Office 21 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Material
• Layout of Playing Cards
• Game Setup
  • 1. Shuffle and Deal Cards
  • 2. Initial Set-Up and Start Player
  • Resolving Profit-Ties
  • Actions and Effects of Employee Cards During Set-Up
• Sequence of Play
  • 1. Refill Hand
  • 2. Play Employee Card
  • 3. Carry Out Employee Effect
  • 4. Calculate Profit Totals
  • Record Breaking Profits
• End of Game and Winning
  • 1. Game End and Victory by Industrial Espionage
  • 2. Game End and Victory by Successful Operations
  • 3. Game End by Tax Audit – Victory by Creative Accounting
  • 4. Game End by Full Employment
  • 5. Game End by Record Breaking Profits – Victory by Strategic Management
• Card Effects
  • Card Icons
  • SPY – Profit 0 (5 cards)
  • CLEANER – Profit 0.5 (6 cards)
  • OPERATOR – Profit 1 (6 cards)
  • ASSISTANT – Profit 2 (4 cards)
  • SALES – Profit 3 (6 cards)
  • MANAGER – Profit 4 (5 cards)
  • SECRETARY – Profit 6 (2 cards)
  • BOSS – Profit 8.5 (2 cards)
  • DIRECTOR – Profit 7 (4 cards)
  • TAXMAN – Profit 0 (4 cards)

Material

• 1 rule book
• 44 employee cards

Layout of Playing Cards

The title (in the top-left) and the illustration (in the central area) of each card serves as an indicator to make it easier to identify the different types of employees. They have no other function in the game.

The value in the top-right of each card represents the amount the card contributes to a player's total profit.

Note: Profit is given in units of millions. For example, the ASSISTANT shown in the example makes 2 million in profit.

The -symbols below the illustration represent the number of copies that this employee type has in the game – there is one copy per -symbol.

Each employee type has a particular card effect, which is represented by the icons in the lower section of the card.

Game Setup

1. Shuffle and Deal Cards

Shuffle the employee cards and place them as face-down draw pile in the center of the table. Leave some space next to it for the discard pile. Each player then draws three cards to his hand. Discard all TAXMAN-cards and draw replacement cards from the draw pile until all players have three cards and no TAXMAN-cards in their hand. Shuffle the discarded TAXMAN-cards back to the draw pile.

2. Initial Set-Up and Start Player

Each player selects one of his cards and puts it face-down in front of him. When all players have played a card, turn cards face-up.

The player who has played the employee with the lowest profit (value in the top-right on each card) becomes start player.

The area in front of each player represents that player's office. For easier reference that area is referred to as "office" from now on. All employee cards that are played during initial set-up stay in the respective offices. Players start the game with the employees that they put into their office.

The figure below shows an example set-up for four players. Anton has a CLEANER in his office.

Resolving Profit-Ties

If two or more players are tied for lowest profit, all players (including those, who are not included in the tie) play another card in the same way as described above. Players then add the profits of the face-up cards that they have in their own office. The player who has the lowest total profit then becomes start player. If there is still a tie, players put their third and last card to their office and sum-up the profits of the face-up cards. The player with the lowest profit becomes start player. In the very unlikely case that there is still a tie, all cards are shuffled back to the draw stack and the game set-up is started over with step 1, Shuffle and deal cards.

Actions and Effects of Employee Cards During Set-Up

During initial set-up, effects of employee cards are ignored, with the exception of the BOSS and SECRETARY.

The BOSS loves a SECRETARY and the SECRETARY loves the BOSS.

• If one BOSS and one SECRETARY are in play, then both cards are turned face-down.
• If one BOSS and both SECRETARY-cards are in play, the BOSS-card is turned face-down and the player who owns the BOSS-card then gets to decide which of the SECRETARY-cards must also be turned face-down. The other SECRETARY-card stays face-up.
• If one SECRETARY and both BOSS-cards are in play, the SECRETARY-card is turned face-down and the player who owns the SECRETARY-card then gets to decide which of the BOSS-cards must also be turned face-down. The other BOSS-card stays face-up.
• If both BOSS-cards and both SECRETARY-cards are in play, then all BOSS and SECRETARY-cards are turned face-down.

Cards that are turned face-down do not contribute their profit to a player's total profit (their profit is considered zero when they are face down).

The CLEANER has the lowest profit (0.5 millions) of the four employees that have been played. Thus Anton gets the first turn.

