Plato 3000 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Contents
Overview & Objective
Anatomy of a Card
Game Setup
Round Setup
Turn Order
Playing a Round
Ending and Scoring the Round
- Scoring a Round
Card Clarifications & Number in Deck
Tournament Rules
Credits

This rulebook
54 card deck
1 rule reminder card
Paper and pencil for scoring (not provided)

Overview & Objective

The game is played over a series of rounds. In each round, players draw fresh hands of cards, take turns playing cards until the round is terminated, and then score. If any player's running score total reaches 100 points, the team with the highest combined score wins.

Anatomy of a Card

Point Value. Card Name. Theory marker (if not present, it's a Job). Art (no game effect). Special Abilities.

Game Setup

Setup a score sheet to record the running score for each player. Scores are public knowledge.

Divide into teams. In a 2-3 player game, each player is his or her own team. In a 4 player game, there will be two teams of two. Teammates sit next to each other, but they cannot show each other their hands and cannot communicate with each other about game strategy or the contents of their hands.

Each team will have a separate running score. Players on the same team combine their score gains and losses into one running total. (See Ending the Game & Winning, below).

Both discard piles are face-up, and players may view their contents at any time. It can be helpful to splay the discards out, so that it is easy to see what is lower down in each pile. But maintain the order of cards within each discard pile!

Round Setup

Shuffle the deck and deal each player a hand of cards, which only that player may look at. The number of cards depends on the number of players.

2 players – 10 cards each
3 players – 9 cards each
4 players – 8 cards each

The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the table to form the Draw Deck. There are two (initially empty) discard piles, one on either side of the Draw Deck. To distinguish them, the Research Discard is oriented perpendicular to the Draw Deck, whereas the Scrap Discard is oriented parallel to the Draw Deck.

Turn Order

In the first round, the team with the youngest player goes first. In later rounds, the team with the lowest combined score goes first. Turns proceed clockwise (to the left).

If you are on a team of two, the rightmost player on that team takes the first turn, and then turns proceed clockwise. In this manner, both players of the losing team will take turns before either player of the winning team. If there is a tie, the same team starts as in the previous round.

Playing a Round

Players take turns in clockwise order. Each player's turn has three phases:

Phase A: Explore (Draw)
Phase B: Expand (Play)
Phase C: Decay (Discard)

Phase A: Explore (Draw)

The active player must choose one of the following two options:

1. Excavate — Draw the top card of either discard pile. You cannot draw from a discard pile that is empty.

2. Research — View the top 2 cards of the Draw Deck, add 1 to your hand and discard the other card to the top of the Research Discard. If there is only 1 card in the Draw Deck, just add that card to your hand. Remember, when you discard due to a research action, place it in the Research Discard, which is oriented perpendicular to the Draw Deck.

Example: During his Explore phase, Socrates chooses to make a Research action. He picks up the top two cards of the Draw Deck. He sees an Engine and a Farmer. He adds the Farmer to his hand and places the Engine on the Research Discard Pile. Socrates goes on to complete the rest of his turn. Thera goes next. During her Explore phase, she chooses to pick up the Engine from the top of the Research Discard Pile instead of performing a Research action.

Phase B: Expand (Play)

During this phase, you may do any or all of the following actions, in any order.

1. Play a Theory — You may take a Theory card from your hand and place it face up in front of you, as part of your society. You may only play one Theory each turn.

2. Begin a new Job — You may take 3 Job cards with the same title from your hand and place them face up in front of you, as part of your society. You can play Engines to reduce the number of copies you need to start the Job (by one card per engine played). You may only begin one new Job each turn.

Example: During his Expand phase, Xeno first Initiates Farmers with a set of 3 matching Farmers. He takes the 3 Farmers from his hand and places them face up in his Society. He would also like to Initiate Philosophers, but he can only Initiate one Job per turn. Xeno then plays Physics, which grants him a bonus Research action. The Farmer power is in effect for that research action. Afterwards, Xeno would like to play MetaPhysics, but he cannot play it until his next turn (since he already played one Theory).

