How to Serve Man Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What's Inside the Box?
• Overview
• Setting Up the Game
  • Chef tokens
• Learning Your Way Around Space Kitchen Arena
  • A - Ingredient Stations
  • B - Cooking Stations
  • C - The Presentation Table
  • D - Appliances
  • E - The Cookbook
  • The Score Track
  • The First Player Token
  • What happens when there are no more ingredients available?
• Gameplay
  • Ingredients
  • Recipe Cards
  • Completing a Recipe
  • Events
    • Event Clarifications
• Judges
• Ending the Game
• Example of Play
• Gameplay Variants
  • Team Battle
  • Deathmatch

What's Inside the Box?

• 150 Cards: 30 Appetizer Recipe Cards, 30 Entree Recipe Cards, 30 Dessert Recipe Cards, 30 Judge Cards, 30 Event Cards
• 1 Board
• 6 Playmats
• 12 Sous-Chef Pawns (6 colors)
• 6 Master Chef Pawns (6 colors)
• First Player Token
• Rulebook
• 39 Meat Meeples (4 colors)
• 39 Vegetable Blocks (4 colors)
• 15 Sauce Blocks
• 45 Pantry Ingredient Blocks
• 6 Score Track Tokens

Overview

Each turn, players assign their available chefs one-at-a-time to different areas of Space Arena Kitchen in an effort to collect the ingredients for their recipes. Starting with the first player, play proceeds clockwise with players hoarding resources, completing recipes, and playing event cards until all of the chefs have been placed and the round ends.

Once the round is over, all players collect their Chefs from the board (unless they have been removed from play). The First Player marker is passed clockwise and the next turn begins. If a player passes 50 points in a round, the game ends at the end of that round, bonus points are awarded, and a winner is declared.

Setting Up the Game

1. Layout the game board on a flat surface easily within reach of all of the players and place all of the ingredient tokens nearby.
2. Assign each player a Chef Playmat and their matching set of Chef tokens.
3. Shuffle the Event deck. Place these cards next to the board.
4. Shuffle each Recipe Deck and place them next to the board. Each player draws two cards from each Recipe Deck.
5. Each player takes one of each of the five Raw Ingredient tokens (Meat, Vegetable, Spice, Carb and Fat) and places them on their Playmat.
6. Shuffle the Judges deck. Deal three Judges to each player. Each player selects one Judge and places it into their stable, then returns the remaining cards to the deck.
7. Reshuffle the Judges deck and deal three Judges face-up near the board to create the Judges Panel. Place the Judges deck near the Judge Panel.
8. Determine who will be the starting player by rolling dice, drawing straws, who was last abducted, etc. Give that player the First Player token. The First Player then places their Score Track token on the number "1" on the score track. The player to their left places their token on "2." Continue doing this for all players, each subsequent player starting with one more point than the player ahead of them.

You are now ready to begin cooking up human meats for fun and fortune. Good luck, Chefs!

Chef tokens

Each player has 2 Chef Token types, a Master Chef and Sous-Chefs. When a Chef has been placed on the board or has been moved to the Event deck, they are Assigned. Any Chef not currently on the board or the Event deck is Available. Both types of Chef are used in essentially the same way, but the Master Chef has a few special qualities.

• Using a Master Chef at the Presentation Table will award a player with three bonus Victory Points because of the flair and style with which they present their dish.
• Master Chefs can be assigned to stations where there is already an opponent's Sous-Chef and no other Master Chef. The Sous-Chef stays in the space as well.
• Only a Master Chef may use The Cookbook space.

Learning Your Way Around Space Kitchen Arena

The Game Board represents Space Kitchen Arena, an intergalactic colosseum of culinary combat in orbit around Alpha Orionis. It is fully equipped to handle the fierce food fight that is about to ensue.

A - Ingredient Stations

• The Meat Pens: This is where the succulent humans are stored alive to ensure peak freshness. Assigning a Chef to this space allows players to take two Raw Meat Meeples from the supply. Any number of Chefs can be assigned to this space during the round.
• The Vegetable Bins: Assigning a Chef here gets a player two Raw Vegetable tokens from the supply. Like the Meat Pens, there is no waiting at the Veggie Bins, so you may place any number of Chefs here.
• The Pantry: Chefs assigned to the Pantry may take two tokens - Fat, Carb or Spice - in any combination. Once again, there is no limit to the amount of Chefs that may be in the Pantry at once.

B - Cooking Stations

There are four Cooking Stations where Chefs can turn Raw Ingredients into cooked ones.

