Santa's Workshop (Second Edition)
Santa's Workshop (Second Edition) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 5 Player Mats (1 per player color)
- 1 Santa's Sleigh
- 1 First Player Marker
- 1 Santa Figure
- 5 Score Markers (1 per color, double-sided)
- 15 Elf Figures (3 per player color)
- 18 Reindeer Cards (Standard)
- 45 Toy Cards
- 24 Assembly Tokens
- 24 Fabric Tokens
- 24 Wood Tokens
- 24 Metal Tokens
- 25 Ornament Tokens
Icons Guide
Santa's Workshop features many icons that will be explained more fully in the following pages. Here is a quick guide to the various icons you will see throughout the game.
Toy Guide
Toy cards represent the letters that children across the world have sent to Santa with their holiday wishes. Each toy card has several important pieces of game information:
- Name — The name and picture of the requested toy.
- Cost to Build — The types and quantities of tokens required. Each toy requires some number of assembly tokens and a combination of material tokens.
- Point Value — The number of points you score when you finish the toy. See Completing a Toy for more information.
Stations
There are two types of stations in the workshop where you place your elves to take actions.
- Small, closed bracket — Only one elf may be placed here each round.
- Large, open bracket — Any number of elves may be placed here over the course of a round.
Tokens and Bonuses
The icons on a toy card tell you what tokens you must collect to finish the toy and score points. Everywhere else (workshop stations, ornaments, or on your Christmas tree), an icon is a token, card, or bonus that you can gain.
Tokens:
- Fabric Token
- Wood Token
- Metal Token
- Assembly Token
- 1 wood, metal, or fabric token (you decide which one)
Cards:
- Take 1 available reindeer card.
- Take 1 toy card from the Mail Room -OR- draw the top toy card from the deck.
Point Bonuses:
- Immediately score the number of points shown. In this case, three.
- All players score 1 point for each elf they have to the left of this station.
Workshop Setup
- Place the game board in the center of the table, within easy reach of all players. Make sure to use the standard side of the game board—the side with the green-bordered score track.
- Place the 24 assembly tokens and 72 material tokens, sorted by type, in separate piles near the game board.
- Place the Santa figure on the first space of the calendar track (December 19).
- Place Santa's sleigh next to the game board, near the calendar. Before your very first game, you will need to assemble Santa's sleigh.
- Mix up and place the 25 ornament tokens face down (color side up) on the Christmas Tree location of the game board.
- Set up the Mail Room:
- First, shuffle the 45 toy cards together.
- Next, place this deck beside the game board, face down, near the Mail Room.
- Then, deal 6 cards from this deck, face up, one to each of the six mail slots in the Mail Room.
- Set up the Reindeer Stables:
- First, shuffle the 18 standard reindeer cards together.
- Next, place this deck beside the game board, face down, near the Reindeer Stables.
- Then, deal 3 cards from this deck, face up, one to each of the three stalls in the Reindeer Stables.
Player Setup
- Each player takes the player mat, 3 elf figures, and score marker in their chosen color.
- First, place your player mat on its standard side (the side with the tree).
- Next, place your elf figures near the top of the mat.
- Then, put your score marker on the "0" space of the score track, located along the outside edge of the game board, 100-side down.
- Take the toy deck and deal 2 cards, face up, near each player mat.
Give the first player marker to the player with the fewest birthdays. In case of a tie, give it to the youngest player.
Overview
A standard game of Santa's Workshop is played over the course of 6 rounds, known as "days."
Each day, starting with the first player and moving clockwise around the table, each player places an elf in a location and takes the matching action. An action may allow you to work on a toy, decorate your tree, or tend to a reindeer. Players take actions like this until each player has placed all of their elves around the workshop.
At the end of each day, players pick up their elves and prepare for the next day. After every third day, Santa performs an inspection, for which the players can score bonus points based on their "Christmas Cheer." Christmas Cheer is a combination of toys completed and ornaments hung on their tree.
