Post Office Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Round Structure
• Action Descriptions
  • 1. Dealing Parcel Tokens
  • 2/5. Moving the Helper
  • 3/6. Placing a Parcel Token
  • Parcel Token Values
  • Square Groups of Parcels
  • 4/7. Sealing Parcels
• End of Round
• Last Round and End of Game
• Scoring and Victory
• Example of Scoring
• Goal Tokens

Components

• 4 post shelving boards
• 96 parcel tokens
• 16 starting parcel tokens
• 64 shaped mail tape tokens — 16 tokens for each player
• 4 helper standees
• 4 stands for the helper standees
• 47 stamp tokens — 14 tokens with value "5", 13 tokens with value "3", 20 tokens with value "1"
• Rulebook
• 9 goal tokens
• Best Mail Carrier gift token

Setup

Before your first game, insert the helper standees into their stands.

We recommend playing your first few games without the goal tokens — put them back in the box. See the "Goal Tokens" section for how to add goals to the game.

1. Each player chooses a helper — a cat, a dog, a pigeon, or a hamster — and takes its standee and the post shelving board showing that helper and its owner. Place your helper's standee on the "Start" space on the board. Put unused standees and boards back in the box.

   How the board works:

   • The scoring reference is printed on the board.
   • The shelving holds 25 cells for parcels.
   • The spaces around the shelving are where the helper moves.
   • Marked cells hold the starting parcels.

2. Deal each player 3 stamps — this can be 3 tokens with value "1" or 1 token with value "3". You may use tokens of different values in the game — a token with value "3" equals three stamps, and a token with value "5" equals five stamps. Put your stamps on the picture of the post office worker on your board. Put the remaining tokens in the middle of the table — this is the stamp supply.

3. Each player takes a set of 16 shaped mail tape tokens — 4 different tokens in each of 4 colors. Place your set next to your board. Put unused sets back in the box.

4. Find the 16 starting parcel tokens — these have a different back design showing a helper, unlike the regular tokens. Each player takes the 4 starting parcel tokens with their helper on the back, shuffles them without looking, and deals them randomly face up onto the starting-parcel cells: one token per cell. Put unused starting parcel tokens back in the box.

5. Stack the rest of the parcel tokens face down in the middle of the table and shuffle them without turning them over — this is the parcel token supply.

Also prepare something to write with and paper — you'll need them for scoring at the end of the game.

Appoint a senior post office worker — they will deal out parcels at the start of each round. You're ready to play.

Round Structure

The game lasts until the free cells on your boards run out — this happens in round 11. In each round, players perform 7 actions in order (described in detail in "Action Descriptions"):

1. Dealing parcel tokens. The senior post office worker deals 2 random parcel tokens from the supply to each player. Players keep one token and pass the other to the player on their left.
2. Moving the helper. Each player moves their helper 1 space forward.
3. Placing the first parcel token. Each player places one of their two parcel tokens onto the board.
4. Sealing parcels. If they wish, players may seal same-colored parcels on their board — place one mail tape token on top of them.
5. Moving the helper. Each player moves their helper 1 space forward again.
6. Placing the second parcel token. Each player places their remaining parcel token onto the board.
7. Sealing parcels. If they wish, players may place another mail tape token.

All actions except dealing parcel tokens are performed simultaneously by all players.

Action Descriptions

1. Dealing Parcel Tokens

The senior post office worker deals 2 random parcel tokens from the supply to each player (including themselves). Each player turns over and looks at their tokens without showing them to the other players, and decides which one to keep — it must be placed face down in front of them. They pass the other token to the player on their left. This way, every player ends up with 2 tokens — one they chose themselves, the other received from the player on their right. Wait until all players have chosen and passed tokens, then move on to the next action.

Example: Lena receives 2 random parcel tokens from the supply. She keeps one for herself and gives the other to Louisa. Lena receives her second token from Dana.

2/5. Moving the Helper

All players perform this action simultaneously, with no turn order. Move your helper's standee to the next space clockwise.

The helper moves around the spaces surrounding the shelving clockwise. When it returns to the "Start" space, it begins a new lap.

The helper's position determines which row or column you may place one of your parcel tokens in:

• Spaces at the top and bottom of the board indicate columns
• Spaces on the left and right of the board indicate rows
• If the helper is on a corner space, you may place a parcel token on any free cell

If you don't like the helper's position, you may spend 1 stamp (remove it from your board to the supply) to move the helper one additional space forward. You may spend as many stamps as you like, as long as you have enough, but you may only move forward.

If the helper's row or column has every cell filled, move it forward until it points at a row or column with at least one free cell, or until it reaches a corner space. You don't need to spend a stamp for this movement.

3/6. Placing a Parcel Token

All players perform this action simultaneously, with no turn order. Place one of your parcel tokens on a free cell in the row or column the helper points to (or on any free cell, if the helper is on a corner space). Before this, you may rotate the token, but it must be placed face up.

When you place a token for the first time in a round (after the first helper move), you choose one of the two tokens you have. After the second helper move, you must place the token you have left, following the same rules. You cannot decline this action.

