Quirky Quarks Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Card Anatomy
  • Elementary Particle card
  • Quest card
• Setup
• Overview of Play
  • Funding Phase
  • Research Phase
  • Ejection Phase
  • Discovery Phase
  • Quest Phase
• Final Scoring
• Clarifications
• Strategy Tips

Components

• 77 Elementary Particle cards
• 24 Quest I cards
• 19 Quest II cards
• 30 energy tokens worth 1 electron volt (eV) each
• 20 energy tokens worth 3 eV each
• 10 '+10 eV' bid tokens
• 2 Quick References
• 4 Player Aids
• Starting Physicist token
• Research board
• 4 researchers for bidding
• 2 cubes for tracking game progress

Card Anatomy

This section describes how the cards in Quirky Quarks are structured.

Elementary Particle card

1. Scientific symbol representing the Elementary Particle(s).
2. Name of the Elementary Particle(s).
3. Some Elementary Particle cards have an orange bar that provides additional information.
4. Science fact about the Elementary Particle(s). This does not affect how it functions in the game.

Quest card

1. Symbol representing the Quest.
2. Name of the Quest.
3. The combination of Elementary Particles, Protons, and/or Neutrons that must be discarded in order to complete this Quest.
4. Some Quests have a special power after they are completed, the details of which are explained in this box. For example, this Pion allows for drawing additional cards during the ejection phase.
5. Science fact related to the Quest. This does not affect how it functions in the game.
6. Point value of this Quest if it is completed at the end of the game.

Setup

1. Place the research board on a table within reach of all players.
2. Shuffle the Elementary Particle cards together and place them face down to form the Elementary Particle deck. Do the same with the Quest I cards and then with the Quest II cards.
3. Every player chooses one researcher.
4. Place a cube on the "1" space of the Round tracker on the research board. Place the other cube on the "F" space of the Phase tracker on the research board.
5. Each player draws 3 cards from the Elementary Particle deck and 1 card from the Quest I deck. These cards form your hand and are kept hidden from other players. If any player draws a Neutrino, they must play it and resolve it immediately.
6. If playing with 3 or 4 players, each player takes 12 eV. If playing with two players, each player takes 8 eV.

Overview of Play

Quirky Quarks is played over 5 rounds. Each round has 5 distinct phases:

• F — Funding phase
• R — Research phase
• E — Ejection phase
• D — Discovery phase
• Q — Quest phase

Each phase takes place for all players before moving to the next phase. When a phase is complete, move the cube on the Phase tracker to the right. For example, all players receive income in the Funding phase and then the marker is moved from "F" to "R" to indicate the game has progressed to the Research phase.

During the game, your hand will consist of Elementary Particle and Quest cards. In order to receive the powers and points of Quests, you must complete them in the Quest phase by paying and discarding their cost. Quests in your hand do not give you any powers or points.

There are 5 particle accelerators in Quirky Quarks: the SuperKEKB Collider, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), the Tevatron, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). SuperKEKB is only used in the four-player games. Each particle accelerator serves as a repository for cards which are auctioned during the research phase.

Funding Phase

During the Funding phase, new cards are revealed in preparation for the Research phase. During rounds 2-5, players also acquire resources.

The Funding phase occurs as follows:

1. Deal cards face-up below the particle accelerators. The number of cards at each accelerator is indicated at the bottom of the research board, depending on the player count. Regardless of player count, the Quest dealt will be a Quest I in rounds 1 through 3, and a Quest II in rounds 4 and 5.
2. Arrange the cards so all players can see the name of each Elementary Particle, and the full Quest cards are visible.
3. During rounds 2-5, each player gets 3 eV and draws a card from a deck of their choice. Players with a completed Up Annihilation Quest get additional eV, and players with a completed π⁰ Pion Quest draw additional card(s).
4. If any player draws a Neutrino, they must play it and resolve it immediately.
5. The Funding phase ends.

Example

Consider the SLAC particle accelerator. In a two-player game, two cards will be dealt out: an Elementary Particle and a Quest. In a three- or four-player game, three cards will be dealt out: two Elementary Particles and a Quest.

Repeat this process for each particle accelerator. Note that some particle accelerators will have more Elementary Particle cards than others.

Research Phase

During the Research phase, players bid on particle accelerators to claim cards.

