La Pâtisserie Rococo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Board Layout
• Player Board Layout
• Setup
• Gameplay
• Phase 1: Preparation
  • A. New Ingredients
  • B. New Recipes
• Phase 2: Select Staff
  • Step 1: Select Your Own Staff
  • Step 2: Select New Staff
  • Step 3: Remove One Card from the Game
• Phase 3: Perform Actions
  • Details for the 9 Main Actions
    • 1. Acquire Recipes (Pastry Chef | Assistant)
    • 2. Acquire Ingredients (Assistant only)
    • 3. Buy Goods (Assistant only)
    • 4. Bake (Pastry Chef | Assistant)
    • 5. Decorate (Pastry Chef only)
    • 6. Deliver (Pastry Chef | Assistant)
    • 7. Hire (Pastry Chef only)
    • 8. Give Notice (Pastry Chef | Assistant)
    • 9. Place Service Staff or Noble Host (Pastry Chef | Assistant)
  • Special Bonus Tiles
• Phase 4: Gain Income (including at the end of the final Round)
  • Continue Play or Proceed to Final Scoring
• Final Scoring
• Staff Card Bonuses
  • Start Staff Cards
  • Level I - IV Staff Cards
  • Level I - IV Staff Cards (continued)
  • * Staff Cards
  • Special Bonus Tiles
• Solo Game
  • Additional Game Components
  • Setup
• Solo Gameplay
  • Phase 1: Preparation
  • Phase 2: Select Staff
  • Phase 3: Perform Actions
• Mentor Actions
  • 1. Acquire Recipes
  • 2. Acquire Ingredients
  • 3. Buy Goods
  • 4. Bake
  • 5. Decorate
  • 6. Deliver
  • 7. Hire
  • 8. Give Notice
  • 9. Place Service Staff / Noble Host
  • Special Bonus Tiles (Solo)
  • Phase 4: Gain Income (Including at the end of the Final Round)
• Solo Final Scoring
  • Notes on Changed Card Bonus in Solo Game
• Extended Game for 2 Players
• Promo Pack Rules
  • Promo: 3 Additional Special Bonus tiles
  • Promo: 3 Additional * Staff cards
  • Promo: 3 Additional Table Bonus tiles
  • Promo: 10 Additional Start Staff cards
• Summary of Play
  • Phase 1: Preparation
  • Phase 2: Select your own Staff
  • Phase 3: Perform Actions
  • Phase 4: Gain Income
  • Continue Play or Final Scoring
  • Final Scoring (see Final Scoring above for complete rules)
• Credits

Components

Base Game for 2 to 5 Players

• 1 Double-Sided Game board (1-3 players / 4-5 players)
• 5 Player Boards
• 2 Baking Trays (A & B)
• 20 Start Staff Cards
• 76 Staff Cards
• Coins (1s, 2s, 5s, & 10s)
• 11 Table Bonus Tiles
• 6 Special Bonus Tiles
• 50 Ingredient / Topping Tiles
• 45 Recipe Tiles
• 15 Goods Track Markers
• 85 Ownership Markers
• 2 Cloth Bags
• Rulebook
• 5 Player Aids
• Start Player Marker
• 2 Staff Bonus Reference Sheets

Board Layout

1. Prestige Point Track
2. Pastry Dish Recipe Display
3. Presentation Tables
4. Table Bonus Spaces
5. Service Staff
6. Noble Host Spaces
7. Special Bonus Tables
8. Ingredients Display
9. Staff Display
10. Staff Ownership Marker Spaces
11. Player Count Indicator

Player Board Layout

1. Recipe Storage Spaces
2. Flour Track
3. Sugar Track
4. Butter Track
5. Cooling Racks
6. Decoration Spaces for Baked Pastries
7. Successful Decoration Spaces for Income
8. Ownership Marker Indicator
9. Ingredient Storage Area

Setup

Before the first game, carefully remove all the tiles from the punchboards.

1. Place the game board in the middle of the table with the side matching the number of players faceup.

2. Place all Ingredient tiles in the Ingredient bag and mix them inside.

3. Place all Recipe tiles in the Recipe bag and mix them inside.

4. Mix the Table Bonus tiles facedown and then place a random Table Bonus tile faceup on the Table Bonus spaces for all five tables. The remaining Table Bonus tiles will not be used and should be returned to the box.

5. Separate the numbered Staff cards (Levels I-IV) by number and shuffle each deck facedown. Using these, form the general Staff deck by stacking the appropriate number of cards facedown, starting with the Level IV cards (see the chart below). The number of cards left over is shown in parentheses.

   Players	Level IV	Level III	Level II	Level I	Total Cards
   2	4	8	8	12	32 (36)
   3	5	10	10	15	40 (28)
   4	6	12	12	18	48 (20)
   5	7	14	14	21	56 (12)

6. Randomly place a number of Staff cards equal to one more than the number of players faceup below the game board as a display. (For example, with 3 players you will use 4 cards.) All the remaining Staff cards are removed from the game.

7. Set out the two Baking Trays next to the general Staff deck.

8. Place 2 random Special Bonus tiles, with the matching color faceup, on the Special Bonus tables in the lower left of the game board. The remaining Special Bonus tiles are removed from the game.

9. Choose a player color and take all the player components for that color: Player board, 3 Goods markers, 17 Ownership markers, and 4 Start Staff cards. Place 1 of your Ownership markers on the Prestige point track on the "0" space. Place your Player board and your remaining Ownership markers in front of you.

   Note: Prestige points gained during the game will be printed in white with a red border. All other Prestige points are printed with a black border and will be gained during Final Scoring.

