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An effect created or an option granted by a rule on a card; something that the card rule allows or requires the player to do. This includes events, which are abilities played in the Events step. Sometimes card rules say "events and abilities"; this is a reminder, not an important distinction between the two.
An upgrade is above another when its icon is more distant from the player on the combined icon ribbon of the same attraction. An upgrade is neither above nor below any upgrade on a different attraction. “Above” does not refer to the stacking order of the physical card when it is tucked into the attraction. See: Below, below.
Each round, in the Park step, players get three actions in total to draw cards, build or demolish something in their park, or to look for loose change. Actions are taken one at a time, in turn with other players. Events or abilities may sometimes allow a player to take a fourth action.
When a card is built or moved so that it is in a location where it was not previously, then it has been added. See: Build, Move.
An attraction card is adjacent to another if it is placed immediately beside it, on either side. For example, the first attraction you build must be adjacent to your park entrance. Staff members and resources don't have a fixed location, and are not considered adjacent to anything.
An event affects you if the rules of that event would make a measurable change to anything you own or control, and the event is not blocked. You probably want to know if you can use Instant Karma on someone who just tried to hit you, and the answer is "only if they actually succeeded".
Directly subsequent to, straight away. This does not mean any other time later in the game.
In Unfair this means a non-negative integer. If a rule says you may do something any number of times, that number of times can be 0. We apologise for any distress caused to mathematicians and linguistics professors by the gross neglect of fractional, negative, irrational, and imaginary numbers in this definition. Unfair uses only natural numbers, as defined in the ISO 80000-2 standard.
To build or move an item so that it is connected to another item in play. The attached item moves with the main item, and cannot remain in play without it. The most common type of attached item is an upgrade on an attraction. Buried cards and staff powers are other examples.
A Park card that has the word "Attraction" as part of its card type. A card with Super Attraction – Thrill Ride is still an attraction; it's just not only an attraction.
When an upgrade refers to “the attraction”, it means “the attraction that this upgrade is built on”. An upgrade can’t be in play without being attached to an attraction, so to an upgrade, it’s clear which attraction is “the attraction”.
See: Icon size.
A space in which an attraction can be built. The park limits marked on your park entrance set the maximum number of attractions, and other cards may increase or decrease that limit. Your park always has a number of attraction spaces equal to its maximum number of attractions, and those attraction spaces exist even when they are empty.
If you are allowed to choose an attraction type, you can choose anything that occurs in the card type text on an attraction card, other than "Attraction" itself. Super, Theatre, Sideshow, Thrill Ride, Leisure Ride, Food Outlet, even just Ride by itself, all are acceptable choices.
This has the same meaning as 'open', but is used to refer to items other than attractions, such as staff members. A staff member is available when they are face-up in the park. See: Unavailable.
The money that a player has ready to spend. Their available coin total doesn't include any money that is attached to other cards, nor does it include money they could get by taking a loan.
An upgrade is below another when its icon is closer to the player on the combined icon ribbon of the same attraction. An upgrade is neither above nor below any upgrade on a different attraction. “Below” does not refer to the stacking order of the physical card when it is tucked into the attraction. See: Above, above.
To prevent an event from affecting you. When an event is blocked, it is not cancelled. Any effects it has on other players still happen.
To place a Park or Showcase card into your park that wasn't in play previously. The new card can come from the Market, your hand, your Showcase cards, or another source if a card allows it. Building usually requires paying the build price marked on the card's price tag, but in some cases it's discounted or free. See: Recruit.
The build price of a Park card is the price marked on the card in the blue price tag, adjusted by any events or abilities that change the price.
Some attractions have upgrades already built-in, as indicated by a second or third icon on the card. The rule box shows exactly which upgrade it is - with one exception for theme upgrades, where the icon letter indicates which theme is built-in. Built-in upgrades do not have their own star value or build price (the star and price belong to the attraction). If a built-in upgrade would be demolished by an event, the attraction it is part of closes instead. The upgrade is automatically repaired by the time it opens again.