Each of these stations has two spaces where Chefs can be placed. The solid space is for a 2-4 player game. The dotted line space is for a 5-6 player game. Only one Sous-Chef may occupy these spaces at a time. A Master Chef may use their ability to join a Sous-Chef also use a cooking station.

• The Oven: Chefs can trade in a Meat or Veggie along with a Carb token to turn them into a Baked ingredient of the same type.
• The Fryer: Chefs can trade in a Meat or Veggie along with a Fat token to turn them into a Fried ingredient of the same type.
• The Boiler: Chefs can trade in a Meat or Veggie along with a Spice token to turn them into a Boiled ingredient of the same type.
• The Blender: Stick any two ingredient tokens in and blend them together for a yummy Sauce token.

C - The Presentation Table

Once a player has assembled enough ingredients to complete a Recipe, it's time to present it to the Celebrity Judge Panel. Players must assign a Chef here to turn in their Recipe Card and ingredients before being awarded Victory Points.

Any number of Chefs can be assigned here during a given round. Using your Master Chef here shows the judges the respect they deserve, resulting in three bonus Victory Points (See "Completing a Recipe").

D - Appliances

In addition to the three Cooking Stations, three specialty Appliance Spaces are available for Chefs who don't mind sacrificing a few points for a good meal. Like the Cooking Stations, only one Sous-Chef may use these spaces at a time.

• The Gamma Wave Oven: Allows a Chef to copy the effects of any of the three Cooking Stations, but at the cost of one Victory Point.
• The Replicator: Assigning a Chef here allows you to choose a Cooked ingredient token you already own and take one from the supply. Replicating items will cost players two Victory Points for every use.

E - The Cookbook

Only Master Chefs may use the Cookbook. When you assign one here, you may draw three new Recipe cards from any one Recipe Deck you choose. Then choose one card for your hand and replace the remaining two at the bottom of the deck from which they were drawn.

Thanks to the size of the book, two Master Chefs can be assigned to the Cookbook in one round. One Cookbook space also rewards players with two Victory Points for their initiative and boldness. The other space does not.

The Score Track

The Score Track surrounds the board spaces and is the way you keep score during the game. Move your Score Track token 1 space for each point you gain.

The First Player Token

What happens when there are no more ingredients available?

The Ingredients, both Raw and Cooked, are not infinite. If there is a time that you are supposed to take an Ingredient and there are none in the supply, you must instead take one from another player.

Gameplay

How To Serve Man is played in a series of rounds consisting of players assigning one of their available Chef tokens to spaces on the board and resolving the effects of that space.

Play starts with the players determining who will be the First Player. That player receives the First Player token. Play then progresses clockwise around the table with each player fully resolving their turn before the next player takes theirs, including any point scoring or penalties and resolving an Event Card after completing a Recipe.

If a player has no available Chef tokens to assign, they must pass their turn. If a player's Chef token becomes available later in the round, they are free to assign it on their turn only.

If no player has any available Chef tokens left, the round ends and all players collect their Chef tokens from the board. Chef tokens that are out of play because of an Event do not return to players until the Event that removed them resolves fully.

After all in-play Chef tokens are collected, the First Player passes the First Player token to the player on the left, and a new round begins.

Ingredients

There are 2 types of ingredients that the players will use to create their culinary masterpieces: Raw Ingredients and Cooked Ingredients.

Raw Ingredients can be obtained by placing Chefs onto the spaces that provide them. They are: Meat, Vegetable, Carb, Fat, Spice.

Cooked Ingredients have to be created at the appropriate spaces by combining Raw Ingredients. They are: Fried, Baked, and Boiled Meat; Fried, Baked, and Boiled Vegetables; Sauce.

Recipe Cards

The Recipe Cards come in three 30-card decks which represent the three courses players will be serving: Appetizer, Entree and Dessert. These cards show players which ingredients they will need to collect to complete them and how many points are scored for doing so. Completing Recipes is the primary means of scoring points in How To Serve Man.

Recipes are completed by placing a Chef at the Presentation Table and spending the ingredient cost listed on the Recipe card. The more complex the recipe, the more points it is worth. For example, Appetizers and Desserts are easier to complete than Entrees, but Entrees are worth a lot more points.

There is no limit to how many recipes of each course you are allowed to complete, but you can only present one at a time at the Presentation Table. Players are free to wow the judges any way they wish!

Completing a Recipe

1. Place the Recipe card onto the table so the other players can see what delicious treat you are preparing.
2. Claim one of the Judges from the Judge Panel and add it to your own stable of Judges. Replace the Judge card you claimed with one from the top of the Judges deck.
3. Spend the ingredients listed on the Recipe card you are completing by taking them from your Playmat and returning them to their respective supply piles.
4. Gain the Victory Points indicated by the Recipe's Point Value.
5. Gain or lose any Victory Points provided by any Judges you have claimed with "Immediate" rewards.
6. Draw and resolve an Event Card.