Both BOSS cards are in play. During set-up both BOSS-cards can be in play at the same time. However, once the start player is determined, only one BOSS may be in play at a time. If there are two BOSS-cards in play when the game starts, remove both cards from their office and put them to the discard pile. Turn any SECRETARY-card in play face-up when that happens.

Sequence of Play

The start player begins and the other players follow in clockwise order.

The player whose turn it is carries out the following steps in order:

1. Refill Hand

The player draws cards from the draw pile until he has three cards in hand. If he already has three cards in hand at the beginning of his turn, he does not draw a card.

2. Play Employee Card

The player plays one employee card from his hand face-up to his office.

3. Carry Out Employee Effect

The player carries out the effect of the employee he just played (effects of the employee cards are given on the cards and are explained at the end of this rule book). The effect of the card must be carried out, if possible. The card effect can only be forfeited if there is no matching target.

Example: Anton has no cards in his office. He plays an ASSISTANT, which requires him to take back one card from the own office to his hand. Anton can play the ASSISTANT, although there is no matching target for its effect. If there was at least one card in his office, ANTON had to take back one of them to his hand, when playing the ASSISTANT. If Anton had a DIRECTOR (and no other card) in his office he would still be allowed to play the ASSISTANT. The DIRECTOR would stay in Anton's office, because a DIRECTOR cannot be the target of any effect, once he is in play.

4. Calculate Profit Totals

The player adds up the profits of all face-up cards he has in his office (face-down cards do not add their profit). This is the total profit that his employees achieve.

Record Breaking Profits

If the total profit exceeds 21 million, that player is eliminated from the game due to "record breaking profits". Cards from his hand and his office are put to the discard pile. The game then continues in clockwise order with the next player, who is not yet eliminated from the game.

Note: Exceeding 21 million profit can also occur out of turn. For instance, when a SECRETARY-card is turned face-up as result of a BOSS-card leaving play. In that case, the affected player is eliminated from the game immediately.

"Congratulations! Your department was successful beyond all expectation. Management has decided to utilize your extraordinary employees to leverage other parts of the company, too. We release you to face new challenges in the market – thank you and all the best for your future."

End of Game and Winning

The game can end and be won in several ways. If more than one player achieves a victory condition, then the player who has achieved the victory condition that is ranked higher in the list below (lower number meaning higher rank) wins.

Note: Game end and victory condition do not necessarily need to be the same. For instance, the game can end by "tax inspection" and be won by "successful operations".

1. Game End and Victory by Industrial Espionage

If a player manages to have all five SPY-cards in his office the game ends immediately and that player is the winner.

Example: In a four player game, Christa gets her turn. She already has four SPYs in her office and now plays the fith and final SPY. The game ends immediately and Christa wins due to "industrial espionage".

2. Game End and Victory by Successful Operations

A player achieves exactly 21 million in profits. The game continues until it is that player's turn again. If he then still makes 21 million profit, the game ends and that player wins. Otherwise, the game continues.

"Congratulations! Your intelligent "research" has been key for our success and saved our profits. Keep the spirit and our company will dominate the market."

Note: In case more than one player achieves 21 million profit then the player who achieved that profit first, wins. The other players do not win.

Example: In a four player game, it is Jacky's turn. Currently his total profit is 17 million. Jacky plays a MANAGER and reaches exactly 21 million in profit. The game continues until it is Jacky's turn again. If he then still makes a total profit of 21 million, Jacky wins. Next, it is Christa's turn. She plays an OPERATOR and now also makes 21 million in profit. Anton and Doris get their turns, too, but cannot reduce Jacky's or Christa's profit. Now it is Jacky's turn and as he still makes 21 million profit he wins by successful operations. Christa's 21 million profit is no good – Jacky was just one step ahead of her.

Example: In another game it is Jacky's turn and he again achieves 21 million total profit. Next, it is Christa's turn. This time, she has four SPYs in her office. She plays a SALES-card and swaps it for another SPY-card in Anton's office. Christa now has all five SPYs in her office and immediately wins by industrial espionage.

"Congratulations! You motivated your department to be highly profitable ... for the coming financial year, we hope to see you pave the way for even higher profits."