To place a card face-down under another card in play. Once buried, the card is no longer active and has no special abilities. It is not turned face-up in the Cleanup step. Buried cards cannot be concealed completely from view, and the number of buried cards must be visible to competitors.
See: Guest capacity.
Each Park card has a line of text below its name indicating the type of that card. A card is all of the types indicated by each word in this line. For example, a "Super Attraction - Thrill Ride" is a "Super" card, an "Attraction" card, a "Thrill" card and a "Ride" card. Sometimes these types are used in pairs, such as "close all thrill rides". To be affected, a card must have both types, not just one of them.
To select an item or course of action from the available options. Choices are public information and must be announced or indicated to the other players at the time they are made. This occurs naturally in most cases because the chosen item is usually affected immediately after being chosen, but in cases where the effect is delayed, the choice must be announced immediately.
Each round a City card is revealed and played. These are events that are initiated by the City, not by any player. Any cards that talk about events, particularly blocking those events, work equally well on City events as on regular events.
The fourth step in a round. There is only one section to the Cleanup step. It is used mainly for resetting items before the start of the next round. In particular, all attractions reopen in this step, along with other closed or unavailable items.
See: Events step, Park step, Guests step.
To set an attraction to its closed state. This is indicated by turning the attraction card face-down. If a rule would apply the "close" effect to an attraction that is already closed (for example "close all sideshows" when one of your sideshows is already closed), the closed attraction is not considered a valid target for the effect and the attraction is ignored. The attraction is considered to have closed if it changed from open (face-up) to closed (face-down). See: Reopen.
When an attraction is closed, guests can’t use it. None of its stars are counted, including those on all of its upgrades. The attraction card is turned face-down when an attraction is closed, and any abilities on that card are not active, but abilities on the upgrades remain available. See: Open.
The standard currency. Yes, when it says "gain 1 coin", a "25" coin is technically one coin, but you know what it means, and so do the people you're playing with. [stern look] Yes, they could have been called "dollars" or "bucks", but they're not.
To remove coins or other tokens from a card and put them under your direct control so they are available for you to spend or use.
A player who is competing with you; specifically, any player except you.
A pile of cards, face-down, of one particular type such as Park, Event, Blueprint, or City.
To remove a Park card from your park and from play. When a card is demolished it usually goes to the discard pile. However, some attraction cards have built-in upgrades; if a built-in upgrade would be demolished, the attraction closes instead and the card does not leave play. When a card that has something buried under it is demolished, all buried cards are exhumed and discarded. See: Dismiss.
A Park card that has the word "Development" in its card type. Developments are placed to the left of your park entrance and benefit the entire park.
To place a card into its matching discard pile from wherever it currently is. Demolishing something usually leads to discarding it, but demolish and discard are not the same.
Cards that have been used and are no longer in play are added face-up to the discard pile for that card type. Cards in any discard pile are public knowledge and can be searched by any player at any time. Once the Park, Event, or Blueprint deck has been emptied, its matching discard pile is shuffled and turned face-down to become the new deck.
This has the same meaning as Demolish but is used to refer to staff members only. Demolishing people just sounds wrong.
To take one or more cards from the top of the specified deck. If an ability instructs you to draw cards, and gives no further instructions, then you keep them. Whether the cards become part of your hand depends on the type of card. Park and Event cards can go into your hand, but Blueprint and Showcase cards are placed face-down on the table in front of you. If an ability gives other instructions, such as 'choose one to keep and discard the rest' only the specified cards ever enter your hand, not all of them.
An attraction is the largest if its icon size is not exceeded by any other attraction. This means there can be more than one largest attraction. A rule or ability can apply to each one of those largest attractions.
This has the same meaning as Owner, but is used to refer to staff members only.
An ability that occurs in the Events step. The phrase 'events and abilities' is used with the intention of reminding that events are included, not to indicate that events are separate from abilities.
