King Coal was produced by Westar Mining (a now-defunct Canadian company) as a promotional game, although it is unclear how many copies ended up being distributed, or to whom. In the game, each player proceeds through a series of initial phases in order to get an operating coal mine - exploration to find coal deposits (either small or large), proving-up, capitalization (capitalizing a small mine brings less cash, but requires a smaller winning total as well), and construction. After a player has finished construction, his or her mine begins production, which is the main part of the game. Each turn, the inflation rate is determined, each player decides whether to run their mine at full production, reduced production, or not at all, and pays the appropriate costs. There are costs for labor, ports, rail, power, and equipment. After costs are paid, market price is determined and players collect revenue. There are card decks associated with production and marketing which may affect results (there are also cards for earlier phases). Players can purchase various assets to produce better results or avoid bad events - they can buy production contracts, marketing contracts, pollution control systems, and insurance policies. Also available are assets associated with all costs except labor - a player purchasing one of these receives the appropriate costs each turn instead of the bank. These assets can be taken over by other players. There is also a simplified version of the game which begins in the construction phase and eliminates some of the event cards and minor assets.

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