10. At the beginning of the game, your 4 Staff cards are considered unused staff and are placed facedown in a deck. At the start of each round, you will choose 4 Staff cards to use as hand cards from your unused Staff. When you play a card, it is placed faceup in a discard pile to the right of your unused Staff deck, as used Staff. Unused Staff, used Staff, and the Staff cards in your hand make up your total Staff inventory.

Note: Ownership markers and Coins are unlimited. If they run out, use any suitable substitute.

Now the game can begin!

Gameplay

The game consists of 4 Rounds. Each Round consists of 4 Phases in the following order:

• Phase 1: Preparation
• Phase 2: Select staff
• Phase 3: Perform actions
• Phase 4: Gain income

After the end of the 4th Round (when the general Staff deck will be used up), the game ends with Final Scoring.

Phase 1: Preparation

Every Preparation Phase, bring out New Ingredients and New Recipes following the below instructions:

A. New Ingredients

1. If there are still Ingredient tiles from the previous Round in the lower part of the Ingredients display (indicated by a marker), remove them now and place them in the Ingredient discard pile.
2. Shift all remaining Ingredient tiles from the upper part of the Ingredient display down as far as possible.
3. Place random Ingredient tiles from the Ingredient bag faceup on all the empty Ingredient spaces. Start with the top row and fill each row from left to right. If the Ingredient bag is empty and you still need Ingredient tiles, take all the Ingredient tiles from the discard pile, return them into the Ingredient bag, mix the tiles well, and continue filling in the Ingredient display. (If there still aren't enough Ingredient tiles, leave the remaining spaces in the display empty.)

B. New Recipes

1. If there are still Recipe tiles on the two rightmost Recipe spaces (indicated by a marker) from the previous Round, remove them now and place them in the Recipe discard pile.
2. Shift all remaining Recipe tiles as far to the right as possible so that each one is in a Recipe space.
3. Then, place random Recipe tiles from the Recipe bag with the light unbaked side faceup in all remaining empty spaces from right to left. If the Recipe bag is empty and you still need Recipe tiles, take all the Recipe tiles from the discard pile, return them to the Recipe bag, mix the tiles well, and continue filling the display. (If there still aren't enough Recipe tiles, leave the remaining leftmost Recipe spaces empty.)

Phase 2: Select Staff

Step 1: Select Your Own Staff

In the 1st Round:

Pick up all 4 of your Start Staff cards. (Since this is all your Staff, you won't have any unused Staff at the start of the 2nd Round.)

From the 2nd Round on:

Simultaneously and secretly select 4 Staff cards from your unused Staff (your facedown draw deck) and take them into your hand (as hand cards). Place these cards between your deck and discard piles, to avoid mixing them with your other Staff cards if you wish to lay them down.

If you have less than 4 unused Staff cards, you must first take all your Unused Staff cards into your hand. Then, take your used Staff (in the discard pile) and place them facedown to the left to create a new unused Staff deck. Now you may take additional Staff from your Staff deck until you have 4 cards in your hand. Since you always select your cards freely from the deck, instead of just drawing the top cards, you don't need to shuffle your Staff deck.

Important: You may only turn your used Staff cards into unused Staff cards at the moment when you actually need to select Staff and you don't have any unused Staff remaining, never before! You may look through your unused and used Staff cards at any time.

If you have exactly 4 cards in your unused Staff deck, you won't have any choice and must take exactly these 4 cards into your hand. You now have no more unused Staff until you need to select unused Staff cards again in the next Round.

If you have more than 4 cards in your unused Staff deck, select four of them to take into your hand and return all unselected cards facedown under the bottom of your Player board on the left as your unused Staff deck.

Step 2: Select New Staff

Players will now gain 2 new Staff cards. The person with the Start Player marker begins by taking Baking Tray A and dealing the top [number of players +2] Staff cards from the general Staff deck facedown onto the Baking Tray. (For example, 5 cards for a 3-player game.) Then and only then, the player to the right of the Start Player deals the same number of Staff cards from the general Staff deck facedown onto Baking Tray B.

Important: Each round, the top X cards of the general Staff deck must be dealt to Baking Tray A first, and the next X cards must be dealt to Baking Tray B. This distribution of Staff cards must not be done in any other way!

Now, the Start player and the player to their right look at the Staff cards on the Baking Tray they have and take 1 Staff card to keep as a hand card.

Then they each return the remaining new Staff cards facedown on the Baking Tray and pass it to the next player according to the arrows on the Baking Trays (clockwise for A and counterclockwise for B).

Repeat this process until each player has taken 2 Staff cards to keep as hand cards (1 card from each Baking Tray).

Note: These Staff cards must be selected 1 at a time --- you aren't allowed to look at both sets of cards at the same time!

Now, the remaining 4 cards (2 from each Baking Tray) are placed faceup in any order on the 4 Hire Staff spaces on the game board and the Baking Trays are set aside until the next Round.

Tip for first-time players: If you're all new to the game, we recommend playing the first game without the baking trays. Instead, just deal out random cards to everyone: First, deal each player 1 card from the general staff deck. Then deal 2 cards from the staff deck faceup to the Hire Staff spaces on the game board.

Then you do the same thing again, i.e. 1 more card for everyone, then 2 more cards to the Hire Staff spaces. In this way, there is no need to select cards, which makes it easier and faster to get started. From the second game on, please use the baking trays as described above, as this is the only way to fully enjoy the game and ensure the overall balance!

Step 3: Remove One Card from the Game

Each player now has a total of 6 cards in their hand: 4 selected from their unused Staff and 2 new Staff from the Baking Trays. Each player must now select any 1 of their 6 hand cards to discard facedown out of the game, which leaves each player with 5 hand cards to play over the course of this Round.