The first step in a round, consisting of a Draw section, a City section, and a Play section. All three sections together form the Events step. Each section is not a separate Event step by itself. An ability that happens once per Events step can only be used one time in the whole round.
Anything that is played or used in the Events step is considered an event. When the new City card is revealed, its rule is an event. Any Event card you play from your hand is an event. Any abilities on Park cards that are permitted in the Events step are also events.
If a rule or ability happens at the start of the Events step, it happens before the Draw section, but it is still an event. Normally you can only use your own events when it is your turn in the Play section, but you can block or react to an event no matter which section of the Events step it occurs in.
See: Park step, Guests step, Cleanup step.
To remove a buried card from under a card in play. Where it goes afterward is determined by the rule that exhumed it; if no instruction is given, the exhumed card is discarded. When a card that has something buried under it is demolished, all buried cards are exhumed and discarded.
Some events or abilities require some additional price to be paid before they can be used, either in coins, or by discarding cards or some other expenditure of resources. The extra cost is not an effect of that ability, it's a cost to activate it in the first place.
A round in which the current City card is a white-and-blue "Funfair" City card.
Take coins or other tokens from the central pool. If a card gains a coin or other token, it is placed on the card.
There’s one born every minute. Calculate the number of guests in your park by counting your park's star total, and limiting it to your park's guest capacity. Each guest pays an admission price to enter your park, measured in coins per guest. The base income rate is normally 1 coin per guest.
The maximum number of guests your park can hold. This is not the same as your maximum income, since there is no maximum to your income.
The third step in a round. There is only one section to the Guests step. This is the income step. The gates open and guests pay to visit your park.
See: Events step, Park step, Cleanup step.
A collection of Park and Event cards you hold in secret. The usual hand limit is 5, enforced during the Cleanup step at the end of each round. Blueprint and Showcase cards cannot be part of your hand. Ever.
The highest value in a group is one that has no number higher than it. This means that equal-highest is still the highest value. See: Outright highest. See: That's an outrage.
The gold strip that connects an attraction to its upgrades, shown on the left side of the card. When an upgrade is attached to an attraction, its icon becomes part of that attraction’s combined icon ribbon.
An attraction's icon size is how many icons its gold ribbon contains, including those on the attraction card itself and all of its upgrade cards. The total includes built-in upgrades – count every icon in the attraction's ribbon. The phrases 'icon size' and 'attraction size' are used interchangeably sometimes to prevent awkward phrasing.
As part of the same turn or action.
Any coins or other tokens you receive during the Guests step that come under your direct control and are available for you to spend or use. This includes coins and tokens gained from the central pool and any collected from cards in play. It does not include any coins or tokens gained by cards in your park, since those tokens are on the cards and not under your direct control.
Park cards and Showcase cards are in play once they are built until they are demolished. Event cards are in play once they are played until they are completed and discarded. Blueprint cards are in play once they are chosen by a player to keep, until they are discarded. Buried cards are in play until they are exhumed. City cards are in play from the time they are revealed as the current card until the end of that round. A card is still in play even if its abilities are not currently active.
A bureaucratic attack; the City Planning Office altering the city building codes and using the legal system to suit themselves. It can be blocked by having Powerful Friends or another injunction blocker.
A regulatory attack; the city enforcing the existing city codes. It can be blocked by having an appropriate Safety Certificate or another inspection blocker.
A physical attack; terrible people breaking into your park and then breaking things in your park. It can be blocked if you have Security Guards or another intrusion blocker.
If you keep a Park card or an Event card, it goes into your hand. If you keep a Blueprint card, it is placed face-down in front of you. Cards are not part of your hand until your keep them. If you are told to keep a certain number of cards from those you drew, and no other instruction is given about them, then the cards not kept must be discarded to their corresponding discard pile.
See: Highest.
Refers to having the largest icon size, not any other measure.
Put coins or other tokens you own into the central pool of tokens. The opposite of gain.