Events

Space is a vast expanse of unpredictable and chaotic forces, constantly colliding into each other with consequences that no one could possibly foresee. This final twist to our game reflects that uncertainty. The Event deck represents these random occurrences that are inevitable when staging a cooking competition in outer space.

Each time you complete a recipe (and finish all scoring for that recipe), you must draw the top card of the Event deck and resolve its effects. Some Event cards stay in play until the next Event is resolved. Some Events will pull Chefs from the board, and place them on top of the Event deck. If a Chef is returned to you by the resolution of a new Event, that Chef becomes Available and can be reassigned that turn.

Event Clarifications

• Some Event cards force players to place a Chef on top of the Event deck. These Chefs are considered to be out of play and do not become available at the end of the round. Instead, the Chef is returned to its player once a new Event Card has resolved.
• If an Event forces a Player to make a choice, that Player can choose either option as long as they have the ability to complete them both. If they can only complete one of the two actions, they must choose that one. For example, if a Player must make the choice between losing 2 points or discarding a Raw Ingredient token, the Player can choose to do either as long as they have at least 2 points and 1 Raw Ingredient token. If the player has only 1 point, they must discard the token. If they have 2 points or more and no token, they lose the points. If the player can complete neither action, the player lucks out and doesn't have to do anything.

Judges

Holovid stars, galactic politicians, star warriors, washed-up has-beens, they all want to be a Celebrity Judge on How To Serve Man. It's your job to impress these characters with your culinary acumen and score the points you need to be crowned Champion.

Sponsored Judges: During Game Setup, each player is dealt three Judges cards. Players choose one card, then return the others to the deck. This Judge will help the player form a strategy for the beginning of the game.

Claiming Judges: Each time you complete a Recipe, you choose one of the Judges from the Judge Panel, and place it next to your Playmat, adding it to your other claimed Judges. Immediately replace it with a new one from the deck.

Judge Bonuses: Every Judge has their own personal tastes, and will boost or penalize a player's score based on the Course or ingredients in the Recipe presented to them. These bonuses are based on the individual judge's timing. Judges with "Immediate" timing grant bonuses once a player completes a recipe. Judges with "End of Game" timing only activate once the final round of the game is completed. Some judges have bonuses or penalties with both timing types, and their cards indicate which effects happen when.

Any "Immediate" Judge you take awards its bonus points to whichever recipe caused you to claim it, as well as all subsequent recipes you complete.

During the course of a game, players will accumulate a pool of claimed Judges that will dramatically alter their scores, so completing Recipes that play to the preferences of Judges can be a winning strategy.

Ending the Game

Once any player has exceeded 50 points during a round, the end of the game is triggered. Play continues with all players placing their remaining Chefs or presenting Recipes until the round is over, even if the player that crossed 50 points is taken below 50 by some effect.

Once the last Chef has been placed and effects have been resolved, the competition is over. Each player scores any End of Game Judge bonuses or penalties. Once final scoring is completed, the player with the most points is Champion of Space Arena Kitchen.

Example of Play

Abby, Ben, Carrie and Dave decide to experience the thrill of cooking and feasting upon the various meats of their fellow humans by playing HOW TO SERVE MAN. After trading high-fives, they set up the game according to the "Setting Up The Game" section. After determining Abby to be the first player, they are now ready to start playing.

Abby takes her first turn by placing one of her two available Sous-Chefs into the open space at the Oven station. The action on the Oven allows a player to spend a Carb and a Raw Meat for a Baked Meat token, or a Carb and Raw Vegetable for a Baked Vegetable token. Abby spends a Carb and Raw Meat, so she can take a Baked Meat token from the Oven supply, putting it on her Playmat. Her turn is over.

Ben looks at his hand of Recipe cards and sees that he has the "SPICY LIVER STRIPS" card. This Recipe requires only a single Fried Meat token to complete, so he places one of his Sous-Chef in the open space on the Fryer station. He spends a Raw Meat and a Fat token to take a Fried Meat token similar to the action Abby took on her turn.

Carrie's turn is next, and she's not sure which Recipe she wants to complete. She remembers that her Sponsor Judge, Phrynas Tar, will give her 5 points for every Entree she has completed at the end of the game, and decides to try and complete her Entrees. Entree cards generally take more ingredients than the other courses, so she chooses to collect some more raw ingredients that she can cook up later. She places a Sous-Chef on the Meat Pens and takes two Raw Meat tokens as Dave begins his turn.