3. Extend existing Jobs — If there is already at least one copy of a Job card in play in any player's society, then you may play another copy of that Job face up in front of you, as part of your own society. You may perform this action any number of times per turn, intermixed with the other actions however you wish. You can even extend the same Job several times, if you want.

Example: It is Thera's expand phase, and she has 3 Fishermen in play. Xeno has 3 Merchants in play. She first plays a Fisherman, extending that Job. She next initiates a new Job, by playing 3 Priests. She then plays a 4th Priest, extending that Job. Next, she plays a MetaPhysics Theory card. Then she plays a 5th Priest, further extending that Job. Finally, she plays a Philosopher, which she places in front of her. Since she only has one Merchant, Thera won't get its power (unless she later plays a second), but she will score its points at the end of the round.

4. Trade (4 player games only) — Instead of playing a Theory (option 1), you can trade cards with your partner. To do this, first pass 2 cards from hand to your partner, keeping them hidden from your opponents. Your partner adds them to her hand, and then passes back 2 cards (possibly the same ones!). You and your partner cannot discuss what you want or why you passed the cards you did. You cannot trade and play a Theory on the same turn.

IMPORTANT: You cannot ever play the last card in your hand during the Expand phase (B). You can only empty your hand by discarding your last card in the Decay phase (C).

Phase C: Decay (Discard)

At the end of your turn, you must place a card from your hand face up on the Scrap Discard pile. This is mandatory, and it is the only way you can discard the last card from your hand. Remember to place the discarded card into the Scrap Discard, which is parallel to the Draw Deck.

Once you have no cards in your hand, you sit out (skipping your turn) until the end of the round. Usually that won't be much longer!

Ending and Scoring the Round

The round can end in either of two ways:

Only one team has a player with cards left in hand, or
The last card in the Draw Deck is drawn.

In either case, end the current player's turn, but then the round ends.

This means that, in a two player game, the game ends as soon as either player runs out of cards. In a three player game, the game ends as soon as two of the three players run out of cards. In a 4 player game, the game ends when both players on either team have run out of cards. Once a player is out of cards, her turns are completely skipped for the rest of the round (which is usually not long!).

Scoring a Round

A card's value is printed in its upper left corner. All face-up cards in a player's Society score positive points equal to the sum of their values. All cards remaining in a player's hand score negative points equal to their value. Note that Engines are always worth negative points, whether they are in your hand or in your society.

Players keep a running total of their score between rounds, and scores are public knowledge. It is possible to have a negative score.

If any individual player has reached 100 points at the end of a round, then the team with the highest combined point total wins. If no player has reached 100 points, then start a new round. If there is a tie for the win, then play another round.

Card Clarifications & Number in Deck

Physics (Theory) — x5, 0 points

When you add Physics to your Society, you immediately take a research action. This research action is exactly like the one you perform at the start of a turn, and it can be modified by Job powers such as Farmer, Fisherman, and Merchant.

MetaPhysics (Theory) — x3, 1 point

When you add MetaPhysics to your Society, you immediately choose any card in either discard. Draw that card, plus all cards above it. Unlike the excavation action taken at the beginning of a turn, you don't have to pick the top card. It's ok to choose the top card of a discard pile; you just take that one card. However, you must draw at least one card with MetaPhysics; you cannot play MetaPhysics if there are no cards in either discard pile.

Utopia / Dystopia (Theory) — x2, ? points

Utopia and Dystopia behave exactly the same. You cannot play this card unless you have at least 4 distinct Jobs in your society. ? is the number of distinct Jobs you have in your society. If in your hand at game end, this card costs you points, equal to the number of distinct Jobs in your society. Theories and Engines do not count towards the number of distinct Jobs you have, since they are not Jobs.

Engine — x5, -2 to -4 pts

When beginning a new Job, you may substitute Engines for cards of that Job type. You must still have at least one card of the chosen Job. The Engines are set to the side, and do not count as being part of the Job they helped initiate.

