We've all heard the expression -- "more money than he knows what to do with." Ever wonder what that would be like? It's hard to imagine, isn't it?

Vegas Showdown, the upcoming game from Avalon Hill, puts you in the shoes of a bored multimillionaire. With nothing better to do, you and your multimillionaire cronies decide on a bet -- each of you will design and construct an immense hotel-casino on the Vegas Strip. It's a winner-takes-all contest. Whoever builds the most prestigious establishment wins them all!

Just as Las Vegas represents no-holds-barred entertainment, Avalon Hill has cut no corners in producing Vegas Showdown. In your game, you'll receive

• 1 Game Board
• 80 Money Chips (white, red, and green)
• 33 Event Cards
• 1 Turn Order Button
• 2 Reference Charts
• 5 Hotel-Casino Layout Sheets
• 20 Player Markers
• 5 Revenue Markers
• 5 Population Markers
• 5 Fame Markers
• 5 Bid Markers
• 4 Minimum Bid Markers
• 6 No-Bid Markers
• 76 Hotel-Casino Feature Tiles
• 26 Small Tiles
• 20 Medium Tiles
• 17 Large Tiles

Game Board

The game board in Vegas Showdown is a masterpiece of display and functionality. It serves many purposes --

• Keeping score
• Storing remaining basic tiles
• Displaying available premier tiles
• Recording minimum and actual bids for tiles
• Marking who's renovating and garnering publicity

Tiles and Layout Sheets

Feature tiles are the heart of Vegas Showdown. These are what you compete for against the other players, what you arrange strategically on your layout sheet, and your primary source for income and game-winning fame.

As you purchase tiles, they get arranged on your layout sheet to show your hotel-casino's floorplan. Clever and aggressive layout can garner you extra points at the end of the game. That calls for not only careful placement of your tiles but also strategic bidding and timing of purchases.

Markers

Each player has four markers. The revenue marker tracks how much money your hotel-casino is capable of bringing in (but not how much it actually brings in), the population marker tracks how many people your hotel-casino attracts, the fame marker tracks how well you've succeeded at building the most famous hotel-casino on the Strip, and the bid marker tracks your current bid for limited building resources.

Event Cards

Las Vegas is a vibrant building market where unexpected events can seriously hinder or aid your construction project. The more people build, the more these events come into play. Events can raise or lower the minimum bids for premier tiles, make bidding more or less expensive, alter the public's mood about what it wants in a hotel-casino, give you influence with construction unions or turn them against you, pack the town with conventions, or park the taxman at your door.

Those are the major components of Vegas Showdown. Next, we look at what this game's really about.

Vegas Showdown: Premier!
Vegas Showdown: Welcome To the Strip!
Vegas Showdown: Get On the Board!
Vegas Showdown: Architecture 101!