Phase 3: Perform Actions

The Start Player begins Phase 3 by taking a turn and is then followed by the other players in clockwise order doing the same. On your turn, if you still have at least 1 Staff card in your hand, you must play 1 card of your choice faceup to your discard pile and use it to perform 1 Main action.

The Main action you can perform will depend on the training level of the Staff you play (see card illustrations to the top left):

• Pastry Chefs (Pâtisseur/Pâtissière) can never perform the actions Acquire Ingredients and Buy Goods. Note: Pastry Chefs have a gold background, a hat, and are signified by a chef icon.
• Assistants can never perform the actions Decorate and Hire Staff. Note: Assistants have a silver background, no hat, and are signified by an assistant icon.

After you've performed your Main action (and never before), you can use the Staff Bonus action shown on the bottom half of the card. All types of Staff Bonuses are described under Staff Card Bonuses below.

If a card's Staff Bonus action offers an additional action, the training level of that Staff card applies. However, the Staff Bonus action can override requirements (for example, a Pastry Chef may Acquire Ingredients if they have that as a Bonus action).

You may forfeit your Main action and/or the Staff Bonus action.

If you don't have any more Staff cards in hand, you must pass.

After a player completes their actions, play proceeds to the next player in clockwise order. Once everyone has emptied their hands of Staff cards, this Phase ends as everyone has now passed.

Note: Players who take the Hire action will have more cards and will continue play after other players have passed.

Details for the 9 Main Actions

Whether the respective action can be carried out by a Pastry Chef and/or an Assistant is shown in the parenthetical after the name of the Main Action, and reflected in the action icon color (Silver for Assistant, Gold for Pastry Chef, and Blue for both).

Blue backgrounds can be performed by both Pastry Chefs and Assistants. Gold backgrounds can only be done by a Pastry Chef. Silver backgrounds can only be done by an Assistant.

1. Acquire Recipes (Pastry Chef | Assistant)

Choose 1 or 2 Recipe tiles from the Recipe display on the game board, pay their price (as indicated by the Coin Icon), and place them faceup at the top of your Player board.

If, after completing your turn, at least 3 recipe spaces are empty, shift all the remaining Recipe tiles in order as far to the right as possible. After shifting, add new Recipe tiles as described in New Recipes (see Phase 1: Preparation).

You may store a maximum of 3 Recipe tiles (as indicated by the brown Recipe spaces at the top of your Player board). You may discard your owned Recipe tiles at any time.

2. Acquire Ingredients (Assistant only)

Choose exactly 1 Ingredient tile from the Ingredients display on the game board, pay its price and place the Ingredient tile faceup to the right of your Player board.

There is no limit to the number of Ingredient tiles you may have.

The price is stated next to the ingredient spaces. The price depends on which row you take the tile from and how many tiles were in that row before you took it. A tile from the full top row costs 2 coins. The last available tile from the second row from the bottom is free.

New Ingredient tiles are only added to the Ingredients display in Phase 1 of the next Round.

Important: Pastry Chefs may not perform this action (except via a corresponding Staff Bonus)!

3. Buy Goods (Assistant only)

Choose exactly 1 of the three types of Goods (Flour, Sugar, or Butter) and buy one or more units of that type.

Pay the required total price depicted on your Player board and move your corresponding Goods track marker up its track by the corresponding number of spaces. For example, if you buy 3 units of sugar, the total price is 8 Coins. (Note: You can't buy more than 3 sugars at a time as indicated by the depicted costs.) If you buy only 1 unit of flour, the price is 0 Coins – it's free.

At no time may you own more units of a Good than the respective Goods track allows.

Important: Pastry Chefs may not perform this action (except via a corresponding Staff Bonus)!

4. Bake (Pastry Chef | Assistant)

Bake 1 or 2 Pastry Dishes. To bake each Pastry Dish, choose 1 of your Recipes above your Player board and spend the required raw materials by adjusting your Goods markers and discarding Ingredient tiles faceup into the discard pile. A Recipe marked for Pastry Chefs only can only be baked by a Pastry Chef. Then, turn the Recipe tile over so you are looking at the darker brown side with a finished Pastry Dish in the background and an Ownership marker space, Prestige points, and required Ingredients for potential Table Bonus scoring in the foreground.

(You may discard several Ingredient tiles for the required materials. Excess Ingredients and Toppings on these tiles are wasted. However, if you bake 2 Pastry Dishes simultaneously, you may divide the ingredients from Ingredient tiles to both Recipes.)

Place each finished Pastry Dish in an empty Cooling Rack on your Player board. If there isn't a free Cooling Rack, you can't bake. You are not allowed to discard a finished Pastry Dish in the Cooling Racks.

5. Decorate (Pastry Chef only)

Decorate 1 or 2 Pastry Dishes in the Cooling Racks on your Player board. To decorate a Pastry Dish, use 1 of your available Ingredient tiles to the right of your Player board that has at least 1 Topping for a Decoration. Turn it over to the Topping side (with a checkmark) and place it above the Cooling Rack with the Pastry dish you want to decorate.

This action is optional. You don't have to Decorate pastries; they can also be delivered without any Toppings. You can only Decorate using 1 Topping for each Pastry Dish.

(If you Decorate 2 Pastry Dishes, you must use a separate Ingredient tile with a Topping for each Pastry Dish.)

If you don't have a Pastry Dish without a Topping in one of your Cooling Racks or you don't have an Ingredient tile with a Topping, you can't Decorate.

Note: Once the Pastries are delivered, this topping will be placed to the left of your Player board and will be considered a successful decoration (see Deliver).

Important: Assistants may not perform this action (except via a corresponding Staff Bonus)!

6. Deliver (Pastry Chef | Assistant)

Deliver 1 or 2 Pastry Dishes from your Cooling Racks (whether decorated or not).