Example: You could initiate Farmers with 2 Farmers and 1 Engine. You could also do it with 2 Engines and 1 Farmer, but then the Farmer power wouldn't function (since the Engines don't count as Farmers, and Farmers only work if you have at least 2 of them).

At the end of the game, Engines are worth negative points whether they are in your hand or in your society. They are highly unstable ancient technology! Note that it is legal to initiate a Job using 3 copies of that Job and/or Engines even if copies of that Job are already in play (just to get Engines out of your hand).

Engine + Priest — If you have 2 or more Priests in play, then you can use an Engine plus any Job card to initiate that Job.

Mechanic (Job) — x5, 2 points

For each Mechanic in your society, you may ignore the point penalty of one Engine card in your society. Mechanics do not counteract Engines in your hand.

Farmer (Job) — x5, 3 points

If you have 2 or more Farmers in your society, then whenever you Research you may keep one additional card that you view. Keeping the extra card is optional, and you don't have to decide until you see what you draw.

Fisherman (Job) — x5, 1 point

If you have 2 or more Fishermen in your society, then whenever you Research you may view 3 cards, instead of 2. You still only keep one of those cards. The other two are discarded to the Research Discard in either order. If there are fewer than 3 cards in the Draw Deck, view them all.

Merchant (Job) — x5, 2-3 pts

If you have 2 or more Merchants in your society, then whenever you Research you may discard a card already in your hand (to the Research Discard) to keep one additional card that you viewed. In this manner, you can keep both cards you view, at the cost of a card you already had. This is optional.

Farmer + Fisherman — Your research actions become the following: View 3 cards from the deck. You may keep either 1 or 2 of them. Discard the unwanted cards to the Research Discard (in any order).

Merchant + Farmer — Your research actions become the following: View 2 cards from the deck. Either discard one of those cards or one card already in your hand.

Merchant + Fisherman — Your research actions become the following: View 3 cards from the deck. Discard one of them to the Research Discard. Then either discard another viewed card to the Research Discard or discard another card from your hand to the Research Discard. Keep the remaining card.

Merchant + Farmer + Fisherman — Your research actions become the following: View 3 cards. You may keep 1, 2, or 3 of them. Discard the cards you don't keep. If you keep 2 cards, you may discard 1 additional card from your hand. If you keep 3 cards you must discard 1 additional card from your hand.

Philosopher (Job) — x5, 2 points

If you have 2 or more Philosophers in your Society at the end of a round, then you score 1 point for each Theory in play in all players' Societies. This bonus only counts once total, not once per Philosopher card.

Historian (Job) — x5, 1-2 pts

If you have 2 or more Historians in your Society when you draw from a discard pile, you may choose any card from the discard pile (not just the top card). Take just that card and put it into your hand.

Historian + MetaPhysics — If you have 2 or more Historians when you play MetaPhysics, you may opt to not draw the cards above the one you select. However, you must either take all or none of the cards above the one you chose – you cannot pick and choose.

Priest (Job) — x5, 2 points

If you have 2 or more Priests in your society, then you may begin new Jobs using only 2 matching cards, not 3. This effect does not apply until the Priests are in play, so it does not help you initiate the Priests themselves.

Soldier (Job) — x4, 1-3 pts

The first time each round that you add a Soldier to your society, you may choose any one card in any Society and place it on the bottom of the Draw Deck. Each player can only ever eliminate one card per round, no matter how many Soldiers are added to his or her society. If you initiate with 3 Soldiers, you only eliminate one card. If you later extend your set with a 4th Soldier, you do not eliminate another card. However, if you extend someone else's Soldier, and you didn't already have any of your own already, then you get to eliminate one card.

Tournament Rules

For official play, shuffle two Plato 3000 decks together. This works especially well with 4-player team play.

Credits

The Designer — Sheamus Parkes is a person.

Thank You — We are grateful for the help provided by our playtesters, especially Nathan Dilday, Jessica Seater, Nicole Hendrickson, and Mark Bigney. Other thank-yous.

Cambridge Games Factory — CGF is a company.