Sandwich Masters
Sandwich Masters Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set-Up
Sandwich Masters consists of three decks:
- The white deck: made up of Ingredient, Attack Condiment and Health Inspector cards.
- The black deck: made up of Order and Event cards.
- Noshdosh: the prize that everyone plays for!
To start the game, shuffle the white deck and deal seven cards to each player. Put the rest of the deck where all players can reach it.
Shuffle the black deck and place it in the middle of the table. Deal four cards from the black deck face up onto the table. This is now the Bar.
If any of these cards are Events, follow the instructions (see Events section) and then discard. Deal new cards onto the Bar until you have four Orders.
You're now ready to play Sandwich Masters!
How to Play
Players build sandwiches using Ingredients to complete Orders and earn Noshdosh. They can also sabotage other players' sandwiches with Attack Condiments and Health Inspectors.
The winner is the player who earns the most Noshdosh in a set amount of time. For an average game, try playing for 30 minutes. Alternatively, you could choose to play for a set amount of Noshdosh.
Each Order lists the Ingredients needed to complete it. The more Ingredients an Order requires, the more Noshdosh it is worth. Players compete for the Orders on the Bar by stacking Ingredients to build sandwiches.
Sandwiches must begin and end with Bread. To start a sandwich, players place a Bread card face up on the table in front of them. Players can have up to four open sandwiches on the go at any time.
Each turn, players add Ingredients to their sandwiches. When the Ingredients in a sandwich match an Order on the Bar, players may close the sandwich on their next turn by placing a Bread card on top. The sandwich and the Order are discarded, a new Order is dealt onto the Bar, and the player claims their Noshdosh reward.
Play starts with the player to the left of the dealer and progresses clockwise around the table.
Your Turn
On your turn you may either play cards from your hand, or move one card from the top of one of your sandwiches to another.
Instead of playing or moving cards, you may also choose to discard any number of cards from your hand and replace them with new ones from the white deck.
At the end of your turn, always refill your hand back up to seven cards.
When playing cards, always look for the symbol in the corner. You may play any number of cards with matching symbols on your turn. However, you can only play one type of symbol per turn. For example, you could play any number of Lettuce cards, but you could not play a Cheese card and a Ham card at the same time.
If by playing Bread you close a sandwich that matches an Order on the Bar, you may complete that Order and claim the Noshdosh reward. Discard both the completed sandwich and the Order, and deal a fresh Order onto the Bar. If you can do so, you may close/complete multiple sandwiches/Orders at the same time.
Moving cards is a way of recycling a useless sandwich into something new. You can also close a sandwich by moving Bread from the top of one sandwich to another.
Remember: you can only move the Ingredient on the top of a sandwich.
Cards
Ingredients
Ingredients come in five varieties: Bread (brown), Dairy (yellow), Condiments (blue), Meat (red) and Salad (green).
Ingredients can be good (with a coloured background), or bad (black background).
Orders can be completed with good or bad Ingredients, or a mixture of the two. But remember, if a sandwich you're working on contains bad Ingredients it will be vulnerable to Health Inspectors (see Health Inspectors below). You must decide whether to play it safe and only use good Ingredients, or to risk using bad Ingredients in pursuit of a quick buck.
Always look for the symbol in the corner of the Ingredient. If it matches the symbol on the Order, it can be used to complete that sandwich!
Health Inspectors
Health Inspectors come in three varieties: Lazy, Jobsworth and Strict.
On their turn, players may play a Health Inspector in front of another player. If any of the receiving player's open sandwiches contain bad Ingredients they must take the punishment described on the Health Inspector card.
Health Inspectors can be bribed, however, to avoid punishment! To bribe a Health Inspector, the receiving player must discard the amount of Noshdosh described on the card.
Once the Health Inspector's punishment has been taken, or the bribe paid, the Health Inspector is discarded.
Attack Condiments
Attack Condiments are special bad Ingredients that can only be played in other players' sandwiches. Use them to sabotage good sandwiches and attract Health Inspectors. A sandwich that contains Attack Condiments can still be used to complete Orders.
Special Sauce
Special Sauce is a unique bad Ingredient that can stand in for any other Ingredient (apart from Bread). Remember: Special Sauce may be wild, but it still counts as a Condiment (blue) and it's still bad. Special Sauce is the only Ingredient that can be played at the same time as a different Ingredient (the symbols in the corners do not have to match).