After two inspections, the game ends. Players then score points for any unfinished gifts as well as for the reindeer they tended during the game.
Making Toys
With elves hustling to and fro, the liveliest areas of the workshop are those dedicated to making toys! Even though there is a friendly competition, nothing makes Santa happier than seeing his elves work together to bring joy to children all across the globe!
You begin the game with 2 toy cards. You may work on a maximum of 5 toy cards at a time. In order to complete toy cards, you must take material and assembly tokens from the various locations in the workshop.
Whenever you take a token, you have a choice: you can either immediately place it on any unfinished toy that needs it -OR- you can place it in the Donation Center (see Donation Center, below). Each token can be placed on any toy card that needs it, but, once placed, a token may not be moved.
Material Shops
The whir of sewing machines, the crackle of welding equipment, and the buzz of bandsaws—these sounds are the heartbeat of Santa's workshop.
There are three material shops: the Fabric Shop, Wood Shop, and Metal Shop. Each shop location has enough stations for four elves, but they must be placed in order—1st through 4th.
When you place an elf in a material shop, take the tokens shown above the station where you placed your elf. Later stations give more tokens because the elves in previous stations are helping out.
Whenever an elf is placed in a material shop station, all players score 1 point for any elf they have already placed in that material shop (remember the icon). In this way, you can even score points for any of your own elves that were placed on previous turns!
- 1st — The 1st elf placed in the material shop each day goes to the 1st station. The player who placed the elf takes 2 material tokens.
- 2nd — The 2nd elf placed in the material shop each day goes to the 2nd station. The player who placed the elf takes 3 material tokens. The player who controls the 1st elf gets 1 point.
- 3rd — The 3rd elf placed in the material shop each day goes to the 3rd station. The player who placed the elf takes 4 material tokens. The player(s) who control the 1st and 2nd elves get 1 point each.
- 4th — The 4th elf placed goes to the 4th station. The player who placed that elf takes 5 material tokens! The player(s) who control the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd elves get 1 point each.
Any material token that cannot be placed on one of your toy cards is placed in the Donation Center (see below).
Assembly Hall
In a room at the very heart of the workshop, the elves pore over assembly instructions for the gifts, gather the tools they need for each project, and handle all of the finishing details like paint and wrapping paper.
The Assembly Hall works the same as the material shops. Stations must be filled in order—1st through 4th.
When you place an elf in a station in the Assembly Hall, take the tokens shown above the station. Then, all players score 1 point for each elf they have already placed in the Assembly Hall.
Any assembly token that cannot be placed on one of your toy cards is placed in the Donation Center.
Completing a Toy
Every time an elf puts the final touches on a toy, wraps it in colorful paper, and checks it off Santa's list, it's cause for a moment of reflection on a job well-done. Nothing brings more joy to an elf than the thought of lifelong memories about to be made.
Once you have added all of the needed tokens for a toy card, you have finished it! Score its points immediately by moving your score marker along the score track.
Place finished toy cards face down and keep them in a stack near your player mat. (They will be loaded onto the sleigh after Santa's Inspection, see below).
Important to Know:
- Tokens must either be immediately placed on a toy card or given to the Donation Center.
- You cannot save tokens or move them between toy cards later.
- Material tokens and assembly tokens can be added to a toy card in any order.
- Toys may take multiple days to finish.
- You can only have 5 unfinished toy cards at a time.
- Once you take a toy card, you cannot discard it.
Donation Center
Nothing shows the Christmas spirit more than helping your fellow elves with their toys! Donate what you don't need here or send an elf to pick up donations to help ensure every child receives their favorite toy!
At the start of the game, the Donation Center is empty. Throughout the game, the Donation Center will slowly accumulate tokens. Whenever a player takes material or assembly tokens, they may place any number in the Donation Center. For each token donated this way, the donating player receives 1 point and immediately moves their scoring marker further along the track.
When you place an elf in the Donation Center, you can take any of the tokens that are currently there. However, you may only take as many available tokens as you currently need for your toy cards. Any materials you cannot use stay in the Donation Center and do not earn you any points.