The lowest value in a group is one that has no number lower than it. This means that equal-lowest is still the lowest value. See: Outright lowest. See: That's an outrage.
When the price to build a Park card is shown on its price tag in Alien Influence, the card has a marked Alien Influence price. You can only pay that price using Alien Influence.
When the price to build a Park card is shown on its price tag in coins, the card has a marked coin price. If the price is marked in some other currency, then you must pay in that currency to build the card. If a card does not have any build price marked at all, or if the build price is not marked in coins, the correct marked coin price is "not applicable" rather than zero. You cannot choose such a card if an ability requires a card with a marked coin price. Discounts that affect the marked coin price do not affect cards that have no marked coin price. See: Build price.
A game piece used to represent some game state by its position in relation to another game element. Examples in Unfair include the Starting Player marker (in relation to a player) and the Current Step marker (in relation to the step track on the board). See: Token.
The six card spaces on the board where Park cards are displayed face-up. Cards revealed here can be built directly into your park without being taken into your hand, or they can be taken into your hand for later use. The Market is always refilled as soon as a card is removed.
Indicates an optional part of a rule. The choice to exercise the option must be made before proceeding to the next sentence.
In the case of a 4th-level tie-breaker, it may become vitally important to know whether someone is wearing Unfair merch. An item is Unfair merchandise if it has the Unfair logo applied in some location, and was purchased from an authorised seller of Unfair items. Shirts or pins are the most likely candidates, or perhaps the game box or even a steel-backed wall print, if you can satisfy the definition. See: Wearing.
A card moves when it's already in play and changes location from one attraction to another or from one park to another. The card does not go out of play when it moves, and it is not built or demolished, recruited or dismissed. Any special abilities that have already been used before the card is moved do not reactivate after moving. Any coins or tokens on the card or other items attached to the card move with it.
An informal term commonly used to mean taking a second chance at a something with no penalty. In Unfair, a mulligan applies to the starting hand, which can be discarded and replaced if it contains no attractions that can be built for coins and upgraded.
An upgrade that does not have the words “built-in” included in its card type.
When an attraction is open, guests can use it. All of its abilities are active, and its stars can be counted as part of your park's star total, along with those on all of its upgrades. See: Closed.
The highest number with no other numbers equally high; highest by itself. There is no outright highest if there is more than one item with the highest value.
The lowest number with no other numbers equally low; lowest by itself. There is no outright lowest if there is more than one item with the lowest value.
The player in whose park the card is located, or who played an event, is its owner. See: Employer.
Any attraction that has a panorama indicator on the bottom line of its card frame. Panorama markers are symbols that look like these examples:
Your park consists of the park entrance card (usually your Main Gate) plus the Park cards in play that you own, such as attractions, upgrades, staff members, and resources. Blueprints you have chosen to keep are also part of your park, along with any Event cards that have been played but not yet completed.
The second step in a round. All of the Park actions together form the Park step. Each action is not a separate Park step by itself. An ability that happens once per Park step can only be used one time in the whole round. Actions in the Park step include drawing cards, building items in your park, demolishing items in your park, and scrounging for loose change.
See: Events step, Guests step, Cleanup step.
To spend coins, other tokens, or other items from your available supply to receive some benefit. You cannot pay more than you have, and you can only pay with items you have available. Specifically, you cannot pay with items that are attached to cards, since they are not available to you. Items used as payment go back into the central pool unless otherwise specified.
To pin an Event card is to put it into play in your park, where it then stays active until it is discarded in the Cleanup step. Only Event cards that are marked with a pin symbol can be pinned; other Event cards are played and enacted immediately, then discarded once completed.
Playing a card means making the card active, usually using up your turn to do so.
See: Build price.
When asked to choose at random, shuffle the options and take the top one. Watching your opponent's face while you hover your hand over each card is not random.
This has the same meaning as build, but is used to refer to staff members only.
This glossary entry.
To set an attraction to its open state. The main attraction card is turned face-up when an attraction is reopened.
See: Close.
