Speculaas Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview and Objective of the Game
• Game Contents
• Game Setup
• Gameplay
  • Choosing a Recipe
  • Choosing Spices
• Placing a Card in Your Play Area
• Honey
• End of Round
  • Preparing for the Second Round
• End of the Game
• Scoring
  • Recipe for Same Spice
  • Recipe for Different Spices
  • Recipe for Pairs of Spices
  • Recipe for Cards With 2 Spices
  • Recipe for Adjacent Honey
  • Recipe for Opponent's Honey
• Solo Rules
  • Game Setup
  • Choosing a Recipe
  • Speculatius's Turn
  • Choosing Spices
  • Speculatius's Turn
  • Solo Scoring

Overview and Objective of the Game

Players take on the role of pastry chefs preparing speculaas cookies, trying to collect as many points as possible by arranging recipe cards and spice cards next to each other. Speculaas is played over 2 rounds, with all players taking their turns simultaneously. After the end of the second round, scoring takes place, and the player with the most points is the winner.

Game Contents

• 80 spice cards
• 60 recipe cards
• 17 honey tokens
• 5 player aids
• 1 scorepad

Game Setup

1. 2 players: return the cards marked 3+, 4+ and 5 to the box. 3 players: return the cards marked 4+ and 5 to the box. 4 players: return the cards marked 5 to the box. 5 players: use all the cards.
2. Shuffle the recipe cards and create as many decks of 6 cards as there are players. Place one recipe deck to the right of each player.
3. Shuffle the spice cards and create as many decks of 8 cards as there are players. Place one spice deck between each recipe deck and the player to the right of the deck.
4. Place the remaining recipe cards and spice cards in two separate decks in the centre of the table.
5. Place the required number of honey tokens in the centre of the table:

2 players	3 players	4 players	5 players
5 honey tokens	9 honey tokens	13 honey tokens	all honey tokens

6. Leave enough space so that each player has their own play area to arrange their cards. Leave space for a discard pile in the centre of the table.

Gameplay

Speculaas is played over 2 rounds. During each round, all players simultaneously choose cards and place them in front of them in their play area. First, they choose a recipe, then spices, then a recipe again, then spices again and so on until they run out of cards.

Choosing a Recipe

On the first turn and on every subsequent odd-numbered turn in the round (third, fifth, seventh...), each player simultaneously:

1. Takes the recipe deck that is to their right.
2. Reviews the cards and chooses one recipe.
3. Places the chosen recipe face-up in their play area.
4. Sends the remaining recipe cards to the player on their left by placing them as a face-down deck between themselves and the spice deck to their left.

Choosing Spices

On the second turn and on every subsequent even-numbered turn in the round (fourth, sixth, eighth...), each player simultaneously:

1. Takes the spice deck that is to their right.

2. Reviews the cards and selects two spices, choosing one of the following options:

   • two cards each with 1 spice, or
   • one card with 2 spices

   Note: You are allowed to choose just one card with 1 spice only when it's not possible to take two of them (because you have only one such card in your hand).

3. Places the selected card(s) face-up in their play area.

4. Sends the remaining spice cards to the player on their left by placing them as a face-down deck between themselves and the recipe deck to their left.

Note: Since players sometimes take one and sometimes two spice cards (depending on the number of icons on the cards), it is possible that in the final turns of the round, you may receive only one spice card (or sometimes none). This is a normal occurrence in the game. In this case, simply take that one card and place it in your play area.

Placing a Card in Your Play Area

Place the card in your play area so that it is always (except for the first card) placed next to an existing card (face-up), but be careful! A recipe card must never be placed next to another recipe card (above, below, right or left to it) and a spice card must never be placed next to another spice card.

Honey

The honey card is a special spice card.

If you choose a honey card, do not place it in your play area. Instead, discard it face-up in the centre of the table, take one honey token, and place it on one of your recipes.

During scoring, the honey token counts as a bonus spice of any desired type.

In order to choose a honey card, you must have an available recipe on which to place the honey token. If all your recipe cards already have honey tokens on them, you cannot choose a honey card.

You may choose 2 honey cards on a single turn if you have 2 available recipes on which to place the tokens.

Note: Only one honey token may be placed on each recipe!

End of Round

The round ends when all players have chosen and placed their last card in their play area. After the end of the first round, you need to prepare the cards for the second round.

Preparing for the Second Round

1. Distribute the recipe cards from the deck in the centre of the table into as many decks of 6 cards as there are players. Place one deck to the right of each player (as in the setup for the first round).
2. Distribute the spice cards from the deck in the centre of the table into as many decks of 8 cards as there are players. Place the spice decks next to the recipe decks (as in the setup for the first round).

The second round is played according to the same rules as the first round.

End of the Game

After the end of the second round, your cookies are done and the game ends, followed by scoring. The winner is the player who has scored the most points. In the event of a tie, the winner is the player with fewer honey tokens. If still tied, the winner is the player with fewer cards with 2 spices. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.

Scoring

Each recipe scores points according to its own rule. Most recipes score points based on the spices that are adjacent to them (above, below, right or left to them). Score recipes one by one, going from left to right in your play area. After scoring each recipe, turn the recipe card face down (leave the honey token on it if there is one).