Bidding during the Research phase occurs as follows:

1. The Starting Physicist starts bidding by placing their researcher on any number at any particle accelerator.
2. The next player in clockwise order either bids by placing their researcher on a higher number at occupied accelerator or on any number at an unoccupied particle accelerator. If a player is outbid, they reclaim their researcher and will rebid on their next turn.
3. Play continues in this manner in clockwise order.
4. If it becomes a player's turn but their researcher is already at a particle accelerator, they pass and it becomes the next player's turn.
5. Bidding finishes when all players have their researcher at different particle accelerators (one or two particle accelerators will have no researchers).
6. Each player pays eV equal to the number their researcher is on.
7. Each player takes the cards at their particle accelerator.
8. Each player retrieves their researcher.
9. If any player draws a Neutrino, they must play it and resolve it immediately.
10. The Research phase ends.

Bids during the Research phase must follow the rules below:

• A bid may not exceed the eV the player has.
• Bids must exceed prior bids on the same particle accelerator.

In order to bid more than 10, place a +10 eV token on the particle accelerator art. For example, a bid of 15 is shown with a +10 eV token and a researcher on the "5" space.

Example

1. Alice is the Starting Physicist and bids 1 eV on the Large Hadron Collider by placing her researcher on the "1" space.
2. Bob wants the cards at the Tevatron and decides to bid 2 (he could have bid 1).
3. Carol bids 2 on the LHC. Alice's researcher is returned to her.
4. Alice then bids 5 on the LHC. Carol's researcher is returned to her.
5. Bob's researcher is still at a particle accelerator, so he passes.
6. Carol bids 3 on the Tevatron. Bob's researcher is returned to him.
7. Alice's researcher is still at a particle accelerator, so she passes.
8. Bob bids 1 on the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

The bidding is now finished since all players have researchers at different particle accelerators. Alice pays 5 eV and collects the cards below the Large Hadron Collider. Bob pays 1 eV and collects the cards below the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Carol pays 3 eV and collects the cards below the Tevatron. Note that no bids ever took place at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Ejection Phase

During the Ejection phase, players put cards from their hands into the Discovery Zone.

The Ejection phase occurs as follows:

1. Players with completed π+ Pion Quests draw card(s).
2. For every five cards in hand, one card is chosen to be ejected (see chart below for details). Players make this choice simultaneously. Players with completed Positronium Quests may select fewer cards to eject.
3. When everyone indicates they are ready, reveal the ejected cards, and place them in the middle of the table. Spread the cards out so all the players can see them. Add the cards from the unclaimed particle accelerator(s). Collectively, these cards form the Discovery Zone.
4. Each player receives 1 eV for each card they ejected. Players with a completed Down Annihilation Quest receive additional eV.
5. Players with completed π- Pion Quests draw card(s).
6. The Ejection phase ends.

Cards in hand	Cards that must be ejected
0-4	0
5-9	1
10-14	2
15-19	3
Pattern continues for 20+ cards

During round 5, players may eject any number of additional cards from their hand in order to collect more eV (since leftover cards are not worth points at the end of the game).

Example

1. It's now round 3. Alice has 6 cards and a completed π⁻ Pion Quest. Bob has 11 cards and a completed Positronium Quest. Carol has 9 cards and a completed π⁺ Pion Quest.
2. Carol draws an additional card from any deck of her choice because of her π⁺ Pion. She now has 10 cards.
3. Based on current hand size, Alice chooses 1 card to eject and Carol chooses 2 cards to eject. Bob would typically have to choose 2 cards to eject, but because of his Positronium he may eject 0, 1, or 2 cards. In this case, he chooses not to eject any cards.
4. Alice and Carol place their cards face up in the middle of the table to form the Discovery Zone. The unclaimed cards at the particle accelerator SLAC are added to the Discovery Zone. The cards are spread out so the players can see all cards.
5. Alice receives 1 eV; Carol receives 2 eV.
6. Alice draws 1 card from any deck of her choice because of her π⁻ Pion.

Discovery Phase

During the Discovery phase, players bid on individual cards from the Discovery Zone to fit their needs.