Game Round Example
Nora and Chloe are playing a 2-player game. Nora begins the game with the Microscope and Truck. Chloe starts the game with the Doctor Kit and Knight. Since Chloe has had fewer birthdays, she will go first.
For the first turn of the game, Chloe places an elf in the Metal Shop. She takes 2 metal tokens, placing them both on the Doctor Kit. This ends Chloe's turn.
For Nora's first turn, she places an elf in the Assembly Hall. She takes 2 assembly tokens and places one on the Microscope and the other on the Truck. This ends Nora's turn.
On Chloe's second turn, she places an elf in the Fabric Shop and takes 2 fabric tokens. She places one on the Doctor Kit and places the other in the Donation Center. For donating 1 token, Chloe immediately scores 1 point and advances her scoring marker along the track.
On Nora's second turn, she places an elf in the 2nd station of the Metal Shop. She takes 3 metal tokens and places two on the Microscope and one on the Truck. Chloe scores 1 point for the elf she has already placed in the Metal Shop.
For Chloe's final turn of the day, she places an elf in the 3rd station of the Metal Shop. She takes 4 metal tokens and places two of them on the Knight and the other two in the Donation Center. For this donation, she immediately scores 2 points. Since Chloe and Nora both have an elf already placed in the Metal Shop, they each score 1 point.
For Nora's final turn of the day, she places her elf in the Donation Center. She takes the 2 metal tokens and places them on the Truck. She has no place for a fabric token, so she leaves it (she does not score points for this).
During her turn, Nora completed the Truck by collecting all of the required tokens. She immediately scores 5 points and advances her score marker along the track. She returns the tokens to the supply and flips the card over. It will be kept near her player mat until Santa's Inspection.
Other Rooms
There's more to do in the North Pole than just make toys. Other jobs keep all the elves busy up until the big night! The following rooms are also important to the workshop.
Mail Room
Every letter addressed to Santa makes its way to the North Pole Mail Room. It's a long journey, but in the end they are all sorted and processed.
When you place an elf in the Mail Room, take new toy cards to work on.
- Take 3 toy cards, up to your limit of five.
- Take 2 toy cards, up to your limit of five.
When you take toy cards, make your selections one at a time. With each selection, you may take one of the 6 face-up cards in the Mail Room -OR- the top card of the toy deck. Place your chosen toy card below your player mat. Each time you take a face-up card, replace it immediately with a new card from the toy deck.
Important to Know:
- If you already have 5 unfinished toys, you cannot place an elf here.
- You may not discard a toy card to take another.
- If both stations are available, you may place your elf in either station.
- If the toy deck runs out during the game, take all toy cards from Santa's sleigh (see End of Day) and reshuffle them to form a new toy deck.
Reindeer Stables
The reindeer are critical to the success of Santa's yearly travels. They must be fed, groomed, and exercised to keep them in top shape. Santa will certainly take note of which elves are helping in this important task!
Stations in the Reindeer Stables must be filled in order—1st through 3rd.
When you place an elf in the Reindeer Stables, take any face-up reindeer card in the stables -AND- take the number of material tokens shown. For each token, you may choose wood, metal, or fabric.
When you take a reindeer card, place it face down near your player mat. Do not replace it with a new card from the reindeer deck right away; this only happens at the end of the day.
Reindeer cards score points at the end of the game based on how many different reindeer you have (see End of the Game). To help you tell which cards are the same or different, check the reindeer names or their numbers in the top-left corner.
You are not required to tell other players which specific reindeer cards you have collected during the game, but anyone can ask how many reindeer cards you have.
Reindeer Stables Example: Randy places an elf in the 2nd station of the Reindeer Stables because Ralphie placed an elf in the 1st station on a previous turn. Randy can choose to take either Donner or Dancer and chooses Dancer, placing the card face down next to his player mat. Because he visited the 2nd station, he also takes 1 material token of his choice. He chooses a fabric token and places it on one of his unfinished toy cards.