There are six basic recipes — Recipe for Cardamom, Recipe for White Pepper, Recipe for Clove, Recipe for Nutmeg, Recipe for Cinnamon, and Recipe for Ginger. Score 3 points for every spice of the desired type that is adjacent to this recipe. A honey token on this recipe counts as an additional spice of that type, providing additional 3 points.

Recipe for Same Spice

Score points for spices of the same type that are adjacent to this recipe. (Count the type that you have the most of.) Use the scoring table on the card: 2 of the same spices score 4 points, 3 of the same score 8 points, 4 of the same score 12 points, and 5 of the same spices score 20 points. A honey token on this recipe counts as an additional spice of that type, making it possible to collect up to 5 spices.

Recipe for Different Spices

Score points for spices of different types that are adjacent to the recipe. Use the scoring table on the card: 2 different spices score 1 point, 3 different spices score 3 points and so on. A honey token on this recipe counts as an additional different spice type.

Recipe for Pairs of Spices

Score points for each pair of two spices of the same type that are adjacent to the recipe. Use the scoring table on the card: 1 pair of the same spices scores 4 points, 2 pairs score 9 points, 3 pairs score 15 points and so on. A honey token on this recipe counts as an additional spice of any type (whichever you need to complete a pair).

Recipe for Cards With 2 Spices

Score 3 points for each card with 2 spices that is in the same row or column as this recipe. A honey token on this recipe provides additional 3 points.

Recipe for Adjacent Honey

Score 4 points for each honey token that is on a diagonally adjacent recipe. A honey token on this recipe provides additional 4 points.

Recipe for Opponent's Honey

Score 2 points for each honey token in the play area of the opponent who has the most honey tokens. A honey token on this recipe provides additional 2 points.

Solo Rules

You can play Speculaas even without other players. In the solo game, all standard game rules apply to you, and you compete against an imaginary opponent - Speculatius, who plays by simplified rules. Speculatius does not arrange recipes and spices meaningfully, but instead collects recipe cards in one pile and spice cards in another.

Game Setup

Set up the game as if for 2 players.

Choosing a Recipe

On the first turn and on every subsequent odd-numbered turn in the round, first, just as in the standard game:

1. Take the recipe deck that is to your right (Deck A).
2. Choose one recipe and place it in your play area.
3. Send the remaining recipe cards to Speculatius by placing them as a face-down deck between yourself and the spice deck to your left (Deck B).

Speculatius's Turn

Then perform Speculatius's turn:

4. Take Speculatius's recipe deck (Deck C) without looking at the cards.
5. Shuffle the deck and take the top recipe card.
6. Place this card in Speculatius's recipe pile (face-down).
7. Send the remaining recipe cards back to yourself by placing them as a face-down deck between Speculatius and the spice deck to your right (Deck D).

After you have finished choosing recipes, the situation should look like the picture: Player holds Deck A (recipe, to their right) and Deck B (spice, to their left); Speculatius holds Deck C (recipe pile) and Deck D (spice, to their right).

Choosing Spices

On the second and every subsequent even-numbered turn in the round:

1. Take the spice deck that is to your right (Deck D).
2. Choose two cards with 1 spice each, or one card with 2 spices.
3. Place the selected cards or card in your play area.
4. Send the remaining spice cards to Speculatius by placing them as a face-down deck between yourself and the recipe deck to your left (Deck A).

Speculatius's Turn

Then perform Speculatius's turn:

5. Take Speculatius's spice deck (Deck B) - without looking at the cards.

6. Shuffle the deck, take the top spice card and look at it: a. If the card has 2 spices, place it in Speculatius's spice pile (face-down). b. If the card has only 1 spice, take another card from the top of the deck (if available) and look at it, and then: i. If the second card has only 1 spice, place both cards in Speculatius's spice pile (face-down). ii. If the second card has 2 spices, place that card in Speculatius's spice pile (face-down) and return the first card to the deck it was taken from.

   Speculatius gains a maximum of 2 spices per turn. Do not place a honey card in Speculatius's spice pile. Instead, discard it and place a honey token next to Speculatius's spice pile.

7. Send the remaining spice cards back to yourself by placing them as a face-down deck between Speculatius and the recipe deck to your right (Deck C).

Solo Scoring

Score your recipes in the standard way while Speculatius earns points for each collected spice card, recipe card and honey token.

1. Depending on the desired game difficulty, Speculatius starts with a certain number of points:
   • Easy – 0 points
   • Medium – 10 points
   • Hard – 20 points
   • Very Hard – 25 points
2. For each collected card with 1 spice Speculatius scores 2 points.
3. For each collected card with 2 spices Speculatius scores 5 points.
4. For each collected honey token Speculatius scores 3 points.
5. For each collected recipe, Speculatius scores points according to the recipe. All basic recipes give 3 points to Speculatius (regardless of the collected spices).

For the other recipe types, when collected by Speculatius: the Recipe for Cards With 2 Spices gives 3 points to Speculatius (regardless of the collected spices); the Recipe for Same Spice gives 4 points to Speculatius (regardless of the collected spices); the Recipe for Different Spices gives 3 points to Speculatius (regardless of the collected spices); the Recipe for Pairs of Spices gives 4 points to Speculatius (regardless of the collected spices); the Recipe for Adjacent Honey scores 4 points to Speculatius for each honey token collected by Speculatius; and the Recipe for Opponent's Honey gives 2 points to Speculatius for each honey token in your play area.