The Discovery phase occurs as follows:

1. The Starting Physicist may initiate a discovery by selecting a card in the Discovery Zone, placing their researcher on it, and announcing a starting bid (minimum 2 eV) or they may pass (skip steps 2 and 3). This card is now up for auction. This auction must be completed before any future auctions can be initiated.
2. In clockwise order, players either bid higher or pass. Once a player passes, they are out for the remainder of that particular auction. The auction continues until only the highest bidder remains.
3. The highest bidder takes the card into their hand and pays the bid. The researcher is returned to the player who initiated the auction.
4. The next player in clockwise order has the option to initiate a discovery or may pass, as in step 1.
5. This process continues until all players have had the option to initiate an auction with a minimum bid of 2 eV.
6. Then a second round of discoveries begins: the Starting Physicist has the option to initiate a discovery as described above or to pass. The minimum bid is now 3 eV.
7. The next player in clockwise order has the option to initiate a discovery or may pass, as in step 6.
8. In round 5, repeat this process with increasing minimum bids (4 eV, 5 eV, 6 eV...) until no player wishes to initiate a discovery.
9. Collect the cards remaining in the Discovery Zone and place them in the discard pile. Keep the discard piles separated based on card type.
10. The Discovery phase ends.

Clarification

• Bids during the Discovery phase are tracked verbally.
• A bid may not exceed the eV the player has.
• Players may win as many discoveries as they can afford. Winning a discovery does not affect a player's ability to initiate a discovery.
• If a player does not win a discovery that they initiated, play still passes to the next player.

Example

1. It's round 3, and the Discovery Zone has 6 cards: two Up Quarks, a Gluon, an Electron, a Proton Quest, and a Gluonium Quest. Alice has 5 eV, Bob has 6 eV, and Carol has 8 eV.
2. Carol is the Starting Physicist and elects to initiate a discovery. She selects one of the Up Quarks and offers to bid 2 eV. Alice is not interested and passes. Bob bids 3 eV. Carol decides to pass. Alice has already passed and does not have an opportunity to bid.
3. Since everyone except Bob has passed, Bob wins the bid. He pays 3 eV and collects an Up Quark card into his hand. He now has 3 eV remaining.
4. The option to initiate a discovery now passes to Alice. Alice is interested in the Gluonium Quest and decides to start the bidding at 3 eV. Bob cannot bid more than 3, so he passes. Carol passes.
5. Since everyone except Alice has passed, Alice wins the bid. She pays 3 eV and collects the Gluonium Quest card into her hand. She now has 2 eV left.
6. The option to initiate a discovery now passes to Bob. Bob selects the remaining Up Quark and offers to bid 2 eV. Carol bids 3 eV. Alice and Bob both cannot pay 4 eV and are forced to pass. Carol wins the bid, pays 3 eV, and takes the Up Quark card. She now has 5 eV.
7. All players now have a second opportunity to initiate a discovery, but the minimum bid has increased to 3 eV. The only cards remaining are a Gluon, an Electron, and a Proton Quest. Carol is not interested, so she declines initiating a discovery.
8. Alice is next, but she only has remaining 2 eV, so she is forced to decline initiating a discovery.
9. Bob is last, and initiates a discovery by offering a minimum bid of 3 eV on the Proton Quest. Carol passes, and Alice must pass, so Bob wins the bid, pays 3 eV, and takes the Proton Quest into hand.

Quest Phase

During the Quest phase, players discard Elementary Particles and/or Neutrons and Protons to complete Quest cards.

Completed Quests give one or more benefits: points, bonus points, ongoing powers, and/or one-time bonuses when the card is completed.

The Quest phase occurs as follows:

1. The Starting Physicist may complete a Quest card from hand, paying the costs as explained below. If the Quest has an immediate reward, the player collects those bonuses. Place the completed Quest face up on the table in front of the player; it will remain there until the end of the game.
2. The Starting Physicist may repeat the process of completing a Quest as many times as they wish.
3. Once finished, the next player in clockwise order may complete any number of Quest cards.
4. Repeat this process until all players have had an opportunity to complete Quest cards.
5. The Quest phase ends. If it is round 5, proceed to Final Scoring. Otherwise, execute the following steps to end the round:
   • Pass the Starting Physicist token clockwise one player.
   • Advance the cube on the Round tracker to the next round.
   • Move the cube on the Phase tracker back to "F".
   • Play proceeds to the start of the next round in the Funding phase.