For each Pastry Dish, you must decide to either A. sell the pastries to the public or B. present them to the Noble Hosts:

A. Sell

If the dish has a Topping tile, move it from the Pastry Dish to the left next to your Player board starting at the top and continuing down. These successful decorations will increase your income (Coins and Prestige Points) during the Income Phase. If you already have 5 successful decorations, discard the Topping tile instead.

Discard the Pastry Dish to the Recipe discard pile and immediately gain 5 Coins for each Prestige point shown on the Pastry Dish. You don't gain any Prestige points.

B. Present

Place the Pastry Dish in an empty space on one of the Presentation tables. If that space has a placement bonus, you take it immediately:

• Gain X coins.
• Draw 1 Ingredient tile from the bag and keep it.
• Gain 1 unit of flour / sugar / butter for free.

Place 1 of your Ownership markers in the circle on the Pastry Dish you just placed. You'll gain the printed Prestige points later in the final scoring.

If the Pastry Dish matches the Table Bonus tile on the table you placed it on, you immediately take the indicated reward on that tile (for example, the necessary Ingredient or Topping is present or absent, or it was baked by a Pastry Chef or not as required).

Note: Of course, you may place your Pastry Dish on any Presentation table with an open space even if you can't fulfill the Table Bonus. Table Bonus tiles depict a requirement on the lighter half and the bonus for meeting that requirement on the darker half.

For each Service Staff space with your Ownership marker adjacent to this table (see 9. Place Service Staff or Noble Host), you may now pay 3 Coins once per presented Pastry Dish to immediately gain 1 Prestige point.

If the dish has a Topping tile, move it from the Pastry Dish to the left next to your Player board starting at the top and continuing down. These successful decorations will increase your income (Coins and Prestige Points) during the Income Phase. If you already have five successful decorations there, discard the Topping tile instead.

If there aren't any empty spaces left on the Presentation tables, you can't Present using option B. and must sell the Pastry Dishes using option A. instead.

7. Hire (Pastry Chef only)

Take 1 Staff card from the Hire Staff display or the off-board Staff display. To hire a Staff card, spend any costs to hire them and then place the card in your hand. For a Staff card taken from the Hire Staff display, the hiring cost depends on how many Staff cards were in the display before you took it. Staff cards cost 4 Coins when all 4 cards are present, 3 Coins when only 3 cards remain, and 2 Coins when there are only 1 or 2 cards left.

You can hire a Staff card at no cost, but only if you meet the indicated requirements on the card. You may hire at most one Staff card during the entire game (even if you Give Notice to one, you can't hire another). Place one of your Ownership markers in one of the reminder spaces to the left of the Hire Staff display to show you've already made your one selection from the Staff display.

Important: Assistants may not perform this action!

8. Give Notice (Pastry Chef | Assistant)

Give Notice to any 1 Staff card in your Staff Inventory (this can also be the one you just played). The selected Staff card is removed from the game, and you gain 4 Coins (for an Assistant) or 6 Coins (for a Pastry Chef) as depicted on the top of the Staff card.

Important: You must always have at least 4 cards in your Staff Inventory. If you only have 4 cards in your Staff Inventory, you may no longer choose the Give Notice action until you have more than 4 cards in your Staff Inventory.

(After performing the Give Notice main action, you can use the Bonus Action of the card you played as always, even if you have just Given Notice to this card!)

9. Place Service Staff or Noble Host (Pastry Chef | Assistant)

You may place either of the 2 options: A. Service Staff or B. Noble Host

A. Service Staff

Place 1 of your Ownership markers onto an available Service Staff space on the game board. You can only occupy 1 Service Staff space in each Service Staff area between tables. Pay Coins equal to the amount shown in the space and you will gain either a) the number of Prestige points next to it during Final Scoring, or b) an immediate bonus:

• Gain 1 recipe of your choice from the recipe spaces for free (move and refill afterwards if necessary).
• Draw 1 ingredient tile from the bag and keep it.
• Get 1 unit of flour / sugar / butter for free.

In a 4 or 5 player game, no player may occupy both spaces for the same Service Staff space. In a 2 or 3 player game, only one of the two spaces at each Service Staff tables may be occupied, the other one must remain free.

B. Noble Host

Place 1 of your Ownership markers onto an unoccupied Noble Host space of your choice on the game board. Pay Coins equal to the amount shown in the space.

Special Bonus Tiles

As soon as you've fulfilled the condition shown on one of the Special Bonus tiles on display, you may immediately place 1 of your Ownership markers on the most valuable empty Bonus space on that tile. You will gain the indicated Prestige points at the end of the game.

Important: If you notice you forgot to claim a Special Bonus (by fulfilling its conditions) after someone else claims a space, you may only place your Ownership marker on the next free space if there is one. If not, you've lost your right to place one!

(Each player may only have one of their Ownership markers on each Special Bonus tile.)

The conditions for all Special Bonus tiles are explained under Special Bonus Tiles reference below.

Phase 4: Gain Income (including at the end of the final Round)

Each player gains a Basic income of 5 Coins as shown on the top left of their Player board. Under the Basic income are 5 Bonus incomes players can gain by placing the Topping tiles from successful decorations. These tiles must be placed in order from top to bottom: +2 Coins; +3 Coins; +1 Prestige point; +1 Prestige point; +2 Prestige points.

Note: The Basic income and other Bonus incomes are cumulative.

Host income: For each Host you've placed (on the yellow table in the upper left on the game board), you gain an additional income of 2 Coins.

Important: You also perform the Gain Income action at the end of the last Round before Final Scoring.

Continue Play or Proceed to Final Scoring

If you haven't played the 4th Round yet, pass the Start Player marker one seat clockwise and discard all Staff cards that are still in the Hire Staff display on the game board (they are removed from the game). Then begin the next Round with Phase 1: Preparation.

