Space Battle Lunchtime Card Game
Space Battle Lunchtime Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 40 Dish cards
- 60 Flavor cards
- 6 Judge cards
- 5 Chef cards
- 5 Spatula tokens (one Spatula side, one Bonus side)
- 1 First Player token
- 5 Player aids (not pictured)
Dish cards show the flavor icons the dish requires, a card name, and Victory Point rewards for each level of success: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each dish's requirements and point values are printed on its card.
Flavor cards show a quantity (1 to 3) and a flavor name, such as "2 Savory." Starting Flavor cards are marked with a Chef Hat Icon in the lower left corner.
Judge cards show a Judge Card Icon, a Judge Name, and a Gold Judge Reward (the one-time action printed on the card).
Chef cards show a Chef Icon, a Chef Name, and a Favorite Flavor, along with the card's special text.
Set Up
Each Player
- Chefs: Randomly deal one Chef card to each player. Put away the remaining Chef cards. They will not be used this game.
- Spatula Tokens: Give each player a Spatula token, Spatula side up.
- Starting Flavors: Deal each player two Starting Flavor cards (the Starting Flavors are the ones with the Chef Hat Icon in the lower left corner). Each player's hand is kept secret, known only to them.
Play Area
- Larder: Shuffle the remaining starting Flavor cards into the Flavor deck. Reveal four Flavor cards face-up. This is the Larder, where chefs collect their mysterious alien flavors.
- Flavor deck: Set the rest of the Flavor cards as a face-down Flavor deck.
- Discard pile: Reserve a space beside the Larder for spent Flavor cards to be discarded.
- Judges: Choose three different judges that will oversee your game. Set the three judges in a row in any order. For your first game, we recommend using the "1 Star" judges. Advanced players can swap out one or more of the judges for their "2 Star" versions.
- Dish display: Shuffle the Dish cards. Reveal four face up in a row below the Judge cards, so that each judge presides over two Dish cards. Set the rest as a face-down Dish deck.
The player who most recently cooked a meal for someone else is the start player and takes the Start Player token.
How to Play
On your turn, do one of the following actions: Steal a Flavor card, Buy one or more Flavor cards, or Serve a Dish. Do NOT refresh the Larder after Stealing or Buying cards. (It refreshes at the end of your turn.)
Steal a Flavor Card
Take one Flavor card from the Larder or the Flavor deck.
You have room for seven Flavor cards in your hand. Discard any excess at the end of your turn.
You may Steal from the top of the deck.
Buy Flavor Card(s)
Discard a Flavor card from your hand to the discard pile. In return, take a number of Flavor cards from the Larder equal to the discarded quantity. Quantity is shown at the top of your Flavor card beside its name, ranging from 1 to 3.
You may not Buy cards from the top of the deck.
Serve a Dish
You may serve one dish, as long as you have the necessary Flavor cards. To serve a dish, discard Flavor cards from your hand in one of the three ways specified below.
Gold
Exact flavors and exact amounts. You earn the Gold points.
For example: This dish calls for two Bitter, two Savory, and one Sweet. You discard two 1x Savory cards, a 1x Sweet card, and a 2x Bitter card.
Judge Reward: After serving a gold dish, you may do the special action of one of the presiding judges. These actions are one-time, immediate effects.
The judge rewards shown in this rulebook's examples are: Judge Goops, "Steal from the larder."; Judge Gatorax, "Serve a dish."; Judge Critic-Bot, "Upgrade a dish in your score pile."
Each Judge presides over the two dishes under it. In this example, Judge Goops presides over Choco Gems and Pizza Orb, and Judge Gatorax presides over Pizza Orb and Chickenish.
If you prepare Pizza Orb at the Gold level, you may choose either Judge Gatorax's Reward or Judge Goops' reward. However, if you prepare Choco-Gems, you may only choose Judge Goops' reward.
Silver
Exact flavors and any amounts. You earn the Silver points because you used the correct Flavors, but in the wrong proportions.
For example: This dish calls for 1 Bitter, 2 Spicy, and 2 Sweet. You serve a 3x Bitter card, a 3x Spicy card, and a 1x Sweet card. You've used all the correct flavors, but the proportions are off. It's too bitter and spicy and not quite sweet enough.
You do not take the Judge reward when you serve a dish at Silver.
Bronze
Any different flavors in exact amounts. You earn the Bronze points because you substituted certain Flavors.
For example: This dish calls for 1x Bitter and 1 Savory and 1 Sour. You serve 3x Spicy. It's the wrong flavor, but you got the correct total amount.
You do not take the Judge reward when you serve a dish at Bronze.
After you serve a Dish card, discard the Flavor cards you used. Take the Dish card from the display and place it into your score pile underneath your Chef card with the Gold, Silver, or Bronze edge facing you.
Using Your Spatula
Each Chef has a Flavor that they are especially good at serving. When you use your favorite Flavor in a Dish that requires that Flavor, you may flip your Spatula to its Bonus side. Then, on one of your subsequent turns, you may flip it back over to activate any Judge ability.
NOTE: This is a bonus that you may use at any time during your turn, and you still take all the actions of a normal turn.
IMPORTANT: You may only flip your Spatula token once per turn.
For instance, if you flip Peony's Spatula to her Bonus side by serving a Sweet dish, you are not allowed to use the Bonus until a later turn.
Similarly, if Peony's Spatula is on her Bonus side, and you flip it to activate a judge ability, you will not be able to flip it back to the Bonus side until your next turn, even if you prepare another Sweet dish this turn.
Source note: the Chef card text for Peony reads "flip your Spatula to its Trophy side," while the Spatula token's second side is printed as "Bonus Side" on the components page. Both terms are transcribed as printed.
End of Turn
You have room for seven Flavor cards in your hand. Discard any excess at the end of your turn. At the end of each turn, refill any of the displays that are now missing cards. If a deck runs out, reshuffle its discard pile to become a new deck. The player to the left takes the next turn.
End of the Game
The game is a race to 21 points.
After one player reaches 21 points or more, continue taking turns until each player has had an equal number of turns. Then the game is over.
The player with the most points is declared the winner! If tied, the player who has the most total flavors (add up all the quantities on all the Flavor cards) in their hand wins. If still tied, race to the kitchen to cook something nice for everyone.