Christmas Tree
Next to every team's workbench is a Christmas tree. Whenever they have time, the elves decorate their tree to help boost their holiday spirit—and earn some extra notice from Santa.
When you place an elf at either station at the Christmas tree, take any 1 face down ornament token. Color does not matter. Turn your chosen ornament token over and take the reward shown on the back side.
On the right side of each player mat is a personal Christmas tree. Place your ornament on any of the spaces of your Christmas tree, with the color side facing up. Then, take the reward from the tree space you choose to cover.
Once the 6 slots on your tree are filled, you cannot visit the Christmas Tree location again.
Christmas Tree Example: Zuzu places an elf in a station at the Christmas Tree. She takes a blue ornament and turns it over, revealing a wood token. Zuzu takes the wood token from the supply and chooses to place it in the Donation Center, immediately scoring 1 point. She then places the ornament on the Christmas tree on her player mat, covering an assembly token. She places the token on one of her incomplete toy cards.
End of Day
Once the last elf has finished their action, the day ends! Carry out the following steps to clean up the workshop and prepare for the following day:
- Return all elves from the workshop to the players.
- Discard any remaining reindeer cards in the Reindeer Stables and put them on the bottom of the reindeer deck. Deal three new cards from the reindeer deck, face up, one to each of the three stalls in the Reindeer Stables.
- Advance the Santa figure to the next space on the calendar. When the Santa figure reaches a sleigh space, Santa performs an inspection (see Santa's Inspection, below).
- Pass the first player marker from the current holder to the player on their left (clockwise). They will take the first turn of the following day.
Santa's Inspection
During Santa's Inspection, players score points for having the most "Christmas Cheer."
All players determine their Christmas Cheer by counting the finished (face down) toy cards near their player mat -AND- the ornaments on their personal tree.
The player with the highest total scores 8 points, the player with the second-highest total scores 4 points, third scores 2 points, and fourth scores 1 point. Tied players each score the full amount of points for their place.
After scoring, place all completed toys in Santa's sleigh.
After the first inspection, move the Santa figure one space on the calendar track (to December 22).
During the second inspection, only toys completed in the most recent 3 days count toward Christmas Cheer. However, all ornaments hung throughout the game count toward each player's total.
Santa's Inspection Example: Buddy and Emily both have four Christmas Cheer, Michael has three, and Walter has two. Buddy and Emily are tied and both get 8 points, Michael gets 4 points, and Walter gets 2 points. They all put their completed toys into the sleigh.
End of the Game
Once Santa's second inspection is complete, the game ends immediately! All players can now score points for their unfinished toys cards and their reindeer cards.
Unfinished Toys: Each player counts the material and assembly tokens on their unfinished toy cards and scores 1 point per token.
Reindeer: Each player counts the number of different reindeer cards they have and scores points based on the following chart. If they have reindeer with the same name, they score 2 points for each extra reindeer.
| Reindeer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 31 |
The player with the most points wins, earning a sunny vacation with Santa! In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most points from reindeer cards is the winner. If there is still a tie, then the players share the victory—Santa's entourage just got bigger!
End of Game Scoring Example: At the end of the game, Kevin's score marker is at 80 from points scored during the game so far. Kevin scores 6 points for the six tokens on his unfinished toys, moving his scoring marker to 86. Kevin also has 7 reindeer—Dasher, Dancer, Vixen (x2), Cupid, and Blitzen (x2). He scores 12 points for having a set of 5 different reindeer and 4 points for the extra Blitzen and Vixen. He counts 16 more spaces with his scoring marker, moving it to 102, his final score! Because he passes 100, he flips his scoring marker to the 100 side.
Credits
- Game Design: Keith Ferguson
- Development: Paul Salomon
- Production: Brent Dickman
- Illustration: Andrew Bosley and Jacqui Davis
- Graphic Design: Matt Paquette & Co.
- Rulebook Consultant: Jason D. Kingsley