Otherwise, the game now ends with Final Scoring.

Final Scoring

Remember: You still Gain Income at the end of the last Round!

Score as follows, moving your Ownership marker along the Prestige Track as you go:

1. Sell any remaining Pastry Dishes from your Cooling Racks (whether decorated or not) and gain 5 Coins for each Prestige point as indicated next to the Pastry Dish.

2. Return your Coins to the bank, gaining 1 Prestige point for every 10 Coins. (Keep any remaining Coins in case of a tie.)

3. Now, score the five large Presentation Tables on the game board: For each Presentation Table, players with the most and the second most Pastry Dishes there gain Prestige points. The number of points is indicated on the sign on the Table: If you have the most Pastry Dishes, you gain the higher number of Prestige points. If you have the second most Pastry Dishes, you gain the lower number of Prestige points. Ties are broken in favor of the player who owns the Pastry Dish closest to the Table Bonus tile on that table.

   Special rule in a two-player game: You only gain Prestige points if you have the most Pastry Dishes. There are no points for the second-most Pastry Dishes on each table.

4. Now score the Noble Hosts: For each of your Noble Hosts, gain Prestige points equal to the number of your opponents who have placed at least 1 Service Staff Ownership marker. (For example, if you have 3 Noble Hosts and 2 opponents have each played 1 or more Ownership markers on Service Staff spaces, you would receive 3 × 2 = 6 Prestige points.)

5. Finally, count the number of Prestige points indicated from each of your Ownership markers on Pastry Dishes, Service Staff spaces, Noble Host spaces, and Special Bonus tiles and add them to your total from above. Beginning with the player with the Start Player marker, add up all the points for each of your Ownership markers as you remove them. Once all your markers have been removed, you add that total to the number counted above. Do the same for all remaining players.

The Player with the most Prestige points wins! In case of a tie, the tied player who has the most Coins left over wins. If there's still a tie, the Start Player for the final Round wins if they are one of the tied players. If not, the first tied player to the left of this Start Player wins.

Staff Card Bonuses

Some Bonuses may have alternate versions with slightly different numbers, but the iconography is the same.

Start Staff Cards

• Gain the specified number of Coins.
• Perform the Buy Goods action once and pay the normal cost.
• Perform the Acquire Ingredients action once and pay the normal cost.

Level I - IV Staff Cards

• Pay X Coins once to perform the illustrated action at the normal cost.
• Pay 2 Coins once and gain 1 butter.
• Gain 2 Coins for each Presentation Table with at least one of your Pastry Dishes.
• Gain 2 Coins for each of your Pastry Dishes on one table of your choice.
• Gain 2 Coins for each of your successful decorations (Topping tiles to the left of your Player board).
• Perform the Deliver action once, and only deliver one Pastry Dish.
• Gain Prestige points depending on the number of your Pastry Dishes with a Pastry Chef icon on Presentation Tables (1-2 Pastry Dishes: 1 point; 3-4: 2 points; 5+: 3 points).
• Gain Prestige points depending on the number of Presentation Tables with at least one of your Pastry Dishes (2: 1 point; 3-4: 2 points; 5: 3 points).
• Gain Prestige points depending on the number of your successful decorations, Topping tiles on the left of your Player board (1-2: 1 point; 3-4: 2 points; 5: 3 points).
• Gain Prestige points depending on the number of your Pastry Dishes on one Presentation Table of your choice (2: 1 point; 3: 2 points; 4+: 3 points).
• Gain 2 Coins for each of your Service Staff and/or Noble Hosts.
• Draw 1 Ingredient tile from the Ingredient bag and keep it.
• Draw 2 Recipes from the Recipe bag. Keep one, discard the other faceup.
• Pay 1 Coin to perform the Decorate action once, and only decorate one Pastry Dish.
• Perform the Acquire Recipe action once. That is, take just one Recipe tile and pay the normal cost.
• Perform the Place Service Staff / Noble Host action once, paying 4 Coins less than indicated on the board.
• Gain 2 Coins for each of your Pastry Dishes on the Presentation tables.
• Draw 2 Ingredient tiles from the Ingredients bag. Keep one, discard the other faceup.
• Move one of your Pastry Dishes to another Presentation Table (you do not gain any placement bonus, or reward from the Table Bonus tile, and you can't pay Service Staff).
• Use a Bonus action from another player's top faceup used Staff card (discard pile). (The selected Bonus is performed as if by your Assistant.)
• Perform the Bake action once, that is, bake only one Recipe. Use 1 less flour or 1 less honey than required for the Recipe.
• Gain Coins based on the total number of Staff cards in your Staff Inventory (4-7 cards: 12 Coins; 8-9: 9 Coins; 10+: 6 Coins).
• Gain 1 Recipe of your choice for free from the Recipe Display (move and refill afterwards if necessary).
• Pay 5 Coins up to 8 times to gain 1 Prestige point each time.
• Gain 1 Ingredient tile of your choice for free from the Ingredient Display on the game board (if any are available).

Level I - IV Staff Cards (continued)

• Gain Prestige points for each Ingredient type you've used at least once for your presented Pastry Dishes (each Pastry Dish can only be counted once): 1 point per egg-type Ingredient used, 1 point per flour-type Ingredient used, 2 points per nut-type Ingredient used (exact icon values vary by card).
• Gain Prestige points based on the number of Service Staff and/or Noble Hosts you have (1: 1 point; 2-4: 2 points; 5+: 4 points).
• Discard up to three unused Ingredient tiles and receive 2 Prestige points for each tile discarded.
• Gain Prestige points for each Topping type for your successful decorations (each Topping tile can only be counted once): 1 point per fruit-type Topping, 1 point per cream-type Topping, 2 points per chocolate-type Topping (exact icon values vary by card).
• Discard the indicated Goods and gain the corresponding number of Prestige points (each row on the Bonus may only be used once and is completed independently of the others).
• Pay 15 coins once and gain 6 Prestige points.
• Perform the Buy Goods action twice as independent actions. Pay the normal cost both times.