Orders
Sandwiches must begin and end with Bread, but the Orders tell you what goes in between. The more Ingredients an Order requires, the more Noshdosh it is worth.
When building a sandwich you must match the Ingredients with the symbols on the Order card. The Ingredients can be played in any sequence as long as the sandwich begins and ends with Bread. If a sandwich contains any Ingredients other than those listed on an Order, it cannot be used to complete that Order. Attack Condiments are the only exception to this rule: you may still complete an Order using a sandwich that contains Attack Condiments.
You must also use the correct number of Ingredients. If an Order requires only one piece of Cheese, you cannot use a sandwich that contains more than one Cheese card to complete it.
Some Orders are worth more for each Ingredient they contain. For example, the Meat Surprise could be completed with a sandwich that contains just one meat Ingredient (for five Noshdosh) or a multitude of different meats for lots of Noshdosh!
Events
Events are special cards that change the course of the game.
When an Event is dealt onto the Bar, all players must immediately follow the instructions on the card before refilling their hands back up to seven. The Event is then discarded and a new card is dealt onto the Bar.
Expansion Packs
This game includes two expansion packs for a little extra flavour.
The Attack Pack adds new Attack Condiments and extra Health Inspectors for a more aggressive play style. Order Up! includes new Orders and blank Order cards for you to create your own sandwich masterpieces.
Look for the cards with special symbols in the top right corner. If you're new to the game, we'd recommend leaving these cards out, but experienced players may relish the challenge!
FAQs
Can I discard unwanted Ingredients from open sandwiches, or discard an entire sandwich?
No. You may only discard cards from your hand and then refill your hand back up to seven. Once you have started a sandwich you are stuck with it. However, it is possible to recycle an unwanted sandwich into something new by moving Ingredients and adding new ones.
What happens when the white or black deck runs out?
Shuffle the discard piles, turn them over and continue playing.
Where does the money go when I bribe a Health Inspector?
It goes back into the Noshdosh deck. It does not go to the person who played the Health Inspector.
Can a Health Inspector affect me if I have bad Ingredients in my hand?
No. A Health Inspector only affects Ingredients in open sandwiches on the table.
Do I get extra Noshdosh for having extra Ingredients in my sandwich?
No. If a sandwich contains any Ingredients that are not listed on the Order it cannot be used to complete that Order. You must remove the extra Ingredients. Additionally, you cannot complete an Order if your sandwich has unnecessary copies of Ingredients. If an Order requires only one piece of Cheese, you cannot use a sandwich that contains more than one Cheese card to complete it.
How many sandwiches should I be working on at once?
It's a good strategy to have as many sandwiches open as possible. Having a spare sandwich to move unwanted or rare Ingredients to can be useful. However, you can only have four sandwiches open at a time.
Do I have to play Ingredients in a particular sequence to complete an Order?
No. As long as the Ingredients in your sandwich match those on the Order, and as long as your sandwich begins and ends with Bread, the contents can be in any sequence.
The Double Decker requires three pieces of Bread. How does that work?
The Double Decker requires one extra slice of Bread somewhere in the middle of the sandwich. As long as the sandwich begins and ends with Bread, that extra slice can go anywhere in the middle. If you can play two slices of Bread at once to start or complete the Double Decker sandwich, you may do so.
Can I play three pieces of Bread at once and complete the Bread Sandwich?
Yes! If you have three slices of Bread in your hand you may play them all in one turn to start and complete a sandwich at the same time, and claim a quick five Noshdosh! Remember: you must have a free sandwich 'slot' to start a new sandwich.
Can I play multiple Attack Condiments/Health Inspectors on a turn? Also, can I play good and bad versions of an Ingredient at the same time?
Yes. Always look for the symbol in the corner. If the symbols on your cards match, you can play them at the same time, whether they are good or bad.
If Special Sauce can be anything, can I play it at the same time as another card?
Yes. Special Sauce is wild and can pretend to be anything. As such, you can play it along with any other cards. Also, once Special Sauce is in a sandwich you can change what it's pretending to be - you only have to declare when you close your sandwich. Just beware: Special Sauce is still bad, and the longer it's in an open sandwich the greater your risk of being attacked by a Health Inspector.