata cards stay outside the match — a stated phase-1 limitation, not a failed lookup.