3. Game End by Tax Audit – Victory by Creative Accounting

If a player plays the TAXMAN, the game continues until it is that player's turn again. If the player still has the TAXMAN in his office, the game ends (by tax audit). The player wins, who now makes the lowest profit (victory by creative accounting). If several players are tied for lowest profit, then of those, the player who has the fewest employee cards in his office wins. If there is still a tie, then (of the still tied players) the player who has the employee card with the highest profit in his office wins. If there is still a tie, then (of the still tied players) the player who achieved the lowest profit first wins.

There can be at most one TAXMAN-card in play. If a TAXMAN is in play and another TAXMAN is played, then the first TAXMAN is removed and put to the discard pile.

If a TAXMAN is removed from play due to a card effect, the game continues until a game end condition is met again.

Note: Keep in mind that victory condition "successful operations" ranks higher than "creative accounting".

If the game ends by "tax audit" and a player achieved already 21 million in profit, then that player wins (instead of the one who has the lowest profit).

"Congratulations! Your lean department has saved us from paying enormous taxes!"

Example: In a four player game, it is Anton's turn. He makes 5 million profit (he has one ASSISTANT, one TAXMAN and one SALES-card in his office). Anton plays a TAXMAN and hopes to still make the lowest profit, when it is his turn again. Jacky plays a MANAGER and Christa a DIRECTOR (they both already made higher profits than Anton and cannot act against Anton's low profit or his TAXMAN). Next, it is Doris' turn. She plays a CLEANER and removes a SALES-card from her office. She now makes 5 million profit (she has two CLEANERs and one MANAGER in her office). It is Anton's turn again. He still has the TAXMAN in his office, so the game ends (by tax audit). Anton and Doris both make 5 million profit and they both have three cards in their office. Now, the card with the highest individual profit decides the winner and thus Doris wins, because her MANAGER makes higher individual profit than any card that Anton has in his office.

If Doris had played another TAXMAN instead of the CLEANER, Anton's TAXMAN would have been put on the discard pile and the game would continue until it was Doris' turn again.

Example: In another game, it is Anton's turn. He makes only 1.5 million profit, which currently is the lowest profit of all players. Anton plays a TAXMAN hoping again to win by creative accounting. Next, it is Jacky's turn. He plays a MANAGER and now has a total profit of 21 million. Christa and Doris cannot remove the TAXMAN nor reduce Jacky's profit. Anton gets his turn and the game ends by tax audit. Jacky wins because he achieved victory by successful operations, which ranks higher than Anton's creative accounting victory condition.

4. Game End by Full Employment

If there are not enough cards in the draw pile to refill a player's hand with three cards in step 1. Refill hand then the game ends. In this case, the winner is determined in the following way:

a) Victory by large profits

If no TAXMAN is in play, the game ends immediately. The player who makes the highest profit wins.

It may happen that a TAXMAN is in play and the draw pile is depleted such that a player cannot refill his hand. In that case, the game continues, see 4.b below. If the TAXMAN is removed from play, then the game ends immediately and the player who makes the highest profit wins.

In case of a tie for highest profit, the player who achieved that profit first wins.

"Congratulations! The market was difficult last year and you still have managed to make the best of it!"

b) Victory by creative accounting

If a TAXMAN is in play the game continues as described in 3. Game End by Tax Audit – Victory by Creative Accounting. As the draw pile is used up, players skip step 1. Refill hand. The player who achieves the lowest profit wins. Ties for lowest profit are resolved as described in section 3. Game End by Tax Audit – Victory by Creative Accounting.

"Congratulations! Your lean department has saved us from paying enormous taxes!"

5. Game End by Record Breaking Profits – Victory by Strategic Management

All players but one are eliminated from the game due to record breaking profits (that is, they could not prevent making more than 21 million profit). The last player in the game is the winner.

"Congratulations! You are the last and only manager in our company. We put the fate of our company into your able hands!"

Card Effects

Note: An employee card is considered "in play" when it is face-up or face-down in the office of a player. An employee card that is face-up contributes its printed profit to a player's total profit. A face-down card does not contribute its printed profit. As soon as a face-up card is turned face-down it does not contribute its profit to the total profit anymore (until it is put face-up again). When a face-down card is turned face-up, it immediately adds its printed profit to a player's total profit again. If a player's total profit is greater than 21 million, the player is eliminated from the game (due to "record breaking profits").

Card Icons

Grey card-icons denote hand-cards. The icon means: "This card cannot be removed from the hand."

White card-icons denote cards that are in play (either face-up or face down). The icon means: "Remove a card from play."

Yellow card-icons denote the card on which the symbol is printed (read: "this card"). The icon means: "This card cannot be removed from play."