* Staff Cards

These Staff cards have a Requirement that must be met before their Staff bonus can be claimed:

• Requirement: You have a total of at least 9 units of Goods in your Goods display. Staff bonus: Gain 3 Prestige points.
• Requirement: You have at least 1 of your own Pastry Dishes worth 4, 5, and 6 Prestige points on Presentation Tables. Staff bonus: Gain 3 Prestige points.
• Requirement: You have at least 25 Coins. Staff bonus: Gain 3 Prestige points.
• Requirement: You have at least 1 Topping of each type for your successful decorations (each Topping tile can only be counted once). Staff bonus: Gain 4 Prestige points.
• Requirement: You have at least 5 unused Ingredient tiles (regardless of types). Staff bonus: Gain 3 Prestige points.
• Requirement: You have at least 5 Pastry Dishes on the Presentation Tables. Staff bonus: Gain 3 Prestige points.
• Requirement: You have 1 Ownership marker on at least one Special Bonus tile. Staff bonus: Gain 2 Prestige points.
• Requirement: You have at least 1 Pastry Dish with each type of Ingredient on the Presentation Tables (no Pastry Dish can be counted more than once). Staff bonus: Gain 2 Prestige points.

Special Bonus Tiles

• Condition: You have at least 1 of your own Pastry Dishes on each of the 5 Presentation Tables.
• Condition: You have placed at least 3 Service Staff and/or Noble Hosts.
• Condition: You have placed at least 1 Service Staff and/or Noble Host, 1 Pastry Chef Pastry Dish on a Presentation Table, and 1 Topping (successful decoration).
• Condition: You have at least 3 successful decorations (each Topping tile can only be counted once).
• Condition: You have at least 2 of your own Pastry Chef Pastry Dishes on Presentation Tables.
• Condition: You have at least 3 of your own Pastry dishes on one Presentation Table of your choice.

Solo Game

To prepare for the next big Versailles Garden Festival, you will compete against your former mentor and his well-trained team. Can you prevail against them with your young and ambitious team, even though the other team over-matches you in terms of experience as well as a fully-stocked warehouse?

Additional Game Components

30 Solo Staff cards and 1 Final Scoring card.

Setup

Set up the game as if you were playing with two players, but with the following addition for the Mentor:

8. Choose a game color for your Mentor and prepare their play area. Place their Prestige point marker on the "0" space of the Prestige point track. Place their Player board and Ownership markers within reach.

Your Mentor's 4 Start Staff cards are not used. Their Staff Inventory deck (which will consist of all the Staff they gain during the game) is initially empty. It will later consist of all newly hired Staff cards.

Important: The Mentor's Staff Inventory consists only of the normal Staff Cards hired later, not the Solo Staff Cards.

Shuffle all 30 Solo Staff cards. Create the Mentor's unused Staff deck by stacking 4 sets of Solo Staff cards so that each set is rotated 90 degrees from the one below. The number of cards in each set will depend on the level of difficulty as follows:

• Buttery game: 4 sets with 5 Solo Staff cards each
• Savory game: 2 sets with 6 Solo Staff cards each at the bottom, 2 sets with 5 Solo Staff cards on top
• Extra Crunchy game: 4 sets with 6 Solo Staff cards each

Place the completed stack facedown to the left below their Player board. Set aside the remaining 6 to 10 cards facedown as a Decision deck. These cards are used whenever the Mentor is faced with a decision.

Place the Mentor's 3 Goods track markers on the start spaces for the three Goods tracks on their Player board as usual (2× flour, 1× sugar, 1× butter). The Mentor doesn't need any goods during the game, but can receive some as a bonus and can spend them during final scoring.

Now the game can begin!

Solo Gameplay

For your turns, the normal rules for the 2-player game apply (see Base Game). For your Mentor's turns, use the following divergent rules:

Phase 1: Preparation

Unchanged.

Phase 2: Select Staff

Step 1: Select your own Staff

The Mentor always chooses the top card set of their unused Staff deck (5 or 6 cards). Place these cards facedown and unseen in the center below the Mentor's Player board as their hand cards.

Step 2: Select new Staff

Whenever the Mentor is passed a Baking Tray, randomly select a facedown Staff card from the tray and place it on top of their (initially empty) Staff Inventory stack (keep this stack separate from the Solo Staff Cards).

Step 3: Remove one card from the game

The Mentor has planned so well they don't leave any staff behind – they don't remove a card!

Phase 3: Perform Actions

On each of the Mentor's turns, begin by revealing their top hand card and perform one of the actions depicted in the bottom half of the card. Perform the one on the left, if possible. If the left action can't be performed, perform the next action to the right instead. If that action also can't be performed, perform the last action on the right, if any.

General Note: Whenever the Mentor can't perform any of the specified actions (because the specified fields are all empty or full), they immediately gain 4 Prestige points instead.

Complete the action by placing the card faceup under the Mentor's Player board on the right.

Note: If a Decision card needs to be revealed and the Decision deck is empty, shuffle all previously used Decision cards and all used Solo Staff cards together (except the one just played) and place them facedown as a new Decision deck. Then draw the necessary card from there. NOTE: When using a Decision, you always draw a new card. Do not use the Decision box on the card you are activating.

The actions are described below.

Mentor Actions

1. Acquire Recipes

The Mentor takes exactly 2 Recipes for free and places them on the top of their Player board from left to right.