To show the face of a card to all players. If the card is revealed from a deck, it is removed from that deck and displayed to all players. If the deck is emptied in this process, it refills immediately as usual, even if the revealed card is later returned to the deck. If an ability instructs you to reveal a card and gives no further instructions, then the card is returned to its source after the ability ends.
A Park card that has the word "Resource" in its card type. Resources are placed to the left of your park entrance and benefit the entire park.
See: Icon ribbon.
Every dice roll in Unfair is always two six-sided dice rolled together to produce a result.
If a card ability allows a dice reroll, the reroll is always of two dice together, not one of them individually. See Roll.
To look through each item in a collection, usually a deck or pile of cards. This is not the same as revealing items one at a time until a certain item is found. When you search, you may look at all of the relevant items at once.
To mix cards face-down such that their order is not known to any player once the process is complete.
See: Lowest.
This has the same meaning as lose. Make of that what you will.
A Park card that has the words "Staff Member" in its card type. Staff members are placed to the left of your park entrance and benefit the whole park. They are not attached to any attraction. They can be recruited into your park or dismissed from it.
Each star value shows how attractive a Park card is to potential guests. Park cards have their star value marked with a gold star symbol. If a card does not have a Star value marked on it, or in the case of a built-in upgrade on an attraction, the star value is "not applicable" rather than zero. You cannot choose such a card or built-in upgrade if an ability requires a star value.
The star total of any item, whether it is a staff member, an attraction, or the entire park, is the total of the numbers on all the gold stars related to that item. For a park specifically, the star total in the Guests step excludes any closed attractions and their upgrades, and face-down cards such as unavailable staff members.
Take cards, coins, or other tokens from another player.
Used to indicate that all current rules still apply, usually in relation to placement of a card or token. If a rule would be broken by placing an item in that position, it is not a suitable position.
When you build or move upgrades, they must end up attached to a suitable attraction, meaning that all rules of the attraction and the upgrade must be followed. For example, a Picnic Area is not a suitable attraction to have any upgrade because a Picnic Area says on the card that it cannot be upgraded. Likewise, any thrill ride would not be a suitable attraction for Air Conditioning, because Air Conditioning says that it cannot be built on a ride.
The topmost upgrade on an attraction is the one whose icon is furthest from the player on the combined icon ribbon of the attraction. If the attraction has a built-in upgrade and no other upgrades, the built-in upgrade is the topmost upgrade, even though its icon is shown below the attraction icon. If there’s only one upgrade, it’s the topmost upgrade.
A game piece used to represent some value in the game. The value of a token does not change because of its location. Examples in Unfair include coins and Alien Influence. See: Marker.
Unfair's interpretation of the words "highest" and "lowest", which is an offence against natural law and a crime against language.
Players take turns in a clockwise sequence beginning with the starting player. Yes, it's clockwise as viewed from above the table. No, these rules are not from a mirror universe.
See: Attraction type.
This has the same meaning as "closed", but is used to refer only to staff members. It just sounds nicer. See: Available.
A round in which the current City card is a white-and-red "Unfair" City card.
A Park card that has the word "Upgrade" in its card type. Upgrades can only be built onto attractions in your park and must follow the suitable attraction rules. They cannot be built by themselves.
When guests pay admission, they're visiting your park. However, even if lots of people want to visit your park, you cannot have more guests visiting than you have guest capacity to hold them.
In the case of a 4th-level tie-breaker, it may become vitally important to know whether somone is wearing Unfair merch. You are wearing an item if it is connected to your body (either directly or indirectly) such that it will move with you when you move, and it doesn't require any active effort or special care on your part to maintain the connection. Thus you are holding a mug if you are using your fingers to grip the handle, and wearing it if you have, for example, tied it around your neck. Holding an item is not sufficient to win the tie-breaker.
Refers to the owner of the card. In the case of cards not owned by any player, such as City cards, "you" refers to each player individually when the rule is applied to them.
- End of glossary -
