Soda Jerk
Soda Jerk Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- A. 5 Tap Cards (double-sided)
- B. 45 Flavor Cards (5 flavors, 9 cards each)
- C. 4 Player Aids
- D. 1 Scorepad
- E. 2 Switcheroo Cards (2-player only, not pictured)
Setup
- Give each player a player aid.
- Lay out the tap cards in a row with the A side up. See "Advanced Play" for using B sides.
- Shuffle the flavor cards and deal each player a starting hand with the number of cards listed below. Set aside the leftover cards facedown.
- Whoever most recently sipped a drink is first player.
| Players | 2* | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Hand | 13 cards | 13 cards | 10 cards |
See "2-Player Variant" for additional setup.
Overview
Each round, players take turns placing and revealing flavor cards below the 5 taps. Placing a matching flavor below a tap increases the point value of all cards of that flavor, while placing any other flavor reduces it.
At the end of each round, players score all cards left in their hand, based on the final value of each flavor.
After 3 rounds, highest score wins!
Playing a Round
Starting with the first player, players take turns in clockwise order until the end of the round. On your turn, you must do 1 of the following:
- A. Place a flavor card facedown below a tap
- B. Flip a facedown flavor card faceup
Important: During each player's first turn of the round, they must place a card below a tap that doesn't have any cards.
A. Placing a Flavor
Place any card in your hand facedown below a tap of your choice.
Example: Player 1 places a Strawberry 2 below the Blueberries tap, secretly reducing the value of Blueberries by 2.
B. Flipping a Flavor
Choose a facedown card below any tap and flip it faceup. The card stays faceup for the rest of the round.
Example: Player 2 flips the top card at the Blueberries tap. All players now know that Blueberries' value is increased by 1. Only Player 1 knows the current total is -1!
End of Round
The round ends immediately when any of these 3 conditions are met:
-
A. Any player has 3 cards left in hand at the start of their turn.
Example: You have placed all but 3 of your cards. The round ends at the start of your turn.
-
B. All players choose to flip a card consecutively.
Example: Both other players flipped a card on their turn. If you also flip a card, the round ends.
-
C. All cards at all taps are faceup.
Example: There is only 1 facedown card left. If you flip it, the round ends.
Round Scoring
When the round ends, reveal all facedown cards below all taps. Determine the final value at each tap by adding up all matching flavor cards and subtracting all non-matching flavor cards.
Each player then reveals and scores their hand. Each card is worth points equal to the final value at the matching tap (regardless of the number on the card). Your score may be negative.
Record all scores on the scorepad. If you haven't played 3 rounds, shuffle all flavor cards, then deal and play a new round. The player with the lowest total score is first player (in a tie, decide randomly).
Game End
After 3 rounds, the player with the highest total score wins! In a tie, victory is shared.
Scoring Example
| Strawberry | Blueberries | Banana | Kiwi | Orange | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | -2 | 0 | +2 | 0 | +3 |
Your hand: Strawberry 2, Strawberry 1, Banana 1, Banana 1, Kiwi 2, Orange 3, Orange 1
- Strawberry 2 + Strawberry 1 at value -2 = -4
- Banana 1 + Banana 1 at value +2 = +4
- Kiwi 2 at value 0 = 0
- Orange 3 + Orange 1 at value +3 = +6
TOTAL SCORE: 6
Note: each card scores the tap's final value regardless of the number printed on the card — a "Banana 1" card is worth +2 here because Banana's final value is +2, not because of the printed 1.
2-Player Variant
Remove any 1 tap card and all 9 matching flavor cards from the game. At the start of each round, each player adds a Switcheroo card to their hand.
Each Switcheroo at a tap changes its final value from positive to negative or vice versa (e.g. if a tap's value is +2, it becomes -2).
Two Switcheroos at the same tap cancel out. Switcheroos are worth no points if kept in hand.
Advanced Play (B Sides)
Advanced play adds unique special effects on all tap cards. All taps start on the A side as normal. Once a tap flips to the B side, its effect is active for the rest of the game.
- Setup: Flip 1 random tap to the B side.
- Start of Round 2: Flip 2 more random taps to the B side.
- Start of Round 3: Flip all remaining taps to the B side.
Credits
- Design: Chris Yi
- Development: Taylor Reiner
- Illustration: Sai Beppu
- Graphic Design: Anca Gavril & Co.
- Rules Editing: Jeff Fraser, Eric Slauson
- 3D Artist: Filip Gavril