Completing a Quest follows these rules:

• To complete a Quest, the player pays the cost listed on the Quest card. This is depicted symbolically in the upper left hand corner of the Quest card. It is also written in words on the player aid.
• To pay Elementary Particle costs, reveal cards from your hand and discard them. To pay Proton/Neutron costs, you must discard completed Protons/Neutrons from the table that you already paid for.
• A player may instead choose to pay the cost of any Elementary Particle by discarding three Elementary Particles of the same type. For example, if a player needs a Photon but does not have one, they could instead discard three Up Quarks.
• Certain cards, such as Gluonium or Wigner Crystal, give discounts on future Quests. A discount allows a player to pay the costs of a Quest without needing to have or discard the appropriate Elementary Particle. These discounts can be used in the same Quest phase that they are completed.

Example

1. It is now round 5, and Alice has a Gluonium and a Neutron in front of her that she completed on previous turns.
2. Alice wants to complete a second Neutron Quest, which requires the following Elementary Particles: an Up Quark, 2 Down Quarks, and a Gluon. Fortunately, her completed Gluonium gives her a discount of a Gluon once per round, so she can ignore that cost.
3. Alice discards an Up Quark and two Down Quarks and completes the Neutron Quest. That's 14 more points!
4. Alice isn't finished yet. She also has a Neutronium Quest in hand. The cost is 2 Neutrons and a Gluon.
5. Unfortunately, she already used her Gluonium discount during this phase, so she needs to discard a Gluon. Alice doesn't have a Gluon but she does have 3 Electrons, so she discards all 3 Electrons in place of the needed Gluon.
6. Additionally, she takes her two completed Neutron Quests and discards them. With all the costs paid, Alice completes her Neutronium Quest. It's worth 30 points plus bonus points at the end of the game!

Final Scoring

To calculate a player's final score, add up all the points on completed Quests in front of a player (cards in hand are worth no points). Some Quests award bonus points based on other Quests completed by that player. Then add their remaining eV. This total is a player's score. The highest score wins and is named the Nobel Laureate in Physics!

If two people have the same score, the first tiebreaker is the player with the most cards remaining in hand. If the players are still tied, the second tiebreaker is the player closest to the Starting Physicist in clockwise order.

Example

Alice has completed the following Quests in front of her: Neutronium, Proton, π⁻ Pion, Gluonium, and e Annihilation. She also has 6 eV. The point values of her Quests are 30, 12, 3, 2, and 0 for a total of 47 points. Her Neutronium also gives her 2 points for each other completed Quest, of which she has four, so she gets 8 bonus points. This brings her total to 55 points. Finally, she adds her 6 eV, for a grand total of 61 points.

Clarifications

• The number of cards in hand and eV that each player has are public information.
• When drawing cards, a player may draw from any of the three decks. When drawing multiple cards, the player draws one card at a time from any deck of their choice and each draw may be from the same or a different deck.
• If a deck runs out of cards, take the discard pile of the appropriate type and reshuffle it to form a new deck.
• In the rare case where there are insufficient Quests (even after reshuffling) to deal out to all particle accelerators in the Funding phase, deal as many Quests as possible starting with particle accelerators on the left. Some particle accelerators may be short a card.
• Neutrinos are the only Elementary Particle not used in Quests. As soon as a player acquires a neutrino, they reveal the neutrino, draw two cards of their choice, and then they discard the neutrino and one other card from their hand. These cards go into the discard piles, not into the Discovery Zone.
• If a player has multiple neutrinos, resolve them one after the other.
• Bidding may start at values higher than the minimum and may increase by any amount that a player can afford.
• Gluonium and Wigner crystal do not help when discarding 3 of the same Elementary Particles to substitute for a different Elementary Particle.
• There is no limit to the amount of eV in the game. If additional eV are needed, you can use the +10 eV tokens.

Strategy Tips

• When unsure about what cards to draw, it is a good idea to choose an Elementary Particle.
• Quests with special ongoing powers (they have a box with a phase letter in the silver bar) are most effective when completed in rounds 1-2. Neutrons and Protons are great to complete in rounds 3-4 to set you up for completing high-scoring atom Quests in round 5.
• When bidding on cards, consider how many eV you are giving up. Usually paying 2 eV is a good deal. Most Quests turn Elementary Particle cards into 2 or 3 points, so be intentional when spending 4 or more eV to buy a card.