Colleagues
Colleagues Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's in the Office
- 15 Work cards
- 15 Reprimand cards
- 10 Clerk Cards
- 60 Commitment cards (numbered 1-60)
- 31 Coffee tokens
- 3 Overtime cards
- 1 First Player token
Please note: artwork, illustrations, colors and components may vary without notice depending on the edition.
Setup
- Shuffle the Work cards and place them into 5 piles in a horizontal row. Place every pile face-up. These cards represent the tasks of your department during the working week.
- Do the same with the Reprimand cards, creating a parallel row, same way they are face-up. These cards represent the boss's mood on the different days of the week.
- Place the 3 Overtime cards to the right of the 5 Work cards, stacked from lowest to highest (lowest on top). Even this pile is placed face-up.
- Deal 2 face-down Coffee tokens to each player. Place the remaining ones next to the play area, always face down, representing the Coffee Room.
- Shuffle and place the Commitment deck within everyone's reach.
- Deal each player the 2 Clerk Cards of their assigned character. Each player places 1 of their Clerk Cards in a vertical row next to the Work and Reprimand cards, and keeps the remaining one in front of them as a reminder.
- The player who has been working in the same company or position the longest becomes the First Player and receives the First Player token (and the related 1 Extra Coffee token).
Token Values
Coffee tokens, +10 / -10 (x9 each): It increases/decreases the value of the Commitment card by 10.
ILLNESS (x4): The Commitment card is ignored during resolution.
MEETING (x9): The Commitment card is played face down. The token is spent.
Stay Under the Radar, Remain in the Middle
Each day of the week is defined by one Work card (value 1 to 4) and one Reprimand card (value 1 to 3). For every day, you must play one Commitment card from your hand.
The player who plays the highest card takes the Work card, while the player who plays the lowest card takes the Reprimand card.
The skill lies in playing cards so that you avoid having either the highest or the lowest card on each working day, thus escaping both the workload and the severe scolding from the higher-ups.
Working Week
The game takes place over three working weeks. Each week is divided into three phases:
- Phase 1 - Monday morning briefing
- Phase 2 - Midweek meeting
- Phase 3 - Friday recap
Phase 1 - Monday Morning Briefing
The First Player deals 6 Commitment cards to each player.
Each player may now decide to discard from 1 to 6 of the dealt Commitment cards and draw the same number from the deck.
Alternatively, a player may keep their hand as it is and take one extra Coffee token from the Coffee Room (if available).
Once every player has completed this step, the week can begin.
Phase 2 - Midweek Meeting
Players, in turn, must choose the day of the week (a column) in which to play one of their Commitment cards, placing it face up in their row. If you have a "MEETING" Coffee token, you may play the card face down discarding the Meeting token.
If the Commitment card played shows a Coffee icon, the player immediately takes one Coffee token from the Coffee Room.
After playing the card, a player may use one Coffee token (if they have any) to modify its effect. A Coffee token may be placed:
- on the Commitment card just played,
- or on one of their own Commitment cards already played in a previous turn.
Each player may add at most one Coffee token per turn, but may place more than one on the same Commitment card over the course of the week.
At the end of this phase, each player will have played 5 cards in their row. The sixth card remaining in hand will be used during the next phase.
Example. The LEADER plays a 58 on Friday (1). The card shows a Coffee icon, so the player takes a Coffee token (2). They may now play a token and decide to play the Illness token on Monday (3), where they had their highest card.
Phase 3 - Friday Recap
Continuing in order, all players must place their sixth remaining Commitment card in the Overtime column, to the right of their row. If the card shows a Coffee icon, the player immediately takes one Coffee token from the Coffee Room.
They may then place one last Coffee token to modify one of their Commitment cards played this week. All face-down cards are now revealed. Then resolve the effects for each day of the week, column by column.
Overtime:
- The player with the lowest-value Commitment card gains the First Player token (Stapler) and one Coffee token.
- The player with the highest-value Commitment card receives the top Overtime card.
Working days:
- The player with the highest-value Commitment card receives the Work card.
- The player with the lowest-value Commitment card receives the Reprimand card.
In case of a tie, priority goes to the player who played first in that turn. (Coffee token modifications are considered.)
Some Work and Reprimand cards show one or more Coffee icons. When these cards are received, the player takes the corresponding number of Coffee tokens from the Coffee Room.
Work and Overtime cards obtained during the week must be kept overlapping but with the values visible to all players. Reprimand cards are kept separately, in the same way.
At the end of the working week, all discarded Commitment cards are reshuffled into the deck, while used Coffee tokens return to the Coffee Room.
Example. Let's start with Overtime. The LEADER has the highest number and therefore receives the Overtime card with the +2. The INTERN is in the middle with their 10 and takes nothing, while OLDIE with the 2 becomes the first player for the next turn. She receives the Stapler and therefore a Coffee token. Now for Monday. LEADER and INTERN are sick and do not participate. OLDIE receives both the Work and the Reprimand card. (To be Continued)
Example (Continued). We reveal the face-down cards played with the Meeting token and proceed to assign the Work and Reprimand cards. On Tuesday, the LEADER has the lowest number and receives the Reprimand card +2 and a Coffee token, while OLDIE with the highest number receives the Work card +1 and a Coffee token. And so on for each remaining day.
Scoring
The game ends after the third working week, when there are no more Work and Reprimand cards visible on the table. At this point, proceed with final scoring.
Dismissal
Each player adds up the total value of their Reprimand cards.
The player with the highest total is dismissed and eliminated from the game.
They do not take part in the final scoring for victory.
Victory
The remaining players calculate their final score:
Add the total value of all their Work cards plus the Overtime cards they eventually obtained.
Then, subtract 1 point for each unused Coffee token they still hold.
The player with the lowest score is the winner.
Tie
In case of a tie, the winner is the player with fewer cards in the category being scored (Work or Reprimand).
If the tie persists, the result (victory or dismissal) is shared.
2 Players: The Grey Entity
When playing with 2 players, a virtual character is added to reach a total of 3 players: this is the Grey Entity.
In this mode, distribute 3 Coffee tokens to the players at the start of the game, and no Coffee tokens to the Grey Entity. Everything else remains unchanged.
Grey Entity Desk Setup
During desk setup, the Grey Entity receives:
- 1 Clerk card (like the other players)
- 5 face-down Commitment cards, placed next to the Clerk card, representing the character's working week MON-FRI
Working Week
When it is a real player's turn, they may choose to either:
- reveal one of the Grey Entity's Commitment cards,
- or spend one of their own Coffee tokens to look at it secretly.
The Grey Entity can receive Work and Reprimand cards, but does not participate in Overtime.
If it obtains Coffee tokens, it will always use them to lower its own final score.
The Grey Entity cannot be dismissed. Should it receive the highest number of Reprimands, it will still continue to compete for victory.
In case of a tie for victory, the Grey Entity wins.