The first thing you need to know about Vegas Showdown is that it's not a gambling game. There's no doubling down on an ace-9 or buying odds on a hard eight. This game is about Vegas as a business proposition. You'll win or lose a fortune by building a mega-casino, not by betting in one.
You're not just building any two-bit slots parlor here. This is The Strip, where everything is larger than life.
Who Wants To Be a Multimillionaire?
Start with a pile of cash and a vision. Turn the cash into the vision. Easy!
Only it's not. Yours isn't the only casino being built, and construction resources are limited. Each of those operators is bidding against you, trying to fill their own palace with the best amenities, the most exciting attractions, and the most lucrative gambling floors.
Construction resources are represented by tiles. "Basic" tiles -- basic slots, basic lounge, and basic restaurant -- are always available. Customers, however, can find those anywhere in Las Vegas.
To really bring in people and cash, you'll need to offer something better, represented by "Premier" tiles. These, however, are in very limited supply. In a four or five player game, only four premier tiles are available at any time. In a three player game, only three are available at one time.
As premier tiles become available, they are placed on the game board. Once on the board, players can bid on those tiles.
Here's where the game gets cutthroat. The table shows that there are plenty of basic tiles to go around and enough of the mid-level tiles (Fancy Slots, Sports Book, Fancy Lounge, Fancy Restaurant) if no one gets greedy.
| Tile |
Size |
Type |
Population |
Revenue |
Fame |
# Available |
| Slots |
small |
basic |
|
1 |
|
16 |
| Lounge |
medium |
basic |
|
|
2 |
10 |
| Restaurant |
large |
basic |
2 |
|
|
7 |
| Fancy Slots |
small |
premier |
|
1 |
2 |
5 |
| Dragon Room |
small |
premier |
|
4 |
6 |
1 |
| Table Games |
medium |
premier |
|
1 |
|
3 |
| High Rollers Room |
medium |
premier |
|
3 |
2 |
2 |
| Sports Book |
large |
premier |
|
2 |
|
4 |
| Space Age Sports Book |
large |
premier |
1 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
| Fancy Lounge |
medium |
premier |
1 |
|
4 |
4 |
| Theater |
large |
premier |
1 |
|
12 |
1 |
| Night Club |
large |
premier |
|
|
8 |
2 |
| Buffet |
large |
premier |
3 |
1 |
|
3 |
| Fancy Restaurant |
small |
premier |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
| Five Star Steakhouse |
medium |
premier |
2 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
Certain tiles, however, are in very short supply. In fact, the Dragon Room, Space Age Sports Book, Theater, and Five Star Steakhouse are unique. If you land one of those, your casino will be the only place in town with such an exclusive attraction.
You can't just plunk down a Five Star Restaurant in any old hotel-casino, however. Top-tier attractions need support, as shown on the Building Prerequisites chart. If you want to put that Theater in your hotel-casino, you need to first build a Lounge and a Fancy Lounge. Before setting up the Dragon Room, you need to have Slots and Fancy Slots.
Given the unpredictability of fate, it's possible that unique tiles can become available before their prerequisites. When that happens, you have two choices:
- buy that unique tile before someone else and set it aside, generating no income or traffic from it, until you get its prerequisite built, or
- wait and hope that someone else doesn't buy that unique tile out from under you.
Vegas Showdown: Premier!
Vegas Showdown: Welcome To the Strip!
Vegas Showdown: Get On the Board!
Vegas Showdown: Architecture 101!
