Rules ahead!
Unlike immigration forms, these actually make sense.
The goal of Unsettled is to be the first player to reach a certain number of Victory Points (VP). Players step into the shoes of new immigrants navigating the often confusing U.S. immigration system, each with their own unique background and dreams. To earn VP, you play "Milestone" cards from your hand, each one representing a major achievement on your journey—whether it’s personal, professional, or societal. The first player to play enough milestones and achieve their life’s purpose wins the game—because let’s be honest, we all just want to cross the finish line without losing our minds (or our dignity).
Gameplay
Start by separating the two decks—Resource Cards and Op Cards— into two piles, placed side by side. Shuffle both piles thoroughly. Each player begins with 6 Opportunity Cards in hand and no Resources.
If a player starts with a Milestone in their hand, they may choose to place it active on their board at the start of the game. (However, no Milestones with a Document icon are allowed—those are never free!). If a player isn’t happy with their starting hand, they can discard their entire hand and draw a new one once.
Who Goes First?
The player with the lowest-cost Milestone on their board goes first. In the case of a tie, the player who has spent the least amount of time in the country you're playing in will go first.
Starting Your Turn:
At the beginning of your turn, draw 2 Resource Cards and 1 Op Card. You will then have one Action to choose from:
◦ Play an Op Card from your hand.
-OR-
◦ Purchase a Milestone and place it face up on your board.
-OR-
◦ Pay to discard an Attack Card that is currently affecting you.
Milestone abilities can be used on the same turn the Milestone is purchased, so don’t hesitate to make the most of your new Milestone right away! Milestone abilities are always free, and you don’t need to spend an action to make use of them.
Discarding Cards:
Next to the draw piles, create separate discard piles for Opportunity and Resource cards. When an Opportunity Card is used, discard it face-up into the Opportunity discard pile. Likewise, when Resources are spent, they are placed in the Resource discard pile, also face-up. If either draw pile gets low, simply shuffle the discard pile to replenish the deck.
VP To Win:
*These point requirements were set with the goal in mind of a gametime of 30-45 mins. Make it your own! If you want a longer immigration journey, or want to include more players, feel free to increase or decrease the VP cap to however much you want!
Unsettled consists of two types of cards:
◦ Resource Cards
◦ Opportunity Cards
Resource Cards:
Resource cards are essential for playing Milestones and discarding active attacks. You may use any combination of resources in your hand to pay the cost of a Milestone or to discard an active Attack Card targeting you. There are no restrictions on the types of resources or how many you can use, so you can freely add up all available resources in your hand to meet the required cost.
*Just because a Milestone or an Attack card has a document Resource requirement listed, doesn't mean you need a document Resource specifically. You can also use 2 Influence, 4 Cash, or 8 Time Resources instead.
Opportunity Cards:
Also referred to as Op Cards, these cards offer a wide range of actions that can help you and hinder your opponents. Some Op Cards grant additional resources, actions, or other benefits. Others can be used to disrupt your opponents' progress by rendering their Milestones useless or interfering with their strategies.
Types of Opportunity Cards:
◦ Milestone Cards:
These cards are the only way to gain Victory Points (VP). Each Milestone has a cost, an ability, and a VP value. To play a Milestone card, you must use an action and spend resources to pay its cost. All milestones also have a special ability that you may use once on every one of your turns at no cost (no action required).
* Some Milestones, such as Marriage, Family, Visa, and Green Card say, "You may only have 1 on your board" at a time. If one of these Milestones is covered by an Attack card, you are still restricted from playing another identical Milestone from your hand. If the Milestone is removed from your board, then you may play another from your hand.
** Milestones of the same type are stacked on top of each other, so that bottom Milestones only show the VP value. You still benefit from the abilities of all Milestones, including when they are stacked (e.g. 3 Job Milestones stacked on top of each other would grant 3 additional Resources every turn, as well as 3 VP). Attack cards affect the entire stack, and collapse it so only the top Attack card is visible. Discarding the Attack card splays up the stack once again.
***If an Attack Card is covering an existing stack of 2 Jobs, for example, and the player plays a third Job Milestone, it is placed in a new stack. Once the Attack Card is removed, then the Job stacks are combined.
****If an opponent would play an Application Denied or a Family Separation, the targeted stack is discarded, rather than just the top Milestone.
Green Card:
This is a special Milestone that affects any Milestone or Attack Card that specifically has a Document Resource listed. For example, normally the Naturalize Milestone requires 3 Documents, 3 Influence, and 3 Cash (totaling a value of 42). While Green Card is active, you only need 3 Influence and 3 Cash (totaling a value of 18) to activate the Naturalize Milestone from your hand.
◦ Attack Cards:
These cards are a type of Op card that targets your opponents’ Milestone cards. When played, an Attack card covers a Milestone and renders it useless until the other player pays the cost to discard the Attack card. Not only does it block the abilities of the Milestone, it also subtracts VPs from their total score.
*Another way to remove an Attack Card is when confronted with a Natural Disaster. You may choose to discard the stack underneath an Attack Card, discarding it as well.
**Remember, Attack cards affect the entire stack, and collapse it so only the top Attack card is visible. Removing the Attack card splays up the stack once again.
Deport:
Deport is a special Attack card that is placed next to an opponents' active Milestones. While active, that opponent cannot play any new Milestones from their hand, or use any of their Milestone abilities currently active on their board. It cannot be discarded by a Natural Disaster.
◦ Defense Cards:
These cards are used to block aggressive actions against you, such as attacks on your Milestones, allowing you to protect your progress and maintain your advantage. These cards may be played at any time.
Lawyer: This card acts as an all-purpose shield, so that any player trying to affect your board must discard their Attack or Action card instead. The Lawyer card is discarded as well once activated. It cannot be used instead of Amnesty to discard an active attack card, but rather to prevent an attack card being played against you.
Bureaucratic Blitz: There is only 1 of these cards in the deck. It redirects an effect or attack to a different player. Redirecting an attack must have an effect on a different player. This card may not prevent a Processing Delay, as no other player is actively trying to Achieve a Milestone except you.
*When a Natural Disaster, Recession, or Pandemic is played, a Lawyer card will protect you, and a Bureaucratic Blitz will turn the effect on the player who used the Action, as well as keeping you safe.
◦ Action Cards:
Boost Actions:
These cards will give you extra actions, Resource cards, or Op cards immediately upon playing them.
Defense Actions:
This card will remove any active Attack Cards affecting your board, including Deport.
Attack Actions:
These cards will affect your opponents, by making them give up cards, discard active Milestones, or prevent them from playing a new Milestone.
NSA: This card applies to both Op Cards and Resource Cards in an opponents hand, and any card may be discarded.
Processing Delay: This Action must be played on an opponent's turn, forcing them to discard the Resources they planned to spend for the new Milestone. The Milestone returns to the owner's hand.
Event Actions:
These cards typically affect everyone at the table, excluding the one who played them. They often grant one additional action, so that playing an Event action is free.
Government Shutdown: This card also affects the person who played it, in which case everyone is restricted from playing a new Milestone until the end of that player's next turn.
Arguing with your friends about a specific ruling? Contact us! We're only human, and we can't see every possibility.