SPY – Profit 0 (5 cards)

• Cannot be removed from a player's hand (see DIRECTOR).
• Cannot be removed from play (see CLEANER).
• If you have all five SPY-cards in your office, you win immediately.

CLEANER – Profit 0.5 (6 cards)

• Remove an employee from any office. You can choose to remove a card from your own office.
• If you use this card to remove an employee from another player's office, you must choose a MANAGER (if one is present there). If you use this card to remove an employee from your own office, you can ignore MANAGERs.
• You cannot use the CLEANER to remove a SPY or DIRECTOR.

OPERATOR – Profit 1 (6 cards)

• Draw 1 card from the draw pile, look at it and choose: Either put it back face-down to the draw pile or show it to the other players and add it to your hand.

ASSISTANT – Profit 2 (4 cards)

• Take one of the cards in your office back to your hand.
• You cannot choose to take back a DIRECTOR.

SALES – Profit 3 (6 cards)

• Swap the SALES-card for an employee card from the office of another player. Take a card from the other player. The other player gets the SALES-card into his office.
• You must take a MANAGER, if one is present in the other player's office.
• You may not cause record breaking profits to the other player, when using the SALES effect.

MANAGER – Profit 4 (5 cards)

• If an employee card is chosen as target of CLEANER or SALES and a MANAGER is present in the same office as the targeted employee, then the MANAGER must be chosen as target.
• You can ignore MANAGER-cards in your own office, if you choose to target employees in your own office.

SECRETARY – Profit 6 (2 cards)

• The SECRETARY loves the BOSS. Turn one SECRETARY-card face-down, as long as the BOSS is in play.
• Details: see below.

SECRETARY loves the BOSS and BOSS loves a SECRETARY

• If one BOSS and one SECRETARY-card is in play, then both cards are turned face-down.
• As long as cards are face-down, they do not add their printed profit to the total profit of the owning player. Face-down cards are still considered "in play" and can be chosen as target of card effects.
• As soon as either the BOSS or the SECRETARY-card is removed from play or taken back to the hand, the other card is turned face-up again and adds the printed profit to the player's total profit. Thereby, it can happen that a player achieves record breaking profits when it is not his turn. In this case he is eliminated from the game immediately.
• If one BOSS and both SECRETARY-cards are in play face-up, the BOSS is turned face-down. The player of the BOSS decides which of the two SECRETARY-cards is turned face-down. The other SECRETARY stays face-up. (The BOSS loves one SECRETARY, not all).
• As soon as the BOSS is removed from play or returned to its owner's hand, the SECRETARY is turned face-up again.
• If instead the face-down SECRETARY is removed from play or taken back to the owner's hand, the BOSS-card stays face-down and the other SECRETARY is turned face-down. (The BOSS falls in love with the other SECRETARY.)

Example: Anton plays a SECRETARY. Next, it is Jacky's turn, he also plays a SECRETARY. Then, Christa plays a BOSS. As there is at least one SECRETARY in play, Christa must turn her BOSS face-down. Because the BOSS loves a SECRETARY, one of the SECRETARY-cards must be turned face-down. Which one is going to be flipped is up to Christa. She chooses Jacky's SECRETARY. Next, Doris plays a CLEANER and removes Jacky's SECRETARY from play. Christa's Boss stays face-down, because there is another SECRETARY in play (Anton's), which now must be turned face-down.

BOSS – Profit 8.5 (2 cards)

• The BOSS loves a SECRETARY. Turn this card face-down as long as a SECRETARY is in play.
• Details: see SECRETARY.

There can be only one BOSS!

There may be at most one BOSS in play at a time (irrespective of if he is face-up or face-down). If a player has the other BOSS in his hand, he cannot play that BOSS – he must wait until the BOSS that is in play is removed from the game or taken back to the hand.

DIRECTOR – Profit 7 (4 cards)

• Look secretly at the hand of any one player. Choose one card and discard that card to the discard pile. You cannot target a SPY with this effect. Return the remaining cards to their owner's hand.
• When this card is in play, it cannot be targeted by any card effect.

TAXMAN – Profit 0 (4 cards)

• Tax audit!
• Rules: See End of Game and Winning (in section 3. Game End by Tax Audit – Victory by Creative Accounting and 4. Game End by Full Employment).
• There can be only one TAXMAN in play. If a TAXMAN is in play and a second one is played, the first TAXMAN is discarded.