Example: Louisa moves her helper, but she doesn't like the column — it only has one free cell, and it doesn't suit Louisa's parcels. But in the next column there is much more room — Louisa spends 1 stamp and moves the helper 1 space forward.

Example: Lena moves her helper 1 space forward, but there are no free cells in this row, nor in the next one. Lena moves the helper forward to the corner space.

Parcel Token Values

Each token shows 4 colored parcels. The colors and symbols indicate the parcels' contents:

• snowflake icon — something as a gift
• glass icon — something fragile
• candy icon — something sweet
• heart icon — something personal

Try to place tokens so that same-colored parcels form shapes — then you can seal the parcels with a mail tape of the same color and the same shape. Shapes come in 4 kinds: an L-shape of 4 parcels, a T-shape of 4 parcels, a straight line of 4 parcels, and a zigzag of 4 parcels.

Other values also appear on parcels:

• Stamp icon. Earns 1 stamp if you seal it with a mail tape.
• Receipt icon. At the end of the game, earns 3 points for each mail tape that touches this parcel on the left, right, top, or bottom. But if you seal the receipt itself with a mail tape, it earns nothing.
• Parcel type icons (fragile / gift / sweet / personal). At the end of the game, these earn points for the number of open (unsealed) symbols multiplied by the number of mail tapes placed with the matching symbol (see "Scoring and Victory").

Example: after the first helper move, Matvey places one of his tokens so that the parcels form a blue L-shape — his next action will let Matvey seal these parcels.

Square Groups of Parcels

Tokens can also form square groups of 4 same-colored parcels. Each such group earns 5 points at the end of the game. However, if even one of these 4 parcels is sealed with a mail tape, the group earns nothing.

A group may share at most one parcel with another group. In the illustrated example, you can score 5 points for the groups marked in green, since they share one parcel (with a receipt), but you cannot also score 5 points for the central group, since it would share more than one parcel with other groups.

4/7. Sealing Parcels

All players perform this action simultaneously, with no turn order. After placing both the first and the second parcel token, you may (but don't have to) seal same-colored parcel shapes — place one mail tape token of the same color and the same shape on top of them. You may seal any parcels, not only the ones placed this round. You may place a maximum of two mail tape tokens per round — one token after placing each parcel token.

Mail tapes come in four colors, matching the four parcel types:

• fragile / gift / sweet / personal

Before sealing, you may rotate and flip the mail tape token. You cannot place it on top of other mail tapes or on free cells. For each stamp icon you cover with a mail tape, take 1 stamp from the supply. The other values on the parcels are only used for end-game scoring.

If the parcels on your board let you place several mail tapes at once, choose which one to place now. You can place the other one after the next parcel token is placed.

End of Round

Once all players have run out of parcel tokens and finished sealing them, start a new round with the dealing of parcel tokens.

Last Round and End of Game

Before the last round, you will have one free cell left on your board. Play half of a new round with the following actions: dealing parcel tokens, the first helper movement, placing one of the two parcel tokens, and sealing. After this, the game ends — move on to the "Scoring and Victory" section.

Scoring and Victory

• Score 1 point for each stamp (3 points for each stamp token with value "3" and 5 points for each stamp token with value "5"). Only the tokens on your board count — not the stamp symbols on parcel tokens.
• Score points for mail tapes for each parcel type (fragile, gift, sweet, personal): multiply the number of open (unsealed) symbols of one type on your parcels by the number of mail tapes of that type you have placed.
• Score 3 points for each side-by-side (not diagonal) contact of an open (unsealed) receipt symbol with a mail tape token.
• Score 5 points for each square group of 4 parcels of one color in which none of the parcels is sealed with a tape.

The player with the most victory points becomes Employee of the Month. If there is a tie in victory points, the player with the most stamps wins. If it is still a tie, the tied players share the win.

Example of Scoring

Lena counts her victory points. She has 3 stamp tokens with value "5", for 15 points.

She has 2 open fragile symbols and 3 light-blue tapes — 6 points.

She has 3 open gift symbols and 3 blue tapes — 9 points.

She has 7 open sweet symbols and 3 yellow tapes — 21 points.

She has 4 open personal symbols and 4 brown tapes — 16 points.

On Lena's board there are 3 open receipt symbols. Each receipt touches two tapes and earns 6 points. All 3 receipts together earn 18 points.

Lena's board also has 2 square groups of 4 same-colored parcels — each earns 5 points, for 10 points total.

In total, Lena scores 95 points.

Goal Tokens

During setup, shuffle the 9 goal tokens and place them in a face-down stack on the table.

At the start of the first round, before dealing parcel tokens, take the top 4 goal tokens and lay them out in a row face up. These are shared goals for all players.

At the end of each round (after the seventh action), players check whether they have completed any goals. If a goal is completed, the player takes that goal's token and places it in front of themselves face up — a completed goal counts as a stamp token with value "8". If several players complete the same goal at the same time, one player takes the goal token, and the rest take 8 stamps each from the supply. A player may exchange a completed goal token for stamp tokens at any time (for example, to spend them on moving the helper).

If all the goal tokens have been taken, no new ones need to be laid out.

Example: at the end of the round, Dana counts the number of parcel groups on her board — there are five. This means Dana has completed one of the four goals, and she may take that goal's token.