Reveal the top card of the Decision deck. The indicator arrow on the Recipe spaces shows which individual Recipe the Mentor choses. Reveal Decision cards as often as necessary until the Mentor has taken a total of 2 Recipes.

If the Mentor now has 4 Recipes in their display, discard the Recipe with the least number of points. If there are several with the least point number, choose one without a Pastry Chef icon, or else any tile.

(After this action, check if the Recipes must be shifted to the right and refilled as usual on the game board.)

If the Mentor already has 3 Recipe tiles, this action can't be performed.

2. Acquire Ingredients

The Mentor takes 1 to 3 Ingredient tiles for free.

Reveal the top card of the Decision deck. The indicator arrow on the Ingredients display shows which column the Mentor chooses. They take all the Ingredient tiles in this column and places them to the right of their Player board, keeping them in the same order from top to bottom. Any additional tiles gained later will be added at the bottom in the same way.

If Ingredient tiles need to be taken and the column is empty, reveal another Decision card. If there are no more Ingredient tiles, this action cannot be performed.

3. Buy Goods

The Mentor never takes this action.

4. Bake

The Mentor bakes 1 or 2 Recipes for free, including any Pastry Chef-only Recipes, and places them on unoccupied Cooling Racks. They don't have to give up any Goods or Ingredients for this!

The numbers on the card indicate which Recipes will be baked and in which order.

If the Mentor can't bake any Recipes (no Recipes and/or no free Cooling Rack), this action can't be performed.

5. Decorate

The Mentor decorates 1 or 2 Pastry Dishes on their Cooling Racks.

The numbers and arrow on the card indicate which Pastry Dish is decorated and with which Topping. Place the respective Ingredient tile with the selected Topping above the Pastry Dish.

Shift any remaining Ingredient tiles upwards to fill in any gaps.

If the Mentor can't decorate any pastries (no Pastry Dishes and/or no Toppings), this action can't be performed.

6. Deliver

The Mentor delivers all Pastry Dishes from their Cooling Racks (regardless of whether they are decorated or not).

Reveal a card from the Decision deck for each Pastry Dish. The arrow indicates which Table the Pastry Dish will be delivered to and from which end of the Table the next free space will be occupied. If there aren't any spaces left on the given Table, reveal another card from the Decision deck.

If the Mentor has a Pastry Dish that matches the Table Bonus tile, they deliver it first. If both Pastry Dishes or neither match, they deliver the top Pastry Dish first. The Mentor gains the placement bonus and reward from the Table Bonus tile. (If they gain a Recipe reward: Reveal Decision cards to decide which Recipe tile. If they gain an Ingredient Tile reward: Reveal Decision cards to decide which Ingredient tile --- take the topmost tile from the indicated column.)

Reminder: If the Mentor has the available Coins when delivering Pastry Dishes, they will pay 3 Coins for each eligible Service Staff in order to score Prestige points.

Place any Topping from the Mentor's Pastry Dish to the left next to their Player board (successful decorations) --- this will gain them income later. If there are already five successful decorations there, discard it instead.

If no unoccupied space is available, the Pastry Dish is sold (5 Coins per point).

If the Mentor doesn't have any Pastry Dishes to deliver, this action cannot be performed.

7. Hire

The Mentor hires one Staff card for free.

First, check if the Mentor has met the condition of any of the Staff cards on display (and hasn't hired any of those yet). If they meet the conditions for a card, they hire that card and place an Ownership marker into the empty space to show they can no longer Hire from this display. If not, they hire a card from the Hire Staff spaces instead.

If there is more than one card to choose from, the black arrow on the solo staff card determines the direction in which to choose and, in case of the Hire Staff spaces, where to start.

The Hired Staff card goes facedown into the Mentor's Staff Inventory stack (which is kept separate from the Solo Staff Cards).

In addition, draw a card from the Decision deck and put it facedown onto the Mentor's hand cards.

If the Mentor is unable to hire anyone, this action can't be performed.

8. Give Notice

The Mentor never takes this action.

9. Place Service Staff / Noble Host

The Mentor places one Service Staff or Noble Host for free.

Reveal a card from the Decision deck. The purple circle on the card indicates the Service Staff space or Noble Host space where the Mentor will place one of their Ownership markers.

If the specified space is already occupied, reveal another card from the Decision deck. The Mentor always occupies the leftmost space for Service Posts (which earns Prestige points).

If all spaces are already occupied, this action can't be performed.

Special Bonus Tiles (Solo)

As soon as your Mentor fulfills the condition shown on a Special Bonus tile, immediately place 1 of their Ownership markers on the most valuable free space for that Special Bonus tile. They will gain the Prestige points displayed there at the end of the game.

Phase 4: Gain Income (Including at the end of the Final Round)

Unchanged. The Mentor's income will be calculated as usual.

Solo Final Scoring

Remember: You all gain income at the end of the last round!

Before the normal final scoring, reveal all cards from the Mentor's Staff Inventory one at a time, starting with the top one. For each Staff card that gives them either Coins or Prestige points as a bonus, discard as many Coins / Goods / Ingredients from their supply as necessary or possible to score those bonuses. (Other bonuses are not implemented, for example, the Mentor can't use any bonuses that grant additional actions, or Goods at this time.)

Next determine the overall number of unused Ingredient tiles, unbaked Recipe tiles, and Goods that the Mentor now has in total. They gain half that many Prestige points (rounded down).

The Mentor then takes part in the final scoring as usual. They can sell Pastry Dishes in the Cooling Racks, gain Prestige points for Coins, win majorities, gain Prestige points for Noble Hosts, Service Staff, Special Bonuses, and Pastry Dishes.

Note: The Presentation Table majorities are counted as in a game for two players, only the player with the most Pastry Dishes scores for each table.