Dave is insulted by the Recipes he's been dealt, so he wants some better options. The Cookbook is a station on the board that will allow him to draw more Recipe cards. Because the Cookbook can only be used by a Master Chef, Dave places his Master Chef on the Cookbook, taking the open space that provides an additional 2 points immediately when it is used. Dave moves his colored token up two spaces on the Score track, giving him a total of 6 points before resolving the action on the space. He then draws three Appetizer cards, chooses one to add to his hand, and returns the other two to the bottom of the deck. Play then returns to Abby.

Abby sees that the "Backfat Asteroid Apple Crisp" Recipe card in her hand requires 1 Baked Meat and 1 Sauce token to complete. Since she already has the Baked Meat token from her first action, she now places her other Sous-Chef on the Blender. The Blender allows a player to spend 2 of any tokens to take a Sauce token from the supply. She spends a raw Vegetable and a Fat token and adds a Sauce token to her Playmat.

Ben looks to strike early, so he places his Master Chef token on the Presentation Table. He is going to complete a Recipe! He first scores his 3 bonus points for using his Master Chef to use the Presentation Table, taking his score from 2 to 5. After that, he chooses a new Judge to claim from the Judge Pool. He sees that one of the Judges in the pool is Korgus Kisrann, who provides an Immediate bonus of 2 points for every Fried Meat used, so he claims him, adding him to his Sponsor Judge, Grady the Galactic Wonderdog. A new Judge is then revealed and put into the Judge Pool. Next, he spends the Ingredients listed on the Recipe card, which is 1 Fried Meat, and scores the 2 points indicated on the card. This brings him to 7 points, and puts him in the lead. Finally, he checks his Judges. Korgus awards him 2 points because he used 1 Fried Meat in his Recipe. Ben is now at 9 points. His other claimed Judge, Grady, is both an Immediate and End of Game Judge. For now, Ben only checks the Immediate effect of Grady, which adds 2 points for any cooked Meat used. This increases Ben's score to 11. Impressive, but he still has a long way to go before crossing 50 points.

After Ben is finished with his scoring, he draws the top card of the Event Deck and reads it aloud. He draws Solar Flares which immediately allows all of the players to exchange one raw Meat or Vegetable for a Cooked Meat or Vegetable. Ben exchanges his raw Vegetable for a Boiled Vegetable. Carrie exchanges one of her raw Meat tokens for a Fried Meat. Dave exchanges a raw Meat for a Fried Meat. Because she doesn't have any raw Meat or Vegetables, Abby is unaffected by the Event.

The players continue placing their Chefs in the Kitchen until they are all placed and no longer available. Then the turn is over, and the players return their Chef tokens to their Playmat. The First Player token is passed to the next player clockwise, and the next turn begins.

After a player crosses 50 points, the turn will end at the end of the current round, and all End of Game Judge bonuses are calculated. Whoever is left with the most points is the WINNER!

Gameplay Variants

Team Battle

In this variant for 4 or 6 players, the players are divided into teams, with each player sitting around the table in alternating team order. The players start with no ingredients, and only 1 Recipe card from each course in their hands. Gameplay proceeds as normal, with the following changes:

• Each team selects one player to be their Top Chef. These players sit opposite from each other at the table.
• Each team shares an ingredient pool. All ingredients added or spent go into and come out of that shared pool.
• Each team shares claimed Judges, with each player's sponsor Judge and any claimed Judges they claim throughout the game, adding their bonuses to any Recipes completed, and apply their End of Game effects to the team total. For any decisions that need to be made (such as discarding 2 Judges from The Brood), are made by the Top Chef.
• Each team uses a single score track marker, determined by the Top Chef's color.
• Any Event card that references players in First Place, Last Place or any other position on the score track will instead refer to the team positions. If an event card requires a decision to be made (like returning Meat Tokens to the supply or losing points), the Top Chef makes that decision. If an Event places a Chef on the Event Deck, the Top Chef chooses one from any of his team's legal choices to fulfill the Event card.
• Once a team reaches 50 points, they move their Score track marker back to 0, and claim one of the two other unused score track markers from players on their team. If there are no unclaimed score track markers for them to claim, they win!

Deathmatch

In this variant for 2 players, each player starts 3 of each raw ingredient and 4 Recipe cards from each course. Before the first turn begins, take the top 8 cards from the Event Deck and set them aside to create the Timer deck. Play proceeds as normal, with the following changes:

• Both the 2-4 player and the 5-6 players spaces on the board are used.
• At the end of each turn, before Chefs are returned to the players, resolve the top Event card of the Timer deck.
• After the last card from the Timer deck is resolved, the game is over. Whichever player has the most points is the winner!