You win the game if you have more Prestige points than your Mentor. In case of a loss or tie, you should immediately challenge your Mentor to another game and try to outperform them!

Once you have some experience, try increasing your personal high score. Only count games in which you've defeated your Mentor. 80 Prestige points is a good result, 90 Prestige points is excellent, and your ultimate goal is to reach 100 or more Prestige points!

Notes on Changed Card Bonus in Solo Game

If you play this card, you may either perform one of the up to 3 actions displayed on the bottom half of the Mentor's used Staff card using your rules instead of theirs or gain 4 Prestige points. (The selected bonus is performed as if performed by an Assistant.)

Extended Game for 2 Players

When playing with 2 players, you can add the Mentor as a virtual third player. Simply set up the game as usual for three players.

Use the solo rules for the Mentor for their turns (see above). Before the final scoring, perform the additional solo scoring for the Mentor from the solo game.

Note: The Table majorities are counted as in a 3-player game, the most and the second most Pastry Dishes are scored for each table.

Promo Pack Rules

Each of the four promos can be added to the game individually or in any combination with other promos.

Promo: 3 Additional Special Bonus tiles

Shuffle the three additional Special Bonus tiles in with the other 6 Special Bonus tiles. Place 2 random Special Bonus tiles, matching color side up, on the empty Special Bonus tables in the lower left of the game board. Return the remaining tiles to the box as they won't be used in the game.

• Condition: You have delivered at least 3 Pastry Dishes with nuts to the Presentation tables.
• Condition: You have delivered at least 4 Pastry Dishes worth 2, 3, or 4 Prestige points to the Presentation tables.
• Condition: You have delivered at least 3 Pastry Dishes worth 5 or 6 Prestige points the Presentation tables.

Promo: 3 Additional * Staff cards

Shuffle the three additional Staff cards in with the other eight Staff cards. Randomly place a number of Staff cards equal to one more than the number of players faceup below the game board as a display. The remaining Staff cards are removed from the game.

• Requirement: You have already scored at least 5 Prestige Points on the Prestige Point track. Staff bonus: Gain 3 Prestige Points.
• Requirement: You have at least 3 Pastry Dishes that have neither eggs, nor honey, nor nuts on Presentation tables. Staff bonus: Gain 3 Prestige Points.
• Requirement: You have neither any goods nor any unused Ingredient tiles. Staff bonus: Gain 2 Prestige Points.

Promo: 3 Additional Table Bonus tiles

Shuffle the three additional Table Bonus tiles in with the other 11 Table Bonus tiles. Now, randomly place a Table Bonus tile faceup on each of the 5 Table Bonus spaces on the Presentation tables. Return the remaining tiles back to the box as they will not be used.

• Gain 2 Coins when placing an undecorated Pastry Dish.
• Gain 1 flour when placing a Pastry Dish worth exactly 5 Prestige points.
• Gain 1 Coin for each of your Service Posts adjacent to the Presentation table with this Table Bonus.

Promo: 10 Additional Start Staff cards

At the beginning of the game, each player takes all six Start Staff cards in their color. At the beginning of Phase 2: Select Staff in the first round, each player secretly chooses 4 of their 6 Start Staff cards and discards the remaining two cards facedown out of the game.

Summary of Play

Phase 1: Preparation

Remove Ingredients and Recipes as directed by the markers and then add new Ingredients and Recipes.

Phase 2: Select your own Staff

1st: Select from unused Staff and only refresh Used Staff after you've selected all your Unused Staff and need to select another.

2nd: Select New Staff using Baking Trays.

3rd: Discard 1 Staff from your hand out of the game, which leaves you with 5 Staff in your hand.

Phase 3: Perform Actions

• Acquire 1-2 Recipes (Pastry Chef | Assistant)
• Acquire 1 Ingredient (Assistant)
• Buy 1 Type of Good (Assistant)
• Bake 1-2 Pastry Dishes (Pastry Chef | Assistant)
• Decorate 1-2 Pastry Dishes (Pastry Chef)
• Deliver 1-2 Pastry Dishes (Pastry Chef | Assistant). Sell or Present Pastry Dishes and then move any successful decorations to the left side of your Player board for Income.
• Hire 1 New Staff to add to hand (Pastry Chef)
• Give Notice to any 1 Staff (keeping at least 4 Staff in inventory) (Pastry Chef | Assistant)
• Place 1 Service Post or Noble Staff (Pastry Chef | Assistant)

If you complete a Special Bonus during your turn: Place an Ownership marker (1 per Special Bonus table).

Phase 4: Gain Income

• 5 Coins basic income
• 2 Coins Income per Noble Host
• Income for Successful Decorations

Continue Play or Final Scoring

Start a new Round unless you've just completed Round 4, in which case proceed to Final Scoring instead.

Final Scoring (see Final Scoring above for complete rules)

Advance your Prestige point marker as follows to add to any in-game scoring you may have:

• Sell Remaining Pastry Dishes in your Cooling Racks. Then gain 1 Prestige Point for every 10 Coins you return to the supply (keeping any leftover Coins).
• Gain points for 1st or 2nd place for most Pastry Dishes on each Presentation Table (closest to Table Bonus wins any ties and no score for 2nd place in a 2-player game).
• Gain points for your Noble Hosts times the number of opponents with markers on Service Staff spaces.
• Score Prestige points for each of your Ownership markers on: Pastry Dishes, Service Staff, Noble Host spaces, and Special Bonus tiles.

Most Prestige points wins. The tie-breaker is Coins and then player closest to Start Player for the final Round.

Credits

Designers: Louis & Stefan Malz Artist: Fabrice Weiss Graphic Layout: Alex Colby Realization: Ralph H Anderson

© 2025 FRED Distribution Inc.